The emigrant aid journal of Minnesota. [volume] (Nininger City, Minn. Terr. [i.e. Minn.]) 1856-1858, 1858-03-03

ueUtCUS uOuT WD!C0 il w RIVSC u kuIul0x point OF ne
destiny is passing away!
Gold will open all doors, and the papers that now de
ny a place to the contradictions of our press, woulC
readily receive any quantity Of paid advertising matter
from the government of Minnesota. What is to prevent
our Legislature from authorizing the prspar .tion Of sucl
8 statement Of facts rs will do justice to our advantages
and =: the same time in no wise compromise the dignity
Of the State. Let such an advertisement be, not a TRADE
Of poetry and e1aggerstion, describing an Elysium be
si!e which the Garden Of Eden grows dim. but q plain
sober, honest statement OF facts. We need not run init
the regions Of fiction OR falseaood to array a most at
tractive host Of details. Let US moro particularly Sc
ourselves right on the question Of climate. TO give my
visws q tangible shape, and 10 show something Of wha
may he said, | have been to the trouble Of preparing the
following advertisement. which, although I do not .!
vance it as answering the end proposed, will however
illustrate my ideas on the subject:
ADVERTISEMENT.
The people at present constituting the State of Min
nesota, in view Of the large amount Of land yet remain
ing in the hands Of the United States Government
within their limits, and convinced from their own expe
rieEcc Of the many advantages offered by this section to
the industrious and energetic ~emigrant, have resolved
through their Legislature, 80 set forth II a plain manner
such facts as might influence the Eastern citizen con
,emplating emigration, to make his home within the
borders If his State. They will seek in tho following
statement to rather sink below, than rise above the strict
truth. and desire 70 occupy the position OF : great com
Uo's Nso"'S ~ SO'S
world, rather than that Of $ combination to effect. By
Misrepresentation, any advantage to them selves They
hope that the source from which the following state
ments emsnate, will prove the best voucher for their
accuracy and sincerity.
L mus, NOT be supposed that the State of Minnesota
comprises one solid body of p,pulsticn, and that the
~emigrant who seeks the advantages of q new region will
have to End them in the wilds Of Nebraska, Dakota, or
elsewhere. |: msy be truly sail, that the present popu'
lstion Of the State Of Minnesota is confined principally
to the main rivers, with the exception of the peninsula
included between the Mississippi River and the Mime
sofa River, running south to the Iowa line; and the
sou herp part Of peninsula between the St. Croix and
Mississippi, although, as will appear by the following
statistics, both these regions a.!ll contain considerable
quantities Of un- preempted lands. But west Of the i'm
mediate o. Ter Of the Mississippi River towards the
James River on the south, or the Red River on the
north, stretches an slnos: unlimited quantity Of Gov.
eminent lands yet undisturbed by emigration. We here
give the statements received from the different Land
Ofces Of the State, showing the amount Of land IN each
district District and the amount Of the same un- pre-.
e.npted upon the 18th February 1857.
GHere will follow the statistics which can be obtained
from the Receivers CT the Land OA6ces
These statistics demonstrate that there are still az
many and as grea. opportunities for immigration within
The limits Of this State, as IN any other part of the great
West. LIE. Us 20 . step farther and inquire into the
peculiar merits Of these, IS get, unsettled regions.
We must premise however with one remark, the
importance OK WHICH Cd0UOl Uc UYcT'FascU. IL -
rapidly attracting the attention Of the leading minds Of
ste country, that emigration is approaching towards its
geographical limits on this side Of the Rocky Mountains
The character Of the country bordering upon the Mis-
.issippi River is entirely different from that constituting
The great interior region between the Mississippi and
the Rocky Mountain range. This difference consists IN
the availability Of the immediate Mississippi valley for
agricultural purposes, and the almos. absolute impossi
hn;ty Of the interior region ever sustaining a large sg1i,
cultural population. These conclusions are based upon
such testimony IS the following!
Our FIRST quotation is from Levi Blodget's work on
the Clip,atology OF the United States. He says, P. 1856:
sMnst Of the prairies (near the Mississippi, East or
Vest are as humid as the interior valleys Of Virginia
ct eli times, and the greater proportion may be much
more 50 in extreme cases. The Chronological distinc.
ton they have is rather in regard to the sweep and sud-
denness of the changes which occur, and perhaps in a
participation, ct times, IN the aridity OF the desert plains
where they border on them. All the plains are prair;e>
il one sense Of the word, however, but the term is here
used 70 distinguish the we'll erased, rich and cultivats.
Bile plains, where the absence of forests appears to be due
to accidental causes only
Captain Beckworth, in the Central Pacific Railroad
Report 1855, p. 80, says:
In these plains, or in all those West from Bent's
For. on the Arkansas to the basin, and in q few in.
stances in the mountains also, the soil is more or lesr
;npregnated with alkali, which is very destructive 70
vegetation and salt is often seen efervescing upon the
surface. And as the amount which is annually carried
Of by lixivatiou and drainage from the very limited
amount Of snow and rain which is precipitated upon this
extensive district, in proportion to its area, and from
the very great inequality in their distribution over it
e, the great body Of the rain and snow falls upon the
higher peaks and ranges, and is carried down to the
main stream through deep canyons and chasms, leaving
the plains parched aud dry-is const .ntly renewed from
the decomposition Of ~sedimentary rocks, it is impossible
30 sag when the supply will be exhausted. And if the
progress of science should develop the means Of neutral.
ling their injurious effects, a material change Of climate
providing for 3 greatly inc eas.d quantity Of aqueous
vapor, would be required to bring any considerable ex-
tent Of this arid territory under cultivation
We might quote additional authorities to the same
purpose were it necessary. We will, however, only re-
Ter to the predoninate heritage Of these regions, as in.
dicated by the continuous presence Of the artemisia or
wild sage, and the cactius-'t the characteristic vegeta-
aion.' as Blodget calls them, { Of the most arid regions
to evidence the truth Of the position we have taken.
We refer to this matter because if the conclusions we
have drawn are correct, the absence Of any 6t region for
agricultural settlement IN the Territory Of the United
States West Of Minnesota, must immensely add to the
value Of the eight millions of un%pre.empted and highly
fertile lands Jet remaining within or borders. It is
the we'll recognized rule of political science, that an
o~verplus Of supply decreas . prices, and the reverse holds
true hence if the limits Of emigration are to be drawn
along the line Of the Missouri river, the importance of
che State Of Minnesota and States similarly situated,
nust increase at once, while at the same time, an urgent
argument is offered to tho emlgrant not to delay until
tOc CpDnTtuUItcS uON pISSCVGCU Abha UoEc td6ScU away
The history of the great West has demonstrated how
short a period Of time Is necessary to remove eight mil
lion Of acres Of land from the hands Of the General
Government TO those OF private individuals. At the
same time, to do away with any supposition that the
State Of minnesota is at all akin to the characteristics
Of the interior region we have been describing, We refer
our readers TO Que particuler-that Of timber. 1t il a
we'll known fact tina. the great plains are utterly des
titute Of woods or fores.s-as much 80 as the steppes Of
Russia or the deserts Of Arabia. In Minnesota, on the
contrary, we find the supply Of timber one Of the marked
features Of the country. TO the North Of St. Paul lie
whole counties of pine lands. The mills of the Territory
are already supplying a great part of the down river
With lumber. The following statistics show the amount
Of pine lumber turned out from the mills on the St:
Croix AMI the upper Mississippi during the years 1856
aud 1857:
fHere might follow statements obtained from the
proprietors Of saw mills at Saltwater, St. Anthony,
Tay!or's Falls, &C., upon this point
We would also quote the following from the report Of