St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1858-10-21
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st. loud is the point ut which the Red H;y
er trains cross the ississi ppi on their way TO
st. Paul which proves it 10 be the natural
janction of lind tlayel bet weeu these two great
ARTERIES OF trade II is st Inc present head Of
steam aylgation Oh the mississippi. Boats
run regularly, during the Spring and early
summer months, troni st. Anthony to this
place. }rs#s#
81 The map gives its position correctly with
reference 70 all the most important points in
the territory, but the peculiar beauty Of its
location, ana fertility Of the surrounding coun-
try cannot be Transcribed. Within fifteen
m lll q st. Cloud, on opposite sides Of the
river, and ut different points Of the compass
are eight lakes, varying in size from j. mile to
. miles in circumference, all !, save one, beau
tiful, exceedingly three Of them at least, deep
enough to foat a man-of-War. Wooded banks,
clean pebbly shores plentifnlly mixed with
cornelian and waters abundantly supplied
with fish. iz 5.. -
When Gov. Stevens made his survey Of n
northern railroad route to the pacific, in '53,
he camped son the western side of the Mis-
sissippi, below Sank Rapids" The place was
nameless---the present site of ST. Cloud; but it
is here his route leaves the river. In the sum
mer OF SO q claim cabin was built on the spot
where we now write, a good saw mill, the
frame Of q large Hotel and eight other dwell
lngs We're put up that summer. This last fall
there were three hundred and thirty two yot es
polled in the precinct. Not the votes Of Indi-
ans or Half Breeds, for there arc none here
A majority Of the inhabitants OF the county
are hardy Germans, with sturdy wives and
children, cultiyating the soil and working at
mechanical employments.
The subsoil is sand and although the soil is
from one to three feet deep, rich black loan
supporting q rank vegetation, the drainage is
so perfect and the air SO pure, that breathing
is a perpetual pleasure. AS yet, our physi-
the climate, no Indigenous complaint except
the minnesota Appetite which requires one
fourth more treatment than modest Pennsyl-
yania or Ohio attack of corresponding dis
case.
Any body who wants to drink whiskcy in
peace had better not come here, for the treaty
! by which the land was acquired from the Sioux,
forbids its introduction; and the Legislature
has passed a law enforcing that provision; but
people of moderate means and industrious hab-
it's who have children to educate, will find few
places where the opportunity for correct moral
training, healthy development Of muscle, and
the means Of pecuniary independence are bet
| ter combined.
There are immense tracts of pine lying above,
from which the mills at St. Paul, St. Anthony
and the Minnesota Valleyare supplied. These
employ a large and ever-increasing force OF
men, horses and oxen, who are to be supplied
with provisions clothing and feed. The soil is
waiting for an opportunity to produce unli1nit-
ed quantities of food, without troubling the far
rner crushing clods; while the Mississippi from,
St. Paul to Little Falls can afford to turn mill
at almost any point and has water power
enough to do the manufacturing for a Cont
nent.
| Our natural meadows produce q grass from
four to six feet high, and the beef killed off our
prairies is quite equal to any stall fed we have
ever eaten. Our venison is fine at ten cents
per. pound, rabbits, prairie hens, partridges,
ducks, &C., plenty. Thousands Of bushels Of
acorns for the hogs that are not here to eat
them. Fuel for the labor of cutting and haul
! ing off the ground and there is no likelihood
of the supply running out soon, as the s.Big
Woods extend from this place some twenty
| miles or more, down this side of the river, and
from eight to twelve miles back. Our prairias
are all dotted with strips Of wood land, Goal,
\ Openings" which just look like CID orchards.
dense thickets of plum trees bearing delicious
fruit, grape vines, doing likewise, thousands OF
acres Of hazel bushes and strawberry vines, en-
gagged in the same business; while some hun
dlfeds acres are in the cranberry trade and turn
out an article, which for quantity and quality
cannot beexcelled. The blackberries, redrasp-
berries and hops tack up their shingles in the
woods; and seldom disappoint the most SAN
guine expectations of their customers There
is still land ten or fifteen miles back which set
! tiers can get. at government price, by building
a chbin and living on it until il comes into
market. Actual settlers can buy lots here at
from one to five hundred dollars, and specula-
tors can have the same lots at from FIVE to tif-
4 teen hundred.
In some Of the river towns back, places that
will be pleasant villages, lots can BE had gratis
by those who will build and live on them
! This, in places where house can be built for
fifty dollars, that would be palace compared
10 the dens rented in large cities for 4 and S
dollars ner month, while the lot, with only the
hid Of a gTubbing hoe and o few days labor,
would bring vegetables to feed q family, and
every township las 600 acres appropriated to
the support Of schools.
Seventy thousand acres are appropriated to
a State university. Afne building has already
been erected for the llke Of that institution. It
is situated at St. Anthony, built Of stone on an
eminence commanding a view of the falls, and
no State in the Union has q better foundation
for a good system Of popular education. No
other prairie State is SO well timbered as Min
nesota and no State more abundant1p supplied
with clear water. In the country surrounding
st. Cloud and as far North and West as we have
any reliable account, settlers find no difficulty
in locating land on running stream or trans
parent lake with plenty Of timber at hand for
building, fencing and fuel, and as the land on
the West side Of the Upper Mississippi is only
open to presumption, there is little opportunity
for spectators, and settlers have assurance Of
neighbors and that rapid increase in the value
of their lands and in social advantages which
arise from the system of land in limited guam
titles to actual settlers.
The country around St. Cloud, west Of the
Mississippi was purchased Of the Indians in a
treaty made with them by Hon. Alexander
Ramsey and Luke Lea in 1852 and ratified by
the senate the same year. The Sioux had
owned the land from 1927 but had not occupied
it. and it was used as a hunting ground by the