St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1858-10-07
. Minnesota correspondence Of the Boston Post
LETTER. NO. g.. IL:
Trip to the Red River Concluded.

On the 18th OF July lett breckenridge
: on the homeward trip in company with r.
Barber, with light wagon, a pair of hor.
:.ses, and saddle pony Took the newly
surveyed state road route, which traverses
the same vast and luxuriant prairie cross
cd in coming. Little else but travel will
, be required to make the road acceptable
We make but a short halt in the 25 miles
to the settlement Of Dayton city. Plovers,
prairie chickens, and sand hill cranss were
seen in abundance. Pass q. few small
lakes. To con6ne the observation to OBJ
slects near our track, the scenery might
wen be considered lnonotonous.. i But as
heyiew takes in an almost unbounded ex!-
r.nse, it becomes interesting The ocean
s Is sublime, because it is vast. The same
! cause lends grandeur to this great and
wide verdure clad plain. g Nor can one fail fail
4 to be impressed with the ,though ght that this
whole region is waking frem its long bar
barrie sleep to the action Of industrious
life. 49,.
The settlement Of Dayton city where we
. arrived at four P. NJ, was named in honor
of the defeated candidate for the vice pres
1 idency from its relation to Breckenridge.
The "city" was added to distinguish it
from another town Of Dayton on the Mis-
sissippi. It is on the Red River, near
the upper crossing and the settlement Of
Laphaln. The most Of the settlers Of the
place are men who caHle from, Appleton,
Wisconsin. They are yersed iii mcchan-
les, men Of integrity and enterprise - The
eldest told me that his son selected the
place, last summer, and wrote back that
after all the praise he could bestow upon
the locality and surrounding country, he
would fail to represent it's beauties and
advantages. I.came out, said he, ready to
make som allowance. for enthusiasm but
/. find his account not exaggerated. The
place has an excellent water power, and a
dam across the Red River is begun
There is but one log, house now, Several
acres of land are under cultivation. The
oorn planted on the sod looks thrifty
Tie channel Of the river is here about a
hundred feet below the general surface oi
The prairie. It's banks fol. a d couple Of
miles back on either side are gently undu.
lating, and are skirted with groves Of oak
. timber The settlers here are doing
great deal Of good as they will form n,u.
cleus for other settlements. TO build
mills and houses and cultivate and fence
in land requires much labor, and therefore,
the first year Of SO remote a settlement
! presents the least for show. One Of The
residentS here is an elderly gentleman
from New Jersey, whom L, nett ,St.
Cloud last spring, while on his way out
here. He was then in feeble health, q
mere skeleton, and having found medicine
] unavailing, had come out to try the atmos.
phere Of Minnesota. He is now in per.
feet health, and engaged in active employ.
3 nlent.
July .30.-We are up at half-past three
in the morning and preparing to start
when one Of the horses ran back twelve
miles toward Breckenridge. This detain:
ED us several hours, and We did not gel
. started till four in the afternoon. We
made, therefore, only about seven miles
today. The soil continues equally rich
and the grass luxuriant. Small lakes are
in sight most Of the way. Camp near two
that have high grassy shores dotted with
oak groves There is a pleasant breeze
and prospect that we shall not be troub-
led with; mosquitoes. But wesahave not
got the traces lnhitched before swarms Of
them torment rsland the horses Were
it notifor suchsan nnayances our evenings
in these wild spots would be most delight
gfn1