St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1858-12-23
SAINT GU j.

jJunctlOH OF land travel between these Two great
arteries Of trade. 1t is ut the present head Of
steam navigation on the Mississippi. Boats
run regularly, during tho Spring and early
Summer months, from ST. Anthony to this
1 place.
The map gives it's position correctly with
reference to all the most important points in
the territory, but the peculiar beauty OF its
location and fertility Of the surrounding coun-
try cannot be transcribed. Within fifteen
miles OF st. Cloud, on opposite sides OF the
river, and ut different points of the compass
are eight lakes, varying in size from mike to
miles in circumference, all, save one, beau
titul, exceedingly, three Of them at least, deep
1 enough to float man of-war. Wooded banks,
clean pebbly shores plcntifully mixed with
cornelian; and waters abundantly supplied
| with fish. .s5' ~ $50" '.>[
! When Gov. Stevens made his survey of a
northern railroad route to the pacific, in '5S,
he camped son the western side Of the Mis-
4 s;ssippi, below Sank Rapids The place was
namelcss-the present site Of St. Cloud; but it.
! is here his route leaves theriyer. In thesum-
4 1ner Of SIS claim cabin wassbuilt on the spot
where VIC now write, q good saw MILL the
frame Of a large Hotel and eight other dwell
ings weresput'up that summer. This last fall
II there were three hundred and thirty two votes
{ polled in the precinct Not the votes Of Indi-
ans or Half Breeds, for there are 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 a rank vegetation, the drainage is
so perfect and the air SO pure, that breathing
!, is a perpetual pleasure. As yet, our physi-
clans have discovered no diseases peculiar to
the climate, no INDIGENOUS complaint except
the .'NIinnesota Appetite'' which requires one
!. fourth more treatment than a modest Pennsyl-
vania or Ohio attack Of corresponding dis
: ease 5 . 80. 49, .-:-.... :, 81 -- -e'.rs
Any body who wants to drink whiskey 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
its who have children to educate, will find few
places where the opportunity for correct moral
training, healthy development Of muscle, and
the means of pccuniary independence arc bet
ter combined.
: There are immense tracts Of pine lying above,
! from which the mills at St. Paul, St. Anthony
and the Minnesota Valley are 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 unlimit-
ed quantities Of food, without troubling the far
mer crushing clods; while the Mississippi from
St. Paul to Little Falls can afford to turn a. mill
at almost any point and has water power
:, enough to do the manufacturing for Cont
: nent. ~ VT = 15~
Our natural meadows produce grass from
four to six feet high, and the beef killed off cur
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 Tor 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
s Of the supply running out soon, as the Big
Woods" extend from this place some twenty
miles more, down this side Of the river, and
y from eight to twelve miles back. :. Our prair;es
! are all dotted with strips Of wood land, Coax
3 Openings" which just look like old orchards.
dense thickets of plum trees bearing delicious
fruit, grape vines, doing likewise, thousands CT
: acres Of hazel bushes and strawberry vines. Ell
y gagged in the same business; while some hun
r drcd acres are i'll the cranberry trade and turn
out an article, which for quantity and quality
= cannot be excelled. The blackbelrics, red rasp-
q berries and hops tack up their shingles in the
$ guine expectations Of their customers. There
is still land ten or fifteen miles back which set
! tiers can get, at government price, by building
i a cabin and living on it until it comes into
$ market Actual settlers can buy lots here at
f from one to five hundred dollars, and specula-
tors can have the same lots at from five to fif-
teen hundred = :. z , SO 5f":
In some Of the river towns back, places that
will be pleasant villages, lots be had gratis
e. by those who will build and live on them
f This, in places where house can be built for
, fifty dollars, that would be palace compared
: to the dens rented in large cities for and 5
s dollars per month, while TIE lot, with only the
: aid Of a grubbing hoe and a few days labor,
: would bring vegetables to feed family, and
8 every township has 600 acres appropriated to
Y the support OF schools.
/ Seventy thousand acres are appropriated to
l., a State university \ fine building has already
0 been erected for the use Of that institution. It,
t is situated at st. Anthony, built Of stone on an
r eminence commanding q view Of the falls, and
n no State in the Union has better foundation
l for a good system Of popular education. No
G other prairie State is so we'll timbered as Min
nesota and no State more abundantly supplied
with clear water. In the. country surrounding
St. Cloud and as far North and West as we have
l any reliable account, settlers find no difficulty
In Locating land on a 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. % E
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
) Winnebagoes whose land reached within four
miles north Of st. Cloud. Their country was
coded to the United States by a treaty began