St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1859-12-15
BRECKINRIDGE

LUIS Town IS situated on inc ol0uX " OOu rlvcr.
and is The Western ternination of the Minncso-
IL and Pacific railroad; the poi,,; laid down by
t,ai'1. Pope on Lis ,1a} as the head Of steam
navigation OH the Re-; river; the valley Of the
lis;' rivet is about twenty miles wide on either
side Of the stream, and about five hundred miles
long; the surface is lev Ell and drained by numer
GUS streams which arc skirted with elm, ash,
bass wood, white wood and pine Of the largest
growth, the remainder OF the valley is prairie,
composed Of rich, black loan free from sand,
barrens or swamps. Red river is a deep, slow
stream, has no islands, sand bars or snags to
obstruct navigation the banks are about 25
feet high, and not subject to overflow many
Of the tributaries Of the Red river are strongly
mpregnated with salt, and indications Of
iron and coal are numerous in the vicinity.
The farmers Of the valley Of the Red river
gave to Major Wood as the average of their
crops; wheat 80 to 40; barley 40 to 50; oats
Az so; and potatoes 200 to 800 bushels to the
acre. At Pembina, GOO miles north Of Brock
inridge,) ex-Gov. Ramsey says, son the I'd
October, 1851, water melons and cantelopcs
were served to us for dessert and the first frost
that occurred was on the night Of that day."
Gee address before the Minnesota a Agricultural
Society. Oct: 10th, 1862 Two large set
Elements have long existed, on Rcd river
raise a1alarge surplus of the products Of the
farm the whole valley Of the Rcd river is
rapidly filing up with IN energetic md intel
ligenti population the country being exceed
ingly healthy, and should the indications Of
iron and coal lead tothe discovery Of those
minerals as large ns santicipsted, thiss valley
will soon be swarming withTa population en-
gagged in agriculture, mining and ansanufactgr
ing, supplying eastern Minnesota, ,, WISCONSIN,
Iowa and Missouri with the products of their
labor and skill; the Minnesota and Pacific
railroad will be placed Immediately under
contract as by terms of it's charter'it must
be finished from Saltwater to St. Anthony with
in two years, and complctedtoo Breckenridge
within ten years from the Sd of March, 1857, :
or forfeit its franchise as well as the lands
donated to it. - ii ~ l-s:; =. -
Breckinridge is also at.the point where Govs
Stevens survey Of q route for the Pacific rail
road crosses the Sioux Wood river; an exami
nation Of the Western States, and = reference
to the writings of Gov. Stevens, ex-Gov. Ram
say, or the Congressional documents containing
the reports of Maj long and Capt. Pope, can
not fail to convince that such IS the geograph
ical position. of breckenridge; that all that
portion Of the Territory of the United States
which lays west Of the mississippi nand nor. h
Of the head waters 4of, the MinnesotaE rivers
must forever be tributary to that city, and
that, bBreckinridgs Is;toabs not only the com
mercial centre for 'ther norsf+west, butt will
forever be the gate city ouths great north-w Test
highway ofnations. .hs sgom hnA s!oa y,il:.
Breckinfidge is now being improved by the
rroprietors. who ARE erecting dwellings for
themselves. hotel, grist mill, saw mill, .
shiugl. and lath machine. &c. .s1;f,E9'
/ For further particulars enquire off,. Il
.Ees.,ise ii HENRY 4. " Ellis, Minneapolis. "
|s;.s ii ~ R. CHUTE, St. Anthony. 80. 1
ssaG lin CHAS.. N. MKUBBFN, st. Paul,
49, I:sIE:9t aas5 ssa44 Executive Committee
[aaOr; to GEO.:F. BROTT, recknrilge. !
s1 May :l0th.r 1861 It 81 issa5.,1ss! :
|at+s &c rsS,; tsfu4 e;d u x.3sifff Isst~5si sis 4