St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1859-11-24

jnis town is situated on the Sioux Wood river
and is the Western termination of.the Minneso-
'a and Pacific railroad: the point laid down by
Capt. Pope On his map as the head of steam
navigation Oh the Red river; the valley Of the
i!eu liver is about twenty miles wide ON either
side Of the stream, and about five hundred miles
long; the surface is le, cl and drained by numer-
| Gus streams which are 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 loam free from sand.
barrens or swamps. Red river is a deep, slow
stream, has no islands, sand bars or snags to
| obstruct navi gation: the banks are about Is
fee, 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 i'll the vicinity.
The farmers OF the valley OF the Red Hyer
gave to Majsr Wood as the Acreage of their
crops; wheat 80 to 40; barley 40 to 81; oats
~ y. M';"an aud potatoes 200 to $40 bushels to the
acre. At Pembina, Goo miles north of Breck-
nridge,) ex-Gov. Ramsey says, ''on the "a
October, 1851, water melons and cantelopes
were served to W. for dessert and the first frost
that occurred was on the night Of that day.
(see address before the Minnesota Agricultural
Society. Oct 10th, 1860 Two large SET
dement's have long existed on hcd river
Pemb;na aud Selkirk, boil, of which yearly
raise n large surplus Of the products of the
farm the whole valley Of the Red river is
rapidly filing up with an energetic and intel
ligcnt population the country being exceed
ingly healthy, and should the indications Of
:ror and coal lead to the discovery OF those
minerals as large as is "utscsEsue<!, this valley
| will soon he swnrn;ug with a population en-
gagged i'll agriculture. mining and manuf"ctur
ing, supplying e:,stern 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 its charter it must
be finished from Saltwater to St. Anthony with
in two years. and completed to Breckenridge
within ten years from the Sd of March, 1867,
or forfeit its franchise as well as the lands
donated to it.
Breckenridge is also ut the point where Gov,
Stevens survey Of a route for the Pacific rail
road crosses the Sioux Wood river, an exalni
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, ear
not fail to convince that such is the geograpl
ical position Of Breckinridge: that NIL that
portion of the Territory Of the United States
which lays west of the Mississippi and north
Of the head waters Of the Minnesota river.
must forever be tributary to that city, and
that Dreckinridge IS to be not only the CON
mercial centre for the northwest, but vii
forever be the gate city on the great north-wes
highway Of nations. ..ps:.s l:t2 'sc : ...:s
Breckenridge is now being improved by tn
Proprietors, who IRE erecting dwellings TO
themselves. hotel, grist mill, saw mill,
shingle and lath machine. &c. o2s@dg %.p#
For further particulars enquire Of g4s:@ VI
J 's - 81 HENRY 7. WELLS, Minneapolis.
lr&1 SELL r. CHUTE, St. Anthony f#s +
Is - 4.@ CHAS. N. M'KUBBIN.lSt. Paul,
@"Ea 80 ..zs@@4sa Executive Committee
Or, to GEO. F. BROTT. Breckenridge.
May 10th, 1888 tfgaiszs5t .z74lse