St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1859-02-24

s. A-I.Nrr CLOUD.

st. Cloud is tie point at which the Red Rlv-
er trains cross the Mississippi on their way to
81. Paul, which proves it 10 be the na,ural
Junction 0t land travel between these n great
arteries Of trade. It is ut tie present head OF
steam navigation on the Mississippi. Boats
rAn regularly, during the Spring and carly
summer nloahs, from st. Anthony to this
Iplnce. ss
The map gives it's position correctly vita
reference to all the mosi important points i'll
the territory, but the peculiar beauty oi it's
location, and fertility of the surrounding coun~
try cannot be transcribed. Within fifteen
miles OF st. Cloud, on opposite sides OF the
river and at diferent points Of the compass
are eight lakes, varying in size from mile to
D miles in circumference, all, save one, beau
tifuf, exceedingly, three Of them at beast, deep
enough to float a man-of-war. Wooded banks,
clean pebbly shores plentifully mixed with
cofnel,an and waters abundantly supplied
with fish
When Gov: Stevens made his survey Of a
northern railroad route TO the pacific, in So
he camped ''on 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 theriver. In the sum
mer of '55 claim cabin was built on the spot
where we now write, good saw mill, the
frame of large Hotel and eight other dwell
lngs were put up that summer. This last fall
there were three hundred and thirty two votes
poilcd in the precinct. Not the votes of Indi-'
ans or Half Breeds, for there arc mana hero
majority u the inhabitants Of the count
arc hardy Germans, with sturdy wives and
children, cultivating the soil and working at
mechanical employments.
| The subsoil is sand and although the soil is
from one to three feet deep. a rich haes. o.m
supporting rank vegetation, the drainage is
SO perfect and the air so pure, that brca hing
| IS perpetual pleasure. As yet, our physi-
clans have discovered no diseases peculiar to
! the climate, no Indigenous complaint txccp,
the Minnesota Appetite'' which requires one
| fourth more treatment than a modest fennsyl-
vanla OF Ohio attack Of a corresponding dis
| ease.
Any body who wants to drink wliskey in
peace had better not come here for the treaty
by which the land was acquired from tie Sioux,
! torbids its introduction; and tie Legislature
has passed Il 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
raining, healthy Development Of muscle, and
the means Of pccuniary independence arc bet
ter combined.
There arc immense tracts of pine lying above
from which the mills at St. Paul, st. Anthony
and the Minnesota Valley are supplied. These
employ large and eyer-increasing force of
men, horses and oxen, who are to be supplied
with provisions clothing and feed. The sou is
waiting tor an opportunity to produce unlir.it-
ed quantities Of food, without troubling the fa-
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 o CONT
nent.
Our natural meadows produce grass from
four to six feet high, and the beef killed off our
prairics is quite DUAL any stall fed we have
ever eateii.. Our venison is fine at ten cents
per; pound, rabbits, prairie hens, partridges,
a@sks 81. IMP lapty rhat are not here to eat
them. Fuel for the labor Of cutting and haul
ing off the ground; end there is 10 likelihood
Of the supply running out soon, as The "Big
Woods extend from, this place some twenty
miles o: more, down this side Of the Iyer, ART
from eight to twelve miles back. Cur prairjcs
are all dotted with strips OF wood land, coax
Openings ':nich just look like o!a o:c::"r'ls,
dense tl,lckcts Of plum trees bearing delicious
fruit, grape vines doing liHen :se. thousands .:
acres OF hazel bushes and strawberry vines, en-
gagged i'll the same business; while some hum
dred acres are in the cranberry trade and turf.
out an article, which for quantity and quality |
cannot be excelled. The blackberries, rcd rasp-
berries and hops tack up their shingles in the
woods; and seldom disappoint the most sam
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 cabin and living on it until it comes into
market Actual settlers car buy lots here a;
from one to five hundred dollars, and specula-
tors can have the same lots at from five to if
teen hundred. |
In some Of the river town pack, places that
Will he pleasant villages, lots can be had gratis
by those who will build. and live on them
This, i'll places where house can be built for
fifty dollars, that would he a palace compared
to the dens rented in large cities for and
dollars per month, while the lot, with only the
aid of a grubbing hoe and q few days labor,
would bring vegetables to feed family. and
every township has GOO acres appropriated to
the support OF schools.
Seventy thousand acres arc appropriated to
State university. A fine building has already
been erected for the use of that institution. 1t
is situated at St. Anthony built Of stone on :s:s
eminence commanding view OF the falls, and
no State in the Union has 81 better foundation
for q good system Of popular education. No
other prairie State is so wei; i.i.hcrcd as Min
nesota and no State more abun,ant!y 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 diff Guilty
in locating land on running stream or trans
parent luke 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 prescription, there is little oprortuni,y
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
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 1897 but had not occupied
it, and it was used rs q hunting ground by the
Winnehagces whose land reached within four
miles north of St. Cloud. Their country was
coded to the United States by treaty began