, 1859-04-12

hare ut least from three TO five thousand inhabi-
tants il them; and in the meantime how absurd
it will be to speak OF the village eyen town Of
Dayton City! But no matter, whether city,
town or village we remained at Dayton over
night md were made rery comfortable.
SEvzSru DAr.-Ahout 4. H., We left Day
ton Ctr, over o rolling prairie for about four
miles, after which it becamc dead level and 50
continued for nearly 80 miles, until we reached
the fort; in fact, nothing can be imagined aatter
or more unintercsting than such q country, with
nothing, except now and then tall bunch of
erass IL break the monotony Of the scene. l
we deserted the distant trees which showed VIC
we're approaching the Red Riset Of The North.
Yet, alas, this was but fond delusiuu, - We
travelled hour after hour, and yet the promised
land l1v far beyond; for the country is SO fiat
that objects OF atty sne can be distinguished at
q great distance. However; all things must
have m end, and 50 did this prairie for about 3
p. H., found us opposite the fort, md IN Fey ,,
afterwards. thanks to the kindness Of our friend
Capt, -, found ourselves ensconced in very
comfortable quarters:
Fort AbercTon1bie is military establishment
of very recent dnte; ag H1ost Of ny resders are
probably aware, harinG been loeated some time
during the last summer. It is not tn Minnesota.
belrs on the west side Of the Ked k'seft nnd
therefore in The new territory Of Decotah. The
reserve is about 12 niles long and To vide,
Of which one mile only is ut the Ninnesots
side The portion occupied By tue buildings is
q eai-5haped peninsula which is Handsomely
wooded chiefly b7 t1m trees md 4 few scat
tered oaks, The soil is sich, being for the most
part clay loam, and the climate is quite plea:
sant a. that Of many places much farther to the
south.
ints each ST. feet long By II wide. and two others
co ty 20 occupied by soldiers families At
tached TO these are tWo mess rooms each 50 By
20 feet. All are built of fogs. hare nearly fat
roofs and arc covered with 1oes; hay, and mud.
The suttlcr has two buildings - by 90 feet,
one used as store and the other as a dwelling.
In addition to these there are few other bulld-
ings used for Offices, and also stables for mules,
&C., as we'll Is sheds used by the cousmissary for
paulions, and one building occupied by laborers
These are all temporary.
Another house has been commenced OF heWed
logs and will be finished On the outside
with weather boarding: And whers does
the reader imagine ihat thls lumber "as
hou,,,,.. and bv rhat route taHeh to the tort?
Any person acou.;; ;nted with the ioca''t1es ~oalo
Immediately answes-"as -. eloua' o. coulse'
where it can be bought cheaper thai. else" hels,
and which is only 1c5 miles lor, By tue Il"
road through the woods l5V miies) o7or u route
settled mare or sess throughout the whole dis
tance." BY no means. MY very vtrdaut friend
the Circumlocution Office could not do business
in such simple and straig ghtforward manner.
On the contrary, the boards were purchased iu
St. Paul at about twice the price for which they
could hare been bought in St. Cloud, and car
ried By steamboat ~, miles TO Fort RidgelE,
then teamed about ."o more over a tree1ess
-.
and probably ueyer will be for the NEXT 50 years
to come.
The country around the fott, SO far as could
be Judged By our brief and clscumscribed cx-
plorations at this seasou Of the year. is Of
pleasing and desirable character The soil
understand is very rich an,l productive, being
principally clay loaln or u clay sub-soil. There
is not great deal Of timber here, but still there
are considerable belts along the river varying
from quarter to three-quarters Of mile in
width.
1hcre is no doubt, believe, that a steamboat
will be running on the Red River in June next,
as | understand that u contract has been COM
pleted with some person {whose name ! hare
toryotten} appointed by d committee Of nler-
chants in st. Paul. and we shall undoubtedly
know more about the resources And capabilities
Of this river than have hitherto been a>ccrtaincd.
That it runs through, very desirable country
will form for time Ut least portion of tic
great Northern highway to the Pacific il,
think, equally certain. For that the vast trade Of
China, Japan and the East Indies must event
uaily come down this route, either through the
British Possessions Or our own is alsn TO my
mind clear rs day, and just us sure rs that the
sun is sure to rise tomorrow morning. whether
We choose to believe it or not; and, that when
completed, it will he thesssreatest thorouyhfare in
the whole world will tllink be disputed BY no
one who has giycu this subject his cs nsidcra-
ton.
ltut this has been long letter, and fear your
readers will tire, SO conclude ut once by saying
that we returned by tile SAINT route that We went
up without accident or incident of any kind
worth relating, except that wien VIC arrived at
1T. Cloud VT were obliged to exchange our cut
ter for = wagon, Us tile road was now 80 bare Of
snow i'll many places that >le'Ehing vas Alto
gcther ont OF the question. F.. ".