St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1859-01-20

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.,a. the upper Missouri, the yellow Stone, !
tl.e james, the Sioux, the Sheycnnc and
other tributaries Of the Red River Of the |
North, are unqucstionably adequate for
tho organization of eight first class States.
While the Great Plains hetween Minneso-
II and the Falls Of the Missouri, and also
the interior valleys Of the Columbia, will
constitute vast grazing ranges, the Rocky
Mountains themselves are destined to wit
ness more animated combinations Of indus
dustry. The valleys arc fertilc-the win
tcrs m;la-useful and precious minerals a.
bound-the hills are clothed with valuable
woods power is abundant, and
there, upon the crest of the continent pop
ulatiou may be expected. to concentrate
moro than upon the Great Plains. Let
Government secure to the emigrant wa
gon road and regular mails to this most
beautiful and salubrious region, and the
next ten years will witness at the Falls of
the Missouri the same transformation,
which an equal period, just passed, has
wrought at the Falls of St. Anthony.
"a. In the more Western valleys Of the
Rocky Mountains, several Indian tribes,
half civilized by their intercourse with
Catholic Missionaries, own large droves Of
horses-thcse animals needing no protec-
ton in winter and finding sufficient susie
nance along the margins Of mountain
streams. This is the case, even at Fort
Benton, two degrees North Of St. Paul,
and situated at the eastern base Of the
Rocky Mountains. Contractors could al
ways obtain horses from the Flatheads,
Nesperces or Kootonias Indians at mod
crate cost and whenever necessary. The
Grow and Blacifcet Indians, who inhabit
the eastern valleys Of the Rocky Noun
tains, have breed of horses, noted among
tyappcrs as superior to the animals found
among more southern tribes. The North
ern route has great advantage, in this
respect, over the Central or Southern,
3. There is an abundance Of water, for
the use Of man and beast, at every point
Of the route. We have already referred
to the general and sufficient fall Of rain
as Il consequence, springs and riyulets are
always aces ible.
18th. Tho hostile Indian tribes of Wash
iugton Territory have been efectualy
subducd by the late military campaign.-
Parties who have recently passed without
molestation from the navi gable waters of
the Columbia, to Fort Burton, on the Mis-
souri,, report that the Indians in the Bit
ter Root Valley and elsewhere, are very
DESTROYS that regular communication
should be established by wagon roads and
mail carriers between the head Of naviga-
ton OIL the Columbia and Mississippi
Rivers.
5th. The distance from St. Paul and
the western end Of Lake Superior to the
shores Of Puget Sound, as ascertained by
Cos. Stevens, is in round numbers 1900
miles ca the Southern route, the dis
tancc is 2795 miles from St. Louit to San
Francisco; and the average speed is 100
miles day. We are justified in fixing
the time OF the transit from Minnesota to
the Pacific at eighteen days.
18th. With our Minnesota experience,
We unhcsitatingly assert that Northwes-
tern winter, with its moderate but perma-
nent snow fail; the frozen streams and
marshes; the subsistence Of the wind at
s,asons Of extreme cold; and the increase
0! animal vigor, is advantageous to an
Overland Mail Service. One fact is most
PROFESSIONALLY established, that the win
tiers are less rigorous at all parallel points
westward Of our boundaries, than in Min
ncsota, growing sensibly milder with every
degree Of west longitude,1 until, at the
sources Of the Missouri, as already stated,
horses and cattle do not require shelter
the mail route from Dubuque to St. Paul,
over the prairies Of Northern Iowa and
Southern Minnesota has been served hith-
therto during the winter, very successful
", and no portion of the route to Puget
Sound is more unfavorable. At all events,
contractors can be found, having ample
experience in the climate of Fort Smelling,
who are ready and willing to assume the
risks Of ''snow and ice" if Congress will
give the aid asked by this memorial
9TH. Perhaps single illustration may
have greater weight than any array of ar
gument. Hon. Isaac J. Stevens, in re-
cent discussion before the New York
Geographical and Statistical Society, pro-
duces on the authority of MIR. Collins, A.
merican Consul on the Amoor, some in
teres'ing and pertinent facts in relation to
the great postal service from Moscow to
1rkoutsk in Eastern Siberia The distance
is not 1900, but 1926 miles. On this
route arc established two hundred and ten
stations, with c postmaster and the neces-
sary relays of horses at each station-six-
teen and third miles to each relay of
horses. The contractors arc obliged to
carry the mails twice week, and they are
also obliged to transport passengers at GER
tain rates Of speed to wit: at eight miles
an hour in winter, six and two-thirds in
summer and five and one-third miles in
the fall (Our Minnesota time tables show