The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1867-08-22
while its westsrn terminates plain sppa-

,s;, .a'lS y wssts.a tsrninstes Plain opp.
7sfhis;valley Is densely settled, and VI,
end north ofit ii tsetu led more or less thick
for distance Of one. hundred and thirt,
miles and more. Sank river rises in Osc
KS Lske. which is eighty miles from St
Cloud, aud Is the terminus of the yallc,
& proter. Further west ii tho same ricj
g clay soil, Similar TO- the best Illinois prai
RE. Due north from Osakis Lake. aboii
sixty miles, Is, Otter Tail Lake, on lie rosl
j from st. Cloud to Fort Abercrombie, aud
settlements extend to that point aud some
what beyond. though not es dense. =. Fifteei
miles from Otter Tail. At 3 point callei
Rush Lake, is settlement 81 Germ al Cath
oi'os, with nunneries3 and al the institu.
tions Of the Roman Catholic Church. In.
deed. this whole valley is very largely Set
t!ed by Germans. and they are III Catho
lies, and constitute avigorous md indus.
trious population For . distance of iifty
! niles above St. Cloud, it viii bs found ths,
ls largely and mainly settled by this
class, having their schools, churches, and
\ other installations Of the Catholic Church,
Further up are Americans, Swedes and Nor,
wegians.t :. --+r...u4 Ill. .<Glo-~
AZ Battle Lake, which is called the, most
charming In Minnesots, six miles south Of
Otter Tail, sbetween Battle and Clitheral
Lakes. is settlement Of 10. Smith Nor
mons, consisting Of eighteen families. They
occupy one thousand acres Of choice land,
all we'll fenced and stocked, and we'll cul.
t'va'ed. This land is an average Of one
mile in width, and is divided into farms ex.
lending across from side to side, each fam
ny occupying Q separate farm. The bar
! barous aud outrageous sysfen. Of polygamy
Is not practlced or tolerated here, be It no.
/ ted to- the credit .of this. quiet and indus
triou' settlement, who have thus banded to-
! getlier and secluded themselves that they
might enjoy their religion undis.urbed !;
and they will certainly be permitted to 90
long as there is. nothing in their practices
to offend decency or the public taste. ..-,F
On the east side Of the Mississippi the
soil is sandy and abounds in timber; on
the west side the surface is deep, rich
black: loan, with q clay subsoil, and we'll
drained, St. Cloud is situated on = prairie.
skirtcd by woods. Wild fruits grow lux
uriantly here. We have seen growing in
this vicinity "a delioiou: largeewild plum,
which is improved by c. ltiyation, though
quite rich growing wild. The soil is OF
about the same character Il, ok for hundreds
OF miles-alternate rolling prairie and
Woodland. This soil produces quickly and
abundantly. It being Of dark color, and
sandy, more readily sbsorbs and retains
the heat, and produces more rapidly, and is
ready for the seed earlier in the. spring
than the lighter colored soil. The gardens
in this latitude are earlier than in Southern
Wisconsin and Northern Illinois.
~ The Rev. George Stewaft, Of this place
gem leman and q scholar. by the way,
who has travelled O. good deal in this: upper
country, is one of the Government Com
mission Of clergy appointed to oversee the
Indian payments, informs rs that he saw.
at a point one hundred and forty: miles
above here, 4. field Of rye that within Eve
weeks Of the time Of sowing was, fully
headed out, the straw attained its growth.
and woul1 be ready for harvest in a few
days. This will. serve to illustrate the pc.
c4llar feature Of the soil We have mentio
That produces ,ahundantly we also, have
evidence from the same source; he walked :,
through d field: ,of outs where the straw
would average i've and one half feet in
height. and. though imperfectly harvested, !
yielded ninety: :fve bushels to the acre. This
statement the reverend gentleman rep eatedr
as fact coming within his own observation
and3made it emphatic that there might be
no ground Of doubt even to an iucredulcus
mind: In what other States of the Union
do We find such faoils S's'' = 'i''>' ;, :
: '.f'. - =, ,,.'' : s:'".' y.
:,><'s~;j, :,at LAKES A1Ss' .>. -, ..;r.s, =.
The lakes Of Minnesota, with their sylvan
associations, form one of the prominent
charms Of its rural landscape. They are
scnttered' IN chains and groups Or isolated
gems. all over The State forming an im-z
mense system of reservoirs. feeding the
sources Of all the Streams. and supplying
the atmosphere with perennial supplies Of
moisture for the summer months, and are .
guaranty against drouths. j It .is estiinate1
that there are ten thousand of them in the
State. While Minnesota is far from tn
sea it is still the best watered State in the
Union, owing ito abundant rains to its sys-
TEN Of lakes. every one Of which is q reserr-
voir for the rain in wet weather, which it
reserves to fill up the river in dry. ,...'
- Within q distance Of fifteen miles from
St. Cloud are no less Than eight lakes, oil
abounding IN fish and game. They vary
from one to five miles in length; the banks
sk,rted d:with= trees, the water clear as crys-
tal down. to the petbly bottoms. They give
variety and beauty to the landscape, soften
the air, and lend all their charms and At
'traetiops to make this sections; lovely, place
foraresidence. There is, after. all: q law Of
compensation in nature-one section pos
sesses what another lacks-the advantages
are distributed and eduaiizsd somewhat g
s,. s<s... EARLY 4 'l.!' HISTORY. i, ,r@..
The country back of. st., Cloud: was pur-
chased Of the Indians. in 1852, in a treaty
made by Hon. Alex. Ramsey and Luke Lcs.
That which constitutes the Site Of St. Cloud
ahad been owned by the Sioux since ]: 1897,
and used by the Winnebagoes - a Hunting
ground. :, 1t; was ceded to the Government
in 1855, since. which time only has this
section claimed kindred with civiiisation.-
This point had been, sWinasbaeo trading,
F'post;for;a . npnberGofyears. In 1854 Joha ;
L., Wilson took possession of the land here
as . 'squatter,", before the. Government
had 7made'a survey Ne laid out d towaiih1
undet aSlegislative oct ;arithorizinga him TO-
do 80. yPrevious toathls: time astpwn had
been laid out on the opposite side. of the
river, about three miles above, called ttSauk
City:"' It was then about as large as it is
now. L The proprietors sold lots>to 4 NUNS
ber Of Germans, and whom they learned
that they (,he Germans) proposed to erect
shanties ii which to sell their favorite bey,e
erage, lager beer, those proprietors made
it condition. of sale that mo- liquor Of beer
should be sold on the lots. J. The, s,enragede
Teutons vt once came - this point, which
Mr.. Wilson had. plotted and named St..
Cloud. Lots we're freely gi6tn them, and.
shaaties were erected and beer sold.e This
was the nrba condita of St, Cloud. Sauk
City, is in .statu quo. st: Cloud obtained
the settlers by toierating tie sale Of beer.
Sauk City has the satisfaction OF having ri.
fused to allow,its sale aud lost tho, settlers
-neither Of which have since troubled IT,
jsS. hoS4 ": nhs: !Iiv !a:steesoo nqnr iaa I'M
4, Wrapped the drapery Of it's couch about it,
And lay down to pleasant dreams, .9sif
a11d no ohe ha.: since disturbed its quiet ana
peaceful sslnmber. S:Rsquisscdt III pace.
S':.Cloudf from this period on has grown
rapidly, end nov W has : population j. of about
aHs III 1856 Ge6.aF. Brott entered q section
Of land adjoining St; Cloud: on the south,
laid out 2 town, and sold and decided lots
A. legal contest ensued, and it was decided.
he had no right TO make such entry. Af,;
ter q complicated and ysntinsleds contest,
Congress cSmes tos his lrelief, and passed .