The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-01-16

..-.. -. - +&Ls3uT sila& i.J.,tMt !
L '>i' cascade Mountains. The results &
= these surveys have been h highly 81 .sati, i
/ factory. They were under the geuera u,r
n supervision Of the engincer-in-cbief
Q Mr.. Edwin F. johnson, a veteran an
ginccr, Of natiooal reputation, who. 70
$ many years, has made the Pacific route
a speciality, and who, during the las
t summer, examined part of the route i,
0 person.
!, hc Board Of Directors have re
Gently published their memorial to Con
3 gress, accompanied with strong letter,
; from Gems. Grant, Nleigs, aud Ingalls,
; and the report Of Mr.. Johnson, Chic,
Engineer. This latter document wit
maps) gives an exhaustive and lighl,
interesting statement Of the topogra.
ply, climate, and resources of the
country along the entire route, with
estimates of cost of. construction,
amount of revenue, &c., &C., all of his
conclusions being favorable to the
practicability Of the route.
WHY THE ROAD SHOULD BE rr,,p
An obvious reason in favor of this
enterprise is the opening of convenient
communication with the remote Terri
tories through which the road is to
pass. The proceeds of the mines in
Montana, Ida ho and Oregon for the
present year, according to official esti-
mate, amount to twenty million of dol
lars. The increasing population and
commerce Of those regions demand
more speedy communication with the
older States than now exist. Nothipe o
does more to promote civilization and
peace than the facilities of frequent
travel and intercourse between commu-
mites and States.
The friends Of the Northern Pacific
Kollroad also urge that its construction
Will speedily conduco to the settlement
OF the vast areas through which it
passes' areas for the most part sucepti-
be be Of agricultural use, and capable Of
sustaining a population numbering
many millions.
A geographer of the first century
wrote Germany is indeed habita BILE,
but is uninhabited on account of the
cold" He was more liberal than some
people Of the present day, who are apt
to condemn to sterility region, they
have but vague notion of: Forty-sevcn
years ago Mr.. Schoolcraft wrote of
Chicago, 6 We found :four or fve Jam;-
Aes Aulng Aez'e."' At that time, and
tor years afterwards, as people looked at
the map at point away off up here,
seventy-fve miles northwest of the
Falls Of St. Anthony, they probably
thought it was regionthat would never
be settled up And yet this county
(Stearns) from which I grite, though
| Indian l!ldl country thirteen years ago
though no railroad vet enters it, and
though lb!9 not. one.twentieth part develop
;ed, hasa taxable valuation Of property
Of two millions Of dollars. One can
only conjecture the increased wealth
that will accrue to the United States
when twelve powerful States will have
sprung up along the route of the North
ern Pacific railroad. .. a., :.
f. The charter of: the Company au-
thorizes. the construction Of railroad
from apoint on Lake Superior, westerly
by the most eligible route within the
l;territory Of: the United States, on
line north of the forty:ffth degree Of
latitude, to some point on Puget Sound,
With Il Iay.tb 2 branch in, the valley of the
Columbia river, to point at or near
Portland, in the State of Oregon.
RESOURCES or THE, COUNTRY ALONG THE
:.&, u: ~. =. ROUTE: .:.. 9~:.
| The most ample testimony Of explor-
| ers, many Of whom were official, civil
and military. travellers, missionaries,
traders and others, furnishes satisfactory
proofs as to the rich agricultural, as
we'll. as mineral and lumber resources
that will be tributary to the road, and
which depend vastly upon its construe-
ton for their development. .: =
s?The'country is good along either. Of
1.-The routes that tcross Minnesota. For
! f. 100 mil les west and southwest of Lake
super'or,'is a continuous heavy forest,
hardwood alternating with pine. From
the Mississippi to the RED River is fer
! tile rolling prairie, with numerous belts
of hardwood timber, and most beauti-
ful lakes and streams. "A tri-weekly
line Of four horse stages has,, for eight
! years, s,,@Yun- from~sth Mississippi to the
Red River with. daily stages the first
sixty miles Of the route; while on the
route are seven important villages, the
centres Of thriving settlements. From
the Red River to the Missouri, land
averages fair, the valley of the James
being extensive and fertile. The Milk
river valley, and: thc,l bottoms of the
Missouri and tho, Yellow Stone, COM
prise vast extent of productive soil.
The Secretary of War, in his report for
1850, states that from Fort Benton
i Chead Of navigation onxthe: Missouri)
! to Fort Walla-Walla on the Columbia,
4 distance'sof six hundred miles, is a