The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-09-10
A TR1P TO NORTHERN MINNESOTA

A TRIP TO NORTHERN MINNESOTA.
Fishing at Esgie I.ake--The Land up
this Way-The Railroad.
CLnAn LAKE STATION. ON TIE 81. PAUL ANDl
PAclElc r. B., August 26 1868.
Correspondence Ailwaukee Sentinel.
Whenever you 60 to Eagle Lake on
a fishing expedition, there are some i'm
portant items in such an expedition
connected with that particular locality,
that can cordially commend.
Tho point to be reached is four or
Ave miles north of tho station.
LIST. Get Mr.. Motion, lately Of the
State Of Maine, with his span Of good
grey horses and strong wagon, to take
you out.
I'd. Secure the services of young
Hank Potter, the station Keepers boy,
to 60 and hunt up frogs, minnows, and
other fresh bait, and to 60 with you in
the boat For the reason that what he
does not know under this head is not
worth knowing.
3. Go nowhere, stay nowhere, cat
nowhere, sleep nowhere-except at the
good, hospitable farm house of Mr.
Mather. Here you will find we'll
furnished parlor, supplied with good
books !; first class linen and crockery
for the table butter, as delicious as
butter can be; good bread, and the
best cup Of coffee you ever drank
Come and stay With Mr.. Mather. His
son told US that deer, partridge, duck,
| pigeon and chicken abounded. AS to
| fish, I cannot say much. Here was
General Becker and his son George.
All the boys are natural fishermen, and
the father claims to be an expert in the
art of angling, alleging that he and his
good wife, in neighboring state, took
four hundred pounds in one day. Hank
(the boy aforesaid) and myself, each
| with well-baited hooks, handed them
| overheard, with our best art, inviting
any piokerel, bass, pike, or perch that
might be in want Of something to eat,
to take hold. But WOO them never so
sweetly, and angle never SO deity, not
bite did either get, save two. A
mighty pickerel made at Hanks bait,
and bore off the hook, the bait aud part
! of tho line. He received no thanks at
Hanks hands for this summary way of
doing business. A moderate call Of a
tair-sized pike came to my hook, but
ere I could get him aboard he let 60
his hold. Beyond this, the whole fin
ny tribe gave US severe letting. alone.
4. When you come back to the de-
pot get young Mather, with his. Ham.
bletonian mare, to drive you through
the burr oak grove, across the Elk
River, and over the smooth prairie, to
the depot-for behind that splendid an
imal you are sure to make time, and be
on hand for the train, as We were.-
This branch of the St. Paul and Pacific
r. R., runs from St. Paul to Sank Ra-
pids, distance Of about seventy-ivo
miles. 1t follows the right bank of the
Mississippi the whole distance, aud its
course is very nearly northwest The
river itself, to my eye, is much hand
somer above than below St. Pail. The
bold and precipitous bluffs which bound
the river from St. Paul to some point
below Dubuque are all very picturesque,
and are fit subjects for painters and po-
cts, but, practically are nuisance
From Minneapolis to St. Cloud the line
of the river is nearly direct, and the
banks are gentle and we'll defined, COM
pacting the water into handsome
body. Never was an easier place to
build railroad than this. For long
distances not a curve, and when they
do occur they are very light. 1t is a
road that can ever do its business with
great economy, on account of light
grades and direct lines. 1t has requir-
ed no small amount of faith and cour-
age to build this road, pointing as it
does to the limitless wilderness of the
Northwest. The company possess a
large quantity Of good land, the gift of
the General Government. It is sue
cessfully employing various agencies to
secure purchasers for these lands from
Norway, Sweden and Holland. There
are numerous settlers from among these
different nationalities. They could
not have better. There are large dis.
tricts of handsome prairie lands all
along the route of this road unoccupied.
They san be bought, I understand, for
an average Of five dollars per acre, and
I cannot see why it is not good op-
portunity for people to come to procure
cheap and good farms. I came, over .
beautiful tract of one thousand acres,
through which runs the Elk River,
which is owned by the University of
the State, and is offered for four dollars
per acre, and is in sight Of this station,
say not more than three miles away
1t seems to me we'll worth the money:
There is fair division of timber land,
prairie land, and meadow land upon the
tract. ....: ;...
This road has been completed. now
about two years, aud is proving Of: vast