The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-03-26
EhRCEl.
..S.TEARNS COUNTY.
ITS.T0WNS AND CITIES.

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I%;.T0WNSA J. AND CITIES.
i improvements s----Wages-----
Statistical Information.
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i An ;1NFkRBsTINes SKETCH OF THE
SUPPLEMENT. AND GRo",7,N.
OF THE COUNTY.
It. . za:::- BoUapAR1Es:
stearns county is bounded as fol
lows: Commencing at point in the
Mississippi rivss opposite the mrath of
Platte river; thence west to the range
line between ranges 35 and sc town
ssh'l <l27 north ;s.thence south. on range
line Between ranges Is and sc, to the
Southwest corner Of township 1913
north, range 80 west; thence east be-
tween t:cwnships 1872 aud 1913, to the
southwest corner Of townsbi p l23 north
rangef32 vest; thence south between
ranges 81 and 33, to the s,uthw.s.
corner Of township l22 north, range g
l
wesS; ;~thence; east between towpsh,r1s IS
7ol and l22 nort!, to the southwcst
corpcr TO township l22 north, range
I % west; thence south between ranges
20 and 80 to the southwest corner to
sect!oa Is in townil2l, norta range 20
west; thence east on the section line to
the southeast corner Of section Is in
town l2l north range 29 west; thence
north on =: line between ranges %
and 20 to the center of Clearwater riv-
e. s9s2sS ;aS%s4 f!:ss i :si}snas{ as tae
Clearwater river to The center. Of the
channel of the Mississippi river; whence
up the Mississippi river to the place of
@; ssii's'1F z,s,:
The area. of the county is 1886
square mi|cs-9S3, ,040 acres-inclu..
ing the area of lakes and rivers. OF
this amount 6Q5,4l9 acres, according to
T returns of the town assessors are sub
ject to taxation the remaining 377 ,621
acrey are United States land, State
swamp land, railroad land and lakes.
The separate amounts OF each I have
not the means at present Of dctersrin-
ing. About one third Of the area of
tlS county is prairie, &c balance bring
timber and meadow, more detailed &C.
count of which will be given under the
} description Of f'each town.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The county was named a| 6, after the
Hon. G. T. Stearns, one Of the earliest
settlers and member of the LegisIa.
ture in 1855, the year the county was
orgthizsd. > To County Commission
err fitst>m1t in St: Cloud the first Mon
day in April, 1855:
80 The site of the present city of St.
Cloud for many years was the seat of a
ilading. post among the Winnebaso ln-
&an.,s1fd Aadafhatai reservation ssrv;, on. the
west bank Of the Mississippi, in villa:
is now Stcarns and Wright couutieS,
psesidus ITO 1855. Among the first
settlers in the county were J. l. Will
son, s. B. Lowry, H. G. Fillmore, j
| J, Ienyporde, John Ball, j. e. West,
Charles Taylor. II: Dam,< Rev. T. c.
Partridge, Alexander Moore, T. Riyby,
T.. n. Richardson, j. H zimmerman
and others. A more minute account
Of tsrly settlers will be gwen in the dc:
scriptioan Of the different towns.
(Since writing the above L learn that
Mi. S. b. Lowry had trading post OH
Watab Prairie, six or seven miles above
St. Cloud, previous to 1851 and Mr.
|, Fl. j. Fillmore ca.ne with him. Mr..
Lo@ry opened farm on what is now
part of St. Cloud in 1853. Mr.. John
Becker, in 1858, p|owed land for Mr
Lowry and raised the first crop in
Stearns county)
GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTY
The county may be described eeolog-
F'isally es .ofgranite torpation. The sur
face is gently rolling, in some parts
|'hilly, although the hills rarely exceed
100 to $50 feet above the general lev
isl, isl, Tbere u g!anitis ri|dges probaPlx
a onaanoatidn 6Ahc h6anta;rtaas dis1:s
'trict north Of Lake Superior, extend
ing insa .soatfwcst 'vlirecsion, ), forn,ins
Che Tails Of: the St. Louis liver, the rap
lids in Rum river, .Sauk Rapids in, the;
!, Masi'sirpi,t' andstho falls of the Mime
c:sbta, leaving tho State in the south
western boundary. I have seen ont.
groupings. Of the ridge east of, the Mile
|sLdc lake, ht a loint six or seven miles
south ofthe lake, where the Rum river
break ks through the ridge. Again the
west branch Of Rum River has rapids,
.and at Sauk Rapids a wide track Of the