The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1870-08-11

Find out some day that nothing pays but God,
Served whether on tho smoke shut battlefield,
In work obscure done honestly, orvote
- =: For truth unpopular, or filth naintained
To ruinous convictions, or Of good deeds
Thought for goods sake, mindless Of heaven OF
helll 5-:r..': }. =,
-Losuelrs CatAedral. =
+ NORTHwEsTERN 1lINNDsOTA.,
A correspondent: Of the st. Paul
Pioneer, Hon. Leonard B. hodges, Of
0lmstsd county, writing Of .. trip
through "Northwestsrn Minnesota, 50
long neglected, uuderyalued and over
looked, and now. arresting tho atten.
ton Of many who are looking around
for new fields Of enterprise" says that
some men who are struggling along in
inferior localities "xillbs astonished ia
learn that there are plenty Of quarter
sections Of government land in Mime.
sota; with handsome grove Of, white
and burr oak, sugar maple aad lind,
with good, unduhting prairie, with
black alluvial soil from Is inches to 10
feet in depth, and resting on sub soil
Of cl.y, with good water, and. good
natural r.d top meadow land, all con.
veuiently arranged On the same quarter
section, and agood big chunk of a lake
full Of mu.calooge, bl.ck base, pike
and suckers @ro,0n IL gratis. (Uuole
Sam meanders al lakes Of % area Of
40 acres and upwards; deduots this
area Of water from the land area. and
% they are tree to all.) Yet such ID
the fact, aud that, 10 eonaeetion with
another fact, to wit: that the: Northern
Pacific Railroad i, under contract, to
b. boih through ibis region, Of oenntry
BY the ,drst Of July, 1871, elosel7
opening it up to the commerce Of the
markets Of the world; these facts, to-
gether With healthy climate, warrant
the assertion that never before in the
history Of the Northwest has there been
so good an opportunity for muscle and
pluck to achieve a competency Is now.
"The surface Of tue country to which
l have called your attention, is almost
universally gently uDdulatine, no high
and abrupt bluffs, no deep ravines, no
striking geological features, no lodges
Of rock; drift formation, with scat
teriog boulders Of limestone and con.
elomerate.
Speaking Of the climate Of that seo-
ton, he says:
"Altbough this region is pretty we'll
up towards the 47th parallel, yet If one
can believe the evidence of the inhabi-
tauts thereof, there is no material diff:
ference between this, and the southern
portion Of Minnesota. The pioneer
settlers Of Becker county, who are
mostly: Americans from Fremont county,
in the southwest corner of Iowa, Say
that they and their stock suffer far less
from cold in their present locality, than
in southern Iowa. The mercury uu.
doubtedly drops lower, but the stiffness
and dryness Of tho atmosphere more
than compensate for the additional cold
Spring undoubtedly opens somewhat
later than in tho Central and Southern
portions Of the State. Still, I found
vegetation farther advanced in Becke,
county ,oa the 18th Of June, than i,
was il Douglas county on tho 7th
The red top grass in the sloughs, on the
10th Of June vas over five feet in
height, while on the high ,prairie the
same variety Of grass in some place.
would yield from Two to. three tons: te
the aose. / saw cattle and horses vhs
had gone through the winter without
any grain, none Of them having been
foddered more than three months, and
some running at large al winter with
only such food and shelter as they could
find. All Of them were fat, and thu
young cattle especially were much fat
tor in the middle Of June than y.
usually see in the Southern part Of th.
State. As 70 early frosts in fall, thi'
region seems to be highly favored, .th.
concurrent testimony Of the settlers be
iug that there was no frost there las
fall hard enough 70 kill pumpkin vine'
until the 18th Of September, aud b,
killing frosh until the 18th Of October
tho prairie grass having been euret
like hay before frost came, and tha'
cattle rrefsr1sd il during the winter q
it stood o. The ground, TO- regular hay
and from the sams testimony the snow
were no dsspsrtthan 800 miles .farthe
southeast. The numerous. lakes ant
great altitude, Q,600 feet above th'
level Of the sea) may, perhaps, to SOM
extent, account for this exemption
from host." .y,r-sy @..... ,.-........ @3
There are plenty Of good claims, h
says, in Otter Tail, Becker, Clay an
Polk counties. ..s.
There have been 23 deaths and s.
births Eeported g the town clark .
i HAsIlNnAn~$ as~AA &. Hau~A- Ia 1E5 4 oe1n