The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1870-08-11
Northern Pacific Railroad V!
ManitoWoc to New York.

article, but ne think by a careful perusal of
the following extracts our readers will come
TO the same conclusion with the writer, that
the Northern Pacific Railroad will become the
great thoroughfare for Asiatic commerce, not
only for our own land but for all Western
Europe: -r-
Il is urged. IN behalf Of the Northern Pa
cifc, that it will open up vast regions of in
habitable territory, rich in the fertility Of the
soil, and Astounding in mineral wealth.; that it
will not only shorten the distance from ocean
to ocean, but that it will bring US within a
thousand miles or more Of ocean navigation
nearer the Asiatic commercial centres; that
the demand for it i. scarcely in any degree d.
unfinished by reason of the completion Of the
Central and Union lines; nd that, by reason
Of the milder climate, and the lower elevation
Of the mountains, the eng ineering difficulties
are less, and the fac lities for constructing and
operating the road are greater.
T rom Lake Superior to the Mississippi
river the climate resembles that of Vermont,
New Hampshire, and Northern New York;
though on account of the dryncsu of the at
mosphere there is less depth of snow But
here are no mountain ranges, and the line Of
the road is over vast plains. the highest points
Of which are only few hundred feet above
the level of the lake. After the line leaves
the Mississippi, and more and more as it goes
towards the mountains, the climate becomes
miIder. 1t is found that the isothermal line
of mean summer temperature, of IS degrees
Fal renheit, which runs through the interior
Of Michigan, and south Of the centre of Wis
ccnsin, bends northward in the latter State,
crossing the St Croix a few miles above it's
entrance into the Mississippi, passes the lat
the river at Crow Wing. over a hundred miles
northwest of st. Paul and continues on into
British America, til it reaches point two
hundred and fifty miles north Of the interna
tional boundary. The line of mean annual
temperature, Of 80 degrees running through
Ccntr. Ohio and Indiana, entering Illinois
eighty miles south of Chicago, and passing
Dorth-westerly through Iowa, leaves Nebraska
far L he southwest, bounds in large part of
Dacotah aud all of Montana within belt Of
climate quite rs warm as the central and
southern portion of the States mentioned.
This fact. together with the more moderate
elevation Of the mountain region, makes the
difficulties from cold and snow over these
highland ranges far less serious than those al
ready overcome by the Union and Ceutral
Pacific. farther south In considerable por-
tons of this large region, horses aud cattle
| fl to themselves manage to obtain subsiSt-
euce without being fed or h,used. This
amelioration continues increasingly to the
Pacific coast At Puget Sound, AZ degrees
North, the mean annual temperature differs
but Little frors that of Norfolk, Va. This
milo, character of the climate extends 10 the
norIh 50 that wheat is said to mature in the
latitude, IF 60 degrees north, or seven hun
dred miles beyond our national boundary
The nroda CT; ycness of immense regions con-
tiguous to the ia ne Of the projected road, and
their capabilitv OF sustaining vast populations,
Ian, att
The northern portion. &C Minnesot, is al
ready noted as among the ,.rost prolific wheat
producing countries in the Worlf; while Tor
grazing purposes, and the raisI.'g II stock, 1t
Is unsurpassed. From Lake Superior to the
Mssissp pm, it abounds in forests Of vs,lunbie
timber. West Of the river the forests din. in
ish, thou5h amply sufficient; and the fine praI-
RE lands are in large proportion The whole
country is well watered, and the climate cx-
ccedingly salubrious.
West Of the Red River of the North. which
separates Minnesota from Dacotah, the poor
est portion of the pain is found, The vestses
Of the terrible desert are in this region
The uEcu!tiyabie lands are enlbra ced in the
Dotsau dcs PrG irics. the Plateau du Coteau du
Missouri, ana in those occasionally sterile
tracts known as H,sPcriSes Ierres. The Coteau
iu Missouri is an elevated, barren, gravelly
plain, east and northeast o. the Missouri
river, and stretching along nearly parallel
with II of tho ,v"y f.e.-. H!~E...-,'-- - -
Canada line. 1t is from fifteen to forty miles
wide The -UauraiScs Torres range along al
most east aid west, constituting q crest or
divide, between the Yellowstone and Plate
rivers. They occur at intervals through
some four hundred miles but are entirely
south of the line of the road. With these cx-
ccptions, all this portion of the country to the
Rocky Mountains i. described by G ov Stevens
being not like the drier portions, or steppcs,
of Northern Europe and Southern Russia,
i5hich are considered very fair agricultural
districts, and capable of sustaining as large a
as is now found in the whole Of
New England. Much Of the country is adj
mirably adapted to grazing; and cattle-raising
may be carried on here to an unlimited ex-
tent Says Gov. Stevens (''pacifc II. Il.
Explorations, :" vol XII. p. 233) There is but
little country between the Red River of the
North and the Mouse river, which is not
adapted to almost continuous settlement 80.
l have to say, therefore, that over this country
YOU can plant farms of from one hundred and
sixty to six hundred and forty acres, furnish
ing all the arabic and grazing land required
to make agriculture profitable" The valley
Of the Yellowstone, The most important tritu-
tary Of the Missouri, itself navigable for moro
than two hundred miles from its junction with
the latter, abounds III valuable agricultural
lands
The Rocky Mountains would, Of course be
expected 30 furnish only sterile, rugged mas
scs of VI heayc1 land. But even here, as we
are informed by Gov. Stevens and other ex-
plorers, there ar; numerous beautiful and fer
tile valleys: while within the mountain belt
numerous rich prairies are met with, and
the hills themselves are often covered with a
fertile soil" In the very heart of the noun
tain, says Mr.. Lambert, another explorer,
there are thousands of square miles" of val
liable land In the valleys of the upper trib-
utaries Of the Columbia, there are over
eleven thousand square miles Of tillable land
Of the richest kind;3 while west of the Rocky
Mountains. and east of the Cascade range
though here are some doubtful tracts-and
especially between the latter and the Pacific
there Is an abundance of fertile territory
much Of 1t ranking among the richest in the
world. Then there is, at intervals, an i'm
mense supply of excellent timber-thousand
of square miles occupied by vast forests,
which, especially on the Pacific slope, furnish
the most valuable lumber in the world. The
mineral resources, too, are apparently mex
haustible, ard have already attracted TO the
territories more than fifty thousand inhsbi-
tants- Probably more than q hundred and
sixty million dollars worth of the precious
metals have already been taken from the
r,ineS nf N0nr.uS Idaho api