Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1871-06-22

share OF the residences Of the city,
many Of WHICH are very fine and
costly.
The excursion party left St. Paul,
on Friday morning, on the II o'clock
train. for Duluth, on Lake Superior.
While the face Of the country be-
tween St. Paul and Lake Superior
does not differ much from that Of the
common prairie, the character Of the
soil is found to be very different.
The soil there partly resembles the
soil Of certain portions Of eastern
States, where gravel is mixed with a
reddish loam in some places, and
will, clay in others. There is pic
tuersque little brook which empties
its clear waters into the Mississippi
to the east of the city Of St. Paul.
Along the side of this brook the
railroad runs TO gain the elevated
plain above. This little stream very
closely resembles New England trout
brooks: with pebbly bottom. and
beachy shores, and cascades and min
iature waterfalls. So unlike the lazy,
sleepy prairie creeks as to be truly
refreshing.
Between st. Paul and Lake Su.
perior there IS little cultivated land
to be seen. Occasionally farm IS
met with, but these few show no in
d,cation Of a very prolific soil. The
timber is often continuous, some
times broken, and, for half the dis
tance from St. Paul, young, and
mostly oak. For the other half of
the distance the timber is continuous
aud dense, being mixture of pine,
oak, and birch, the pine predominant
ing to great extent as we approach
the St. Louis river. The pine IS
mostly young, though there are large
stretches Of distance where the
growth is large ani dense. Through
the pine country the land lies rather
low and often swampy, with .
brick colored gravelly clay soil.
The stagaant water through the
pine woods is OF the color of lye.
Shortly after leaving st. Paul, we
passed White Bear Lake, and then
soon after, Forest Lake, each Of mod
crate size, a few miles in length and a
mile or less in width. We did not
stop to examine them. Smaller lakes
are not intrequent on the route,
which, if they have names we did not
learn them, except Moose Lake, near
St. Louis river.
There ls no 'stati on on the route oil
much more consequence as to size
aud amount OF business done than
Waltham or Buckingham. The build
ings are all new, and there are no
evidences that any shipments OF grain
or other farm produce are made
therefrom. Nearly all of them have
saw mill-some OF them more than
one. One of them had q very large
barrel and firkin stave factory.
Thompson, on the st. Louis river,
% miles from Duluth, and the juno
tion of the Lake Superior & St. Paul
AMI the Northern Pacific roads, has
several large saw mills. This place
has future of growth aud prosperi-
~ before it. Its water-power is cal
culated to equal, if not excel, that Of
Lowell. The water-power at the
falls of the st. Louis river is estim:-
ted at 100000 horse. For distance
of seven Of eight miles below Thomp-
son, the St. Louis river is almost a
succession OF cascades, rapids and
falls, the bed Of the river being solid
broken rocks. Most Of this rock has
experienced an upheaval and now
stands in almost any position but
horizontal. The color of the wa
ter is Of q dark brown, and
its foam as it rolls over It's rocky bed
is peculiar. Both sides of the river
arc bounded by high bluffs or pre-.
cipitous cliffs, which are heavily
wooded. The railroad runs along
the river on its northern bank, often
cutting through high projecting
spurs, and often spanning gorges q
hundred feet in depth, and some
times creeping along narrow road
with rocky cliff on one side and the
river far below on the other. Some
who have travelled through the most
wild and picturesque scenes Of
Pennsylvania railroading say that
the transit along the St. Louis river
for the seven or eight miles below
Thompson, equals the grand views'o of
the noted Pennsylvania region. How
far above Thompson these rapids
NAV extend. we do not know.
Duluth was reached about : o'clock
in the evening. There was some
trouble in finding hotel accommoda.
tions, owing to our number. But
rooms were found for all, at last, by
storing some rooms with five or six,
and some taking up their beds on
the floor. The hotel proprietors,