Daily globe., 1878-08-19
THE RED RIVER VALLEY.
Gen. Hdsen's Desert ProrinD a Very Pro
dMctire Region.

lCn1cagO llmes.
In recent letter the Times correspond
ent at Winnipeg Cthe capital of Manitoba)
gave some account of the perils and enchant-
ments of the boundless prairies for which
that seldom-yisited portion of America is
specially remarkable. The account seems
almost incredible to those who have only
looked upon the vastness of the unpeopled
plains beyond us. Everybody now knows
that the great region which has SO long been
called THE Plains is not plain at all.
Though treeless and mountainless, it is not
a country without natural landmarks. 1t is
everywhere ''rolling country''-a terrene
ocean, broken in every direction by vast
pillows, whose various forms serve as monu-
ments to identify localities. But the vast
plains of Manitoba, and of the so-called val
ley of the Red River of the North, present
| an entirely different landscape.
| The word valley conveys to the general un-
derstanding no idea of what the Red river
country valley is. It is not bordered by
ranges of mountains, or hills, or bluffs of
any considerable dimensions, but only by
''rolling prairies'' slightly higher than this
enormous level prairie. 1t is vast, treeless
plain, from sixty to 100 miles wide and 400
miles long-an area larger than that of Lake
Michigan, with surface almost as level in
appearance as that of this .'unsalted sea" in
a calm. 1t is the bed of an ancient shallow
lake, whose outlet was southwark, through
the Minnesota river into the primeval Mis-
sissippi. 1t received the waters of the ASSN
iboin and other large streams. that now
reach the ocean by shorter route through
Hudson's bay. At length its waters broke
through the range of hills that confined
them, below the present mouth of the ASSN
iboin, the lake was emptied into Lake Win
nipeg, and gave place to the so-called Red
river valley-the richest wheat-producine
land in the Northwest.
The soil, from two to four feet in depth, is
a very rich loan, resting on bed of depos
tied clay and mari from twenty to fifty fee
in depth. Neither ledge nor boulder nol
gravel nor sa14d in even the smallest quantity
have been anywhere found, either on th,
surface or in the substance of this forma
ton. The bed of the Red river is simply
tortuous gorge worn by water in the clay
and the water, even at the lowest stage, il
still deeply colored by clay held in solution
The Cheyenne and other tributaries of TIN
Red river present the same features. Th
evidence of formation by deposition iron
the waters of great lake are conclusive.
The plain is not wholly treeless. Thil
belts or ribbons of timber skirt the princi
pal streams; but the quantity of timber
too small to be of any economic value
When within the range of vision it serves t
break the oppressive monotony of land
scape otherwise without limit, and it ais
serves the useful purpose of wind break il
I the immediate vicinity of the streams: bu
l there is too little of it for any other pun
, pose.
This is the new and wonderful winte
wheat region of the Northwest, where ca
be seen fields of wheat whose boundaries al
only the limits of human vision. Here al
wheat fields whose dimensions are expresse
in figures as 5000 acres, 5000 acres, 700
acres, ETC., and whose aggregate area Nigh
be described as township of GROWN
wheat But these are terms of exact detini
ton which the mind comprehends only a
t subjective limitations. The objective spec
> tacle is indefinite, unlimited. Standing a
5 the centre of this .'farm," and looking il
any direction, the beholder gazes only upo
} a level sea of wheat whose boundary is wher
3 the earth and sky come together.
g 1t is said by disinterested experts that e,
cry acre of these wonderful wheat fields wi
y yield not less than twenty-five bushels, an
' that every bushel will weigh 81 ty pound
a and grade as No. 1. The harvest is some
] what better this year than it was last Th
g yield is Unexpectedly large. The grain
s simply perfect.
d And this is part of the cocutry which til
scientific Gen. Hazen pronounced to be a bal
), ren, worthless desert, that would not pro
: : duce anything. The latitude was too hie
: (between forty-six and ninety degrees); I'll
= climate was too frigid; the seasons wei
v short there was no water, no fuel, no an,
. thing to render it habitable. The openir
of it by the Northern Pacific railway hi
proven by actual test and experience that IL
~ unfavorable opinion which Gen. Hazen p
- into such positive statements was not we
le founded.
~ For wheat culture the experience of ty
!. !. years has shown the Red river country to
- ~ the most favored portion of America. VIII
!, IL in the southern half of Minnesota the whe
- crop is failure, in the the extreme north
~ Dakota, in latitude forty-seyen degree
= within one hundred and fifty miles of t
British boundary, upon General Hazer
le worthless desert, the best and most bou1i
We full wheat harvests on the continent a
al found. On the banks of the Red river I'll
n. wheat crop will command within fifte
lo cents of the price of the same grade on
We Chicago market. 1t can be placed at tic
ne water at a cost not exceeding one cent
ne bushel more than the cost of placing t
ne crop of eastern Iowa at the same place.
IN some these statements may be surprisi1
But they are facts. In view of such facts,
sh it wonderful that General Hazen's desert
all rapidly acquiring vigorous and thri
n. population
". -
an PARsoN NEWMAN ON GRANT.
ok
us The Former Pastor of the General Gi
,st HIS Tictcs Of the Nan on Horseback.
le Rev. DR.. J. p. Newman who is to lectl