, 1879-01-03
THE RED RIVER VALLEY.

VALLEY ClTr. Harnca Co., Dak., lee. aa.-1n
tho letter from "Our Northern Empire" In your
issue OF Nec. 81, your correspondent, in his leap
from tho fed to the James River, Ignores por-
tion ol country equal to any on tha lno Of tho
Northern Pacific Railroad; aud bricf outline OF
which may interest your readers. A. rcsidcnt
OF the section spoken Of, sllow mo To- supply
the missing link.
Tho Red River Valley Is supposed to be Thirty
u!Ics wide, lying On rthcr side of the river; yet
where It bcgtua aud where II ends no man ran
tell. Tho high, fertile taolo-'and ainks down to
tbs tie ts oaieeter NJ a' QUO ' would 70 not know b. bo vas
descending, and the change In the character Of
tho lands Ii even moro gradual. 'Rcd River
Falicy"i but kind Of popular nam1 for vast
river form but small part. For example, tho
Dalryn,pto and 0randtn farms, lYfng twcnty-one
.ni'cs from tho Red River, nre said to ba III The
heart of tho valley.
at tho crossing Of the river BY thu Northern
Pacific Kaitroal, With tim aoil Of tho prairie
vest It Is souud that Hhite the TOP 10Y At the
former point Is heaTy muck, suhsolled By a
deel, Ia . dark, sandy loan With ! suoaoll Of
yellow clay, capable OF good wheat crops In
itscif, FROM fifteen to twenty feet In depth:
Era7e', 4 Tho b!aa ciay oi the lied River bottom:
fhe pFairc soil Is practically inexhausttblc, and
Tor wheat raising Is superior to any land OF
which the top soil Is muck. Tnc summers arc
ms yellow clay retains enough moi.tare %
mature crups even IN tine Of drought. During
tho past summer for nine wceks while tho
grain was growing not drop Of rain fell tn
as rs. s4op vi seas aSsa rom a as fs % sn
through bout the county has averaged rs bushels
To- tue arse, while upon laua longer under
cultivation the IT,, yield has been ons.ta!rd
OF Cass County. Z ah'nl WV feet ahovs the
sea lcyei, wnllc Ut Valley CITY, on tho sheycnne,
tiftY-seyen mtiea west tho elevation Y but ,loo
The psHe,, climate hs the s1s .2s veqt
warm, whllo Tho winters arc OF about the. same
average temperature as tu Now England aud
WiscouAln, With this difference: thai. owing to
the drynesa and rarity of tho air tn Dakota ..ons
place with tho mercury u ~ deg. below zero
tAau in either of tito former places when zero Is
| reached. The watar tn tho wells OF tho river.
bottom throughout Eastern Dako.s y bad.
owlus 10 It's ',npregnatiuD with vegetable sub
stances; yet the Rivera arc pure, aud the bcat OF
water upon the pEatEtcs eau b bad by tapp!us
tho gravel streak between the yellow aud bluu
clay at an average depth OF twenty feet:
| Neither railroad nor GOveTnucNt lands can he
had dlgectly from tho Government or the rail-
!oad III Cass County except at the extreme
q The soan limit. ~ sials. ts
Government within fron two to 1--we miles from
tho track,-cach citizun being enabled t. secure
| a4U acrca by actual settlement without expense,
save tho Land O'flce fecs,-c!9hty fcrea, as i
homestead and lGO AcTes under the Timber
Culture act.
10 ob,a!n railroad lands directly from tho
Northern facihc CompanMfu Barnes County Il
Il necessary IT, 20 back httscn Or twenty iu!lcl
| where Tho lauds are yet vacant Gnd ian be puF.
chased for from Il TO IS per-scse 10 the bonda
Of the Company, taken al par, AZ the.e bouds
are worth but Is ceuis on the dollar, the cash
price Of the lands a1e 10 the vicinity of so Del
acre. Secondhand failruad lands nearer the
| trpck aud stations can be had for from q. 80 Il
80 per AcEt, Oh time.
Tho smaller glains, such u nheat, oats, ana
barley, eau be s4lsed tu abundance Oh ANY ol
these lauds, whllo potatoes aud vegetables gen
orally yield ~ we'll ~ IN A1y part Of tnt United
btatek- Corn IL yat thing 10 b. tested, though
ln thn eheycnue bottom II has bcen expert
snente4 upon With good sllrcesA. Market fol