The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-08-11
OUR WESTERN CORRESPONDENCE.
Letter from Dakota.
CARIIoS, BARNES CO., |
DAKoTAYJnly 20, 1881. 3
10 the Editor Of tbs ExrxHrRIss

little Oh my pcreonAl III anu
about isEprairae coontfg9 Itscame
about ,inlthi waysi soonlsfter my ar
rival Mr.. johnson who locates all kinds
of land claims for settlers and others,
had an excursion in view up In the !
region of the Sheyenne. River, for one
point, and the. Goose River for another.
An invitation was extended me to be
one of the party. Being fresh from ia
miliar scenes, and wanting something
in the pastures new" line, accepted.
As the, trip contemplated three or four
days and nights, arrangements were
made as FOR regular picnic. Food,
blankets, wood, mosquito netting, teth-,;
.ering rope, for the mules, water ing,
oats, -etc.-as regular outfit for the ex-
cursion. Starting at noon one fine day,
we laid o1r .cbnrse northwest toward
the sheyepne River, In Range 81 west
Township I43, drive OF twenty-five
miles across the prairie, without devia-
tion, unless caused by what are termed
coolies, low I water-courses made. by
spring rains and SHOWS, but which dry
up in summer and become the meadows
of this country, producing two or three
tons per acre of the most excellent hay
+ Arriving on the tracts of Government
land, the land locker began his exam-i
nations, riding across and up and down
and back again, looking for marsh or
low land, stone or other undesirable
tobiectsi on homestead or free claim.
One after another were rejected on the
east side of the Sheyenne. We essayed
to cross that innocent looking stream.
Upon arrival at the bluff overlooking
the valley, one could scarcely discern
the narrow thread of water seemingly
only q few rods below. made the re-
mark that we should be across in ten
minutes. It was suggested, "Perhaps
we will" Then commenced the de-
scent from the, prairie level. 1t was
not possible 10 go down the incline,
although it looked easy enough. We
| wound around deep. ravine with q
fringe of stunted oak that looked tanta-
lizingly cool to me, after that ride with
out seeing anything larger than blade
of grass. Down, down, we went; it
seemed forever before we reached the
valley proper. Then came a long stretch
of bottom. land, with no sign of the
1 river, which we knew lay In the dis
| lance. A look back up the bluff and up
and down the valley gave me some en-
larged views of its magnitude. Not less
than one hundred and fifty or two hun
| dred feet we'had descended, tt taking
noS less than thirty minutes, the route
being far from straight line. A short
drive brought us to the bed Of the river.
1t looked about forty feet wide and a
foot deep, but the bank was six feet
straight down; so, OF course, no team
could get down, or if down could never
be gotten up again. In vain we essayed
to cross az different points mp and down,
driving through weed and grass fully
six feet high; but to no purpose-it
| could not be done. Mr.. Johnson's sharp
| eyes discovered settlers shanty down
a mile or so, whereupon we moved upon
him and found q young man, with his
| wife, two children, team, wagons, and
| the usual. lonesome surroundings of
these hardy pioneers. Water dipped
| from q cooley must satisfy man and
beast. It is as hard as Pharaoh's heart,
but it. Is the best where there are no
| wells or ciSterns, andSbese luxuriess ere
not conmon.s ) Cur HomAsteader proved
to be an acquaintance of Mr.. J., who
| was informed that there was no crossing
that brook short of 'Abbott's, not less
than ten miles below-upon which in
teresting information he decided that
he did not want to GO over into Range
SO as much as he did before!si s3HP 4
1t was blazing hot in the valley !;
therefore we hastened out of it 70 the
tprairie above. We had music getting
it,-r W. erof ont q nd M alkad and thosa
4 two strong mules had all they could do
to get up the ravines and steep ascents.
The grass was slippery. making 1t very
Idifficult for me to get foothold, but we
finally made It, after q half-honr's hard
work. Imagine coming out Of q fiery
4 furnace into balmy breeZes, with land
in sight at every hand, and you will
see how we appreciated the change. No
more Sheyenne Valley for me, 1 have
had quantum sufficit. By this time !
began to feel that this kind of picnic
was getting monotopous, apd 1 W lshed
I had Stayed in Carlton, or had stayed
in Ohio, or-anything but the present
situation. Night drawing on, we
2 camped. The mules were allowed 20
II Ego to grass" after taking off harness
and lettering out, o fire built, camp
kettle flied with water, tea made, edi-
bles produced from he'commissary de,
partInent, and supper under way at 8: :3t
p. M, and light enough to see print
By the way. the sun set at 6:05 that
evening, and twilight hung on till nine
Next morning timed old Sol and founc
him with his weather eye upon us al
exactly a :36Twhich gives us a lopH
day. After supper the mules were
brought up and tied to the buggy anG
fed oats. We made our bed out OF robe
blankets, coats, etc., erected our netting
and turned in. And none too soon
for down upon uscame sthousand mil
lion Dakota mosquitoes, upon us anC
the mules, which were blanketed a
4 once for fear of stampede. They wer'
perfectly ravenous. OF course If I wer,
TO say they were as large as Van Am
burgA q Frost's elephant exhibited II
Wellington last month, with bills a
long as said elephants trunk, neithe
4 YOU nor your readers would believe me
but, on the word OF a truthful man, the.
1 were, and even larger. They brok
through the netting and took poun'
I chunks of flesh out of me, drew m.
blood by the gallon all night long, unit
what was left of me could have been pu
into a peck measure. As for johnson
and the mules, / regret to say there wa
as little left Of them by morning.
/, Not one minute OF sleep from o to
A. M, when what was left of us brok
camp and took new departure, nearl.
, due north, for towns lac, 147 and 14S-
thanking Heaven for life TO get ava,
from the Sheyenne. johnson calls
s'bad medicine" ti
/. Another day or two Of hard drivin
brought us up into la without his see
ing any desirable land for location.
was wet or stony, with too many lake
r. or too much meadow; but finally. j
: 14s, only fifty miles from Carlton, h
found something that suited all around
D concluded to take that, aud did so.
v believe he was wanting tree clair
and q homestead, besides q homestea
4 for rnusalf-Which WAS dnlv selecre