Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-05-16
Another Favored Spot Where its
All No. |, Hard.
THE FERTILE GOOSE RIVER VAL
LEY.
With Some OF Its Advantages and
Flourishing Prospects.
THE GROWTH OF A PHENOMENAL
TOWN.
The Progress Already Made by May
vile, and the Good Work But
Just Begun.


am writing this letter seated at my WIN
dow and looking ont upon as fair landscape
and as thriving town as heart could wish
for or mind conceive Of. There is a sort OF
strange fascinating about ones home which
often colors that which is repulsive to a
stranger, with the roseate hue. We are apt
to think our town and our home landscape
perfect But when we enter strange place,
when we search town through, examine
landscape ore and ore and find nothing ex-
cept what pleases and satisfies us we are apt
10 remember such place and to recur to our
visit with delight. Such has been and will
be I fancy my experience with Mayville.
came here from Fargo to
see what there was up here
and, after experiencing, can truly say 'the
half has not been told ms" found Mayyille
about sixty miles from Fargo, on the Cassel-
ton branch of the Northern Pacific railroad,
and ascertaiued it to be located at the geo.
graphical center of Trail county. The coun-
try through which I passed, en- route from
Casselton, was one unbroken stretch OF prairie,
the Goose river was still better pleased with
the topography. The surface became more
rolling, pools OF standing water became less
freauent-theu disappeared altogether, and at
last The monotony of smooth earth, meeting a
smoother sky in endless expanse,
was broken by the belt of timber
which marks the course of the
river looming up dark, sullen and grant
against the evening sky. The bed of the
stream at this point is some forty feet below
the level OF the prairie, which gives fne
drainage.
As we crossed the river and turned the bend
the beautiful town OF Mayville came into
view, and was, as have already said, vey
favorably impressed with II. The river here
forms a seni-clrcle, facing north, within
which, and surrounded by 1t on three sides,
are the buildings of the Grandin stock farm,
and the embryo city of Msyville. found the
streets very muddy, for heavy rain had just
ceased falling, but there were good sidewalks
everywhere, aud I experienced no difficulty in
going wherever wished. The two principal
business streets appear to be Front street,
facing the railroad track, and street, at
right angles to the track and intesecting Front
street Just opposite the passenger depot
Front street is built up for distance OF two
blocks while B street has three blocks bIilt
nearly solid on each side with good subs:an-
tial business structures, while number of
business buildings are found upon The cross
streets.
noticed as I came into town that there
was an unusual amount of activity upon the
S treets aud Ia the stores for go small town,
especially in so muddy time, tut when |
learned that the Goose river country had been
settled for several years before the road came
in, Ito considerable extent,) it accounted for
\ -sanr bat
SO fine belt OF country should be so long
without road. In this instance the rail
road was not the pioneer. When the country
along the main line of the Northern Pacific
was settled as far back as one would desire to
be located from railway and desirable home
steads could not be obtained except by pur-
chase of second or third parties, the extreme
ly fertile and attractive lands of the
GOOSE RIVER VALLEY
began to attract settlers, all seeming to real
iza that so rich aud desirable region must
very soon demand a road. This point is as l
learn only twenty-five miles from the Red
river, so that those who were content to await
nearer outlets could and did establish them
selves here a number Of years ago and by
occurring choice locations have rendered them
selves wealthy, even by the rise in real estate.
the best and most productive counties In Da.
kota. 1t is all clear land. There are no Dogs
or marshes-no barren sand ridges or alkali
knobs, unproductive and worthless, no rough
hill eides, or rocky lauds-no swamps without
timber and valueless. 1t is all clear, clean,
productive land, save the actual bed of the
two rivers-the Goose and Red, and but for
these aud the space occupied by the heavy
bodies OF timber which line their banks, it
could be encircled by furrow, and every
square inch OF its rich. productive and incom-
parable laud be broken up in one vast field.
The county is thirty by forty-eight miles in
extent, with its eastern END thirty miles long.
resting on the Red river, and contains
nine hundred and txenty-ihree thousand
(923,000) acres. OF this acreage
some forty thousand is timber land,
leaving over eight hundred and eighty thou
sand acres of land Immediately available for
agricultural purposes. l find the timber to
be all of it good, and especially so is that body
near Msyville. Tall giant trees of elm, ash,
oak, maple, Eastwood, cottonwood and hoy
elder rear their lofty forms, presenting a very
attractive spectacle In summer and splendid
barrier IL winter to screen the town and the
farmers homes from tbs fury of the blast
There are at present three great lines of rail-
road crossing this county from north to south.
all leading 10 eastern markets and bringing
erery acre OF THIS elgnt nundreu anu e)g hty
thousand OF Gear prairie into direct commu-
nication with au available market.
1t will thus be seen that Traill county in its
entirety is opened audiavailable for settlement,
aud when one comes 10 review the soil and
crop tests of different sections of the county,
1t does not take very shrewd observer to
predict fully developed and wealthy county
at no very distant day. In the eastern portion
of the county where the Grandin Bros. were
the pioneers, and opened up large farm be-
fore the road came aud when they had to boat
their wheat to Fargo, both the quality OF soil
and the yield OF wheat has answered all eX-
pectaaons. The rich. deep vegetable deposit
varying from one to four feet in depth, under
laid with subsoil scarce less rich, open,
light and porous, rapidly absorbing
the moisture which falls upon its surface and
as rapidly drying on the surface under sun
and wind, where the grass and grain roots
penetrate to depth unknown in other soils.
and draw moisture from this extreme denth'
though the surface be dry, gives such soil.
as all cereals, and especially !wheat, are well
adapted to.
RICH SOIL.
This same richness of surface soil and depth
of subsoil, as are found contiguous TO the
Red river, exist in the central and western
portions, with the exception that as you leave