Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-07-29
The New Northwest.

L. f. fTenoergast IN Harper's Magazine for August
Far away in the northwest, as far bevond ST.
Paul as st. Paul is beyond Chicago, stands Win
nipeg, the capital of Manitoba and the gateway
OF new realm about to jump from its present
state Of tracklesS prairies, as yet almost devoid
OF settlement. to the condition Of our most pros
porous western states. Here bounded on the
south by Dakota and Montana. west by the
Rocky mountains. north and east by the great
Peace river and the chain of lakes and rivers
that stretch from Lake Athabasca to Winnipeg,
lies vast extent of country, estimated to con-
tain 300 900 600 acres, or enough to make eight
such states as Iowa or Illinois, Not all of It is
fertile, it is true, yet 1t may be safely said that
twO-thrds OF 1t are available for settlement and
cultivation.
In fact, the extent Of available land in these
new countries is apt to be underestimated for
II the traveller does not see prairies waist deep
in the richest grass, he is apt to set them down
as barren lands; and il he crosses marsh he at
once stamps it as land too wet for cultivation
Those. however, who remember the early days
of Illinois and Iowa have seen lands then passed
by as worthless swamps now held at high prices
as the best OF meadOw-land. This is a land of
rolling praries and table-lands, watered by
navigable rivers and not devoid of timber
It's climate Is hardly such as one would Sc
lect for lazy mans paradise. for the winters
are long and cold, and the summers short and
Hereby hot, though their shOrtness is in some
measure compensated for by the great length
Ofthe midsummer days Nevertheless, it is a
land where wheat and many other grains and
root crops attain their fullest perfection. and is
We'll fitted to be the home of vigorous and
healthy race. Manitoba. of which we hear SO
much now Is but the merest fraction of this ter
rltOry. and, lying in the southeast corner, is as
yet the only part accessible by rail-
Over this vast region and indeed all that lies
between it and the Arctic ocean, for two hun
dred years the Hudson Bay company exercised
territorial wi q fau
practically unknown except as preserve of
fur-bearng animals; and prior to 1870 it was
hard to find any information as to it's material
resources or its value. The company discOur-
aged every attempt that threatened to interfere
with the fur-bearing animals or the Indians who
trapped them; still it became known that some
OF this vast region was not utterly worthless for
other purposes; the soil looked deep and rich in
many places. and in the western part the buffalo
found winter subsistence. for the
SHOWS were seldom deep. and in the
pure dry air and hot autumnal sun the
grasses, instead of whitening. dried into
natural hay. The early explorers, too. had
brought back reports of noble rivers, Of fertile
prairies, of great beds of coal of belts of fine
timber But what cared the company for these?
The rivers, 1t is true, were valuable as being the
homes OF the otter. the mink and other fur
bearing animals. and furnished fish for their EN-.
ployes. and highways for their canoes. For the
rest they had no use. At last i'm 1870 seeing
from these fertile regions, the Hudson Bay COM
pany sold their territorial rights to Canada
which now began to see its way to railroad
across the continent to link the colonies from
Nova Scotia TO British Columbia
Now it is evident that the growth of this
region VIII be rapid, probably more rapid, in
deed. than that OF our own western states that
lie beyond the lakes; tor in them there had been
slow but steady increase Of population from q
comparatively early day, and when the railroads
began to grdron the country from the great
lakes to the Rocky Mountains, the states east of
the Missouri already possessed q considerable
| population.
In the new northwest, however we see land
that has remained isolated from the rest Of the
world; untrodden except by the Indian or the
trapper, suddenly thrown open for settlement,
and on terms az liberal as those offered by our
government or land-gran railroads.
The Canadian Pacific railway is already COM
pleteo 100 miles west of Winnipeg, which Is al
ready connected with our northwestern railroads
and 1t Is hoped, not without reason that another
ooO miles VIII be completed toward the noun
talnS the present year. To build two or even
three miles day across such a country as this
division traverses would be no extraordinary
feat In modern railroading. Branches, too
| north and south, will be rapidly constructed
ate 1t. Now 1t seems as II nothing short of some
| financial panic. some gross laundering or stu
pidity, could delay the construction of the rail
road or check the flood of immigration thai
| must surely pour In.
Can 1t be that, with the government Canada
enjoys. one as free and fully as democratic a
our own, the shadow Of monarchy will delay
the occupation Of this land by other races thar
that Of the Briton?
Here we shall have chance to zee how
Canadian enterprise compares with our own
The Northern Pacific railway has it, agents q,