The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1882-08-04

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magnificent grain field does not lie wholly In
It's richness, however. Its structure Is pecu-
lisrly favorable for the transportation Of its
product to the seaboard. Two hundred and
fifty miles Of rail transit brings the Red
River wheat 10 Duluth, al the head Of Lake
Superior, from whence there Is water carriage
oil the way to New York harbor. Dakota
seems to have been fitted by nature for
vast, permanent wheat field. The condi- |
tons of climate and soil exist for producing |
the best grade Of wheat and the largest aV-
erage crops harvested for Q succession Of
years in the United States, except, perhaps |
Washington Territory.
From Fargo to Bismarck by rail Is days
journey, the distance being one hundred and
ninety seven miles, and the road running al
most as the crow flies. For about forty miles
the country IL fat, and the landscapes seen
from the car windows would be tame were 1t
not for the vast sweep of vision, which pro.
duces upon the mind something OF the ex-
hilarating effect of the view from the deck Of
o ship At sea. All objects OH the horizon, the
homesteader's shsnty, the straw stack, or the
plowmen at work with their teams, stand out
sharply against the sky and seem magnifcd
to more than twice their real size. Here are
no trees save the belts Of alders and cotton
woods that fringe the Cheyenne and the
Maple rivers, two pretty streams that wander
here and there over the plain as If ln doubt
where to 60, and finally, after doubling again
and again in their tracks, manage TO find the
Red River. They serve but scsntily the pur-
pose Of drainage, however, for when ira
versed Dakota in early May Qss2), many
square miles of land near their banks were
submerged by the spring rains and thousands
of acres of wheat fie Ids were converted into
lakes aud ponds. The farmer suffers small
detriment from these foundations, however,
for the sun and wind working together rarely
fail to dry the ground In time for blowing.
Casselton, twenty miles west of Fargo, is a
smart little market town of perhaps one
thousand inhabitants. Beyond, the country
gradually changes from fat TO rolling prairie
and is much more agreeable to the eye. A
little hamlet, living upon buying wheat and
selling goods, Is found every ten or fifteen
miles. Each aspires to be city, and each
ridcules the pretensions of its neighbors I'M
mercifully. Tower City boasts Of Its arte-
sian we'll and Of 1t prohibition ordinance,
which keeps out the saloon, that curse Of
frontier towns. 1t has weekly newspaper.
So has Valley City, which got downtoo close
to a stream and was flooded In the May
freshet. The Tower City editor tainted his
| confrere of the neighboring town with being
forced to "paddle to his grub-counter in
wagon-box." Whereupon the Valley City
editor remarked In his next issue that 1t
was true that his place was not Is "dry" as
Tow err City aud he hoped it never would be.
Both these active, ambitious little settle
ments are surpassed in population by James
town, which has q pretty situation on high
sbsle shelf In bend of the James or Dakots
river, 10 an smphitheatre formed by SWEEP
OF bold green bluffs that look like the glacis
of some immense fortifcation. The place
used to be called Jimtown, but has quits
outgrown Its nickname. 1t has perhaps hf
teen hundred inhabitants, and already sup
ports daily paper. tn older communities,
town of ten thousand with thickly popula
ted country tributary to 1t will barely sus
tain a little daily, but In the far West tn
daily appears about as soon as the church
steeple. How these sheets live is tnyster.
to journalists. They are probably sustained
by merchants and real estate owners as al
appliance for "booming" stown. To "boom'
a town In Dakota is an art requiring it'll
,, money, q good deal of printers ink, and II
end of push and cheek. Dropping the quo
tstion marks, for the word ir Its variou
forms Is one of the most common in north
western phraseology and answers equal
we'll for noun or verb, the object OF
boom is to attract settlers, advance the pric
of real estate, aud promote speculation
Fargo is said TO be the best-boomed town i
Dakota. As specimen Of skillful booming
; here is paragraph from the circular OF
Fargo real estate operator:
o ave have anything you want, and at an
@ price. We can sell you a City or Countr
Home, and If you ever come near our office
|. | we will do 1t. The preachers will look ate
your moral and spiritual welfare and we wi
U take care of your temporal affairs; and If 70
8 come our way, IL shall never be said, when
i final settlement Is had, that you were hk
= one of the foolish virgins of old who wrappe
Y her talent In napkin and sunk 1t In a wei
4 fSee New yersion.) On the contrary, yor
!. record shall be that Of the good husbandmaI
| who nut his wheat in good, rich Red Rive
soil, and 1t produced o thousand fold, and
came to rass that he, who had nothing, Ia
: more ducats than he knew what to do with
!. Another real estate dealer bursts int
v rhyme In the heading Of his announcement
d In this fashion: ....
n nNo Other Land, No Other Cline On To
! of q DDS Green Earth, Where Land III Ere
d as Church Bells Chime, Save the Land
;. Dakota Dirt. Here, For a Year of Hone
4 Toll, A Home you May Insure, And Fro
A the Black and Loamy Soil Title In II
Mature. No Money Needed Until the Ds
when the Earth Itself Provides; Until Ye
. Raise Crop, No Pay What Can You Al
y Besides ?" .#.
= Perhaps the future American poet Is
come from these breezy plains. Whether
A Is the prairie air or the prospect Of lar
!. profits on small investments, cannot 50
= but the readiness with which people in ID
AZ kota oscar into song" Is surprising.
!. jamestown has "boom" on account
a the rapid settlement Of the wheat regi'
A around II, the building Of railroad mort
r ward and the approach Of another road fro
4 the south. 1t expects to be the capital Of
:. territory Of Northern Dakota, and OF the NJ
1. State, which, IN another year, II immigrant
\. continues to come in IS rapidly IS the pr
=. cut season, will be ready for admission. I
be James River, by the way, Is mere cres
he hardly big enough to turn the wheel OF
be small fiour-mill In summer. None OF
"A Dakota streams between the Red and
"A Missouri deserve the name Of river, save