The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1882-01-06
INTERESTING FACTS.

was
You can talk of your democracy
or any other 'cracy, or any kind of
political rubbish, but the cause of
your prosperity is that you have Il
great deal of land for Il very few
people," is what Thomas Carlyle said
to the Rev. DR.. Cuyler, of Brooklyn.
1t is true. Cheap land is the secret
of American success {; and land is
cheap in the United States because
there is great deal of it in proper.
ton to the population. The gross
area of the United States is 1908, 1884
square miles. That is three times the
area of al western Europe, three
times the aggregate area of Ill Euro
pean countries excluding Russia,
Greece, and the Scandinavian and
Balkan peninsulas. This includes
the 1890 square miles of Alaska,
but, deducting that, the total land
area of the United States is 1910, 900
miles. The total water surface, in.
GLIDING rivers and small streams,
lakes, and ponds, is $500 square
miles. The coast waters, bays, CULTS,
sounds, and the like cover 5000
square miles. The gross area is,
therefore, 3.o25 200 square miles.
After giving several columns of
valuable information relative to our
mineral resources, agricultural and
manufacturing industries it strikes
Minnesota and Dakota as follows:
Minnesota and Dakota, the first a
state and the latter a territory, lie
side 10y side in the region generally
termed the northwest" and, as
their characteristics are very much
alike, they will be treated of here in
connection with each other. Mime
sofa, having IN area of 1881 square
miles, is bounded on the north by the
British possessions, on the east by
Wisconsin and Lake Superior, on the
south by Iowa, and on the west by
Dakota. Dakota Is almost twice as
large, having an area of $50, 1852 square
miles. 1t is nearly square, and eX-
tends from Minnesota to Montana on
the west, and from British America
to Nebraska on the south. Mime
tota and Dakota are the sources of so
many rivers that their drainage is
perfect. In the tirSt-named state
there are myriads of small lakes,
covering, it is estimated, more than
500 900 acres, while rivers and
streams are equally numerous. The
Mississippi, the father of waters,
rises in this state. and this. rs
well as many others of the rivers
afford excellent water. power by rea,
son of their frequent rapids and falls.
The climate is free from malarial and
kindred diseases. The air is fine and
dry and affords remarkable relief to
persons suffering from weak lungs,
asthma, etc. The summers are very
agreeable, and notwithstanding the
open character of the country little
, inconvenience is felt from heat even
during the warmest months, and the
winters, though cold, are generally
bracing and pleasant, and not dis
agreeable or unhealthy. The seasons
are of about the same duration as in
Pennsylvania and New York. The
surface of the country is generally
rolling, particularly in the southern
portions. Toward the north and
along the rivers there are some ele-
vations and great plains which are
marvels of the world as wheat-produc-
ing sections.
Southwestern Minnesota and eastern
Dakota combine many conditions
favorable to settlers possessed ofOnly
moderate means. The soil is unsur-
passed either in fertility or the varie.
ty of its products. The water is
clear, rure, and abundant. The
climate has SO long been celebrated
| for it's healthfulness that thousands
of invalids from other localities annu-
ally seek its invigorating influences.
Fuel, both coal and wood, is cheap
and abundant. The market facilities
are ample for the present demands of
the country, and are extended and
multiplated as rapidly as increasing
settlements render new towns, new
roads, and new warehouses desirable
The railroad companies have been in
advance of the people, and, appreciat.
ing the abundant resources of the
country, have run their lines in all
directions, even in advance of the
cabins of the settlers, that they might
be prepared to aid in developing the
country and be prepared to receive
| the business which is sure to arise.
A large Immigration has lately been
attracted to this section, and for the
past two or three years the special
encouragement which this immigra.
ton has received from the companies
owning large tracts of land here has
added greatly to its volume. So large
a number of settlers have established
themselves in this locality that it is
no longer matter of speculation OF
conjecture as to what may be ac.
complished in the way of securing
homes and farms, and nothing is
haZarded in saying that with industry
and economy any man may in "a few
years acquire such a farm property rs
will secure him competency for all
| time to come.
No one who has not himself seen
the long railway trains crowded with
| immigrants and the immense cara
vans of cOverd wagons vending their
way in all directions over the western
prairies can have any adequate con
ception of the proportions to which
this immigration movement has at.
tanned. Vast as it Is now, it is con-
stantly increasing, and soon there
will be no desirable portion OF the
great west that will not have been
occupied by sturdy yeomanry.
During the year 1881, in Dakota
alone 2,673,333 acres of land were
occupied by actual settlers. Giving
an average of 100 acres to each farm,
we have I6,700 farms started in a
single year in country where all the
settlements prior to 1879 would not
aggregate that amount. There are
practically no longer any frontier
settlements. The immigrant of to-
day pushes out to the unoccupied
lands, where he establishes his home
and begins the development of his
farm. The tide of immigration rolls
past him, and long before he feels
that he is familiar with his new sur
roundings busy multitude have ad
vanced beyond him. The railroad
and telegraph, the school house and
church, the postoffice and the restless
enterprise of commerce crowd upon
him, and he feels that all the appli
ances of modern civilization have
either preceded him or come with
him to his new home.
The soil of Minnesota and Dakota,
which is rich and deep, is capable fol
producing in endless varieties nearly
everything raised elsewhere. Its
principal products, however, are
wheat, corn, flax, barley, oats. buck.
wheat, root crops, and hardy fruits.