Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1883-09-29
The New North Vest.
Special Correspondence.


/ have just meta disguised English
man, all the way from "Lunnonf
originally, but more recently from
Fargo, whose population he pp-
nounces s'the bloodiest lot of blavst'
ed thieves outside the penitentisry. /"
And well might our English friend
proclaim his disgust at Fargo and
all Fargoans, for he had pus up at
the wrong hotel and been robsed so
thoroughly that he hadn't apparel
enough left to wad a gun. But
Fargo is one of the shortest towns
of all these communities of smart
people, and she proposes to prosper
in spite of the bitter opposition that
she constantly encounters, not only
from her sister Moorhead, over the
way, but from the outlying towns
for miles and miles away, which are
green with envy over the successful
career of this dominant city Of the
Red River Valley. Containing now
population of more than 10000,
Fargo is simply in its swaddling
clothes, SO far as the trade of the
region is concerned, for it is surely
destined to be one of the largest and
most important commercial points
in the whole Northwestern county.
Here is the absolute basin of this
vast and fertile valley of the Red
River. whose products are to con-
tribute no small share Of the worlds
stock of provender. Nor is the
wonderful fertility of this valley any
new discovery, since the Hudson
Bay company, in conjunction with
the English and Canadian fur COM
panies, planted their colonies and
reaped their rich harvests from this
very soil almost century ago. The
rise, progress, and downfall of these
colonies forms a terrible chapter Of
the cupidity that plunged these
companies into war with each
other and the annals of the West
ern border are black with the saw
agery that was invoked upon all
sides to make the warfare more
sanguinary and the victory more
bloody. Here extending from south
to north for $50 miles, and from
west to east from 40 to so miles, is
one vast field for the production OF
wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat. rye,
potatoes, and garden vegetables,
entirely unexcelled by any equal
area of country in all this wide
world. And these broad acres are
alto be utilized at once and they are
to pay handsomely for their cultiva-
ton, for there are five and fifty
millions of our own mouths to feed,
to say nothing of the moiety that
must go to the closely-peopled
countries of the old world.
Moorhead, to which reference has
been made, is on the Minnesota side
of the Red River, and has a popula-
tion in point of numbers to suit the
convenience of its most reputable
liars. Commercially it is not want
ing in any of the attributes of smart
mes that characterizes its sister
city of Fargo, and as distributing
point has exactly the same facilities.
The town has God-forsaken look,
it's streets being solely devoted to
the nurturing of sea of black
muck that is too thick for navigable
purposes and too thin for pedestrian
or vehicular purposes. The foot
prints of the inevitable Yankee,
however, are seen on every hand,
for the school house and the church
and the newspaper stand out in con-
spicuous prominence in connection
with the mania for real estate specu-
lation. Like Fargo it is no place
for drones, and the man who expects
to sit down with his hands in his
own pockets instead of other peo-
pies, will be very likely to be sat
down upon and sent home.
In my travels thus far through
Dakota | have been able to gather
up some impressions of the country
and its people that would seem to
demand abrief comment. And first,
the laboring man, as such is at de-
cided discount everywhere. His
living is high, while his wages are
low. This comes of the terrific in