Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-11-25
cRgAr Dakota.
.,,..., description Of the lis
valley section.

.. - marked intelligence. accurate
a.t;on and reliable inpartiality OF
co srt He is familiar with the en-
-.e;on which we know as the North
nLe nd il practically at home IN every
-f ths Territory he halls from. In
pet interview Col. DOMAIN charss-
- the "magsifcent distances" Of
.Sc Won think have strayed long
from home, and must feel some
~. iost in Philadelphia? Not bit of
!. Pm like the Indian who was found
...derinc around in the woods and un-
~ IN oct back TO his camp. Some ono
100 him, 'Iniun lostr ugh, no ? he
united. Shaping himself on the breast.
hmm here! Wigwam lost" I'm here,
and II would be hard to lose me in oar
hsH of the world. You must remember
q are used to long distances in Dakota.
Oar Territory is 30 big that it is almost
4 transcontinental journey from any
where to anywhere else. From Phiia-
Ielphia to Boston would be mere step
across the street to see neighbor. Il
Is az far in a straight line from Penn
bina, ON our northern, TO Yankton, ON
oar southern border, az from New York
70 Raleigh, ". c., or from Washington
20 Ontario, Canada. By the routes we
have TO travel, q man going from the
northwestern corner of the Territory to
attend court, or the Legislature. at
Yankton, has as long a trip a. from st.
Paul TO New York, or from Philadelphia
to Mobile. As for feeling far from
home, sweet old song declares, lis
home where'er the heart Is and have
all my life paraphrased it into lis
home where'er my hats hung up On
the principle of the song. a genuine Da-
kotan ia at home wherever there 10 work
10 be done for his Territory. and that IL
lust what am In Philadelphia for now.
I'VE have by far the largest and most
important territory in all the Union.
Lay down upon a map OF the United
States, Dakota would cover every foot
of land and water from the st. Law
renee and st. Johns to the Susque-
hanna and the Schuylkiii. With her
$4,000 square miles iIf area, she ia as
large as all six New England States,
New York, New Jersey and half of
Pennsylvania, with DelaTare's three
little peach orchards and two toy SEN
at0rs thrown in. She is 10000 square
miles greater than all Great Britain,
with the Isle of Man and Mrs. Lang
n
large rs Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana
and Illineis all put together, aud,
spread out in proper shape, would al
most cover the whole vast region bound
ed by the great lakes on The north, the
Ohio on the south, the Mississippi on
the west and the AlIeghaniss on the
east. And all this mighty domain il
rich in agricultural. pastoral and min
eral resources. The bonanza wheat
fields of Dakota are the wonder and ad-
rniration of the world. The greatest
gold mine on the globe is in her
borders, and she has 5000 square
miles. whose every crag and rugged
peak is ribbed with gold and silver, cop
per, iron. lead, tin. zinc and coal. Her
horizon fenced plains, which fed mill
lioxs on millions of buffalo, will pasture
nations flocks and herds. Her popu-
lstion has grown from Ia, $50 in 1870 to
13s000 in 1880, and $4,000 in 1888, and
and tits daily and hourly increasing at
such rate as was never known before
in any region of earth. All the tales of
enohantment become commonplace be-
aide the every day realities of Dakots's
progress. Last May a town was laid
out In the wild prairie grass on Devils
Lake. One log cabin and sod stable
we're all the buildings it contained six
months ago. Today it is busy little
city, with dfty or sixty business houses,
Eve or six hotels. two fiourishinQ news
papers, car shops, steamboats, and all
the accessories of metropolitan life. A
daily newspaper outfit has Just been
shipped in, and electric lights for the
streets and public buildings are project
I'd. This ia not an exceptional case.
Fargo, the principal city IN the Terri
tory. has been almost wholly built with.
h the past four years. and hosts of your
people who have visited Us this sum
mer will admit that. in many respects,
It Is almost ~ metropolitan and
cosmopolitan as Philadelphia. We
have In Dakota 5000 miles of railroads
IN operation, and hundreds of miles in
process OF construction. We have at
least 100 thriving cities and towns, scat
tered broadcast over the pasturing
places Of yesterdays buffalo aud ante
lope. We have over 25O daily and
weekly newspapers, which compare
iavorably with any in the older regions.
We have as handsome churches and
schools as can be found in any of your
smaller cities, and we have a popula-
ton unsurpassed on earth in intelli-
Rence, energy, enterprise, public spirit
and hospitality. 1t is but seven years
and three months since Custer and his
battalion were massscred by tho Sioux
Just over our western border, and only
nree years ago savage war parties raid
q over much territory, and killed set
tiers and prospectors between the Mis-
eoun River and the Black Hills. Yet
today We nupbar over third of q mil
.on souls, and IL the present grand rush
(. forward is unchecked it is but a few
moons until We shall have our full mil
non. We have the vastest territory in
~ this new-w0rld republic, the richest
and most varied Ia its resources. the
most populous. productive and prosper
Gus now, and the fullest of glorious
Promise for the future.
The Territory 10 indefinitely too
large and unwieldy for one organization
q jurisdiction, either political or eccle-
0asti0al. A citizen Of one of our North
Western counties going to 4 convention
at Yankton or Sioux Falls, would have
% travel as far az from Philadelphia 70
u Louis. Where areas and distances
ere 20 vast, the better class of men can
not afford either the time or money to
attend conventions, and consequently
the whole machinery of politics falls
into the hands of the professional job
bars and wire pullers, who manipulate
eaucuses. mass meetings and nomina-
lions wholly and solely to benefit them
eelves. The larger the State or Terri
tory, the smaller and the worse the men
eho control its affairs- We have long
been working for the division Of orr
Territory on the forty sixth parallel Of
latitude. That woaid give Us two States
~ Territories, North and South Dakota,
each with AN area OF about 1000
square nilcs; equal to Maine,
New Hampshire, Vermont, MasaA-;
chusetts, Rhode Island. Connecticut,
New Jersey and Delaware combined.
The people Of South Dakota have re-
Gently held convention and framed
State constitution, and viii ask admis-
oiou at the coming session OF Congress.
They are entitled to statehood on every
principle OF right. justice and common
decency. They have four times the
population required under any ordi-
nance or treaty relating to admission
! Into tho Union Of portions OF the North
Western Territory or the Louisiana
purchase, and fully tvice the quota en-
otling them to a representative under
me last apportioument. But right
nFonySptr ,.~tk.v<, n -. rv.rv Aha faflx~xr~