The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1883-08-02
LETTERS FROM the PEOPLE.
SPICY LETTER FROM DAKOTA


The Boosted Northern Pacific Countr,
Decided Superiority Of Southeastern
Minnesota-1He Butalo-Stealing d
Colonel-1he Inevitable Neeospape,-
The Drouth-Land. Grab6ers.
ELLENDALE, Dickey Co., ID. T., July, 1883.
EDITOR ADvANCE:--From one ex-
treme to another has been my expert
ence since leaving Mobiles county last
spring and 1 long for the golden mean
that is to he found in Southwestern
Minnesota. This is naturally Il dry
country aud North Dakota is having q
general dry time of IT making it doubly
so here. Rain has fallen occasionally
during the season but it was like feed.
ing an elephant with spoon.
Like others before me. the moro
travel the more am convinced Of the
superiority of Southwestern Minnesota,
and particularly Mobiles county, over
other sections OF the west and north.
west. The day is not far distant whel,
this fact will become more generally
known and the result is very evident.
l am pleased to see the rapid strides
She is making to-day toward the front
us Il business centre, a thing | always
predicted for that county even under
its Ncst adverse circumstances. No
where have yet seen vegetation Of AL
kinds reach the standard Of that coun-
try. Putting it 1T 100, the nearest ap.
proach t" it have met with yet might
be put at -. and I have seen 10 poo,
counties, 20 bad lands and The like
but good tiilahle sol; in counties that
are being rapidly settled and priced fol
their richness hy these who compare
them with the Atlantic States and who
are in ignorance Of the superiority 81
Southwestern Minnesota. With the
difficulties Of pioneering passed. She
has bat to sail onward and upward to a
position She WAS destined to fill from
the beginning.
This country lies mostly west of the
jim River and is in lie southern part
OF North Dakota. 1t is settling rapidly
with class Of energetic people, as is
proved 10y the number of towns spring
ing into existence on all sides. The
face Of the country is very pretty but
possesses very few natural curiosities
| might mention one of dry lake
''emrtying' into 4 dry river with {:
natural ~ turnpike at the mouth OF
the river leaving space enough to lei
the water, if there Eyer was any, pas:
under the bridge, which like the water
is not there. The prairits here art
strewn with the bones of buffalo OF
other days, ard tramping over the pr;.i
rie alone Ole is II equertly startled into
casting about hln 1oy d tree by sudden
ly encuun,e'jng the skull with horn:
complete Of a menstrous old bull tina
srn.e lienu has taken the pains to sticl
iutu the glound in such IL way as t.
give it the appearance Of pitching Al
you. The eye sockets glare at you will
Il viciousness that seems real and yol
imagine him in all his fierce glory, will
thousands ut lis heels, rushing ma,ll,
beneath you! feet aud you involuntaril,
turn ald make tor the nearest claim
shanty to find that your lair has as
summed an wright position. But he il
nearly extinct: His DnEes have be
come al article of commerce, his skel
eton ''in b"ny whiteness" gl!tters il
nntulal enemy, man. and us Thoughts
I:I\S t:iSGt isIoo li'AO'Sh tt:I SO'
it.l sorry for him and crawl ont OF th
s!!;"ty and go aud pick up the skull
and place it in soEle favored spot us
mark to shoot at.
Scme twenty miles west of here ar,
the Dakota Hills and occasionally
h;lfalo is seen but has SO far evade,
capture Betw, en- ilere and the Hill
IS the battle ground where general {
Twelve hundred lodges uf Sioux tha
| Iiat! been driven out Of Minnesota Il
| :ht time of the massacre in 1852.
! The prOverbiul gGaileauiliveness g
tl'r American is proved here us else
where, as he rusl:ts in 10y the hundred
builds towns and railroads and seem
to DEFY nature's course aud will prob
ably change l!er course here as has bee
done before in dvier countries than this
This is Il very pyettlly situated town
fifteen months old, with IL population
of about 900. It's the present terluillll
OF the G. NJ. H. st. r., and is bein
boulned to an extent that makes tn
lowsoiEg foreigner stare and retire il
tie BACKGROUND for fear Of being ru
over.
| With an eye to business the averag
American occasionally plays Il trick o.
his brother, us was Illustrated in til
case OF two towns here on the 4th q
July this year. Grand Rapids or til
| Jim river propoS. Il to celebrate an
| hired Il colonel somebody nf Fargo t
| speak ON the occasion. I.aMourt, +isll
| miles below, Il town of six weeks
growth, being unable to secure u speak
er fvr their celebration, proposed t
have this same colonel by hook U
crook, and us neither is Il railroad tow
i couple OF representatives Of Lid
Moure induced the driver, who was t
m 1T the speaker at the train, to brin
him to their town and Say nothing,
giving him an enormous fee" I'll
SPEAKER arrived in the latter town i
coed style and delivered Il spread eagl
spttch thinking I'LL the time he was Il
t e fermtr town. and all went merr
t, the end. But the next day when t.,
nick htcame known to the other tow
-ah! here | must lay down my pei
We,st>r himself is an utter failure al
my pen tails t1on my grasp in despair
Every town throughout this n,rtt
west has its newspaper, 40 matter no,
small the town or how young. III,
paper springs into existence with til
town. lively, newsy aud energetic, 1t
publican in politics in every instanc
yet encountered. Energetic as the
are, they are kept under by the part
lash using the stereotyped defense {
ridicnle of liberality and independenc
in politics.
Crops in this country show the effect
of drouth. Small grain is heading OF,
very short; corn locks reasonably wei
if the chance it has had is taken int
consideration. Nine-tenths of til
crops here are sod crops rs this counti
is but little better than u year old rs
settlement. A good deal Of the land
held by spectators or land-grabbe1
under the pre-. emption law, one mau.
one case heard of, holding thirty-fi,
quarter sections. another 100 tree claim
and so on. to such All extent that it
rumOred that Uncle Sam talks of SEM
ing detective to look after his il
terests.
The ADVANCE is q welcome visit,
and helps to while away many an ho,
that would be tedious without it.