St. Paul daily globe., 1884-04-05
ST. PAUL NEWS.
EMIGRATION NOTES.
Observations on Manitoba Train
Bound for the Red River
Valley.
An Intelligent WeIl-to-do Lot of Settlers
CreditabIe to Any Section.

An Intelligent Well-to-do Lot of Settlers
Creditable to Any Section.
The Union depot ST. Paul, in the busy
season represents "clearing house, into
which everything going to the great north
west must pass, or be deposited by the cas-
tern trunk lines, to be again taken up by the
great railway outlets which begin here and
point toward and terminate in the British
possessions in the far north and the Pacific
in the west At times surging thronging
mass Of humanity, all destined for the ''new
northwest are congregated in and about the
depot and it is by no means an easy mat
ter for the practiced eye
of the reporter to attempt to sort and classify
this mixture-to pick out the No. 1 hard,
the actual bonn tfde pioneer who comes to
build a prominent future home for himself
and posterity, from the chaff and dross, in
the form Of adventurers, spectators, defunct
professors, and all kinds and classes of
hangers on, who always follow in the wake
and sometimes take the lead, being veritable
Moses, in the advance of emigration-this
problem has been frequently stated, but
never solved, perhaps because too many un-
known quantities have entered into the solu-
ton. To attempt the classification of these
various elements congregated about the
hours Of departure Of the several west bound
trains would be unfruitful, as in the
hurry and confusion incident to transfer,
checking baggage, boarding proper trains
and providing for the comforts of wives and
little ones, replenishing exhausted provisions
and general cares, the heads Of families are
not in the proper mood or frame of mind for
interviews by reporters, and their answers
must necessarily be short and curt, which
under other circumstances would be salts
factory.
THE PASSENGERS.
The Winnipeg train on the Manitoba road,
via st. Cloud, Fergus Falls, Crookston, War
ren and st. Vincent, last Saturday morning,
was composed Of sleeper, ten first and two
fine second class coaches and baggage and
express cars, all comfortably filed
At Minneapolis quite delegation was added
by passengers who had just arrived from
the east by the Albert Lea route.
The occupants of the sleeper were chiefly
Canadians bound for Manitoba, with two
families for the district of Assinaboin. The
luggage Of two youths had the ships label on
showing them to be through passengers from
England; and there was an American family
from Maine, bound for Warren, where they
had relatives in business. The passengers in
the first class coaches were nearly all Ameri-
cans, destined for various points between st.
Cloud and st. Vincent, and among these were
found some who had been out last season,
selected their lands, done some breaking,
built temporary houses, cut hay and put
things in shape in general for seeding the
first crop this spring, who had returned to
their former homes to bring their families.
In most such cases several neighbors
and friends follow with the
nope and intention of locating near by, and
they only regret that they too did not come
out last season. In the second class coaches
were found promiscuous mixture of Ameri-
cans, Canadians, Swedes, Norwegians and
Germans, and song in French greeted the
reporters ear on entering one car The
singer was going, with several other French
men, to St. Hilaire, Polk county, in the Red
River valley.
In conversation with these people, it was
learned that there is large sprinkling of
French Canadians at and in the neighbor-
hoodOf st. Hilaire, as well as at Crookston
and Red Lake Falls. The Germans were
mostly goingto Warren, and some to Crooks
ton. The United States land Office is located at
the latter place, and it was the intention of
.4D
ships opened for settlement to homesteaders
east Of Crookston. Among the Scandina-
vians many were found who had taken
homesteads in this very section east of
Crookston last fall and now returned within
the six months TO make permanent settle
ment. Others again had been induced to
examine the lands in Polk, Marshall and
Kittson counties in the Red River valley
The district in which the Manitoba road has
recently reduced the price of lands to $500
r per acre. These Scandinavians were part
from the southern part of Minnesota, some
from Goodhue county, and others from
Dane and Eau Claire counties,
Wisconsin, and all experienced farmers
In some cases the husband or son was in
charge OF car of stock, impliments, house
hold goods going by freight. That there
people will prosper under ordinarily favor
able circumstances, there is no doubt. MANY
OF them were pioneers in southern Minnesota
and Wisconsin, twenty to thirty years ago,
and the present change is generally at the
urgent request of, and for the benefit of the
grown up sons and daughters, who require
more elbow room than the old homestead can
afford. The hive gets too full and then the
"swarming" begins. Quite sprinkling of
single men, in blue wollen shirts and pants
in boots, plainly indicating lumbermen, were
on the train. They had been at
work lastsummer in or about the saw mills
at Eau Claire, Menomonie, Saltwater and
Black River Falls, and in the pineries last
winter, where their wages have been from
S26 to S35 per month. Instead of squander-
ing their money around tempting places in
the large cities they have very sensibly con-
cluded to go west and secure the sshome-
stead, " the ideal object of which prompted
them to leave the grand mountains and
fjords of old Norway. The fair-haired ser
want who is now in your kitchen may some
day be the housewife on one of these home
steads, and after while drive to church and
town in Saltwater spring wagon, and her
children head the classes in some common
school.
Taken altogether, the make up and charac-
ter of the passengers on this train will com
pare favorably: with any equal number of
people going in to any new country. But
can this mother country be any longer con-
sidered ''new?" With railways, penetrating
east, west, north and south; with prosper