The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1884-07-10
Town 145, Range sc, Section 20,
Beltrami County, Minn.
June 26, 1884.

Special to Wadena FARMER.
! AS the weary traveller wends his
way through the brush, over rock.
ribbed hills and through tamarack
marshes, and at last finds a place to
rest his weary bodyfand close his eyes
in slnmber, lie forgets for a time, the
trials and, vexations he has had to
contend with, and dreams, perhaps,
of the time when he was child, and
roamed through the green fields and
beside still waters in quest of flowers,
chasing the birds and bees from
their haunts and making the hills
echo with the pcals of childish laugh
ter, until finally he is awakened from
his s1umbers and dreams by some
one shouting to him s'Come now,
arise, and partake of the savory vi
ands prepared for you. Eat ye all
of it" Lake Itasca is eight miles
south of us, and it was formerly sup
posed to be the source of the Missis-
sippi. But more recent discoveries
revealed the fact that Elk Lake was
the source of Itasca. 1t was found
this lake had an inlet which was
traced about two miles east, where
was found q lake with all area of from
three to five. acres, vcritably the
source of the Mississippi. This coun-
try, though undulating, to one trav-
cling for miles presents monotonous
appearance. There are no prominent
hills to relieve the eye, and the nu-
merous swamps and marshes, lakes
and creeks are of such inferior size
as to impress the explorer with the
awful sameness of the surrounding
scenery, The timber which abounds
in this country, especially in towns
l43, 144, l45 and l46, has the same
general appearance. The more valu-
able classes, White and Norway pine
are found mainly in clumps or belts,
interspersed with jack pine and hard
wood, birch and oak being the prill-
cipal. The pine land in these towns
is mainly taken up by settlers, and
Of late. hardly a week. has. passed
by without some new house or cabin
being erected, which, while they are
neither commodious nor elegant nor
well-pleasing to the eye, they answer
all the purposes OF those who occupy
them. They are in size generally
about 12x16, and are built neatly
and very comfortable, and one can
winter here as pleasantly and as COM
fortably as in the most palatial resi-
dence in Wadena Or any other city.
while, it being taken into considera-
tion that fuel is cheap, it costs nothing
more than q little labor on the part of
the settler to prepare it. New roads
are constantly being made, and at
present there is good wagon road
from Park Rapids clear through to
the Clearwater or Rice Lake in Town
LAG, and after snow falls will be as
good winter road, or better than
to be found on our broad prairies, rs
the timber protects the roads from
drifts. AS for hunting and fishing,
no better country can be found in the
State, as the lakes are full and liter
ally running over with the finest fish
consisting of pike, pickerel, perch,
ass, white and cat, and the timber
with plenty of deer, moose, elk, bear,
lynx, panther, wood chuck and por-
cupine; smaller game, such as squir.
rel, rabbits, partridge, spruce hen,
woodcock, etc. Verify, this is s'The
land OF the free and the home of the
bravc'. There are several good
sized lakes, among the most noted of
which is 1tasca, being in size about
seven miles long and four miles wide
Grismer's Point Lake, three miles
long and two wide, and Rice lake,
four miles long and three miles wide,
from which the Clearwater and Rice
rivers have their source. The Mis-
sissippi river flows through towns
lag, -l44, 10, 81 anu T47 IN q north
easterly direction, and is on an aver.
age about four rods wide. 1t could
be used for driving purposes by being
properly damned, and would only
require small capital to put it into
shape. There have been two or
three Railroads surveyed through
the country, the principal being the
Duluth and Winnipeg running from
east to west, and the Brainerd. Grand
Folks and Crookston Road running
from south to northwest; and a good
prospect of both being in operation
before two years shall have rolled
around, for this being the only avail
able pine timber in the State, it must.
and will be opened up in the near
future by the capitalists. Another