Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1885-03-26

there will be old Stadacona, viii II,
Indian and pioneer traditions, PeonI,
say that John G.. Emo has shown CON-
taste in selecting such a spot for III.
proposed speculation, bat | found puh.
lie opiaion in Quebec ~unfayorable n
Emo. "
The DecadeDce Of the Red River Cart
Huge wheels, out of all proportion
70 ITS carrying capacity, with ~felIoe.
roughly ax-cut from native wood ana
oouna together by shdqanappi-pre.
pared buffalo hide-tires; STRAIGHT.
hewn sticks for shafts; wooden axle.
lreei wooden liDch-pins; rustic-work
frame shGgdndppi ~fastenings every.
where; shdgaadppi ''hitchings;" not a
grain OF iron in its whole anatomy
such was the far-famed Red River Cart
IN ITS palmy days. Musicale Rather
Music and axle-grease were too nre.
cious when ''the cart" was in its prime
to be lightly wasted. To have dis,
Pensed the latter would have been 10
dispense with the former-something
not to be thought of. Hence il was
mat the 'freighters' and old settlers
IN the northw est always went on their
expeditions heralded by strains from
their cart-wheels that would have en-.
bittered with envy the heart of a CALI
ope.
In all outward seeming the Rcd
ItiNer cart was pre-eminently not a
thlng OF beauty. 1t is needless to OBJ
serve that It is not likely to be a ioy
forever. Already it is far on its Jour.
ney towards the mount of rememb.
rance Soon 1t will finally have Ia
e up its station thereon, side bv side
with "the noble red man of the plains, ~
The "lnjun," however, and the de.
generate descendant Of 1.-The cart. >,
VIII continue to adorn contemporarv
history. A very uninterestjng We
hlcie Is this descendant, as compared
with its great forebear. A SNUG, paint
adorned, iron-beStudded, unmusical
hybrid, it differs as greatly TO its own
disadvantage from the grim, uncom.
promising combination of wood and
shdgdnappt from which it is sprung, as
q New YORK aldermanic residence"
differs from an Irish round tower.
But, lighting upon days like these"
what better could we look for Gone
Is that generous devotion. that loyalty
OF heart to the artisticallv cumber.
some in industrial and domestic appli-
ances which so distinguished worthier
ages! A generation that prefers the
telegraph to the carrier pigeon, and a
pullman" to the coach-and-four is at
least not inconsistent in taking to its
bosom the commonplace successor of
the Red River Cart. But in so doing
it gives a pitiful exhibition of the pat
~en.-oihce spirit by which it is actuated,
and which seems to govern every
where in these modern times.
One thing "a be said in favor of the
Manitoba cart"-it we're disrespect.
full to the memory of the great de-
parted TO call it a Red River Cart-it
is useful. As much cannot always be
affirmed Of the illustrious descended.
1t has enabled many a poor immigrant
to reach in safety his selected home on
the vast northwestern prairies, whom
its more distinguished predecessor
might have brought to grief. Itmakes
less noise about its undertakings; but
they are perhaps none the worse per-
formed for that. Ii supplies its pat
rons with no gratuitous music; but the
best pound of tea or coffee is not
always accompanied by a chrome. 1t
makes no pretensions to undue COM
plicity of get-up; but those who frown
on fashion have turned out at times to
be still a step removed from perfec-
ton. In justice TO the Manitoba
cart" these suggestions of the posi-
bility of a partial excuse for its exist
ence being discoverable are made. To
hope for a full vindicatIon of its en-
croachments on the domain of its ro-
mantle prototype would, of course, be
unreasonable. As we'll might il be at
tempted to justify the unseemly philis-
tinism which has driven away the
lordly buffalo, that his grazing grounds
might be occupied by mere tillers of
the s~oil-yulgar growers of wheat and
makers of butter.
But of what striking features have
''these days of advance" robbed north
western landscapes! No longer do
lItig ultlS lldlHo IlONC dCiOSo Jul
prairies-sometimes a hundred or
more Red River carts, and saddle
ponies by the score. in a train" with
varieties of costume and accompani-
ments of sound that would gladden.
the hearts of the masculine youth of a
whole city. and make the fortune of a
Barnum in a ''street parade" A sim
gle Tailway-car now holds nor goods,
perhaps, than the hundred carts could
have carried, and bears its burden
farther in day than they were able
to transport theirs in a month. Start
ing from st. Paul, or in later days
from Winnipeg, the 'freighters" were
often nearly the entire seaso in reach
ing the far posts OF the Saskatchewan
and the Rockies. Many of them were
of Indian descent, or even pure-blood-
ed natives, and they frequently car
riPd their families with them on their
summer ~journeyings. Most pictur-
esque were their nightly encamp-
mcnts. The 'carts"-shafts pointing
inwards-were disposed in a circle on
| the prairie, beside a stream when pos
sible. Around the great drove of
beasts of burden, ponies and oxen in
termingled, grazed or rested. Within,
the tents and tee-pees were pitched.
Beside these. the evening meal having
been disposed of, the men lounged and
smoked. The wo~men-always in the
brightest obtainable colors-and the
children mingled with them in mer.
rily.chattering groups. L~ight-hearted
and social beings were the freight:
ers." But they have disappeared
from our prairies forever. The north
west has pissed through the Red
River cart period" 1t is now in the
..raiIway-bonus age."-W. h. MacteI-
Ian, IN The Current.
Wall of Castor Oil.