St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-08-26
AMONG THE PIONEERS.
The Prairies and Waving Fields of Grain
Around Devils Lake.
Glimpses Into the Life of Home-Seek-
ers in the Northwest.
A Rainy Night in the Shack of a
Thriftless Settler.
ro,.rosnondence of the Globe.

prairies or Dakota. So great is the change
from the hustle of the forum and market
place of the Northwest 10 the quiet and
vastness of the plains, we rub our eyes,
wondering if our sleep has not been of the
Rip Van Wrinkle order, rather than the re
pose of single night. On and on we fly,
the stations far apart and only now and
then distant spire or house top to give
evidence of human habitation. 1t is flight
from 1.-The world as it is mans to the world
as it is Gods, ;" and to the person who wishes
to open a season 1.-THE world forgetting by
the world forgot" there cannot be
offered a more unconventional, care
free existence than that afforded by
summer in Dakota. Arriving
at Devils Lake City, the terminus OF the
st. Paul, Minneapolis IL Manitoba railway,
we find wde-awake, enterpriSing town OF
twelve hundred inhabitants prairie walled
on all sides save the West, where it fronts
the bay which opens into Devils lake,
sheet of water dear to the hearts of all
Northern DakotianS Business OF every
kind seems to be brisk. and land and loan
Office signs hang out from every building
The dwelling houses, crude and unfinished
as to exterior, are as costly furnished as the
homes in a land where all household utili-
ties and adornments are easily procured.
The inhabitants are mostly from the East,
many Of them young married people who
have
COME WEST FOR A START,
and who are willing to endure the discom-
forts of pioneer life for the sake of the fu-
ture which they assure. Going from the
depot to the hOstelry queer sight meets
our vision, and the mardigraS procession of
the West passes into review. 1t is a string
of twenty or thirty Indian carts filled with
buffalo bones, driven by the noble red men
of the forest. Eastern firms pay $50 a ton
for these bones, and the abused aborigine
wanders over the plains picking up the re-
mains of the y-disappearing buffalo.
The two-wheeled carts, manufactured by
their owners, are constructed entirely OF
wood and the wheels, revolving on wooden
axles. give forth shrieks and groans that
would do justice to the cries Of the lost
souls in purgatory. The gift of a box of
axle grease is suggested by a tenderfoot;
but such generosity is nipped in the bud by
an old settler, who remarks that the dOna-
lion would not be used for lubrcating pur-
pOSeS but rather as an article of diet.
The motor power of these vehicles is any
thing from a cow to a SQuaW, the
harness a bit of rope and Irvine, strip of
bark, and now and then leather backband,
and take it all in all the procession is some
thing to make even Barnum turn green with
envy. Leaving Devils Lake City, drive
of twelve miles along the lake shore brings
us to the pleasant home of Commissioner
Rumney, whose courtesy we have accepted
for the next fortnight. With this home as
a central point we branch out like the rays
of the sun, to study the country in all di-
rections. There is pleasant party of us,
and, with nothing to do save exist, we wan
der day after day, like Alexander seeking
new worlds to conquer. Starting out early
in the morning in twO-seated democrat"
drawn by two tough bay ponies, we turn
our faces toward Stump lake. place much
more romantic than its name. Rapidly we
glide along, and
FOR MILES AND MILES,
as far as the eye can reach. there is nothing
to be seen but fields Of grain and prairie
and. as the breeze sweeps over it, it seems
like a vast ocean with waves Of green COM
ing and going, meeting and parting, and
never quiet. There are no fences. no trees,
and nothing save politenesS would ever lead
one to call the thoroughfare a road. 1t runs
over the prairie two faint lines where the
wheels have worn through the sod to the
earth beneath. and such a prairie, 1t is
Gods poSy-bed, for there is not an inch
that does not bear some kind of flower. The
goldenrod and wild Sunfowers nod in grace
full courteSieS as we pass by; the asterS and
daisies blink at us with saucy good-mOming:
the blue-bels and wild mOrning-glories
Irvine in fond embrace, and with the fresh,
invigorating air blowing across these fra
grant plains, the bluest of skies above, 1
realize the utter inadequacy of words, the
feeblenesS of the customary forms of speech,
in the endeayor to express the thoughts and
feelings engendered by this nearness to Ma
lures heart. My quill needs to be endowed
with the rapidity of thought. and yet be as
full of expression as the brush of an artist,
to touch here and there with gaudy hue ami
softeSt shadows and bring out in all reality
the beauty of this wonderful country This
is indeed a land of magnificent distances"
and we are thiTty-tiye miles from home
without the slightest feeling of fatigue to
tell of the miles trayersed. The booming
of distant thunder warns us of an approach
ing storm, the driver quickens his horses
footsteps in the direction of shack, which
we can just see at the foot of distant
range of hills. Arriving, ''hellO' arouses
the occupants, and such lot of children as
issue from the narrow doorway.
THEY SWARM OUT
like bees from hive, then come the dogs.
and lastly the host himself, VINO invites us
into shelter with the traditional Western
cordiality. There is only one little room,
above this q loft, reached by ladder, and
we are packed as closely as Sardines. The
two chairs are monOpOlized by the ladies in
the party, while the Sterner sex range Them
selves on the floor. The hostess is busily
employed in washing the supper dishes
She is tall, gaunt woman, whose iaun-
diced expression bespeaks the trials and
fluctuations of pioneer life. She evidently
has not studied the gospel OF good gowns, -
and her IOW-cUI shoes disclose StOckinpS de-
void of heels save those furnished by nature
The children are scattered here and there
and everywhere, they stare at us with good
natured curiosity; it is one of those cases
where the thumb and mouth become closely
acquainted and their contact seems
providential provision, for what
would we have done had they all
howled at once. The shack, built of tar
paper, let in the rain like sieve, through
the insterstices where the paper and the
boards refused TO meet. The progeny,
after lodging the drops awhile grew SO
sleepy as to be utterly obliviOus Of their
surroundings and were marShalIed up the
ladder like a flock OF juvenile turkeys seek
ing a resting place. while We of older years
yawned the hours away. damp. dreary and
uncomfortable. The unwonted moisture
disturbed the vernin belonging TO the house
hold: mice scurried across the floor, much
to the discomfort Of the ladies, and from a
bed in the corner came a procession OF those
bugs which
STRIKE TERROR TO THE HEART
of the careful housewife. Toward morn
ing the storm ceased and with the pilot
stars to guide US we started for home, with
no desire for repetition Of that night IN
shack. We were unfortunate in our selec-
ton Of q haven. fOT in the many ShackS VS.