The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1886-01-07

| klnOly 6SOI6CoQ tCQOm during the i'll.
ness, death and burial of their little
daughter this week.
THE PROPOSED OUTLET
Pronounced one Of the Most I'M.
practicable Things Extant.
We dropped into Engineer Bland.
ing's Office last evening and found
that gentleman and Hon. S. E. Steb-
bins discussing the Fargo conven-
tion and its objects, among these
the proposed conRection Of lakes
Traverse and big Stone, opening up
a~waterwsy via The Bois des Sioux
river, the lakes and a:tile Minnesota
river to,the Mississippiand the Gulf
Of Mexico. MIR. Blanding said, yes :
That for the last twenty-five years
to his knowledge enthusiastically
someone has taken up that PROPOSE
ton and given itmore or less of an
airing, but that it is the most i'm
practicable and impossible thing
imaginable. 1t occurs that in an
early day in this country Engineer
Blanding surveyed all over that Sec
tion of country, as we'll as other Sec
tions, and knows positively that the
surface Of Big Stone lake, south of
Lake Traverse, is between ten and
eleven feet lower than that of the
latter with its insignificant streams
as feeders--is a shallow body of
water about 20 miles long and prob
ably mile and half wide, which
without feeders could not furnish the
water; he predicting that after the
lock dams should have been worked
a few times, there would not be
enough water left, in the language
of James Nolan, to float an ordi-
nary catfish, even did the surface of
the country render the plan feast
BILE. Now, if Traverse is ten feet
higher than Big Stone, the Red
River at Wahpeton is but little
lower than that lake. there being
but little fall between Traverse
and this point. And then again
the two lakes are not nearly so
close together as some people
imagine they are. There is one of
the most beautiful valleys flour and
a half miles long) III all this upper
country between them, fine farming
lands. over which or through which
the waters of Big Stone lake could
not with any degree Of practicability
be impelled. Big Stone lake, out of
which runs the Minnesota River
(the latter by-the-way originating
away off in Dakota, running into
the lake in the first place, is Il large
and beautiful body Of water, and
has feeders. Itwould be possible to
to drain every drop Of water out of
Traverse into Big Stone, and then
by improving the Minnesota river,
navigation might he effected on it.
An argument showing there is no
hope for water from Lake Traverse
is found in the fact that the Bois
des Sioux is perfectly dry for miles
this side of it a great part of the
time. 1t was perfectly dry all of
the summer and fall OF 1885. In
very wet seasons the Bois des Sioux
is the only outlet of Lake Traverse.
Ordinarily, it stands there dead
body of water. The Rabbit river
and Doran slough are the best feed
drs Of the Bois des Sioux, miles this
side of the lake.
However. Mr.. Blanding has his
theory in the premises. and this is to
lock and dam Red River from navi-
gable point to Wahpeton, making
its channel straight, and then con-
meet the Red River line of transport
tation with the improved Minnesota
river by the F. &S. branch Of the
G. NJ. & St. z. railroad, q distance of
some sixty miles. This might be
done to advantage. But the idea of
connecting the Minnesota and Red
rivers. without diverting the direc-
tion of the latter would he utterly
impracticable if not impossible. So
that with the exception Of railroad
ing sixtylniles over the watershed, ,as
it were, water transportation might
be effected to great advantage from
Hudson's Bay in Canada, to the
Gulf Of Mexico, south of the south
ern states.
Or, there is another proposition ::
II the Red River from some point
east of here was diverted from its
present channel across the country
west into the Rabbit River, via
Campbell, entering the Bois des
Sioux some eight OF ten miles south
Of here, enough water might posi-
bly he secured to work the lock and
dam process, utilizing the water for
the two directions, which is not,
however, q very practicable thing