St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-10-20

tllaC 1Nefe Is IeEIllS wheat cUuuI9 or
many miles north of the boundary line,
but the vast regions to the north, those
living around Great Slave lake and Great
Bear lake, almost untTayerSed by the
foot of man. almost unknown save from
report, are generally regarded as wild
desert, frozen during the majority of
the year, incapable of producing any
thing worthy Of attention, barren, cold,
uninhabitable. Erroneous as is this
idea. it is but natural. So few men
have been through that region of cOun-
try that those who know of it only from
the map are absolutely ignorant of what
there Is, and of what the country is
capable. Few men know that there is
rich country away to the north. Because
the climate of St. Paul is rigorous, be-
cause that of Duluth is still more rig
OrouS, most people imagine that the
further north you get the colder it gets.
ErastuS Wiman once said in this con-
nectiOn: "lt is not question of lati-
tude or longitude, but of altitude"
Here i'm Minnesota we are near to the
CENTER OF THE CONTINENT.
The source of the Mississippi is only
a few miles away, while the Red River
of the North rises within few miles of
the Missi ssippi. Weare therefore almost
on the watershed of the continent. The
Red river flows north and demonstrates
the fact that the land must be higher
here than to the north. With the de-
scent in latitude the temperature be-
comes milder. Further west the
chinook winds make the weather
milder: but to the northwest, where the
railroad in to be built, the winters are
mildeF and the summers cooler than
here in Minnesota. The wheat
belt extends far to the north,
while other grain. such as
rye and barley, can be grown further
north still. The great wheat belt OF the
wOTld is far to the north of the bound
ary line. The northern limits of the
ripening Of wheat are roughly as fol-
lows: Starting on the east the line be-
gins at latitude 50 deg, or in the same
latitude as the northern point of the
Isle of AnticOSti. 1t runs few miles
TO the south of James bay, from there
north of Lake Winnipeg, cuts Atha-
baSca lake in two, does the same by
Great Slave lake in latitude 64 deg.
tends almost due west from there to
longitude 140 deg west. AS far north
as latitude 60 deg the prairies extend,
while arabic and pasture lands extend
in a strip along the valley of the Mac
kenzie and its tributaries, the Atha-
basca, Peace and Lizard rivers, several
ley can be cultivated in the Mackenzie
valley, within few miles of the Arctic
circle, while potatoes grow well as
far north as Fort Macpherson, or
about three degrees north of the Arctic
circle. Timber of fine quality extends
all over the Northwest of Canada up to
within two or three degrees of the most
nOrtheTly limits of the American cOnti-
nent. The timber consists of the bal
sam poplar (of great size, scrub pine,
white spruce (Of Large size, mountain
balsam, tamarao seldom large). canoe
birch (Of which fine syrup can be made,
but no sugar, as it will not cTystalliZel;
white dwarf birch, alderS and willows
are common everywhere. This shows
that such a railroad as is projected
would open up a fine timber region, and
one that is as good for the growth OF
cereals as is Dakota. Whales and cod
fish are common in the Arctic ocean.
But the most valuable resources of
this vast territory are the minerals. The
auriferous belt which extends from
Mexico to the Arctic ocean crosses this
whole region and lies close to the Mac
kenzie river. There is abundance of sill
VeTin Northern British Columbia. To the
north of the Lizard river is gold in large
quantities. All along the west bank of
the Mackenzie river, and probably ex-
tending as far west as the Yukon river,
is an auriferous territory more or less
rich. Chrome iron is found near Fort
Norman on the Mackenzie river. Salt
has been discovered near Fort Smith at
latitude 90 deg, just TO the north of
kthabasca lake, while large
DEPOSIT OF PLUMBAGO
Is a few miles 10 the east OF dis.