The Arkansaw traveler., 1889-03-09
THE PARK REGION OF MINNIE
sofa.

The park region OF Minnesota is an undulat
ing tract rising from the great interior valley
of North America. to the height OF 20 feet
above the sea. II Is the water shed OF the
great valley Eastward TO the Gulf of 81. Law
renee, south To the Gulf of Mexico, and north
To Hudson's bay. flow the waters. This 10 the
region where the rain drops. falling on the
opposite sides OF the roofs OF houses, travel IN
opposite directions To The oceans. Here the
Mississippi and the Red River Of the North
tnteriock, and In many places only single
narrow ridge of a few rods In width separates
the streams. This IL the region Of innumera
BILE lakes. One half the surface is Der. in
heavy forests, groves, clumps. and shore
frtnRcs. or grassy openings. with here and
there single sentnel trees. The sturdy oaks
haihc their feet in the CLASSY wave, and the
lakes give hack the contour Of the hills Min
nesota possesses nearly eight thou sand In kes
most of which are In the Park region. otter
Tail county alone has more than two hundred
lakes, composing water surface OF over 30o.
900 acres. IL -, In fact the lake county OF the
state. These lakes teen with rock lass. blac
hass. white fish, pike, pickerel. sturgeon, and
other varieties OF hsh, millions Of Wild fow
nest ar lund the borders Of the lakes the prai
rtes swarm with chickens, grouse, sntpe, etc.
while the woods are full OF large game. such
as elk, deer, bear fox, and all descrtp ton of
small game common To the northwest. Nature
seems To have outdone herself TO provide for
the support and delight of man. Add To this
the most delightful summer weather, sweet
mountain AFR without the rude mountain
winds, frst class hotels scattered throu gh the
Park, steam Yachts. sail and row boats pl van z
the waters of the principal lakes; railroad.
mail and telegraph connections with the rest
OF the world, and nothing Is here lacking to
make this one Of the most charming summer
resorts IN America. Even At the present ra pid
rate Of immigration. IL will Ice many years be
fore the grand eNpanse of alternating forest,
lake, river and rolling grassland can lie
robbed of it's sylvan ioveliness. The tourist
and sportsman liugcr in the autumnal sun
shine. watching the cvcF-varvinR display of
form and color among the leafy hills. the
classy lakes and waving fields of golden
grain. for let IL not Ice forgotten that this i
"A nf ~ I rHs svxh aa hal
and ~ we'll adapted for wheat raising. dairy
ing and general farming. as well as for hunt.
ing and fishing. Almost in the very heart of
this beautiful Park region Is Pelican Rapids.
otter Tail county. situated on the Pelican
river. twenty two miles north Of Fergus Falls.
and sOT miles from st Paul. at the terminus
of the Pelican Valley branch OF the St Paul
Minneapolis 4 Manitoba railroad. This grow
ing young city has made rapid progress in
lSs2. -, population lSsS9 $50. Prior To lss9 Pei
lean Rapids Was n little country settlement
OF two general stores, In one OF W hich was the
post ohce; -four mill, saw mill. u black
smith shop and half dozen dwelling. hou Sc
or claim shanties. In lSS2 the railroad was
built To this place. and with IL came new life
and growth and a rush of new settlers. Addi-
tiOns were laid out, streets opened, and
elegant residences built. The village
was incorporated, and there has been
steady growth and prosperity ever since
Churches sprang up, and now four com.
modiOus church buildings grace the town
Methodist. Congregational and two Lutheran
The little country school of two or three
dozen pupils has grown into nne graded
school enrolling more than 30 pupils and
turning many more from It's dOors. for lack of
present accommodations. The Pelican Rap.
ids schools are the best in Otter Tail county
excepting, perhaps. those of Fergus Falls.
Their present high standing and excellent ad
vantages are due in . measure to the efforts of
Prof. Il. \. Williams. W no has been principal
of the schools for several years. and his able
assistants, Misses MidA Leonard and GLADYS
Crandall.
Pelican Rapids is destined to become great
commercial center, situated as 10 10 in the
very heart OF the finest agricultural section of
the Park region. On the east Is = belt of the
hnest quality hard timber, twenty miles in
width, well adapted for manufacturing pur.
ally with thousands of cords of wood and the
railroad with thousands of ties-Pellcan Rap
ids furnishing market for these commodities.
On the west IL gently undulatIng prairie. dot
ted with nne groves, interspersed with beau.
tiful lakes-some of the largest lakes In the
Park region being situated within n few miles
OF town. These lakes for beauty OF woodland.
scenery, cleArness of water and abundance OF
choice nsh, are unsurpassed.
Pelican Rapids IL well supplied with bust.
ness houses OF all kinds. The Bank of Pelican
Rapids was organized as state bank In May,
1882, with paid up cash capital of Us 600 IL
has now apital and surplus of over 81. 900.
holders is over 81 10000 Its oficers are: r.
l.. FraZee, president; J. Il. Wallace cashier;
r. France. l.. Il. Reed. Hans Mickleson. j.
Pelican Rapids from Chicago. in lisa. and
helped to organize the bank. he Is pu bile
spirited man, taking an active interest in
terests OF the town. He has thrice been
elected president of the village council. He
is the present incumbent OF that once. and
II he will permit his friends to re-elect him.
There are three good hotels In town, the
Blodsest House me s farmers Hone and the
dictate, and Ia in charge Of Thomas Bennett.
The Farmers Home. owned by Ole J. Ander-