New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-12
THE NEW STATES.
VIII.
STORIES OF MIR. GREELEY.
HIS WIDE INFLUENCE AMONG EARLY WEST
ERN SETTLERS
\ rHr GREAT DAKOTA WATERSHED - MlLBANh
81 AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.


oepyytaAt: 1889: BY The Ns,e- Ysrk Tribune
NnIbank, South Dakota. May g.
Tn wandering about the western oo'I S Do-
a. ouiekly impressed with the strong az 80,
-ssive influence exerted by MT. "reri. o,.orv
Western immigration. Oh the carry Ats,ipction
.h,rd man bases his highest ci"inu ~ ,a,tnr from
mon the fact that he once h"I lin There
up'n VS. an interview with hun. lh.i0
hr' o'e'' -. and hundreds OF Mr. Uree"S
must oe 10 49,. treasured on the WILD v.
90 w. l., tbe drawers or old Seore''ri,o
hi'u.n 80 go honses of MInnesot" ana DH iDs.
~ w .ho, sort OF unique genius, a. -.,.Iod
he was ~p a. whom everybody ZEN eh',oi'"
wen a'.,oo. and not once, ou' h"i'
70 ~ w. hoya 7 been met with >. ne euClI
dozen jill .hie from grizzled old ieli'"S WV
eree a .hs Mains in prairle s'"0
n, Ms. IN. Tribune, hey? WE'LL now
- ..,,,,, The Tribune ever senoo y. -,
,.no,, Mr. Greeley down ID lorA So 80
ulster RhoW w. .peakin' had letter from
nc come oOI -, N HIM aslSn' what he 'hof'
him oneU .,n, West and I'll SLOW what nc
aoous =" Then they hunt around ana present
WIN ora NJ Mr.. Greeleys dlScohcer'lhs
S-,,r,cations. Drowned with age ai" %',> -.
a. Well. maybe do. or maybe ooI
manage TO leave then satlsheo.
s.,,r cent into the Wet BIZ MT uree~F, ~
- ITvno;a Wisconsin and those o'a"e 70 80 ..o
~-,...r, ,efer as "down East is nuM 0O"
-. advanced in years But Their ohiiuIen
ii, and with them the name oil horaee
s..nd. for the highest courage anu " .'oto
There Is something touching ABOUT 1',o al
INV In which he is mentioned IN 'ne w." -
rart,oularly by the children OF 'h"Se WV "a ,,ho
n the stricter sense, his contemporari'o' ~
tpfa
Kne" N .ohlsms People act on their impulses
"a there is probably no quicker way Oh
.s.s,,ro q riot than by assaihng the memory VI
Horace Greeley IA man who
-, =, an experience with Mr.. Greeley 10 Hio
e., =, ,ybich every one who meets him Is eApe,''u
49, He was an Iowa pioneer lie nnio
"a a. Naw.E England, and once he heard NIX
60, lecture on the West That settled h'in'
m, ,,ot homestead in Iowa, near a h'sle Vo"i'
1t, bs soon came 10 look upon as the pea'
"a ,randest snot on the footstooL WINE NfNi'-
- Sa,r yorly afterward he thought he wouiu
ii, an Mr. Greeley and tell him about hoiS
pint So I went 10 The Trybune BulIoih nc
.ars AN wen IL come my turn "ehU me-
,,,s room, where Mr. Greeley was. guess ''e
~ that vns in the room before me must he'
49, him some. fer he looked mad. on le<. slHe
-. a nod as much as ter say, Speak quick ~
s.,,.A IN tole him he was the means o my
,,osr, West. m I'd settled AZ " koHy flnt d"
:, Vas the finest place in the country an lie
orts, nut q piece in the p'per say1n So
Jrs'see., sez'e, amt tibet the town where nine
r,., u-ss kilt by a desperate little VIE ergo
:. xy.u they he'd been "a little kinder squaope
...-. 40 account Of q COW puncher rld1n arouu
,n,,n ,bootin' people, and I s'pose they was
sc,,ebody got hurt. So l sez: Yes thet VIZ
-,,v-n., and he give q grunt- see theh the'
he'd ter 'po1ergihe fer the ccwpunchef' so SsN'
sez I: 'KoIly Pint is splendid place, me'
Greeley. 1t hez the finest soil, the nhes' or
,he finest water you ever see. IL don't nseo
-, IN ,he worr. 'ceppin' a little good scrcety
an little rain. ,-,,
HumnI, sez'ee. 'thets all Hell needs
Dakota ia not rs badly of as Kolly Pint ana TIE
other Mace in the matter Of society, Oht 10 u"eS
need rain No problem is so fun OF dilicui'S
as that which attends the proper rrlS'UOh Vi
the soil. IT, at the appropriate season sun
cheney of water gets into the gronnu ~ VIII o'"H
.hs,e and lis effect in keeping the soil fresh ana
- viii no felt for months 1t cannot gev
through the hard clay that lies under the SOIL
$40, and the soil a spOngy substance, holds 1t
q, s,spension and uses every drop OF ~. bu'
,h,s "a not enough or, at least, IL cannot oe
6ancnded OH. It WIS because people behcred
q. rever rained in this region that Dakota
dozcn wears ago, was termed the Great Amerl-
c,n Desert" Undoubtedly the rainfall Is IN
cyeasinr every year as the broken ground III
sreases and the conditions that generate moisture
multiply. The people need waterways. They
ned sources from which irrigating streams can
be drawn.
Inst north Of Milbank Is the line which separates
che waters of North America" the DIVIDE as
tb8v call 10 here. There are two long, mario"
iskes marking the boundary between DnkotS ana
Minnesota. The Writers Of the lower lake, Big
stone, empty through the Minnesota River into
the Mississippi at Fort Smelling. few miles
below ST. Paul and carried thence to the
Gulf. The waters Of the upper lake, Traverse
empty through the Red River Of the North into
Hudson's Bay. These twin lakes are but -four
miles apart and connected by a marrow natural
stream. 10 would be a simple engineering feat
and not an expensive one accord
ing 20 public reports, TO make these
waters nsvigable, and when that is done
an outlet by water from the Dakota wheathclds
- the South through the Minnesota and TO Europe
tbroueh the short Hudson's Bay route. will be
had and viii IN ord these people great advantage.
Tben coming from the furthest regions OF North
western Montana, and running through the middle
az the Dakotas, is the Missouri. AT lankton 1t
meets the idle and useless jim" The Jim hows
through the Dakotas, along course 1ust hallway
between the Missouri on the west and the lea
and Big Sioux ON the cast. These streams aTord
q suf,eiencv of water for all practical purposes.
N only IL were utilized. and 10 those schemes
hest cacula,.i to bring it into service as means
OF keeping the soil IN good condition and Of reach
ing markets chsaply. the attention OF the new
States will be quickly directed.
MIbank is placed in that limited portion of
sor,h T1aLo,a which is we'll supplied with natural
sseams. They rise among and run through
sanse Of ceteaus and coolies or. as we should
term them in the East hills and ravines. which.
thirty miles vide extend. north and south