St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-20
WEST OF THE MUDDY RIVER
Is a Land of Vast and Varied Resources
Inviting the Newcomers.
THERE ARE SOME DRoNEs
To Be Weeded Out and Their Places
Filled by a Better Class OF
People.
Special to the Clone

Special to the GLOBE
MANDAN, n. D., April 19.-The
truthful historian living in any one of
the Northwestern towns between Min
neapolis and the Pacific coast, while he
may consistently picture the marvellous
growth of the region as a whole. must
admit that there have been great local
disappointments. The expectations of
many investors have been ruthlessly
thrown to the ground. Comparatively
few of the predictions of local and other
newspaper writers have been realized.
Setbacks that were not looked for came.
The Willard fiasco; a general depression
throughout the country; partial failure
of crOpS-all contribute to hasten and
intensity an inevitable reaction. The
result was, not a collapse exactly, but
an attack of commercial inertia. The
people of the country have not lost faith
in it. They cannot do that Some in
spite of its manifest advantages have
left in disgust, but there are
others who are gifted with reasoning
powers who say that the country will
come up again all right. An old-timer,
talking with the GLOBE correspondent
Selu. w DOy, YOU KNOW nOCU-
ing about depression here. You should
have lived with me in Minnesota in
1851 and 1858. fit had not been for the
discovery of ginseng in those dull days
l don't know what we should have done.
There were no railroads then to hOld.up
the country as the Northern Pacific is
holding up this country. The depress-
ion, not only i'll such inland towns as
Faribault and Rochester, but in st.
Paul and st. Anthony. was far greater
than any that we have had in North
Dakota; We know nothing about it.
The railroad is the great equalizer of the
age" When we look over the country
through which the Northern Pacific
runs,
WEST OF THE MISSOURI
rlver-see its fine agricultural landS.th
millions of acres of unsurpassed grazing
lands, and peer down into the eVerlast-
ing hills that are full of seven-foot veins
OF coal. desp0ndency is out of the QueS.
ton. The wise mantle man who does
not believe i'll throwing up what he has
got for an uncertainty-sees an inevita-
bic return of the boom for this country.
based not on the immigration of few
hundred settlers merely, but on the de-
yelOpment of the absolute resources of
the country. 1t is true that some of the
towns along the railroad are apparently
dead, if the prices at which real estate
can be bought in them is any criterion.
l have Just been talking with man from
Ohio who has been up the line looking
up some investments that he has there,
and making some more. 1t is really
pitiful to hear him tell of the bargains
that he had offered him. One party of
Tered him eleven acres of town lots, all
lying together, for $3.50. He purchased
a quarter section of land, proved I'D on.
and the title all straight, from the gov
eminent for $500. This land is as good
as can be found in Dakota, and is To-
Gated less than two miles from the de-
pot of the small town that he made his
headquarters. There are drones in this
part of the territory, and they are grad
ually
BEING WEEDED OUT.
They are selling their lands and lots
and going further West to worry the
people on the Pacific coast. They are
an injury to the country. A few days
ago party of Russians came to this
point from Wisconsin. They got off the
train, and looked around a few days
with view to locating. Unfortunately,
they struck almost the first thing some
man who could talk their language,
who is one of the drOnes of the country,
and who wants to get further West. He
wanted to sell them his farm, but find
ing that he could not do that, he busted
himself with running down the coun-
try. Their minds were in receptive
condition, and, sponge like, they alb
sorbed all they heard. When other
parties came along and showed them
the many bright sides to the picture
pointed out to them the rare beef that
can be raised here-shOwed them the
coal that can be dug out of the ground
turned over SpadeSfull Of the rich soil
of the prairieS-ShOwed them a man
giving the claims near town that can be
taken and that will
COST THE SETTLER NOTHING
more than the land Office fees-the
sponge was too full of the first impress
sionS and they could take nothing else.
Sad to say, sad for them, they decided
to go back to Wisconsin, and there grut
and dig away at the old stumpS that
they had already tired of. But the
drones are going, and the workers are
years that can be well remembered by
the middle-aged men of our acquaint-
ance, there were men of sufficient
breadth of vision to see that on the
present sites of st. Paul and MinneapO-
lis there would be two large and pros
porous cities, so to-day the man who
looks on the resources of this country,
and views them in the light of reason,
experience and common sense, sees
bright future that is dimmed only by
the presence of the drones, who have
not yet made themselves scarce.
COURTS WILL KEEP UP