St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-08-28
A WONDERFUL LAND
Is That Lying at the Western
End Of the Great Mesa
ba Range.
ltasca County Seems the Ver-
liable Mineral Basket Of
the State.
Mining and Lumber Interests
That Have Grown to Giant
Enterprises.
An Interesting Description
Of a Trip Through Those
New Scenes.

If YOU want healthful sport just go
up Into the great timber and iron dis
| trict on the west side of the MeSaDa
range in Northern Minnesota. You
can hunt there to your hearts content
for the gamiest kinds of game, includ-
| ing those forest roverS-the moose and
bear. Partridge Tor grouse) and water
| fowl are very plentiful, and an abun-
! dance of deer makes the sportsman happy
| during the shooting season. In the line
of fishing, Trout lake, near La Prairie,
| in ltaSka county. gives large supply OF
| trout, whitefSh, bass and wall-eyed
| pike, and provides a sylvan retreat. free
| from malaria. where nay fever disap-
pears quickly under the influence Of the
breeZeS that blow through the surround
ing forests of big pines and handsome
| hardwood trees. The railroads that
| have been built SO recently through
these northern districts have provided
| them with excellent facilities and with
well-equipped towns, where travellers
| find reasonably good convenlences. A
| few miles out i'll the country. as at
Trout lake. for instance. the scenery re-
tainS its primitive attractiveness and
Just suits the wishes of those who seek
quiet recreation. Here nature is un-
moleSttd. excepting where commodious
and oIpiorlahle log houses have been
bulit for camping parties at one of the
pretty points on the west Shure of the
lake, body OF water five miles long
and more than mile in width, COM
pIetely held within high, rugged hills,
which are covered with beautiful trees
of various kiIIdS. Its shores are smooth
and solid, with no sign Of marsh, save
in a small portion of the north end,
= IN t.rIl ri rio
This abundance of wild rice temptS mill
ions of waterfowl into these handsome
lakes. for which Northern Minnesota is
justly famous.
Thanks TO the Wonderful Activity
in numbering and iron mining that is SO
noticeable in that region, its wagon
roads are fairly good. The corduroy
roads that are built on several miles of
the distance to the mines are uncom-
tortably rough for wagoners, the logs
being uneven in size, causing the wagon
springs to jolt most numerically. but
who ever saw a corduroy road
that was pleasant to ride upon?
Our driver said that the cor
duroys were bouleyards in compari-
son TO the mud and muck he experienced
i'll the marshy stretches during last
spring, before the corduroy roads were
L
climb on the way from La Prail lie to the
| mines. the grade of the entire distance
| being about fifteen feet to the mile.
! Over these roads the outfits go north
| east to Swan lake, from which locality
| 5000, 600 feet of pine logs Went down
| Swan river last spring, and were de-
| livered to the Mississippi at La
Prairie This thriving new city,
| located on an extensive prairie-iike
| plateau at the junction of the MisSiS-
| sippi and Prairie rivers, had a drive of
| 65,00J,00O feet of pine on the latter
1 stream last spring. and its business men
| look for much larger business from
this source in the future. They claim
that 1000, 900, 600 feet of pine are stand
! ing in the territory of their home water
| course-the Prairie river. They also
deal with many of the lumber coiil-
panieS who operate on the upper Mis-
sISSippi, where the annual drive Is
about 400, OO0,0 feet. These business
men feel the benefits that that nat orally
accrue from the Mississippi river cut TO
the extent of one-half Cor 200,000.000
feet. The extent of the trade can he
better imagined when it is known that
such concern as the Wells-StOne Mer-
camille company, of La Prairie. some
| times sells ten carloads of merchandise
| at time to the l1mbermen, or, III other
words, ships ten carloads at once To a
lumber camp without breaking bulk.
Those who were with the writer at
one of the ltasca county mines last week
we're: Richard E. Labar, a prominent
| real estate man and capitalist, of wan
| kesha, Wis.,; Kenneth K. Mcleod and
| Z. f. Emerson, of st. Paul, and Post
| saw several prospect shafts along the
road north of Trout lake, but. TO make
day of it. we rode on to point four
| teen miles northeast OF La Prairie,
where we found an
| Extensive Mining Plant
at work. There was large engine
| house, and, fifty yards distant. boiler
| house. with an eighty horsepower
boiler hard at work, and another boiler
| of similar size ready to place in position.
| A large quantity of heavy hosting ma
| chinery, including 600 feet OF 114-inch
| cable, was OH hand ready to I've placed
as soon as the lighter machinery, which
| has been operated for prospecting, is
relegated to other uses. Ample tanks
gave good water supply. 8 dry house,
where the miners change clothes and
| keep tools, was convenient to the engine
and shaft. Tents and buildings to sleep
in were located near the cook camp, and
| the stables. granary. warehouse and other
| buildings were within stones throw of
| the cooks quarters. The Office of Capt.
| jay Pratt. superintendent of the mine,
commanded view of the entire plant.
| Fully fifty acres Of land was cleared on
the property, and plenty of wood was
corded where the forests had been only
few weeks ago. The mine was opened
| in Nav last Capt. Pratt met our party
cordially and asked If we would like to
| go down the shaft and inspect the mine.
"You bet, that's what we're here for"
said Mr.. Labar.
So we went to the dry house, took off
our shoes, put on long rubber boots,
| yellow oil coats and yellow fishermen's
hats. Attired like the superintendent
and the miners, we entered the door of
the SIDE shaft, and descended thirteen
stout ladders to the lower platform, 10
| feet below the surface. We had been
provided with candles, but couple of
| these lights went out on the way down.
down. We had heard the swish of the
| bucket, and felt the drip of the water
on our hands as we clutched the rungs !;
| and, when we stopped at the mouth of
the tunnel to relight the candles, the
tramcars, with their buckets of ore hold
ing 600 pounds each, passed to the shaft
on the mine railway. ana were hoisted
quickly to the dump.
We found all the tunnels cut high
enough SO that we could walk through
them easily without ducking our heads.
Solid ore formed the sides and roof aud
floor Of the tunnels. At some points
Water Sefped Through
from overhead, and small streams of
water flowed between the little railway
tracks toward a converging point
near the foot of the shaft, whence
they were taken upward by
pumps that are kept going continuously.
The first tunnel bore south and south
east 325 feet. The second was Jos feet
long; the third, los feet; the fourth and
last, 125 feet. This last tunnel bore to
the northwest. Altogether we went
through 65S feet of tunnels. In the short
drift the ore would assay about so per
cent, while that taken from the rest OF
the mine would go, the superintendent
claimed, 90 to 6S per cent. A casual
examination of specimens from diff
ferent parts of the mine leads