The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1894-05-09
Vast and Grand Section.

Vast and Grand Section.
Few Of our readers have any ade-
quate understanding Of the greatness,
the extent, the possibilities Of what is
described as the Northwest. This
term embraces large section Of both
the United States and Canada. We
will give some statistics that will open
wide the eyes even of the intelligent
reader. The States included in the
Northwest are Minnesota, Iowa, North
Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,
Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washing
ton and Oregon. These States con-
tain 859, 1926 square miles. This would
make sixteen States the size of North
Carolina. Montana would make three
such States. There is one county in
Minnesota, St. Louis, that is very
nearly as large as both Connecticut
and Rhode Island. Minnesota has
82,365 square miles. 1t would make
more than ten States the size Of Mas
sachusetts, or three times the size of
New York. In Wyoming, which has
1880 square miles, there are four
counties either of which exceeds in size
Vermont or Massachusetts, or New
Jersey. In Montana there are three
counties either of which is larger than
those three States combined.
Leaving out Maine, all of the other
States east of the Mississippi river
do not contain as many square miles
as the ten Northwestern States COM
bined.
Minnesota has rivers flowing south
ward, eastward and northward. Wy
oming has rivers running in four d.
rectiohs.
The Provinces of Canada, all told,
contain larger area than all the
United States omitting Alaska. Our
square miles are 3,025, 900; the Cana
dian Northwest alone has 3, 470, 1892.
That is a surprise We know. The
Northwest of Canada contains l 1,245,
305 square miles. Greater, you see,
by nearly so per cent. than our own
Northwest. Canada has more than
one-half of the fresh water of the en-
tire globe. Think of that. A recent
writer says:
''It is possible to go by water from
the mouth Of the St. Lawrence through
the great lakes and down the Mack
enzie to the Arctic Ocean, trip of
more than 5000 miles, in which less
than 159 miles will necessarily be on
land. The great lakes of the Canadian
Northwest are second in size only to
the largest of the great lakes on the
international boundary. Great Bear
lake is $50 miles in length; Athabas-
ka lake, 230, while the Great Slave
lake is more than 300 miles long and
has an average width of so. The
Mackenzie river is described by Arch
bishop Clutt as deeper, wider and
grander river than the St. Lawrence,
and it furnishes with it's tributaries
more than $500 miles Of navigable
waters"
The most marvellous thing to US in
this great section of the Northwest
SO cold and so barren and so far North
ais most people think-are the fertility
Of the soil and the climatic conditions.
The climate does not grow cooler real
ly as you go farther north. Mr..
Thompson, who has made a special
study Of the vast region, says that
''from Iowa north to the Peace River
valley, and even on the shores Of the
Great Slave lake, range of nearly
twenty degrees Of latitude, climatic
conditions are essentially the same. 1t
is region marked by great heat in
the summer and intense cold in win
ter. u
Both altitude and latitude affect
climate. Both are very important.
In the tropics you will see mountains
covered with snow. The altitude of
the far north is less than in States
south of it. The basin in Colorado is
higher than where the Great Northern
railway crosses the main divide Of the
Rockies, near the boundaries of Cana
da and the United States. But Mr..
Thompson shows the climate is not
dependent alone in the Northwest
upon latitude and altitude. He shows
that the great ocean currents and
winds of the Pacific have very great
effect upon the climate just as the
gulf stream in the Atlantic affects our
own coast and the climate of Norway
and the British Islands. He says, for
instance:
"a large portion Of the Pacific coast
Of North America has, instead Of win
ter and SUMNER a rainy season and a
dry season, after the fashion Of tropi-
cal lands. Even as far north as Sitka
it is said that ice sufficiently strong to
sustain the weight of a twelve year
old boy occurs but once or twice in
generation. The ameliorating inau-
cnce Of this great warm river Of the sea,
while exerting its greatest effect upon
the coast extends also into the interior.
The mountain barriers are not only far
less lofty in the north, but are less in
width.
He is highly interesting and in
structive just here, but we may not
follow him further. Vegetation
grows with marvellous rapidity in this
great section. He says that at Fort
Simpson, at the junction Of the Lizard
and Mackenzie rivers, Archbishop
Clutt speaks of the trees passing in a
single week from bud to perfect leaf.
and grasses, grains and vegetables Of
all kinds mature throughout the
Northwest in much shorter time
than in the regions further south. As
an instance it may be pointed out that
Indian corn is harvested from three to
five weeks earlier in Minnesota than it
is in the Ohio valley"
The wheat of Minnesota, North Da-
kota and Manitoba produce invariably
three grains in each fascicle or clus-
ter, whereas not more than two are
found in the States to the south of
these. Still farther to the north on
the Peace river throughout large
area FIVE grains are invariably found
we'll formed in each cluster. In ST.