Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1895-12-26


the Farmers Door-Some Account
Of the Doing and the Manner There
OF.
In 1857 a grant Of land was made by
congress to aid the Territory Of Min
nesOta in the construction of a line of
railway, to extend from saltwater via
st. Paul and st. Anthony, to what is
now Breckenridge. on the Red river,
and branch, via st. Cloud, to st. Vim
cent, near the international boundary
line. At that time the Territory of
Minnesota, including all of the two
Dakotas to the Missouri river. The leg
islature of the territory accepted the
grant. which amounted to six sections
of land per mile. In the following year
Minnesota was admitted as a state,
and constitutional amendment was
adopted allowing the state to issue
bonds to carry along the work. Con-
tracts We're let. and considerable grad
ing done at different times, but the
financial crash which preceded the
war delayed progress, and it was not
until 1862 that any track was laid, and
that was ten miles. from st. Paul to
st. Anthony. or what is now East Min
neapolis. All the material and rolling
stock was brought to st. Paul by boat
on the Mississippi river. The country
at that time was sparsely settled, and
remote part Of the Union.
We shall not attempt to detail the
gradual upbuilding of the Great
Northern to its present grand proper
tons. its growth from an indifferently-
equipped prairie state line to a splen-
did system. with every modern i'm
provement. extending across the con-
tinent. Its existence as strong COM
mercial force in the Northwest dates
from 1879, when it passed into the
control Of the st. Paul. Minneapolis &
Manitoba Railway company, organ
lied by Mr.. J. ]. Hill. In 1886 the
trackage Of the company was a little
in excess Of 600 miles. with gross earn
ings under 100000. The extension
of the line since Mr.. Hill acquired con.
troll in 1879 to 1894 has averaged about
mile a day. and an average increase
in gross earnings amounts to over
S1.OGO,OOO year. Aside from the orig
fnal grant to the company within the
State Of Minnesota, the Great North
ern system has extended itself, with
nearly 1000 miles of track, into eight
important commonwealth. with
out money or land subsidy from
government state or city. This grand
success has been attained solely .as q
business proposition. Its policy has
been. not to act as a mere carrier Of
commodities, but to identify itself
with the material we'll being Of every
part of the country penetrated.
To fully comprehend the extent Of
country served by the Great Northern
the reader should study the admirable
map of the Northwest, printed by the
company. which is furnished free on
application to the general passenger
Office, st. Paul, Mimi; or by local
agents.
With this brief Introduction we will
confine further mention of the line to
North Dakota. which state it enters at
Wahpeton, Fargo and Grand Forks,
and spins it's track out to distance of
forty miles in excess of a grand total
of LOCO miles. Almost within the
memory of school children your fair
state was in the far Northwest, and q
part of the Great American Desert. 1t
is in the northern part of the state
that the Great Northern has it's field,
in the Red river valley, the Devils lake
region, the Turtle mountain country,
and in the Mouse river valley. The
Red river valley is so belted with rail-
ways that it is not an easy matter to
find a place where moving train or
the smoke of locomotive cannot be
seen at some hour of the day. 1t is
doubtful if any equal area in the East,
away from the large cities. has as
many miles of track. The Great
Northern has practically four parallel
lines through the valley. Prosperous
towns and communities are strung
along its tracks like beads on a string.
The Red river is one of the few i'm
portant streams in America with
northeriy course, the others being the
Willamette in Oregon, the San Joa-
quin in California, the st. Johns in
Florida and the Yukon in Alaska.
Not one Of these, however, has such
tributary area of productive soil capa-
bic of supporting a large population
and producing each year a vast sur
plus Of food crops. 1t is the Red river
valley that gives the Great Northern
the distinction of being the largest
carrier Of wheat from original points
OF any railway in the world. From
single stations in this bountiful valley
it takes as high as million bushels
in season, and places with a half
million output run in figures far be-
yOnd the teens.
The Great Northern believes in the
future of North Dakota, and is doing
everything consistent with it's varied
interests, covering vast territory, to
promote it's growth. During the past
two years it has conducted the largest
movement of people to the North State
known to any part Of the country for
the past five or six years. We refer
to the locating of the Dunkard colo
MES in the Turtle mountain ranion