The Republican journal., 1896-10-22

The swa.st nrocass;on of rho ,aar ;s nast
And withered whirling leaves run rafting
past"
F. A. kEMBLE.
He who writes of ''Brown October in
russet mantle clad' must have been an
En- lishman? At least he never visited
Minnesota in that month | wish he could
enjoy with me the marvellous pageant
OF cur Park Region in the autumnal days,
with their uniformly clear atmosphere,
the bright sun, the harvest moons, and
the enchanting radiance of the forest
foliage, W here the blue Jay flashes hither
and yon like trenchan1 steel, and the
resonant hammer of the woodpecker
wakes every emotion of the huntsman. 1t
is the supremest ecstacy of exhilaration.
l used TO think that the perfection of
autumnal tints was to be found only in
New England; that it was only on the
hardwood hills OF the old Bay State that
October hung her brightest jewels and
spread her cloth OF gold. But there is a
ridge up north which lies west of Detroit,
on The line OF the Northern Pacific Rail
way, where the yellow birch. the crimson
maple, and the deep red oak miDgle with
various shades of evergreen, and the un-
Culations of the land, interspersed with
many placid lakes, make up rare combna-
tions of contour and color beautiful
enough for an ideal fairy land. From
Glyndon, in the Red River Valley, to
Muskoda, going east you run from per
fectiy flat country yellow with stubble,
and dotted everywhere with farm houses
and groups of grain stacks, into rolling
prairie, following the Buffalo River to
little lake where there is mill, and pres
emily to another lake fringed with bril-
liant yellow foliage which enclrcles 1T
like golden setting. In the distance
you discern what appears to be blue
range of lofty hills, and you expect in
due time to surmount the crowning emf
nence. But as you proceed the hills seem
to melt down to the general level, and YOU
pass through succession of nearly uni
form undulations, like the long swell of
an ocean, with the range of vision cir
cumscribed by the little valleys IN which
you happen momentarily to be, and you
seem always to be in a valley, There is
always a higher ridge before you to OBJ
struct the Vlew so that Your anticipation
of what is beyond is never more then half
realized. To one who has been accuS-
-omed to the illimitable sweeps of the
great plains the restriction is vexatious
and oppressive. The most one can see at
a time is a farm house and d field. a herd
of cattle or a knoll. or a haystSck con-
spicuous like a monument 4 farmer
might have neiehbor living lust over the
the next rise, and haply never see him.
Finally. You seem TO reach the convex
line. and tor an instant obtain a marvel
GUS view. overlookinr a wide eXpanse of
country. with scores OF blue lakes bask-
ing in the mellow haze groves of parti-
c6]ored foliage veneerino an the Eillsides.
ricks of lav. meadows alive with orazipo
kline and their herders. all looking very red
in the suffusiou of the dawniur liult of
day as we see them from the car window.
And all the milrored lakes reflect the
to.ms and C0lol> Of the painted trees. as
the looking glass reflects the radiant
bride intensifving their crimson blush.
and helghtening the effect OF their trenu-
ioUs emotion. In marked contrast to
these prismatic lueS are the broad matches
o1 vivid green. where the new yerdure
has suung up from the summer fallows.
and the mounds of aftermath cut from
he carpet of the green valleys. more in
rensely green than in the verdant spling,
and the fields of sober brown or rich
black soil where the farmer has turned
fresh burrows in the back-setting. Occa-
sionallv the train runs through deep cuts
which shut out all view, and presently
open again. like the slides of a stereopti-
con. and the new view is likely to be as
different as can be from the one Just seen.
In the month of June. when the world
everywhere is in bloom. what sight
these praries were when they we're wild
The early summer landscape was re-
splendent with banks and beds and broad
partemes of modest flowers. The hare
bell, coumbine, wild rose, velbena lark
spur, fringed gentian. sweet pea. violet
iris and the white strawberry blossom, all
OF delicate cOlors, and Ill the later season
come the bright scarlets, yellow and royal
purple, and all the tribes of daisy and
chly ysanthemum springing from sward
and spreading like tapestries under the
over arching trees. And finally, in CON
soDance with the sentiment and time of
mellow ripening and fruition, October
touches each forest leaf and branch with
the dyes which the summer flowers were
fain to use, and the deft finger of the
hoar frost traces out the lines and blends
them: and the gentle breath of the Indian
summer kindles them into universal
glow which vies with the tints of gorgeous
sunset. Until l beheld this Minnesota
landscape, by happy chance, | had no
conception of the intensity of autumn
colors. In the East the foundation tints