The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1898-11-05
GHO LIKE CITY.
WEST LYNNE IS A RELIC OF. q
s= NORTH DAKOTA BOOM.
Room for 5000 People But To-day Not
= Man, Woman, or Child Inhabits It's
Deserted Houses - Business BLOCKS
Como to Waste. ss FIX I.s5 s551s5

:
. Man, Woman, or Child Inhabits Its
Deserted Hous e. --: Business BLOCKS
Como to Waste. @ III ( 35s6
Some poet who can do for literally
deserted city what Goldsmith did for
his Sweet Auburn, !" can find his OPP
portunity in North Dakota. A city
large enough to house population Of
5000, yet absolutely tenantless; a
place with substantial brick blocks,
well-laid streets and walks, handsome
residences, costly stone buildings, but
without resident, with not even a
cock to crow by day nor dog to howl
by night! Such a place is West Lynne
on the west bank Of the Red River of
the North, and almost on the Cana
dian boundary. The history of the
place is one of the romances of the
boom" period from 1873 to 1881, when
towns sprang up in night; when a
few lots staked out on the prairie sold
IN the markets of the east one day for
hundreds and the next day for thou
sands. A golden stream poured into
the land where yet the Sioux fought
his ancient foes, the Blackfoot of Mon
tana and the Pawnee of the Niobrara.
But there came the collapse. Men who
not foreseeing the crash, invested
more heavily instead of turning their
holdings into coin, awoke one morning
to find themselves 'land poor and in
debt, unable to complete the extensive
improvements they had begun upon
their realty. The fortunes that had
been made in a day were scattered in
night; villages that had sprung up in
a few hours had grown to the import
ance OF incorporated towns and cities
In a few months were deserted by all
save those who, swamped by the crash,
found themselves without money
enough to get away. West Lynne was
boom town." and the most noted of
them all. 1t was plated by schemers
with more fertility than scruples, at
point on the Red River where, they
claimed, the Great Northern Railroad
was to cross when built through to
the Pacific coast. The possibilities OF
the place were exploited in the east;
capitalists became Interested, and
money was plentiful. There was no
sham about the actual construction of
West Lynne. It was not another Ari-
iona desert farce except in the minds
and on the plate of it's projectors, but
a substantial reality. James H. Muir
ray, Chicago man, was the agent.
he sold lots at auction in Chicago for
thousands Of dollars each. While he
was selling telegram would come
notifying him of the disposal of a GER
tain plat and it would be withdrawn.
Then he sold adjoining lots at top
notch prices. In the meantime build
Ing was progressing There were no
board sshanties, and walls or canvas
sheds. Handsome structures Of brick
or lumber, finished in modern style.
sprang up as fast as material could
be transported and contractors do the
work. And today there the "city''
stands, handsome but useless monu-
ment to the credulity of some and the
hardihood of others. Not one of it's
magnificent buildings has ever been
occupied. Across the Red River is q
steel bridge, built for railroad and
wagon traffic, which no engine or train
ever crossed or ever will The wagon
track be used. The structure must
have cost 100000, as there is great
deal of piling and trestles in the ap-
proaches. West Lynne stands ION a
nat, sandy stretch, where the overflow
from the river Is so extensive and long
continued that crops can not be Grown.
Across the river, in Emerson, ia the
custom house. and the business Of the
District IS conducted there That Is
all the life there is to Emerson, Which
in the boom days. was but a suburb
OF West Lynne. Even in Emerson
there is brick block, three stories
high, 375 by 40 feet in dimensions,
with basement under the whole. 1t
contains fourteen spacious store rooms,
with plate glass fronts and all the ac-s
cessories Of a stylish business block.
But not a single individual inhabits the
great structure, and it is slowly going
to ruin. Eighty-fve thousand dollars
was the cost of this building.
How to Judge Machinery.