The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-12-02

depths and it resembles the ocean, hav-
Ing neither bottom nor banks.
Il shall not here stay to mention the
infinite numbers Of rivers that dis
charge themselves into this prodigious
lake, which, together with that Of Illi-
nois Nal1e Michigan) and the rivers
that are swallowed in them make UP
the source Of that great river st. Law
renee, which runs into the ocean at
the islands of Assumption towards New
| FoUndland. have already
observed that all these lakes may we'll
| be called fresh water SEAS They
abound extremely in white fish greater
than carps which are extraordinarily
good; nay, at twenty or thirty fathom
| water there are salmon trouts taken Of
| fifty or sixty pounds weight. 1t were
| easy to build on the sides of these great
| lakes an infinite number of consider
| able towns, which might have COM
munication, one with another, by navl-
| cation for 500 leagues together, and by
| an inconceivable commence, which
would establish itself among them.
And to be sure, the SOIL If cultivated by
Europeans, would prove very fertile"
HENNEPIN'S REFERENCE TO
TWIN CITIES LOCALITIES.
Father Hennepin's account OF his
travels affords a most interesting pic
| ture of life among savages in those
| days and Of the conditions prevailing
in the particular locality Of st. Paul
| and Minneapolis which were then un-
| born children of the wilderness. This
| is what he says concerning the Mis-
sissippi and the area now tributary to
| the Twin Cities:
''The navigation of the Mississippi Is
interrupted ten leagues above this River
of the Grave (St. Croix river), by a fall
of fifty or sixty feet high, which we
; called the Fall Of st. Anthony of Pa
dua, whom we had taken for the pro-
tector of our discovery. There Is a.
rock of pyramidal figure just in the
middle of the fall of the river.
"The row Of mountains (meaning
the Indian mounds) fencing the
banks Of the Mississippi ends at the
mouth Of the river of Ouisconsin wis
consilD; there We likewise observed
that that river, which runs from thence
to sea almost directly north and south,
runs then from the westward or the
northwest. The misfortune Of being
taken prisoners hindered us from go
| ing as far as It's source, which we
could never learn from the saVages
who told us only that about twenty or
thirty leagues above the fall of ST. An
thony there is another fall, near which
the nation Of savages inhabit at GER
tain seasons Of the year. They call
those nations Tintonba, that Is the in
habitants Of the meadows.
Eight leagues above the fall of St.
Anthony we met with the river Of the
1ssau, or Nadouessians, which is very
narrow at the mouth. It comes from
the lake Of Issati Qtasca), lying about
seventy leagues from it's mouth. We
called this river the river Of St. Fran
els; and it was in this place that we
were made slaves by the Issati.
The course Of the Mississippi accord
ing to our best computation, is about
800 leagues from Tintnnba to the sea
including It's windings and turnings,
which are very great, and may be nav
lgable from the fall of st. Anthony for
fat-bottom boats, provided the islands
were clear from trees and especially
from vines. which, having tied the trees
together, would stop a boat in many
places.
1.-THE country above Mile Lao
is a marshy ground. wherein grows
abundance of wild oats, which grow
| without any culture or sowing, in lakes.
provided they are not above three foot
deep. That corn is much like our oats.
but much better, and its stalks are a
great deal longer when 1t is ripe. The
savages gather it and live thereupon
several months Of the year, making a
kind of broth thereof"
OTHER LOCAL REFERENCES TO
THE PATHWAY OF COMMERCE.
1t Is an interesting fact locally that
early explorers, including Hennepin.
Lahontan and Carver, should all have
been peculiarly impressed by the re-
gion lying west of Lake Michigan and
including the territory through which
the Mississippi flows from it's foun-
tain head at Lake Itasca to its 1unc-
tton with the Illinois river Carver.
In the appendix to his journal. and
summing up his conclusions. saws.
THE Mississippi, as I have before OBJ
served, runs form north to south and
passes through the most fertile and
|
Guiding only the extremities of it. which
verge both on the torrid and frigid
zones. Thus favorably situated, when
once its banks are covered with tnhab-
itants they need not long be at a loss
for means to establish an extensive
and profitable commerce. They will
find the country towards the south al
most spontaneously producing silk, cot
ton, indigo and tobacco, and the more
northerly parts, wines, oil, beef, tai
low, skins, buffalo wool and fur with
lead, copper, iron, coal, lumber, corn
rice and fruits, besides earth and barks
for dyeing.
"The parts of the Mississippi of which
no survey has hitherto been taken
, amount to upwards of 800 miles, fol-
lowing the course of the stream that
t is from the Illinois to the Wisconsin
h rivers.
1T is. however, necessary to observe