The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-19

OF thriving river traffic. You may
/ travel, however the whole navigable
length OF the river without finding any
| where it's counterpart
1t never existed, save in the mind of
Zone man, and now, after the lapse OF
moro than fifty years, this yellow parcA-
ment with its faded pen-anG-ink city
would have no more interest fer us than
any other relic of that ephemeral ana
/ picturesque period OF Western develop
ment but for the fact that the man who
conceived 1t furnished Mark Twain vi n
tis model for the immortal Col Sellers,
! and mis- field and methods OF Cpe at on
are portrayed by Charles Dickens in thu
! experiences of Martin Chuzzlewit in the
! Valley of Eden.
! The story of the life and operations Of
| Col William Muldrow, the first gre t
| promoter of the West has in it enough
! of the flavor of romance and adventure
! to appeal to an imagination less fertile
than that of Mark Twain. At this re-
mote day it is impossible TO form r.
rect estimate Of the character of the
man. Only the record of his unsuccess-
full schemes remains and from these one
may have his choice of opinions.
William MuldroW was born in Marion
county, Kentucky, in 1897 and when
about twenty~foGr years old went to live
in Missouri Although uneducated the
natural shrewdness and was appointed
special agent to visit the East to secure
patronage for college it was pror sed
to establish in Marlnt col nty NJ ssour.
He executed his commission in man
ner which exceeded expe citations Of those
who sent him, and in doing so came to
a realization of his own power and the
resources of the country to which he be-
longed.
Then came his plan to found city
that should be the metropolis of the
West
The site selected was on the bank of
the Mississippi river, TX miles east Of
the town of Palmyra the county seat of
Marion county, and the name given it
was Marion City. The place had been
originally known as Green's Landing, and
like other loWlands along the river, it
was subject to annual overflow This
was a mere detail, however to a man of
Col. Muldrow's resources, to be met with
the same equanimty that Col. Sellers met
the slight difficulty of Stones Landing
being twenty miles off the straight line
of the Salt Lick Pacific extension.
The map now fled with the clerk of
Marion county was prepared with great
care, copies of it. with bills AMI cfrcu-
lars, spread broadcast over the county,
flaming advertisements appeared in the
newspapers, and the attention Of the en-
tire country was drawn TO Col Muldrow
and his magnificent schemes. Intoxi-
Gated by success, his IDEAS enlarged With
ease and facility which elicits our won
der and admiration he staked out the
streets and lots of another forty miles
west of Marion City and called 1t New
York Near the town of Philadelphia
he saw a promising opening for a third,
with still a fourth at a place called Ely.
In the autumn of 1875 active operations
7
forces Of workmen vera engaged, levees
and warehouses built, cabins erected, the
railroad surveyed and the work of grad
ing begun Sections of grass grown en-
bankment still mark the course of this,
the first railroad west of the Mississippi
river
In the meantime Col Muldrow had
gone East with his plans, and by his
indomitable energy and that strange, al
most hypnotic power which enabled him
to dominate the minds of wiser men, he
sold land in Marion City to the amount
| Of S15O.O0O $S5 COO worth in Philadelphia
and smaller sums in the other places. A
part of this was the investment of spec
uIators and a part was the small saw
ings Of people who intended to settle in
the new country. AS sample of the con-
| hdence inspired by this wonderful man,
some capitalists placed in his hands,
without security, 100000, to be invested
according to his judgment, allowing him
one-half Of the profits accruing from
the same.
After Col Muldrow's return emf
grants began to arrive. Every boat car
ried cargo of freight for Marion City,
cabins We're hurried to completion and
for awhile at least it looked as if his
scheme might amount to something This
condition, however was shortlived. All
plans for draining the land proved I'M
successful, and every spring the heavy
rainfalls, commingling with the melted
transformed the river into yellow,
surging flood, which swept down ire
sistibly on their feeble bikes and mum
dated all the country. Soon the settlers
began to leave in disgust, until none
remained save those who lacked the
means to get away, or a few possessed
of unusual perseverance who We're will
ing to stay on and attempt the impossi-
BILE struggle of making Col Muldrows
dreams come true.
Fishing