Arizona republican., 1903-09-08
NORTHWEST TERRITORY
A Great Country and Geo. Cornell Is
 Going Back to It.

George Cornell. who was here last winter. went to his former home in Manitoba to spend the summer. He returned couple of days ago intending to stay, for he likes Arizona, but when he got here he found a telegram await ing him that makes it to his interest to return to that country. or rather to Regina. the capital of Assiniboia prov ince, in the northwest territory. He will leave in Q day or so and will prob ably remain there permanently. going into business.
 His brother is prosperous real eS- tate dealer of Winnipeg. a member of the Dominion parliament and man with a great deal of business on hand. He was very anxious for George to stay in that country and gave him a good position, leaving at once for the capi- tai on official business. George worked two days and then got homesick for Arizona. threw up his job and wrote his brother that he was going back to the states. and that there was nothing in that country that could Wean him away from Arizona except possibly hotel business in Regina, which is q prosperous town about the size of Phoe- nix, on the main line of the Canadian Pacific railroad. He then went to san Francl"co, and after q few days came oa to Phoenix, where he get | message saying that the Windsor hotel. the fin est one in Regina, was his if he would go after 1t. There is nothing for him to do now but go.
 Incidentally MT. Cornell talks very interestingly of tho northwest territory of which much has been written, but of which there Is still more that has not been written. Regina. was the head quarters of Louis Riel. leader of the rebellion of 1885 and of the Red river rebellion in 1S69-I0 He Was d Cana dian half breed and was executed at Regina in November, 1885. It was that rebellion that first brought the coun- try prominently before newspaper read CTS. It is also 2t the present time the headquarters of the northwest mounted police of which there is q force of 400. a military organization that has been made notable in many ways. Tn" territory is a wonderfully rich agricul- tural section, the principal product be- ing wheat. The grass on untitled lands grows four feet high, and from there west to the Rocky mountains is a re- markable country for game, moose. elk and other large game being plentiful.
 Thousands of Americans are now emigrating to that section drawn by its great agricultural possibilities, and lands that three years ago were a drug in the market at $2.50 per acre are now worth $20. But the early tides of immigration were of a different sort of people, and the settlement was pro noted almost entirely by the politicians of the country, who sought to and did build up powerful constituency in that manner While their laws are strict and drawn no doubt largely in the interest of the lawmakers, they per init no trusts or monupoles. The first immigration was of 5.000 Galatians and 5000 Dukhobors from southern Russia. The latter are I very queer people just civilized enough to be the worst kind of fana tics. They know more about the world than barbarous race, yet their Knowledge is just enough tC make them the most unreasonable of barbarians. for even self-interest will not wean them away from their almost inhuman religious ideas. The government has found it necessary to close-herd them even more 'vigilantly than this country has it's painted redskins. When they Were colonized in the northwest each family was given 160 acres Of land. an OK team and other necessaries for it's cultivation.
 But right there is where the trouble arose. Their religion prohibited the working of any animal in harness or otherwise, the men were too lazy to get out and grub with hand and hoe, and it became necessary for the women to hitch themselves up tC the blow in Crder to get in any kind Of crop. Further. after the wheat vas grown it had to be eaten raw, if at all, for their religion teaches that they shall not eat bread or food made by human hands. and meat if eaten at all must be eaten raw. This put them in q bad way, especially in the wintertine when the browsing was poor.
 They are so intensely religious that while they do not interpret the Scrip ture like any civilized people they have q profound respect for Biblical char acters, and all of them bear names taken frC-n holy writ. There are among them a dozen Jesuses, and St. Johns and St. Pauls, etc. are as numerous as the Smith family in this country. They do not claim to be the originals, how | ever, ana are CullSldIllN lCOhlllS lOi biiS coming of Christ. A year ago they thought they had diVined his near ap- preach and about 5000 of them started | across country toward the American l line to meet him. Some accounts of | the trouble they got into were pub | lished at the time In the daily papers. l When this special manifestation of the spirit seized them they developed new 1 eccentricity that made life still more miserable in Dominion attitudes, though for q summer fad it ought to take well | in Arizona. The new tenet added to their faith was that 1t was wicked to wear clothes, and immediately the 5000 pilgrims, men, women and children, | diSrobed and cast their filthy and sin full garments to the roadside, hiking l along the way in the hope of meeting | the Messiah with no strings on them | This meant business for the mounted police, who gave chase and overlook them not far from the boundary, seek ing shelter in two large skating rinks.
 As soon as possible they were loaded