The Saint Paul globe., 1904-10-24
FS 81 cHENRY county is in the stock
EkVHE raising and diversified farm
UWU ing district Of North Dakota

IN - cHENRY county is in the STOCK
IkVHE raising and diversified farm
HWlE ing district Of North Dakota
and has experienced a mar
velous development during the past five
or six years. It has an area of about
1000 square miles, comprising 1,27S,000
acres of land. The Mouse river trav-
erses the county, entering in the south
western corner, taking a general north
ern direction across the county and
then turning to the northwest, passing
into Bottineau county. The course OF
the river in the county is about zoo
miles in length. For large portion of
this distance the banks of the river are
timbered, making an ideal shelter for
stock. McHenry county is exceedingly
well watered by the Mouse, Winter
ing, Deep, Little Deep, Cut Bank, Egg
and tributary streams and has within
It's borders many lakes, large and
small.
For a score of years previous to 1898
or 1899 McHenry county had a repu-
tation as stockman's paradise, the
conditions here making it most per-
feetly adapted to stock raising and
large bands of horses, cattle and sheep
have been raised here. The county
has indeed at this time some of the
finest stock ranches in the state. Six
years ago there were upwards of 1,O00,-=
600 acres of vacant public land in the
county, but that is gone now. Condl-
tions have changed and within the
past few years there has been large
influx of settlers into the county and
no longer hundreds Of thousands Of
horses and cattle roam the fertile
prairies at will. The county is now be-
coming as famed for agricultural pur-
poses and diversified farming as it once
was for stock raising on an immense
scale.
By the Mouse river valley is meant
lying along the Mouse river, but the
entire area formerly occupied by gla-
cial Lake Souris. This valley is situ-
ated in the north central part of North
Dakota and the south central part Of
Canada In the state of North Dakota
it includes within its borders NcHenry
county and parts of Ward and Botti-
neau counties.
This loop of the Mouse river en-
braces a large expanse of land that is
quite equal to any soil on earth for
general farming. The soil is a rich,
dark drift of alluvial loan. from two
to four feet deep, resting op a deep
and very tenacious clay subsoil. 1t is
specially adapted to grain growing,
giving a bountiful yield of the finest
quality.
AGRICULTURE
Remarkable, indeed, has been the de-
velopment of agriculture in McHenry
county. The wild, unbroken country
of a few years ago has been trans
formed into cultivated fields of golden
grain In place of the vast lonesome
ness of boundless prairie over which in
the COS the Indian brave roamed In
undisputed sway and until a few years
ago the bonanza stockman ranged his
cattle with like freedom, we see farms
with substantial buildings teemiflg
with the results Of thrift and enter
prise. The plow turns a soil as rich
and kindly in the abundance of its
productiveness as God ever gave. Veg
etables of all kinds are grown and no
better quality are produced in any land.
The resources, pleasures and other
advantages of the great McHenry
county cannot be imagined by any one
who has not had the chance to spend a
summer day along the beautiful Mouse
river, or stood beside the natural high
ways and watched the loads upon loads
of grain hauled into the numerous
towns within the borders of the county.
Every fall witnesses an increase in the
number of bushels of grain marketed
and this shows that the county is ex-
periencing a healthy growth of popula-
ton and that the farmers are breaking
up the land and farming it.
The real estate dealers of the county
are a progressive and enterprising lot
of men and are accomplishing a great
deal by their systematic way Of ad-
vertising the resources of the county.
While they are doing all they can to
place this county's prospects before the