The Saint Paul globe., 1904-08-23


Railroads in northeastern Minnesota
which are pushing their way to the
Canadian boundary line. are serving to
Increase the value of pine s1ands, and
the state of Minnesota, which owns a
large number of tracts of state school
or state swamp lands, will reap hand
some profit in the enhanced Of the
standing pine numbered among it's pos
sessions.
u Gen. c.. C. Andrews, chief forest fire
warden of Minnesota, has returned
from the Pelican lake country, two
hundred miles north of ST. Paul, and
reports in that section some of the
richest bodies of pine forest remaining
in Minnesota.
s'sThe forests are still standing in
their primeval grandeur" said Gen.
Andrews yesterday, "and they are ma
ture's masterpieces in. vegetation.
visited for the first time some of these
forests last week. The trip was fa-
voped with delightful weather, and the
forests are quite dry in consequence.
of few rains during recent weeks. Much
of; the white pine is growing on very
fertile black soil and 1T is dense IN
deed. In some instances there are
quarter sections that will scale as high
as a 4,000,00 feet of fine white pine, and
as it stands it is worth $4,000 to the
state ThesBuluth &, Rainy River rail-
road sis approaching this region and
in few more years will have carried
off the pine. 1.-The advent of the railroad
and the growing scarcity of the pine OF
the sta te have combined to advance the
price for sixteen years ago the pine
in this part iof the state was worth
only about as'tenth it's present price,.
Gen. Andrews gives an interesting
description Of the country Where ne
had spent the past ten days in prose-
cutting his work as chief fire warden.
He said yesterday:
An interesting Country
"I reached this locality by steam
boat from Tower to the head of Yer
million lake, thence by wagon seven
miles over very rocky road to Elbow
falls. thence by canoe down Elbow
river into and down Pelican river; also
up Pelican river into Pelican lake.
"The general appearance of the coun-
try is a sort of medium between bold
and tame. There are no elevations
much exceeding one hundred feet.
Pelican elake, which has an area of al
|
I islands, which, like its. shores of varied
landscape, are wooded and often rocky.
The prevailing character of the more
elevated portions of the country is
rocky, but there is a fair amount OF
arabic land. The streams are sluggish
and often s.berdered by meadows Of
luxuriant blue joint grass. There is
much wild rice in the waters and oc-
scasionally the canoe has to struggle
through fields of 1T. The muskeg
swamp of stunted spruce, though un-
welcome, puts in an appearance. The
Observation-Disclosures often monotonous, but
/ from time 10 time the ash and oak,
good witnesses ofgtfeftilitya appear
along heariyVer banks While pine is
the principal ana more valuable tim
Der, there is considerable good spruce
and cedar, birch and poplar. sss'a
81 Indians Pick Blueberries
Some ragged spots are passed in
course of half day: Hillsides burned
over years ago are now partly covered
with bushes of cherry and birch or
patches of wild flowers, some ridges
thinly wooded, faced with bare rock
and wearing more froWn than smile.
While making the portages one sees
and tastes how abundant and especial
ly nice the blueberries are this year.
A dealer at the head of Vermilion
lake has this year paid : to the In
dams. $500 for blueberries. / probably
met forty Indians, including women
and children, who were or had been
picking blueberfies.
There is much to awaken interest
while. canoeing son this Pelican river.
If the banks1 are marshy one often
sees where the moose has lately wal
lowed; suddenly some ducks fly up
or are seeniza little way off on the
water; of hawks, owls, cranes and
crows there. are plenty. On the
perta gesDsome partridges were; seen,
with fresh signs of deer and bear.
ION this trip. as on others, I was
impressed by the amount of young
pine, from six to ten years old. In the
aggregate it represents good deal OF
value"