The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-02
The New Smiling Vii
lagos Of the Plains aims z.
Are Model Towns
from the Start---How
They Are Conceived
and Dedicated, and
How and Why They
Thrive.
: N DARKEST Africa, the far east

IN DARKEST Africa, the far east
and few other parts of the in
habitable globe the march of
progress has been noted by double
advent, described with due respect to
the religionist and the commercialist
as: "Frst the missionary and then the
whisky" g.. s%
In the rich region which was once
the northwest and whose trade center
has always been and still is Mime
apolls, civilization, as it has advanced
by the traditional leaps and bounds,
has had it's trail blazed by two agen-
cies, the railroad and the TOWNSHIP man.
Sometimes the railroad, in the alb
stract form of preliminary survey,
proceeds the townsite man; in other
i nto c 5he sa af party may march
site man awaiting it. In either event
railroad and townsite man work to the
common end of paving the way for
that permanent settlement which makes
territories out of the wilderness and
states out of the territories. The coun-
railroad is the cause of the townsite
man: Out of their joint endeavor come
the smiling villages' which dot the
map OF every new region of commercial
activity.
Townsite Man Changes.
The townsite man is one Of the tvnes
incidental to the westward march Of
empire In the United States and while
individuals resembling him, may be
found in other countries it is in North
America, between the Mississippi and
0,& L
has been most successful.
:. In the early days Of transcontinental
lines ne appeared as a SPECTATOR pure
and simple. The speculative townsite
man was prominent figure in the de-
Eel9pment OF California: 1t was his
out his towns, sell his lots at auction,
take what he could get for those not
salable at fancy figures, pocket his
handsome profits and depart for green
er fields and pastures new, leaving the
new town to get along as fate and
fortune might dictate.
The modern town, or village, is not
built in this way, and it is because the
"creative' TOWNSHIP man has replaced
the speculative' that new sections
are made to blossom as the rose and
suffer no blight from the creation Of
hasty and lll-advised center Of popula
ton. The romance Of the west had
been reduced to prosaic facts and fig
ures in the past decade and the "hell--
to-breakfast' cowboy has found him
self crowded out by the sober, plodding
farmer-and the man who makes the
towns to which the farmer brings his
trade. From this change in conditions
arises the story Of the modern town.
The Genesis Of a Town.
When railroad decided upon enter
Ing new territory there naturally arises
the question:. "Where shall we place
the stations9''
railroad builds between different cen
ters of settlement, this is very rarely
the case, especially in the western coun-
try. In fact, many little villages have
already learned to their sorrow that the
railroad is bigger Titan the people, as
represented by various village councils,
and that in penetrating new regions it
goes whittier it wills, regardless of the
pioneers In civic organization. It is
generally the case that while an inland
town or village may be located entirely
to its own satisfaction, such location
does not accord either with the general
plans Of the railroad magnates or the
Judgment Of the man in charge of the
survey, and the inland village is passed
by on the other side.
The Townsite Man Is It.
Nearly all the big railroad systems
In the west now have regularly organ
lied and operated "townsite DEPART
ment,' which is brought into the case
and consulted as to the location of sta
lions as soon as the general direction of
the new line is determined upon. The
railroads townsite man travels over
the proposed right of way, making a
careful study of the topography of the
land and Of it's natural resources. It is
he who decided where future cities can
live and have their being.
AS general proposition, new towns
are located about ten miles apart, es-
pecially along lines which penetrate
such territory as that found in North
Dakota, now the most fruitful field for
the TOWNSHIP man. After the matter Of
distance is settled there remains to be
considered the questions of grade, for
1t costs money to stop and start train,
and, ii possible, a station should be To-
Gated on straight stretch Of level
track where there will be no Estall-
ing" -.
Town Ready to "Fly.''
The location Of new town is the
decision Of expert intelligence, and 80
much a matter of keen interest to pro-
spective citizens of the same that in
many cases the TOWNSHIP man finds in
the neighborhood of the city whose
foundations he is about to- lay full
grown little village with banks, stores,
saloons and other appurtenances to COM
plex c1vlll5atl f = ready to take
vicinity of the "depot' -,
1t is usually only few days between
the departure of the railroad surveying
no r,tx -