The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1926-05-03

An article published recently in the
Oregon Journal. printed at Portland,
Oregon. deroga!ory to North DAKOTA
so aroused J. NJ. Devine. state COM
missioner Of immigration. that ne
has just forwarded to the oregon
newspaper the following letter which
he hopes will offset any wrong i'm
prcs( lion that people outside North
Dakota may have obtained from nc
previous article:
1.-THE attention Of this Department
has beeR called to an article appear.
ing in the Oregon Journal Of April
s which reads as follows:
When you travel through North
Dakota you scarcely wonder that
the Non. Partisan L-ague flour
ished there. Passing out Of the
green meadows and fields. bloom
ing orchards and forest-fringed
streams OF Western Oregon in
April into and across the barren,
bleak and inhospitable plains Of
North Dakota, you can readily
understand why North Dakotans
become FESTIVE. disconnected and
aroused. There isn't a spear Of
grass in sight from Bismarck to
Fargo on the fifth Of April. The
land does not look as II it was
ever touched BY water. The roads
are dusty. Wherever there are
streams or ponds or lakes they are ST.
frozen. Spring that arrived in
Oregon weeks ago hasn't reached
Dakota yet. And the perspective.
as you gaze over magnificent dis
tanccs from the train windows.
doesn't give you hope that j; will
ever come.
Lacking In Information
I'VE confess astonishment at the
lack of information regarding North
Dakota evidenced by the writer Of
this article. 1t would be quite
natural to expect traveller from
Oregon, especially a representative
Of the Oregon Journal. to be much
better informed. therefore, able to
make intelligent deductions regard
ing. this sale. its activities. climate
and people. The writer evidently
never had the good fortune to see
rye. alfalfa. flax and corn undulating
and ripening for the harvest and
J because he lives in Oregon. More
acres in crop than the state Of Oregon.
,, Washington and California combined.
He has never seen thousands of
farmsteads with their up-to-date
homes and the landscape dotted with
herds Of bcefstock. dairy cows and
sheep; has never seen the thousands
Of beautiful modern school buildings,
both of city and country. which are
! the visible reason for North Dakota s
, low per cent Of illiteracy--less than
, onc-half Of one per cent.
Comfortably seated in a leather
! upholstered chair in the observation
car Of the North Coast Limited. as
it dashes along at fifty miles an hour
over the $50 miles-North Dakota
distance from east to VESTS hardly
the best place from which to size
up any state, much less that Of North
Dakota. The state is too big and
far reaching to be judged by snap
shot exposure and that evidently
caused by grouchy state Of mind.
The writer states that he did not see
a single blade Of green grass between
Bismarck and Fargo. Since il was
the fifth day Of April when he gave
US the "once over" we have very
grave doubts if he saw single blade
of green grass from the east side Of
the Rocky Mountains until he reached
the Twin Cities Minneapolis, St.
Paul. Minnesota. Whyc Because
it was not yet the season, in that
long stretch Of country. for 1.-The green
grass that grows all around all
around" 1t would be pertinent to
state that on that journey he has
passing through is the greatest stretch
Of green grass country on this contin-
ent. The historic native habitat Of
the big herds of buffalo. deer and
antelope; they lived here-hundrcds
Of thousands Of them-and thrivcd.
not because they had to stay in this
section. hut because grazing was
i nutritious and plentiful the whole
year round. Since the writer of the
! article whizzed through this state
! the average temperature has been
sixty-fivc above; the ice has gone
] from the lakes and sl0ughs; the
meadow-lark and robin have arrived;
the wild ducks are floating grace.
fully on the waters Of the big sloughs
and the honk of the wild geese has
been heard in the blue above, as they
journeyed to their summer feeding
grounds; the paschsl flower. with its
delicate tints Of blue and lavender
is once more shyly extending its
early spring greeting ,sto the chill.
dren Of our schools who seek it in
its prairie home. All this has taken
place since the writer moaned out
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