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STATE PRINTER. I'lONEER AND DEMOCBAT OFnCE. 1858. I tA-. r"i~ „> AS-: REPORT The Select Committee of the House of Representatives to whom certain Resolutions of citizens of St. Paul, upon the subject of overland emigration from Minnesota to British Oregon, have been referred would respectfully report : — Such a continental communication has suddenly become a prac- tical question, in view of the discovery of gold upon the waters of Frazer and Thompson Rivers. Little doubt now remains that Great Britain is in possession of a district on the Pacific coast which is likely to become a second Australia, changing the current of emigration from southern to northern routes across the Con- tinent. Our citizens, in a series of meetings, have embodied for the pub- lic information numerous facts and statistics . which establish the superiority of a route through the valleys of the Red River of the North and the Saskatchewan. The Committee append to this Re- port the published proceedings of these meetings, at one of which some legislative action, hereafter to be considered, was advocated. In addition to the advantages which the Minnesota and Saskatch- ewan land route is thus found to possess, there is reliable testi- mony that the western districts of Minnesota may be connected by continuous steamboat navipiition with a point at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, which is only eight days journey from the gold districts of British Oregon. The head of steamboat navigation on the Red River of the North, is in about 46 dcg. 23 min. The river, flowing from south to north, is, according to Capt. John Pope, five feet deep at the mouth of Sioiix Wood River ; six feet twenty miles north, at the site of a- military post proposed by Maj. S. Woons, 6th Infantry, in 1849, and soon to bo occupied as Fort xVbercrombie ; thence to Shayenne, six feet ; from Shayenne to Goose River, nine feet, but with an inter- vening rapid one mile long with five feet upon it ; from Goose River to Red Lake River, twelve feet ; from Red Lake River to Pembina and Lake Winnipeg, sixteen feet deep. Every portion of Minnesota is in intimate relation with the nav- igation thus described. When the International Emigrant Route ^ a '^ 2S ^-'^'-'■~-^- ri T 'i'V'~' ^ft*"'-^^'^ "~ ■■ NORTH-WESTERN ROUTE I) to the North Pacific receives the recognition it so amply deserves, a line of steamboats on the Ked River would be reached over the area of Minnesota by various communications. From England, Canada and the States within the line of the Lakes, Lake Superior and the valley oi i;o Upper Miysissippi would be favorite routes : while from the Southern and Middle States, routes through the southern counties of the State and the valley of the Minnesota Kivei would be eligible. Whatever, therefore, tends to open the route through Northern Minnesota and British America west, can- not fail to enlist the interest and co-operation f every Minne- sotian. We have shown above, from the soundings and report cf Capt. Pope, that the Red River is navigable from a poin; midway of our western boundary, to Lake Winnipeg. That lake is two hundred and fifty miles long — of course, navigable by a propeller or any class of vessels. From its northern extremitj', the Saskatchewan is navigable seven hundred miles west on an air-line (much further by the windings of the stream) with no material obstacle except the Rapids at the mouth of the river. The traveler may ascend the north and south branch of the Saskatcliewan, by either route reach- ing the immediate vicinity of favorable passes through the Rocky Mountains. If, at this moment, these links of internal navigation were connected by vessels, the Overland Journey to the headwaters of Frazer River could be made in twenty-four days. The volume and depth of the Saskatchewan is fully equal to the Mississippi above Cairo. It is understood that the Canadian Parliament has incorporated some enterprizing citizens of Toronto into a "Western Transporta- tion Company;" and if the policy of colonization and settlement is to succeed the exclusive occnpntion of the Hudson Bay Com- pany, it may be proper for the Legislature of Minnesota to co- operate, as far as the Constitution will admit,' in facilitating the enterprise of the above named Company or similar associations within the limits cf this State. As no special act for such a pur- pose can be enacted, the Committee have prepared a general pro- vision that may be adequate to encourage any enterprise which seeks to appropriate the navigation of the streams connecting with our northern frontier. The Committee are impressed witli the belief that a re-publica- tion of such statements as will illustrate and enlorce the advan- tages of the International Overland Route to the Pacific, should be included among the legislative documents of this session, and these accordingly accompany the present report. TO BKITLSir OKEGON. the In regard to the rocoiniiioiidations of the citizens of Saint Paul, they are best statecl in the terms of resolutions adopted at a meet- ing held in the Ilall of the House of Ropresentatives on Saturday, Jnly n, Hon. J. Starkay presiding. The resolutions were as follows: " Resolved, That the Legislature is hereby memorialized to pass an Act authorizing the incorporated cities and towns of Minnesota to guarantee the re-payment of sums advanced by the citizens of said cities or towns in organizing and furnishing overland parties to the Pacific, but limiting, as may be deemed expedient, the ex- tent of such guaranty. " Resolved, That the State Government be also memorialized, on the return of parties so organized and forwarded, to compile, publish and circulate, under the direction of the Governor, all observations and information which may be collected by said par- tics, and to appropriate at this session a reasonable amount for that purpose." The Committee can readily appreciate that the local advantages to the cities and towns of this State resulting from the establish- ment beyond all question of the superiority of the Minnesota Overland Route, would justify a reasonable degree of aid by their authorities; while the proposition that the State should supervise and provide for the publication of any valuable information ob- tained by the explorations of parties from Minnesota, is emi- nently appropriate. A Bill is therefore submitted in accordance with the foregoing views ; but which contains some modification of the suggestions made by the memorialists. Respectfully submitted, J. R. WAKEFIFLD, ] S. R. JOHNSON, E, PIERCE, ^Committee. J. G. RANDALL, | JAMES C. FROST. J » with A Bill for the Encouragement of an International Overland Emi- gration Route from Minnesota to Puget Sound. Be it enacted Ij the Legislature of the State of Minnesota : Sec. I. Any company incorporated by the English or Canadian Governments for the purpose of trade or transportation upon the rivers which form portions of the northern and western boundaries of this State, is hereby authorized and empowered to exercise all lb 6 NORTH-WESTERN ROUTE £ the powers conferred by their respective charters within the limits of this State, but upon the express condition that no power thereby exercised shall interfere with any right now hold and enjoyed by the citizens of tliis State, or shall be inconsistent with the Consti- tution or Laws of this State. Sec. 2. The authorities of incorporated cities and towns in Min- nesota are hereby authorized to appropriate money or guarantee the repayment of sums subscribed and paid by individuals for or- ganizing and furnishing overland parties of exploration during the year 1858; but the total amount of such appropriation or guaran- ty by or on behalf of any single city or town, shall not exceed the sum of three thousand dollars. Sec. 3. The Governor is hereby authorized and required to com- pde such reports of overland parties as he may deem proper for pub- he information, and cither publish the same during the recess of the Legislature or report at the ensuing session thereof, as he may deem expedient. M f I A-PPENDIX. I '■'' , ik ' ^ ^^ I' I. IM h ii APPENDIX NO. I- ^PllOCKKDINdX OF I'l'ULKJ MEETINdrt IlKKlJ AT IT. I'AL'L, MINNESOTA, ON THE FIRST, SEVENTH, TI:NTH AND SEVENTEliNTII KAYS OF .IlLV, A. 0. 1H58. ^( PRELIMINAliY MEETING. At an informal meeting- of citizens of St Paul for the purpose of considerinjf tlie practicability uf a roule from Ari/mesota to the Northern Pacific Coast, throug-h the valley of the Ecd River of the North, the Saskatcliewan, the Upper Cijlumbia aii'I the gold dis- trict of Frazer and Tiiompson Rivers, Col.Wm. II. Noble was called to the chair, and J. A. Whkelock was appointed Secretary. Whereupon, a Committee consisting of N. W. Kitson, James Rm- PATH, John II. Stevens, James W. Taylok, and J. C. Borden, were appointed and requested to communicate to an adjourned meeting upon the subject above named. Adjourned to meet on the call of tlie Chairman. *i FIRST ADJOURNED MEETING. An adjourned meeting of citizens of St. Paul and of citizens of Minnesota sojourning in St. Paul, was held at the Fuller House, on Wednesday, July 7, at 8 P. M. Col. Wm. IT. Noijle, of St. Paul, re- sumed the chair, and Mr. E. Pierce, of St. Peter, was- appointed Secretary. Mr. James W. Taylor, from the committee previously appointed, presented the following report upon the general subject of an over- land route, and the naturcii features of the regions connected with it. geographical REI'ORT. It is now established that a District of British Oregon, liolding a relation to Puget Sound, similar to that of the Sacramento Valley to 1 1 : I': :»' I' ft 10 NORTII-WESTEUX EOUTE the Bay of San Francisco, contains rich and extensive gold pla- cers The upper waters of Frazor River, including- its principal tribu- tary, Thompson Kiver, are eagerly sought by adventurers from Or- egon and California, and all accounts concur that the surface min- ings are as succcssf' I as those of California and Australia have been. Geolooists have anticipated such a discovery, and Governor Stevens in his last message to the Legislative Assembly of Wash- ington Territory, claims that a district south of the international boundary is equally auriferous. The Frazer river mines have already been mentioned in the British Parliament as not less valuable and important than the gold fields of Australia, and it is in view of the influence of these events upon overland emigration, that the present report is sub- mitted. The southern boundary of ^Minnesota is in latitude 43i degrees ; St. Paul and the Falls of St. Anthony are about 45 degrees, and •our northern boundarv, conterminous with the international line, is partly on the parallel of 49 degrees. The Frazer River mines will probably be explored from latitude 49 degrees to 55 degrees ; therefore, if an overland emigrant route thither is practicable from Minnesota, it will be an important con- sideration in favor of such a route, that the valleys of the Upper Mississjppi and the Red River of the north, are on the most direct line of communication from Canada and the States north of latitude 40 degrees to the Frazer River district. An overland route through Minnesota, ascending the course of the Saskatchewan and crossing the Rocky Mountains, in latitude 54 degrees, to British Oregon, would traverse a region of Xorth America, hitherto withheld from colonization, but soon to be surren- dered by the Hudson Bay Company for civilized settlement. West of the Rocky Mountains that company claims no chartered rights, and their licence of Indian trade will expire in May, 1859. The British Parliament have just published the report of a select committee of the House of Commons, which exhibits a disposition on the part of the company to withdraw from an immense district reaching west of Lake Winnipeg to the Pacific, if thereby a recog- nition of the exclusive privileges hitherto enjoyed by them within the remainder of their chartered limits can be obtained. Even such a compromise is vigorously opposed by the people of Canada, but the citizens of Minnesota would have reason to be satisfied if our northwestern connection with Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Brit- ish Oregon, should be placed on the footing of such an adjustment. In this cy of Gi city" is of the A rance th lected a become, pool of As to (so the charter victory, advanta; that imi onizatioi the Am( tiers, ai receive towns, century. The pi isfaction tant sub if not b, party to westwar of fifty ( Vancou\ will the locating commiss gaged i to Lake comes t renew in Australi An Puget S and Va which, r Mississi From h two to ( TO BRITISH OREGON. 11 In this respect, our interests are identical with the inevitable poli- cy of Great Britain. Henceforth, no other relation than "recipro- city" is possible between British America and the adjacent States of the American Union. Minnesota especially welcomes the assu- rance that Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Ishand, is to be se- lected as the Naval station of England on the Pacific, perhaps to become, under the impulse of an international railroad, the Liver- pool of the Pacific coast. As to the " adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay " (so the stockholders of the company are technically styled in the charter of incorporation) they can turn their partial defeat into a victory. The map of Arrowsmith exliibits their posts at every advantageous locality between latitude 49 and 55 degrees. Open that immense belt of country to European and American col- onization — extend over it the benefits of "Reciprocity" — adopt the American system of land surveys and land bounties to set- tlers, and the members of the Hudson's Bay Company would receive more advantage in ten years as proprietors of cities and towns, than would be possible for tlieni as fur traders in a century. The press and citizens of St. Paul have observed with mucli sat- isfaction the progress of public opinion in England on 'this impor- tant subject. Encouraged by the London Geographical Society, if not by the Government, Captain Pailiser leads an exploring party to the sources of the South Saskatchewan, and the passes westward through the Rocky Mountains. Col. Elliott, at the head of fifty engineers and as many soldiers, has recently arrived at Vancouver Island, and accompanied by an hundred voyageurs, will thence move eastward through British territory, definitely locating a railroad route as he advances. Simultaneously, a joint commission of the American and English governments are en- gaged in running the international boundary, from Puget Sound to Lake Superior, commencing at the Pacific terminus. And now comes the gold discovery of the Northwest, which will probably renew in that direction the wonderful history of California and Australia. An overland route from St. Paul, on American territory, to Puget Sound, or through the Saskatchewan Basin to Frazer River and Vancouver Island, is central to an immense and fertile area, which, at no distant dav, must connect with the channels of the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, within the limits of Minnesota. From latitude fortj'-four to fifty-four, and from longitude ninety- two to one hundred and twelve (west of Greenwich) or between I ' f '?■■( i ■7 i : 12 NOBTH-WESTERN ROUTE Lakes Superior and Winnipeg on the east, and the Rocky Moun- tains, there is comprised an area of 631,050 square miles. Extend these lines of latitude to the Pacific in longitude one hundred and twenty-four, and we have a further area of 378,636 square miles, or an aggregate of 1,009,686 square miles — equal in extent to France, Germany, Prussia, Austria and that portion of Russia which lies south of St. Petersburg and west of Moscow. A dis- trict ten degrees of latitude wide by thirty-two of longitude in length, would comprise twenty-four States of the size of Ohio. Our present Inquiry, however, is confined to the upper half of this vast region, or exclusively north of the boundary of 49 de- grees, and since an emigration route to Frazer River is under con- sideration, a general view of the districts to be traversed by such a route or closely connected with it, will first be presented. Those districts of British America west of the Lakes, which, by soil and climate, are suitable for settlement, may be thus enumerated : Vancouver Island, 16,200 square milos. Frazer and Thompson Rivers, 00,000 do. Sources of Upper Columbia, 20,000 do. Athabasca District 50,000 do. •Saskatchewan, Eod llivcr, Assineboiu, &c 300,000 do, 500,200 Under these geographical divisions, whose area would constitute twelve States of the size of Ohio, we propose to give the results of a Parliamentary investigation, just published, into the affairs of the Hudson Bay Company, so far as they are descriptive of the foregoing districts. Yancouveu Isl.\xd. — This Island is fortilo, well timbered, diver- sified b}' intersecting mountain ranges and small prairies, with ex- tensive coal fields, compared to the West Riding of Yorkshire coal, and fortunate in its harbors. Esquimaux Harbor, on whicu Victoria is situated, is equal to San Francisco. The salmon and other fisheries are excellent, bail this advantage is shared by every stream and inlet of the adjacent coast. The climate is frpquently compared with that of England, except that it is even warmer. The winter is stormy, w:t'» heavy rains in November and Decern" bcr ; frosts occur in January, but seldom interrupt agriculture ; vegetation starts in February, progressing rapidly in March, and fostered by alternate warm showers and sunshine in April and May, while intense heat and drought are often experienced during June, July and August. As already remarked, the Island has an area of 16,200 square milOs, or as large as Vermont and New Hampshire. ,1 TO BKITISH OIJEGON. 13 Frazek and Thompson RivERs.-XarthwardofVancouver, the moun- tains trend so near the Pacific as to obstruct intercourse with tlie in- terior, but " inside," to use tlie language of a witness, " it is a fine open country." This is the valley of Frazer liivcr. Ascending- this river, near Fort Langley, " a large tract of land " is represented as " adapted to colonists ;" while of Thompson River, the same wit« ness says that " it is one of the most beautiful countries in the world" — climate capable of producing all the crops of England and much milder than Canada. The sources of Frazer River, in latitude 55 degrees, are separated from those of Peace River, which flows through the Rocky Mountains eastwardly into the Athabasca, by the distance of only 317 yards. SorncEs of tiij: CoA'mbia — The map will show how large a district of British Oregon is watered by tlie Upper Columbia, and its tribu- tary, the M'Gillivray, or Flat How River. It is estimated above as 20,000 square miles, and has been described in cnthusiastie terms by the Catholic Bishop of Oregon, De Smet, in his " Oregon Mis- sions. " The territory of the Kootonais Indians would seem, from his glowing description, to be divided in favorable propor- tions between forests and prairies Of timber he names birch, pine of diflerent species, cedar and cj'prcss He remarked speci- mens of coal, and " great quantities of lead, " apparently mixed with silver. The "source of the Columbia" seemed to impress him as a "very important point." He observes that " the climate is delightful ; " the " extremes of heat and cold are seldom known, the snow disappearing as it falls." He reiterates the opinion " that the advantages nature seems to have bestowed on the source of the Columbia will render its geographical position very important at some day, and that the magic hand of civilized man would transform it into a terrestrial paradise. " It is an interesting coincidence that Father De Smet published in a St. Louis paper, a few m(mths since, a similar description of this region, adding that it could be reached from Salt Lake City along the western base of the Rocky Mountains with wagons, and that Brigham Young proposed to lead his nert Mormon exodus to the source of the Columbia River. Such a movement is not im- probable, and would exhibit greater sagacity than an emigration to Sonora. Already the Mormons have establisl^d a flourishing half-way post on the Salmon River, a branch of the Columbia, and as De Smet has had many opportunities for ascertaining the de- » signs of the Mormon hierarchy, the next scene of their zeal and in- dustry may be under the protection of the British crown. i :1 i}? i u NOETI r-\Vi:S IKKN KOLTE The Atiiahasca District. — The valleys of the Peace and Athabas- ca rivers, eastward of tlie Rocky Mountains from latitude 55 deg. to 58 dey., share the Pacific climate in a remarkable degree. The Rocky Mountains are greatly reduced in breadth and mean eleva- tion, and through the numerous parses between their lofty peaks the winds of the racilic reach the district in question. Hence it is, that Sir Alexander Mackenzie, under date of May 10th, mentions the exu berant verdure of the whole country — trees about to blos- som, and buffalo attended by their young. During the late Parlia* mentary investigation, similar statements were elicited. Dr. Richard King, who accompanied an expedition in search of Sir John Ross, as " Surgeon and Naturalist, " was asked what por- tion of the country visited by him was valuable for the purpose of settlement. In reply, ho described "as a very fertile valley," a " square piece of country " bounded on the south by Cumberland House, and by the Athabasca Lake on the nortli. His own words are as follows : " The sources of the Athabasca and the sources of the Saskatchewan include an enormous area of countrj'. It is, in fact, a vast piece of land surrounded by water. "When I heard Dr. Livingston's description of that country, m hich he found in the interior of Africa within the Equator, it appeared to me to be pre- cisely the kind of country which I am now describing. s): * >(: It is a rich soil, interspersed with well wooded country, there being growth of every kind, and the whole vegetable kingdom alive. '' Wlien a^ked concerning mineral productions, his reply was, " I do not know of any other mineral except limestone ; limestone is ap- parent in all directions. * * The birch, the beach and the maple are in abundance, and there is every sort of fruit. " When questi.^ned farther, as to the growth of trees. Dr. King replied by a comparison " with the magnificent trees rouud Kensington Park in London.'' lie described a farm near Cumberland House, under very successful cultivation — luxuriant wheat, potatoes, barley, pigs, cows and horses. TiiK Saskatciikwax, AsftiXEBOix AXD Red Rivf.ij District. — The area northwest of Minnc-ota, the Saskatchewan district, is estimated to comprise 3GS,000 square miles. Northwest from Otter Tail Lake, the gcograidiical centre of Minnesota, extends a vast silurian form- ation, bounded on the west along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountaina^)y coal measures. Such a predominance of limestone implies fertility of soil, as in the Northwestern States, and a speedy colonization of Saskatcliewan would be assured, if the current ob. ection to the severity of the climate was removed. On this point a few facts will be presented. li TO BKITISir 0]iK(fpGcdy Milt ob- point The sea of Azof, which empties into the Black Sea, forming the eastern border of the Crimean peninsula, freezes about the begin- ning of November and seldom opens before the beginning of April. A point less than one hundred miles north, but far down in South- ern Russia, namely, Catherinoslav, has been found from the obser- vation of many years, to be identical in sunnner and winter climate with Fort Snelling, Nine-tenths of European Russia, therefore — the main seat of population and resources — is farther north than St. Paul. In fact, Pembina is the climatic erpiivalent of Moscow, and for that of St. Petersburg, (which is (iO deg. north,) we may reason- ably go to latitude 55 dog. on the American continent. Like Eu- ropean Russia, also, the Saskatchewan district has a climate of ex- tremes — the thermometer having a wide range; but it is well un- derstood that the growtli of the cereals and of the most useful vege- tables depends chrelly on the intensity and duration of the summer heats, and is comparatively little inlhiencedby the severity of winter cold, or lowness of the mean temperature during the year. Tliere- fore, it is important to observe that the northern shore of Lake Huron has the mean summer lieat of Bordeaux, in Southern France, namely TO deg. Farenheit, while Cumberland House, in latitude 54 deg. longitude 102, on the Saskatcliev^^an, exceeds, in this respect, Brussels and Paris The United States Armv Meteorological Reg- ister has ascertained tliat tlie line of TO deg. mean summer heat crosses the Hudson river at West Point, thence descends to the latitude of Pittsburg, but westward is traced through Sandusky. Chicago, Fort Snelling, and Fort Union, into British America. Tlie average annual heat at Quebec is experienced as far north as lati- tude 52 deg. in tlie Saskatchewan country. Mr. Lorin Blodget, of Washington, (who has published a comprehensive work upon the climatology of the United States)asserts that there is a rai>id increase of heat in going westward, on a line of latitude from points in Min- nesota, and this even where the elevation increases. " It is warm- er," he says, " at Fort Benton on the Missouri, in latitude llQi deg. west, and latitude 4TA deg. north for every season, than at St. Paul, Minnesota. The mean winter temperature at Fort Benton is 25 dog., c 1 tlie same as that of Chicago, Toronto, Albany, and Portland, Maine. At St. Paul it is but 15 deg., or 10 deg. less ; it is not so cold as this on the main (south) brancli of tiie Saskatchewan." Mr. Blodgett claims that not only is the vicinit; of the south brancli of the Saskatchewan as mild in climate as St. Paul, but the north branch of that river is almost equally favorable, and that tlie ameliorating influence of the Pacific, through the gorges of the Rocky Mountains, is so far felt on Mackenzie River, that wheat may be grown in its valley nearly to the sixty-fifth parallel. ■" i^ h 1\ 1 16 NOKTII-WEKTEKN KOITTE 1?;i ' '! il, lli i The IbrcgoiMg details liave been protlnced to exhibit the general features ami advantages of the country which extends between Minnesota and the g(jid region of tlie North Pacific. It now re- mains to arrange the facts rehitive to the journey thither by the route of rcnibina and the Saslcatclicwan. To do so, tlit committee propose to compile from an overland journey of Sir George Simpson', (rDvernor of Hudson Bay Company, which w^as published in ISIT, whatever facts may throw light upon the expe- rience of a traveller over the same route. The journey from St. Paul to Pembina is familiar to all. From Pembinato the junction of Mouse Kivcr with the Assineboin, there is a well defined track over a plain, such as Sir George Simpsox describes on the way to the same point from Fort Garry. Under date of July od, he says : "On the east, north and south, there was not a mound or tree to vary the vast expanse, of green sward, while to the A^est (it would be to the north of our advancing par- ty) was the gleaming bay* of tiic Assineboin, separated from each other by wooded points of considerable depth." Gov. SiMPso.v, with relays of horses, made the journey from Fort Garry to Edmonton in thirteen days, about fortysix miles per day. Commencing with his diary of the third day from Fort Garrj', (at the point where a party from Pembina would intersect his trail) such extracts Avill be made as embody useful information : Juhi 5. — "On lesuming our journey we passed among tolerably well wooded hills, while on either side of us lay a constant succes- sion of small lakes, some of them salt, which abounded in wild fowl. In the neighborhood of these waters the pasture was rich and luxuriant ; and we traversed two fields, for so they might be termed, of the rose and the sweet briar. On reaching the summit of the hills that bounded the pretty valley of the llapid River, we descried an encampment, which proved lodges of Saultcaux In- dians. We spent an hour in fording the stream." No assistance from the Indians, but unmolested by them. July t). — A good supper of wild fowl, which was very numerous in the small lakes still along the route — a large salt hike — hilly and well wooded district — complaints of musquitoes. Jiilif 7. — Passed Bird's Tail Creek, a rapidly flowing tributary of the Assineboin — beyond this stream an undulating prairie of vast extent — bauds of anteUiiies — ferried over the Assineboin to Fort Ellice in a lattean, swimming the liorseS' — leaving the Fort, passed through a swampy wood, forded the Qu'appelle or Calling River, and surmounting a steep hill, encamped on a level meadow of sev- eral thrtusand acres in extent. i TO BKITISH OltEGoN. ir each July 8. — Extensive piairies, studded witii clumps of trees — con- siderable iucouvenience with regard to provisions from h:at of the weather — antehjpes in sight — in the afternoon tlie country swampy and beset with underwood. July 1). — Prairie harder and more open; grass withering under recent drouth; more antelopes; circuit of a swamp near Broken Arm llivor, losing alow hours. July 10. — Forded White Sand Kiver with the mud up to the bel- lies of the horses; hitherto weather dry, clear and warm, but a cold rain fell afternoon and night. July 11. — During the night a serenade hy the wolves and foxes; an early start and a glimpse of an object eagerly looked for, the Butte aux Chiens, towering with a hightof about four hundred feet over a boundless prairie as level and smooth as a pond, evidently once the bed of a lake, with the Dog-knoll as an islet in the centre, and which was covered with an alluvial soil of great fertility. On leaving the Dog-knoll, the party traversed about twenty miles of prairie among several large and beautiful lakes. The cavalcade now consisted, in all, of nineteen persons, fifty horses, and six carts with the following order of march. The guide was followed by four or five horsemen to beat a track; then came the carts, each with a driver, and lastly followed the unmounted animals under the charge of the rest of the party. July 12. — Followed for twenty miles, the shore of "Lac Sale," having waters as briny as the Atlantic, The most curious circum- stance with respect to these saline lakes, is, that they are often separated from fresh water only by a narrow belt of land. For three or four days the soil had been absolutely manured with the dung of tlje buflalo, but the animal had not been met. July 13. — March till ten o'clDck in a soaking rain. In the after- noon, "traveled a long distance through a picturesque country, crossing the end of an extensive lake, whose gently sloping banks of green sward were covered with thick woods." Here the party fell upon the trail o^ emigrants from Red River to Columhia, and then followed the well beaten track made by them for both horses and carts. July 14. — Under this date we annex a considerable extract: "In this part of the country we saw many sorts of birds, geese, loons, pelicans, ducks, cranes, two kinds of snipe, hawks, owls and gulls; but they were all so remarkably shy that we were con- strained to admire them from a distance. In the afternoon we traversed a beautiful country with lofty hills and long valleys, full of sylvan lakes, while the bright green of the surface, as far as 2 !l ! ' 4 ;.^i 18 XOKTIl-WKSTEEN ROUTE the eye could reach, assuincd a foreig'ii tinge, uiulcr an iiinnter- rnpttMl profusion of roses and blue-bells. On the summit of one of these hills we commanded one of the few extensive prospects we liad of late enjnv?>(l. One rang-e of hifjhts rose behind another, each becomin^; faintir as it receded from the eye, till the farthest was blended in alm.»st undistini,''uishable confusion with the clouds, while the softest vales sin-ead a panorama of hang'injj copses and glitterinj:^ lakes at our feet." Jidy 15. — The travelers had now reached the Bow Kiver, or the south branch of the Sa^vatchewan, "which," says Simpson, "takes its rise in the Eocky Mountains near the international frontier, and is of considerable size, withuut any impeilim(>nt of any mo- ment. * * * At the crossinj^ place the Bow liiver was about a third of a mile in width, with a strong- current, and some twenty miles below, falls into the main Saskatchewan, Avhence the two streams flow toward Lake Winnipeg', forminj^ at their mouth the Grand Rapids of about three miles in leng'th," A smart ride of four or five hours from the Bow River through a country very much resembling an Eng-lish Park, brought the party to Fort Carlton, on the Saskatchewan — latitude 53 deg. longitude- 108 dcg. " The Saskatchewan," remarks Gov. Simpson, " is here upward of a quarter of a mile wide, presenting, as its name implies, a swift current. It is navigable for boats from the Rocky Mountain House, in longitude 116, to Lake Winnipeg, upwards of seven hundred miles in a direct line, but by the actual course of the stream, nearly double that distance. Though, above Edmonton, the river is much obstructed by rapid?., yet from that Fort to Lake Winnipeg-, it is descended without a portag-e alike by boats and canoes, while even on the upward voyage, the oul;- break iii the navig-ation is the Grand Rapids, already mentioned."' Juhj 11. — After forty-eig'ht hours at Fort Carlton, Gov. Simpson's party resumed its journey along the north ur Ictt bardc of the Sas- katchewan. The first day's route " lay over a liilly countr}' so picturesque in its character that almost every commanding" posi- tion presented the elements of a picturesque pauuraina." Juhj 18. — The hottest day — inconvenience fmm thirst — encamped at 9 P. M. on a large lake. Jidy 19. — Overtook the emigrants to the Cnlumbia. In tljis con^ nexion so many particulars of interest are given that we make a liberal extract. " These emigrants consisted of agriculturists and others, princi- pally natives of Red River Settlement. Theie were twenty-thre.e I w TO niiiTisir ouE(;(>N". ID families, the heads boin,i? generally yuun<^ and active, thouj^h a few of them were advanced in life, mijre [)articularly one poor woman, upwards of seventy-five years of ag-e, who was tottering after her son to his new home. This venerable wanderer was a native of the Saskatchewan, (jf which, in fact, she bore the name. She had been absent from this, the land of her birth, Wn- eighteen years; and on catching the first glimjjse oi' the river from the hill near Carlton, shi.', under the inilueuce of old recollections, burst into a violent flood of tears. During the two days that the party spent at the Fort, she scarcely ever left the baidv of the stream, appear- ing to regard it with as much veneration as the Hindoo regards the Ganges. As a contrast to this superannuated daughter of the Saskatchewan, the band contained several very young travelers, who had, in fact, made their ai)pearance in this world since t'le commencement of the journey. " Each family had two or three carts, together with bauds of horses, cattle and dogs. The men and lads traveled in the saddle, while the vehicles, which were covered with awnings against the sun and rain, carried the women and young children. As they marched in single file, their cavalcade extended above a mile in length, and we increased the length of the column by marching in compan3^ The emigrants were all healthy and happy, living in the greatest abundance, and enjoying the journey with the highest relisl^. " Before coming up with these people, we had seen evidence of the comfortable state of their commissariat, in the shape of two or three still warm buffaloes, from which only the tongues and a few other choice bits had been taken. The spectacle gav^ us hope of soon seeing the animals ourselves, and accordingly it was not long before we saw our game on either side of the road, grazing or stalking about in bands of between twenty and a hundred, to the number of about five thousand in all." July 20. — The first complaint of the scarcity of water — only one supply, from Turtle River, during thirty-six hours. Game abundant, buffalo, bearer and deer, besides wolves, badgers and foxes. Re- turned to the immediate valley of the Saskatchewan, reaching Fort Pitt about dark. Jidi/ 21. Crossed to south bank of the Saskatchewan and trav- eled about thirty miles through bolder scenery than ibr-nerly. At night, first apprehensions of Indians expressed, by hobbling horses and mounting guard. July 22. Xo water till eleven o'clock, and again, in the after- noon, passed over a perfectly arid plain of about twenty-five miles fii I 90 NOIITFI-WKSIEUN ItOUTE ■;f il- if hi ^iii in long-tli ; cncanipoil for tlio night at tlio coiiiiiioncoment of the Chaine ties Lacs, a succession of small lakes, strotching over a distance of twenty or thirty njilos. The journal adds, " During the afternoon we saw our first raspberries ; they proved to be of large size and fine flavor. Two days previous we had feasted on the service berry, or mis-as-quitoniica — a sort of a cross between the cranberry and the black currant, and Ijefore leaving lied Kivcr we had found wild strawberries ripe." Ju/ij 2o. — " Encamped on the confines of an extensive forest, a tongue of which, stretching away to the northward, is knovrn as La Grand Pointe. Li the afternoon we had come upon a large bed of the eye-berry, or oos-oso of this route, vvitli tiie rcMuark that hovvev(.'r practic.ible or desiraljle it may be — as heini^'- all within our own boundary — for a lar;i;e and stron.u;' party, leavin,:^'' St. Paul not later than the 15th of May, it cauu(>t be rccnmmendeil I'or a small [)arty startirifi; from here at a lat(! season. We have tiien th<' cli()ic(> of the two routes by the Saskatchewan, and to j^ive somothin*^ likiii, up tiiat river by its nerth branch, thence to the tributaries of the SaskiitclKiwan, and down that stream and the valley by water, and by land to ]?as de la Uiv- iero, .'I, day's journey from Fort ^^birr^', lied Riv('r Setthnnent. The i)arty started on the Ith ol" April, IVom near the mouth of the Columbia, which tliey ascended in can(jes. On the 10th ol May th(>y lirst ^ot sifjht of the Kocky Mountains, and sent forward a piirty to procure horses ivuil supplies from the eiist side. From the west base of the mountains they travelled on foot, carrying packs of lifty pounds each, includiri;^- tluiir [)rovisioi!S, wliieh con- sisted of i)oun(h.'d corn brou,t!;lit IVoin the Columljia, aiid ])enunican, found in a cn/ie. Helbi'e, ho\v(!\cr, they commenced ttieir foot march, and after leavinji; the Cohunbia,, they ascended for some distance a small stream called Canoo River, from the fact that it WHS upon its itanks the lirst canoc-s were constructed which de* scended to the Pacific ; distance by Arrowsmith's map, twelve hundred mihis. •; Their march thron{,W» the passes of the mountains commenced on the 14th of i\Iay, and "was very fatig-uin-- in coTiseipience of the depth of the snow; on either side were inunense ghuticu's of ice- bound rocks, on whi.'h the rays' (»f the settin*:,- sun rellecb;d the most beautifid prismatic colors. One of those peaks was like a fortress of rock ; it rose eighteen iiundred feet perpendicularly Th i TO IMMTISIf OliKfiON. tion, i above tlio rnoimtain lakcH, and had its suinniit (;()Vorcd witli ico." The party h«!r Lake river — met a band of the Kinisteneaux wlio had just killed a buffalo, which they sold for a brass kettle. Passing by a tortu- ous route through the region of the Red Elk and Athabasca rivers, which were obstructed by boulders, some of the party had to take to the shore, while the men dragg'ed along the canoe, a laborious and tedious operation ; and so on, on foot and in canoes, nntil they reached the main stream of the Saskatchewan on the Hth of June " This river ilows over a bed composed of sand and marl, which contributes not a little to diminish the purity and transparency of its waters, which, like those of the Missouri, are turbid and whi- tish; except for that, it is one of the grandest rivers in the world. The banks are perfectly^ charming, and offer, in many places, 9, scene the fairest, the (^,Q;)St smiling, the best diversified, that can be beheld or imagined ^„aills in rare forms crowned with superb groves, valleys agreeably embowered, and embrowned at evening and at morning by the prolonged shadows of the hills and of the woods which adorn them ; herds of light-limbed antelopes and ma- jestic buffalo, bounding on the slopes of the hills, or trampling with ponderous tread the verdure of the plains ; all these chami)aigu beauties retlected, and doubled, as it were, by the waters of the gently gliding river, the melodious and varied songs of a thousand birds, perched on the tree-tops, the J'efresiiiog breath of the balmy breeze, the serenity of the sky, the purity and salubrity of the air, all in a word, pours contentment and joy into the soul of the on- chanted spectator. It is beyond and above all, in the morning when the sun is rising, and in the cvening,*when he i-s setting, that the spectacle is really ravishing. I ooukl not detach my regards from that superb picture, until the nascent obscurity had oblitera- ted its perfection. " Such is the graphic and glowing picture given to us of the SaskatchcAvan country, by one of the earlier travelers, and as it lirst presented itself to the eye of the wander- er, the experienced voyageur, and practical man. From these notes it appears that it takes thirty-eight days to ascend the Columbia, eight days to cross the Rocky Mr ntains, thence aloug and across numerous rivulets and streams northward to the Saskatchewan, down the valley of that river and through Lake Winnipeg, forty- one days more ; in all, eighty-seven days to Bas de la Riviere, near the Red River Settlement. When we take into con-^iidek-ation the difficulty of the ascent of the Columbia, and the tortuous and tardy march at the eastern base of the mountains, before entering the main valley of the Saskatche- wan, we are forcibly led to the conclusion thf t twenty or even TO BRITISH 014KG0N. 27 killed tortu- ivers, take prious until th of twenty-five days sliould be deducted from the time expended on the •whole route. That length of time would be amply suflicient for a large train to reach Red River Settlement, where guides and hunters €0uld be procured without much difficulty, and additional supplies of the proper kiml uf food, such as pemmican, biscuit and flour could be purchased at reasonable rates. American horses could probably be exchanged for Indian ponies, and the common wooden carts of the colony obtained for the jourziey through the valley of Sas- katcliewan. At the mountains these cheap carts should be aban- doned and pack-saddles substituted ti» cross the mountains and complete the journey. There W(^uld be no difficulty in ascertaining at the colony which of these two routes by the Saskatchewan would be the preferable one, but unless we have come to erroneous conclusions, and have been misled by information derived from sources which we believe to be reliable in the main, we think the most northern route will be found the most practicable, as it cer- tainly is more direct than the one by the Kootanais Pass, and would not exceed in length the estimate made at our former meeting, of 1,650 miles from St. Paul. Allowing for delays auvl difficulties which cannot be foreseen in a journey of such length through a country comparatively but little known, we think that in three months from St. Paul a large train would reach the gold digging region near Thompson and Frazcr Rivers. A small train would in all reasonable probability reach there in seventy-five days, but more reliable data, on wliich to found practical conclusions of this nature so very desirable now, would doubtless be learned at the colony of the Red River settle- ment. (Xn motion, the above rep(jrt was unanimously accepted by the meeting. Col. JoHX H. Steven's, of Glencoe, being called upon, expressed the opinion that the Frazer River discovery would lead to a knowl- edge of the interior of British America, which would make the navigation of the Red and Saskatchewan Rivers a very important commercial fact. IIow few appreciate that a steamer can depart from the mouth of Sioux Wood River, at about the central point of the AVestorn l)oundary of Minnesota, and tlience descend a dis- tance of 500 miles to Lake Winnipeg, then pass 300 miles through that mighty inland sea and ascend the Saskatclicwan to the base of the Rocky Mountains — at least 3,000 miles of inland navigation, including the north and south branches of the Saskatchewan. Ten days of slow land travel suffice to connect from the point thus reached, with the navigable channel of the Columbia and Boat En- I * ii If ! 28 NOIITII-WESTEKN KOUTE m. 1 ■• ! ! hi YV iH campment, AVhen, in addition to these facts, the fertile character of the immense district thus drained, and the measures now on foot for its colonization are considered, the subject rises in dignity and importance far beyond any ordinary scheme of exploration and oc- cupation. Not a town or farni in Minnesota but is interested in bring-ing- prominently before the emigration of Europe and America, the facta hitherto so unfamiliar in regard to the western portion of British America. He cordially assented to the suggestion of the late meeting, that relations of reciprocity should at once be established with our American people. Our crops were to be abundant — our markets are cheap — our merchants can furnish a full outfit at rea- sonable prices; and he entertained no doubt that the towns of Min- nesota were the most advantageous points for departure to the Frazcr and Thompson River districts. Hon. A. Ramse}'-, in answer to a call by the meeting, responded by reminding the audience that it is in the recollection of men now living', when all the trade of the valleys of the Ohio and Missis- sippi, was carried on pack-horses by the way of Fort Pitt, (now Pittsburgh,) across the Alleghany Mountains to Philadelphia. The immense region west of the Alleghanies has, in the period of seventy-five years, grown immensely. The business which at that time was carried on by this primitive mode of transportation, now employs a greater length of miles of railroad and a larger tunnage of steaml)oats than all the rest of the Union. The immense area west of the Red River and south of tlie Atha- basca, with a climate not inferior tooin- own, is capable, according to the estimate of Lord Selkirk, founded on a personal observation of the Territory in question, of supporting a population of thirty mil- lions, and will furnish the world with a trade not much inferior to that wJiich now passes between the Atlantic States and the Valley of the Mississippi. And, Mr. President, this is a trade which be- longs to ns in Minnesota. It cannot be diverted from us. The difficulties and the cost of transportation on the old canoe route along Rainy River, which has heretofore been followed by the Hudson Bay Compan}'', constitute an objection against that chan- nel of conununication, which becomes irresistible when brought into competition with the innnensely greater facilities of commu- nication by this route. Accordingly, sir, we every year witness a large accession of our trade from this (piarter — which every season gathers new volume from the gradual abandonment of the old routes by Superior and TO BRITISH OREGON. 29 ij racter m foot ty and nd oc- ii'>'in2: Hudson Bay — to pour its valuable contril)uti(nis into our market. And as illustrative of the value and importance of this trade to us, I may state that I have been informed by our worthy Mayor, Mr. Kittson, who is perhaps as thoroug-hiy acquainted with the sta- tistics of this trade as any man in Minnesota, that the Red lliver trains of this season will have brought an ag'grej^ate of $100,000 in money and an equal amount in furs to the trade of this city, and this, sir, it is easy to foresee, is but the germ of a trade which at no distant day, will g-ive to the waters of the Northern Mississippi the commercial position now enjoyed by those of Lake Michig-an. Let us unite, then, in urg-in;;^ upon our Grovernmeut at Washing- ton, the importance of encourag'ing, by all the means they have in their power, an unrestricted reciprocity of commercial relations between the people of Red River and those of the States. This little rivulet, which while it follows its natural course contributes so considerably to our prosperity, will yet grow to a mighty river, and in the development of the grand scheme of an inter-oceanic railroad, which is yet to connect the Valley of the Mississippi Avith that of Frazer River, will bear upon its swelling tides tiie golden harvests of tiie mineral slopes of the Paciiic and the rich freight of China and India. And among other things which it seems to me should be pressed tipon the attention of the Crovernment, is the fact that there is at present only a monthly mail between St. Paul and these important settlements on Red River. Our growing trade with that region demands an increase of postal facilities, and the establishment of a semi-monthly mail service between St. Paul and Pembina, seems to rae a proper subject for a legislative memorial at this time. Tiie speaker adverted to the bene6cent eifect which the extension of the jurisdiction of the Canadian Government over these regions would have upon their colonization. The above is a very imperfect sketch of the able and impressive speecli of the Ex-Governor. i Mr. J.vMEs W. Tayloii next addressed the meeting. He first, in reply to a question from Gov. Ramsey, alluded to the geological indications of British Oregon. Except on Vancouver Island, and the opposite shore of Puget SDund, there had been observed to be an absence of the silurian and other limestone formations, which either underlie or are associated with coal fields. West of the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific slope was an immense developement of the primary rocks, thrown up by volcanic violence. And it is in sucli districts, where quartz, granite, gneiss and trap abound, that minerals are riostly found, especially the precious minerals. 80 NORTII-WESTEKN ROVTK "I. . W']\ 41 I- '■ ( H' II. t ) These seem to be closely related to the fiery mass which is now generally supposed to constitute the interior of the g-lobe, and a:'o thence ejected throng-h the crust of the earth's surface. There- fore, we look to the primary formation — the orig-inal crust of the globe — for the gold-bearing quartz. From Mexico to the Russian Possessions, the Facitic coast is characterized by parallel ranges of mountains, quite unlike the limestone ridges and undulations of the AUeghanies. The Rocky Mountains, the most easterly of the Pacific ranges, have been called Stony or (i listening Mountains, because abounding in siliceous rocks. These conditions are favor- able to gold discovery, and exist in British Oregon as fully as in Australia, California or Siberia. As to the surface minings, the Frazer and Thompson River Dis- trict had one great advantage. Its northern situation securqd to the country frequent and copious rains. The rivers are numerous and full of rapids: hence the disintegration of the gold bearing quartz by the action of the rains and frosts, and the dispersion of the gold along the beds of the streams may be expected in a great- er degree than in California, where mncb less rainfalls, and where work i« often suspended in consequence. Perhaps this is a cause Avhy the mines of Australia are falling olf in productiveness. The speaker regarded this fall of water through North-western Ameri- ca, as not (.(uly valuable for mining, but as affording a great re- source for agriculture and stock raising in the valley of the Col- umbia and its tributaries, Frazer and Thompson rivers, and Van- couver Island. The rainless district of the Continent was far to the south; but the immense region north of the southern boundary of Minnesota extended to the Pacific, was favored in that respect, and agriculture was not limited by the necessity of irrigation. A glance at the map would show the immense r'ver systems thus comprised. The basins of the Columbia, the Upper Missouri, the Yellow Stone, the James, tie Sioux, the Minnesota, the Red River of the North, the Upper Mississippi, the St. Louis and the St. Croix, are evidently adequate for the organization of ten first-class States of the American Union; while north of the international line, simi- lar river systems, to-wit, the basins of Frazer and Thompson riv- ers, the Upper Cokunbia, the Athabasca, (lie Saskatchewan, lue Assiniboin and the Red River of the Nortli, (llie last named divid- ed with Minnesota,) are now well understinul to be no less adapted to settlements. The present discussion, as had been previously observed, was no less a question than tiie dedication to Anglo- Saxon civilization of one million square miles of the globe; an area as large and almost identical in [)hysicai respects, with the Conti- nent o En ro] )( TO BUITISH OREGON. 31 Mr. T.vvLiiH, in rurtlier illustration of the g'eoloj^'-ical topic, referred with some minuteness to the relative position of Minnesota. The lirnest( me blulls at St. Paul were lower silurian, and the sandstone beneath would be found resting directly on the granite. Indeed, this primary rock was found in place, as we descend still further through the geological basin toward St. Cloud and the valley of Sauk River. Thence iiorthwest, wo are rising, and on the nead waters of the Red River, a short distance below the outlet of the Otter Tail Lake, Prof. Owen discovered fossils identical with those observed in the limestone bluffs below St, Paul. Here silurian rocks rca[)pear, and by all analogies, the coal measures should be found by going northwest. Accordingly, maps published by the British Parliament, reveal an inuncnse silurian development, em- bracing the Red Kiver valley and the Saskatchewan, except the vicinity of its sources near the Rocky Mountains, where the coal measures appear and are estimated to occupy an area of three hun- dred miles in diameter, while the mountains themselves are a migiity uplujaval of primitive rocks, as already stated. Doubtless the fact tluit that the Saskatchewan plains are of such gentle ele- vation as to average less than a mean of twelve hundred feet above the sea, may serve to explain the vast range of the silurian formation, as well as the similarity of climate to what we enjoy in Minnesota. ► While the difference in altitude between the Saskatchewan val- ley and the United States Territory is great, materially affecting the climate, the circumstance may not be without influence geo logically. The plateau of the Upper Missouri, although much low- er than corresponding longitudes of Kansas, Utah and New Mexico, greatly exceeds in mean elevation any portion of Minnesota and Saskatchewan. While, therefore, the silurian rocks are developed on a vast scale in the districts last named, Xicollet and others tc^ tify that the banks of the Missouri at Fort Pierre, due west from St. Paul, present the cretaceous formation. This is above i/ic coal; and of course c(»al must be found either in Minnesota or the future Territory of Dacotah, since the Mississippi bluffs are well known to be situated below the coal measures. Whether on the James, the Sioux, the Upper Minnesota, or the tributaries of the Blue Earth, these valuaMe dei^osits maybe concealed, will soon be ascertained. To return from this digression. While the natural features of British Oregon prepare us for the recent intelligence, there is evi- dence that the actual discovery has been for some years "the se- cret of a corporation."' Gov. Stevens, of Washington Territory, speaks of successful gold mining on the American side of the boun- h'y. !■ 32 NORTir-w KS'n:uN kofte liif 'fe f" ;•#: ^.f dary ; and a witness before the I'arliamentaiy Committee states explicitly that, two years ago, Americans were on the l>ar.s of Thompson Kiver, making' occasionally twenty dollars per day. Why then, it may be asked, has not gold "broke out," (to use a Califor- nia phrase,) long since ? And the obvious reply is, that the Hud- son Bay Company, until the present ihiiv, discouraged emigration, whether for agriculture, mining or any purpose. This was to be expected from an association of fur traders. Except as a wilder- ness sparsely occupied by the employees of the Company, the coun- try would be useless to them. Now, however, there is reason to believe that the policy of the Company in regard to the belt of country between latitudes 49 deg. and 55 deg. will be totally changed, and that henceforth the co-operation of the Company in all measures for settlement may be anticipated. The explanation of this change of policy in a powerful and sa- gacious corporation as the Hudson Bay Com[)any un(|uestionably is, may be found in the events of the last two years, and an event which will occur next year. For two years past the Canadian and British publics, in view of the expiration in 1859 of the Company's lease of Vancouver Island and of their exclusive license to trade with the Indians west of the Ilocky Mountains, have gone into a rigid scrutiny of the charter and territorial claims of the Company. Public opinion in Canada seems to be an unit, and highly excited also, in opposition to the charter, as invalid and long since superce- ded, and, of course, to all pretensions of territorial dominion under it. A committee of the British House of Commons has made a searching inquiry, publishing the testimony and documents in a voluminous Blue Book, into the constitution and management of the Company. While on that committee, friends and even incor- porators ot the Company were prominently represented, yet the in- terests of colonization were ably guarded by the well ku(5wn radi- cal leader, Koebuck, and others. Perhaps there is no connnercial enterprise of Great Britain that enlists in a greater degree the in- terests of the British nobility than the Hudson Bay Company. Its shares are held in very iniluential quarters — otherwise, there would have been no question as to the result. The incorporators became themselves alarmed ; and in the hopes of saving their charter, they themselves proposed to give up the inunense region described in the report of the first adjourned meeting, for settle, ment — withdrawing to the more northern portions of the Conti- nent. Such is probably the basis of a late adjustment, as it bad previously been the recommendation of the Committee. But the Hudson Bay Company will probably retain certain TO BUITISn OREGON. 33 " possessory rights, " as the phrase is. Tlie rccog-nition of them in Oregon by our Government is a familiar example of great benefits secured, while apparently making s\ sacrifice. So from Lakes Su- perior and Winnipeg to the Pacific. How easy now to see, in the language of^^io report, that the members of the Company will receive an huncJrJJi ^^'^ more advantage as proprietors of future cities and town*; than as incorporatcil fur-traders. Fort William on Thunder Bay, Lake Superior North shore; Fort Francis on Rainy Uiver; Fort Garry on Ked River; Carlton, Pitt and Edmonton on the North Saskatchewan; Chesterfield on its south branch, "and points on tlie Upper Columbia and Frazier river, besides Vict56iria, already indicated as the naval station of England on the Pacific — these and many other locations will be the scenes of operations far more remunerative and exciting than these trading posts have over before witnessed. It is reasonable to anticipate that all connected with the Hudson Bay Company, will now facilitate emigration from the direction of Minnesota, as its agents and servants have at the Pacific posts. The English or Australian plan maybe adopted of issuing licenses to miners, but such a tax implies the obligation of protection, and as to the attempt to confine the trade in supplies to the Company there is great doubt whether such a regulation can be enforced, and even if it is, it may be well for the protection of the miners from extortion by other parties. Upon the practical question of an overland jourhey to British Oregon, a preference has been generally expressed, during this discussion, for the more northern route, by wa^ of Pembina, Carl- ton, the north brancli of the Saskatchewan and the Athabasca Portage to the Boat Encampment on the Upper Columbia. The advantages of this route consist of the succession of grass, wa- ter, timber, and game, as detiuled in Sir George Simpson's narra- tive — the frequent posts of the Hudson Bay Company, the security from Indian attacks, and the important fact that the point of ogress from the Rocky Mountains, namely, the Boat Encampment, is im- mediately adjacent to the gold district. Still, a route from Pembina, far more to the south, has every ad- vantage of the route above named, except^tliat a party might be annoyed by Blackfect Indians ; and there are no trading posts as a resource against unforeseen accidents. A Mr. .LvMioi Bird, for 35 years in the employment of the Hudson Bay Company and the American Fur Company, and occasionally acting as interpreter to negotiations with the Blackfeet Indians, has often traversed the plains and mountains between Salt Lake City and Athabasca, and 3 •''4 u 84 r NuR'lH-VVKSTKJiN KOl'TE ^^ :^ . f4 I'l u ■ ,. I, I, >> ' t .' i X " ^fi u * ■ ''J '■■■ doscribcH tlio Ko()tif)nais pas8 vtn-y near the iiiturnatiunal lino as more fiivoialili! tliau any other. A loute thither wouUl start from Pembina, pasH to thie ri;,dit of Turtle Mountain, (perhaps forty-livo miles north of it ■ .tiid the same ilintance beyond the boundary, eroHs the valley of Mouse or Saurio River, and thenco north of west and about midway from the boundary to the South w^ki^^ehewan, by Cyj)res8 Mountain, to the head-waters of Mo-koJ|^ or ]5elly lliver, which is the ni'st nouthoily of tiic iiead-watersj of the Bow or South Saskatchewan. The whole route is very favorable, consistinj:^ of an extensive prairie orbuffah) range, and easily traversed l>y carts. The pass thus reached, known as, the Kootonai.s Pass, rises grailually and is only three days walk — one day on horseback — to the borders of the Kootonais, McGilliviay or Flatbow Kiver, Over this pass the Kootonais or Flatbow Indians are accustomed to descend into the plains of the Saskatchewan for their summer hunts of buffalo. 'Beyond the pass, the route to Fort Colville, as pursued by Simp- son, is circuitous and difficult — so much so as to add 500 miles be- fore reaching the gold district. If a more divcct connection should be discovered, this route might be found more advantageous than any other. It is preferable to the line of Stevens' railroad sur- vey. • - In regard to the route of Gov. Stevexs, and the district through which it passes, Mr. T. was inclined to believe, notwithstanding the strictures of Mr. McLeod, that the dbiintry within reach of the line was capable of sustaining ten flourishing communities. No one supposed that the immediate vicinity' of the line was equal to the fertile districts of Illinois or MinneH9ta. All that was necessa- ry to establish in the coming struggle iii'CongrcBS upon the Pacific Railroad question, was, that the n >i-l.hetn route, from Lake Supe- rior to Puget Sound, has immeasurably the advantage over any similar proposition which has been urged at Washington. For one, the speaker believed that the most desirable route to the Pacific would be found in the possession of Great Britain, and that a great inter-oceanic communication was more likely to be constructed through the Saskatchewan basin, than over what may be not ini. properly called the American Desert — the cretaceous and compara. "tively rainless areas of southern latitudes within the territory of ^e United States. This Frazer River disoivery may operate to the discomfiture of politicians. While Congress has appropriated |600,000 per annum to forward a route near latitude 32 deg., and even in the present depleted state of the treasury can spend $150, 000 for a wagon road near the latitude of Santa Fe, a miserable sectionalism ignores the claims of nine degrees of latitude south w TO uurnsii ouKooN. 80 of the British bouiuUiry. The controversy hiis (h';;'L'iiL'r.itL'd t(j a coMtraiiziitioii on one route with no prospect that it will be lor the common wolfjire. IJence the hist Con^Tcss, bron>j:ht to a (h'liiUock in the strugg'le of localities, made the best possil)le (liHp(isiti(»n of tlu; Pacific Kail- road bills in post[)onin^ them. Lot the wIidIc snl>j a j^a'oH.s injustice, against which the [)0()phM)f AlinncHota hav(! a ri^-Jit to pnitest. Resolved, That our Senators anil IIe[»ro.s(!ntativeH be reijueated to vote for the i»ost[)on(nn<'nt of I'acilic; railway bills, unless they are just to the; ^wwi fjake route, or at least until the Census of 18G0 j^ives the Xorthwcst her full voice in tlic (.'ouncils of tiic Union. The resolutions were uiianiruously adoptcnl. The nieetin,!^ then adjourned to Saturday at 4 1'. M., in the Hall of the IIouKc of Ke[)re8enta'tiveH. I \ 'V III R I) A I >. J U R X M I ) MEET I N . Tho third adjourned nie(itin;^ of the citizens of St. Paid upon the subject of openinj^ the overland emigration route from St, Paul to Frazer River, was held at the Capitol on Saturday, July Uth, at 4 o'clock l\ M. Capt. Staukky was called to the cliair, aiul in the course of re- marks explanat(jry of tho objects of the meeting', read some news of an interesting character, which had just been received ironi that quarter. J. W. Tayloh, Es(p, having been called upon, made some remarks upon the practical object of these and previous meetings, which he said should result in measures, lie cordially recommended Martin McLeoh, Es(1., as the man to carry out Uicse measures, and intro- duced the following series of resolutions, indicating a plan of op- erations: ' liesolced, That Afartin Mcljeod be reriuestcd to organize and con- duct a party of ten men for the purpose of exploring the best route from Minnesota to tho Frazer River Gobi District through the val- leys of the Red River of the Nort!;, and tho Saskatchewan. Ihsokcd, That llenry McKenty, J. \V. McClung and J. M. Stone, be a Committee to obtain subscriptions of citizens payable to the order of Martin McLeod, on or before the 1st day of August, in amount and items as follows: ('ash or Credits at Rcrl llivor Settlements or Hiulson Bay (-'om- paiiy's Posts $1000,00 ToauH and Vehicles 1000,00 Ten barrels Flour, cost $4 per barrel " 40,00 Five barrels Pork, cost $18 per barrel 90,00 Four hundred and fifty pounds Sugar 54,00 < li : 'i' (i «:tr 4 ::i 38 NORTH-WESTERN ROUTL. Forty pounds Tea, 60c per pound 24,00 Ten pairs Blankets 100,00 I»owder and Lead 100,00 Sundries 200,00 Total S2608,00 Resolved, Tliat tho Common Council of tlie city of St. Paul, is here- by memorialized to make a direct appropriation for the above ob- ject, or to guarantee the payment of the sums subscribed by indi- viduals, at the expiration of one year, from August 1, 1858. Resolved, That Mr. McLeod be requested to take the personal ob- ligations of all men employed by him for the repayment of their respective shares of the foregoing outfit at the expiration of one year from August 1, 1858, and to hold the same for the stockhold- ers ; but vi'ith power to cancel said notes in whole or in part, if un- foreseen events make it equitable to do so. Also, To announce to the public, at his earliest convenience, the terms and conditions upon which he will receive volunteers, in ad- dition to the "picked men," who may compose his own party. Also, To preserve careful notes of his own observations, and of all accessible information in regard to the intermediate country, and emigrant route's to the Pacific ; and furnish the same for pub- lication. Resolved, That the Legislature is hereby memorialized to pass an act authorizing the incorporated cities and towns of Minnesota to guarantee tho repayment of sums advanced by tho citizens of said cities or towns, in organizing and furnishing overland parties to the Pacific ; but limiting, as may be dee'.ied expedient, the extent of such guaranty. Resolved, That the State Government be also memorialized, on the return of parties so organized and forwarded, to compile, publish and circulate, under the directioa of the Governor, all ob- servations and information which may be collected by said parties, and to appropriate at this session, a reasonable amount for that purpose. Resolved, That the Secretary, J. A. Wheelock, Esq., be requested to prepare a memoir upon the population and commerce o^ the Red River Settlements, and their relations "to the subject of overland emigration ; and also, a memorial to the Postmaster General for a cemi-monthly rrr,,il to I .^mbina, via Otter Tail Lake. On motion, the resol itions were adopted. Whereupon the meet- ing adjourr-.d sim die. t) i^ery profitable business. Cattle and sheep get their living all the year round, and keep fat. Stock raising is very profitable — cows and oxen are worth now one hundred dollars per head. There is an abundance of wood of almost every description found in these latitudes. Vegetables are quite equal to, if not better than those of Nova Scotia. There is a vast abundance of fish of the very finest quality — salmon and halibut." [From letters ia the Sacramento Union of June 12.] A. D. McDoxALD, writing from Steilacoom, May 13th, to a friend, and whose letter appears in the Bulletin, says : "Miners are making from $8 to $16 a day, the pan and rocker alone being used. Tlie hopper of the latter is in most cases made of bored cedar. There are notovei- two hundred men at work, and from the awkward manner in which moat of them operate, there are evidently few California miners among them. They are all in exuberant spirits, and from tlie fact of their having got up the river previous to its rise, and having a supply of provisions to last them for at least two or three months, they are likely to realize their sanguins8 favoi-able tf) af^riculturo than the waters tlicm- sclves to navifj^ation ; resoujbling, in sotnc measure, thoHO of the Thames near IticJiinond. From tiie very brink of the river there rises a ji^entle h1oj)o of }^rcen sward, crowned in many places with a plentiful growth of birch, poplar, beech, elm and oak. Is it too much," lie continues with cntliusiasm, "for the eye of philanthropy to discern throug'h the vista of futurity, this noble stream, connec- ting^ as it does the I'ertile shores of two spacious lakes, with crowd- ed steamboats upon its bosom and popuhjus towns on its borders ?" If this is a faithful description of the river, is it not reasonable to anticipate that the valleys of the streams, which the map dis- closes as tributary to it on the south, are equally desirable ? One very important circumstance remains to be stated. Mr. Henry K. ScHooi-CKAFT, in a communication to Simjman's Journal of Science, (March, 1855), refers to " recent information of a reliable charac- ter," that on the western coast of ti»o Lake of the ^Voods, and snitlh of the wUlnmil boundary, lari^e deposits of coal exist, 2. TiiK Vicinity ok IIku Lake. — It is enough to characterize this portion of Minnesota, to mention the success of the missionary farm at the soutliorn extremity of Red Lake. ■ No crop is surer or more abundant than Indian corn — a fact significant to every far- mer of successful agriculture. The outlet of Red Lake falls into the Red River of the North, and at its junction with that stream is represented by Dr. Owen as a hundred feet wide, discharging wa- ters of a reddish brown cast. Such a circumstance, in the case of the Missouri river, indicates the fertility of tlie country which is drained. 3. The Sources of the Mississippi. — Pei-haps a district of five hundred square miles — about the area of Hennepin county — must be surrendered to the wide and flattened bed of the Mississippi, before it forms and proceeds through a clearly defined channel. This undine wilderness is described by Nicom.et as clogged up with intermediate spaces of clear water, looking like channels ; but among whicli it is ditlicult to discover the true course of the river, for at certain seasijns of the year the whole is nothing more than a marshy prairie. Thence to Pokcgoin.i Falls, the prominent objects to the descending traveler are the Lakes Pemidji, Cass, and Wiui- bigoshish. Of these we give a few particulars from well-known explorers. Of Lake Pemidji, Nicollet remarks : "It is a ina^'iuliiJuaL siio'jL oi' vv.iLoi', from ton to twelve miles ^ !^ 50 (iK<)(iKAI'IIU Af, Di:s( HM'TION ii I'fl ! ,t k: III long, with a broudth of fruin four to five, perfectly clear and with- out islandn; the eyo having,' a free coininand over gently swelling IuUh, receding and tiiicklyv/ooded; and it \h Haid that no river but the Mississippi ''nipties into it, 8av(! an obscure iidet at its north- ern extremity, i ninst confesn/' adds the Swiss savnaf, "that in crossing it, I felt melancholy, that even within my artificial optics I could not descry any evidence? of civilization — no cottage of tho agricultural, no meadows, no herds, nor any of those cultivated fields, whose mellow shades contrast so gracefully with tho foliage of the forest." Nicollet describes Lake Cass as "uiK^her beautiful sheet of water studded with islands." Dr. J. G, Nonwoon, of Owen's Survey, says that its -waters arc clear, and the islands bear red cedar, while along the shore, which fell under his observation, tho hills rise to the height of twenty and thirty feet above tlie lake and are covered with oak, ash, aspen, pine, and some small birch, the low grounds bearing a good growtli of elm. Lake Wiuiliigoshish is represented by Dr. Norwood, to differ from Cass and Pemidji, in not being clear and pure, owing, as he conjectures, to some jtecidiarity of its bed. It is about twelve miles in diameter, and destitute of islands. On the south-west, the shores are lined with tamarac swamps, and on tho north-cost by gen- tle undulations bearing oak, maple, and other hard woods. The soil of the higher lands is good, and corn and potatoes can be cultivated to good advantage. Dr. N. remarks, that tho clay beds which abound on the Upper Mississippi, contain a great deal of calcare- ous matter, and when mingled with the sand which overlays tliem, which also contains limestone gravel, form a strong rich soil. Leech Lake, the basin of which is skirted on three sides, by the winding channel of the Mississiiii' — west, north and east — is an in- teresting body of water, thus described by Nicollet: "The circuit of Leech Lake, including its indentations, is not less than one hundred and sixty miles. It is next in size to Red Lake, which is said to be 200 miles in circumference. The former has twenty-seven tributaries of various sizes. A solitary river issues from it, known by the name of Leech Lake Eiver, forming an im- portant outlet from one hundred to one hundred and twenty feet wide, with a depth of from six to ten feet. It has a moderate cur- rent, without any obstruction, arid Hows into the Mississippi (not far above Pokegoma i^alls,) after a course of from 45 to 50 miles. "To be more particidar in the description of Leech Lake, I may add that it has nine large bays, presenting six prominent points, and its depth varies from six to ten fathoms. The fish of the lake. OF NOUIIIKUN MINM;»()TA. 51 the wiM rice ol" tlio bays, and inaplo suf^ar, arc tlic three groat natural resources nf tlio Chi[)|)C'wayH. 'I'lic fisheries are abundant at all seasons, but it is principally in the spriiij^ and fall that they arc rno,jt so and are carried on to much advantai^'e. VVitii two nets, sot over nig'ht, from 400 to bOO fish may be calculated u[)on by the next morning'', which are dried for winter provisions. * * The white fish, which is taken in Leech Lake, is said by amateurs to be more highly flavored than even that of Lake Superior, and weighs from three to ten pounds. As the name indicates, this lake swarms with leeches, and amphibious r(^ptilos. There are several species of terrapin and turtle, of which Mr. Say has described three of each kind in the appendix to the second expedition of Jilajor Long." The rice-plant, like the cranberry, goes far to redetni the marsh- es which it covers. I)n. Norwood estimates that an acre of this rico is nearly or (lultc ctpial to an acre of wheat for sustaining life. Dr. N. thus closes his description of the sources of tlie Mississippi: " In this connexion, it may not be out of place to remark, that, so far as the mere sui)port of life is concerned, taking into account the amount of labor reciuired to do it, this region is equal, if not superior, to many portions of the settled States. The rice fields, which require neither sowing nor cultivating, only harvesting, cover many thousands of acres, and yield all that is essential for bread-stulfs ; but in addition to this, corn can be cultivated with aa little or less labor than in the middle States. Potatoes far su- perior in si/.e and fiavor, to any I have ever seen in the Ohio Valley, arc grown with little attention ; and turnips and beets produce abundantly. Extensive natural meadows border the lakes and streams, the luxurious grasses of which are sweet and nutri- tious, and eagerly eaten by cattle ; while the streams and almost innumerable lakes abound with a great variety of fish of the first quality, and which may be taken at all seasons with little trouble. The uplands are generally covered with a good growth of both hard and soft woods, sufficient for all the wants of man. The su- gar maple is abundant, sufficiently so to yield a supply of sugar tor a large population. In addif.on to all this, the forests are stocked with game, and the lakes and rice-fields, must always, as they do now, attract innumerable flocks of water fowl. " 4. Thk Valley of the Red River. — We have the authority of Capt. JouN Roi'E, who ascended the Red River of the North in I84y, that the average depth is five feet at the junction of the Sioux Wood River, and fifteen feet at Rembina. Its head of steam- boat navigation is about 46 deg. 23 min., where the stream cuts deeper into the clay, which forms its substratum for three hundred V' :i ' :Sl 52 GEOGKAPHICAL DEBORIITION Xf. i:!!:i milv^R, rendering the waters turbid. No rapi^is or obstacles occur to the Britis' ine or beyond ; the current of the river is moderate, running about a mile and a half an hour ; the western bank is a vast plain, but on the east, vvhile the country is level, a belt of timber usually adjoins the stream ; the soil is congenial to the ash, which tree attains a large size in some localities ; below the mouth of the Ked Lake Fork, strong chalybeate springs ooze from the clay-banks ; saline springs have also been discovered ; and in addition to these particulars Dr, Owen mentions that "the air along Red River from the mouth of the Psihu to the Pembina settlements, (latitude 47 to 49) is scented during the months of June and July, with a delightful perfume arising from the wild roses, which form a thick shrubbery along its b-iuks. "- — Very prob- ably, the margins of the Red River will be subject to inundation iu the Spring, but all accounts concur that no more productive re- gion — the soil being eminently adapted to cereal cultivation — has been discovered on the continent. 5. The Ottf;r Tail Lake Region. — Capt. Pope, '.n his exploration of 1849, remarks that fcfr fifty miles in all directions around Otter Tail Lake, is the garden of the Northwest. The outlet of the Lake, constitut'.ng the soujf'e of the Red River of the North, has been very favorably described by Dr, Owen. It presents a suc- cession of lakes and lapids, while, at other points, rolling prairies extend from its banks, crested with beautifully dispersed groves of timber. It was i i this section of Minnesota, that the magne- sian limestone containing silurian fossils, identical with those in the bluffs of the Minnesota and the Mississippi below St. Paul, was recognized by Dr. 0. in place — showing that the primary formation, which divides Minnesota from northeast to south- west, le succeeded to the northwest by the ascending series of sed- imentary rocks. I have repeated the remark of Capt. Pope, that the vicinty of Otter Tail Lake, for fifty miles in all directions, is superior to any other portion of Minnesota,' to Daniel Rourer, Esq., of St. Paul, who has frequently traversed the district in question, and that gentleman more than confirms the statement. West- ward, for at leas: one hundred miles, or to the great plains, he assures me, northward to Red Lake, if not beyond, and east to the Mississippi, the country is destined* to attract and sustain a denser population than the Minnesota Valley. No more favorable distribution cf beautiful prairie, wood and timber, can be ima- gined. The lakes are numerous, but small, and almost invariably Bkirted with timber, the sugar maple largely prcpoiidcrutiiig. ROUTES TO KED KIVER. 53 Seldom is the traveler out of sight of these groves, while the soil is unsurpassed. Mr. R. concurs, that the whole country between the meridian of Pokegoma Falls, on the Mississippi River, and the Red River of the North, is sufficient in area and capacity, to triumphantly sustain a comparison with the most desirable sec- tions of New York. APPENDIX NO. IV. ROUTES THROUGR MlN^fKSOTA TO THE >fAVir,AnLS WATERS OF THE RED RIVER OF TliE N0R''T]. Situated as Minnesota* is, with a length from South to North of four hundred miles, the transverse routes connecting the Missis- sippi and Lake Superior with the navigable channel of the Red River of the North, arc quite numerous. They will be described in an order progressive from the Southern to the Northern boun- dary of the State. 1. Southern Interior Route. — Travellers may leave the Missis- sippi opposite Prairie du Chien and La Crosse, or at Winona, and after leaving the river bluffs, a beautiful plateau is reached from which streams diverge in opposite directions to the Mississippi and the Minnesota. In addition to the agricultural advantages of these southern counties, unsurpassed by any equal area on the globe, the divide between the sources of Root, Zumbro and Can- non Rivers, and the tributaries of the M--nkato and Minnesota, is very favorable for the passage of wai^gons. The Big Woods, a belt of forest, extending from Northeast to Southwest through the prairie districts of Minnesota, ranging in breadth from twelve to sixty miles, constitute almost the only serious obstacle to a party moving North-westwardly to Red River. 2. The Route from Minneapolis to Breckknridqe. — This route, ,.IM 54 MINNESOTA ROUTL.'i is ■•'» which with an extension eastward to Stillwater, of twenty-five miles, forms the main line of the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad, was fully explored in the summer of 185t, by parties under charge of C. H. Allek and Charles C. Smith, Division Engineers. Mr. Aixen who conducted the survey and location of the Western half of the line, (about one hundred and twelve miles) had the satisfaction of communicating particulars previously unpublished, of an interest- ing region, watered by the tributaries of the Upper Minnesota, and as large as the State of Massachusetts. The reconnoissance, conduc<^ed by Mr. Smith, was of the Eastern section of this route, or froia Mi.'neapolis westward through the Big Woods. From the notes of these gentlemen, it appears that west of Minneapolis, the first ten miles is undulating prairie ; the next sixty miles trav- erses the Big Woods : about one hundred miles is a succession of prairies, scattered with groves, and diversified by lakes; -while the last forty miles, to the mouth of Sioux Wood River, is through a plain or savanna, without timber, streams or lakes, but bearing a remarkable growth of nutricious grass, and consequently not lack * ing moisture. The district between the valleys of the Upper Min- nesota and the Mississippi, (the section explored by Mr. Allen,) is represented to equal in beauty and fertility the richest portions of Southern Minnesota. The timber and soil in ,the "Big Wo«ds," is thus described in the report of the Chief Engineer of the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad Company : — " From a point ten miles west of Minneapolis, extends the "Big Woods," a dense forest, dotted with myriads of beautiful lakes and natural meadows. As crossed by the main line this forest is nearly sixty miles in breadth. The timber is very heavy, and con- sists of oak, maple, ash, elm, basswood, black walnut, butternut, aspen, and second growth hickory. Unlike the growth of most forests, these different varieties of timber are distributed in the same proportions and reach as great perfection upon the high as the lowlands, indicating an unusual degree of equality in the soil, which is a black vegetable mould from two to three feet in depth, resting on a subsoil of clay; and in the ordinary acceptation of the term, is inexhaustible. "Among the few scattered tracts, as yet brought under cultiva- tion, are found abundant evidences of its great fertility. Winter wheat, corn, oats, and potatoes, sown or planted in an opening barely large enough to admit the sun's rays, and usually not half cultivated, afford large returns. The numerous meadows yield a full supply of excellent grass for the subsistence of stock, the want of which forms a serious drawback upon the settlement of most ■'■n\ • «,■'■ . TO RED RIVER. 55 timbered countricH. It is rapidly filling up with a good class of settlers, and will sooa rival any portion of the Territory in densi- ty of population and agricultural wealth." 3. From St. Cloud by way of the Sauk Valley to the mouth of Sioux Wood River. — The valley of the Sauk River, as described by Capt. Pope and Gov. Stevens, is extremely fertile, consisting of an agreeable succession of small prairies and woodlands. After leaving its sources and the numerous beautiful lakes of that vicinity, the route to the head of navigation on Red River, 1s an extended sa- vanna, presenting no obstacle to waggons. 4. Crow Wing by way of Otter Tail Lake. — It is deemed ad- visable, in the first instance, to describe the route along the East- ern bank of the Mississippi River from St. Anthony to Crow Wing, being a section of the branch line of the Minnesota and Faclfic Railroad. Here the report of D. C. Shepard, Esq., Chief Engineer of the Company, is available ; "The surface of the Upper Mississippi Valley," he remarks, "is pretty evenly divided between prairie and oak openings, with oc- casional marshes, bearing a fine growth of tamarac. An excep- tion, to this, hc'wever, is the western slope of the valley from St. Cloud to Crow Wing, which is principally covered with a heavy forest growth. The soil is usually of a light sandy character, though much move fertile than its surface indicates. Some por- tions of it have been under cultivation for many years without giving any signs of exhaustion, and an examination of the crops growL\ during the past season, is conclusive as to its capability of enduring a protracted drought. Although it cannot be called a first rate Western soil, it is sure, easy of tillage, and produces well. The accessibility jf this valley at all seasons, by means of excel- lent roads, has conduced largely to its nrosperity. It already numbers many flourishing towns, amonji wtijch are Anoka, St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids and Little Falls." With these preliminary statements, we proceed ^ a sketch of the route above indicated, still employing Mr. Shepard's 'anguage: " The region between Crow Wing and Otter Tail Lake, a distance of about sixty miles, is usually represented as possessing but little agricultural value, except in some few isolated portions, but is well timbered with pine, oak, maple, basswood and tamarac. Im- mediately on passing the summit between the Mississippi and Red Rivers, at Otter Tail Lake, a decided imprevement in the soil and general aspect of the country occurs. From Otter Tail Lake ^^ Pembina, along the route of the trail, the surface is rolling prairifci interspersed with fine groves of timber, amply sufficient for the ?'j !k, 56 MINNESOTA ROUTES !';!'• i i ! ii u necessities of a dense population, and well watered. Its soil is universally described as excellent, and many do not hesitate to de- clare it superior to any other in the Territory. There can exist no reasonable doubt of its perfect adaptation to the purposes of agri" culture." Canoe Koutes Through Nouthkrn Minnesota — An examination of the map, and of the geographical sketch of Northern Minnesota, reproduced in this Appendix, will indicate that travelers may pro- ceed by water communication from Crow Wing by Gull and Leech Lakes, and from Superior by the St. Louis and Savanna rivers to Sandy Lake and the Upper Mississippi — both routes connecting in Cass Lake, and thence proceed through Red Lake, and the nav- igable stream forming its outlet to the Red River of the North, As there is a probability that St. Vincent, or Pembina, (which is the northern terminus of the branch line of the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad,) or the Selkirk settlements near the mouth of the Red River, will be prominent points of outfit for the overland trip to New Caledonia, many will prefer to make this canoe voyage, and may be interested by a sketch of its incidents, tiome notes of such a voyage by Maj. E. A. C. Hatch, a gentleman long resident in the Northwest, have been politely furnished, and are appended in his own form of a daily diary : 1853 — August 26. — Cold, windy, rainy day. We made a por- tage to Gull Lake — distance It miles ; concluded to remain the night with Mr. Stateley, government blacksmith, having made a start, which is all that is expected on a vu)age of this kind for the first day. August 27. Beautiful morning. Started across the lake with my canoe, a small bark one, and my crew consisting of two Chip- pewa half-breeds. Crossed the lake and made a portage of one and one-half miles into another lake. We make these portages very quick ; the manner of proceeding is as follows : immediately upon the bow of the canoe touching tiie shore, the men spring overboard and commence unloading. As soon as this is finished, one man takes the canoe and paddles upon liis head and starts off on a trot, the other man gathers the lui.'-gage, iiDUsisting of blank- ets, provisions, cooking utensils, &c., and trota after him, and the passenger goes trotting on behind. We passed through the sec- ond lake and made a portage of two miles to the third lake ; cross- ed that and made a portage of three miles to the fourth lake ; this proved to be more of a marsh than lake, the men being often obliged to wade and drag the canoe. It was only about one and one-half miles through it, and we then made a portage of one mile TO RED RTVER. 67 into Pine River. This stream where we entered it was about a stone's throw across and very shallow. After running up it about five or six miles, we passed through a large rice lake where we saw a number of Chippcwas gathering wild rice. We passed through this lake into the river again and camped for the night. August 28. Fine morning. We started at 6 o'clock ; traveled on up Pine River about one and a half miles and made a portage ot six miles across a bond and to avoid rapids. We breakfasted at the upper end of the portage. After breakfast we pad Jed on up the river, occasionally passing through a rice lake, until 12 o'clock, when we made a short portage into the fifth lake. This lake was about one and a half miles long and half a mile wide; passed through it and made a portage of twenty feet into the sixth lake, a beautiful lake about two miles across, water very pure ; crossed it, and made a portage of half a mile to the seventh lak^. Crossed thia (one mile) and made portage of one and a half miles into t' I e eighth lake. Passed through it, and portage one mile, into tlic ninth lake. We dined here at 2^ o'clock. This lake is about five miles across with a very pretty island in the center. Crossed the lake to the mouth of a creek ; went up the creek about two miles, found the water so low that we were often com- pelled to wade and drag the cano \ Passed from this creel: into the tenth lake, which was quite shallow, several large rocks show- ing themselves above water. Crossed it and entered another creek; made our way up this, one and a half miles, and then made portage of half a mile into the eleventh lake. This was three miles where we crossed it. Wo entered another creek, paddled up it about two miles, and into the twelfth lake : it liad rather an insig- nificant appearance when we first entered it, but we soon found it worthy of notice ; it increased in width, every point we passed. Night overtook us, the wind blew a gale and we had to mal e for shore, and barely escaped shipwreck. This was Trout Lake, so called from the Mackinaw trout which are taken from it. August 29. Weather unchanged — no wind. The lake looked beautiful this morning, with its glassy surface, smooth beach, &c., but we had no time to admire the beauties of nature. We were ofif at G o'clock. Made passage of one and a half miles into the thirteenth lake — this was nearly round and two miles across. We crossed it and made portage of two miles to a creek, descended the creek one-fourth mile into Leech Lake. This lake is probably twenty miles long and ten wide atitt* greatest width. There is much good soil and maple timber in its vicinity. Numerous islands, at one of which we stopped to breakfast. We passed through the 58 MINNESOTA EOUTES m l-i^ i'i ,'f •! lake about twelve miles to the mouth of a creek, ascended the creek seven miles and entered the fifteenth lake, one and a half miles across. After crossing this v/c made a portage of three miles into the sixteenth lake, which was about one mile across. We dined here — weather very warm. Crossed the lake and made a portage of one mile to the seventeenth lake. This was Cass or Red Cedar Lake ; its first appearance from where we struck it was that of a lake about three miles across, but after crossing this we passed through a natural channel or canal a few rods long into the main lake about ten miles wide. We crossed and reached the opposite shore after dark, at the mouth of a small river near the Missionary Station, and camped. August 30. Weather same. We traded some flour with a half- breed for white fish, and bought a few potatoes of the missionaries. We paddled up the creek about seven miles and stopped for break- fast ; ascended the stream about sixteen miles further and took dinner. We found some good soil on the banks as well as about Cass Lake. After dinner we traveled four miles more up stream and entire; the eighteenth lake. We passed through this six miles and then made portage of two and a half miles to the nineteenth lake, where we camped for the night. August SI. We were up and off at 5 o'clock. We crossed the lake (two and a half miles) and made portage half a mile into twentieth lake. Passed through this four miles and made portage of one mile into twenty-first lake, about two miles wide, crossed it and stopped for breakfast. We here left the waters which flow into the Mississippi and made portage of one and a half miles into the twenty-second lake. We passed tlu'ough this lake about two miles and down the outlet about three miles, when it widened into a rice lake in which were a large number of Indians gathering rice, and in less than five minutes we were surrounded by thirty or forty canoes. After exchanging news with them we passed on down the outlet about two miles to Grand Portage. We here left our canoe, made up our packs, and started across the portage. We got through to Hed Lake (fifteen miles) before dark, found our trading establishment, and our missionary ditto. Went to the mission, were kindly received and hospitably entertained. These missionaries are not compelled to import much for food, raising an abundance from their own gardens. Sept. 1, 1853. — Clear, calm morning; Red Lake, with its unruf. fled surface and surrounding scenery, was truly beautiful; it was much the largest on the route, probably twenty miles wide and thirty long and connected by a short natural canal with another 1 111.' TO RED IIIVEK. 50 nearly as large, both are commonly recognised as one and called "Red Lake." My men both left me here, one pretendiug that he was sick, and the other that it was necessary that he should re- turn to his family; but a rumor of a disturbance with the Sioux, and the possibility of meeting a party of tliem when we should reach the prairies, probably was the real cause of their desire to return, but as I wasenabledtosupply their places immediately with two brothers, who resided here, and were reputed excellent voya- geurs, I did not object to the change. I had some difficulty in pro- curing another canoe, but finally succeeded in purchasing a small one for six dollars. As my man desired to make some preparations for the trip, such as making moccasins, paddles, &c., I concluded to spend the day with the missionaries. I was entertained by them with a history of their settlement, progress and future hopes in re- gard to the civilization of these Indians. I could, and can do no less than wish them success, but I fear they have imposed upon themselves a hopeless and a thankless task. The Indians have raised more corn and potatoes than they could consume for several years past, and we had upon our table excellent bread made from wheat raised here and ground in a hand-mill. Sept. 2. — Beautiful morning, slight breeze, but not enough to de- tain us. We were off at nine o'clock, were four hours crossing the lake to the outlet; we stopped to dine and then '-an dowi the river until dark and camped. This stream is large en^ igh ■'apparently to float any. steamer that navigates the Upper Mississippi. We saw great numbers of ducks and geese, I also saw a woodcock fly across the river. A heavy shower passed over us soon after we camped and we got well soaked. We were much troubled with musquitoes at this camp. Sept. 3. — Very foggy morning. We started at five o'clock, trav- eled down stream until eight o'clock, stopped for breakfast; while eating it commenced raining. We found growing here, near the bank, large quantities of plums and high-bush cranberries ; the banks were literally red with the latter in many places from this point down to the mouth of Thief River. Wo paddled on and it soon cleared off and was quite pleasant until two o'clock, when we halted to dine; after dinner it again commenced raining and we travelled in the rain until half-past six o'clock, when we camped for the night, being uncomfortable, bed- ding quite damp. Sept. 4. Cool and cloudy, off at six o'clock, current stronger, breakfasted at eight; passed first rapid at ten, a favorite place of the Chippewas for spearing sturgeon which run up there in the spring ' it. ■I i ri: ^1 m h \ GO MINNESOTA KOUTEB in great numbers. We came in aight of the first prairie, after pas- sing one or two more rapids, about eleven o'clock; this was the mouth of Thief River and our point of debarkation. Our ob- ject in taking the land route from this place, was to save time, as we could go afoot to the mouth of the Pembina River in less time tha'i to follow the Red Lake and Rod River, the distance be- ing probably not one-fourth as great. We sf)on made a cac/ie of our canoe, a few pounds of flour, potatoes, &c., taking with us our blankets and a little corn broad, which we had procured at Red Lake, depending upon our guns for provisions. We started on, traveled one mile across prairie and then struck into a slough' in- terspersed with poplar thickets; this was probably six or seven miles across and the water two feet deep the greater part of the distance, through which we were compelled to wade; the grass was about five feet high, which made it very tiresome, but we got through it very well considering the shortness of our legs and depth of the water. Traveled until dark, striking into the cart road from St. Paul about sunset. We were compelled to camp without water for cooking; very unpleasant, having so much more than was needed in our garments. Went dinnerlcss and supper- less to bed in a clump of poplars; rained all night. Sept, 5. — Cool morning; started on at half past five o'clock. We reached water at seven, called Snake River, the snakes may have been there but the river had disappeared, we found water enough fdr our purposes, however, in the holes, and took breakfast. We travelled over a prairie until ten o'clock, then through a pop- ar thicket two miles; crossed Snake River again, found some water at this point; on over prairie andthrough timber until half past one o'clock; stopped to dine at Tamarac River, ni. little stream; prairie chickens and pheasants for dinner. Travelled over prairie balance of the day and camped at dusk in a hollow; not much tim- ber, plenty of water. We here met a party of Englishmen who had been out on a hunt and were on their way to St. Paul. Sept. C. — Took breakfast at camp; on over prairie fifteen miles and dined at one of the Two Rivers. Travelled slow, as we could not reach Pembina in one day we concluded to make two easy days. S()il excellent and timber increasing in quantity and quality. Crossed the other river at four o'clock; found collector of customs and another man camped here with horse and cart and concluded to stop over one night with them; dried buffalo meat for supper. Sept. 9. — Travelled over prairie, in sight of timber most of the time; twenty miles to Pembina; crossed river in a canoe; river ten % 4 It* TO KKD BIVEB. Oi feet deep; banks thirty feet high on west side; higher on east bank. Soil excellent, timber plenty; five houses occupied, all on west side; one mile to the 49th parallel. Snjpt. 10. — I remained at Pembina thu eighth and ninUi to re- cover from the latigue of the trip. Started to-day at 12 o'clock for Pembina Mountain, or St. Joseph, as it is now called. We traveled over the prairie thirty miles, and readied the moun- tain in good time, liaving taken advantage of an opportunity which presented itself for a ride. The i)rairie to day was a rich, black soil, covered with a very heavy growth of grass, iiixcd with wild pea vine, making the finest grazing district I have yet seen. Tiie immediate valley of Pembina River is well timbered, and our course was nearly parallel with, and not far from it. Sept. 11. — As it was dark when I reached here, 1 arose early to satisfy my curiosity, that is, to see the mountain. It was a lovely morning, and I walked to the summit — probably one hundred and fifty feet high, and is nothing more than the river bluff, which here breaks off, running off at a riglit angle from the river, and not appearing again near it below. But still, insignificant as this hill appeared to me, compared with what I had expected, tlie view was well worth the trouble of the ascent. At my feet lay tiie vil- lage, consisting of twelve log houses and fifty skin lodges. In the rear, the bluff stretched away, as far as the eye could reach, cov- ered with burr oaks. Beyond the village was the prairie, with cattle and horses. Taking it all together, it was certainly a lovely spot. Remained here until Sept. 14. — Fine morning — started for home — went to Pembina — crossed the river and camped, Sept. 15. — Rainy, disagreeable morning. Went to q, point of timber and dined — to our old camp at first of Two Rivers for the night. Sept. 16. — Started at sunrise — went to second river to break- fast, On across third river, and took dinner on tlu prairie. While eating dinner, we were joinol by a small party of Chippe- was with a Sioux scalp on a polo. After dinner we went to old camp for the night, (where wo met the Englishmen.) This I think was one of the worst nights I ever passed upon the prairie in the summer. It rained until near daylight, and there was not a dry thread about the camp. The wind blew a pcrlect luuricano, and the lightning was so incessant, and the continuous roll of thunder so deafening that it was impossible to sleep. Sept. n. — It was a clear, fine morning. We did not travel very fast today. Siuppivl ut Tanuii'ac River to dy our blankets; cimped at Snake River. I eg MINNESOTA ROUTE TO RED RIVEK. If |l I I Sepi. 18. — Started early. Went to second crossing of Snake River to breakfast. Traveled on across prairie and through the slough, and reached our canoe about sunset. Soon commenced raining, and rained all night. Sept. 19. — Started up river — killed a few ducks — camped at half past six — rained all day. Sept. 20. — Fine morning once more. Oft' before sunrise. We made a very good run to-day, and killed ])lenty of ducks, so that at night when we camped, we concluded to eat our fdl once more, having been half starved for the last week. One of my men had brought alung some buffalo marrow fat, which he had procured of some half-breeds at Red River, and Jio used that for s/iortning, as he called it. lie cooked about four (quarts of potatoes which we had taken from our cache — made the flour into bread, and boiled sixteen ducks. Three Indians were traveling in company with us in another canoe; wc of course invited them to sup ■^vith us. When wc had finished, there was not a particle of provisiuns left, except three or four ducks that were reserved for breakfast, and had not been cooked. Sept. 21. — Off at half past five o'clock ; did not stop once during tlic day ; reached Red Lake at two o'clock, and the Missionary Station before dark. Remained at Red Lake the 22nd, and started on. Sepit. 23. — Wc crossed the portage and left in our canoe at three o'clock ; on up the creek ; through Rice Lake ; up the creek into Lake No. ^^2 ; across portage one and a half miles to Lake No. 21 and camped, Sept. 24. — Started across lake at five o'clock : crossed portage one mile to Lake No. 20; across lake four miles, portage quarter of a mile to Lake No. 19 ; across lake two and a half miles and breakfasted ; crossed portage two and a half miles through lake and down creek to Cass Lako. Sept. 25. — Started before daylight, in order to get across lake before wind should blow, but were compelled to put behind a point soon after daylight and were wind bound four hours ; started on at half past eleven and camped within a half mile, and in sight of Leech Lake. Sep/. 20. — Started early ; through Leech Lake -, up creek ; over portage three miles ; lako one and a half miles, portage quarter to Trout Lake ; tlirongh it and down creek two miles, across lake three miles; portage one mile into creek and down creek, one and a half miles into Lake No. 10 ; through lake and down another creek, found it long, and made a portage into Lake No. 9, CLIMAT()LO(*Y OF MINNESOTA. 68 through it ; i)ortago one mile into Lake No. 8, thron^^h lake, portage half a mile to Lake No. 7; through lake over portage, Sec, and camped on Pine Kiver. p Sept. 27.--Worked hard all day ; made twenty-two milcH of portages besides tiic canoeing. Sept, 28. — Arrived at Agency at nine o'clock. APPENDIX NO. V Climatology of Mlvnesota. [Extract from a Report of D. C. Shepard Esq., Chief Engineer of the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad Company, January 12, 1858.] No region which at present engages the public mind, as a field for settlement, has been so grossly misrepresented in re"-ard to peculiarities of climate as Minnesota. Fabulous accounts of its Arctic temperature, piercing winds, and accompanying snows of enormous depth, embellish the columns of the Eastern press, to the no little injury of this Territory. An examination of this subject,. and especially in relation to the snows and winds of winter as opposed to the operation of lines of railroad, seems necessary to correct existing prejudices, and fortunately the means arc at hand for conducting this examination with an exactness nearly reachino' mathematical precision. The data employed arc compiled from the "Army Meteorological Kegister," and " Blodgett's Climatology of the United States, " both standard authorities based upon the system of meteorological observations which have been conducted by the Surgeons of the United States Army, and other scientific gentlemen through a series of upwards of thirty years. In the following table illustrative of the temperature of Minne- sota, St. Paul is inserted in the place of Ft. Snelling, (six miles distant,) where the observations were made. The column headed «* No. of years " gives the duration of the observations at each •tation :_jj w < t 1^ < Ph a, H H IM t y. o w 133 H 1-5 9 u u n o V. 0 c ® 0.05 s >- 4> u o 0. lo r— « cc «o -^ CO F^ fH p-H CO • ••*-•*• • 'hH , s * . *'. ■ ter* =< TT O 4) Q «! ■" P" a cs Oq y. P DC P K •/; . . . ^. >C-H«0'0fH05i— ia»t-<>OC^«i-lr-li 00 O rH 1-^ I— t fH fH f— ( CI C4 :h > •t'5 ;5< ^ z.^ s a a o_r bo u a Z _2 BIS ^. bow u u, s 5 o 0&: o •. 5 O^^ Cd as O t- 'ft CO CO -fCCOMMjl-iOiO CD«DC1 e-« — — 1 i-c I S 4-1 O V s "^ ■ *- :^ • .t:(i<; C3^ re O HI COCS i-HrHf-HcHr-H i-H ft- be w H « CllK ^ T3'i:'gi 0,^ O . O cj •,a ■~ -'ajS .2.- bOo) ^^T^g"? s&s- ^ a>'« ^t; «iKc/. I c o bC •■ ® — . I *5S w fC M CMMATOLOOV OF MINNKflOTA. 60 Takiiijr a Map of the United States and applying to it lines of mean totnperatnro for the seasons and year, passin-j tlirou;?h the places indicated in the foregoing table, we find that while the win- ter temperature of St. Paul does not fall below the average of places on its ])arallel of latitude, its spring toniperaturo coincides with that of Central Wisconsin, Nortliorn Illinois, Southern Michi- gan, Central Xow York and M.issachusetts, its summer with that of Central Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, NorlIi(n-n Ohio, Central and Soutliern Pennsylvania, and Xow Jersey, its autumn with that of Central Wisconsin, Xortliern New York, a small part of North- ern Pennsylvania, NDrlhcrn V(n'inont and Southern Maine, and its entire year witli that of Central Wisconsin, Central New York, Southern New Hampshire and Southern Maine. Considering this sul)ject with reference to the extremes of latitude touched by these isothermal lines, we discover that St. Paid has a temperature in s[)ring equal to Chicago, which is two and a half degrees of latitude south, in summer e(|ual to Philadel[)hia five de- grees south, in autumn equal t6 Northern New York one and a half degrees south, and during the whole year, ci^ual to Central New York two degrees soutii. These statements do not admit of the slighest doubt or question, no matter how widely they may differ from preconceived opinions, for they are founded on facts of experience which hare occupied an entire generation in their development. This condition of temperature not only obtains in Minnesota, but it is a well established fact that there extends hundreds of miles to the north west of her an immense area of fertile and cultivable soil, possessed of a climate hardly inferior in warmth to her own The closing chapter of Blodgett's Climatology treats so directly of the climate and resources of this vast region that it is copied near- ly entire as an appendix to this report. The obstruction opposed by sn(nvs to the rapid and regular pass" age of trains is among the chief difficulties of winter operation and in order to submit in the plainest and most concise manner pos- sible the uiiignitude of this obstacle as found here, in comparison with other districts, a table of mean result3,'compiledfrom the same sources with the preceding, is here introduced. The results given in the table are all reduced to water, but in order to convert them into equivalents of snow we have only to consider the figures in the columns as representing feet and deci- mals of a foot The rule adopted in the "Register" giveii? ten inches of snow as equivalent to oneinchof water, but the proportion of twelve to one is believed to be more correct, particularly as re- gards snows of our latitude. m CLIMATOLOGY MLAN FALL OP RAIN AND MELTED L^NOW AT VARIOUS PLACES FOR THE: DIFFERENT SEASONS AND THE ENTIRE YEAR. innii pii ALSO, THE MAXIMUM AND MINIIILM FALL DURING THE WINTER MONTHS. PEnn IN INCHES AND DECJilALS OF AN I»'CH. FLACES. Saint Paul, Min Muiitreal, Canada Houlton, Me Eastport,, Me Portsmouth, N. H.... Hanover, N. 11 Burlington, Vt Cambridge, Mass Worceator, Mass , New York City Plattsbiirg, N. Y Potsdr.m, N, Y Utica,N. Y , Rochester, N. Y Fort Niagara, N. Y.., Pittsburg, Pa Hudson, O Cincinnati, , Detroit, Mich Sault St. Marie, Mich AthiKJ, III Muscatine, Iowa Milwankee, Wis Green Bay, Wis Portajje City, Wis. .. Beloit, Wis •P INO Mean. C.61 11.54 7.62 8.88 9.03 !».90 7.41 10.85 10.89 U.Gfi 8.33 C.'ii) 9.26 6.82 6.8: 9.38 9.76 12.14 8.61 5.41 12.20 11.19 6.60 9.00 5.58 13.16 sum'r.! aut'n. !| Mean. Mean. ! 10.92 jU 18 ! 11.92 10.05 9.21 11.40 10.83 11.37 10.71 11-64 1003 10.15 12.83 8.86 9.81 3.87 8.87 13.70 9.29 I S.1'7 13.30 '608 I 9.70 14..15 il).46 18.12 5.98 16.C0 9.95 9.86 8.95 10,60 9.82 12.57 13.51 9.93 1005 8.38 9.76 9.38 8.68 8.23 6.16 9.90 7.41 10.76 ! 9.20 ;io.34 I 6.80 j 7.84 ! 7.63 10.44 WINTBII. TEAB. Mini. I Mean Maxi I Mean. 0.35 :.02 8.91 4.44 4.99 2.90 3.23 4.39 2.84 2.85 2.90 1.92 1.92 7.i6 7.48 10.61 8.38 9.10 6.02 9.89 11.85 10.39 :.95 3.90 8.72 6.38 6.41 7 48 8.00 11.15 4.86 0.18 7.10 6.72 4.20 3.:i6 2.,"^ 6.43 3.56* '125.43 ii47.28 10.00 11.95 11.08 19.27 9.33 9.24 11.97 I 6.01 11.67 4.80 3.84 136.97 !.19.39 : 35.67 41.00 S4.ll 44.48 146.96 '43.65 ;33.39 28-63 )40.57 ;3044 ■31.77 34.96 ,32.79 46.89 ,30 07 31.35 '4L80 144.33 27.20 i 34.65 27.49 48.15 No. of Years» 19 2 9. 8: 13 18 20 12 13 14 10 20 19 19 18 4 20 12 16 10 10 7 9 4 * lu the Winter of 1819. The next lugs fall wiis in the Winter.of 1«37 —2.96 Inches. Without going" into a detailed review of the contents of the fore- going table, which presents the facts in a light that argument can- not strengthen, it may be well to inquire what proportion of the winter precipitation is in the form of snow, and in the absence of positive knowledge we may arrive at general conclusions by other means. Since HouUon, Hanover, Plattsburg, Montreal and Sault St. Marie coincide in mean winter temperature with St. Paul, we must infer that the precip.itation at those places assumes the form of snow in the same proportion as here. Admitting this, and supposing the enUre winter precipitation to be a successive accumulation of snows, the resulting depths would be ai follows, viz : Average annual depth at St. Paul, 2 feet ; Houlton, 1^ feet ; Hanover, 9 feet ; Plattsburg, 5 feet ; Montreal, 7 feet ; Sault St. Marie, 5 feet. Maximum depth at St. Paul, ^ feet; Houlton, 10 feet; Plattsburg, 9| feet; and Sault St. Mario, 11^ feet. It is hardly necessary to OF MINNESOTA. 67 add that such immense depths of enow are never known, and it must fol'ow that a great part of the fall at all these localities is dissipated during the higher fluctuations of temperature. This is confirmed by Mr. Blodgett, who estimates the average depth of snow constantly occupying the ground in winter among the eleiiatei and Northern districts of New England at two feet, and the experi- ence of the present winter at St. Paul is, that out of a total fail of upwards of twenty inches of snow, the depth on the ground has at no time exceeded six inches. Although no reliable evidence can be adduced upon this point, it seems entirely safe to assume that the average of extreme depths of snow in Minnesota, during the nineteen years through which the observations extend, does not exceed ten inches, and it is cer. tain that the average here falls quite below that in Wisconsin, Il- linois, Michigan or New York, and very far below that in the Eas- tern States. The rapid decrease in winter precipitation north and northwest from Central Illinois is worthy of particular note in this connection. It will bo seen that at Athens, Illinois, the mean fall is 7.1 inches; at Beloit, 6.43 inches; at Milwaukee, 4.2 inches; at Green Bay, 3.36 inches; at Portage City, 2.82 inches; while at St. Paul it is only 1.92 inches. The force of the wind, which frequently converts even moderate falls of snow into formidable barriers to the passage of trains, is another element requiring attention, and resort is again had to the Army Register for the purpose of illustrating this subject. In the succeeding table will be found the mean force of the wind for a term of years, expressed in whole numbers and decimals under the classification of forces laid down in the " Register."* *Ia this classification, Hjgnifies a calm, 1 a barely perceptible brc' '.e, 2 a gentle breeze, 3 a moderate breeze, 1 a brisk breeze, and so on to 10, wliicli represents a violent hurricane. *■ 68 CLIMATOLOGY OF MINNESOTA. Ji^le skomntf the 3Imn Force of the Wind at various places during the months of Ji'Miary, February, March, and December, in each Year for a Scri es of Years, PLACES. Fort SnelliDg, Min., near Ht. Paul Fort Trumbull, Now Lon- don, Conn Fort Hamilton, NewVork City Fort Niagara, Now York Plattsburp Harriicks. PlattHhurg, New York. Port Sullivan, Eastport, Maine Port Constitution, Porti- month, N. H Alleghany Arfienal, Pitts- burg, Pa Detroit Barracks, Detroit Mich Port AtkinHon, Winne- shiek County, Iowa . . Fort Leavenworth, Kan- sas • 1346 n 5 1.59 2.53 1847 1840 1.72|1.G3 2.85 I 3.28i3.43 lfi48 S " 1.74 1849 1850 1851 3.18 3.08 .Average force at all places 3.33 2.r-8 3.29 2.41 2.13 2.52 2.88 2.30 3.28!, l.Go'. 2.G3 1.85 2.08 2.40 2.071.... 2.1t);1.70 1,5512.05 2.18 3.41 2.98 2.31 3.40 3. 14. 3. 40 1852 185311854 S "J s « 4) O I ^ O 3.30 1.80 3.24'2.69 1.48 2.31 2.18 1.54 2.00|1.80 2.45 2. 10 3.14 3.54 2.19 2.41 1.90|1.6G 2.20 2.57 2.37 2.55 2.03 I 2.53 2.70:2.05 ... 2.40 2.15 2. OS 2.29:2.15 1.7212.11 2.32 ,1. 1.99 2.55 2.17 2.67 1.4511.01 2.74'2.31;2.55 2.03 2.32 2.3012.59 2.07 2.30 2.22,2.30 o 10 7 sa a ® OS'S 1.87 2.07 10 1I2.9C 8 6 5 5 10 5 2 10 3.01 l.DO ;2.C3 2.50 2.20 I 2. 20 2.48 2.09 2.42 It appears that the mean force of the wind at Fort Snelling for tUo whole term is less than at any other station, and twonty-five per cent, less than the average of all stations for the whole term, and that the mean force in any year is below the average at all stations for the year, except in 1851, when it slightly exceeds the average. In concluding this subject I will state that the extracts comprised in the foregoing tables have been made at raiulom, so far as the nature of each case would permit, and with the sole purpose of arriving at the trutii; yet, if further confirmatiijn of the deductions drawn from them is desired, it may be found in the fullest measure within the volumes (quoted. CLIMATOLOGY OF THE NORTU-WEST. 69 APPENDIX NO. VI. CLIMATOLOGY OF THE SASKATCHEWAN DISTRICT AND OF BRITISH OREGON. [Extract from Blodgett'a Climatology of the United States.] The assei'tion may at first appear unwarranted, but it is demon- strable that an area, not inferior in size to the whole United States east of the Mississippi, now almost wholly unoccupied, lies west of the 98th meridian and above the 43d parallel, which is perfectly adapted to the fullest occupation by cultivated nations. * * By reference to the illustration of the distribution of heat, we sec that the cold at the north of the great lakes does not represent the same latitude farther west, and that beyond them the thermal lines rise as high in latitude, in most cases, as at the west of Europe. Central Russia, Germany, the Baltic districts, and the British Is- lands, are all reproduced in the general structure, though the ex- ceptions here fall against the advantage, while there they favor it, through the immediate influence of the Gulf Stream. * * Climate is indisputably the decisive condition; and when we find the isothermal of CO dog. for the summer rising on the interior American plains to the Gist parallel, or fully as high as its aver- age position for Europe, it is impossible to doubt the existence of favorable climates over vast areas now unoccupied. This favora- ble comparison may bo traced for the winter also, and, in the aver- ages, for che year. Tlie exceptional cold of the mountain plateaus, and of the coast below 43d parallel, masks the advantage more or less to those who approach these areas from the western part of tiie central States and from the coast of California ; but, though the distinct mountain ranges remain high at the north, the ■width of their base, or of the plateau from which they rise, is much less than at the 42d parallel. The elevated tracts are of less ex- tent, and the jjroportion of cultivable surface is far greater. * It is decisive of the general question of sufficiency of rain, to find the entire surface of the upper plains either well grassed or well wooded; and recent information on these points almost war- rants the assertion that there are no barren tracts of consequence after we pass the Bad Lands and the Coleaus of the Missouri. Many i f m n 'Mn n CLIMATOLOGY portions of these plains ?.ve known to be peculiarly rich in grasses, and probably the finest tracts lie along the eastern base of the mountains, in positions corrv^sponding to the mostdesert-likeof the plains at the south. The higher latitudes certainly difler widely from the plains which stretch fvom the Platte southward to the Llano Estacado of Texas, and none of the references made to them by residents or travellers indicate desert characteristics. Buffalo are far more abundant on the northern plaips, and they remain through the winter at their extreme border, taking shelter in the belts of woodland on the Upper Athabasca and Peace rivers. Gras- sy savannas like these necessarily imply an adequate supply of lain, and there can be no doubt that the correspondence with the European plains in like geographical position — those of Eastern Germany and Russia — is quite complete in this respect. If a dif- ference exist, it is in favor of the American plains, which have a greater proportion of surface waters, both as lakes and rivers. * * * The northwestern coast of this continent is even more profusely rainy than any part of the north-west of Europe ; and the configuration is less sharply interrupted along the coast north of Puget Sound than it is south of that line. If positive evidence were wanting with regard to any part of the interior plains above the 45th parallel, it could not reasonably be inferred that they were wanting in an adequate supply of atmospheric moisture. With these facts of climatological capacity established, as the whole tenor and significance of American research on tliis point clearly shows, it may be more easy to understand tiie descriptions of those who have travelled there, and to connect the somewhat meagre accounts yet written. It is most surprising that so little is known of the great Islands, and the long line of coast from Pu- get Sound to Sitka, ample as its resources must be, even for re- cruiting the transient commerce of the Pacific, independent of its immense intrinsic value. To the region bordering the northern Pacific the finest maritime positions belong throughout its entire extent, and no part of the west of Europe exceeds it in the advan- tages of equable climate, fertile soil and commercial accessibility of the coast. The western slope of the Rocky Mountain system may be included sis a part of this maritime region, embracing an immense area from the 45th to the GOth parallel and five degrees of longitude in width. The cultivable surface of this district can- not be much less than thr&^ hundred thousand square miltt. Next is the area of the plains east of the Rocky Mountains, not less remarkable than the first for the absence of attention hereto- OF THE NOKTII-WEST. n fore given to its intrinsic value as a productive and cultivable re- gion within easy reach of emigration. This is a wedge-shaped tract, ten degrees of longitude in width at its base along the 47th parallel, inclined northwestward to conform to the trend of the Rocky Mountains, and terminating not far from the 60th parallel in a narrow line, which still extends along the Mackenzie for three or four degrees of latitude in a climate barely tolerable. Lord Sel- kirk begun his efforts at colonization here as early as 1805, and, from personal knowledge, he then claimed lor this tract a capa- city to support thirty millions of inhabitants. All the grains of the cool temperate latitudes are produced abundantly. Indian corn may be grown on both branches of the Saskatchewan and the grass of the plains is singularly abundant and rich. Not only in the earliest period of exploration of these plains, but now, they are the great resort for buffalo herds, which, with the domestic herds, and horses of the Indians and colonists, remain on them and at their woodland borders through the year. The simple fact of the prese'ice of these vast herds of wild cattle on the plains at so high a latitude, is ample proof of the climatological and productive cap- acity of the country. Of these plains and their woodland borders the valuable surface measures fully five hundred thousand square miles. In various parts of the present work, references have been made to the leading incidents of natural capacity and of actual growth in the northwestern districts. It is not necessary to re- peat them here, and the present purpose is only to direct attention to the development in that quarter as one offering clearly the great- est field in which natural advantages await the use of civilized nations. The reason for most of the previous and present neg- lect o'^ this region lies in mistaken views of its climate, and the peculiarities of much of the Lake Superior district are such as to perpetuate the mistake. With the unusual severity of the last two or three winters there, it appearb incredible that the country at the west, rising toward the Rocky Mountains should be less se- vere. But the vast plain rises very little. Fort Union is but 2,000 feet above the sea, and Fort Benton but 2,600, though 15 deg. of longitude due west of the plain at the sources of the Mis- sissippi at 1,500 feet. Much of it declines in altitude northwest- ward, indeed, toward the northern lake-basins and Hudson's Bay. The increase of temperature westward is quite as rapid as it is southward to New Mexico, and the Pacific borders at the 50th parallel are milder in winter than Santa Fe. In every condition forming the basis of national wealth, the continental mass lying 72 CLIMATOLOGY OF THE NORTH-WEST. westward and northwestward from Lake Superior is far more valuable than the interior in lower latitudes, of which Salt Lake and Upper New Mexico are the prominent known districts. The history of this northwestern district has unusual interest also, though the details are meagre. French traders ranged the fertile plains of Red River and the Saskatchewan nearly two cen- turies since, and the rich trade in furs and peltries has for so ma- ny years been constantly gathered from the surrounding tracts through that as a central area. This occupation was coeval with the Spanish occupation of New Mexico and California, and but for the pernicious views entailed by the fur traffic, as to the neces- sity of preserving it as a wilderness, it would long since have been open to colonization. The Hudson Bay and Northwest Companies had a gigantic contest for possession after the French had given way to British dominion in Canada ; and both these Companies at last concentrated their strength in efforts to preserve the wilderness, and to crush the infant colony of Lord Selkirk. The whole space here designated the North-west is, however the joint possession of tlic United States and Great Britain — not only in territorial title, but in all the incidents of development. Its commercial and industrial capacity is gigantic, and one which it is the highest interest of both governiacnts to bring out at the earliest moment. The illustration of tlio summer and winter climates for the country north of the 50th parallel is given — though witii less ful. ness than could be desired, on the isothermal and rain charts — for the temperate latitudes of both continents. The allusions' here made maybe traced there in a general way ; but a map on a more ample scale, representing the now unknown plains of the Yellow- stone and the southern Saskatchewan, and the equally important Pacific districts north of A^'ancouver Island, and witli a full geo- graphical detail, where so much is now vaguely placed, is much to be desired. For the small number of points observed above the 45th parallel, the statistics are very well distributed to define the climate. * * * The conditions existing in tins immense area deserve a distinct treatment, and particularly the importance of the great channel of access through Lake Superior attaches the highest interest to the definition of its peculiar climate. Li severe winters the most for- midable ice-barriers are interposed over a portion of its surface, as the ice remains late and in large fields and masses at the east- ern end of Lake Erie in the same cases — in both lakes the western and larger portions being free from obstructions at a date much earlier. SELKIRK SETTLEMENT. 73 APPENDIX NO. VII. MEMOIR OF THE SELKIRK SETTLEMENT UPON THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH,, WITH NOTICES OF THE MANNERS AND LIFE OF THE SETTLERS. IPrepared by J. A. Wueelock, Esq., at the request of a Public Meeting at St. Paul. held July 17, 1858.] ' Simultaneously with the movement in this city and in different parts of the State, for the establishment of an Emigrant route through Minnesota and the British Possessions to the nevtr field of adventure on Frazer River, the opportune arrival of some six hun- dred carts from the Red River, laden with the furs of that region, had the effect of directing public attention more immediately to the growing importance of our commercial relations with these remarkable settlements, while it furnished at the same time a mul- titude of witnesses not only to the advantages of the proposed route, but to the richniss of the resources which such a route would developc, and to the beauty and fertility of the region tributary ta the valley of the Mississippi, which it would open to colonization. The novel appearance of the visitors themselves, the odd uni- formity of their costume of coarse blue cloth, with its barbaric op- nlence of brass buttons and fanciful ostentation of red belts ; the strange mixture of complexions which they presented, all the way down from the fair skin, and light, soft curls of the Celt to the dingy color and straight black hair of the Indian, with every in- termediate shade which the amalgamation of races could produce; their language as various as* their origin — a curious medley of Chippewa, Cree, French, English and Gaelic ; their rude wooden carts, guiltless of iron, even to the venial peccadillo of a nail,, drawn for tiie most part by oxen harnessed singly in shafts, with gearing made of strips of raw hide, and filing in long procession through the streets of the city, with the disciplined sequence of an Asiatic caravan — it is not surpriding that these incidents of a so- cial life, removed at once from barbarism and civilization, should have excited some interest in the history of a people who , with the marks of a European extraction, emerge from the depths of the wilderness with the characteristics of the savage. I u MEMOIR OF THE If -'' Nomadic as to one half of his origin, pastoral and agricultural as to the other ; a hunter by his Indian blood, a citizen from his European instincts ; thrifty, indolent, staid, mercurial, as father or mother predominates in his nature — the Red River half-breed has a story as curious as any which while away the winter nights in the chimney corner of his ancestral Highland home. When emigration had scarcely ventured to pass the AUeghanies, a colony of Scotch- men had penetrated beyond the waters which flow into Lake Su- perior and settled at tiie mouth of the Assineboin. For fifty years since then, the advancing wave of American colonization has roll- ed westward, till the valley of the Mississippi from one extreme to the other, is submerged with population and carved into wealthy States, and the most remote of the inland lakes is thronged with Bieamboats and lined with embryo cities ; and yet the farthest point which the American pioneer has reached, is still five hundred onilbs short of the nearest of the settlements, which for half a Jieutury have occupied the valley of the Red River. This strange isolation of a European people in the profound abysses of a region almost unknown to the geographer, surrounds them with the charm of romance, and the dramatic situation prepares us for their strange, eventful history. Over a hundred years ago French adventurers, eager to extend Ihe area of their fur trade and the limits of we French dominions, pushed their explorations through the rivers which debouchc on the northern shore of Lake Superior beyond Lake Winnipeg. In au old map reproduced in Mr. Neill's History of Minnesota, and- dated as early as 1762, Fort La Reine is designated at the conflu- ence of the Assineboin and Red Rivers, where the war eursdes hois .from the French establs'mient at Mackinac, used to trade with Ihe Omahas and Assinneboins. A similar trading station at the same period existed on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, and an- other on the Lake of the Woods. Thomas Ouuuy, a Canadian trader, who ascended the Saskat- cl)ewan in 17TG, was the first who advanced beyond Lake Win- nipeg, with view to traffic. The profits of his voyage encour- aged others to follow his example. Their success aroused the jealousy of their English competitors, who had established a traffic on tlie shores of Hudson's Bay, and gave rise to a long series of disorders and excesses. Joseph Frohisher and his brother, who woDt beyond the fifty-ninth degree of latitude to Churchill and Vik la Crosse, and Peter Pond, who in 1778 entered English River and the river L'Orignal, where he passed the winter — are the prin- cipal names associated with the earlier explorations of this country. SELKIRK SETfLEMENT. 75 In 1781, four canoes filled with traders ascended the Sa&katchewan to the highlands which divide its sources from the valley of the McKcnzie. In 1783, the Northwestern Company, principally com- posed of the persons already mentioned, was organized, and waged a bitter competition with numerous rivals. In 1787, the several Fur Companies, who had been contending for the exclusive trade of the Indians of the northwest, consolidated under the name of the Northwest Company, which then had only one remaining rival in the Hudson Bay Company. The latter corporation, whose charter dated back to the reign of Charlbs II, in 1670, had not yet extended their establishments into this region, and the Northwest Company enjoyed an undisturbed monopoly of the lucrative trade, which the French had resigned into their hands. Their dream of exclusive dominion was, however, soon ended. In 1805, Lord Selkirk, a benevolent but impracticable Scotch- man, and a member of the Hudson Bay Company, who had pene- trated into this region, was so struck with its beauty and fertility, and the mildness of its climate, that he conceived the project of planting colonies here whose growth should compensate the Brit* ish crown for the recent loss of the United Colonies, and he wrote several tracts, urging the superiority of this region for the British emigrant, over any portion of the United States. In 1811, he suc- ceeded in obtaining for colonization, a grant of land on the Red River, from the Hudson Bay Company, which was at the same time, aroused by his representations, to the necessity of extending their jurisdiction over a country so rich in furs and of securing its trade to themselves. In the Autumn of the following year, a small detachment of em- igrants, whom Lord Selkirk had collected from the highlands of Scotland, after a lung and toilsome journey — whicli must have been terrible in the vast solitudes through which it led them and to which it led — arrived on the banks of the Red River, near its con- iluence with the Assineboin. There they commenced building houses, when their work was stopped by a party of men in the service of the North-West Company — who, disguised in Indian costume, ordered them to desist. Frightened by their menaces, they were induced to take refuge at Pembina. Their guides, as savage in disposi- tion as in their assumed dress, tyrannized without mercy over the affrighted colonists, robbing them of whatever they most prized, and found a cruel sport in the alarm they caused the mothers by pretending to run off with their children. Several of the more deli- cate died under the shock of this inhuman tretment. The winter 76 MEMOTB OF THE having been passed in tents at Pembina, they were permitted to return to their settlements in tlie Spring. Their labors were about to be rewarded with an abundant harvest, when it was destroyed by birds. The next winter was again passed at Tembina, and when they returned to their settlements in the Spri ug, they were in a condition of abject poverty. "By the month of September, 1815," says Mr. Neiix, "the number of settlers was about two hundred, and the colony was called Kildonan, after the old parish in Scotland, in which many were born. With increased numbers, all seemed auspicious. Houses were built, a mill erected, and imported cattle and sheep began to graze on the undulating plains." But avarice and jealousy followed them even to these solitudes. The Northwest Company never looked with favor on the growth of tlie settlement, which was regarded as a scheme of their rivals of the Hudson Bay Company, to dispossess them of the lucrative posts which they occupied in the neighborhood ; and in the summer of 1814, Dnncan Cameron and Alex. McUonuel were appointed at a meeting of the partners of the Company to concert racasurea to stop the progress of tlio colony. In pursuance of this design, Cameron, who spoke Crii'lic with Jluency, aii'' ly insinuated liim- self into tlie confidence of the Higlilanders, ana without evincing direct hostility to the plans of Selkirk, gradually sowed the seeds of disaflbction in the scttleiuont, whit-li, in the Spring of 1815, cul- minated in the desertion of a number of the colonists to the quar- ters of the Northwestern Company, whose employees in the mean- while had broken open the storehouse of the colony and carried away their field pieces. Endeavors were also made with partial success to excite the minds of the Indians against tlie settlers. A murderous attack was made by the Northwest party on the Governor's house, who was seized and carried off to Montreal by Cameron. McDonnel followed up this outrage with a series of aggressions on the settlers. Persecuted to extremity, they were again foi'ced to abandon their homes. About this time, says Mr. Neill, toward the latter part of the pleasant month of June, two Ojibwa Chiefs arrived with forty braves, and offered to 'escort the persecuted settlers with their property to Lake Winnipeg. Guard- ed by the grim children of the forest from the assaults of their foes, they, like the Acadian peasants in " Evangeline," were "friendless, homeless, hopeless.'' The mournful picture of the Aca- dian expatriation was mournfully fulfilled, even in the sad sight of their dwellings wrapped in the ilames which the incendiary's torch had lighted. ■gp^ SELKIRK SEri'LKMKNT. 77 In the following Spring the fugitives returned to their colony, under tiie protection of an officer of the Hudson Bay Company, w!»o arrested Cameron and sent him to England for trial. In the meantii'ne, tiie Earl of Selkiuk, learning of the distresses of the colonists, sailed for America. Ho arrived at New York in the fall of 1815, where rumors of their defection reached iiim, and in the following spring he set out for the colony with a military es- cort, which he had organized from some disbanded military com- panies. At Sault St. Marie, tidings of new disasters reached him, Skmi'lk, the Governor of the territory of the Hudson IJiiy Company, who had but just taken j'ossession of his now quarters on lied River, was attackiul by a i)arty of the employees of the North- western Comi)any, and killed with a number of his men, in tlie af- fray. Tiie settlers were again expelled from their homes by the victorious marauders, and were already on tiieir way to the sea coast, when they were recalled by the welcome news of Selkiuk's ap[)roaeh. A reinforcement of emigrants sent to the colony under his directinii, had preceded him. Incensed at the atrijcities which had been perpetrated by the agents of the North-western Com- pany, he had proceeded with his force to the head (juarters of that Com[)any, at Fort William, on T.ake Superior, and having appre- hended the princii)al parties, sent them to Montreal for trial. His arrival at lied Kiver soon retrieved the allairs of the colony, and he left it the following year in a nourishing condition. Owing, however, to the scarcity of seed, which was the natural consequence of the difficulties already stated., the harvest of 1817, though the yield was prolific, was insufficient to supply the wants of the increasing population, and hunting was again resorted to for subsistence. They set out in December across the plains to join a distant camp of Pembina half-breed hunters, and Indians. They reached it after a journey of terrible suffering, to find the Buffalo scarce and the camp sulisisting upon scanty fair. Spring renewed their hopes. The summer was propitious, The harvest was already ripe for the sickle, when a new and terrible calamity befell them. It was at this epoch, in the summer of 1818, that tlie grasshop- pers, which for the past and present years have again deva.stated those settlements ajid extended their depredations over a consider- able part of Minnesota, made their first recorded appearance in that region. The vast armies of tiiese insects darkened the air, and passed over the land like a consuming fire, licking up every green thing. The next year, (1819) the havoc was even worse. " They were produced, " says Ross, "in masses, two, three or 78 MEMOIR OF THE 'I 'i I m N'' iM four inches in depth. The water was infected with them. Along the river they were to be found in heaps like seaweed and might be sliovelled with a spado. Every vegetable substance was either eaten up or stripped to the bare stalk. The bark of trees shared the same fate. Even lires, if kindled out of doors, were immedia- tely extinguished by them. " The hunter's life alone seemed left to the despairing colonists, but one more effort was made to retrieve their condition. During the winter of 1819-20, a deputation of settlers traveled a thousand miles on snow-shoes across Minnesota to Prairie du Chien, for seed. The details of the return trip in the Spring of 1820, are highly interesting. Three Mackinac boats laden with wheat, oats, and peas started on the 15th of April from Prairie du Chien for the Selkirk settlements on Rod River. " On the third day of May the boats passed through Lake Pepin. The voyage was continued up the Minnesota River to Big Stone Lake, from which a portage was made into Lac Traverse, a mile and a half distant, the boats being moved across on rollers." On the third day of June the party ar- rived at Pembina, where on opposite sides of the stream of that name, the Hudson Bay and North-west Companies had rival tra- ding posts, which still exist. This eventful voyage is one of the most striking incidents in the chronicles of the settlement, and as remarked by Gov, Sihi.ev in an address delivered by him, " is worthy of note, as it is the only instance of heavy articles being transported the entire distance from Prairie du Chien to tlie Red River by water, with the exception of the narrow portage between Big Stone Lake and Lake Traverse. " The next two years of continued prosperity repaired the disas- ters which had heretofore assailed the colony. In 1821, the two great rival Trading Companies, tired of useless bloodshed and ex- pensive strife, consolidated under tlic name of the Hudson Bay Company, and their union seemed to secure the future peace and safety of the settlement. In the same year, a number of Swiss arrived in the colony, Clockmakers in profession, the new pursuits to which they were called were not congenial to them. Like the Swiss soldiers of Napoleox, they grew homesick, and pined for their native mountain homes. The settlement was not done with calamity. Misfortune, which had pursued it in every form, in each successive visit took shapes more appalling than the last. The winter and spring of 1825-6 brought a fresh train of disasters. In the month of December a furious storm overtook a large party of buffalo hunters in the north- RKLKIRK SRTTLEMENT. TO iisas- two d ex- Bay and crn plains of Minnesota, and drove the buft'ulo out of their rcack Relying solely on the flesh of this animal for subsistence, cut olF by the wide waste of deep snows from the nearest settlement at Pem- bina, nearly 200 miles distant, they had no resource in this emer- gency. Starvation stared them in tl;'^ face. Fuel was as inacces- sible as food. Imprisoned in the deer snows, overwhelmed with cold and hunger, numbers perished in the camp, or in a vain attempt to reach Pembina, before rumors of their situation reached th e colony. The calamities of the settlers reached their climax in the ensuing spring, when the molting snows poured their torrents into the streams. The year 1826 is memorable in their calendar, ac tlu; yeai of the flood. On the 2d of May the lied River rose nine feet In tweu» ty-four hours, and by the 5th the level plains were submerge d. The waters continued to rise till the 21st, when houses and baihs wove swept ofl' in the deluge. The settlers fled to the distant hills^ whence the waters swept over the wide plains as far as the oye could *see. The flood abated in June, "and such," says Mr. Neiil, " is the surprising quickness with which vegetation matures five degrees of latitude north of St. Paul, that wheat planted on th«," 22d of June came to maturity." The discontented Swiss, driven from their homes by the flood, did not return to the settlement, but departed for the United States and settled at diflerent points on the banks of the Mississippi. \i is a curious historical fact, that the first emigrants to Minnesota, were the Swiss refugees from Red River in 1826, who opened farms on the present site of St. Paul, and near Fort Snelling ; and, according to our historian, should be recognized as the first actual settlers oi the State. Since this destructive inundation, no e\ent has occurred in the history of the settlement to interrupt the calm course of its pros... perity, until the year 1852 brought another recurrence of the deluge which had swept over the plains twenty-six years before. The waters in tha* year rose a foot higher than in 1 826. In conse- (juence of the exposure of the settlement at Pembina to these ruin- ous casualties, a new site was selected for the Catholic Mission at that place near Mount Pembina, forty miles distant, at a place called St. Joseph. And during the last two or three years the Red River valley kas been re-visited by the mysterious army of grasshoppers, whose advance guard paused last year, in their blasting flight, in tUc northwestern counties of Minnesota. A visit of Col. Sumner, of the U. S. A., to Pembina in 1844 to w MEMOIR OF THE t; stop the encroachments of the British Half Breeds on the Buffalo rang-es of Minnesota, and of Gov. Kamsey, in 1851, to make a treaty with the Upper Chippewas; an occasional battle with the Yankton Sioux; the arrival of a new missionary, or the visit of an explorer; the success or failure of a soason's hunt, and the yearly expedi- tions from the settlement to the new cities which have arisen dur- ing the last ten jcars on the head waters of the Mississippi; the excitement of their return, freig-hted with curious wares to gratify tiie fancy of the delig'lited wom(;n and children, arc all the incidents wiiich have occurred in the interval to vary the quiet uniformity of tlieir lives, until the prospect of emancipation from the control of the Hudson Bay Company, g'avc a new impetus and an intelligent direction to the discontents wliich have been long brewing in the colony. Imprisoned in the deptlis of the vast solitudes Aviiicli surround them, cut olV for half a cciitur}' irom hunmu sympathy by the uni- versal ign(^rance of their situation, they suddenly liud tliemselves the object of the toncern of the civilized world, and all eyes fixed upon the isolated spot they occupy as the theatre of tho most stu" pendens enterprizo of the age, and destiiu^d in its realization to change the face x)f the continent. * ClIARACTEmSTICS 01-' THE rOl'ULATION. hir attention to iho new channel of trade which the Great [Lakes opened out to them, and pushing their enterprises through the streams which tovrfrom the West into Lake Superior, emerged upon the magnificent plainn which are watered by the affluents of Lake Winnip«*g, and ot^- Ublished trading posts*on the' Lake of the Woods, the Assinebom. and even among the distant ^tribes who inhabited the sources of the Saskatchewan. In 11«8, by the terms of the treaty of \er ■allies, the French relinquished their North American posscssi'.t.H to England, and three years afterward, British subjects from Cana ada following the rout«>« pr «ued by the old French traders, began to arail thesMelves of the profitable traffic which the French had established, i^ penetrating as far westward as their predecessorH, began to occapy the posts whicli the latter had deserted along the great river* that ioV^ into Lake Winnipeg. They even stretched in K BELKIKK 8RTTI.KMKNT. 83 northward, and engaged in direct competition with the Hndtont Bay Company for the traffic which they at this time carried on alonp the rivers whtch debouch into Hudson's Bay. These adventures^ however, were individual enterprises, and their prosecution ofteia brought them into collision with the servants of that company. Uniting against their common '3ncmy, the principal of these tra> (lers formed, in 1783, a powerful organization under the name or the Northwest Company. This was not a chartered company, bat- as successors to Ibe old French traders, they pursued a verylocra- tive traffic via the lakes, penetrating t) re^^ions which the Frenck had not reached, even to the shores of the PaciOc. Their fleets of canoes laden with goods fur the Indians or furs for Montreal, trav- crsed the continent in every direction through the connected chain of rivers and lakes from Mon^-cal to Puget*s Sound. It was not till Ibll that the Uudson Bay Company, at the. instigation of the Earl of Selkirk, set up a claim of exclusive jurisdiction under their charter, over this immense region, and in 1812, with the ar- rival of the first instalment of Selkirk colonists, they established ». fort and factory on the Rod River. The savage contest followed with the Northwest Company, some details of which have atroady^ been given, in which the oohmy was ruinously involved, and wfakdi^ after years of murderous strife, t''mlnating with the mutual ei^ haustion of both parties, was at length concluded by the coalition of the rival companies in 1821. Some idea of the extent to which the energy and activity of private enterprise had carried the for trade in tlio region west of Lako Superior, principally along Ai» valleys of the Red River and Saskatchewan, may be obta nedfron the fact that in 1815 the Northwest Company had lixty trading r>08ts in tliis region. Thus the history of the fur trade on" the Red River Valley may be divided into three periods, of nearly eqnal duration: the period of t'ae French occupancy, from 1714 to 1763, when the trade of tV is region had its outlet through Rainy Lake River into Lake So- perior — the period of over fifty years following, from 1766 tel821» when the trade was principally in the handH of the Northwest Company, and followed the old water courses which the French had pursued — and the remaining period, from 1821 to the present time, during which it has been nearly monopolized by the Hudson Ray Company, and forced by them through the difficult channel of of Nels4in's River, which connects their i.iterior trade with their ancient posts on the whores of Hudson's Bay. The vast country watered by the majestic rivers which interlock In Lake Winnipeg, extending from Hudson's Bay and Lake SapCk\ior T" ' 84 MEMOIR OF THE to the Rocky Mountains, is one of four principal diTisions of the Compan3''8 Tcri itoriea, and such is the withering effects of commer- cial monopoly, that the numerous trading posts which the Company found established at every eligible point along the streams, have dwindled to thirty-three in number. The furs collected at these posts, which extend westward, from Red River to the Rocky Mountains, and from two or three hundred miles apart are transmitted in barges and canoes down the Saskat- chew^ and other streams, to Lake Winnipeg, whence they have three different outlets, to wit: Through Nelson's River to Hudson'H Bay; through Hed and Rainy Lake Rivers to Lake Superior; and lat- terly by c trts overland, from the Red River Settlement to St. Paul. Tlie expense and difficulty of travel through the two former canoe routes, interrupted by innumerable portages has had the effect, during the last decade, to turn this trade in the direction of its geographical affinities, which furnish in the smooth adjacent plains of the Red River and Mississippi, its easiest and cheapest avcnucn to market. The land route to St. Paul has increased in favor Binco the completion of Railroads to the Mississippi, has brought uh into direct communication xrith the seaboard, and the Hudson Bay Com. paoy itself ceasing to struggle against the inevitable tendency of things, has itself acknowledged the superiority of the route it had ignored, by sending, this year, over sixty packages of its goods by this channel. The adoption of this new avenue marks a new era in the history of the trade, and it will be interesting to inform ourselves of the value of that trade which is shortly to be emancipated from tho arbitrary restraints of a commercial monopoly — to follow its legit- imate impulses — and then to show by statistics the progress of tlic commercial intercourse which has sprung up in obedience to iis natural tendencies — and its prospects of future expansion in the development of the varied resources of the immense region Mliich is drained by this cliannel. According to an English document before us, the gross value of the furs and skins exported to England from the posscssioni;) of the Hudson Bay Company, varies from $1,000,000 to $2,600,000. At the half yearly sale at London, in April of last year, the proceoiis were $1,160,000. The average of annual exports of furs &c., from the Company'^ possessions will be about $1,800,000 — about five times the value ei the imports sent in exchange, which amount to about three luindrc •! thousand dollars in all. The proportion of these imports which ^ • to the district under consideration, will afford A reliable mensiin T SELKIRK SFrrTLKMKNT. B of the 'ommer- ompany M, have rd, from hundred i Saskat- ey have Sudflon'H and lat- St. Paul, ler canoe 10 effect, ion of its snt plains t, arcnucfl ivor since ht U8 into Bay Com. ndency of utc it had goods by ;he history Vi 8 of the I from the «r it8 Icgit- ■re88 of the encc to iiH aion in tiie gion wliich )88 value of lions of the 50,000. At ic prociietlfi Company's the value oi ree liundrcl {a which U' )lc mcasmv 80 of the value of the exports therefrom, which are shojirn to be ai five to one. The- imports of the Company's goods into the Red River Settlement alone, have averaged for a number of years past about $100,000 per year. It is fa:r to presume that at least an equal amount (a very low estimate) has been distributed among the numerous posts ahmg the Saskatchewan and its tributaries. The proportion, then, of the whole export of furs from the basin of the Winnipeg may be saf^jly estimated at more than one half of the whole trade of the Company, or at least $1,000,000. Such are tho proceeds of the trade in its present restricted state, and in one class of commodities alone. What will it be when left to the ^ free course of commoccial competition, and when an unre- stricted colonization oi»en8 new fields of industry, and -presses all the resources of this new North- Western empire into the stream of reciprocal intercourse, whose swelling volume is already wearing a deep track between Red River and St. Paul.' THK Kill TIUnK OF ST. PAUL WITH THE RED RIVER V.\U.EV. It is to Norman W. Kittson, E8(|., tho present Mayor of tlie City of St. Paul, that we are indebted for the tirst establishment of a reg- ular trade between tho Red River Valley, and tho navigable watws of the Mississippi. Mk. Kittson went U) Pembina in 1843. This advantageous point, at tho mouth of the Pembina River and imme- diately on the internal ional boundary, which had formerly been occupied by the old North-West Company as a trading post, he found deserted. ''■ But perceiving tho eligibility of this situation for tapping the rich fur trade of tho Red River Valley, with an entire exemption from the jurisdiction of the oppressive monopoly on the other side of the line, he mado arrangements for establishing a post here in connection witli tho Outfit of the American Fur Company at Men- dota, at the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, and in tho following year, 1844, arrived at Pembina with the first American outfit ever established in the Red River Valley. The first recorded journey from Red River to tho Mississippi uc« dertaken with a commercial object, was in 1820, when the exigen- cies of the Red River settlement obliged them to procure supplies ;f seed at Prairie du Chien. Tho detaihi of the voyage homeward, accomplished in Ma';kinac boats, through tho Minnesota and Red Itu'crs, all tho way Ivy water except the narrow jwrtago it a mile and a half between Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake, have al- ready been given. And tho citizens of St. Paul are familiar with the venerable form of Petkr Havdkn, who has until recen ly annq* f i ' I . 86 XKMOIR OK THE allj visited St. Paul, and who long \ eforo Mr. Kittson established his post at Pembina, was in the habit of making occasional ezcur- sions from the Selkirk Settlement to Mendota, with droves of cattle and cargoes of moccasins. In connection with the earlier exploits in this trade may be men- tioned, also, the trip made by Alexis Baillt, Esq., now a citneb of Wabashaw, in company with Francois Labothe, now a resident of Nicollet connty. Mr. Bailly took a herd of cattle and horses to Red River, which were in great demand at the colony at the time, and commanded high prices. lie had several escapes from Indian war parties, who stole all the horses. Mr. Baim.t sold milch cows at the colony for f 100 and $135 each, and other cattle in propor- tion. • Bat the staple of the country — fhrs — formed no part of these er* ratio ventures. In these commodities, the Hudson Bay Company rigidly preserved their monopoly, the least infringement of which was rigorously punished. But from tho time of the establishment of Mr. Kittson's trading post in 1844, on the very edge of their terri- tory, yet sbitMed from their animosity by tho inviolability of Amer- ican toil and American citizcnsliip, they were compelled to witncHs a constant encroachment on their monopoly, without the possibility of preventing it. The British half-breeds roamed unrestricted over American Territory, gathering thousands of robes annually, on the Shayeune and the Missouri, to enrich the Hudson Bay Company. International justice certainly did not suffer, although the Company might, if furs procured on the Saskatchewan and the Assineboiii found their way gradually to the intrusive American post, on the frontier. The Company did what they could to break up the new establishment They even had Mr. KnT80N at one time arrested for a violation of thf ir charter, but discreetly failed to bring any suit against him, wLiich might have tested its validity. But partly in consequence of the repressive measures adopted by them, and still more from tho natural difficulty of attracting trnde from its established channels, the first years of this 8inglo*handcd competition with a corporation which, in a history of two hundred years, had worsted all its rivals, gave little promise of the succeso which has at a later period attended its prosecution. The amount of capital invested in tho first venture, in 1844, was only about $2000, and the gross proceeds of the furs collected in return, scarcely exceeded $1400. The next two years' operations involved a similar loss, tlie proceeds of furs collected in 1855 being only some $3000, against an investment in merchandize, &c., of $4000->and of furs in 1846, of $5000, against a capital invested of (' -i lished Bxcur- cattle emen- kEcm of lent of rges tu 3 time, Indian 1 C0W8 propor* • liese er- impany f which iment of >ir terri- >f Amcr- witness ssibility ted over J, on tlic ompany. Jompaiiy gineboin ;, on the the new arrested ing any opted by ng trade O'handcd hundred ) BUCCeSM 844, was llectcd in perationB J55 being «, Ac, of ivested of $6000. turn in the art post gi nombci from tl to iOTO ' is possi years 1 of$a4,( The special Forbes KriTSON up his I Parring district In 1^ amount fur trad From ber 21, passed amount was th( the par furs — tl $100,001 small p from thi five han one-four returnee not by e From changes low csti' Paul frc was at I' These' a valiial' which ai of his fi>'' SKLKIRK SI'.TTLEMENT. 87 >!' the vulue of the exports therefrom, whicii are «ho-A^ii to be as five to one. The imports of the Company's goods into the Red tliver Settlement alone, have averag-ed for a number of years past ibout $100,000 per year. It is fair to presume that at least an 3(jual amount (a very low estimate) has been distributed among the numerous posts along* the Saskatchewan and its tributaries. The proportion, then, of the whole export of furs from the basin of the Winnipeg may be safely estimated at more than one half of the whole trade of the Company, or at least $1,000,000. Such are tli? proceeds of the trade in its present restricted state, and in one class of commodities alone. What will it be when left to the free course of commercial competition, and when an unre- stricted colonization opens now fields of industry, and presses all the resources of this now Xorth-Western empire into the stream of reciprocal intercourse, whose swelling volume is already wearing a deep track between IJed River and St. Paul? THE Frn TRADK OF ST. PAUL WITH THE RED RIVER VAI.I.EY. It is to NoRMAX W. Knrsny, Esq., the present Mayor of the City of St. Paul, that we are indebted for the first establishment of a reg- ular trade between the Red River Valley, and the navigable waters Df the Mississippi. Mr. Kittson' went to Pembina in 1843. This idvantagcous point, at the mouth of the Pembina River and imme- iiately on the international boundary,' which had formerly been occupied by the old Xorth-West Company as a trading post, he found deserted. But perceiving the eligibility of this situation for tapping the rich fur trade of the Red River Valley, with an entire exemption from the jurisdiction of the oppressive monopoly on the other side of the line, ho made arrangements for establishing a post here in connection with the Outfit of the American Fur Company at Men- dota, at the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, and in the following year, 1844, arrived at Pembina with the first American outfit ever established in the Red River Valley. The first recorded journey from Rod River to the Mississippi un- dertaken with a commercial object, was in 1820, when the exigen* cies of the Red River settlement obliged them to procure supplies of seed at Prairie du Chien. The details of the voyage homeward, accomplished in Ma';kinac boats, through the Minnesota and Red Rivers, all the way by water except the narrow portage of a mile and a lialf between Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake, have al- ready been given. And the citizens of St. Paul are familiar with »the venerable forn) of Peter IIayden, who has until recently annu- I J 96 MKMOIR OK THE i , a\\j visited St. Paul, and who long \ eroro Mr. Kittsom estabi hia post at Pembina, waa in the habit of making occaaiunal c siona from the Selkirk Settlement to Mendota, with droves of i And cargoes of moccasins. In connection with the earlier exploits in this trade may bf tioned, also, the trip made by Alexis Baii.it, Esq., now a citf Wabashaw, in company with Francois Ladothb, now ft residt Hicollet county. Mr. Bailly took a herd of cattle and hon Red River, which were in great demand at the colony at tho and commanded high prices. He had several escapes from 1 war parties, who stole all the horses. Mr. Baii.i.y sold milch at the colony for $100 and $135 each, and other cattle in p lion. ' Bot the staple of the country — tara — formed no part of th' ratio ventures. In these commodities, tho Hudson Bay Cot rigidly preserved their monopoly, the least infringement of was rigorously punished. But from tho time of the establishr Mr. KrrrsoN's tradisg post in 1844, on the very edge of thei tory, yet shMded from their animosity by tho inviolability of ican aoii and American citizenship, they were compelled to v a constant encroachment on their monopoly, without the posi of preventing it. The British half-breeds roamed unrestricti American Territory, gathering thousands of robes annually, Shayeune and the Missouri, to enrich the Hudson Bay Coi International justice ccrtainl}' did not suflcr, although the Co might, if furs procured on the Saskatchewan and the Assi found their way gradual!/ to the intrusive American post, frontier. The Company did what thoy could to break up t establishment. They even had Mr. Ktrrsov at ono time a for a violation of their charter, but discreetly failed to brii suit against him, which might Imvo tested its validity. But partly in consequence of the repressive measures ado) them, and still more from tho natural difficulty of attractin| from its established channels, the first years of this single* competition with a corporation which, in a history of two b years, had worsted all its rivals, gave little promise of the t which has at a later period attended its prosecution. The amount of capital invested in the first venture, in 18> only about $2000, and the gross proceeds of the furs colU return, scarcely exceeded $1400. The next two years' op4 involved a similar loss, the proceeds of furs collected in 185[ only some $3000, against an investment in merchandize, $4000— and of furs in 1846, of $5000, against a capital invf M ■u f M> ' I k ill J I ; V 1 i ffK Ion Ml 'IV RKLKIRK SIITTLF.MF-NT. 87 :i< .1; Ui it U •of the value of tlio t^xports thorcfrom, wliicli are shown to bo as five to one. Tlic imports of tlie Company's goods into the Red River Settlement alone, have averag(?d for a number of years past about $100,000 per year. It is fair to presume that at least an equal amount (a very low estimate) has been distributed among the numerous posts along the Saskatchewan and its tributaries. Tiio proportion, then, of the wliole export of furs from the basin of the \Vinnij)og may be safely estimated at more than one half of the whole trade of the Company, or at least $1,000,000. Such are tho proceeds of the trade in its present restricted state, and in one class of commodities alone. What will it be when left to the free course of commci'cial competition, and when an unre- stricted coloni/.ation opens new fields of industry, and presses all the resources of this new North-Western empire into the stream of reciprocal intercourse, whose swelling volume is already wearing a deep track between Red River and St. Paul? TIIK Kill TIIADK OF SI'. PAUL Wini THE RED RIVER VAM.EV. It is to NoRMAX W, Kiirsov, Eiii\., the present Mayor of the City of St. Paul, that we are indebted for the first establishment of a reg- ular trade between the Red River Valley, and the navigable waters of the Mississippi. Mr. Kittson went to Pembina in 1843. This advantageous point, at the mouth of the Pembina River and imme- diately on the international boundary,' which had formerly been occupied by the old Xorth-West Company as a trading ])0st, he found deserted. But perceiving the eligibility of this situation for tapping the rich fur trade of the Red River Valley, with an entire exemption from the jurisdiction of the oppressive monopoly on the other side of the line, he made arrangements for establishing a post here ia connection with the Outfit of the American Fur Company at Men- dota, at the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, and in the following year, 1844, arrived at Pembina with the first American outfit over established in the Red River Valley. The iirst recorded journey from Red River to the Mississippi un- dertaken with a commercial object, was in 1820, when the exigen- cies of the Red River settlement obliged them to procure supplies of seed at Prairie du Chien. The details of the voyage homeward, accomplished in Ma';kinac boats, through the Minnesota and Red Rivers, all the way by water except the narrow portage of a mile and a half between Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake, have al- ready been given. And the citizens of St. Paul are familiar with .the venerable form of Peter Uaydex, who has until recently aunu- 88 MEMOIR OF "THE I ally -visited St. Paul, and who long lerore Mr. Kittson established his post at Pembina, was in the habit of making occasional excur- sions from the Selkirk Settlement to Mendota, with droves of cattle and cargoes of moccasins. In connection with the earlier exploits in this trade may be men- tioned, also, the trip made by Alexis Bam.i-y, Esq., now a citizen of Wabashaw, in company with Francois Lahothe, now a resident of Nicollet county. Mr. Baili.y took a herd of cattle and horses to Red River, wliich were in great demand at the colony at the time, and commanded high prices. lie had several escapes from Indian war parties, who stole all the horses. Mr. Baii.i.y sold milch cows at the colony for $100 and $135 each, and other cattle in propor- tion. But the staple of tiie country — furs — formed no part of these er- ratic ventures. In tliese commodities, the Hudson Bay Company rigidly preserved their monopaly, the least infringement of which was rigorously punished. But from the time of the establishment of Mr. Kitt.son's trading post in 1844, on the very edge of their terri- tory, yet shielded from their animosity by the inviolability of Amer- ican soil and American citizenship, they were compelled to witness a constant encroachment on their monopoly, without the possibility of preventing it. The British half-breeds roamed unrestricted over American Territory, gathering thousands of robes annually, on the Shayenne and the Missouri, to enrich the Hudson Bay Company. International justice certainly did not sutler, although the Company might, if furs procured on the Saskatchewan and the Assineboin found their way gradually to the iiitrusive American post, on the frontier. The Company did what they could to break up the new establishment. They even had Mr, Kiti'son at one time arrested for a violation of their charter, but discreetly failed to bring any suit against him, which might have tested its validity. But partly in conseciuence of the repressive measures adopted by them, and still more from the natural difficulty of attracting trade from its established channels, the first years of this single handed competition witli a corporation which, in a history of two hundred years, had worsted all its rivals, gave little promise of the success which has at a later period attended its prosecution. The amount of capital invested in the first venture, in 1844, was only about $2000, and the gross proceeds of the furs collected in return, scarcely exceeded $1400. The next two years' operations involved a similar loss, the proceeds of furs collected in 1855 being' only some $3000, against an investment in merchandize, «&c., of $4000 — and of furs in 1840, of $5000, against a capital invested of SELKIRK HE'JTLEMENT. 8» atlishcd ,1 excur- }f cattle ' be men- ;itizen of lidcnt of orses to lie time, 1 Indian ch cows 1 propor" these er- ^mpany of which hment of eir terri- of Amer- I witness )8sibility ;ted over y, on the ompany. onipany isineboin t, on the the new arrested •iuj^ any up ted by ag trade e handed hundred success 844, was lected in )erations 55 being 3, &c., of .'ested of $6000. From this time, however, the stream of trade began to turn in the direction of the Mississippi valley, and to break over the artificial barriers interposed by the Company. Mr. Kittson's post grew in favor with the half-breed settlers, who deserted in numbers from the service of the Company, to receive their supplies from the American trader. In 1850 the trade had increased so as to involve a consumption of goods to the extent of $10,000, and it is possible that the proceeds in furs were at least $15,000. Five years later, (in 1855,) the Pembina outfit engaged an expenditure of $24,000, with a return in furs of nearly $40,000. The importance of the trade at this time seemed to demand a special depot at St. Paul, and accordingly in this year, the firm of FouBES & Kiri'rfoN was organized, principally on this basis, and Mr. KiTTSp.v, abandoning the subordinate outfit to younger traders, took up his residence in this city — and the enterprising firm of Culver & Farringtom soon after established an agency in the same lucrative district. In 1856, the total fiu's received at St. Paul from this source* amounted to nearly $75,000, being nearly Ibur-fifths of the whole fur trade of St. Paul. From statistics published in the St. Paul Advertiser of Decem- ber 21, 1857, we learn that the total value of the furs which passed through St. Paul houses that year for exportation below amounted to $180,000— of which at least two-thirds, or $120,000, was the product oF the Ked River Valle}'. This year, owing to the partial failure of the Buffalo — the most important crop of furs — the receipts are lighter, and will not perhaps exceed $100,000. But tlie carts which are laden with furs form but a small part of the immense caravans which now annually set out from the Ked River Colony to St. Paul. The loaded carts, of the five hundred which recently arrived at St. Paul, did not exceed one-fourth of the whole number. Tiie rest arrived empty, and returned to the settlement laden with merchandise, purchased — not by exchanges of furs — but by direct outlays of money. From the number of empty carts which did not depend upon ex- changes of furs to fill them, in proportion to loaded ones, it is a low estimate to presume that the amount of money brought to St. Paul from the Selkirk Settlement by the arrivals of this season was at least equal in value to the fur product — or about $100,000. These carts, like the marine tonnage in a particular trade, afford a valuable measure of the growth of the trade. In 1844 the carts which ac^ompo.nied Mr. Kittson to Mendota to convey the results of his firs: Boajon's business at Pembina, were only six in number. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) fe // ..<^ i< (/. 1.0 ^^ I I.I 2.5 K4 1^ m m 11:25 i 1.4 2.2 2.0 m 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation # iV N> 23 WEST VAIN STREET ViiBSTER.N.Y. 14580 (716) B72-4f03 "S) z ^ 6^ 90 VISIT TO THK In 1858 the aggregate arrivals are currently stated at six hun- dred. Of these, it is interesting o note that over four hundred came from the British Territory. The owners of these, instead of furs which they are proiiibited by the " Company " from exporting, except through their hands, bring the money wliich they have ob- tained in exchange for their peltries. Tiie monopoly in the course of the last five years has hung very loosely round the shoulders of the "Company." The competition in the fur trade, whicli, before that was put down by the most rigor- ous measures, now proves too formidable and is backed by too powerful a public opinion in Canada to be suppressed by the usual policy of restriction. In addition to the American posts on this side of the line, there are some hundred independent traders in the Territories of the Com- pany itself, of whicli there are at least seventy in Selkirk Settle- ment alone. Though rigidly prohibited from dealing in the contra- band articles of furs and rum; both branches of trade are prosecu- ted to considerable extent and the product smuggled across the border. It cannot be doubted that if the enormous duty of 12^ per cent now levied on importations of Britisli furs across the boundary were abolished, that with the termination of the sway of the Hud- son Bay Company, the whole of the trade now forced through tiie difficult ciiannel of Nelson's River, would seek its more natural and congenial outlet in this direction. * rt APPENDIX NO. VIII A Vr«IT TO THE REn RIVER SETTLEMENTS. (.Extract from an Addrosg before the Minnesota Agricultural Societ}-, delivered by Hon. Alexander Ramsey,' first Governor of the Territory of Minnesota.] It was my fortune in 1851 to be commissioned by the President of the United States to negotiate a treaty with the Chippewa In- dians of Pembina, Red Lake and Turtle Mountain, for the extin- guishment of their nominal title of occupancy (the real title being in the Red River Half Breeds themselves) to the valley of the Red River of the North. EKD RIVER SETTLEMKNT8. 91 After closing- oui- council with thorn aud the half breeds at the point of confluence of the Pembina with the Red River, I had a few days leisure while preparations were bein,s,^ made for the return of our own party southward, and I concluded to visit the Selkirk Settlement, some eig-lity miles beyond the international boundary line and about one hundred miles down the Red River of the North. Securing two birch bark canoes of the largest si;je, and employ- ing eight voyageurs or paddlers, in each, with Dr. Thomas Foster, Lieut. CoRLEv, Hu(iH Tyler, Esq., and Pierre BorriEAr, our faithful guide, in company, we committed ourselves to the muddy waters of the famed Red River of the North, aud desthcring in their own fat." To remedy tliis State of things th(,'y were beginning, when i was there, to turn their attention towards raising Cattle and Horses, for wjiich their country is well calculated, and the first fruits of this new direction given to their farming energies, we have al- ready experienced, in the droves of both which have recently been drivcTi from thence and sold in this vicinity. The Hudson Bay Company have taken considerable pains to aid in this stock enterprise. I saw at Lower Fort Garry, a splendid bay yfalUon of almost gigantic size, and of the finest points, which the Company had imported from England at a cost of two thousand pounds sterling, expressly to afford the colonists an opportunity to im{)rove the breed of their horses. And at the Upper Fort, I was shown a lull of extraordinary size, and of the pure Durham blood, wOiich the Companj' had also bixjught from England, for the purpose of improving the cattle of the colony. In entering npon these particulars respecting a farming commu- ity five hundred miles north of us, my object first is to ex- hibit to you how people live and what kind of farming they carry on in a country that is perliaps really " too cold for corn" as a common field crop ; and second, but mainly, to show, how wide a scope of arable land, capable of supporting and destined to support some day, tens of thousands of farmers, is spread out away north, ward, in regions which are now ignorantly considered impradicabh lor profitable tillage, on account of the supposed rigors of their climate. Why, away up on Peace River, on the extreme nortliern slope of the Rocky Mountains, they raise around the Hudson Bay posts, as Gov. Colville told me, as fine barley as any where in the world, and yet that is in latitude GO degrees north- or a thousand miles nearer the North Pole than we are ! But without casting more than a passing glance on the agricul- tural capacity of remote Peace River, we may come down to the fertile valley and plains of the great Saskatchewan, the Mississip. pi of Ihe North, which pours its waters from the Rocky Moun- tains over more than a tkousn:ii miles of aiyririltiiral territory, teeming with coal and otlier mineral treasures, into Great Lake Winnipc g j: E I ) i; 1 \' !•: 11 s kttle.ments. 05 ist ovory- liis, farm- rkot ; be- •e was no phrase in pborically hen I was d Horses, t fruits of ? have al- ;ntly been jns to aid , a splendid nts, \vhich ) thousand pportunity )er Fort, I •e Durham rid, for the i » OVERLA.ND EMIGRATION 1/ V >* FROM MINNESOTA TO FRAZER RIVER, 1 im [R. ■m