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 IPIROOEIEIDIlSrGr-S 
 
 OF A 
 
 CONVENTION 
 
 HELD AT 
 
 EAST SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, 
 
 23d and 24th November, 1869. 
 
 TO CONSIDER THE QUESTION OF 
 
 THE SHORTEST AND MOST-FEASIBLE ROUTE, AND THE 
 BEST MEANS FOR PROMOTING THE CONSTRUCTION 
 OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 
 
 ~ fo f EAST SAGINAW : \ QY- 
 
 X Daily Enterprise Office qV- 
 
 1869. 
 
EDWAItD W. NOLAN 
 
 NOR.THEEN 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD. 
 
 FE.ooBEiDii^ra-s 
 
 OF A 
 
 CONVENTION 
 
 HELD AT 
 
 EAST SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 23d and 24th November, 1869. 
 
 .'O CONSIDER THE QUESTION OF 
 
 THE SHORTEST AND MOST FEASIBLE ROUTE, AND THE 
 BEST MEANS FOR PROMOTING THE CONSTRUCTION 
 OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 
 
 EAST SAGINAW: 
 Daily Enterprise Office 
 
 1869. 
 
v #279/ 
 
 B3 
 
 A Call for a Northern Pacific and Micrrgan Short 
 
 Line Rail Road Convention, at East Saginaw, 
 
 Michigan, November 23d, 1869. 
 
 The undersigned committee, appointed by the Common Council of 
 East Saginaw to issue the call and make arrangements for a conven- 
 tion to be held in this city on the 23d day of November, 1869, at 2 
 o'clock P. M. , respectfully and urgently request all municipal and other 
 corporate bodies on the contemplated line of the Northern Pacific Rail-, 
 road, from the head of Lake Superior, via the Straits of Mackinaw, to 
 the Atlantic, to send delegates to said convention. 
 
 And it is earnestly hoped that Boards of Trade, City Councils, county 
 and township authorities, railroad corporations, and other bodies 
 throughout the State of Michigan, will be fully represented ; and that 
 the States of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Jersey, New York, 
 Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, 
 Vermont, and the Province of Canada, will send delegates, especially 
 from the Western States named, and from along the line of the route 
 recently adopted by the Trans-Continental Railroad Convention at 
 
 The following are among the important questions to be submitted for 
 the consideration of the convention : 
 
 1st. Is there any necessity for more railroads across the continent V 
 If so, what routes should be adopted ? 
 
 2d. Is there any advantage to be secured to the Northern Pacific 
 road by reason of its reaching water communication sixteen hundred 
 miles from the Atlantic, at the head of Lake Superior ? 
 
 3d. Comparative cost of transportation by rail and by water ; time 
 being considered money. 
 
 4th. Puget Sound as a western and Portland as an eastern terminus 
 of the Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 5th. The route by the Straits of Mackinaw ; is it the shortest and 
 most practicable ? Will it open and develop a region of country rich 
 in soil, timber and minerals, and by reason of which, will it secure a 
 vast amount of local trafiic ? 
 
 6th. Do the Central and Union Pacific Railroads supply such advan- 
 tages to the country as to render it inexpedient for the Government to 
 encourage the building of a Northern and Southern Pacific Railroad ? 
 
 7th. Should the Government, in the present state of its finances, 
 make further grants to railroads ? 
 
 8th. The character of the country on the line of the Northern 
 Pacific. 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 9th The valleys of the Upper Mississippi aiid the Red River of the 
 North. 
 
 10th. The western slope of the Rocky Mountains to the harbor of 
 Puget Sound. 
 
 llth. The shortest line between China and Europe. 
 
 12th. The railroads of the United States ; do they tend to settle, 
 develop and enrich the country P 
 
 13th. Would the granting of subsidies to two more Pacific railroads 
 retar 1 or expedite the liquidation of the national debt ? 
 
 14th. The railroads of Michigan as the shortest connecting links 
 between the Northern Pacific Railroads and the roads from the East 
 and South 
 
 15th. The duty of the Government in reference to the future disposi- 
 tion of the public domain. 
 
 16th. The present and prospective value of the agricultural, mineral, 
 saline and lumber products of Northern Michigan 
 
 17th. The future of the Northwest. 
 
 It may be observed that the title given to this convention, at the head 
 of this call, implies that its object is local and not national in charac- 
 ter. To this we may reply that the Northern Pacific Railroad, thought 
 to be a great national trans-continental line, is nevertheless local, so 
 far as its route and termini are concerned, and it has been observed that 
 the Trans-Continental Railroad Convention, recently held at Oswego, 
 N. Y , was called with the express object of building an air line fropi 
 Portland, via Oswego, Lewiston and the Detroit or St. Clair rivers, to 
 Chicago, there to meet the Union and Northern Pacific Railroads ; and, 
 though that convention approved of the line to Chicago, it also ap- 
 proved of continuing the Northern Pacific from the head of Lake 
 Superior, east, via the Straits of Mackinaw and the Detroit or St. Clair 
 rivers. 
 
 This convention, then, cannot be considered any more local than the 
 one at Oswego ; though its chief objects shall be the building of the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad through Michigan, across the Straits, to 
 connect in the Lower Peninsula with all roads running east and 
 south. 
 
 We are free to admit that, in view of her seven hundred miles of 
 undeveloped territory, over which such a route would pass, the richness 
 of her soil, the amount of valuable timber, her sixty thousand inhab- 
 itants in the Upper Peninsula engaged in developing her vast deposits 
 of copper and iron, and who have no outlet except by water, and on 
 account of her saline and other comparatively undeveloped elements of 
 wealth, Michigan, perhaps, has a more vital interest in the object of the 
 convention than any other single State. 
 
 But while this may be true, it is equally true that all the States 
 named in the call are more interested in this than in any other route. 
 This is made evident by a glance at the map, where it will be seen that 
 this line will open up the northern part of Wisconsin, and afford a 
 competing railroad outlet east, other than by Chicago, for wheat and 
 other products of Iowa and Minnesota. 
 
 It will also appear evident that, should the Northern Pacific Railroad 
 adopt no other line to the east than around the south end of Lake 
 Michigan, (which is on the line of the Union Pacific,) its traffic would 
 naturally drift to the South, and New York and all the New England 
 States would be injured, and New Jersey to some extent, thereby. It 
 is not the object of the convention to oppose connections between the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad and Chicago, but to secure a route also by 
 the Straits, and thus to guarantee to the Northern and Eastern States 
 what the Government intended by its grant of land a Northern Pacific 
 Railroad, to run as far as possible through the undeveloped portions of 
 the States and Territories. 
 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 
 
 By this route, and the connections with Chicago, all railroads run- 
 ning south and east, and all the States on the Atlantic, would receive 
 their just share and interest in a trans-continental raiload built by the 
 liberality of their Government and the energy of its citizens. 
 
 To secure these objects, and to discuss the subjects embraced in this 
 circular, the convention is called, and we ,gain earnestly invite the 
 presence of delegates and of all interested citizens from every quarter. 
 
 The undersigned also respectfully request all newspapers friendly to 
 the objects of this convention to publish the call for the same. It was 
 the intention to have the call signed by many leading citizens In this 
 and other localities who approve of the convention, but the shortness 
 of time, and the necessity for an early and extended notice, induces the 
 committee to publish the call with their names alone attached. 
 
 And acting as we do, in harmony and in accordance with the desire 
 of all favorably interested, we trust that the importance of the conven- 
 tion will not be diminished, or an interest in the same weakened, on 
 account of the call not being more numerously signed. 
 
 Hoping that the response of delegates may be equal to the impor- 
 tance of the subject, we are, with high consideration, 
 
 JAMES L. KETCHAM, Mayor of East Saginaw, 
 C. K. ROBINSON, WM. J. BARTOW, 
 
 JOS. A. HOLLON, JEREMIAH FISHER, 
 
 GEO. W. PECK, JOHN P. DRIGGS. 
 
 * GEORGE W. PECK, Secretary. 
 
PKOCEEDINGS OF THE CONVENTION. 
 
 FIBST JDJ^IT. 
 
 Pursuant to the preceding call, a Convention of Delegates as- 
 sembled at Irving Hall, in the City of East Saginaw, at 2 o'clock, 
 P. M., on Tuesday, November 23d, 1869. 
 
 The rear of the platform of the hall was covered by an immense 
 map, exhibiting on a large scale the route, etc., etc. It was pre- 
 pared by Messrs. Goddard, Kirby, Herbert and Eastman, and 
 proved of great value in the deliberations, etc. 
 
 The Convention was called to order by Hon. Geo. W. Peck, and 
 organized by appointing Hon. John F. Driggs of East Saginaw, 
 temporary President, and F. H. Rankin, of Flint, temporary 
 Secretary. 
 
 Mr. Driggs, on assuming the chair, addressed the Convention as 
 
 follows : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Convention : 
 
 I only express the sentiments of all the citizens of this valley, 
 when I extend to you a cordial and kind welcome to this locality, 
 and I know I express the regrets of our whole community that an 
 unforeseen and severe storm has probably prevented the attendance 
 of many delegates from distant points. "We are, however, very 
 much gratified, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, to 
 see so many intelligent gentlemen present. I accept the posi- 
 tion of temporary Chairman of this Convention, and would sug- 
 gest the appointment of a Committee on Credentials and Per- 
 manent Organization, to report as early as our evening session. 
 
8 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 While waiting your further pleasure, T would say that I 
 feel, gentlemen, as though this is not an East Saginaw, or a 
 Bay City, or a Saginaw City, or in fact, a Convention that has 
 reference to any particular locality in this vicinity, but that is a 
 great national project ; one which, however, if carried out, will 
 benefit certain localities on the line of this great national railway. 
 
 We have received letters from many distinguished gentlemen 
 from different parts of the country, which may be read by the 
 Secretary for your information. 
 
 We had hoped that we should secure the attendance of the dele- 
 gation from our own State in Congress, as we look for aid from that 
 quarter to help us build the Northern Pacific Railroad, and especi- 
 ally from the head of the lake down through Northern Michigan, 
 and on further East, so as to connect with other contemplated 
 lines. 
 
 I am sorry to say that for want of time we were obliged to de- 
 fer the Convention so late as to bring us into quite a severe begin- 
 ning of jwinter ; at the same time could not call it earlier for 
 want of time after the project was once thought of, to spread the 
 invitations sufficiently wide. 
 
 You will permit me one suggestion : At the Convention that I 
 recently had the honor to attend at Oswego, N. Y., the Convention 
 was opened and closed withjprayer. Whatever may be our indi- 
 vidual opinion|in regard to this, it is a respect that we owe to the 
 sentiment of the community at large, and in accordance with a 
 time-honored custom. At the request of a large number of dele- 
 gates present, I will invite Dr. McCarty to open the Convention 
 with 4 prayer. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. McCarty thereupon invoked the divine blessing on 
 the deliberations of the Convention. 
 
 Hon. Wm. Phelps, of Detroit, moved that a Committe of five 
 be appointed to examine the credentials of Delegates, and report 
 the names of those present who are entitled to seats in the Con- 
 vention, which motion prevailed, and the Chair appointed as the 
 
 COMMITTEE ON CREDENTIALS, 
 
 W. H. Craig, of Detroit, J. A. Hubbell, of Houghton, C. K. 
 Robinson, of East Saginaw, Hon. D. H Jerome, of Saginaw City, 
 and Hon. Randolph Strickland of St. Johns. 
 
 J. A. Hubbell, of Houghton, moved that a Committee of five 
 be appointed to report the names of Oflicers for the permanent 
 organization of the Convention, which was carried, and the Chair 
 appointed as the 
 
 COMMITTEE ON PERMANENT ORGANIZATION, 
 
 Hon. Wm. Phelps, of Detroit, H. M. Fitzhugh, of Bay City, 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 
 
 Hod. Eugene Pringle, of JacksoD, Artemas Thayer, of FliDt, aDd 
 G. Morton, of Monroe. 
 
 The Chair announced that a number of letters and telegrams 
 relating to the object of the ConventioD had been received from 
 prominent gentlemen who were unable to attend in person ; and 
 with the permission of the meeting they should be read while the 
 Convention was awaiting the reports of its Committees just ap- 
 pointed. The Secretary accordingly read the following : 
 
 telegram from the mayor of grand haven. 
 
 Grand Haven, Nov. 23, 1869. 
 To Hon. James L. Ketcham : 
 
 In any settled plan adopted in your Convention relating to the 
 interest of Michigan and the Northern Pacific Railroad, the city 
 of Grand Haven will concur. Local interests requiring my per- 
 sonal attention prevent my being with you. 
 
 D WIGHT CUTLEK, Mayor. 
 
 LETTER FROM THE MAYOR OF OSWEGO, N. Y. 
 
 Oswego, Noy. 18, 1869. 
 Hon. John F. Driggs, 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I very much regret being unable to attend 
 your Convention on the 23d inst. It is an important Convention 
 and I wish you success. 
 
 I wish to introduce to you Mr. John A. Barry, Editor of the 
 Daily Palladium of this city, with whom I think you became some- 
 what acquainted when here at our Convention. Mr. Barry is 
 probably the only one of our delegation able to attend. He will 
 represent us in a proper manner, and give a good account of the 
 proceedings in his paper. 
 
 Very Truly Yours, 
 
 A. S. PAGE. 
 
 letter from jay cooke. 
 
 Philadelphia, Nov. 19, 1869. 
 Hon. John F. Driggs, 
 
 East Saginaw. 
 
 Your favor of 15th inst is received. I must 
 answer the questions proposed in your call very briefly, if at all. 
 These questions number seventeen. I will take them in their order: 
 
10 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 1st. Iii my opinion there is immediate necessity for more rail- 
 roads across the continent. Two, at least; the Northern and 
 Southern roads, should be begun at once and completed within 
 three or four years. Jf our Government expects th fealty of these 
 vast regions, it should bind them to the East, and make the inha- 
 bitants of the territories and the Pacific States feel that they are 
 a part of the United States, practically as well as in name. 
 
 2d. I think the Northern Pacific Road secures a vast advan- 
 tage by reaching water communication, which at the head of Lake 
 Superior, is as near the Atlantic as Chicago is; but this advantage 
 is only for a portion of the year, and does not apply to light 
 freights or first class travel. It does apply, however, to a vast 
 trade in grain and other articles, and to emigrant travel 
 
 3d. I do not consider it worth while to argue the comparative 
 cost of railroad and water transportation. There will be enough 
 for all to do when the vast regions to the West and Northwest of 
 Lake Superior are opened to settlement and cultivation. 
 
 4th. If Canada belonged to us, we would soon cross the Sault 
 Ste. Mary, skirt the north shore of Lake Huron, run down the 
 Ottawa to Montreal, thence to Portland, thus making that city 
 with Puget Sound; but as Canada is not ours, and not 
 likely to be soon, Portland, as a terminus, is out of the question, 
 and we cannot enter Canada at the Sault Ste. Mary. The North- 
 ern Pacific, after touching the lake at the mouth of Montreal river, 
 would seek the best route to the Straits of Mackinac. Crowning 
 these, it would seek an outlet by the various roads centering at 
 Detroit, Toledo, etc. Of course the road would send a portion of 
 its business, via St. Paul, to Chicago, St. Louis, etc. 
 
 5th. I am satisfied that, unless there are insurmountable diffi- 
 culties at the Straits of Mackinac, any railroad seeking an eastern 
 outlet via the south shore of Lake Superior and the Peninsula 
 would find it to the advantage of the road to take this route. 
 
 6th. I have answered this in my reply to the first question. 
 
 7th. I do not think the Government should, at present, make 
 direct grants of money or bonds for any purpose except for the 
 ordinary river and harbor, and other similar objects, and other 
 improvements. But I do think that some plan should be devised 
 whereby these great trans-continental improvements may be at 
 once commenced and rapidly completed, and I am confident that 
 aid can be given in such form as will not increase the public debt 
 one dollar, or jeopardize the interests of the public treasury, and 
 yet will be all-sufficient to secure the capital required. Should 
 such aid be granted, it should only be on condition that the Gov- 
 ernment should hold a first Hen on the road franchises lands and 
 rolling stock. This aid would be effectual if given in the form of 
 an endorsement of guarantee of the principal and interest of the 
 roads, and such plans could be adopted as would provide for the 
 interest from the proceeds of bonds, so that the Government could 
 not possibly be called upon to advance the funds for the interest 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 11 
 
 for several years to come, if at all, for it may safely be assumed 
 that, when finished, these roads will earn the full interest on their 
 cost the first year. 
 
 8th, 9th and 10th. I send you a report just made by W. Mil- 
 ner Roberts. This report I do not desire published, as it is not 
 yet made public, but it must unmistakably confirm all that has been 
 .said heretofore of the glorious character of the country along most 
 of the route, and that tributary to the Northern Pacific lload. 
 
 11th. The North Pacific route, via Puget Sound, would shorten 
 the distance to China, Japan, etc , over eight huudred miles. 
 
 12th. This question, of course; is answered by all in the affirm- 
 ative. 
 
 13th. The national debt would be liquidated more rapidly by 
 these enterprises becoming successful. The area of taxation would 
 be greatly enlarged, and all parts of the nation would be invigor- 
 ated and made stronger. 
 
 The remaining questions I must pass by, except a brief reference 
 to the 17th and last. We who were born in the West, and have 
 seen the wondrous progress of the last 40 years, cannot be too san- 
 guine in our anticipations of the future glory of the North- West. 
 I dare not trust my pen to foretell the future, as I expect to see it, 
 should I live twenty years longer. 
 
 I regret that I have not time to do justice to the whole subject 
 as contained in your questions; I hope the Convention will do 
 what it can to influence Congress to grapple with the vital subject, 
 and to enact such laws es will, while protecting the Government to 
 the uttermost and not increasing the public debt, yet give effective 
 and prompt aid to these enterprises. 
 
 Sincerely Yours, 
 
 JAY COOKE. 
 
 LETTERS FROM SENATOR HOWARD. 
 
 Detroit, Nov. 7, 1869. 
 
 My Dear Sir: I am very glad to see the ca'l for a Northern 
 Pacific Railroad Convention, to be held at East Saginaw on the 
 :23d inst. The time fixed is so near the commencement of the next 
 session of Congress that I may be prevented from attending, 
 though I should be right glad to be on hand. 
 
 The series of questions to be discussed are all extremely import- 
 ant. One more might be added, and I think it should be, viz. : 
 What, if any, distance will be saved in running the road down our 
 Upper Peninsula and across the Straits of Mackinac to. the East- 
 ern m;irkets, rather than from the head of Lake Superior to Chi- 
 cago? There is some dispute about this, and the question ought 
 to be carefully and fully considered. My own idea is that the 
 Mackinac route is considerably shorter. It is important, however, 
 that the thing should be clearly verified, and not left to conjecture. 
 Y r ou will at once see the importance of the question. 
 
12 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 I might add another query the practicability of running a train 
 of cars across the Straits of Mackinac; but, as that is a pure ques- 
 tion of civil engineering to be determined by scientific men, I 
 would not add it. Mr. Johnson, the engineer of the N. P. R. R. 
 Co., has often assured me that the thing is entirely practicable, 
 and I believe him. lie is a very sensible, well-instructed man. I 
 am looking with great interest for his report to his Company of 
 the surveys and explorations of the Company the past year. 
 
 As to a cash subsidy for this railroad, from Congress, I candidly 
 think the idea had better be given up. If we grant a subsidy in 
 bonds or indorsements to one Company, we must to another, and 
 the railroad (Kansas Pacific) on the 35th degree and the famous 
 Eremont line on the 32d degree and Heaven knows what other 
 lines of Pacific railroads will assert their claims to the like aid 
 from Government. The treasury can't stand this whole brood of 
 suckers ; their hunger would exhaust a world of subsidies. And 
 this, you may rely, is the feeling. No more cash subsidies to rail- 
 roads is, you may take it for granted, the sentiment of the people 
 and of Congress. 
 
 You remember the omnibus bill reported by a majority of my 
 committee in the Senate. Well, that bill is as " dead as a smelt." 
 There is no chance of its passing whatever. It is dead and buried. 
 The N. P. R. R. was provided for in that bill. I told Mr. Rice, 
 Mr. Canfield, Mr Smith, and others interested in the Northern 
 Pacific, that there was no chance of its passage ; no, not at all. 
 
 But the Northern Pacific Company need not despair. They have 
 their destinies in their own hands, and, with careful management, 
 can build the road and make money. Their charter grants them 
 (substantially) a strip of land 40 miles wide, across the continent 
 from the western boundary of Minnesota, and 20 miles wide east 
 of that line land enough for an empire more land, I believe, 
 than is embraced in the State of New York the most of which is 
 rich and productive, covered with timber, full of other resources, 
 and traversed by numerous navigable streams, facilities which, as 
 everybody knows, do not exist upon the U. P. R. R , the Central 
 P. R. R., of California, the Kansas P. R R , or the railroad on 
 the 32d degree. Again, the U. P. and the Central (forming one 
 line) pass over mountain ranges 8 000 feet above the level of the 
 sea, and have to be "shedded" against snow slides, while there is 
 no point where the Northern Pacific will pass a height more than 
 3,500 feet above the level of the sea This advantage in favor of 
 the Northern route is inestimable. 
 
 As to the obstruction from snow along the Northern line, the 
 testimony is conclusive that it will not be greater than on the 
 roads through New England and Pennsylvania, The further you 
 go West, on the same parallel of latitude, the milder the tem- 
 perature becomes. This is physically proved by years of careful 
 observation on the part of scientific men who have for long years 
 wintered and summered in those regions. Why, Mr. Flanders, the 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 13 
 
 recent delegate from Washington Territory, who resides on lati- 
 tude between 46 and 47 in that Territory, told me, last session, 
 that the peach, plum, cherry, Indian corn, and other products of 
 the 41st to the 42d degree, all grow and mature in that climate as 
 finely as in any other part of the world. I don't foresee much 
 obstruction from snow and ice on that line very little. 
 
 From Shanghai, in China, to Chicago, that route will be 500 
 miles shorter than by way of San Francisco. What a saving in 
 transportation is here! Again, Puget Sound, the western terminus 
 of the road, is the best harbor in the world. Any number of ships 
 can take shelter there, no matter what their draft of water. And, 
 with the exception of San Francisco, it is the only harbor worthy 
 of the name from San Diego, the southern extremity of California, 
 to Sitka, in Alaska. 
 
 But time would fail me to go into all the considerations to show 
 the importance of this route to the Pacific, and I must close by 
 expressing the conviction that within a few years it will be ap- 
 parent to the whole world that it is the best route to the Pacific 
 and to the East Indies across the continent. 
 
 The opinions which the Convention may enunciate will have great 
 weight, and will, for good or evil, bear powerfully upon the pecun- 
 iary interests of that Company. They should be well considered, 
 therefore, and founded upon firm data. 
 
 It is not to be denied that the States more immediately inter- 
 ested in this great work are Northern States all New England, 
 New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Ne- 
 braska. The Territories of Dakotah, Montana, Idaho, Washing- 
 ton, all have a deep interest in the enterprise These communities 
 are at least something in the scale of commerce and political 
 power, and their voice, in both respects, is potent. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 Hon. John F. Drigos. J. M. HOWARD. 
 
 Detroit, Nov. 21, 1869. 
 
 Dear Sir : Your answer to my former letter came early to 
 hand. What I said about cash subsidies to railroads was advanced 
 simply as my own opinion as to the future action of Congress, not 
 as indicating what my own vote would be in a proper case. I ever 
 thought, and still think, that the Northern Pacific Railroad is as 
 deserving of such a subsidy as any line that has received it, and 
 have labored hard, heretofore, to secure it for that road. If I could 
 have my way in the matter, I certainly should extend the credit of 
 the Government to that work, while I am not prepared to say the 
 same of any other line that has been recently projected. I mean 
 the lines named (with that line) in the Senate "Omnibus bill" of 
 last session, because I see that the Northern route is to be, one day. 
 the great route to the Pacific and the East Indies, and to give the 
 people of this country a decided advantage even of the Suez 
 Canal. 
 
14 NORTHERN PACIFIC. 
 
 You are, of course, at liberty to make such use of my letters as 
 you think best. 
 
 I should be very glad to attend the Convention, but as my 
 children are all from home, and I am preparing to start for Wash- 
 ington, I find it extremely difficult to do so. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 Hon. John F. Dbiggs. J M. HOWARD. 
 
 letter from governor baldwin. 
 
 Executive Office, 
 Detroit, November 22, 1869. 
 
 Hon. John F. Driggs, East Saginaw. 
 
 Dear Sir : I am in receipt of your favor of Nov. 19, inviting 
 me to attend a Railroad Convention at East Saginaw, on Tuesday, 
 the 23d inst. I should certainly endeavor to be with you on that 
 occasion but for the meeting of the various State Boards, at Lan- 
 sing, on the morning of the 24th, which requires my presence at 
 the capital at that time. 
 
 No other class of public improvements has done so much for the 
 growth, advancement and prosperity of the country as the con- 
 struction of railroads. I am not, however, one of those who advo- 
 cate the building of railroads without regard to the character and 
 value of the country from which they are to derive their support. 
 
 The natural advantages of Michigan are unsurpassed by those of 
 any other State. I have for many years felt the importance of, 
 and have advocated the construction of, a railroad through the 
 center of the Lower Peninsula to the iStraits of Mackinac, with 
 east and west branches, from the vicinity of Houghton Lake to 
 the Grand Traverse country on the west, and Thunder Ray on the 
 east. Such a road would traverse a country of unsurpassed fertil- 
 ity of soil, and covered with a variety of timber of untold value. 
 Yet the very fact of its being heavily timbered has thus far retard- 
 ed such improvements in that section of the State, because of the 
 somewhat increased cost of construction, and of the greater diffi- 
 culty in bringing immediately into a state of cultivation land cov- 
 ered with a heavy growth of wood. Other causes have also 
 operated to keep back the construction of railroads in the northern 
 portion of our State ; these, however, are now being done away. 
 
 At the present time railroads are being built in almost every 
 portion of the State, some of which are stretching out their arms 
 towards the* north. 
 
 The southern portion of the Lower Peninsula has, for a long 
 
 time, had its three great lines running east and west the Michigan 
 
 Southern, the Michigan Central, and the Detroit & Milwaukee. 
 
 From each of these are lines diverging both north and south to a 
 
 reater or less extent. 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 15 
 
 Without pretending to name the many roads in operation, in 
 process of construction, or projected, tending to the development 
 of the State, there are some great trunk lines partial^ finished, 
 in operation, and in progress of completion, which have a direct 
 bearing upon the subject, to consider which the Convention has 
 been specially called 
 
 The Flint & Pere Marquette, with its initial or starting point at 
 Holly, on the Detroit & Milwaukee, on the eastern side of the 
 State, already opened to Midland and to Bay City, and soou to be 
 completed to Pere Marquette, or some other point on Lake Michigan 
 the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw road, with its starting point at 
 Jackson, in the center, already in operation to Saginaw and VVenona, 
 and taking measures to continue its line to Houghton Lake and 
 beyond the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad, on the west, from 
 the southern line of the State at Sturgis, already opened from 
 Grand Rapids forty miles north, and steadily progressing towards 
 Grand Traverse or the Straits of Mackinaw these three great and 
 most valuable lines of roads are steadily going forward. 
 
 From the vicinity of Houghton Lake north to the Straits of 
 Mackinaw there should be but one road. Could all interests be 
 united, and, with this union of strength, a single road be construct- 
 ed from Houghton Lake to the Straits, with lateral branches to 
 Lake Huron on the east and Traverse Bay on the west, it could 
 not fail to result in the rapid development of the northern part of 
 the State; population would flow in with a rapidity hitherto un- 
 known, enriching the State and at the same time furnishing a large 
 local traffic for the road. 
 
 So far I have alluded to the development of the southern penin- 
 sula only, but we should not overlook the resources of the northern 
 peninsula, rich, almost beyond calculation, in its mineral wealth of 
 iron and copper. Most wisely, in my judgment, the Constitution 
 prohibits the State from being interested in any work of internal 
 improvement, or carrying on any such work, except in the expendi- 
 ture of grauts to the State of lands or other property. It is not 
 necessary, to secure the construction of these roads, that the State 
 should undertake the work. Congress has made large appriations 
 of lands for this purpose. These lands, already valuable, will 
 greatly appreciate by the construction of the roads. 
 
 Our country is yet in its infancy. Population is flowing to us. 
 from every part of the world, with wonderful rapidity. One great 
 line of railway already unites the Atlantic with the Pacific. 
 Another shorter and better line, the Northern Pacific, is also to be 
 constructed. It is simply a question of time, and no people can be 
 more deeply interested in the adoption of this line than'the citizens 
 of Michigan It is not necessary to oppose connections between 
 the Northern Pacific road and Chicago, but, whatever may be its 
 connection with other lines around the south end of Lake Michigan, 
 it should be the policy of the Government to make the line, as far 
 as possible, through the undeveloped portions of the country, and 
 
16 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 especially so if that country is, as in this case, of valuable charac- 
 ter and capable of sustaining a large and dense population j and 
 still further, when such line would shorten the distance to the large 
 manufacturing States of New England, and to Europe from the 
 sea-board. 
 
 Every consideration would seem to favor the construction of a 
 road through Northern Michigan, and making that road a part of 
 the line of the great Northern Pacific. 
 
 I trust that the deliberations of the convention will tend to 
 hasten the construction of the road through both peninsulas of our 
 noble commonwealth, and to further the undertaking and comple- 
 tion of the great practical northern line to the Pacific coast. 
 
 Sincerely regretting my inability to participate with you in the 
 proceedings of the convention, I am, 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 H P.BALDWIN. 
 
 letter from hon. john a. poor. 
 
 Portland, Nov. 18, 1869. 
 Hon. Jas. L. Ketciiam, Mayor of East Saginaw, and others. 
 
 Gentlemen : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your invitation to attend a convention, at your city, on the 23d 
 inst., of those friendly to the contemplated line of the Northern 
 Pacific Railroad " from the head of Lake Superior, by the way of 
 the Straits of Mackinac " and across the State of Michigan, to a 
 point of connection with the line of the proposed trans-continental 
 railway from the St. Clair river to Portland, Halifax, and the most 
 eastern shore of Newfoundland, and regret that prior indispensable 
 engagements compel me to forego the pleasure of a visit, at this 
 time, to your interesting section of the country. 
 
 In this connection it gives me pleasure to inform you that a sec- 
 tion of the European and North American Eailway, 80 miles in 
 length, between the River St. Johns, at St. Johns city, and the 
 River ^t. Croix, the eastern boundary of the United States, is to 
 be formally opened for business on the 1st of December at which 
 opening I hope to be present leaving but 56 miles of unfinished 
 line, now in rapid progress, between Bangor and St. Johns city, 
 the entire line from Halifax to Bangor being all in progress, to be 
 opened^through, 600 miles from Portland to Halifax, during the 
 year 1870. 
 
 ^ Portland and Saginaw are upon the same parallel of latitude, 
 and the deflection from an air line to Portland, which you are com- 
 pelled to make to pass Lake Huron, is scarcely sufficient to be taken 
 intojaccount in projecting a great line of railway to the sea-board. 
 
 We all recognize Chicago as the present great commercial point 
 in the Northwest, but any one must perceive, on reference to a 
 map, the extraordinary advantages for a great city at the head of 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 17 
 
 Lake Superior, and it is apparent to any one that, from the head of 
 Lake Superior to the foot of Lake Huron, the shortest practicable 
 route will be found by the Straits of Mackinac, resorting to a ferry 
 to connect the two sections of such a line. 
 
 The interesting manner in which the claims of the enterprise 
 were presented to the Oswego convention by its President, the Hon. 
 John F. Driggs, for many years your able and honored Represen- 
 tative in Congress, with the aid of the great map present at that 
 convention, produced a decided and profound impression, and while 
 the call for the Oswego convention looked mainly for a line from 
 Portland to Chicago, we could not fail to see that the great North- 
 west, lying far above Chicago, was ultimately to be reached from 
 the Atlantic sea-board, by the direct line contemplated by your 
 call, to the head of Lake Superior by the Straits of Mackinac. 
 
 I will not attempt to describe the present value or the mighty 
 future of the vast interior, which will naturally connect itself by 
 rail with the head of Lake Superior, lying upon both sides of the 
 boundary line. But there is a vast, unoccupied region, destined in 
 the future to sustain as dense a population as that which now in- 
 habits the same latitudes on the Eastern Continent, in Northern 
 Europe and Asia, and the testimony shows that wheat can be raised 
 as far north as the 60th degree of latitude, and Indian corn over 
 a portion of this region of the vast and well watered table lands 
 west and northwest of Lake Superior. 
 
 I had occasion, in a memorial to the Legislature of Canada, in 
 1854, to say " that from the shore of the Atlantic ocean, at Port- 
 land, to the head waters of the Missouri river, every portion of the 
 country presents the greatest possible attractions to invite immi- 
 gration ; that a mild climate, healthy at all seasons of the year, a 
 soil of abundant fertility for the production of food, with rich 
 mines and luxuriant forests, are here found for the hundreds of 
 miles beyond the head of Lake Superior, if not to the base of the 
 Rocky Mountains. 
 
 " If the waters of these mighty rivers could be turned into Lake 
 Superior, and be at the same time made navigable to the sea, we 
 might form some idea of the value and importance of a railroad 
 from Portland to the head of Lake Superior, and to the region of 
 country beyond it 
 
 " The distance from the great bend of the Missouri, by railway, 
 to the Atlantic ocean, at Portland, would be hundreds of miles less 
 than by following the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to their mouth 
 at New Orleans." - 
 
 Engaged as you are in the carrying out of a most important sec- 
 tion of a great national and international work, I cannot fail to 
 express my hearty sympathy in your labors, and my wishe3 for its 
 abundant success. Very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN A POORE. 
 
IS NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 letter from the vice-president of the r., w. & o. r. r. 
 
 Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad, ^ 
 Vice-President's Office, 
 
 New York, Nov. 16th, 1869. J 
 
 Hon. John F. Driggs, 
 
 Dear Sir : I received, a few days since, a circular letter, under 
 your frank, inviting me to attend a Railroad Convention to be held 
 at East Saginaw on the 23d. 
 
 I have delayed answering till now, that I might be able to state 
 definitely whether it would be possible for me to be present, and 
 am now obliged to say that I must forego that pleasure. From 
 the number and variety of topics to be presented for consideration, 
 I conclude that the meeting is for the discussion of railroad exten- 
 sion generally; doubtless, however, intended to have a special 
 reference to a few particular projects named in the circular. 
 
 The general question of railroad extension is one in which I feel 
 a deep interest. Taking the large view, and not being confined to 
 those projects that are in, or tending in, the direction of the road 
 with which I am connected, I have had an opportunity to observe 
 some very marked instances of roads which have been undertaken, 
 and finally completed under great difficulties, into new sections, 
 where the construction of a road, at all, was regarded by many as 
 impracticable, and by others as premature, but I have lived to see 
 the immense benefits, at first confined to the country traversed by 
 the road, in a very few years reflected back again to the road," and 
 the capital employed in its construction returned with good interest. 
 
 As far as I am informed, I am inclined to believe the route in 
 which you are, I think, particularly interested, is not dissimilar from 
 the instances named, with this advantage in its favor : That to 
 local earnings, which must be large, derived from the whole 
 of Northern Michigan, now only needing such an inlet and outlet 
 to make it equal to any other section of the State, to this will be 
 added a large through traffic from the Superior region, and espe- 
 cially from the head of that lake and proximate to it, already be- 
 coming the greatest wheat producing region in the West, and also 
 from the connections that will be made with other roads, and 
 especially with the " Northern Pacific," which may be counted 
 upon, with great certainty, to be constructed within a very few years. 
 For myself, I regard the inducements to the capitalist, and to the 
 General Government to undertake this work, as far greater, in every 
 point of view, than was the case in regard to the Pacific road, 
 already built, when it was projected. 
 
 Great and extended as our American railway system has already 
 become, it is but the beginning of that which we shall behold in the 
 near future. We shall also witness equally great changes in the 
 adaptation not only of the roads themselves, but of the equipment 
 and management of the same, tending to a more general use of this 
 system. It is now rapidly overcoming, and soon to defy, coinpeti- 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION, 19 
 
 tion with any and all other means of transportation of property, as 
 it has already done in the conveyance of persons. 
 
 It cannot be doubted, so far as the area of land is concerned, as 
 well as the perfect adaptation of soil and climate, that we are now 
 able to supply the world with bread and the other elements of food 
 dependant on the soil for production. The only obstacle that can 
 be discerned to our doing so is the one contingent upon the cost of 
 transportation from the field to the points of distribution. That 
 this is to be accomplished by the roads built, and to be built, can- 
 not be doubted Every other question affecting the future growth, 
 greatness and prosperity of our great "Empire of the West 1 ' sinks 
 into utter insignificance as compared with this, which applies equal- 
 ly to the districts in which cotton, sugar, tobacco and rice, the 
 great American staples, are produced. 
 
 I must not ask your attention longer to what might be added 
 upon a question of such interest ; and again regretting that I can- 
 not meet yourself and other railroad men at the convention, which, 
 I trust, may result in accomplishing all that is expected, 
 
 I am very truly yours, etc., 
 MAKCELLUS MASSEY. 
 
 LETTER FROM HON. JOHN NEAL. 
 
 Portland, Maine, l3th Nov., 1869. 
 
 To James L. Ketciiam, Esq., Mayor of East Saginaw, and his 
 Associates of the Common Council. 
 
 Gentlemen : I have delayed answering your invitation till 
 to-day, hoping so to arrange my business that I could be with you 
 and assist in your deliberations ; but as I find now that I cannot 
 do this, allow me to send you a few words of congratulation and 
 encouragement. 
 
 On looking at the map, to which you call our attention, I find 
 unquestionable indications of that same providential foresight 
 which buried all the treasures of earth at the beginning all our 
 precious metals, our gems, our anthracite, our bituminous coal and 
 our peat, as well as our iron, our lead, our zinc and our marbles 
 at a depth exactly corresponding to our necessities, our growth and 
 our energy, obliging us to inquire after them and to dig for them, 
 just as our agricultural riches have to be dug for, and are always 
 found just where and when they are most needed. 
 
 Just so has it ever been, and is now, with our magnificent rail- 
 road enterprises. When they are wanted, they are always found. 
 The signs are all along our pathway, and are always cropping out, 
 like our mineral treasures, only to be overlooked till they arc 
 wanted. And what is more, when we go to the map, after due 
 consideration, we find our boldest undertakings foreshadowed there 
 by the very lay of the land, so that we begin to wonder why they 
 have never been thought of before. 
 
20 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 The mountains and rivers testify for your encouragement, just 
 as in Maryland and Pennsylvania; iron and coal, and lime for the 
 flux, with sand for the furnace, are found lying side by side, for 
 hundreds of miles upon a stretch, overhung by a wilderness of 
 growing charcoal, and all to be had, if not for the asking, certainly 
 for the digging and chopping, the burning and blasting. 
 
 Under this view, the map you refer to is of itself a prophecy. 
 You find a way left open to you from the beginning of the world ; 
 a pathway for nations over seas and continents. 
 
 Ten years ago the road you have in view was not wanted. Had 
 your magnificent scheme been projected then, it would have been a 
 dead failure, not for a season, only, but perhaps for generations. 
 And why ? Because it was not then needed, and being attempted 
 too early, the failure would have discouraged your posterity like 
 the enterprise of Darien ; it would have been postponed indefinitely, 
 as being both visionary and preposterous. 
 
 Fifty years ago the golden treasure-house of California would not 
 have been reached, though dug for. The time had not arrived. 
 But now, when all the long-buried riches of our earth are honestly 
 wanted, and whole communities are bestirring themselves, they are 
 found cropping out everywhere along the highways of commerce, 
 and always just where they are most needed and are most faith- 
 fully and steadfastly inquired after and dug for. 
 
 Just so will it be with your projected railway from Puget Sound 
 to thft harbor of Portland, Maine It is now wanted, and the want 
 is felt, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as a great necessity, alike 
 unappeasable and active. Can there be a doubt, then, of its tri- 
 umphant and early success ? Look at the map once more, and see 
 if you do not find there all the encouragement you need. I have 
 called it a prophecy. It is more ; it is a poem, a magnificent epic, 
 where the machinery of two worlds must soon be employed. You 
 may see all this, if so disponed, in the evident provision therein 
 made for the fulfilment of the vast undertaking you have now 
 entered upon. 
 
 But you, gentlemen, are business men ; you have come together 
 for business you mean business ; and I have only to add that, in 
 my judgment, the future is full of promise for you, and that the 
 sooner you sink your shafts, and the sooner your furnaces are in 
 blast for smelting the ore committed to your charge, the sooner 
 you will understand what the Builder of the Universe had in view 
 when He laid out this magnificent highway for you, through moun- 
 tain ranges and over rivers over seas and continents, rather for 
 such it will be in time, and long before this generation has been 
 gathered to its fathers. 
 
 Wishing you the success you so well deserve, and I could not 
 well say more, I am, gentlemen, your friend and fellow-laborer, 
 
 JOHN NEAL. 
 
railroad convention. 21 
 
 letter from hon. t. w. ferry. 
 
 Grand Haven, Nov. 17, 1869. 
 
 Gentlemen : I with pleasure acknowledge the receipt of a 
 printed call and letter inviting attention to, and presence at, a con- 
 vention to be held at East Saginaw on the 23d inst., looking to a 
 speedy completion of the Northern Pacific and Michigan Short 
 Line Kailroad. Unavoidable public duties, I regret to say, will 
 prevent the possibility of my being present. 
 
 The call has been published in the papers of this city, and the 
 attention of the Common Council thereof invited to the subject 
 
 I need not say that the project meets my cordial approval, for no 
 one identified with the growth and prosperity of Michigan could 
 lend other than hearty co-operation. 
 
 Trusting that the convention, in the consideration of the vast 
 interests involved, may arrive at some possible plan by which it 
 will be made to appear that the trans-continental railroad, via the 
 Northern Pacific and Straits of Mackinac route, is not only the 
 shortest one from the Pacific to the Atlantic sea-boards, but a route 
 thoroughly practicable, I join you in lively hopes for the comple- 
 tion of this reat national highway. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 T. W. FERRY. 
 Hon. James L. Ketch am, Mayor, and others. 
 
 letter from l. kendiuck, esq. 
 
 Dryden, Lapeer Co., Mich., \ 
 Nov. 28th, 1869. \ 
 
 Hon. John F. Drigos, East Saginaw, Mich. 
 
 Dear Sir : Your note of invitation, and circular, is received* 
 and contents noted. 
 
 The object of the convention, as set forth in your circular, is one 
 of vital importance to the people of this State, and more partic- 
 ularly to those of the Upper Peninsula and that portion of the 
 State you had the honor to represent in the Congress of the United 
 States. 
 
 I have conversed with quite a number of the leading men in the 
 eastern part of our county, and their voice is as that of one man. 
 They regard the enterprise as second to no one of its kind in the 
 nation, and one that must, from the very nature of circumstances, 
 be ultimately a success. 
 
 One thing is morally certain that the Saginaw Valley will be 
 on the line of the proposed road, and whether Detroit or Port 
 Huron should be the next point of importance in the State touched 
 by this great national artery, the result will be about the same, so 
 
22 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 far as benefiting Northern Michigan Still the people in this local- 
 ity would be more directly interested in a road that would make 
 Detroit one of its objective points. 
 
 I regret very much that circumstances beyond my control forbid 
 my being present at the convention. 
 
 We shall look forward, with a great deal of interest, to the result 
 of this very important gathering in your city,, and with a hope? 
 based upon the best of reasons, shall look forward to the ultimate 
 and final triumph of all you propose. 
 
 I am, dear sir, 
 
 Yours, very respectfully, 
 
 L. KENDRICK. 
 
 LETTER PROM HON. WM. E. DICKINSON. 
 
 Michigan Exchange, 
 Detroit, Nov. 9th, 1869. 
 Hon. John F. Driggs, East Saginaw. 
 
 Dear Sir : As I passed through Milwaukee yesterday P. M., I 
 noticed that it was intended to call a Railroad Convention in your 
 city in regard to railroads in Upper Michigan. Witf you please 
 send a circular of the proposed meeting to Robert H. Larnborn, 
 Esq., Secretary Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad, Fifth 
 and Library streets, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 I shall try and be present myself. 
 With kindest regards to yourself, 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 WM. E. DICKINSON, 
 
 54 William street, 
 (Room 26,) 
 
 New York. 
 
 letter from edgar conkling, esq. 
 
 Detroit, Michigan, Nov. 15, 1869. 
 Hon. John F. Driggs : 
 
 Bear Sir : I am now on my way to Sheboygan, Michigan, 
 where I shall be for the present and until I can build at Mackinaw 
 City the coming spring. I went to Ohio in 1829, and to Cincin- 
 nati in 1841, and now come to your State to reside for the balance 
 of my life, and propose developing my property at the Straits of 
 Mackinaw, of some 35,000 acres, in accordance with the plan set 
 forth in my pamphlet sent you. But for the lateness of the season, 
 I would gladly attend your coming Railroad Convention, on the 
 23d, at Saginaw, of great interest to your State and whole country. 
 
 I began to urge the construction of railroads to and from the 
 Straits, on either side, in all directions, in 1853, and then secured 
 Old Mackinaw, foreseeing the day would come when there would 
 
XAILKOAD CONVENTION. 23 
 
 be an important union of rail and water lines of commerce. I have 
 fully posted myself in regard to all that country, and I challenge 
 the refutation of my assertion that there is no point on the north- 
 ern lakes surrounded with so many elements of manufacturing, and 
 that its agricultural capabilities are greatly underrated, and that 
 the construction of railroads through that section of country to 
 Superior City will develop more latent wealth, in a few years, than 
 that of the settled portion of the southern peninsula of Michigan. 
 No such agricultural and mineral country, with such cheap facili- 
 ties of transportation for distribution, while on the high road of 
 the most important line between Europe and Asia, can fail tobecome 
 a populous and wealthy country much more so than other sections 
 now being settled, much less favored with such elements and prox- 
 imity to market. 
 
 The Northern Pacific Railroad will need all the outlets possible 
 to get, whether by water from Superior City, or by railroad via 
 St. Paul and Chicago, or Detroit via Mackinaw. No selfish ideas 
 should be allowed in this great national highway. All sections of 
 the country contributing to its aid should equally share in its ben- 
 efits. The short time limited for its construction suggests the 
 greatest harmony in prosecuting the work and in securing needed 
 legislation. For one, I shall seek to present Northern Michigan 
 to the public in a manner that will invite greater attention to its 
 many superior advantages for manufacturing and commerce. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 EDGAR CONKLING. 
 
 letter from henry stephens, esq. 
 
 Almont, Nov. 20, 1869. 
 
 Mr. A. P. Brewer, East Saginaw. 
 
 Dear Sir : I understand there is to be a Railroad Convention 
 at your city on the 22d. I do not think any of our people will be 
 there, and therefore have been requested to write some one who 
 will take the trouble to inform those interested that we, the towns 
 of Almont and Dryden, wish to be on the route adopted to reach 
 the Michigan Air Line Railroad, as we have been informed it is one 
 of the objects of the convention to take measures to organize a com- 
 pany to make such connection, and we would suggest if the road 
 goes to Lapeer, that as Armada is the most northern point on the 
 Michigan Air Line, and the topography of the country between 
 Lapeer and Armada is very level, and no streams to cross, of any 
 size, that this route, being direct, is no doubt the cheapest to build, 
 and can and will raise the greatest amount of aid. I am confident 
 that Almont and Dryden would by vote and subscription raise 
 $100,000 to $150,000, and we want to have the chance to do it. 
 Try and advocate our claims, and you will have our thanks. 
 
24 NORTHERN PACIFIC. 
 
 Perhaps the best way would be to place this letter in the hands 
 of those who are active and influential in this enterprise, and you 
 can vouch for the writer, I trust, and can also give any information 
 as to feasibility of route. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 HENRY STEPHENS. 
 
 At the conclusion of the reading of the letters, the President 
 said : 
 
 If it is the pleasure of the Convention, I will occupy some of its 
 time now in reading a paper that I have prepared myself, more 
 especially with reference to the wealth and probable advantages to 
 be secured to a line in the northern portion of our State. I have 
 prepared the paper at the request of gentlemen of the committee, 
 and I do not wish to intrude upon the Convention now, unless it is 
 their pleasure. 
 
 A motion was made and carried that the President proceed now 
 with his report, as proposed. Mr. Driggs then read the following : 
 
 PAPER READ BY MR. DRIGGS. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Convention : Within the last few years we 
 have witnessed the marvelously rapid construction of one railroad 
 line from ocean to ocean, across the center of the United States. 
 This road was commenced during the rebellion, was prosecuted 
 through a terrible war for its suppression, and completed soon after 
 its close; an achievement, under the circumstances, which no other 
 nation ever equalled ; a triumph, within the time, of engineering, 
 of labor, and perseverance, to which the history of the world fur- 
 nishes no parallel. 
 
 The present needs two more Pacific railroads, a Northern and a 
 Southern road ; and the rapidly approaching future will have them. 
 What has been done, under more favorable circumstances, certainly 
 can be done again. 
 
 The Government made very large grants of land to the Union 
 and Central roads, and also to the Northern Pacific the charter to 
 which grants forty sections to the mile from the western boundary 
 of Minnesota, and twenty sections east of that line to the head of 
 Lake Superior. In a letter from the Hon. J. M. Howard, U. S. 
 Senator, he computes this grant to be equal in extent to the State 
 of New York ; being a strip across the continent nearly forty miles 
 wide. The greater portion of this vast area of land is unsurpassed 
 in richness of soil, timber and minerals, and highly favored by the 
 even mildness of its ctimate ; yet, without access by means of a 
 railroad, is comparatively without value. Most of it would remain 
 undisposed of at $1 25 per acre, and unoccupied under the home- 
 stead or pre-emption laws for many years in the future. But build 
 the road, and all the arable lands within the limits, and other por- 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 25 
 
 tions valuable for minerals and timber, would be rapidly taken up 
 by actual settlers, and considered cheap at ten times their present 
 value. 
 
 The land grant to the Union and Central Pacific roads is believed 
 to be far less valuable than the Northern Pacific grant, by reason 
 of the extended barren plains, the wider mountain ranges of much 
 greater altitude, the deeper winter snows, and the inferiority and 
 severity of the climate on the line over which the roads pass. It 
 cannot be denied, however, that these roads are (for the immediate 
 present) compensated for this deficiency by the fact that their 
 western terminus is at the present populous Pacific metropolis, 
 San Francisco, and that they pass through many intermediate 
 towns and settlements, thus securing an immediate large amount of 
 local traffic and travel. Portions of their lands, however, since the 
 roads are built, are very valuable, while before the consummation 
 of the great work they were entirely insufficient to secure the build- 
 ing of the roads, and might have remained so for fifty years to 
 come 
 
 A Government subsidy, then, was necessary to secure the accom- 
 plishment of the work. The aid was given, and now the iron horse 
 steams his way in seven days (one-eighth of the distance around the 
 globe) from ocean to ocean, across a continent, over rivers and 
 streams, through valleys and gorges, and over mountain tops eight 
 thousand feet above the level of the sea. If these roads were a 
 necessity, and if the Government acted wisely in extending its aid 
 beyond that afforded by the land grant to the Central and Union 
 Pacific, may it not be wise, also, to extend it to the Northern 
 Pacific, and even to a Southern Pacific road? 
 
 From Shanghai to London, via Puget Sound, Lake Superior, 
 Mackinaw and Portland, it is considerably nearer than via San 
 Francisco and New York, with a much lighter grade ; the highest 
 point reached by the Northern Pacific road being, I believe, 
 according to recent surveys, only about 3,500 feet above the level 
 of the sea ; while, as before remarked, the other road passes over 
 an elevation of 8,000 feet. 
 
 The beauty and capacity of the harbor of Puget Sound, the 
 western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, are too well 
 known to need any further 'praise. It is the finest harbor in the 
 world. 
 
 The road from this magnificent haven to water communication 
 with the Atlantic, at the head of Lake Superior, will be only 1,600 
 or 1,700 miles long; where the chain of rivers, lakes and canals, 
 from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and New York, meets the road at 
 Superior Bay, 1,500 miles from the Atlantic tide-water, and nearly 
 half way across the continent at its widest point. Such an advan- 
 tage as this unparalleled water-course affords for freight and traffic 
 for seven months in the year, no other route across the continent 
 can ever possess. It is not my purpose to furnish accurate tables 
 
26 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 of comparative distances to show the saving in favor of the North- 
 ern Pacific over other routes from China to Europe, or from the 
 Pacific to Chicago, New York, Boston or Portland. These are 
 facts to be determined and settled by scientific men, by engineers, 
 and by exact computation of curves, angles, and distances. But 
 that is shorter it is evident, and that it is to become the great future 
 highway of travel and trade between Europe and Eastern Asia, no 
 man can doubt who properly appreciates the advantages of short 
 lines and of direct water communication between London and Paris 
 and the Northern Pacific Railroad at Superior Bay. 
 
 Independent of these great advantages for securing international 
 commerce and travel, the Northern Pacific route is far superior to 
 all others on account of the climate, productiveness of the soil, 
 timber, minerals, the rivers, streams, and the water facilities afford- 
 ed on the line. It is of some of these I design more particularly 
 to speak, especially of the Northern Michigan and Mackinaw 
 route. 
 
 It has long since been demonstrated by experience that wheat, 
 barley, oats, hops, and all cereal productions, the potato, cabbage, 
 beet, turnip, and other like vegetables, as well as apples, pears, 
 plums, and some other fruits, grow more abundantly and are of 
 better quality in the highest latitudes where they can mature, than 
 in more southerly regions. For the production of most of these 
 articles, especially the great staple of wheat, the vast basin or region 
 of country lying between latitudes 44 and 54 north and longitudes 
 15 and 35 west from Washington, and known as the Saskatchewan, 
 the Red River of the North and Upper Missouri river valleys, is 
 unequalled by any other same number of acres upon the surface of 
 the earth. 
 
 This region alone, (through the center of which the road is to 
 pass,) when fully developed, is capable of supplying the world with 
 grain, and of sustaining fifty millions of souls, a number much 
 greater than the present population of the United States. 
 
 Of the timber, minerals, and soil upon the western slope, from 
 the summit of the dividing mountain range to Puget Sound, in 
 passing, I will only .say that the testimony of all who have traveled 
 over the route, and are familiar with the country bordering the 
 same, is that its richness in these respects is only excelled by the 
 grazing and wheat growing qualities of the eastern slope, from the 
 mountains to Lake Superior. 
 
 Having thus far considered the subject from a general point of 
 view, and having briefly referred to the country and its productive 
 capabilities from Lake Superior to Puget Sound, I come now to 
 consider the question as to the route the road should take from the 
 head of Lake Superior to the Atlantic sea-board. From the head 
 of Lake Superior to Montreal river, the dividing line between 
 Michigan and Wisconsin, it is about 95 miles, and from that point 
 to Mackinaw about 275 miles making the distance from Superior 
 to Mackinaw 370 miles, from Mackinaw to Saginaw 175 miles, 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION, 
 
 27 
 
 from Saginaw to Detroit 96 miles, from Saginaw river to St. Clair 
 river, on a line to Lewiston or Niagara, 80 miles ; making the en- 
 tire distance from Superior to Saginaw 545 miles, to Detroit 64l, 
 and to St. Clair river 625 miles. These distances, though not 
 accurately determined by measurement, are believed to be substan- 
 tially correct. 
 
 A road over this line, to connect at Lewiston with the one con- 
 templated from Portland, must make a saving of distance, from 
 Superior to that city, of about 200 miles over the routo from 
 Superior via Chicago. I am aware that this saving of distance will 
 be diminished by a branch from the Northern Pacific, at some point 
 considerably west of Superior, to Chicago ; but Superior being the 
 present eastern terminus fixed in the charter of the Northern 
 Pacific for that road, and that being the great water outlet to the 
 ocean, in summer, and the Mackinaw route offering the only com- 
 peting railroad line for the shipment of the products of this vast 
 northern region, it is of the greatest importance to the people of the 
 same that this road should be built, even if the distance were no 
 less than by Chicago. 
 
 The amount of local business that would be secured to such a 
 road in Northern Michigan and Wisconsin, between Superior and 
 the Saginaw river, seems to be but little understood or appreciated 
 by the country, arid I now desire to call the attention of this Con- 
 vention and the railroad men of the East to the facts. 
 
 In the year 1835, or 1836, the Government of the United States 
 (to settle the boundary dispute between Ohio and Michigan) ceded 
 the Territory now known as the 'Upper Peninsula to the then Ter- 
 ritory of Michigan. At this time, and for many years thereafter, 
 very little was known of this important and valuable region, except 
 that it was covered with timber and that copper had been discov- 
 ered on Isle Royale and in some other localities, but as to the 
 amount, or extent of its existence, no one knew. Nor is the value 
 of its vast deposits of iron and copper known or appreciated even 
 to this day. 
 
 As far back as 1636 copper was discovered by the Jesuit mis- 
 sionaries upon Lake Superior, and an attempt was made, in 1770, 
 by an English company, to mine it. A vessel of 40 tons was built 
 by this company upon Lake Superior, above the Sault, to transport 
 men, machinery and supplies. Mining operations were commenced 
 and prosecuted about two years near Ontonagon, but proving un- 
 profitable, were abandoned in 1774. 
 
 The first scientific exploration of the mineral lands of Lake 
 Superior was made by Dr. Douglass Houghton, Michigan State 
 Geologist, between the years 1840 and 1845. He made annual 
 reports of his discoveries, but as he perished, while prosecuting his 
 labors, in 1845, by drowning, he never published his final report. 
 The publication of his annual statements brought many to the dis- 
 
28 NORTHERN PACIFIC. 
 
 trict as early as 1843, and from that period to the present, copper 
 mining has been pursued at many points on Lake Superior, and 
 with varied successes, profits and losses. 
 
 Previous to this time, the entire freighting business of Lake 
 Superior was carried on by one or two small schooners, which had 
 to be built above the Sault. These rapids, in St. Mary's river, be- 
 tween Lakes Huron and Superior, are about one mile in length, and 
 effectually prevented vessels from passing, by water, from the lower 
 to the upper lake In consequence of this, tram-ways were con- 
 structed around the falls, and several steamers hauled over the 
 portage. 
 
 This slow and expensive process was rendered necessary, as no 
 other means existed for obtaining vessels upon Lake Superior until 
 the completion of the Sault Canal in 1855. That magnifient pub- 
 lic work was built by the State of Michigan, through the aid of a 
 grant of 750,000 acres of land made by the Government to the 
 State, in 1853, for that purpose. At the period of the completion 
 of the canal, and the free and uninterrupted passage of the largest 
 vessels to and from Lake Superior, an immense impulse was given 
 to the production and shipment of copper and iron. Before that 
 time the expense of exportation made the production of these val- 
 uable minerals from their inexhaustible mines comparatively small. 
 But, in the next eight years, as the following table will show, there 
 was shipped from Lake Superior over $10,000,000 worth of copper 
 alone : 
 
 TONS. POUNDS. 
 
 1855 7,642 
 
 1855 t > 1857 11,312 
 
 1858 3,500 
 
 1859 4,200 
 
 1860 6.000 
 
 18^1 7,400, 
 
 1862 9,062 
 
 1863 8,548 
 
 1864 8,472 
 
 1S65 l n ,790 * ,156 
 
 1866 10,375 1.68S ' 
 
 1867 11,735 552 
 
 Total 90,037 1 ,396 
 
 This, as before remarked, brought in the market over $40,000,000; 
 the product of 1867 bringing $4,700,000. During the present 
 year (1869) there has been shipped from the Marquette Iron Dis- 
 trict about 600,000 tons of iron ore and pig metal, valued at 
 $4,200,000.* The interest of copper has been greatly depressed, 
 for the last few years, by the increased cost of production and for 
 the want of as equal a protection as has been afforded to other sim- 
 ilar interests. Under the protection now secured, it is hoped and 
 believed that its production will increase until it shall reach an 
 amount equal to the home demand, of fifteen or sixteen thousand 
 tons per annum. 
 
 * For the actual product of the Marquette Iron District, in 1869, see letter from Hiram 
 A. Burt, Esq., in Appendix to this pamphlet. 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 29 
 
 With the increased facilities which the Northern Pacific Rail- 
 road will afford for a winter shipment of these articles, and for 
 taking in supplies of ail kinds for their production, there can be no 
 reasonable doubt of such a result, nor th#t the annual production 
 of pig iron and iron ore will be increased to 800,000 instead of 
 600,000 tons, as at present. When this shall be done, the annual 
 exports of iron and copper will be twelve or thirteen million dollars. 
 
 About one-half of the iron is brought from the mountains to 
 Marquette over the Marquette Railroad, and shipped from that 
 point, the other half being taken to Escanaba, at the head of Green 
 Bay, over the Escanaba Railroad, and shipped from there. The 
 copper is principally shipped from Ontonagon, Houghton, Hancock, 
 Eagle River, Eagle Harbor, Copper Harbor, Lac La Belle and 
 Torch Lake. Marquette, Negaunee, Houghton, Hancock and 
 Rockland are populous towns. Marquette and Negaunee, in the 
 iron district, and Houghton and Hancock, in the copper, contain- 
 ing about 4,000 inhabitants each, and for schools, churches, hotels, 
 stores and dwellings, will compare favorably with other towns of 
 the same size. The .whole population of the Upper Peninsula is 
 believed to be not far from 60,000. 
 
 The number of vessels which passed through the Sault Canal in 
 1864 was 1,414, their united tonnage being 571,183. These ves- 
 sels, forming regular lines between Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, 
 Milwaukee and Chicago, were about one-quarter large class steam- 
 ers, the balance being sailing vessels. The immense stores of all de- 
 scriptions freighted through the canal to supply the mines and these 
 inhabitants are purchased from the merchants, mechanics and trad- 
 ers of Pittsburg, Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee, 
 and are paid for in copper, iron ore, pig iron, lath, shingles, etc. 
 Not only do the lake cities have the benefit of the profits on these 
 supplies, but the copper and iron received in exchange gives employ- 
 ment to thousands of their mechanics, artisans, and laborers in their 
 smelting works, foundries and machine shops, and from which other 
 large direct and indirect profits are derived. In fact, it is doubt- 
 ful whether there is any other source from which they receive so 
 great a benefit. 
 
 The Upper Peninsula of Michigan can never become, to any 
 great extent, an agricultural region, that portion bordering on the 
 lake being too rocky and the soil too poor for many kinds of crops. 
 In some portions of it, however, farming may hereafter be profit- 
 ably pursued. Grass, cabbage, turnips, beets, and several other 
 vegetables, grow to perfection. Wheat, oats and barley also ripen 
 there, while potatoes of the best quality grow in great abundance. 
 In September last, I saw some very fine apples, pears and plums 
 growing on the farms of Messrs. Sayles, Mercer and Cash, at On- 
 tonagon, and the vegetables spoken of in their gardens, as well as 
 on the land of Mr. Hoyt, at Rockland. None of these, however, 
 yet grow in sufficient quantities for home consumption except 
 potatoes, which are beginning to be exported. There is, however, 
 
#0 SOUTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 another source of wealth in the forests of white pine timber grow- 
 ing there ; this, in consequence of its rapid exhaustion in all other 
 sections of the country, is soon to become second in value to the 
 mineral deposits. 
 
 So important has the Government of the United States consid- 
 ered the present and future products and commerce of Lake Super- 
 ior to the country, that it has, from time to time, made large grants 
 of land and money to deepen its rivers, and to build its ship canals, 
 wagon and railroads. The principal grants for these objects have 
 been as follows : For the Sault Canal, 750,000 acres ; for the Por- 
 tage Lake Ship Canal, 400,000 acres ; for the Lac La Belle Canal, 
 100,000 acres j for the Marquette and Ontonagon Railroad, about 
 640,000 acres; for the Escanaba and Negaunee Railroad, about 
 320,000 acres ; for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad about 
 826,000 acres, and for the Fort Howard and Copper Harbor wagon 
 road about 320,000 acres making a total of appropriations of 
 2,856,000 acres of public lands. Of these, only about 1,600,000 
 acres have been actually acquired by the companies ; 400,000 more 
 for the Portage Lake and Lake Superior Ship Canal Company 
 doubtless soon will be. The remaining 856,000 acres, for the west 
 half of the Marquette and Ontonagon Railroad, from Lake Michi- 
 gaumee to Ontonagon, for the Northwestern Railroad, from Menom- 
 inee to Kscanaba, and for the military wagon road from the Wis- 
 consin State line to Fort Wilkins, at Copper Harbor, will soon 
 revert to the Government, unless the grants are renewed. The 
 money appropriated and recommended has been : For a break- 
 water at Marquette, $250,000 ; for Ontonagon harbor, $200,000, 
 and for Eagle Harbor, $87,000 making $537,000. Besides this, 
 large sums have been appropriated for the St. Mary's river, for 
 light-houses, surveys, etc. 
 
 It has been carefully estimated, from as reliable data as can be 
 ascertained, that the annual production of white pine lumber in the 
 State of Michigan, including timber, shingles, and other descrip- 
 tions, is greater than that produced in all the other States com- 
 bined, and that there is still standing in. its forests a larger amount, 
 of a superior quality, than in all of the other territory east of the 
 Rocky Mountains. This quality of pine, once growing in New 
 York, Maine, and other eastern sectious, has nearly all disappeared, 
 leaving Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota to supply the present 
 and rapidly increasing demand. 
 
 This almost indispensable and valuable timber once removed, is 
 never to be replaced, at least to any extent ; for if allowed to grow 
 again, which is not the case, it would require from 50 to 80 years 
 to become as fully grown as at present. 
 
 Fifteen years ago the amount of lumber manufactured in the 
 State was, as compared with the present, very small. I am informed 
 by Mr. Curtis Emerson, one of the earliest lumbermen here, that 
 
KIAILHOAD CONVENTION. 
 
 the only cargo of lumber shipped from the Saginaw Valley in 
 1846, twenty-three years ago, was on the schooner "Julia Smith,' 1 
 and consisted of 01,000 feet. 
 
 The following table will show the amount cut in the Valley in 
 1863, and the increase from that year to 1868, inclusive : 
 
 FRET. 
 
 1 863 1 33,500,000 
 
 1864 215,W0,0<>0 
 
 18(55 250,639,?40 
 
 1866 349,767,884 
 
 1867 423,9*>3,]90 
 
 1868 457,396,225 
 
 Total 1,830,266,639 
 
 It has been ascertained that in the year 1868 there was cut, in 
 the entire State, 1,600 000,000 feet, Saginaw Valley and the Bay 
 Shore producing about one-third of the whole amount. Making 
 what I suppose to be a low estimate, that the annual production in 
 the whole State, in the last eighteen years, has been 400,000,000 
 feet, the entire product within that period has been 7,200,000,000 
 feet. Placing the average yield at 3,750 feet to the acre, and at 
 1500,000 feet to the 80-acre lot, we find the enormous number of 
 1,920/00 acres from which the pine has been removed in this 
 State. 
 
 Estimating the entire amount yet standing in Northern Michi- 
 gan, including the Upper Peninsula at double the amount, say 
 4,000,000 acres, the future yield will be 15,000,000,000 feet, and 
 at the present price of $15 per M , will be worth in market $225,- 
 000,000. The timber, shingles, etc., will bring at least $75,- 
 000,000 more, making the pine in the forests of Northern Michi- 
 gan produce the vast sum of $300,000,000. This 4,000,000 acres 
 of standing pine, at present rates of exhaustion, will all be cleared 
 in 12 or 14 years. But as heretofore the pine has been mostly cut 
 on streams accessible for running logs, and as much of the remain- 
 ing timber, both in the Lower and the Upper Peninsula, is found 
 in sections too distant from the water-courses to make them avail- 
 able for that purpose, the supply from such localities must depend 
 upon future railroad and other facilities for transportation to mar- 
 ket. Until such means are aiForded, the annual yield must soon be 
 diminished, and this may prolong the entire exhaustion of white 
 pine in the State for a period of 18 or 20 years ; but beyond that, 
 it is hardly possible. 
 
 Should the Northern Pacific Railroad be continued to Mackinac 
 it will be about 2,000 miles long, and should its bonds be guaran- 
 anteed by the Government for $30,000 per mile, (near the probable 
 cost,) the entire guarantee would be $60,000,000, or one-fifth only 
 of the value of the product of the pine forests of Northern Michi- 
 gan. 
 
 The value of other timber can hardly be over-estimated, it being 
 certain that no State in the Union has a larrger amount of white 
 
32 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 oak, maple, beech, ash, and other qualities of hard and soft timber, 
 than Michigan. Of the article of oak staves there was manufac- 
 tured and shipped from the Saginaw Valley alone in the year 1868 : 
 
 0,846,000, which, at $60 per M., brought $ 410,760 
 
 The hard wood timber of all kinds was valued at 300,000* 
 
 Shingles, 104,104,500, at $4 per M., 416,418 
 
 Lath 123,C0O 
 
 Of the articles of headings, hoops, staves, etc., other than for salt barrels used 
 
 here, there was shipped, in vaJ tie, ; ... 50,000 
 
 Of pine lumber proper, 457,396,225 feet, at $15 per M., .' 6,860,943 
 
 Waking the total product of lumber, of all descriptions, shipped in 
 18t>8 from Saginaw Valley $8,461,121 
 
 The manufacture of salt was commenced in the Valley in 1860, 
 and the product has been as follows : 
 
 YKAR. BARRELS. YEAR. RARRBLS. 
 
 18*0 4,000 1865 477,200 
 
 186? 125,000 1866 407 997 
 
 1862 243,000. 1867 474,721 
 
 18cl3 466,356 1868 555,690 
 
 18 '4 529,073. 
 
 Total number of barrels, , 3,283,037 
 
 The product of 1808 amounting to $1,1? 1,380 
 
 By adding the value of lumber 8,461,121 
 
 It makes the total product of the Valley in the articles of lumber 
 
 and salt alone, , $9,572,501 
 
 In the whole State, including the above, there was manufac- 
 tured, in 1868, 1, 600,000,000 feet, at $15 per M , amounting to : 
 
 Lumber, $24,000,000 
 
 Staves, 1.64x,040 
 
 Timber 1,000,000 
 
 Shingles, 1,249,254 
 
 Lath, 492,000 
 
 Hoops, heading, soft wood, staves, etc., 150,000 
 
 Total t ; $28,534,294 
 
 OF FISH. 
 
 BARRELS. 
 
 During the year 1868 there were caught at Thunder Bay 7,000 
 
 At Harrisville, 5,500 
 
 At the Sauble, 30,000 
 
 In the Saginaw river and at the head of the Bay, 4,000 
 
 Total, 46,500 
 
 And valued at $325,500 
 
 Assuming this to be one-half the yield on the lake shores of the 
 State, the value of the fish caught in the whole State in 1868 was 
 $651,000. 
 
 PLASTER. 
 
 The extent and quality of the plaster beds at Alabaster, on the 
 Saginaw Bay, are unsurpassed in this or any other State The 
 exportation from there in 1868 was : 
 
 TONS. 
 
 01 rock plaster, 25,000 
 
 Of ground do. for land, ......" 2,000 
 
 Total .....27,000 
 
 ^o , , BARRELS. 
 
 Of ground plaster, 10,000 
 
 Of ground do., calcined, *. 5*000 
 
 Total 15,000 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 
 
 I do not know the amount or value of the production of the 
 (J rand Rapids beds for this year, but the above exports from Ala- 
 baster brought in market $144,000. 
 
 From the foregoing statistics, which, when not taken from annual 
 returns, are based upon careful estimates and comparisons, the gross 
 value of the products of Northern Michigan, for the year 1868, 
 inclusive of its agricultural, mechanical and several minor interests, 
 was, from the forests, mines, quarries and fisheries alone, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Copper and iron from Lake Superior, $ 8,900,000 
 
 Lumber, timber, shingles, lath, staves, etc., 28,554,294 
 
 Bali 1,111.380 
 
 Fish, 651,000 
 
 Plaster, 144,000 
 
 Total, $39,340,594 
 
 These figures are certainly not exaggerated, but much lower than 
 other statements made by competent men, who have spent more 
 time and labor in consulting the facts, but whose calculations, in 
 some respects are believed to be too high. 
 
 A Northern Pacific Railroad on the Mackinaw route would 
 reach the extensive quarries of marble which have been discovered 
 (and supposed to be of the best quality) at the head of Menominee 
 river, thus affording an outlet for the same. 
 
 It would also run through that splendid pine region lying be- 
 tween the Escanaba and Montreal rivers, a large portion of which 
 is not reached either by the Escanaba, Menominee, Montreal or 
 Ontonagon rivers, or their tributaries. 
 
 These forests, as well as those in the Lower Peninsula, away 
 from the streams and on the line of the 'road, must furnish thou- 
 sands of millions of lumber for transportation by rail. 
 
 The richest and most extensive deposits of iron,' in what is called 
 the Marquette District, are known to be on the line of this road, 
 between the head waters of the Menominee and Lake Michigaumee. 
 These vast and inexhaustible stores are sufiicient to produce a mil- 
 lion tons per annum for a century to come, and all of which must 
 be brought to market by rail. 
 
 Every worker of iron knows that the charcoal pig of Lake Su- 
 perior is unequalled in quality, and that its production heretofore 
 has been entirely inadequate to the demand. This is in conse- 
 quence of the spareness of hard wood, and the soft and poor 
 quality growing in the vicinity of the mines, for charcoal, and for 
 supplying the furnaces with fuel. On the recent visit of Mr. S. 
 P. Ely to this city, (the Superintendent of the Marquerte Rail- 
 road), knowing him to be a gentleman of much intelligence, and 
 largely interested in the production and shipment of iron ore, I 
 inquired of him how it was that they shipped the great bulk of iron 
 in the ore, instead of first converting it into pig ; to save the profit 
 and prevent the loss of freight to Cleveland on the dross ? His 
 reply was as before stated, that it was for the want of hard wood, 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 lime, &c, of which the lower Peninsula furnishes so vast an amount 
 of the best quality. He added, -"should a railroad be constructed 
 across the Straits to the iron mines, furnaces and smelting works 
 would be put in operation all along the line from Mackinaw to 
 Saginaw, where the necessary materials for their successful opera- 
 tion are found without limitation as to quality or quantity.'' 
 
 This unquestionable result would not only furnish such a road 
 with an unlimited amount of business, but would convert the for- 
 rests of hard wood into money instead of leaving them waste as at 
 present ; would clear the soil for the plow, rear villages, and peo- 
 ple the line with thousands of industrious and thriving inhabitants. 
 Not only so, but a Northern Pacific Railroad over the line sug- 
 gested would soon be tapped by branches from the towns and 
 mines on the copper range, and would thus secure the Spring, Fall 
 and Winter travel and the freight of copper and supplies to and 
 from the mines. 
 
 The forty million annual product of Northern Michigan would 
 be in ei eased to sixty millions, as most of the localities from 
 which this product is realized would be reached by this road. If 
 one-fifth of the passenger and freighting business was secured to 
 the road, it would more than pay the entire cost of running from 
 Superior to Saginaw River. 
 
 I was recently informed by an intelligent farmer, who cultivates 
 a thousand acres about sixty miles west of St. Paul, in Minnesota, 
 that the State produced twenty million bushels of wheat in 1868, 
 and after much travel through that portion adapted to its growth, 
 he gave it as his opinion, that not one acre in fifty had been culti- 
 vated. If, however, one.twentieth was used to produce the twenty 
 million bushels, when all is sown with wheat the yield will be four 
 hundred million of bushels 
 
 The Valleys of the Upper Missouri and Saskatchewan are as 
 fine for the growth of wheat as Minnesota and embrace a territory 
 five times as large. When they are peopled by agriculturist, as 
 they soon will be, if railroad facilities are afforded, 2,000 million 
 bushels of wheat can be produced, and all of which will seek an 
 outlet by water, down the lakes, and by all the railroads that can 
 be secured and reached. 
 
 This amount of wheat alone, as compared with the celebrated 
 granaries of Egypt and the Black Sea, is as an ocean to a drop. 
 
 The Legislature of the State of Michigan, at its last session, 
 passed an act ceding the Sault St. Mary Canal to the general 
 Government, with a view of having it deepened to fourteen feet and 
 made free to commerce. When this is done, and the Portage 
 Canal, cutting off Keweenaw Point, is finished (thus materially 
 shortening the distance, by water, from the Sault to the head of 
 Lake Superior), and when the St. Paul and Superior, the Hudson, 
 St. Croix and Superior and the Northern Pacific Railroads are 
 completed to some point at the head of the lake, where a large 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION, 
 
 35 
 
 city will be built, with its immense elevators and wharehouses to 
 recei 7e and discharge the freight, fifteen thousand vessels, instead 
 of fifteen hundred, as at present, will annually pass through the 
 Sault Canal. 
 
 The Mackinaw, and all other lines of Railroads from Chicago 
 and other points connecting with the Northern Pacific, will require 
 double tracks to do the business. This, too, without counting 
 upon international or local business secured from the mineral 
 regions west of the mountains. 
 
 If this line had been established, and, by reason of competition 
 with other routes, had reduced the freight to the sea-board only 
 five cents per bushel on wheat, the farmers of Minnesota would 
 have saved thereby one million dollors on the crop of 1868. 
 
 The Trans-continental Railroad Convention recently held at 
 Oswego, N. Y., appreciating the great necessity for the shortest 
 and most direct Railroad connection with the Northern Pacific at 
 the head of Lake Superior, aftev much able discussion and consi- 
 deration, unamously adopted the following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, by this Convention, That in forming a connection with the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad at the head of Lake Superior, the shortest 
 and most practical route should be adopted. 
 
 Resolved, That while in the opinion of this Convention, connections 
 ought to and will be made via Chicago, the continuation of the N. P. 
 R. R. to the Straits of Mackinaw, so as to connect with the contem- 
 plated road from Portland to the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, ought 
 also to be secured. 
 
 I am aware that the project of crossing the Sault River and 
 passing through Canada to Montreal, and thence over to Vermont 
 roads to Portland, has long been entertained by some of the ofii- 
 cers of the N. P. R. R. Company, who are interested in said roads. 
 
 And I am also aware of the fact that this project becoming 
 known, once defeated a subsidy to the N. P. Road by Congress. 
 
 This, while Canada remains a foreign country, ought not to be 
 thought of. But that being the natural and by far the shortest 
 route to the ocean, it can only in the nature of future events be 
 delayed till Canada and the British possessions in North America 
 become part of the United States. When that day comes, and 
 come it soon must, the increased products of the North- West will 
 create a necessity for that and all the other outlets to the East 
 that can be secured, without injury to this or any other roads. 
 
 Finally, the only practical question to be considered is, Sow 
 shall this Convention aid in securing the speedy completion of the North- 
 ern Pacific Railroad by way of the Straits of Mackinaw ? I answer, 
 by favoring in every possible, honorable way, Government aid to 
 both such a Northern Pacific and a Southern Pacific Road. Such 
 aid, either extended as security for the payment of the principal, 
 or for the interest on the bonds of the roads, will secure their 
 speedy completion. The Grovernment can be amply secured 
 against loss, by holding a mortgage on the lands and on all the 
 property belonging to the corporations. 
 
36 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 The liberal proposition will unite the strength of the North and 
 South in Congress, and overcome any opposition the present Pacific 
 Railroad might bring to bear against it. As a financial question 
 in view of the National debt, if the roads are built, it is believed 
 that the increase of population, of wealth, of com mere e,/iand of 
 taxable property, will make the nation richer instead of poorer, 
 at the end of ten years, even if it should finally loose eighty or 
 one hundred millions by becoming security. 
 
 This was the opinion expressed and maintained in a very able 
 paper, prepared and read at the Oswego Convention, by Edwin F. 
 Johnson, Esq., chief engineer of the Northern Pacific Eailroad, 
 and his views in this respect are concuired in by many prudent 
 statesmen and thoughtful citizens. This eminent engineer also 
 gives it as his opinion from practical knowledge, that there will be 
 no serious difficulties met with in crossing the Straits of Mackinaw. 
 
 While living, Hon. Thaddeus Stevens was an ardent friend of 
 the Northern Pacific Railroad by this route. He frequently told 
 me when in conversation on the subject, that some day, not far in 
 the future, one of the largest inlandjcities of the continent would 
 be at the head of Lake Superior. In this opinion, I doubt not, 
 he was correct. 
 
 At the conclusion of the reading of the foregoing paper, on 
 motion of Mr. Hubbell, of Lake Superior, the thanks of the Con- 
 vention were voted to Mr. Driggs, for his very able address. 
 
 Hon. D. H. Jerome, of Saginaw City, read the 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON CREDENTIALS. 
 
 Showing the following named gentlemen to be entitled to seats as 
 Delegates in this Convention : From 
 
 Ann Arbor R. S. Smith. 
 
 Bay City Jas Birney, H. M. Fitzhugh, C. 0. Fitzhugh, D. H. 
 Fitzhugh, Luther Westover, Wm. Westover, J. J. McCormick, 
 J. McDermot, Geo. Campbell, J. J. Campbell. 
 
 Buena Vista C. W. Kimball, Michael Leidlein, S. Munsou. 
 
 Chesamng F. P. Kenyon, R. H. Nason, R, W. Andrus, J. C. 
 Goodale, R. P. Mason, Geo. W. Chapman. 
 
 Corunna James Cummins, Hugh Mc Curdy, S. R. Kelsey, 
 J. N. Ingersoll, E. F. Wade, 'E. C. Moore, D. Bush, 0. S. Con- 
 verse, J. B. Wheeler, Wm. Oaks, John L. Simonson. 
 
 Chicago, III J. H. Pearson 
 
 Detroit Wm H. Craig, Luther Beecher, Wm. Phelps, James 
 P. Mansfield, E. Reidy, John Burt, R. H. Anderson, H. H. Em- 
 mons, J. D. Standish, F. W. Swift, Wm. A. Moore, Geo. S. Frost, 
 Morgan Johnson, A. E. Bissell, M. M. Fisher. 
 
RAIXfBOJLD CONVENTION. 87 
 
 East Saginaw J as. L. Keteham, John F. Driggs, Geo. W. Peck , 
 J. Fisher, W. J Bartow, Joe A. Hollon, C. K. Robinson, Win. 
 L. Webber, I). W. C. Gage, J. K. Eose, L. S. Lenheim, J. F. 
 Brown, A, B. Wood, 0. H. Gage, M. B. Hess, T Edsall, David 
 Bust. C. Ortman, M. Jeffers, E. T. Judd, J. J. Wheeler, T. K. 
 Doughty, L. W. Tisdale. 
 
 Flint A.. Thayer, J. W. Begole, R. W. Jenny, A. L. Aldrieh, 
 F. H. Rankin, A. B. Witherbee. 
 
 Grand Rapids Win. A. Howard. 
 Houghton J. A. Hubbell, Ransom Sheldon. 
 Holly J. B. Simonson. 
 Jackson Eugene Pringle, Horace 8. Ismon. 
 Lapeer E. J. White. 
 
 Laming J. W. Longyear, Cyrus Hewett, A. N. Hart, A. E. 
 Cowles, Alfred Bixby, D. L. Case. 
 
 Ifarquttie Hirm A. Burt. 
 
 Midland John Larkin, James W. Cochrane, John Haynes, 
 
 C. E. Ball, James S. Eastman, George A. Janes. 
 
 Mason 0. M. Barnes. 
 
 Monroe A. J. Sawyer, D. A. Noble, Edwin Willitts, T. R. 
 Little, J. Wall, G. W. Strong, H. J. Redfield, 0. Ives, J. R. 
 Eauch, J. E. Ilginpitz, A. Darber, A. G. Bates, Charles Toll, 
 E. G. Morton, T. Doyle, J. McLoure, M. D. Hamilton. 
 
 Northville J. S. Lapham. 
 
 Oswego, K Y. A. S. Page, B. Doolittle, George Goble, R. 
 Lippineott, C Doolittle, Jno. A. Barry. 
 
 Owosso B. 0. Williams, D. Gould, A L. Williams. 
 
 Plymouth C. H. Bennett. 
 
 Port Huron 0. D. Conger, J W. Sanborn, Edgar White, 
 Cyrus Miles, John Miller, W. L. Bancroft, D. B. Harrington. 
 
 Portsmouth Albert Miller. 
 
 Saginaw City A. F. R. Braley, A. W. Wright, John Moore, 
 
 D. H. Jerome, N. Barnard, W. S. Green, Daniel Hardin, C. T. 
 Brenner, Thomas Merrill, Benton Hanchett, E. Briggs, James 
 Haye, J. F. Adams, Ezra Rust, J. H. Sutherland. 
 
 Salem, State of Oregon David Miller. 
 
 St. Clair John E. Kilton, M. H. Miles, A. J. Chapman, Wm. 
 Grace, Eugene Smith, B. W. Jenks. 
 
 St. Johns Hon. Randolph Strickland. 
 
 Tuscola J. H. Richardson, D. G. Slafter, W. H. Harrison, 
 J. A. McPherson. 
 
 Toledo, Ohio. A. E. McCumber, H. A. Boyd. 
 
 Vassar B. W.Huston, Dr. Wm. Johnson, T. North, F. Bournes, 
 Alexander Trotter, S. A. Lane. 
 
 Watrousville H. P. Atwood. 
 
 Wenona H. W. Sage, T. F. Sheppard, Jas. B. Ten Eyck, 
 H. H. Wheeler, Frank Fitzhugh. 
 
38 NORTHERN PACIFIC, 
 
 On motion, the report of the Committee was accepted and 
 adopted. 
 
 Hon Wm. Phelps, of Detroit, presented, as the 
 
 REPORT Of THE COMMITTEE ON PERMANENT ORGANIZATION, 
 
 The names of the following persons as officers for the permanent 
 organization of the Convention : 
 
 For President Hon. John Moore, of Saginaw. 
 
 f John McLaren, of Monroe. 
 
 I Josiaii W Begole, of Flint. 
 
 | John Burt, of Detroit. 
 
 ... n 7,1 Ransom Sheldon, of Houghton. 
 Vice Presidents < rr o t e t i 
 
 ] Horace S. Ismon, ot Jackson. 
 
 | B. 0. Williams, of Owosso. 
 
 | Marcus H. Miles, of St. Clair. 
 
 Luther Westover, of Bay City. 
 LB. W. Huston, of Yassar. 
 
 William Phelps, of Detroit. 
 I F. H. Rankin, of Flint. 
 
 last Saginaw. 
 
 i William Phelps, of Dc 
 } F. H. Rankin, of Flinl 
 f Michael Jeffers, of E 
 
 The report of the Committee was adopted ; and the gentlemen 
 named took their places on the platform. 
 
 On being introduced to the Convention by Mr. Driggs, Hon. 
 John Moore, in assuming the Chair, made the following remarks : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Convention. I am somewhat accustomed 
 to the uncertainty that attends the rendition of a verdict by a 
 petit jury. It has been said that before its rendition what such 
 verdict will be is as uncertain as where lightning will strike. If 
 I had received a slight shock of lightning, I should not have been 
 more astonished than I am in being called upon to preside over 
 the deliberations of this convention. 
 
 I appreciate the honor of being called upon to preside over a 
 convention like this, of gentlemen assembled from all portions of 
 our State and adjoining States, to deliberate upon a question of 
 the importance of that submitted to the consideration of this con- 
 vention. You have assembled irrespective of locality and irres- 
 pective of party predilections, to counsel together with regard to 
 a great National enterprise. 
 
 The large attendance here to-day, and the interest already mani- 
 fested in these proceedings, argue well for the success of the con- 
 templated enterprise. The character of the gentlemen who have 
 here assembled, showjthat the questions togbe considered have en- 
 gaged the attention of business men ; that they are questions, not 
 of an hour or a day, but that they are the developements of a 
 great necessity, growing out of the unexampled growth of the 
 
RAlLltOAl) CONVENTION. 39 
 
 business interests of our State and Nation. The paper, or report, 
 which has been read to the convention by the Hon. John F. Driggs, 
 giving as it does in detail a full statement of the great interests to 
 be developed and promoted by the construction of the Northern 
 Pacific Railroad, and tho great benefits that will result to this 
 State and the Nation at large, by such a road, have brought to 
 your mind clearly the magnitude of the undertaking and the 
 necessity of this great National enterprise. 
 
 There is no necessity that I should trespass upon your time by 
 any further reference to the subject that has brought you together. 
 It is one I have no doubt that has received your consideration. 
 It could not have been otherwise. The importance of the enter- 
 prise is well understood. Any assistance that I can give you in 
 jour deliberations, or that I can hereafter render to promote the 
 building of the road through our State, will be a pleasure on my 
 part. With this feeling I accept the position you have assigned 
 me, and thank you for the honor of serving you upon this plat- 
 form. 
 
 Hon. George W. Peck moved that a Committee of seven mem- 
 bers be appointed by the Chair, to report Resolutions, and an Or- 
 der of Business, for the consideration of the Convention ; which 
 motion prevailed. 
 
 The President appointed as such 
 
 COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS, ETC. 
 
 Geo. W. Peck and John P. Driggs, of East Saginaw; H. M. 
 Fitzhugh, of Bay City; W. H. Craig, of Detroit; Artemas 
 Thayer, of Flint ; H. A. Burt, of Marquette ; and Eugene Pringle 
 of Jackson. 
 
 The Convention then adjourned until seven oclock P. M. 
 
 EVENING SESSION. 
 
 The Convention re-assembled pursuant to adjournment, and was 
 called to order by the President. 
 
 Hon. Geo. W. Peck> for the Committee on Resolutions and 
 Order of Business, announced that the Committee would not be 
 prepared to report before to-morrow morning. 
 
 At the request of a Delegate, the Call under which this Con- 
 vention had assembled, was read by one of the Secretaries. 
 
 An interesting discussion of the objects of the Convention then 
 tbok place, and was continued to a late hour. It was participated 
 
40 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 in by Hon. Wm. A. Howard, of Grand Rapids ; H. H. Emmons, 
 Esq., of Detroit; Hon. John F. Driggs, of East Saginaw; Hon. 
 Randolph Strickland, of St, Johns; and John A. Barry, Esq., of 
 Oswego, N. Y. 
 
 At the close of Mr. Barry's remarks, on motion, the Convention 
 adjourned until 10 o'clock to-morrow morning. 
 
 MORNING SESSION. 
 
 The Convention was called to order at 10 o'clock, A. M. on 
 Wednesday, November 24th. 
 
 Mr. John Burt, of Detroit, being called upon, addressed the 
 Convention in favor of the route proposed, representing to the 
 Convention the great facilities and! advantages of the extension 
 tliroughjthe Upper[ Peninsula of Michigan, from information of 
 the nature of the territory, derived from his personal explorations 
 of many years, as a surveyor. 
 
 The President : There has just been placed in my hands a 
 letter from Hon. Austin Blair, M. C, which the Secretary will 
 read. 
 
 letter from kx-governor blair. 
 
 Jackson, Nov. 23, 1869. 
 Hon. Jas. L. Kktcham, John F. L>RiGGSjuid otherTJommittee, &c. 
 
 Gentlemen : I am wholly unable to attend the Convention at 
 East Saginaw to-day,* to which . you^were sojkind as^to invite me. 
 My egret on this account is the greater that during the past sum- 
 mer I have had occasion to visit Puget Sound, and to become some 
 acquainted with the needs and capabilities of that important re- 
 gion of our country. 
 
 The building-'of one railroad^to the Pacific Ocean has served to 
 prove how much we need two more. And especially to us of the 
 northern portion[of our country has it proved the necessity of the 
 road to Puget Sound. To the great body of our people this is 
 still to a great extent an unknown region, possessed of a cold and 
 rigorous climate and valuable for little except lumber and timber, 
 far^away^on the road to Alaska and eternal snow. 
 
 Nothing could be further from the truth. The climate of the 
 country lying around this magnificent Sound is milder and more 
 genial than that of our older States. The soil is rich and fertile, 
 producing abundantly all the crops that belong to this zone. There 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION, 41 
 
 are nearly fifteen hundred miles of coast all easily accessible to 
 shipping, lying around this Sound and the bays that form a part 
 of it. 
 
 Beyond all doubt here is to be the seat of a vast commerce and 
 the homes of a numerous population. As a gateway to China and 
 the Indies it is superior to the Bay of San Francisco. 
 
 There is no longer a doubt that the Northern route is more prac- 
 ticable at all seasons of the year than the Central. Besides it is 
 cur route above all others and cannot fail to commend itself to the 
 good judgment of our people. 
 
 I should be glad to have been with you at this important con- 
 vention, and to have joined in its discussions, but since that may 
 not be, I shall hope still to aid you efficiently in other fields of 
 your enterprise. 
 
 I sympathize entirely with your objects and will promote them 
 in all proper ways. 
 
 Very Respectfully, Your Obedient Servant, 
 
 AUSTIN BLAIR. 
 
 Mr. Peck : Before proceeding to discharge my duty as Chair- 
 man of the Committee on Resolutions, permit me to read to the 
 Convention a letter from Mr. Johnson, the Engineer of the North- 
 ern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 LETTER FROM E. F, JOHNSON, 0. E. 
 
 Middleton, Ct., Nov. 15th, 1869. 
 To Hon. Jas. L. Ketcham, John F. Driggs, and others. Commit- 
 tee, etc., East Saginaw, Michigan. 
 
 Gentlemen : It will not be in my power to comply with your 
 invitation to be present at the convention at your place on the 23d 
 inst., or to express in writing, at any length, my views upon the 
 interesting topics to be discussed by the convention. These, so far 
 as the Northern Pacific road is concerned, were very fully stated 
 to the convention lately held at Oswego, and will appear in their 
 proceedings. For my general views as to the need of additional 
 railway lines east of the Mississippi, and reasons therefor, I refer 
 to my published report of last year, made to the Ontario Shore 
 Railroad Company. 
 
 The Northern Pacific road, when built, is to have its eastern 
 terminus, as provided in its charter, at some point on Lake Super- 
 ior, within the States of Wisconsin or Minnesota. This point has 
 not yet been determined. The Northern Pacific Company, so far 
 as I know, do not contemplate asking Congress for any extension 
 of their line towards the east beyond their present chartered limits. 
 But if the country demands such extension, they will not, I presume, 
 oppose it, but will carry out, in good faith, whatever is required of 
 them by the Government. 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 Upon the subject of a line of railway from near the western 
 extremity of Lake Superior to a connection with lines leading to 
 Port Huron or Detroit, by the Straits of Mackinaw, I can say 
 that, from my knowledge of the country south of Lake Superior, 
 derived from observation and otherwise, the ground is in general 
 favorable, and free from obstructions of a serious character, and 
 will nowhere probably require a gradient exceeding 40 feet to the 
 mile. 
 
 Passing from this region to Michigan proper, the principal im- 
 pediment is the Straits of Mackinaw, which is three and one-half* 
 miles from Point La Barbe, on one side, to Point McGalpin upon 
 the other, with an average depth of water from 65 to 70 feet, and 
 a maximum depth of 216 feet, sufficient to deter from any attempt 
 at bridging. 
 
 The passage of this strait by railway trains can, however, be very 
 economically and expeditiously made, and, I think, at all seasons, 
 by means of boats constructed for the purpose. 
 
 As to Michigan proper, or Lower Michigan, the face of the coun- 
 try is known to. be very favorable for the construction of a road, 
 with easy gradients. It is nowhere marked by any very strong 
 features of a character to require extraordinary expense in the 
 building of a road. 
 
 So far, therefore, as regards the line as a whole, the important 
 question is whether the business and resources of the country 
 through which it will pass are such as to justify its construction. 
 
 My own opinion is, that viewed as a local road only, it will 
 eventually be well sustained. That portion of it lying west of Lake 
 Michigan will have large mineral resources. The ores of iron now 
 so extensively mined near Lake Superior are situated at Neguanee 
 and vicinity, near the line of the railway to Marquette, on Lake 
 Superior, on one side, and to Escanaba, on the little Bay de No- 
 quet, on Lake Michigan, on the other. 
 
 From these mines are now shipped to southern and eastern mar- 
 kets over 300,0C0 tons of iron ore annually. To the south and 
 west of this locality, near the divide of the Lake Superior and 
 Mississippi waters, and extending west as far as the western extrem- 
 ity of the lake, there are other deposits of iron ore equally rich and 
 extensive. 
 
 These latter, together with the copper, which is scattered 
 throughout the same region will come within the influence of the 
 proposed road and be developed by it. There are also in the same 
 region large andjvaluable tracts of pine lands, the lumber of which 
 will find its way to market over the road. The soil of this region 
 in Wisconsin and especially in Upper Michigan, is in general, 
 sandy and light, but there are considerable portions well adapted 
 to cultivation which will be fully improved to supply the wants of 
 the mining and lumbering population that will gather within its 
 limits. 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 43 
 
 The line from Mackinaw, south, passes centrally through lower 
 Michigan in a position favorable for commanding the business of 
 that portion of the State. This portion is being rapidly settled. 
 In addition to the farm products of the soil, it has extensive 
 groves of pine and other timber and embraces within its limits a 
 largo part of the coal basin and the Salt Springs of Central 
 Michigan. 
 
 The above remarks apply mainly to the local business of the 
 proposed road. If an enterprise of this character will stand this 
 test, its success may be deemed certain, for all lines of railway, 
 wherever situated, invariably attract largely to their support the 
 business of the more remote sections of the country. 
 
 Passing, as the proposed line does for much of its extent, through 
 an undeveloped region, it will require the aid which the Govern- 
 ment has, in similar cases, bestowed a grant of the Government 
 lands in alternate sections within a limited distance on either side 
 of it. The aid thus given, when judiciously conferred upon lines 
 that are really meritorious, enriches both the Government and the 
 country. This is shown by the stimulus it has imparted to the 
 building of railways in the newer sections of the country, and the 
 rapid advance in those sections in population and in taxable wealth. 
 
 With best wishes that the action of your convention may re- 
 sult beneficially to Michigan and the country at large, 
 
 I am, gentlemen, very respectfully yours, 
 
 EDWIN F. JOHNSON, 
 
 Civil Engineer. 
 
 Mr. Rust : I would remark to the Convention that Mr. John- 
 son's letter was written some time ago, and the past season shows 
 an aggregate shipment of over 700,000 tons of iron ore. 
 
 Mr. Peck : Mr. President As Chairman of the Committee 
 OB Resolutions, I beg leave to report that the Committee deem it 
 inexpedient to report any Rules, Regulations, or Order of Business- 
 
 They instruct me to submit Resolutions, which I will now pro- 
 ceed to read : 
 
 REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 Resolved, That Railroads through the Northern Peninsula of the 
 State of Michigan to the Straits of Mackinaw, and thence by 
 direct connection with the East and North, are demanded by the 
 interest, not only of Michigan, but of the whole country, and that such 
 roads developing mining, lumbering, manufacturing, commercial, and 
 agricultural interests of the first importance, will necessarily have the 
 i licet to transmute five hundred miles of wilderness into one of the 
 most productive and richest sections of the Union. 
 
 Resolved, That such roads are necessary in justice to Michigan as a 
 bond of Union between its two Peninsulas, and to continue by a prac- 
 tical and the shortest route towards the Atlantic, that future great 
 
44 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 continental highway, of which the Northern Pacific Road will form a 
 part, and that in the judgment of this Convention it is the imparativc 
 duty of Congress to extend the land grants now held by the Jackson, 
 Lansing & Saginaw, and the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Com- 
 panies, to the Straits of Mackinaw, relieving these Companies of the 
 requirement to terminate upon Little Traverse Bay, and also to make 
 such liberal grants of land, money or credit, as shall secure the speedy 
 construction of the road from the present Eastern terminus of the 
 Northern Pacific Road to the Straits of Mackinaw 
 
 Resolved, That the Convention deems it the true policy of the coun- 
 try to extend to such projects, as those of Railroads from Mackinaw to 
 Puget Sound, and upon the line of the proposed Southern Pacific Road, 
 such aid as will secure their speedy construction, and that we may cite 
 the prosperity of such States and Districts as have been liberal in aid- 
 ing great public works, as a perpetual argument to show the safety 
 and wisdom of such a policy. 
 
 Resolved, That there be appointed by this Convention a committee of 
 seven persons whose duty it shall be, by petitions to Congress, by ex- 
 plorations and by such continued public agitation of the subject, as 
 may be necessary, to use all ligitimate efforts to secure the necessary 
 legislation and investments of capital, and that it shall be the duty of 
 such committee to appeal to the people and corporations more imme- 
 diately interested for the means to defray the expense of such efforts. 
 
 Resolved, That while the said roads of Michigan and the Northwest, 
 as pioneers in the developement of our own and neighboring State, (as 
 far as their system is completed) are entitled to our highest considera- 
 tion, and demand the warmest encouragement and sopport, from this 
 Convention, and the people we represent ; we do more especially and 
 earnestly call upon Congress, to extend Government aid, in such effi- 
 cient form as it may deem best, to secure the construction of the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad to the Straits of Mackinaw, as the most im- 
 portant of all our Railroad interests. 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee appointed by this Convention, under 
 the foregoing resolutions, be and they are hereby instructed, to insti- 
 tute inquiry into the condition, prospects, and purposes of the North- 
 ern Pacific Railroad Company, as at present organized, and if it shall 
 satisfactorily appear, that the grant made to that Company, for the 
 construction of its road, is likely to lapse or become forfeited ; or such 
 construction to be unreasonably delayed, they are hereby instructed 
 to bring the subject before Congress, and to urge its immediate action 
 to compel or secure, the immediate commencement of the work in good 
 faith ; and its completion at the earliest practicable period. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretaries of this Convention furnish to the 
 President of the United States, and to the members of his Cabinet, cer- 
 tified copies of these resolutions, and printed copies of the proceedings 
 of this Convention ; and when Congress meets, furnish the President 
 of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chair- 
 men of the several Rail Road Committees; and of the Committees of 
 Ways and Means, and Finance, respectively, with like copies of these 
 resolutions and proceedings. 
 
 The report of the Committee on Resolutions was accepted, and 
 a motion made and carried, that the Convention proceed to consid" 
 er the resolutions separately and seriatim. 
 
 The first resolution being then under consideration, Mr. Luther 
 Beecher, of Detroit, addressed the Convention at some length, and 
 offered the following preamble and resolutions : 
 
KAILROAD CONTENTION. 45 
 
 WiiEitEAs, Large amounts of Government Land, in the States of 
 Michigan and Wisconsin have tor many years been in market, unsold 
 and (unpopulated to the great damage and detriment of large portions 
 of both States ; and 
 
 Whereas, Said Lands cannot be sold or occupied, even at the low- 
 est graduation price of one shilling per acre, untiJ water or Railway 
 transit lines shall be constructed so as to pass through or near them ; and 
 
 Whereas, These results cannot be otherwise so song as this state 
 of things remains unchanged, by coming possibility prove advantageous 
 to the nation ; and 
 
 Whereas, The early extension of the Great Northern Pacific Rail" 
 road from the head of Lake Superior, Eastward, through the States o* 
 Wisconsin and Michigan is of vastly more importance to both States 
 and of the whole Nation than any possible values of said lands; There- 
 fore it is 
 
 Resolved, That it is for the National interest to surrender all of the 
 unsold lands in each of said States to their respective Governors in 
 trust the whole proceeds thereof to be expended in construction of such 
 Trunk lines of Transit and such branches as shall best accomplish the 
 ten fold purpose of selling and populating their land and aid in con- 
 struction of Railway and Water Transit lines, demanded by the vast 
 growth of the grea^ Northwestern Suites. 
 
 Resolved, That said lands ought to be appraised and graded in value 
 and all of them subject to sale for Cash or "Land Scrip", Freight, Tran- 
 sit, Bonds, Stock, or other evidences of value used in construction of 
 said Trunk lines or Branches, and that the "Legislation" necessary for 
 this purpose should be prompt and of the most liberal character. 
 
 Resolved, That as an offset for such surrender, of what is of no prac" 
 tical value to the General Government, but may be made of much 
 value to the said States and of the Nation in the manner proposed. 
 Said States can well afford to surrender, and forever relinquish, any 
 and all unsettled war claims for bounties or other aid furnished by 
 counties, town, cities or individuals supposed to amount to about 
 3 or $4,000,000 in each State, while the lands, say 9,000,000 of acres in 
 Wisconsin and 10,000,000 of acres in Michigan would only amount to 
 about $ 3,000,000 at graduation value. 
 
 On motion, the preamble and resolutions of Mr, Beecher were 
 referred to the Committee on Resolutions. 
 
 Hon. Eugene Pringle, of Jackson, was called upon, and discussed 
 at length the resolution under consideration and the objects of the 
 Convention. 
 
 At the close of Mr. Pringle's speech, the Convention adjourned 
 until two o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 AFTERNOON SESSION. 
 
 At two o'clock P. M., pursuant to adjournment, the Convention 
 was called to order by the President. 
 
 Hon. O. M. Barnes, of Mason, and Dr. H. C. [Potter, of East 
 Saginaw, were severally called for, and addressed the Convention, 
 
46 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 illustrating their remarks by reference to a large map, produced 
 by Mr. Barnes, showing the location, etc., of the land grants made 
 to the Michigan Railroads. 
 
 The question was then taken upon the first resolution of the 
 Committee, and the same was adopted. 
 
 The second resolution being again read, Mr. J. A. Hubbell, of 
 Houghton, made a speech in its favor, after which the resolution 
 was adopted. 
 
 The third resolution was then read, and was supported in a 
 speech of some length by Hon. George W. Peck. The resolution 
 was then adopted. 
 
 The fourth resolution was then adopted. 
 
 On the fifth resolution being read, Mr. Emmons moved to amend 
 the resolution by striking out the words u to secure the construc- 
 " tion of the Northern Pacific Railroad to the Straits of Macki- 
 " naw," and insert, in lieu thereof, the words " to extend the route 
 " of the Northern Pacific Railroad to the Straits of Mackinaw," and 
 advocated his proposed amendment in remarks at some extent. 
 
 The amendment was opposed by Messrs. Peck, Driggs and Prin- 
 gle, and was withdrawn by the mo ^er. 
 
 Mr. Emmons asked Jthe indulgence of the Convention while he 
 offered a personal explanation ; and proceeded to make_ some re- 
 marks in reference to his address to the Convention on the previous 
 evening, elucidating more clearly the position he occupied. 
 
 The fifth resolution was then adopted. 
 
 The sixth and seventh resolutions were severally adopted. 
 
 The President : Gentlemen of the Convention, by the resolu- 
 tions you have passed, you have provided for the appointment of a 
 Committee of Seven. The resolution does not specify how that 
 Committee shall be appointed. I suppose, under ordinary Parlia- 
 mentary rules, the Chair should appoint that Committee, but I 
 decline to. exercise that power. I think the Convention will see 
 the impropriety of the exercise of that power by myself. 
 
 All local jealousies and [feeling and controversy have been kept 
 out of this Convention ; and there are points along the line of this 
 road that have their own local interests, which it is proper for 
 them to look after. I reside at one of those points ; and it might 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 47 
 
 be claimed that I exercised the power which I would thus exercise 
 to favor the ends of my own particular locality. I therefore insist 
 that the Convention adopt some means by which that Committee 
 shall be appointed. 
 
 Mr. Emmons moved that hg be 'referred to the Committee on 
 resolutions. 
 
 Mr. Peck moved as a substitute, that the Chair appointja [Com- 
 mittee of Five, to recommend the names of persons to the Con- 
 vention, for appointment as a Committee required under the reso- 
 lution. 
 
 The substitute was adopted, and the Chair appointed as such 
 Committee: C. K. Eobinson, of East Saginaw; C. C. Fitahugh, 
 of Bay City; H. A, Rust, of Marquette; W. H. Craig, cf De- 
 troit and W. S. Green, of Saginaw. 
 
 While awaiting the report of this Committee, the following ad- 
 ditional letters o^ the objects of the meeting, were read to the 
 Convention : 
 
 LETTER FROM ALFRED MEAD. 
 
 Ontonagon, Mien., Nov. 13, 1869. 
 
 Hon. John F. DRroos, 
 
 dear sir : 
 
 Your circular letter calling a Railroad Convention at Saginaw, 
 on the 23d inst., has just reached me, and I at once send you a 
 few lines to wish you and your friends God speed. It will be al- 
 most impossible for any one to attend from our county, (for you 
 know we have no means of getting out and in the country at this 
 time of the year), much as I wish that some of us would, had it 
 been earlier or later, I would cheerfully have come myself, for 
 you know I feel that a Railroad connecting us with the outer 
 world is our only hope of relief from our present depressed con- 
 dition. 
 
 But as we cannot attend, we shall feel confident that you, dear 
 sir, will represent us and our views and watch our interests. Say 
 to the gentlemen of that Convention that the people of Ontonagon 
 will do all in their power to aid in the object of the Convention. 
 We want a Railroad and will extend our aid to the first parties 
 that approach us with any reasonable plan that will guarantee us 
 the object, whether from the East, Michigan or Chicago. Of our 
 situation and resources I need say but little, with them you are 
 acquainted, also the attempts of Railroad Cos. to connect heretofore 
 with us, but allow me to call your attention to one or two points. 
 You are aware that the grant to the Ontonagon & Marquette Rail- 
 road Co. has been declared forfeited by the Legislature, this grant 
 
4H NORTHERS PACIFIC, 
 
 is now open for other parties to take hold of r it is a grant from 
 the U, S. of ten Sections per mile, butt twenty miles of that road 
 has been built, and we venture to say, whoever will fill the gap 
 between here and the road at these Iron Mines will reap large re- 
 wards. By the act of the .Legislature any corporation upon whom 
 this grant is conferred T are required to build fifteen miles of this 
 end of the road r commencing at Ontonagon Village. To aid in 
 the construction of the fifteen miles, this county as particularly in- 
 terested, and we will lend our aid. To any corporation that will 
 do it we will confer a State Swamp Land grant of two Sections 
 per mile, the scrip is worth now, I believe, about 80 or 85 cents 
 on the dollar, and is easily convertible into cash. From the best 
 information we can obtain, the two Sections of Scrip will build 
 the Road bed ready for the Iron ? in fact, parties here (of no ex- 
 perience in road building) have offered to take the first ten miles, 
 and get it ready for the iron, for the two Sections of Swamp Land. 
 As to the location of Ontonagon I am not the only one that 
 thinks that it would be a favorable point for the commencement of 
 the Northern Pacific. But I claim that road can have no terminus 
 till it is connected with the rail road system of Michigan, 
 and its most natural route, as through the JJpper Peninsula 7 
 whether it will make connections at the Sault St. Marie or Macki- 
 naw, it is for the people of Michigan to decide. The indications 
 are that Old and New England Capital will make a desperate 
 effort to cross at the Sault St. Marie, and the route has undoubt- 
 edly great advantages, but we shall see to it that it crosses our 
 own territory. Hoping that the Convention may be well attended 
 and its deliberations result in an effort to give us road out of the 
 country. I am Sir, Yours very respectfully, 
 
 ALFRED MEAD. 
 
 LETTER FROM HIRAM WALKER. 
 
 To James L. Ket( ham, Mayor of East Saginaw, and others. 
 
 Messrs : I am in the receipt of your circular inviting the friends 
 of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and its connections now made 
 nnd to be made to form the shortest and most feasible route 
 from Puget Sound, on the Pacific, to Portland, in Maine, on the 
 Atlantic, to attend a Railroad Convention in your city on the 23d 
 hist., which I am unable to attend. 
 
 No one at all informed on the u advance of Empire West'' doubts 
 the importance of these connecting lines of railroads, connecting 
 the Atlantic and Pacific States, and whoever lives twenty years 
 will see all these lines in operation. Who can tell the vast com- 
 mercial interests that will flow through these channels ? The Erie 
 canal made the city of New York the metropolis of America, and 
 these Pacific Railroads will make these United States the business 
 center of the world. This is no myth. 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 49 
 
 The first railroad in the United States, of any note, was the Al- 
 bany and Schenectady, which was completed in August, 1832; and 
 the first line of telegraph in May, 1840, between Baltimore and 
 Washington. And now what a network of railroads and telegraph 
 lines do these States present. Computation would almost fail to 
 show their cost of construction, much less to show the advance in 
 value of real estate caused by their construction. San Francisco is 
 nearer Boston, in point of time, than was the Valley of the Hudson 
 one hundred years ago. If so much has been done in thirty-seven 
 years, when large sums have been lost in experimenting, what grand 
 results may be looked for in 1900. 
 
 Xerxes threw golden fetters into the sea to restrain the billows, 
 in his anguish of defeat ; but American skill and genius, with in- 
 domitable perseverance, has tunneled mountains, spanned mighty 
 rivers, and strode triumphantly over the snow-clad Alps of Amer- 
 ica with the iron horse, which needed no rest from Plymouth Rock 
 to the "Golden Gate." If such things are done in the "dry tree," 
 what may we expect from the "green tree ?" 
 
 "The wealth of Indies" will flow through these channels, aside from 
 pecuniary gain, ^hey will prove powerful agents of civilization by 
 extending a knowledge of our free institutions. It will aid the 
 missionary in the cause of evangelizing the world, and promote the 
 cause of peace among the nations of the earth. Europe can reach 
 China and Japan quicker and cheaper than by any other route, 
 These roads will cement the interests of the different sections of this 
 Union into one mighty Empire, and give us prestige among the na- 
 tions of the earth ; so that rock-bound New England, with its busy 
 wheels and spindles, the rich alluvial soil of the Valley of the Mis- 
 sissippi, and the golden Pacific slope, may have a common interest 
 in keeping this Government intact through ages to come. 
 
 Another consideration which should exert a powerful influence 
 in favor of constructing this "Trans-Continental Railroad" is the 
 fact that the Valley of the Mississippi, which is to be the great 
 granary of the world, needs a cheaper and more ample outlet to the 
 sea-board for her surplus products, and these products are increas- 
 ing faster than the avenues of transportation are. So long as the 
 producers can get a remunerative price for their products, so long 
 they will patronize the mechanical interests of New England ; but 
 when they are compelled to retain them, for want of a ready outlet 
 of their surplus products, at a fair home valuation, there will be a 
 hegira of the wheels and spindles to the Mississippi Valley, which, 
 like the "ten lost tribes," will never return. 
 
 There are two routes proposed by which to reach Lake Ontario 
 from Portland. One is to strike Lake Champlain through North- 
 ern New Hampshire and Vermont, near Rouse's Point ; thence by 
 Ogdensburg to Oswego or Syracuse, N. Y. Another is to cross 
 Connecticut river near Woodstock, Vt., thence to Rutland, Vt., 
 and Whitehall, N. Y., at the head of Lake Champlain, thence to 
 
50 NORTHERN PACIFIC 
 
 Saratoga, to escape the spurs of the Adirondacks, thence westerly, 
 north of the Central, to the Valley of Salmon river, thence to 
 Oswego. The remainder of the route to St. Paul was too well de- 
 lineated at the late Convention at Oswego to need repeating here. 
 Wishing you harmony and important action in your* Convention 
 about to meet, and that agitation will not cease until permanent 
 measures are adopted for the construction of this important line of 
 intercommunication, 
 
 I remain, gentleman, 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 HIRAM WALKER. 
 P. S. Please send me an account of your Convention. 
 
 Mexico, N. Y., Nov. 16, 1869. 
 
 letter from wm. a. thompson. 
 
 Queens Hotel, Toronto, Nov. 22, 1869. 
 
 John F. Driggs, Esq., 
 
 East Saginaw. 
 
 My Dear Sir : I should certainly have responded to the invi- 
 tation, and attended your Convention, but that I am tied down 
 here by duties of the greatest importance, and which will hold me 
 here for a fortnight When we get the Niagara, Detroit & St. 
 Clair reiver Railway fairly floated, you will find me ready to res- 
 pond to you, every effort of making a Great Through Line to the 
 Northern Pacific via Saginaw. 
 
 I am, my dear sir, yours very truly, 
 
 WM. A. THOMSON. 
 
 You notice we are changing the name of our Railway. 
 
 Mr. Robinson, from the Committee on nominations, reported 
 the names of the following gentlemen, to compose the Committee 
 of Seven, to be appointed under the provisions of the fourth reso- 
 lution, viz : 
 
 STANDING COMMITTEE OF SEVEN. 
 
 John F. Driggs, of East Saginaw. 
 John Rust, of Detroit. 
 Artemas Thayek, of Flint. 
 H. M. Fitzhugh, of Bay City. 
 John Moore, of Saginaw City. 
 J. A. Hubbell, of Houghton. 
 S. P. Ely, of Marquette. 
 On motion, the report was accepted, and the nominations of the 
 Committee, as above, ratified. 
 
RAILROAD CONVENTION. 
 
 51 
 
 Mr. Driggs regreted to be obliged positively to decline acting 
 as Chairman of the Committee ; and Mr. Moore also asked to be 
 excused from serving as a member ; but the Convention refused to 
 make any change in the constitution of the Committee as reported. 
 
 On motion, the members of the Committee were authorized to 
 appoint substitutes, in case any of them should be unable to attend 
 to the business assigned them. 
 
 On motion of Hon. George W. Peck, the Secretaries were in- 
 structed to have not less than one thousand copies of the proceed- 
 ings of the Convention printed in pamphlet form, for distribution. 
 
 The thanks of the Convention were voted to the President, 
 Vice-Presidents and Secretaries, for the faithful performance of 
 their duties ; to the Reporters of the Press, for their full and 
 impartial reports of the proceedings; to Capt. Kirby and Messrs. 
 E. G. Godard and W. H. Herbert for furnishing the large and 
 complete map used by the Convention ; and to Mr. W. J. Bartow, 
 for the use of Irving Hall. 
 
 The President, in a few remarks, thanked the Convention for 
 the very harmonious manner in which they had conducted their 
 business, and wished them success in the great undertaking they 
 had inaugurated. 
 
 On motion, the Convention adjourned sine die, 
 
 John Moore, President. 
 
 John McLaren, 
 Josiah W. Begole, 
 John Burt, 
 Ransom Sheldon, 
 Horace S. Ismon, 
 B. 0. Williams, 
 Marcus H. Miles, 
 Luther Westover, 
 B. W. Huston, 
 
 Vice Presidents. 
 
 William Phelps, 
 F. H. Rankin, 
 Michael Jeffers, 
 
 Secretaries. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Actual Products of Iron Ore and Pig Metal in the 
 Marquette District. 
 
 From the Saginaw Daily Enterprise, of December 1st, 1869. 
 
 East Saginaw, Nov. 30, 1869. 
 To the Editor of the Enterprise. 
 
 Sir : I send you for publication a letter just received from 
 Hiram A. Burt, Esq., Collector of Customs, at Marquette, Lake 
 Superior. It will be seen that his statement of the yield of iron 
 in the Lake Superior region during the present year, 1869, makes 
 the same nearly one hundred thousand tons more than given in 
 your table of figures in the paper read to the Convention. It was 
 my purpose in the paper referred to (and which was prepared with- 
 out much time) to be as accurate as possible, and where my figures 
 were not made up from actual returns, to place them below rather 
 than above what subsequent facts might prove to be correct. Be- 
 fore placing the product of iron at 600,000 tons. I inquired of 
 Mr. S. P. Ely, of Marquette, as to the amount for 1869, and ho 
 informed me that while he did not yet know the exact amount, I 
 would certainly be safe in placing it at 600,000 tons. 
 
 It now appears from Mr. Burt's statement, which is doubtless 
 correct, that the yield is 696,030 tons, valued at $ 5,185,398, 
 being in excess over the value as fixed by my figures, $ 935,398. 
 I hardly think it possible that my calculations as to lumber and 
 other products, will be found so much a varience with the facts, 
 as they are based upon returns of former years. But I am confi- 
 dent, if not strictly correct, they will prove to.be below instead of 
 above the mark. The larger yield of iron, it will be seen, makes 
 the product of Northern Michigan over $ 40,000,000. 
 
 J. F. DKIGGS. 
 
54 APPENDIX. 
 
 LETTER FROM H. A. BURT. 
 
 Hon. John F. Driggs, East Saginaw. 
 
 Dear Sir : I notice, on reading the published report of your 
 able paper, read before the late Railroad Convention in your city, 
 that you so much under-estimate the present year's production of 
 iron ore and pig metal in the Marquette Iron District, that I desire 
 to give you the actual figures up to Nov. 15th. 
 
 The actual product of Iron Ore is 629 489 gross tons. 
 
 Estimated product balance of year 30 000 ' 
 
 Total product Ore 657 487 gross ton. 
 
 Pig Metal to Nov. 15th, 35 543 gross tons. 
 
 Estimated product balance of year 3 000 " 38 543 " 
 
 Total of Ora and Pig Metal 696 030 " 
 
 Value $5 185 398 
 
 Increased production over 1869 149 971 
 
 value " $1182 985 
 
 With regard to future production, I know of blast furnaces 
 enough now building to increase the demand for ore next year 
 fully 150,000 tons, thus realizing, in 1870, your prophecy as to 
 what must take place upon the construction of the Northean Pa- 
 cific Eailroad; 800,000 tons in 1870, and 1,000,000 in 1872. are 
 my prediction of the requirement from the Lake Superior Iron 
 Mines in those years. What would be the resnlt of the construc- 
 tion of the Northern Pacific Railroad is beyond calculation. 
 
 Yours, Respectfully, 
 
 HIRAM A. BURT. 
 
EDWARD W. NOLAN 
 
 1ECT\P^, 
 
3 81 o^J