y m" — — LIBR " CONGRESS. Cfoqt. Cojitjtiiiljt UNITED STATES OF AMERICA rt3^rr " ' THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. BY JAMES MAITLAND. PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. I o.JkJ&L CHICAGO: The Rollins Publishing Company. 1879. Or- Entered according to Act of Congress in the year of our Lord if by THE ROLLINS PUBLISHING COMPANY, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. • -McPREEflCE.* The wondrous and unparalleled growth of the country to which the well deserved title of the "Golden Northwest" has been applied, although the development of railroad enter- prise has brought it, or a greater portion of it, within a day's ride of Chicago, is even yet scarcely realized by those who dwell upon its borders. Chicago, the commercial entrepot of this great region, which as the converging point of many thousand miles of railroad and the great gram, lumber and provision mart of the world, has so vital an interest in the prosperity of this later Empire, knows but little of its resources and capabilities, its rich prairies and fields of waving grain, of the forests and rivers, the mining and agricultural wealth with which beneficent Nature has endowed the fairest and richest section of the whole United States. Thirty years ago a wilderness untrodden save by the trappers and hunters or the aboriginal owners of the soil whose tepees were doomed to give place first to log huts, then to substantial buildings and barns — whose hunting grounds were fated to resound with the shriek of the steam-whistle, and whose rude stone implements were to be supplanted by steam-plows and cultivators — the land which we call to-day Wiscon- sin, Iowa and Minnesota, Dakota and Montana, has a history not only within the ken of living men but of men whose beards are yet untouched with the silver whiteness of age. In the rapid progress of the century, in spite of our newspapers and general literature, the telegraph to bear the news and the power press to print it, the march of empire presses steadily on comparatively unnoticed and um-ecorded. Modern Americans are too busy making history to stop on their way to inscribe the records of their achievments in aught less ephemeral than the quotidian press of their country, and thus the most interesting facts, knowledge which to the student of a new generation will be of incalculable value, are in danger of going unrecorded altogether. It is to convey to the reader, who has not the time at his command in which to search through many books, such facts of interest as are not readily accessible and may prove of real value, that this sketch of the resources of the Golden Northwest has been prepared. Nothing in history can compare with the rapidity of the growth of this magnificent country. Two hundred years served to extend the settlements of Massachusetts and Virginia over a strip of sea-board territory which to-day forms only a tithe of this vast TJniou. One -tenth of that time has given to civilization a new field larger than the whole territory occnpied by white men at the time of the Revolutionary War. Nothing but the immense strides made by science during the past half- century has rendered this result possible. The development of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, even of Ohio and Illinois, could never have been more than begun but for the railroads which bridge the continent and which have brought San Francisco nearer to Philadelphia than Pittsburgh was fifty PREFACE years ago. .Railroads have made these great States what they are, have thrown open to settlement millions of acres of fertile lands which without these highways of com- merce would be utterly inaccessible, and have made the Golden Northwest the garden and granary of the United States. In 1840 the entire territory included within the limits of which we shall treat had less than 75,000 white inhabitants. In less than forty years that population has been multi- plied more than forty times and at the present date the population of the States and Territories named is not less than three millions and a half. The brawn and sinew of every European nation has been transferred to the wheat fields of Wisconsin and Minne- sota, the golden prairies of Iowa, and the mines of Dakota, there under free institutions and with equal opportunities for all, to wrest from Nature the abundant subsistence, the home and future, denied them elsewhere. Without rendering the work unpopular or uninteresting by an overload of statistics we shall aim to show as concisely as possible the facts as to the history, development, and present condition of this great country. While the practical will be fully kept in view, and all matters of interest from a commercial stand-point will receive then fair modicum of attention, the grand and beautiful manifestations of Nature so lavishly displayed in one great panorama to the eyes of the traveler will not be overlooked. We have striven to collate from all sources accessible, whatever of history, statistics, or description of this country could be obtained and in all points have kept steadily in view the twin qualifica- cations of brevity and accuracy without which a work of this kind would be valueless. Railroads and manufactures, the water-power furnished by the mighty rivers, the exten- sion of the food-producing area, and the birth and growth of the hundreds of cities which have sprung into existence will all receive due meed of attention. The limits assigned will compel abbreviation in many respects where more extended notices might be desirable but we shall feel that our work has been well performed if a perusal of this little volume shall awaken in the mind of the reader an interest in the future of a country so bright with promise and so fruitful with results as, is the Golden Northwest. -Meip^0DOCT6I^¥: The aim of the present work being rather to chronicle matters of interest, not to be found in existing publications, than to retail information familiar to all whose reading has extended beyond the primitive school history, we shall make little attempt to expatiate on the early introduction of the Northwest to the notice of civilized men. The records of the past have had, and always may be depended upon to possess, an interest for the men of the present, but in this somewhat prosaic and decidedly utilitarian age, men are more concerned with the doings of the present and the possibilities for the near future, than with the mouldering monuments of a bygone time. The standard histories which are so plentiful, furnish much interesting data in regard to the" early discoveries of La Salle, Joliet, Pere Hennepin, and the intrepid and scholarly Marquette, and to these we must refer the reader desirous of a more thorough acquaintance with the antiquities of the Northwest. Where such facts are not elsewhere given, it will be the place of this work to supply them so far as practicable in the limited space allowed. Much of the territory forming our present Northwestern States began its existence as a part of the modern world, nominally under the dominion of that great world-conquer- ing nation, Spain. When DeSoto planted the standard of Charles the Fifth upon the shores of the Mississippi in 1541, he took possession in the name of Spain, of all lands watered by the great river and its tributaries. As this action was entirely hi accord with prevailing doctrines concerning the "right of discovery" perhaps the heaviest real estate transaction ever attempted in the West was thus nominally consummated. In an old Spanish map of North America, the section now occupied by the States of Illinois and Wisconsin may still be seen figuring as a part of the Spanish possessions. While their Most Catholic Majesties held the barren title to this rich region, they do not appear to have ever attempted its exploration, much less settlement, both of which enterprises were left to the French, who, having gained a considerable foothold in Canada, began to push out trading and missionary expeditions to the surrounding country, and who, following the lakes, readied these latitudes some years after the middle of the cen- tury succeeding that of De Solo's exploits. On the 6th of July, 1667, LaSalle, who had obtained a patent for the exploration of the Ohio river, which was then believed to empty into the Gulf of California, in company with a body of seminarists of the order of St. Sulpice, from Montreal, bent upon the conversion of the western tribes, embarked upon the St. Lawrence and sailed up the river to Lake Ontario. The expedition landed on the banks of the Genesee, where a Jesuit had already established a mission of his order, and sought intelligence as to the object of their search, and guidance. An apparent unfriend- INTRODUCTORY, liuess, perhaps encouraged by the Jesuit, prevented any progress from this point, and the party, later, visited the Iroquois colony at the mouth of the Niagara river. At this place it was learned that two Frenchmen had arrived at a neighboring village. On meeting these, one of whom was Louis Joliet, afterwards famous as a western explorer, the missionaries obtained a map of portions of the upper lake region, which he had visited in the interest of the Canadian authorities to explore the copper district of Lake Superior. They were also informed that the northwestern Indians were in need of spiritual food, and concluded to journey in that direction; while La Salle took another route and reached the Ohio across country. The missionaries, on arriving among the Indians of whom Joliet had advised them, found the French Pere Marquette and his companion Doblan already on the ground. In the following year, La Salle, having ex- plored the Ohio as far as the falls, where Louisville now stands, embarked on Lake Erie, and passed around through the Straits of Mackinaw into Lake Michigan . Reaching the head of navigation, this voyager crossed the country to the Illinois river, which he followed to its confluence with the Mississippi, descending the latter, it is said, to the 36th degrees of latitude. During the year 1673, the upper Mississippi was ttrst reached by Euopeans, Joliet and Marquette achieving the discovery by an expedition through the country from Green Bay. On this trip the site of St. Louis was first visited. Returning to Canada in broken health, Pere Marquette remained until the following year, when he again set out on a missionary enterprise. Passing around the lakes, his party ascended the Chicago river, and here the health of the noble Christian priest was discovered to be in such a condition that his approaching dissolution became apparent. Reviving somewhat he was able to make the portage between the Chicago and Des Plaines rivers and followed the latter to the Illinois, down which the company proceeded to the location of the present town of Utica, and here was witnessed the first "revival of religion" of that great series in the history of the West which culminated in the Moody and Sankey excitement so recently. Desirous of establishing a mission before his death, Pere Marquette labored with burning zeal to convert the aborigines, and on the shores of the river at the place named he gathered together some 500 chiefs, and thousands of warriors, women and children, to whom he unfolded the sublime truths of Christianity and the touching story of the Cross and man's x-edemption. This pioneer of western revivalists died a few days afterwards, on the 19th of May, 1675, in the wilderness while endeavoring to reach Mackinaw. Lingering regretfully over the annals of this early day, we are forced by the inexor- able limits of our space to pass the succeeding developments of the Northwest with scarcely more than mention. The ambitious undertakings of Count Frontenac, the new Canadian governor, aided by the enterprise of La Salle, now ennobled by the French government, the latter's companions, Tonti, La Motte, Fathers Hennepin, Labourde and Membre — all these we must slight. Nor have we room to follow closely the record of the development of the trade in funs, now beginning to assume importance, increased about this time greatly by the enterprise of La Salle. The intrigues for the monopoly of that trade, too, on the part of English and Frencn interests; although all of great moment, are without the domain of this volume's particular mission, and are already exhaustively treated in other books. Bowing to the strong necessity for condensation, the author leaves the infant Empire of the Golden Northwest at the point where the principal factors in the problem of its future development may first be recognized as existing. On the 22d of January, 1679, the keel of the first lake vessel was laid bv Henri Tonti. La Salle's lieutenant, at the mouth of Cayuga creek on Lake Erie. In August following La Salle having returned from France, the white-winged sails of "The Griffin" were spread to the breezes, and the commerce of the great lakes had its initiation. In the labors of the missionaries we have seen the establishment of religion in the factories at Mackinaw and other points of trade, and in the launch of "The Griffin" of commerce. It will be our pleasure to note the results achieved by the operation of these forces in later days, and in the various localities of the region whereof we are writing. With these brief remarks upon the dawn of civilization in the Golden Northwest, we introduce the most attractive corner of God's footstool to the kind attention of the reader. CHAPTER I THE STATE OF WISCONSIN — GROWTH — POPULATION — WEALTH — DEBT — CITIES — MIN- ERALS — AGRICULTURE — NOTABLE POINTS. The fertile, wealthy and populous country which, thirty years ago, came into the Union as the State of Wisconsin, was formed into a Territory twelve years before, out of lands formerly embraced in the Territory of Michigan. But although so recently brought under the controlling influences of civilization, there are yet existing and undeniable evi- dences that in years long gone by it was the home of a race of people who possessed a considerable knowledge of the art of building and ol many other industries far beyond the reach of the Indian tribes who roamed over the soil and through the trackless forests of Wisconsin, when first that Territory became known to white men. The mounds, many of them in the form of outlines of animals or birds, display considerable skill in construc- tion, and are of great interest to archceologists, for whom Wisconsin's many antiquities have great attractions. As to geological characteristics, Wisconsin does not present any well defined differ- ences from the condition of its neighbors. Limestone underlies the southern portion of the State, while primitive rocks, such as granite, slate and sandstone, prevail in the northern part. Chancellor Lathrop gives the elevations of different points in the south- ern section of Wisconsin, as follows: At Blue Mounds, 1,170 ; head waters of the Kock river, 316 ; egress of the same river from the State, 1,280 ; and the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, at 223 above the level of Lake Michigan. The mineral resources of Wisconsin constitute one of its great sources of wealth. Three-fourths of the great lead region extending from Illinois and Iowa, lies in its southwestern part, and covers an area of about 2,000 square miles. La Pointe, Chippewa, St. Croix and Iowa counties are rich in copper. Excellent iron ores abound in Dodge county and on the Black river and other branches of the Mississippi, and the valuable ores of the Lake Superior region extend into the State from Michigan in great quantity. Magnetic iron, iron pyrites and graphite ore are among the other metallic products of the region, which is also prolific in fine marbles, gypsum, saltpetre, etc. Wisconsin is situated between latitude 42 degrees 30 minutes and 46 degrees 58 min- utes north, and longitude 87 degrees and 92 degrees 54 minutes west. It is bounded on the north by Lake Superior; northeast by a part of the Upper Peninsu'a of Michigan; east by Lake Michigan ; south by Illinois ; and west by Iowa and Minnesota. The Mis- sissippi and St. Croix rivers form the greater part of the western boundary, and the Montreal and Menomonee rivers a part of the boundary line between Wisconsin and Mich- igan. Its greatest length north and south is 300 miles ; greatest breadth east and west, 260 miles ; area, 53,924 square miles. It contains an endless variety of beautiful scenery, of which we shall speak more at length under appropriate headings. 8 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. Lake Winnebago, a fine body of water, twenty-eight miles in length arid ten miles wide, communicates with Lake Michigan through the Fox or Neenah river and Green Bay. Besides the great lakes — Superior on the north, and Michigan on the east — there are numerous bodies of water in the central and northern part of the State. These lakes are from five to thirty miles in extent, with high, picturesque banks and deep water. From these many rivers take their rise, a number having beautiful cascades or rapids, and flowing through narrow, rocky gorges or " dells," the scenery of which has become famous. The climate is healthy and invigorating, and the winters, though severe, are uniform. Considerable snow falls in the winter, and hard frosts are common and protracted. But the summers are very pleasant, and the fall weather in this favored State is of a character which greatly adds to the attractiveness of the State as a camping ground for sportsmen and a visiting place for tourists, <>f whom thousands annually visit the beautiful lakes and mountains. The growth of Wisconsin and its increase in material wealth and prosperity have been wonderful. Of the 34,511,360 acres of land in the State, 24,881,271 acres were returned in 1877 on the assessment rolls of sixty counties. Their total value was assessed at $182,895,881, or an average of $7.35 per acre. The number of acres sown with the principle cereals was as follows : wheat, 1,445,650 ; corn. 1.025. sol : oats, 854,861 ; barley. 183,030; and rye, 175,314. There were 889,018 acres of cultivated grasses. 123,420 of potatoes, 157,535 of orchards, 11,184 of hops. 62,000 of flax-seed, and 4>42 of tobacco. There were within the State 359,100 horses, 474,000 milch cows, 466,800 oxen and other cattle, 1,151,000 sheep, and 562,300 hogs, the total value of all livestock being $53,501,495. Wisconsin has forty National hanks, with a capital stock of $3,350,000. and over one hun- dred commercial and State banks. At the last Federal census there were 7,013 manufacturing establishments, having 926 steam engines of 30,509 horse power, and 1,288 water-wheels of 33,714 horse power, employing 43,910 hands. The capital invested was $41,981,872; wages paid during the year, $13,575,642 ; value of materials used, $45,851,266; of products, $77,214,326. No census of manufactures has been taken since 1870, but there is no doubt that they have very greatly increased. At the first Territorial census, taken in 1840, there were only 30,000 inhabitants ; in 185(1 there were 305,391 ; in 1860, 775,880; in 1870 no less than 1,330.000, now increased to over a million and a half. In 1878 the State produced 21,000,000 bushels ..i wheat. 29,000,000 of corn. 28. 000.000 Of oats, 4,000,000 of barley. 2.(100. 000 of rye. and nearly 10,000,000 bushel of potatoes, It also grew 15,000,000 pounds of flax and 5,000.000 pounds of hops and made 21,000.000 pounds of butter and 14,000,000 pounds of cheese. The assessed value of personal prop- erty is $95,000,000; of city and village lots. $103,000,000 : other real estate, $256,000,000 — an aggregate of $455,000,000. which is scarcely half the true value of the property. The total indebtedness Of the State, counties, cities, towns, and school districts, is a little over $12,000,000, and the total taxes levied for all purposes in 1877 were $8,000,000. being $1.89 on each $100 of the valuation. This, it must be remembered, includes county, city, school, road. State, and all other taxes. The State debt is very light and is almost all due to trust funds held for educational purposes. No State in the Union makes a better showing financially than does Wisconsin, and for none does the future appear brighter. THE METROPOLIS OF WISCONSIN. The site of the present important commercial and manufacturing city of Milwaukee was probably first visited by the white man in the person of Pere Marquette, who is believed to have stopped there en route from Green Bay to Chicago, in October, 1674. Two years later another missionary, Pere Claude Albouez. visited the place. With the exception of a short stay, made in the locality by Jean Buisson de St. Conies, who was THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. I 9 storm bound there in 1699, nobody seems to have touched at Milwaukee, for anything we know to the contrary, until 1702, when Lieutenant Gurrell. of the British American ser- vice, stopped there for a short time. In 1775 Alexander Laframbois came from Mackinaw and established himself as a trader, remaining six years, at the end of which time he returned and was succeeded by his brother. Not long after the latter was killed by the Winnebagoes, on the Eock river. In 1795 Jacques Vieur and John Baptiste Miiandeau moved in from Green Bay, reviving the trading business left vacant by the death of Laframbois. At about the beginning of the present century, probably from 1805-'06 to 1810-'] 2, Jean Baptiste Beaubien, an agent of Mr. John Kinzie, of Chicago, had a trading post at the foot of Chestnut street. The permanent white settlement of Milwaukee began in 1818, in which year Solomon Juneau located and engaged in trade with the Indians. Nothing further was done worthy of mention in the way of development until 1883, when a number of Chicago settlers came, anticipating the withdrawal of the aborigines, which, according to the. Treaty of Chicago, was to take place in 1836. Should the reader look upon the building recently erected by the Hon. Alex- ander Mitchell, president of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, at the south- east corner of East Water and Michigan streets, and try to carry his mind back a matter of fifty odd years, to the time when Juneau built his modest frame house on the same lot, he might be able to conceive something of the wonderful progress made by the town during the years that elapsed between the building of these two representative struc- tures. What would the pioneer of Milwaukee have thought if he could have seen with the eye of prophecy that noble pile, the most magnificent and costly business edifice in America, rearing its massive front in the midst of a great commercial city, where, at the time were but a few humble log huts and frame shanties ? The first town election was held in the year 1835, thirty-nine votes being cast, and the following officers elected : Supervisor, Geo. H. Walker ; Town Clerk. Horace Chase : Assessors, James Sanderson, Albert Fowler, and Enoch Chase ; Commissioners of Roads. Benoni W. Finch and Solomon Juneau ; Constable, Scioto Evans ; School Inspectors. Enoch Chase and Wm. Clark ; Path Masters, Enoch Darling, Baizillar Douglass, and U. B. Smith : Fence Viewers. Paul Burdick, U. B. Smith, and G. H. Walker ; Pound Master. Enoch Chase. So small was the population at this time that, as will be seen from the ■• slate," there were more than enough offices to go around. It is satisfactory to know that this excess in the supply of positions of honor, trust and emolument, was not experienced by the good citizens of Milwaukee for any alarming length of time, nor has it ever returned to annoy them. At the present date it may be said, in fact, that offices in that princely young city are sought for by patriotic inhabitants to an extent which precludes the necessity of giving three or four to a single man, as was necessarily done in the initial campaign of '35. The first sale of lots occurred in November, 1835, and by the beginning of 1836 the new village had entered upon a season of speculation and rapid growth known only in the history of our frontier towns. Of this prosperous area, Mr. J. S. Buck writes in his excellent Pioneer History of Milwaukee : •' Stocks of goods would be sold out in many instances before they were fairly opened, and at an enormous profit. Every one was sure his fortune was made, and a stiffer necked people, as far as prospective wealth was concerned, could not be found in America. Nothing like it was ever seen before ; no Western city ever had such a birth. People were dazed at the rapidity of its growth ; all felt good. * * * Some sixty buildings were erected, many of them of goodly dimensions. Streets were graded ; fences established ; officers of the law appointed ; medical and agriculUnal societies formed : a court house and jail erected ; and all in five short months." The year 1»36 was notable as witnessing the erection of a territorial government in Wisconsin, and the following officers were appointed to administer it : Governor, Henry Dodge: Secretary, J. S. Horner; Chief Justice. Charles Dunn ; Associate Justices, Wm. 10 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. C. Frazier and David Irwin ; Attorney General, W. W. Chapman ; Marshal, Franklin Gehon. The first sheriff of Milwaukee county, Henry M. Hubbard, was commissioned by Governor Dodge, August 2, 1836. At this time the population of the county amounted, according to a territorial census, to 2,893. Considering the enterprising character of the early settlers of Milwaukee, it is not surprising that even at this period, coincident with the infancy of railroad projects in America, they should have set their hearts upon the possession of an iron highway to connect the great lakes with the Mississippi. Byron Kilbourn, who will be remembered to the end of our natural life as the father of Wisconsin's splendid railroad system, visited Milwaukee on a surveying tour in 1834, and settled there in the following year. In con- nection with his career as a railroad operator, we find him first mentioned as secretary of a meeting held in Milwaukee, September 22, 1836, for the purpose of petitioning the ter- ritorial Legislature to charter a company for the construction of a railway from Milwaukee to the Mississippi, by way of Mineral Point. The project conceived at this meeting was not carried out until 1849, when the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad was started, but from the time the idea was first broached Byron Kilbourn and a few associates never lost sight of the advantages to the section to be reaped by means of railroads, and his and their efforts were thenceforth unceasing until the present system, which is a proud mon- ument to the enterprise, industry, perseverance, statesmanship and patience of its promoters, was completed in the construction of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, the most important line in the State, and one of the greatest and most prosper- ous in the world. This corporation controls 1,453 miles of railroad, and gridirons the commonwealth, extending as well to the neighboring States of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and the Territory of Dakota. To the tourist the early history of a place like Milwaukee must be of interest, and to the settler it is also valuable, as illustrating the results produced by hard work and enter- prise, seen to-day. We have for these reasons rather leaned toward the pioneer epoch in the city's history, since from the chrysalis of that early day burst forth the powerful State of the present. Before leaving Milwaukee we will note a point or two in connec- tion with its geographical position, population, facilities, and so forth. Milwaukee lies on the western shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Milwaukee river. From a northerly direction the river flows toward the city nearly parallel with the shore of the lake. The Menomonee river flowing from the west forms a confluence with it about half a mile from the outlet. Navigation for large vessels extends for a distance of about two miles up these rivers. The population of the city has been recently estimated by compe- tent authority at 125,000 souls. The commercial and manufacturing section of Milwaukee occupies both sides of the river for two miles. Here are the stately warehouses into whose great depths are poured the agricultural wealth of the Golden Northwest. As to sanitary .advantages, Milwaukee enjoys a reputation unexcelled by any of the American metropolises. Its drainage is perfect, climate equable although moderately cold in winter, and in every respect it justifies the appropriate title bestowed upon it by the savage poets of the race that left its neighborhood so sadly and reluctantly but a few years ago — "The Place of the Beautiful." The headquarters of this great line are in the Mitchell building, which stands on the site of the first house ever erected in Milwaukee, and is one of the most magnificent structures in the United States. It is of massive granite, six stories in height, elaborate and exquisite in architecture and surmounted by a handsome dome and tower. It is wholly of iron and stone, and is absolutely fireproof. It is provided with Wight's fire- proof columns and Hale's patent elevators, and in all its details is the perfection of utility, convenience and elegance— such an establishment as can rarely be equalled in any part of the world, constituting one of the chief ornaments of the beautiful city in which it stands, and forming a proud monument to the enterprise and public spirit of the dis- tinguished gentleman whose name it bears. THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 11 Tributary to Milwaukee are the finest wheat growing lands in America, and the rail- way system of the city, reaching in its comprehensive enterprise, nearly every railway station in the Northwest, together with the uniform rules of its Chamber of Commerce for the inspection of grain, has made Milwaukee the most reliable wheat market in the world. Among the commission merchants, who by their energy, activity and solvency have been instrumental in making the Milwaukee wheat market what it is, we find first the widely and favorably known house of L. Everingham & Co., whose ample and elegant THE MITCHELL BUILDING. offices, rooms 21 and 22, Mitchell .Building, we always find nearly full of customers and clerks. We here present a cut of this truly beautiful building. The firm of L. Evering- ham & Co.. commission merchants, Milwaukee, was organized in 1865. The volume of business entrusted to their care is second to none, and their history has been one of un- broken success. Their specialties are grain of all kinds, dressed hogs, live stock and provisions. As receivers of grain, etc., from the shippers of the Northwest their rep- utation as salesmen is constantly increasing. Being familiar with every channel of trade and expert judges of the quality and condition of grain, they are prepared to make such disposition of consignments, as will net the most for the shipper. Every car of grain of any descripti/m is carefully examined and is sold by sample or put into special bins instead of being thrown into the elevators with grain of the same grade, if anything can be saved to the shipper by so doing. Their wide and reliable correspondence enables them to lay before their customers the earliest and most complete inform ition in regard to the grow- 12 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. ing crops at home and abroad, and the condition and prices of the home and foreign mar- kets. They also fill orders for shippers and millers, giving careful attention to the quality and weight of the grain, and the details of loading. Grain of all kinds and provisions for future delivery are bought and sold on margins, and their purchases and sales are always quartered. In a city so well supplied as Milwaukee is with institutions of learning, colleges, hos- pitals and the like, it may seem almost invidious on our Dart to speak of one of such ins- titutions to the neglect of others of like character. But we have not the least hesitation in directing the attention of the reader to the Electro-Medical Institute of this city from the conviction that this establishment is doing a good and useful work, alleviating suffer- ing, removing both" the causes and the effects of disease, and thus benefitting humanity at large. The Electro-Medical Institute was established in 1861 by Dr. F. S. McNamara, still its proprietor andjconsultingiphysician, and occupies a handsome building at No. 580 THE ELECTROMEDICAL INSTITUTE. Broadway, Milwaukee. Its grounds are beautifully located and command handsome views of the residential and much of the business part of this flourishing city. The specialty of the Institute is the treatment of nervous and rheumatic disorders by means of Turkish, sulphur and electric baths, in the administration of which, Dr. McNamara has had great experience and has met with the highest degree of success. Tin- elect ro- inagnetic department is an important feature of the Institue, and is so arranged that the patient is submitted to just so many batteries as his disorder may require, the power of the instrument being graded according to his needs. Thus shocks are avoided and hun- dreds of respectable and well-known citizens stand ready to bear testimony to the efficacy of Dr. McNamara's remedies for this troublesome and dangerous class of diseases. In treating of the great business enterprises of Milwaukee, we cannot overlook the Northwestern National Insurance'Company, one of the most solidly founded institutions of the city. It was incorporated in 1869, and two years later met with a heavy loss by the great Chicago fire, which^loss it honorably met, although covering over $250,000- Since then the capital of the company has baen largely increased, and losses to ih" amount of $1,800,000 have been discharged. The business of the company now extends over twenty-two States and territories. The general offices are in the great Mitchell building, and the directory is composed of nineteen members, selected from Milwaukee's most noted and reliable business men. . . THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. !', One of the most prominent and important firms of Milwaukee, is that of Blair & Persons, who occupy a specially advantageous position at the head of the crockery, china and glassware trade of the city. ^^ j^fjfcsf&s. This house is one of the oldest in Mil- waukee, having been established in 1843, and occupies a handsome four-story and basement building, at Nos. 354 and 356 East Water street. They are large import- ers of high-grade fancy stocks of all kinds and keep four salesmen on the road con- tinually. The large double store holds a superb stock of the finest goods and is favorably known, not only in the city itself, but throughout the surrounding country. Milwaukeeans possess therefore, in their own city, and in the heart of the bus- iness centre, a house which can j'istly claim to rival the most important and best fur- nished of metropolitan institutions. The stock carried by this firm averages over $100,000 in value and includes every article of taste and luxury in this line which the asthetic demands of the city may call for. In articles of common use the same is true for Blair & Persons allow no competing firm to underbid them in price, or to over- bid them in quality. From ordinary stone- ware and queensware up to the highest branches of the potter's art, Sevres, im- ported China, Majolica, and all goods of the finest quality may be found here. In glassware the choice offered is, if possible, blair * persons' building. even more varied, and the quality and lowness of price are equally attractive. The firm possess especial advantages in regard to importation, and the great patronage which has been extended to them demonstrates effectively that their efforts are understood and ac- knowledged by their fellow-townsmen and the inhabitants of Wisconsin and adjacent States. The Milwaukee Mechanics' Mutual Insurance Company has its chief office here, and is one of the solid institutions of this very solid city. Its officers are of long experience in insurance matters, and its business is conducted on a satisfactory basis, with very profitable results. The Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western R. R. extends from Milwaukee, where it makes close connections with all trains, through to Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Two Riv- ers, Forest Junction and Appleton to Clintonville. The general offices of this road are located in Milwaukee, and here may be found Mr. H. F. Whitcomb, the genial gentleman who holds the position of General Freight and Passenger Agent. The Wisconsin Central R. R., which extends from Lake Superior to this city, having over 350 miles of track, and which here connects with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul R. R.. thus furnishing the great direct through route to all points East, West and South, is emphatically a Milwaukee institution. This great road opens up a stretch of country unsurpassed for scenic beauty and which is yearly becoming more in vogue as a pleasure resort. It passes through the picturesque forests of the northern part of this great State U THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. of Wisconsin, and opens up a country which to the hunter or fisherman has charms trans- cending those of any other region. At Ashland it makes connections with a line of steamers for Thunder Bay, Duluth, the famous Apostle Islands, and other points of in- terest and beauty. By taking this road and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway which connects with it, the Chicagoan can reach the shores ot the greatest of our inland seas, within twenty -four hours from leaving the metropolis of the Northwest. One of the most potent and popular institutions of the city is the Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, published by the Sentinel Company. It is an ably managed, newsy, enterpris- ing journal of eight six-column pages, and stands easily first among Wisconsin news- papers. It is Republican in politics, but temperate and dignified in its advocacy of men and measures, comparing favorably in these respects with the best specimens of Ameri- can metropolitan journalism. It has earned a wide circulation, a lucrative patronage and extensive influence — in one word, success — by deserving it. THE NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL, LIFE INSURANCE CO.'S BUILDING. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, of this city, commenced busi- ness in 1859 on the mutual plan, and in eighteen years has accumulated assets amounting to as many millions of dollars. It has paid to representatives of deceased policy-holders and to living members in dividends over fifteen millions of dollars. The office occupies a splendid stone and iron fire-proof building on Wisconsin street, one of the handsomest structures in the city. Its method of doing business is commended by the State Auditors of Illinois and Wisconsin, as well as the leading authorities of many Eastern States and its financial standing is above all cavil. RACINE. The thriving and enterprising city of Racine, Wisconsin, is situated sixty-two miles north of Chicago and twenty-three miles south of Milwaukee and occupies one of the finest sites for a city to be found on the Upper Lakes. More than half a million dollars THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 15 has already been expended upon its harbor and the meandering river affords six miles of dock facilities. This great and growing town has over 20,000 inhabitants and is rapidly assuming commercial and financial importance. It was founded about 1835-'36 and its growth has been both rapid and steady. For more than ten years it was known as Port Gilbert, from its founder, Cap't. Gilbert Knapp. In 1841 it became a village, and in 1848 it received a city charter. Racine is the seat of numerous excellent schools and of Ra- cine College, an institution of learning under the control of the Protestant Episcopal church, which contains over 200 students. Its annual manufactures aggregate over $6,000,000. THE WESTERN IjNION R. R. Racine is connected with Rock Island, Illinois by means of the Western Uuion R. R. one of the most important connecting lines of the Northwest. This railroad extends from Milwaukee through Elkhorn, Clinton, Beloit, Freeport. and Savanna to the Missis- sippi river, and passes through one of the richest and most fertile districts of the entire west. It makes direct and prompt connections with through trains for all points in the Northwest. The interior cities reached by this road are all places of considerable importance, both as manufacturing centres aud from a social point of view. The scenery along the line of route is of great beauty and picturesqueness. At Eagle, Beloit and Freeport, this road makes prompt connections with several lines and at the Western Union Junction is the connection with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, over which this road runs to Milwaukee. At Savanna, Fulton and Rock Island there are also valuable river connections with the Mississippi steamboats, in addition to the important railroad lines which centre at these points. The directors and officers of tins road are almost all Mil- waukee and Racine men of the first standing in financial and business circles. The Hon. Alexander Mitchell is president of the road, Mr. S. S. Merrill is vice-president, Mr. Fred Wild of Racine is general freight and ticket agent, and D. A. Olin is general superintendent. BROWN'S LAKE. Brown's Lake, Island* Wild, and "Gideon's Band," are three things of which it is impossible to treat separately. He who knows not of the one must be ignorant of the other, and we can scarcely realize such a degree of ignorance on the part of frequenters of summer resorts as is premised by this assumption. Brown's Lake is about two miles northeast of Burlington, on the Western Union R. R. in Racine county, and is one of the most beautiful little places in the entire Northwest. Its popularity as a summer resort dates from 1874, when a company from Racine first visited it. They found it so charming in all that contributes to health and pleasure that they determined not only to come again but to secure the lovely spot and make it their summer residence. Here, with their families and invited guests, free from the cares of business, and exempt from toil, they spend a few weeks of every year. They possess all the advantages of a fashionable summer resort, without the attendant expenses and the fashionable annoyances of more pretentious places. On an island in the lake to which the poetic name of Island Wild was given, buildings have been erected and the grounds beautified and adorned, until now he may indeed be writ- ten fortunate who receives an invitation to spend the summer with Gideon's Band. Now, as to the Gideonites : This strange and peculiar people are believed to be descendants of the aboriginal inhabitants of Noi'thern Illinois and the lake counties of Wisconsin. They are partially civilized — in fact many of them fill high business positions in Chicago, Racine, Milwaukee, and other cities — but the old half-savage love of the woods and prairies dwells in their hearts, and once every year, for three months or so, these pilgrims turn themselves loose upon the beautiful island of Island Wild. There ' they spend the time, fishing, hunting, sailing, bathing in the crystal waters of the beau- tiful lake, or rowing over its smooth surface, while the evenings are given up to dancing, L« THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. concerts, and many other amusements. Thus the days pass only too rapidly and the well earned holiday is only too brief in its duration. The '• Band " includes so many of our best known and respected citizens, that we can only find space here for a list of its officers. Officers. — Stephen Bull, President, Racine ; J. L. Drake, Vice-President, Bock Island ; H. Raymond, Treasurer, Racine ; Thos. St. George, Secretary. Racine. Direct- or H. J. Milligan, Geo. T. Williams, Chicago ; David Vance. Milwaukee ; H. C. Hyde, Freeport; F. M. Knapp, H. W. Wright, Racine ; Dr. C. Truesdell, Rock Island; Frank Davis. Beloit : A. E. Wells, A. Meinhardt. Burlington. House Committee — John R. CAMPING OUT AT BROWN'S LAKE, ISLAND WILD. Hoxie, Chicago ; W. D- Roweli, Freeport ; T. G. Fish, Racine ; Dr. Kords, A. J. Hannis, Burlington. Past Officers— Fred Wild, first President, 1875-6 ; W. B. Vance, second President, 1877 ; S. Bull, third President, 1878-9. Membership is limited to 125 full grown citizens, each of whom holds a share of stock in the " Band."' The object of the association is solemnly set forth in the articles of association to be the promotion of social intercourse among its members, and to invigorate their physical and mental condition by providing for them upon "Island Wild " a summer resort and club house, for recreation from the cares of business. In order to keep up the tone of the "Band," all candidates for admission must be proposed by a member or members. The "Band" is limited to 125 members, and a unanimous vote of the whole "Band " is a requisite for admittance. It is one of our most successful West- ern institutions, composed entirely of gentlemen of high character and standing, and admittance to the charmed circle is easrerly sought and highly prized. The beautiful little island has been rendered, by the efforts of the "Band," an insular paradise. An THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 17 extremely haDdsome club house has been constructed ; fishing, yacht racing, steamboat excursions, and every kind of sport, can be had here in the highest perfection, and by their own handsome little steamer and sailing vessels every visitor can daily enjoy a view of scenery not to be excelled even in Wisconsin. No better example of the true pleasures of camping out can be had than a two month's trip to Island Wild under the friendly care of the jovial and hospitable members of " Gideon's Band." Here the fortuuate visitor may take his choice of pleasures. He can row, sail, fish or hunt, and better than all if he is too indolent to do either he can "loaf and invite his CLUB HOUSK AT BROWN'S LAKH, ISLAND WILD. his soul" as Walt Whitman has it. He can swing in a hammock under the shady trees of the pretty little island or he can recline on the crisp grass of its shady nooks "the world forgetting— by the world forgot." I take it for all in all there is no pleasanter way of putting in the few weeks of recreation which fall to the lot of the hard-worked business man than in this manner. Health and entertainment are seldom so pleasantly combined or presented in so attractive a shape. ELKHORN. This is an important station on the Western Union Railroad and the junction of the branch line which extends to Eagle. Elkhorn is a lively little city of 1,300 inhabitants, and was founded in 1838. Walworth county is unsurpassed for agricultural purposes, being equally well adapted for stock raising, dairy farming, and the growth of the cereals. The watering places, within easy reach, include Geneva Lake, a noted summer resort, Delavan Lake, a beautiful sheet of water and much frequented during the season, and Lauderdale, Green, and Middle lakes, about six miles north of this point, while there ure t number of small but beautiful lakes in im oaadiate proximity to Elkliora , 18 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. This neighborhood is well and favorably known to sportsmen, and affords some of the finest hunting and fishing in the country. Direct communication is made with the Prairie du Chien division of the Chicago. Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway by means of the short (sixteen miles) road to Eagle, Waukesha county. DELAVAN. This brisk little manufacturing town is situated In Walworth county, Wis., 100 miles from Chicago and sixty-one miles from Milwaukee, in the centre of a beautiful rolling prairie, well timbered with oak and poplar, and distinguished for its handsome and varied scenery. The soil is of the greatest fertility and dairy farming forms the chief industrial pursuit. In this city are the " Gibson Mineral Springs," the water of which is considered bl'MMER RESIDENCE OF DR. FREDERIC LUDWIG VON SUESSM1LCH AT iii.n.vA.\ LAKE. very beneficial for invalids, and near these is a handsome artificial pond, which swarms with trout. Delavan Lake is a splendid piece of water six miles in length by about a mile and a half in width, and is said to be the handsomest lake in the State. It contains much very beautiful and romantic scenery, but is more interesting to the sportsman in that its waters afford the finest fishing in Wisconsin. It is located about two miles from the i-ail- road depot, from which omnibusses leave on the arrival of every train on the Western Union Bailroad. A handsome and newly built little steamer, especially designed for pic- nics and excursion parties, makes regular trips around the lake during the season. Here can be found good duck hunting and immense fishing facilities. The chief of these are the pike, pickerel, bass and perch fisheries, the latter being especially fine and numerous. THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 19 One of the most beautiful of the many elegant residences to be found here is the sum- mer cottage owned by Dr. Frederic Ludwig von Suessmilch. A native of Saxony, a man of profound learning and eminent skill in his profession, with a reputation and practice extending into many states in the west and northwest, and an enterprising and public spirited citizen, standing deservedly high in the estimation of all who know him. This handsome little dwelling was constructed by the Doctor with an eye to comfort and pleas- ure, and may be pronounced a perfect marvel of economic architecture. It is spacious and commodious, although compactly built, and few houses of the like character can compare with it for elegance of design and comfort of its owner. The State Deaf and Dumb Institute is located here and occupies a magnificent build- ing which overlooks the country for a radius of many miles. It stands in beautifu grounds, which have been greatly adorned and beautified, and are a credit not only to this entei'prising and handsome little town, but to the State at large. Delavan contains a number of manufacturing establishments, the chief. of which are flour and grist mills. But it will live in history more on the strength of its gorgeous and grand scenery than for its manufacturing or commercial importance. Here are concentrated all the charact- eristic features of Wisconsin scenery, its beautiful sheets of water, rugged rocks and fertile prairies. DABIEN. This handsome villiage was first settled 1836, and has steadily increased in wealth and prosperity, until it is known as one of the most thriving in this section. The soil in the neighborhood is of the utmost fertility and there is an ample supply of heavy timber. The Western Union R. R. passes through the township, and has a station at Darien. BELOIT. This is the chief city of this district, and one of the most important in Southern Wis- consin. It is distant ninety-eight miles from Chicago, seventy-eight from Milwaukee, and sixty-five from Racine, and possesses railroad communication with all points. As a manufacturing centre it has superior advantages, and it is the seat of several important paper factories, iron works and other industries. The soda and magnesia springs in the vicinity are much visited, and the hotel accommodation is good. Beloit has at least 5,000 inhabitants, and is rapidly growing. It is a great educational centre, and in Beloit Col- lege possesses one of the finest institutions of higher education in the Northwest. GENEVA LAKE. This beautiful little lake possesses several features of almost unique interest. It is several miles in length and has a wealth of varied scenery almost unsurpassed in this country. No spot in this vicinity has become a greater resort for Chicago merchants and business men, and its lovely shores are dotted with beautiful villas and summer resi- dences. It can be so readily reached via the Western Union Railroad that business men can leave their families in Geneva for the summer, and taking the fast train Saturday evenings, can spend the Sunday there and return to town in ample time for businesn on Monday morning. The hotel accommodations here are very good, and there are many boarding houses, which are largely patronized during the season. The lake is a beautiful one, indented and cut into by numerous promontories and curves of the shore, and it is a delightful place for aquatic sports. A fine steamer, built expressly for this service, plies around the whole shore daily, and several of the Chicago gentlemen residing here own steam yachts. This lake is the home of the ciscoes, a fish found, as we believe, nowhere else in the United States. They can only be caught dur- ing a few days in summer, when they rise to the surface in pursuit of the "cisco fly,' an ephemeral insect which makes its appearance once a year, generally in June. Owing to the exertions of some of the wealthy residents, Geneva Lake has been stocked with several millions of valuable food-fish, and it is now parhaps tha be^fc fishing ground in this section. Hi THE GOLDEN JS0R1BVSE&T PEWAUKEE. Near the geographical centre of Waukesha county, and at a point distant from Chicago about 104 miles, one of ihe most beautiful and admired localities in the Golden Northwest may be found. The town of Pewaukee, situated at the eastern extremity of Pewaukee Lake, is the point by which we may reach a retired, delightful resort, that has become so widely known within a few years as to be familiar to almost every angler, sportsman and summer tourist in the West. The county in which this town and lake are located is noted for the number and beauty of its lakes, of which there are forty-one, as well as for their popularity. None, however, among them all exceed, if indeed any equal, the channing features of Pewaukee, enhanced by the material comforts the visitor is enabled to enjoy through the ease with which access is possible to every point of interest. The countiy surrounding is a fertile farming district, which is thickly populated by an intelligent and wealthy class of agriculturists. It was first settled in 1837, but did not make any very great progress until a comparatively few years ago, when its advantages as a summer resort began to be appreciated. Since that time it has steadily advanced in population and prosperity. While other resorts boast the size and magnificence of their hotels, Pewaukee is par excellence the paradise of the camping party. During the warm months, hundreds of families and parties of sportsmen may be en- countered " gypsying " in their snowy tents about the shores of this beautiful lake. If one longs for a taste of out-door life, and the freedom from conven- tionality it allows, all that is necessary is to procure a tent and camp kit and go to Pewaukee. The Oakton springs, near Pewaukee, have for some time enjoyed a repu- tation for medicinal prop- erties almost equal to the more celebrated waters found in other parts of the country. At this point a magnificent house, known as the Oakton Springs Hotel, is open during the season, and is patronized extensively by the wealth and fashion of the leading American cities. Pewaukee is reached by the Chicago, Mil- waukee and St. Paul Eailway, and the other places of interest in the neighborhood are either on oue or the other of the many lines of this road, or within easy reach of them. WAUKESHA. The beautiful town of Waukesha, Wis., which has of late years become so celebrated for the ourative powers of the waters of its numerous mineral springs, is the county seat of Waukesha county, Wis. ; charmingly situated on the Fox river. It is distant from Chicago 106 miles, and from Milwaukee twenty miles, and is reached by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, the Prairie du Chien branch of which road runs through ». HA1I..W 1 CAMPING OUT ON PEWAUKEE LAKE. THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 21 the town. Since the accidental discovery, in 1868, of the medicinal qualities of its springs, Waukesha has grown rapidly in wealth, population, and popularity as a summter resort. Crowds of invalids and pleasure seekers visit the locality every summer, and a more fashionable watering place than Waukesha has grown to be would be difficult to find anywhere in the country. The hotel accommodations of Waukesha are excellent. Nature never endowed a place with more numerous or appreciable advantages as a sani- tarium than she has the locality of Waukesha. The climate in this section. Southern Wisconsin, is, to begin with, salubrious in the extreme, the natural situation of the site is remarkably picturesque and inviting, and to crown all, the advantages offered by the waters; all these together combine to render the place certain of becoming one of the leading "Spas" of the world. Its resident population Is about 4,000, the number being of course largely increased during the season. The principal source of its prosperity lies in its springs, which furnish specifics for the cure of manifold disorders. JANESVILLE AND MONEOE. Leaving the immediate neighborhood of the State metropolis, it is impossible to travel in any direction without finding points of more than ordinary interest, whether viewed with the eye of the merchant, manufacturer, settler, or tourist. One of the many thriving and attractively located cities for which Wisconsin is noted, is Janesville, situated on both sides of the Rock river, and occupying portions of the townships of Harmony, Eock, Jauesviile and LaPrairie. The white settlement of Janesville began in 1833, in which year a family named Holmes built the first house— a log cabin — on the west side of the river, opposite the Big Rock, then a prominent feature hi the scenery of the valley, and which gave to the crossing at that point the name of Big Eock Ford. Holmss, during the same year, laid out a town which he called Eockport, covering the ground now constituting the fourth ward of the present city. A number of pioneers set- tled on the east side of the river in 1837, among them Henry Janes, who erected a tavern where a large business block now stands. The city is called Jauesviile after this early resident. In 1837 it was made the county seat of Eock county, and the present court house, built upon the bluffs overlooking the city. Is regarded as one of the finest public buildings in the State. It was erected at a cost of $112,000. The population of Janes- ville is about 9,000, and its industries, principally mining and manufacturing, give ample employment to both the capital and labor of the city. The river furnishes one of the finest water powers In the West, and its shores are lined with establishments for the manufacture of various products. The flour made at this place has achieved an enviable reputation in the markets of the world, and success has also attended the enterprise of its citizens in the manufacture of woolen and cotton goods and agricultural implements. The country surrounding Janesville is well adapted to the growth of the leading cereals, especially wheat. As the Eock Eiver is not navigable to any considerable extent, the commerce of the town is carried on by means of its railroad communications, which her ample. The Janesville and Monroe branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway is the principal outlet for trade, and a branch of the Chicago and Northwestern Eoad crosses the former at this point, opening connection for the city with every important point in the land, and bringing it directly to the doors of its principal markets, Chicago and Milwaukee, from the latter of which it is only seventy -one miles distant. A pleasant place to visit or for permanent residence at all times, in the summer and autumn Janesville is as attractive a town as nature and art, backed by large material prosperity, could well make it. The climate is equable, and but very little sickness is known in the vicinity. Another very prosperous, finely located and attractive locality, on the same branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul with Janesville (and its present terminus) , is the town of Monroe, with a population of about 4,000. It is distant from Milwaukee lOo 22 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. miles. It is expected to extend the road before long to the Mississippi river, which it strikes at Dunleith, 111., almost opposite Dubuque, Iowa. MILTON TO MADISON. The Junction bearing the somewhat aspiring title of Milton, is probably so named from a local belief that hereabouts the poetic John might have found the earthly Eden concerning which he was so fond of speculating in blank verse. Ee this as it may, the country around this station possesses attractions in the way of scenery, sport, and so on calculated to excuse the enthusiasm of its residents, as well as the many others who have visited that neighborhood. Lake Koshkonnong, five miles distant, teems with fish, pre- historic works of the mound builders abound, and the drives for many miles about are unsurpassed in the state. Milton Junction is the eastern terminus and junction of the Janesville and Monroe branch of the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul Eailway, sixty-two miles from Milwaukee. It offers good hotel accommodations, is somewhat noted in the surrounding regions as the seat of Milton College, and presents to the traveler a very rich and fertile farming region. This part of Bock county is chiefly observable from the fact that the principal crop cultivated is tobacco. Whitewater, to the east, and Edgertonand Stoughton, to the west of Milton Junc- tion, are all growing places, well worthy of a call from the tourist. MADISON. The capital of the State of Wisconsin is not only an important political centre, but well known as or e of the most beautiful and picturesque places in the country. As a watering place alone, it possesses attractions and advantages that give it a pre-eminently foiward place in the favor of seekers after summer rest and fashionable recreation, with all the delights of purely sylvan life thrown in, as often as one wishes to enjoy them. Madison, in addition to its other honors, is the county seat of Dane county, and occupies an isth- mus about threo-fourths of a mile wide between Lakes Mendota and Monona, in the cen- tre of a broad valley surrounded by hights from which it can be seen a distance of several miles. The distance from Chicago to Madison is only 138 miles, and from Milwaukee 95 miles. It is reached by the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien line of the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul Eailway, and it is connected with northern and northwestern points by branch lines which strike the Chicago and St. Paul line of the same road at Watertowu thirty-six miles east, and at Portage City, thirty-nine miles to the north. The resident population of Madison is placed at 15,000, but during the summer this number is largely increased by fashionable immigration from all parts of the United States, the South, however, being best represented. It is very rarely the case that a watering place is able to combine the attractions of unspeakably beautiful scenery, ex- cellent hunting and fishing, surroundings of the greatest interest to the botanist and archaeologist, with all the refinements and facilities of metropolitan life. Madison, through her state institutions, university, library, and so forth, offers all those opportunities for study so dear to the professional or scientific man, and the further and important desid- eratum of a wealthy and cultivated resident, society, is not to be overlooked. Lying right around the city are four most charming lakes. On the northwest, Lake Mendota, the largest of these, is about six miles in length by four wide. It is edged with shores of clear shining gravel, and is deep enough (average sixty feet) for navigation by steamboats. The second in size, Lake Monona, is somewhat smaller, and has not so great a depth, but is still able to support a small steamer which makes pleasant excursions. Among the prominent features of the town is the State Capitol, a fine stone structure built upon a commanding eminence some seventy feet above the level of the lake, and surrounded by a handsome public park of fourteen acres. College Hill, and the Univer- sity of Wisconsin upon its brow, are also noticeable, looming up above their surroundings, about a mile west of the capitol, and 125 feet above Lake Mendota. Delightful drives abound, and everything may be found at hand to tempt the visitor to linger on and on THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. S3 until snowfall. Facilities for procuring board are adequate, excellent boarding houses abound, and there are in addition several passable hotels. A majority of visitors prefer the quiet and privacy of semi-private families, hence the hotels have not had sufficient encouragement, perhaps, to compete with those of other and even less favored summer resorts. MIDDLETON TO PEAIKIE DU CHIEN. Situated in the same county with the state capital, and distant from it but a few miles > the little village of Middleton has claims upon the attention of the traveler, which are recognized by all who visit Madison, as well as by many who even prefer its simplicity and economy to the more aristocratic life of the city. With the latter this charming ham- let is connected by both steam and rail, as it is a station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, and only a mile and a half from Lake Mendota. Added to the natural ad- vantages it enjoys in common with its distinguished neighbor, there are several consider- ations that give it a character peculiar to itself. About four miles from the station there is a large cavern known as Richardson's Cave, easily accessible by carriage, which has excited the wonder and admiration of thousands. The cave is of natural formation, and according to tradition has furnished a safe retreat for outlaws, who were not uncommon in the pioneer days of Wisconsin, and who found at this spot a convenient depot for plun- der and place of rendezvous near the settlements, while their operation extended south- ward into Illinofs and westward far into Iowa. On the very site of the peaceful village of to-day, once stood the camp of Blackhawk's dusky army, and where now the church bell calls the people to thoughts of love and mercy, the scalp dance of the savage braves was celebrated, not so long ago but that people yet live who fled as the invading Indians horrid yell broke the stillness of the lovely valley. The adjacent country is devoted to farmiug and stock raising, and prosperity has long shone upon the locality. All that is left to remind the older settlers of the struggles of early days, is an occasional tomahawk blade or arrow-head picked up now and then, as the good wife trowels her garden beds, or the farmer turns a furrow in the wheat field. Between Middleton and Prairie du Chien, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul trains whirl the traveler through a section overflowing with life and happiness, and displaying every indication of material progress and prosperity. Want of space prevents us from giving a detailed description of the thriving towns scattered over this stretch of country; the leading ones are Cross Plains, Black Earth, Mozomame, Arena, Helena, Spring Green, Lone Rock, Avoca, Muscoya, Blue River, Boscobel, Woodman, Wauzeka, aud Bridgeport. One of the above is entitled to particular mention, in the interest of all who are devotees of trout fishing. Lone Rock station, 225 miles from Chicago and 140 from Milwaukee, is noted for the quantity and quality of its speckled trout, and for the fine shooting to be had in the neighborhood. Numerous parties from the cities visit Lone Rock in the sum- mer and fall. The name of the place is derived from: an isolated rock standing in the Wisoonsiu river at this place, which was used by the Indians as a landmark. PRAIRIE DU CHIEN. We have remarked in another place that the history of the posts of Prairie du Chien and 1 Green Bay cover about all that is known of the early white settlement of Wisconsin, comprising nearly its entire record up to the present century. Pere Marquette is believed to have visited the site of Prairie du Chien in June, 1673, at the time when he reached the Mississippi, by passing up the Fox to the Wisconsin River, and thence out upon the broad expanse of the Father of Waters. Later, in 1680, Pere Louis Hennepin was probably in the locality. The place was occupied by the French as a fortified post at a very early day. The exact time is a matter of dispute among historians, but there seems to be some evidence that it was at as remote a time as 1680. According to current opinion, in 1726 a hunter and trapper from Canada settled here permanently. His name was Cardinelle, and he came accompanied by his wife. Mme. U TSE GOLDEN NORTffWEST. Cardinelle was undoubtedly the first white woman who ever saw the spot where the pros- perous city of Prairie du Chien now stands. Her memory should be held in reverence by the citizens of the town, for she honored it in surviving to the good old age of 130 years, thus bestowing upon the neighborhood the very best eulogium it could have for the sani- tary excellence of its climate. Numbers of people have attempted to equal the old lady's longevity, and with every desfre to accomplish the feat, but without success; still, the environment of the city remains to this day favorable to health and prolongation of life. By the treaty of 1 763 the town passed from French into English hands, and at this time the former are supposed to have abandoned the settlement, for Capt. Jonathan Car- ver, who visited it in 1766, found an Indian town of 300 inhabitants, and referred to it as a matt for the trading enterprises of the neighboring tribes. During the struggle for American independence, Prairie du Chien was the scene of an affair in which a small ex- pedition in the British interest descended upon the place and destroyed a quantity of furs gathered there by American traders. In 1786 it was surrendered to the United States. Major Z. M. Pike, U. S. A., found a village of 370 souls here in 1805, and the fort had then a small garrison commanded by Capt Fisher. During the second war with Great Britain, Prairie du Chien was again taken possession of by an English and Indian expe- dition under Col. McKay. The fort capitulated after a gallant defense, and the Americans were allowed to embark, not, however, without calling forth the most strenuous efforts on the part of the British commander to save them from massacre by his savage allies. A very interesting paper on the history of Prairie du Chien appeared not long ago in the "\Yineon8in State Journal, of the authorship of which we are not advised. Among other things some recollections connected with Fort Crawford appear, which we think well worthy of reproduction: "In 1816, old Fort Crawford was erected here by Col. Hamilton, upon what is known as the Island, or where the railway depots now stand; but owing to high waters of '21, '26 and '28, it was decided by Col. Zach. Taylor to erect a new fort upon higher ground. The site chosen was Pike's Hill, a high, projectihg bluff, three miles below, on the Iowa side, because of its commanding both the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers, but after two years successive failure to build a road that could not be affrcted by the disastrous floods that visited the region, it was abandoned, and a position on the main land, which is about forty feet higher than the island, was selected and in 1832, New Fort Crawford was completed and occupied. Many are the historical reminiscences given of the early days of Fort Crawford, aud many are the incidents and adventures related of the men who subsequently became conspicuous in the annals of our history. Perhaps none figure mare conspicuously, or so often, as does Jeff. Davis— or, as he was familiarly known in those days, "the little nigger" — net because of his exhub- erant spirits, amounting to dare deviltry, but lalhcr because of his recent notoriety. True, here he first received his initiation into the rigor of military life on the frontier; but as ho remained here but a short time, being ordered to Fort Winnebago as speedily as possible by Col. Taylor, who disliked him heartily, we cannot credit that he figured in all the incidents related of him, as it would have necessitated a continual season of wakeful- ness and fasting, neither of which are leading characteristics of our Jeff. Here it was, so it is said that he surreptitiously wooed and won the fairNoxie Taylor, and the consequent ill-will of paterfamilias. Old Zach ! This has passed into history ; and the window through which she escaped, and the rope by which she descended to the arms of "the little Nig," would be shown as evidence of the truthfulness of the romance, had the house been left standing and the rope preserved; but unfortunately for posterity, they are numbered among the things that were, and, inasmuch as she was but twelve and he twenty, when he was stationed here, and they did not marry for over four years after this, and then in Louisiana, the faithful chronologistis forced to write, upon the authority of one who knew both parties intimately, and who learned his first words in English from Jeff, that the whole story, or rather all the stories of the elopement, are of the purest Action." THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. .25 LAKESIDE. It has been our pleasure to show to the world how Wisconsin can lodge a good part of the world in her hundreds of summer hotels, with plenty of room and conveniences left for thousands who sensibly prefer the primitive enjoyments of camp life. But the varied advantages of summer life in the Badger State do not stop here. One of the most engaging resorts in the section is entirely confined to cottage life, and every year a tem- porary community of cultivated people from all parts of the country is established at Lakeside, a collection of summer cottages on the beautiful Lake Pewaukee. Of the lake itself, we have written at some length in another place. Suffice it to say that at the quiet and lovely spot now under consideration, every advantage is enjoyed which could be real- ized by stopping at any other point in the locality, in addition to which the possession of a little home of one's own for the summer is to be calculated. Lakeside has frequent steamer communication with Oakton Springs and Oakton Springs Hotel, a fashionable watering place on the opposite side of the lake, besides which there are row-boats and yachts in abundance, according to the taste of the visitor. Lakeside is located on the north side of Pewaukee Lake, twenty-three miles west of Milwaukee, on the La Crosse division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul .Railway, and is equi-distant from Wauke- sha and Oconomowoc, being about ten miles from each of those places. Summer resi- dence at Lakeside affords opportunities for obtaining the benefit of the various Spas for which Waukesha county is celebrated. HARTLAND. Near this station, on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, 108 miles from Chicago and twenty-three from Milwaukee, are a number of the beautiful lakes that stud the bosom of Waukesha county. Summer cottages for the entertainment of visitors abound on the east side of Pine Lake, on Beaver Lake, and on North Lake, all in the im- mediate neighborhood, The last of these has of late attained to a considerable popular- ity, vieing with the older resorts of Waukesha aud Oconomowoc as a place for fashionable summer residence. NASHOTAH AND DELAFIELD. At Nashotah we strike the centre of Waukesha county's remarkable lake system. The station is 111 miles from Chicago, and twenty-six from Milwaukee, on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway. Nashotah is the entrepot for summer visitors, who yearly flock to resorts on Pine Lake and at Stone Bank to the north; and south to Dela- field, where the Nemahbin Springs Company are making improvements. Nashotah is the seat of a theological seminary connected with the Anglican church. The buildings of this institution cover some of the most attractive sites in the neighborhood, which abounds with positions for the erection of public buildings or residences, of surpassing beauty. Four lakes in a cluster, the two Nashotahs and the two Nemahbins, surrounded by high banks, affords a variety of delightful landscape seldom equalled in other places. The fishing about this locality is so good that it, alone, attracts a large number of people from distant points every year, while all the other qualifications of a fashionable summer resort are possessed by Nashotah and Delafield, and their immediate surroundings, in the utmost degree. Among other means of enjoyment, the drives hereabouts are cele- brated for their scenery, as well as for the excellence of the roads. Those who visit this part of Wisconsin with the especial object of angling for the most part go to Delafield. About two miles south of Delafield enchanting drives lead from several directions to the observatory, on Government Hill. A gradual rise of heavily embowered hills leads to this commanding eminence, 670 feet above the surround- ing country. A government observatory. 100 feet high, formerly occupied the brow of this hill. It was burned a few years ago, but will probably be rebuilt shortly. From this point a view for miles in every dnection may be obtained, which has been regarded for its picturesque beauty and variety of scene, shade, life and tone, to rank among the THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. finest landscape effects in the world. Over thirty lakes may be seen from this mount and the meanderings of the streams which connect them are noted in glimpses of spark- ling water, here and there, as they appear and disappear in the courses through dense woodland and open fields; now hidden in deeply shaded valleys, and again winding through acres of golden grain. GIFFOEDS. This favorite summer resort for families is beautifully situated on the banks of Ocon- omowoc Lake in an extensive grove of forest trees and near the centre of one nundred acres of beautiful hills and dales, meadows and forests, interspersed with romantic rambles and walks. The magnificent scenery, pleasant drives, excellent roads, healthful climate, invigorating atmosphere, wonderful springs, elevated location and facilities for sailing, driving, bathing, bowling, fishing, and many other enjoyments are not surpassed, even If they are anywhere equalled in the northwest. The Gifford House, fronting south, THE GOLDEN XOttTHWEST. 27 west and east, is situated on the north shore of the lake upon a bold bluff running some- what into the water, forming a peninsula, and it overlooks the lake and its magnificent surroundings. Grand old forest trees ornament the undulating lawns and afford delicious shade. Giffords is upon the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Kailway, about 113 miles west from Chicago, and trains from both Milwaukee and Chicago stop at the station three minutes walk from the house. A fully equipped livery stable is maintained and there is a telegraph ollice and many other conveniences in the Gifford House. OCONOMOWOC. Oconomowoc, in the dialect of the Pottowatomies, means the Place of the Beaver, and this title was given by its Indian possessors to the locality where the flourishing city of the same name stands to-day. Oconomowoc has a population of about 2,500, and is situated on a narrow isthmus between Lac La Belle and Fowler's Lake, in Waukesha county, Wis., 116 miles Irom Chicago, by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Kailway. This town and its neighborhood would be interesting alone for the remarkable wealth and advanced development of its agricultural resources. One of the richest farming regions in the world, it has grown apace under the spur of modern improvements, in the methods and aopliances of agriculture, until it presents to the eye the picture of a great garden, every inch of which is made to produce a rich return for the husbandman's care. But to the general public, Oconomowoc is better known and more widely appreciated as one of our leading American watering places. The climate, to begin with, is delightful, and a welcome change to the visitor blase of the searching winds of the great lake shores, or the heavy atmosphere of the lower regions of the south and east. The rarified condition of the air as the traveler approaches this point, becomes readily apparent to the senses, since from the east, from the borders of Lake Michigan, or from the flat regions west- ward, there is a gradual rise, until at the town an elevation is reached of 300 feet above the level of Lake Michigan. Within a radius of nine miles from Oconomowoc, there are forty -one lakes, all offer- ing the most enchanting scenery, and presenting nature in forms so prolific in variety and beauty that the pen is powerless to depict their attractiveness. The clear waters of all these lakes are fairly alive with fish of every variety sought for by the fisherman, while the romantic woods and hills around abound with game of all descriptions common to the State. In and about the town, on the various shores, a number of gentlemen from Chicago, Milwaukee, and the South, have elegant villas, with spacious and handsome grounds attached. The jaunty fleet of steam and sailing yachts owned by these cottage residents, forms a pleasant element in the summer idyls of the place. Near the Draper House and within the city limits, the elegant and hospitable country seats of Clarence and Harold Peck, George Shufeldt, George Severance, and Charles A. Dupee, all of Chi- cago, form an important adjunct to the charming social life and gaiety of the resort. For the facilities of visitors who are not fortunate enough to own places, there are ample accommodations in the way of fine hotel and numberless boarding places. Draper Hall, with ample and pleasant grounds sloping to the shores of both lakes, has long enjoyed an enviable reputation for the extreme neatness and perfection of its appointments and the excellence of its cuisine. This house opened in 1869 as a strictly summer hotel, but its popularity became shortly so great as to justify its being kept open the year through, as it has been now for several years. A large number of trim, rakish yachts and row- boats are kept by the proprietor for the convenience of his visitors; bowling alleys, wine rooms and bath houses are within the grounds, and everything has been done that money and taste could do to make Draper Hall the embodiment of a summer resting place for bachelor, belle, or family. WATEKTOWN. About fifteen miles west from the centre of the fascinating lake region whereof we have been treating in the papers immediately preceding this one, the tourist finds him- 28 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. self at the busy manufacturing and commercial city of Watertown, in Jefferson county. Concerning this fertile section of the State, we quote from a letter written us by a gen- tleman prominently connected with its business interests. He writes: "This is one of the interior counties of the state. Its surface is gently undulating, and interspersed with woodlands, prairies, and openings. It is abundantly watered by numerous lakes, rivers, rivulets and springs, and in places thickly covered with heavy forests containing a choice variety of timber, amply sufficient for all commercial and economical purposes. The soil is rich and well adapted to the production of wheat, barley, rye, oats, potatoes, fruits, aud other staple crops. The county contains 368,640 acres of land, two-thirds of which are under cultivation, and more than three-fourths of the remainder capable of cultiva- tion. In regard to water power, it is one of the most favored counties in Wisconsin.' - Watertown, aptly so named, is a city of about 11,000 inhabitants, situated on both sides of the Eock Kiver, at a line between Jefferson and Dodge counties. It is distant 129 miles from Chicago, and 280 miles from St. Paul. At this point the Watertown and Mad- ison branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway forms a junction with the Chicago and St. Paul line of the same road, affording the city ample railroad communi- cation with all points. The Minneapolis and Wisconsin division of the C. & N. W. E. R. also touches the town. The Rock River furnishes a magnificent water power at this place, which has been utilized by the erection of three dams across the stream. It is a point of considerable business importance, and a number of extensive manufacturing enterprises aro successfully carried on. There are several large flouring mills, a brick factory, saw mills, founderies, pottery works, wagon factories, and factories for the production of sashes, doors, blinds, and cabinet ware. The comfort of the traveling public is catered to by several comfortable hotels, and the pushing life of the energetic residents finds variety and rest in trips to Lake Mills, a summer resort ten miles south of the city. From Watertown to this latter point, and in fact throughout the entire locality, finely graded roads offer seductive bait to citizen and stranger to enjoy the smoothness and attractiveness of the local scenery, behind a spanking team, which a moderate outlay will always secure. The foreigner "doing" America need not think he has seen our country until, among other points of interest, he has paid a visit to Watertown and the splendid section of the Golden Northwest in which it lies. PORTAGE CITY. Portage City, the shore town of Columbia county, Wisconsin, is situated at the head of navigation on the Wisconsin River, as well as on the ship canal which connects the Wisconsin with Lake Michigan. The population of this town is something over 5,000, and it justly claims no mean commercial importance, as its lumber interest has for many years supported an extensive commerce with the leading markets of the country. Steamers and barges are iu constant movement between this point and Green Bay, and the traffic in the lumber and other lines of trade support this thriving community in a manner justifying the increase of population which has been noticeable during the past years. Portage is the northern terminus of the Madison and Portage lino of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway. FOX LAKE. Fox Lake, in Dodge county, Wisconsin, is a pretty and prosperous town of 2,000 inhabitants, located on Beaver Dam River, at the foot of Fox Lake. It has an excellent water power, and contains a number of large manufacturing establishments. The lake is a beautiful body of water, nearly circular In form and in the neighborhood of three miles in diameter. It is studded with romantic islands and is a favorite resort of anglers. Forty thousand young Mackinaw trout are planted here annually, and these, with the numerous game fish indigenous to the waters, give all the locality a deservedly high reputation for its piscatorial allurements. The land in this locality is high and rolling, TBB HOLDEN NORTHWEST, 29 and a good deal of prairie is encountered. The soil is a rich black loam, with clay sub- soil. Like all that part of the State, the country here is finely wooded, red and white oak, hickory, poplar, white and black ash, basswood, white and red elm, black cherry, and a limited amount of hard and soft maple, being the leading timbers. The agricul- tural products are principally wheat, the leading crop; corn, oats, barley and potatoes. Railway connection is maintained with all Christendom by way of Fox Lake Junction, two miles distant, on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway. With this station the town is directly connected by a line of street cars. Fishing parties who visit Fox Lake will find reasonable facilities for obtaining boats and tackle. KILBOURN CITY AND DELLS OF THE WISCONSIN. The neighborhood of Kilbourn City is in many respects, without doubt, the most interesting point in the state of Wisconsin. Here the tourist halts to visit the Dells of AT THE HEAD OP THE DELLS. the Wisconsin River, a treasure-house of the wildest scenery, than which the famed beauties of the Canons of the Yellowstone or the picturesque Watkin's Glen in New York, are not greater. Nor is this locality alone interesting because of its weird, impres- sive surroundings, for connected with it are remenisences of Indian days, and tales and traditions of the wild raftsmen's life of early white settlement. Almost every spot along the banks of the river for miles hereabout is identified with some legend of tragic interest. Kilhourn City is a small town of 1,200 inhabitants, situated on the Wisconsin river, at the crossing of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway and was named in honor of Byron Kilbourn, who was superintendent of that road at the time the village was located. It is distant from Chicago 193 miles, from Milwaukee 109, and from St. Paul 225 miles. The first buildings, a dwelling house and a printing office, were erected in 1855, and in the following year a number of settlers came in. The crossing of the rail- way had been anticipated at a point a little lower on the river, and there quite a settlement had sprung up; but when the bridge was finally begun at its present site, the 30 TBE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. houses were pulled down and the community almost to a family moved up to Kilbourn City. As to the general character of the surface in this vicinity, it is "generally rolling and broken by numerous ravines, the latter generally transverse to the Wisconsin river, which borders the liver on the west and south. The soil varies somewhat after the fashion of a checker- board: a tract of clay covered heavily with white and black oak alternating with a patch of light sandy soil marked with stunted burr oaks and 'jack pines.' Clay or clayey loam predominates, about four-fifths of the land being adapted for tillage. The leading products are wheat and other cereals, hops, potatoes and apples." Son e years ago Kilbourn City was the most important supply market for hops in the state, but the falling of in prices of late years has materially diminished the production. OOLD WATEB CANON, DEIXS OF THE WISCONSIN. Several manufacturing establishments are in operation in and about the village, among which a saw mill and flouring mill are the most important. There, are many, stores, fi\(> churches, a post office, several insurance offices, and the Bank of Kilbourn, the latter an institution of greater Influence and importance than the size of the town would naturally suggest. It is presided over by the Hon. J. Bowman, who is also resident director of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Kailway, and has been honored several times with a seat in the Assembly and Senate of Wisconsin. There is an excellent and popular hotel at Kilbourn City, the Finch House, where every accommodation needed by the traveler or summer visitor is supplied as completely as the most exacting watering place habitue could ask. The public are, to a great extent under obligation to the proprietor of this house, Mr. W. H. Finch, for the celebrity his efforts have given the Dells. With the latter, Mr. H. H. Bennett, the noted landscape THE GOLDEN NORTBWEST. 31 artist of the Dells, divides the honor of having brought the region to public attention. The cuts with which this paper is illustrated are from stereoscopic views taken by him. Copies of the originals are scattered over the civilized world, as there are scarcely any rivals of this enterprising and enthusiastic artist in the wholesale photographic business in the Northwest. Kilbourn City is connected with other points by the Chicago, Milwau- kee and St. Paul Railway and its connections. There are stage lines running daily to Baraboo and other local points. Of course by far the greatest claim that Kilbourn City has upon the attention of the outside world, consists in its position as the gateway of the Dells. Overshadowed bv DIAMOND GROTTO. DEX,L,8 OP THE WISCONSIN. the greater attractions of these, still alone worthy to make the place one of interest, within the town limits there is a beautiful glen, only the more charming because one almost steps out of the street into its secluded depths, Just back of the handsome public school building, and only a block or so from the Finch House, Taylor's Glen com- mences. It is a pity that such a romantic spot should be handicapped with such a plebian name, but in this respect it is not more unfortunate than Watkin'6 Glen, the verv designation of which is enough to keep people away from it. Prosaic or not this is Taylor's Glen, and the visitor is amply repaid for his trouble in rambling, or rather scrambling through it. At the head of the glen it is only an ordinary looking ravine, but advancing a few hundred feet the descent is considerable and the walls on either side nearly meet overheat!. The sides of the canon are festooned with vines and climbing wall flowers, while tufts of sweet ferns and mosses form foils of the richest velvet brown and green hues, setting off the gaudy colors of the more pretentious wild flora around. Farther on the dell ends abruptly at a tunnel about a hundred feet in length, hollowed out of the solid rock. It consists of a single low chamber, dark as night, through which the pedestrian has to walk nearly doubled. At the lower mouth of the tunnel the scene 32 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. opens on a miniature lake surrounded by high walls. Ascending the practicable side of this pocket, the path leads on to a commanding bluff that overlooks a broad bend in the river. From above the subdued sound of water as it rushes through the rapids below the railroad crossing, greets the ear pleasantly, and the view commands a broad land- scape, including river, hill and valley, too placidly beautiful for description. Here on the bluff one may well imagine the scene of savage sacrificial rites, while from its jutting front Indian maidens may have dashed themselves into the sorrow -healing depths below, as probably as from the thousand other rocks in the Golden Northwest, said to have thus been consecrated to romance. Below this point tiie river winds its way to the southwest, amid scenes of savage UNDEB BLACK HAWK'S LEAP, DELL8 OF THE WISCONSIN. beauty only less picturesque than the Dells above. To the geologist, angler, or adven- turous idler, nowhere in the country is such an opportunity for pleasure or study offered as here in the chance to make a canoe voyage down stream to the Mississippi. The trip from Kilbourn City through the Dells is made on the steamer Dell Queen, a staunch and handsome boat, built expressly with reference to the dangerous navigation of the river in this part of its course. The wrecks of other boats and the non-support of some still existing, shows the traveler plainly that he should be careful to enter the "Jaws" only on ihe safest kind of a vessel. The master of the Dell Queen, Capt. Bell, is probably one of the few living persons capable of safely navigating these treacherous waters; his experience on this river dating from boyhood, and his knowledge of it includ- ing every rock, eddy, current and bar from the headquarters to the Mississippi. From just above the splendid iron bridge of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Kail- way, that throws a span across the river 400 feet long, the Dell Queen points its bow up stream. On the right as the steamboat landing is left behind, the saw mill perched upon a high bank, is passed, and then the river makes wide bend to the northward, its right bank alternately hills and rolling mounds, covered with living green in every tint and shade. On the opposite side the bluffs rise abruptly from the water, forming palisades THE GOLbEN NORTHWEST. 33 the very miniature of those grand natural structures on the Hudson. These palisades slope gradually to the point where the singular formation known as the Pillared Bocks occurs. Above these natural colonnades, in the face of the walls, myriads of swallows have built their nests, and their busy flight in and out of their tiny domiciles lends to the scene a feature of microscopic life and strife that delicately tones down the otherwise ruggedness of Nature's visage. Past the Pillars the shores bend inward to the Jaws of the Dells, a narrow passage guarded on either side by High Rock and Romance Cliff. A WITCHES' GULCH, DELLS OF THE WISCONSIN. little further on Chimney Rock stands up, looking like the ghost of some deserted fire- side. After Chimney Rock comes a little patch of clear sand} - beach over which the swal- lows are flitting by thousands, fluttering as they bathe at the water's edge, and twitter- ing to each other like so many little magpies. A sudden change from the innocent bird life of the beach [just left, is suggested by the sight of an old wicked looking house that stands alone in a lonely place, at the second bend of the river to the north from Kilbourn City. The site is the old bed of the river, surrounded by the bluffs whose bases were once washed by its rapid flow. This is known as Allen's Tavern, and its founder still lives there, a recluse and misanthrope. Here this early settler planted himself in 1837, when the only white men in the region were the raftsmen who floated through the Dells on their way from the pineries to the Great River. With these wild men, Allen's was a favorite stopping place. The rapids below made it necessary for them to double up crews, and here, while the passage of the chute below was being effected, numbers of these desperate characters were wont to congregate for 3 34 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. days together, and through the whole season there were always a greater or less number quartered at the place. Dark stories hang about the old house, and legends of men mur- dered for their money and thrown into the secret waters of the river, are whispered t° this day in the gloaming, as the farm house circle gathers round the fire-place. Deadly quarrels have been fought out between the house and the shore, the victims' bodies fall- ing prey to the water-fiend of the Dells, who never gives up his dead. Upon the scenes of those days light has never been thrown. Old man Allen could tell tales if he would, but he seldom speaks to his fellow men, even casually, or unless some necessary want compels him, but lives in the old deserted tavern, whose windows, boarded up, shut in CAVE or TUB DARK WATERS, DELLS OF THE WISCONSIN. with him the ghosts and phantom cries and blood stains of a time and life forgotten by all around save this sole surviving actor. North from Allen's the river rushes through the Narrows, a place famed for its dan- gerous navigation, and to this day the terror of lumbermen. In the spring of the year the current is so rapid and treacherous, and the channel shifts so often, that the chances are terrible of breaking a raft in pieces, and hurling logs and men helplessly down into the mad, foaming depths. The river at this place is only fifty-two feet wide, but nothing is seen on either side that could afford a foothold or even a hand grasp to the drowning man. Once in the water, the strongest, most expert swimmer goes down and down, never to come up again. Above the Narrows the action of the current has chiseled out of the solid wall one of the most striking formations ever seen. It has become known as the "Navy Yard," from the fact that the rocks shelve outward from the base, and pointing obliquely up the stream, look for all the world like a row of ships' prows. At this point the view is grand and impressive in the extreme. On the opposite side of the river Black Hawk's Cave may be seen near the top of the bank. Here, hanging over the boiling torrent, the opening to his hiding place, screened by the friendly foliage of crevice-grown trees and bushes, the bold ami dreaded Indian prince lay secreted from THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 35 his enemies for many months. Parties of whites and their native allies scouted up and down the Wisconsin, and all over the surrounding country; but stowed away in his nar- row hole in the rock, Black Hawk laughed at pursuit until treachery exposed the place of his concealment, and he was taken prisoner. The truth of this chief's capture at the Dells has been bitterly assailed, but the statement rests, nevertheless, upon strong and nearly conclusive evidence. Lerun, who was an Indian agent in the locality at the time, stated, a few years ago, that he met Black Hawk under charge of One-eyed Decorah, between Portage and Fort Winnebago, and that the former informed him that he was taken near his cave at the Dells. Yellow Thunder, an Indian chief who died recently at EATON GROTTO, DELLS OF THE WISCONSIN. the age of 120, often stated to residents of Kilbourn City that Black Hawk was captured within a few hundred yards of the cave, and that the great chief had repeatedly told him so, at the same time relating the circumstances of his capture in detail. Rattlesnake Rock, a high, round mound, looms up beyond the cave. Its name sug- gests the cause of its rather unpleasant notoriety, and the denizens of this cliff have been interesting, if not agreeable, subjects of consideration by the people around. Artist's Glen, a narrow and charming little spot, winds its moss-covered way into the hills near this, and prepares the visitor for the greater wildness and beauty of Cold Water Canon. Here the steamer makes a landing, and a long plank walk leads the visitor into the depths of the canon. For some hundreds of feet the path winds between high walls whose altitude must be nearly 200 feet, and which almost meet at the top. A cold spring-water brook flows at the bottom of the cleft, rendering peregrination somewhat difficult. Presently the sides widen, and the Devil's Jug is reached. This is a most peculiar and startling freak of nature, scarcely susceptible of description, but suggest- ively named from its singular formation. Leaving Cold Water Canon the succeeding objects of interest to the north are Ruffle Rocks, and Fortress Rocks (vulgarly called Steamboat Rock, from the fact that steam- 36 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. boats are barely able to circumnavigate it). The latter is an island cut off from the mainland bj' the -terrible force of the water, and stands out in the stream solitary, a mon- ument of solid rock sixty feet high by three hundred in length, and about half that in width. All along the shores on either side points of interest crowd upon the eye — grottoes, chapels, caves, pillared caverns, through which a row-boat can easily push its wa y — and the most grotesque forms chiseled by the hand of Nature abound, until the eye is almost weary of the phantasmagoria presented to it. The Devil's Arm- Chair, a comfortable seat hewn out of rock, occupies a commanding position on the summit of a high bluff. Then, conveniently near, the Sharks Heads crop out; gaunt, savage looking protuberances from the bank, wickedly waiting for something to crush against theii vicious fronts. After these, Diamond Grotto, and then there are rocks that look in shape exactly like the great oyster shell one sees hung out for signs in front of seaside res- taurants. One could easily imagine them to be the mummies of giant progenitors of our shell fish. Such forms, and a hundred others, occupy the attention until the crowning scenic glory of the Dells is reached — the Witch's Gulch. Here again is a steamer landing, and with some difficulty the tough little Dell Queen is warped to the bank. A footway leads around the face of a bold promontory, and along the bank of a creek, following up to the sources of the little rivulet, far in the recesses of the gulch. Wild as is the scenery of Cold Water Canon, it is nothing to the sombre, rugged Satanic wildness of the Witch's Gulch. A short walk leads through a canon of great height, from which the light of day is all but excluded, only peeping in at the top between crevices of the great lapping rocks, to Phantom chamber, wherein the lights and shadows play in ghoulish sport, and where the force of the elements has produced a style of architecture only agreeable to phantoms and perhaps crazy people. Two cascades of considerable height and volume have to be surmounted in the explo- ration of Witch's Gulch, and when the moss-grown steps over the latter and larger of these are climbed, the mind is forcibly called back to experiences in the Cave of the Winds at Niagara Falls. Ordinary care will avoid a wetting, and the climber soon finds himself in the air and sunlight again, in a pretty little vale between high hills just back of the gulch. A rest and a lunch here is a good preparation for the return trip, during which last there is leisure to fix in the mind the beauties that are to be carried away for future reflection. Let not the tourist think he has gazed upon the wild natural scenery of America, until he has visited the Dells of the Wisconsin. MAUSTON. This town, situated in Juneau county, is a small place of 1,200 inhabitants, chiefly interesting because of its attractive surroundings and the facilities the neighborhood affords for hunting ami Bshing in their seasons. Mauston is 212 miles from Chicago, 128 from Milwaukee, and 11)7 from St. Paul. White settlers came to Juneau county as early as 1827, but the site of this village was not reclaimed from the wilderness until the latter part of the following decade. The surface of the country is generally hilly, the soil consisting of clay in the western, and of sandy loam in the southern portions. Excellent timber abounds, principally pine, walnut, maple, and scrub oak. The leading products are wheat, oats, corn, rye, and hops. The stock and dairy interests are also important and growing. Wagon works, a plow factory, flouring mill, and iron foundry, constitute the manufacturing enterprises of the place. The peculiarity and beauty of the scenery about Mauston is found in the number of bluffs, singly and in groups, that dot the face of the country. These vary in height from one hundred to two hundred and fifty feet, and are moulded in myriads of grotesque forms. Black Hawk's Council Bluff is the most noted, lying about one mile west of the village. Here it is said the last council was held by Black Hawk a short time before his capture at the Dells. Castle Rock, Lone Rock, Twin Bluffs, and the Devil's Chimney THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 37 are the other natural curiosities upon which the inhabitants pride themselves. To the sportsman or angler Mauston is a point of more than ordinary interest. The rivers abound in fish of every variety and exceptional size, while the country is one of the best shooting grounds in the West for bears, wolves, deer, foxes, ducks, geese, swan, quail, pigeon, partridge, and prairie chicken. Good accommodations are available to the vis- itor, who reaches the town conveniently by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Kail- way, from any part of the country. TOMAH. Tomah is the junction of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway with the Wisconsin Valley Eailroad, and is also the terminus of the latter. Grand Eapids, an important manufacturing town, is reached from this point, also the great lumber market of Warsaw. Tomah is 238 miles from Chicago, and 171 from St. Paul. The vicinity is celebrated for its magnificent trout fishing, which brings annually a large num- ber of visitors from all parts of the West and South. TROUT FALLS, SPARTA, WIS. SPARTA. Sparta, a city of 3,500 inhabitants, is situated in the upper part of the La Crosse Valley, twenty-five miles from the Mississippi, on the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, It is distant 225 miles from Chicago, and 154 miles from St. Paul. Both as a sanitarium and fashionable summer resort, Sparta enjoys a reputation unex- celled by any watering place in the country. The site of this town could not be exceeded for beauty of situation, and the culture resulting from its financial prosperity has been active in adorning it with all that art can do in rendering the beauties of nature still more enjoyable. Nowhere in the West is there a more beautiful village. It possesses hand- some business and public buildings, a number of church edifices graceful in architectui'e, private residences constructed with excellent taste, and generally surrounded by ample grounds neatly laid out. The streets are arbored with beautiful trees, and nothing 38 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. indeed is wanting to impress the visitor with the quiet and elegance of the surroundings. The scenery in the vicinity of Sparta is already celebrated. From the town may be seen Castle Rock, five miles distant, looming up over seven hundred feet above the level of the river, and displaying its proportions to the eye as it lifts its head far above the num- berless large bluffs that encompass the valley. The summit of this rock affords a view of the country for many miles around. The hills of Minnesota, far away across the Mississippi, are plainly visible, and in every direction a vista of surpassing loveliness opens to the spectator; hills and valleys covered with verdure, and intersected by hun- dreds of sparkling, running streams and brooklets, where the anglers delight to tarry and the royal speckled trout make their home by thousands. Picturesque drives extend and cross in every direction; romantic sites for camp grounds, often in the summer dotted with the snowy tents of tourists who like to take their holiday cm nature!, abound every- where, and the rod and fly of the expert angler whip and whisk along the banks of rivulet and cascade. Two years ago over twenty tons of speckled trout were captured in these waters. Added to the remarkable healthfulness of Sparta, which had made it a resort for invalids for many years, since 1867, when the wonderful mineral springs were discovered, it has been visited for the benefit of the waters by legions of health seekers from every corner of the continent. At least 25,000 visitors drank at these healing fountains during the season of 1878. The comfort, ease and speed with which it is possible to take a trip to Sparta from any point of the map, via the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, in addition to the wonderful and varied attractions of the vicinity, together assure for the place a leading rank among the great watering places of the United States. BANGOR. One of the favorite hunting and fishing resorts in the State is Bangor, 225 miles from Chicago, and sixteen miles from the Mississippi, near the La Crosse River. It is acces- sible by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, and offers many inducements to the sportsman not to be encountered anywhere else. Deer, foxes and wild tur- keys, together with wild fowl, abound in the immediate neighborhood. A fine trout stream flows through the village, and excellent bass, pickerel, pike and other fishing is to be had in the La Crosse River near by. Good trained bird dogs may be hired here with- out trouble, and a large pack of fox hounds is kept by the Hon. John Bradley, who lives at Bangor in the summer. Fair hotel accommodations are obtainable. LA CROSSE. La Crosse, which ranks as one of the most important cities on the Upper Mississippi, is a town of 10,000 inhabitants, on the east bank of the great river, at the mouth of the La Crosse. Besides its ample river accommodations, it has extensive and important railway connections reaching out in all directions. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway crosses into Minnesota at this point, over an iron bridge, one of the finest struc- tures of the kind in the] country. The superstructure is all wrought iron, for a single track railway, and consists of five fixed spans, 150 feet each, crossing the old channel, i. e., between the Wisconsin shore and Minnesota Island, and of two spans 164 feet each; one span'250 l'eet, and a pivot span 360 feet, crossing the main channel, i. e., between Minnesota Island and the Minnesota shore, thus making the total length of iron super- structure of the bridge 1,678 lineal feet. The substructure is of masonry resting upon pile foundations. The superstructure rests upon stone abutments and piers. The east- ern terminus of the Southern Minnesota Railroad is also at this point, and close connec- tions are made for Rushford, Lanesboro, Spring Valley. Ramsey, Albert Lea, Wells, and Winnebago City. La Crosse is 129 miles from St. Paul, and 280 from Chicago, by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway. The first white man to locate in the wilderness where now this thriving community flourishe"s, was NathaffMyriek, who came in lsii and established himself as an Indian THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 3!) trader on the island, whence in the following year the natives allowed him to move to the site of the present city. Myrick was soon after joined by J. B. Miller, and in 1845 John M. Levy came in from Prairie du Chien. At this time the total white population was only twelve — seven males and five females. The city occupies an extremely eligible sit- uation on a level prairie between the river and a line of bluffs some distance back of it. This prairie was once, and up to the time of white settlement, the great ball playing ground of the Indian tribes for hundreds of miles around. Every year the nations buried the hatchet and came to the smooth plain by the Father of Waters, to engage in friendly tournaments. The early French visitors called the peculiar game played ' ' la crosse," and from the circumstance of this having been the grand capital of the aboriginal " national game," the settlement was called afterward by the same name. Just above the town the Black Biver empties into the Mississippi, bringing down its rapid current the wealth of the pineries, in the handling of which the place has such an important interest. Down this stream, which rises far up in the northwestern corner of the State, many million feet of pine logs are annually rafted down to La Crosse, where the greater part is cut up into timber. Lumber is the chief interest of this busy town and one of the greatest of the facto- ries engaged in this is that of Mr. Charles L. Colman, who handled over 15,000,000 feet of lumber in 1878. This rich and influential manufacturer who came to La Crosse when it was but a hamlet and who has by perseverance and industry built up a magnificent business is one of the leading merchants of Wisconsin. In 1854 he built a modest little saw mill. He was burned out, rebuilt, was burned out again, and in 1875 his present magnificent mill property was erected. Its dimensions are 60x197 feet, with two large gang saws. The capacity is 120,000 feet of lumber per day. Mr. Colman is one of the heaviest operators in his line in the West, owning several large lumber yards along the line of the Southern Minnesota Bailway, as well as immense tracts of pine land on the Black and Chippewa rivers. He was Mayor of the city in 1868, and is honored and respected by his fellow-citizens to an extent that would render almost any political ambition easy of realisation. Mr. Colman manufactures and deals in gang sawed lumber, lath, shingles, sash, doors and blinds, and building material. He is also the owner of a fine flouring mill with eight run of burr stone. The great milling firm of A. A. Freeman & Co., successors to E. V. White & Co., is composed of Messrs. A. A. Freeman, M. L. Freeman and E. Zeidler, all gentlemen of acknowledged business experience and capacity. The situation of their handsome and commodious mill on the banks of the Mississippi affords them extraordinarily good facili- ties for making connections both by road and river. Their mill employs a 300 horse- power Harris- Corliss engine and has fifteen run of French burr stone and a producing capacity of 500 barrels of flour per day. The well known and superior brands of "Superlative" and "Dundas" are produced solely by A. A. Freeman & Co. and have achieved a reputation second to none in the market. In quality of stock and perfection of manufacture Freeman & Co. mey justly claim to lead the milling trade and they have from a comparatively small beginning built up an immense trade which the superior quality of their goods enables them not only to retain but to increase. This business is one of the most successful in La Crosse. The large steam marble works of G. B. Montague are located at South Front and Pearl streets, where can be found every variety of American and Italian marbles. A. Hirshheimer & Co.'s great plow works in this city, form an object of interest to all inter- ested in the commercial development of this section. In the immense wholesale and retail dry goods house of Mons. Anderson, LaCrosse possesses an institution of the high- est character and of which it is excusably proud. There are many important manufac- tures aud commercial houses and several flourishing newspapers, of which the North - western Miller is one of the most important. 40 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. A number of elegant churches, schools, county, city, and other public buildings, strongly evidence the general wealth, culture, and public spirit that make LaCrosse the delightful place for business and residence that it is. The private houses, many of them, are homes that for taste in structure and appointment are not to be exceeded in the me- tropolis. Hotel accomodations in such a commercial and industrial centre could not fail to be good. The leading hotel, the Bobbins House, is everything that could be desired in the way of comfort, elegance, and convenience to the leading trade localities. A gener- ous table, ample stables, airy and handsomely furnished rooms, afford every facility to the tourist or business man that any unexceptionable hotel can. This is the only rirst- class hotel in the city, and is located in the heart of the business centre. It has over fifty bedrooms, with alarm bells and gas in every room. Mr. E. G. Bobbins is the proprietor, E. G. Bobbins and Maurice W. Fowler have charge of the office and give every attention LA CROSSE MACHINE SHOPS. to the comfort and convenience of travelers. We know of no better or more desirable house in the Northwest than the Bobbins House. The chief financial institution of LaCrosse is the LaCrosse National Bank, which was started two years since with an actual paid up capital of $100,000, while its directors and stockholders are all old and respected citizens, representing not less than $2,000,000. On January 1, 187!), the resources of this bank were $34(1.253, and there was $161,578 of un- divided profits on hand. The officers of this highly successful institution are: G. C. Hixon, President: Charles Mitchell, Vice President; S. S. Burton, Cashier. The direc- tors are: G. C. Hixon, G. E. Montague, H. H. Withe, Geo. Edwards, Chas. Michel, John Michel, James Vincent, and B. F. Healy. The bank does a conservative and substantial business which is rapidly extending in volume, and is one of the most important institu- tions of the kind in the Northwest. THE SOUTHEBN MINNESOTA BAILBOAD. This important railroad stretches across the entire southern part of tins great State, from La Crosse, Wisconsin, to Fairmount, Minnesota, and it is proposed to extend it at an early date to Bismarck on the one hand and Yankton on the other, thus opening up a wonderfully rich and productive region. It passes through many flourishing and import- ant towns, such as Ramsey, Wells, Albert, Lea and Winnebago, and brings to La Crosse THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 41 the garnered productions of a great country. Its connections at La Crosse are valuable and direct and it is one of the most important lines of this section. The headquarters of the road are at La Crosse, Mr. John M. Egan being the superintendent. SCHLESINGERVILLE. It is nee ssary to retrace our steps, and commence again at Milwaukee. Journeying north ward the traveler might spend many weeks in visiting the numerous places of resort affected variously by the sportsman, angler, or summer-day idler. Probably the first point on the line which would arrest the attention of the tourist, would be the village of Schlesingerville, Washington county, thirty miles north of Milwaukee, about 115 miles from Chicago, and 330 from St. Paul. It is reached by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, through its Ripon, Oshkosh and Berlin division. The vicinity of Schle- singerville shows traces of having been a favorite resort of the Indians in remote days, as indeed it was within the memory of early settlers yet living, the reason being found in the excellent shooting and fishing of the locality. Cedar Lake, a beautiful sheet of water and one of the prettiest in the extended system of lakes of the State, is only three miles from the village. It has a local reputation for its bass fishing, and of late years has been largety patronized by parties from the South. The country about is rolling, fertile, and well timbered, and the sanitary conditions are all that could be desired. In the vil- lage, manufacturing is carried on in a limited way. Accommodations for travelers are said to be adequate. WAUPUN. Waupun, in Dodge county, notable principally as being the seat of the Wisconsin State Prison, is a town of 2,500 inhabitants, on the Rock River. It is distant from Chi- cago 156, from Milwaukee sixty-eight, and from St. Paul 299 miles. The leading object of interest is the state prison, two miles from the station, which is reached by stages running regularly. The prison building is a fine structure, and is generally considered to be one of the most complete and perfectly appointed penological institutions in the United States. A rich grain and stock country surrounds the town. Waupun was first settled by whites in the year 1856, and has progressed rapidly in wealth and industry to the present time. The principal local manufacture is carried on in the prison, where 350 con. victs are employed under contract with a leading Chicago boot and shoe house, turning out products estimated in value at $1,000,000 annually. There is an establishment of some extent in the town for the manufacture of wind-mills. Ample means of communi- cation are had with the outside world through the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway system. Green Lake and Lake Emily, within easy distance of the place, furnish excel- lent resorts for pleasure and good fishing, and are largely visited from Waupun. HORICON JUNCTION. At the southern end of Horicon Lake this station is situated on the Chicago, Milwau- kee and St. Paul Railway, fifty-four miles from Milwaukee. Near the Junction a large dam was erected many years ago, and the back-water resulting from this obstruction flooded the country for miles around. Deprived of their old highway to other waters, the fish in Horicon lake increased in number until the water was literally alive with them. The neighboring farmers used to back their wagons into the current, when the boxes would at once become filled with fish; a little energy on the part of the drivers enabled them to get on land with a load of their finny prey, and the victims were at once devo- ted to the fertilization of the land. Later, when the dam was removed, the subsidence of the water left a vast extent of marsh, which very soon became the breeding ground of myriads of wild fowl. The old popularity of the place as a fishing ground gave place to equal favor with the lovers of field sport. Here the sportsman may find all the varieties of the wild duck, besides brant, geese and swan. Large parties visit this 42 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. locality every season for the hunting and fishing, and every facility is found on the spot for the full enjoyment of a visit. Comfortable accommodations and good boats are to be obtained without difficulty. RIPON. A number of natural beauties, combining with advantages of situation and historical associations of no little interest, render the little city of Ripon, Wisconsin, a point of nioie than ordinary attraction, even among the many interesting places in this favored state. The city is situated in the western part of Fond du Lac county, eighty-three miles from Milwaukee, at the point where the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway diver- ges to Oshkosh, the crossing of the Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Railroad. On the latter line, six miles west of Ripon, is Green Lake station, on tha lake of the same name, long celebrated among the disciples of Izaak Walton for its magnificent fishing, and popular with the sportsmen of the country as well for the excellent duck and other shooting its neighborhood affords in season. The lake is irregular in form, and is about fifteen miles in length, with an avei'age width of three miles. Facilities for reaching this inviting spot from Ripon are ample, by the trains over the Sheboygan and Fon du Lac road. This railroad although not of great length fills an important function. Glenbeulah eighty miles from Sheboygan is the point to leave this road for Elkhart Lake. The Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Railroad extends from Sheboygan to Princeton and passes through a very beautiful and diversified country. This is one of the finest sections of Wisconsin and a favorite resort of tourists. WINNECONNE. This pleasant town is in Winnebago county, fourteen miles northwest from Oshkosh, where it is situated on Wolf River, near the mouth of Fox River at the outlet of Poygan Lake. The northern terminus of the Milwaukee and Winneconne line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway touches this point. Winneconne has a population of nearly o,000, and is a thriving town in the midst of a prosperous lumber and agricultural district. The place was settled in 1844, and has enjoyed a steady growth. The industrial interests of Winneconne are principally in the direction of lumber manufacture, and there are a number of wealthy firms engaged in this line of business. The facilities for sport and pleasure possessed by this town are unsurpassed. Poygon Lake is rapidly becoming one of the the greatest favorites among all the lakes, for hunting and fishing; it contains an area of seventy miles, being about twelve miles in length and an average of four and half miles wide. It shores and bays abound with snipe, plover, plover, woodcock, ducks and prairie chickens, while its waters teem with game fish of many descriptions ; among these bass, sturgeon, pickerel and pike may be mentioned. In addition to its railway connec- tions, this place has water communication with Oshkosh and New London, via the Wolf River line of steamers, under the able superintendence of Capt. Thos. Wall, a veteran in river navigation. OSHKOSH. The city of Oshkosh, the county seat of Winnebago county, is a fine town of 15,000 inhabitants, situated on both shores of Wolf River, at the point where it empties into Lake Winnebago. It is the northern terminus of the Oshkosh and Milwaukee line of the Chi- cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, and has water communication by vessel to Wolf River points. Lake Winnebago is noted as being the largest lake in the state, as well as for the extreme beauty of its surroundings. It has an area of about 212 miles. Its greatest length, which is north and south, is about twenty-eight miles, and its witdh from ten to eleven miles. On the eastern shore a singular formation skirts the lake for fifteen miles. It consists of a wall of stone piled about five feet high, and so regularly that it appears to be of artificial construction; but it is doubtless due to the action of ice through long periods of time. This lake lies within the boundaries of Winnebago, Calumet and THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 43 Fond du Lac counties. It lies at an elevation of 160 feet above the level of Lake Michi- gan. The depth of the water is varying and in places quite shallow, but in general it is sufficient for purposes of navigation. Fox River forms an outlet for the ship canal con- necting the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. Oshkosh owes its commercial and industrial im- portance to the lumber trade of Northern Wisconsin, for which it was formerly the great mart. A number of saw mills and the manufacturing establishments employ a consider- able amount of capital and a large number of hands. Considering the natural advantages possessed by this city, it seems evident that it is destined to become an important com- mercial point. Its commerce extends far north to the limits of the state, whence the sup- ply of lumber is drawn , and it is favored in having exceptional advantages of railroad communication, as well as vessel navigation to the great lakes unobstructed. Oshkosh has been twice destroyed by fire, in 1850 and in 1874, and each time within a year the city was rebuilt in better shape than ever. Since the last great conflagration, stringent ordinances have been adopted restricting the erection of frame buildings, and as the town is nearly fire proof and has an ample and convenient supply of water, it is not likely that disasters of this kind are to be again suffered. The shores of the lake, within a few min- utes' walk of the business district, are lined with the villas of the wealthier citizens. Ves- sels of all kinds ply up and down, while pleasure, yachts, both steam and sail, dance over the crystal deep. There is not a place in the world that can lay claim to greater adapta- bility to the needs of a great summer resort, than can the city of Oshkosh. FOND DU LAC. The city of Fond du Lac, 17(5 miles from Chicago, lies at the southern extremity of Lake Winnebago. It has a population of 18,000, and is a place of considerable com- mercial and industrial importance. The principal manufactures are agricultural imple- ments, wagons, paper, and lumber products. There is a fine high school building, twenty church edifices, a costly and handsome post office, and many other public build- ings of architectural pretensions. Several good hotels accommodate the traveling public. A peculiarity of Fond du Lac is the number of artesian wells that it contains; over three hundred of these supply the 'citizens with the purest water imaginable, drawn from depths of sixty to four hundred feet. The advantages of the place as a summer resort are many. The climate of the region in summer is nearly perfect. The clear atmos- phere is impregnated with the balsamic odors of the pine forests growing in every direction about it. A mineral spring called the Fountain has long been celebrated for its medicinal qualities, which are highly tonic. In addition to the beauties of Winnebago, Elkhart Lake on the east, and Green Lake on the west, afford great attractions to the visitor. A fine fleet of yachts on Lake Winnebago annually engage in a number of regattas, races, and so on, and in fact everything is to be found in Fond du Lac calcu- lated to make a summer holiday pleasant and recreative. The Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Railroad affords direct communication with this important and thriving city. SHEBOYGAN. One of the most accessible and at the same time popular and fashionable watering places on the great lakes, is the port of Sheboygan, on Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Sheboygan River. For those who enjoy a long sea trip, the steamers from Chicago and Milwaukee afford an agreeable way of reaching the place. By far the greatest num- ber of visitors, however, prefer the journey by rail, which is more rapid and quite as easy. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway connects at Ripon with the Sheboygan and Fond du Lac fine, over which roads the bulk of the travel to Sheboygan passes. The last mentioned road does a large freight and passenger business between this point and Fond du Lac, Ripon and Princeton, and furnishes the shortest route to Elkhart Lake. Sheboygan itself is the home of a growing and prosperous community, having a popula- tion of about 7,000, and is largely engaged in the fishing business, in which enterprise a 44 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. number of sailing vessels and steam yachts are employed. Between the lake and the river unequalled opportunities for the pursuit of aquatic sports are enjoyed. The bosom of Michigan about this locality is seldom so ruffled by storms in the summer as to render yachting dangerous, and this pastime is much followed by the people of the place, as well as visitors. Boating and fishing are also favorite recreations, and the excellent hotels of the town supply the means of comfortable residence, while all the above advantages are being indulged in. Sheboygan is the county seat of the county of the same name, is the market and entrepot for a considerable section of country adjacent, and altogether a place of local importance. It has many churches, a court house, schools, and other public buildings. The recent discovery of a fine mineral spring, claimed to equal in healing qualities, as it is said to* resemble, the Congress spring, of Saratoga, has added materially to the other advantages of the town as a resort. The waters of this spring are free to all. It is situated in the middle of the public park. Sheboygan Falls, a pretty village, five miles up the river, is a favorite objective point for a drive. MENASHA. Menasha is a picturesque town which is situated at the foot of Lake Winnebago, where it finds its outlet through Fox river. The charming little body of water known as Lake Butte des Morts, just southwest washes the confines of the place. Between the beauties and advantages of these lakes and the river, the visitor has opportunities of the best sort to indulge his taste for fishing, hunting, boating or sailing, to his heart's content. The accommodations furnished by the National Hotel are all that could be desired. This house has long enjoyed a well deserved repu- tation for the excellence of its cuisine, and for the perfect preparations it makes every year for the comfort of summer boarders and tour- ists. Boats of all kinds, bait, tackle and guides, are furnished at reasonable rates, and vehicles of all kinds are to be found at the stables of the hotel, for the convenience of sportsmen and the many guests who yearly enjoy the beautiful drives of the locality. Menasha is largely patronized by visitors from the western and southern states who find at the National Hotel the comforts of a home, moderate charges and the perfection of NATIONAL, HOTEL, MENASHA. attention. The hotel is a handsome three story-brick building, situated on the river bank in immediate proximity to the business centre of the city and the various mills and factories. Menasha, Neenah, Appletou, Manitowoc, Two Rivers and other points of which we shall treat are situated on the line of the Wisconsin Central Railroad the claims of which great thoroughfare have already been dwelt upon. NEENAH AND APPLETON. Beside the attractions which this retired but busy and prosperous mill town of Neenah offers to tourists, it is a spot much visited by people summering at Menasha, only a few miles distant, and at other watering places in the vicinity. It is located on the Fox River, and its beautiful surroundings recommend the locality to the lover of nature. No pleasanter plaoe could be found for families of moderate means to spend their vaca- tion. At the point on the Lower Fox River, where the rapid descent of the rapids is known as the " Grand Chute," stands the city of Appletou. It occupies a nearly central position between Lake Winnebago and Green Bay. in a district noted for its fertility and beauty of scenery; in fact the Fox River Valley, whether regarded practically or estheti- THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 45 cally, is a most favored region. The country immediately about Appleton presents a diversified surface, at once agreeable to the eye and favorable to the productive needs of the inhabitants. The Tellulah Springs, with curative powers said to be similar to those possessed by the famous springs of Waukesha, are located at the eastern end of the town. Game and fish abound, and every convenience necessary to the enjoyment of life in town or country, is obtainable. Appleton is the seat of Lawrence University, an insti- tution of learning patronized extensively by the people of the State. Both towns are reached via the Wisconsin Central Railroad. MANITOWOC AND TWO RIVERS. The former of these towns, on the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railroad, is a progressive and prosperous lake port, boasting a population of 5,000. It has many important manufactures and a considerable lake and inland commerce, all of which interests are being rapidly developed. Steamers ply between Manitowoc, Milwaukee and Chicago, and both by rail and water, numbers of summer tourists visit the town annually. The hotel accommodations are above criticism, and everything else calculated to attract visitors in the way of sport, fishing, bathing, scenery, boating and yachting, are to be found for the seeking. Two Rivers, another enterprising Wisconsin town, is situated on Lake Michigan, a few miles above Manitowoc. It is connected with the latter by rail, and hi summer by steamers on the lake. The population number about 3,000 and is increasing with notice- able celerity, since the many advantages of the locality are being appi*eciated. To the pleasure seeker it offers the same attractions as does its sister town, and there is little difference either as to quality or quantity. GREEN BAY. This is the terminus of the "Short Line" of the Wisconsin Central Railroad, 113 miles from Milwaukee and one of the oldest settlements in the State. It is situated at the head of Green Bay, a deep indentation of Lake Michigan. The site of the city is a point of land included between Fox River and East River, both of which are wide and deep streams, the Fox being about fifteen hundred feet wide and about thirty feet deep. The bay gradually expands to a width of over fifteen miles, affording ample opportunities for yachting. Along the eastern shore of the bay are several small villages which are favorite resorts of the sportsmen who seek either fish or game, and a line of steamers run between Green Bay and these points. There are also many private yachts owned in Green Bay, which ply upon the waters of the river and the bay. Some of the drives along the Fox River and down the shores of the bay are of the finest character, and delightfully varied and picturesque scenery may be found by driving in almost any direction from the city. There ai-e numerous excellent beaches for bathing, and pleasure boats, both for rowing and sailing, can be hired by the day or season at very reasonable rates. Indeed, one of the most popular amusements consists in boating and fishing par- ties, some of which last for several days, during which time the pleasures of camping out are indulged in. There are few better places for enjoyment of aquatic sports than Green Bay and its surroundings. The population of Green Bay is about 15,000, and it is a thriving business town. ELKHART LAKE Is sixty -two miles from Milwaukee by ihe Wisconsin Central Railroad and is one of the most beautiful sheets of clear water to be found in all Wisconsin. The natural fea- tures and surroundings are unexcelled; the shores of the lake are high and picturesque, the bottom firm and sandy, and boats can land at any point. It covers 800 acres and is in many places 200 feet in depth. Its outline is very irregular with numerous little coves and inlets. The water being supplied from springs, is very pure and clear and small ob- jects on the bottom at a depth of twenty-five feet are readily discerned. A complete vista of lofty trees, pine, spruce, maple, red and white cedar, surround the lake, with oc- 46 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. easional openings here and there. No better fishing and rowing or sailing can be had anywhere than cbn be obtained here during the season. ASHLAND. The northern terminus of the Wisconsin Central Eailroad, is a beautiful little town, 351 miles from Milwaukee, situated on a splendid bay of Lake Superior. This is the centre of the great trout fishing country and the great point for excursions to Thunder Bay, Isle Royale, the Apostle Islands, Duluth, etc. The Chequamegon House, a fine large structure built during the season of 1877, is the most perfect in all its appointments of any house on the lake, and from the time of its opening, August 1st, 1877, until the close of the season, was filled with delighted guests. The cuisine is first-class, the table being supplied with meats from Milwaukee daily. From the spacious verandas which RAPIDS OF THE TYLER FORK OF BAD RIVER ON LINE OF WISCONSIN CENTRAL, R. R. extend on three sides of the house the views of the bay and the opposite shore, the islands and Bavfield, are delightful. In 1877 over fifty additional rooms were built, and the hotel under the able and efficient management of Hon. Sam S. Fifield has become the most attractive and best patronized upon the Upper Lakes. Mr. Fifield is an ardent sports- man; thoroughly posted as to the entire country, he knows every stream and lake for miles around. His personal reminiscenses of hunting and fishing excursions would make an interesting volume. The prices at the "Chequamegon" are $2.50 per day and $10 to $15 per week. For the better accommodation of his patrons, Mr. Fifield has organized a corps of guides and voyageurs. They are under the supervision of Capt. Eugene Prince, one of the best known sportsmen on Lake Superior. Boats, steam yachts, guides, boatmen, etc., can be had here for visits to the hundreds of interesting points in the im- mediate vicinity. We take great pleasure in recommending this house. CHAPTER II. SKETCH OF IOWA — GROWTH — POPULATION — RESOURCES — MINERALS— AGRICULTURE — WEALTH AND DEBT — CLIMATE AND SOIL. Iowa, "the beautiful land" is another of the great Northwestern States whose being as a member of the great sisterhood scarcely dates back one generation. To Julien Dubuque is credited the honor of establishing the first known white settlement within the limits of the State of Iowa. The date of his occupancy is fixed at 1788, when, with a small company of miners, he commenced operations upon the mines, on the site of the city which still bears his name, and where he resided until his death, hi 1810. Prior to this peaceful invasion, the then territory had known notlung of the human race, beyond that represented by the Indians that had been driven from the east by the encroachments of civilisation, and nomadic bands of white explorers, scarcely less savage than the red skins. Following close upon the footsteps of Dubuque came others, who found in the fertile soil and rare natural advantages of the territory, greater promise of return for their labors than in the comparatively old country east of the Big River. The west bank began to show signs of life and rapid improvement, and as the pioneers succeeded, they were joined by others, until the necessity for government became manifest. From 1834 to 1836 the territory was under the juritdiction of Michigan; in the latter year it was transferred to Wisconsin, and on July 4th, 1838, the new government of the Territory of Iowa was formally installed at Burlington. Under its territorial organization Iowa included all the country north of Missouri to the British Possessions, lying between Missouri and Mississippi rivers, the greater part of what is now Minnesota, and the whole of Dakota Territory. On December 28th, 1846 Iowa was admitted as a State, and from that time its increase in population, and prosperity has been truly marvelous. It had then less than 100,000 inhabitants; in 1856, 520,000; and at the State census in 1875, 1,350,000, now increased to very nearly a million and a half. Iowa is situated between latitude forty degrees twenty-eight minutes and forty three degrees thirty minutes north, and longitude ninety degrees thirty-eight minutes west; its general extent north and south is 208 miles, east and west about 330 miles; and its area 55,055 square miles, being almost exactly the same as that of Illinois. It is bounded north by Minnesota; east by the Mississippi, which separates it from Wisconsin and Illinois; south by Missouri; and west by the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers, which separate it from Nebraska and Dakota: The climate is very healthy, the summer heat being tempered by the cool breezes which sweep at will over the vast prairies and the winters similar to those of Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. The soil is ex- tremely productive, all the cereals flourishing luxuriantly. The corn crop is immense, over 150,000,000 bushels per annum being marketed. In 1876 the growth of wheat was 48 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 18,000,000 bushels; oats 21,250,000; barley 5,750,000; and potatoes 7,000,000 bushels; the aggregate value of all crops being over $75,000,000. Iowa contains extensive fields of bituminous coal, and the Galena limestone belt in the vicinity of Dubuque includes some of the richest lead mines in the world. The manufacturing establishments of the state turn out over $50,000,000 worth of products annually, and there are in Iowa eighty national banks with a capital of over $6,000,000. The assessed value of the state is over $400,000,000 and the debt is nominal. McGREGOR. This city has a population of 2,500 and is the southwestern terminus of the Iowa and Minnesota line of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St, Paul Railway. The beauty of the town and its surroundings have for years attracted summer tourists, and the place has become a fashionable resort. It is pleasantly situated on the west bank opposite Prairie du Chien, with which it is connected by a ferry. McGregor is 212 miles from St. Paul, is a flourishing city, delightfully located and a charming spot for recreation and leisure. CALMAR. Forty-three miles from McGregor, and on a branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, is the smaller but enterprising town of Calmar. It has an industrious popula- tion of 2,500, and by virtue of the railway hue running through it, is accessible as a market for the farmers in the fertile country lying about. Its advantages are beyond its population, and the city offers every inducement to those who are looking for comfortable and profitable homes. DECORAH. Decorah, county seat of Winnischiek county, is a handsome inland city of 2,500 inhabitants, 157 miles from St. Paul, on a branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Railway, and on the upper branch of the Iowa river. Decorah is noted for its importance as a supplying point for a populous and wealthy agricultural district surrounding it and locally, for its manufacturing enterprises, and for the scenery, fishing and hunting of the neighborhood. The surface of the country iu this locality is a rolling prairie, varied by high bluffs along the streams. The soil is a heavy black loam, and very rich for produc- ing purposes. Timber is plenty, and being rapidly increased in quantity by cultivation. In the northern part of the county there are several excellent trout streams, and the prairie chicken, partridge and quail shooting is good in season. One of the most singular of natural phenomena to be met with anywhere, is found here. This is "Ice Cave," under a bluff on the north bank of the Upper Iowa River, noted because, wdiile in winter no ice is to be found in it, it forms in spring and summer, and thaws out again upon the advent of cold weather. Another singular natural feature is an underground stream nine miles east of Decorah, on Trout River, navigable for canoes, and which has been explored for a long distance. A large spring issuing from a picturesque bluff was used for some time to run a woolen mill, which has since burned down; this spring feeds a considerable creek flowing through a beautiful little valley, and empties into the Upper Iowa one and one-half miles from the town. At the point of junction with the river, it furnishes power for two flour mills. Decorah is the site of a dismantled fort, Fort Atkinson, established here by the gov- ernment in 1841, for the purpose of controlling the Winnebago Indians. The savages were removed, 1847-8, after which the fort was abandoned, but part of the building still remain and are occupied by citizens. Decorah takes its name from the noted Indian chief who captured Black Hawk, at the Dells of the Wisconsin. The county also takes its name from that of another chief of the Winnebagoes. WALLED LAKE. The greatest wonder in the State of Iowa, and perhaps in any State, is what is called the "Walled Lake," in Wright county, twelve miles north of the Dubuque and THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 49 Pacific Railway, and about one hundred and fifty miles west of Dubuque city. The lake is from two to three feet higher than the earth's surface. In some places the wall is ten feet high; width at bottom fifteen feet, and at the top five. Another fact is the size of the stones used in construction; the whole of them varying in weight from three tons down to one hundred pounds. There is an abundance of stones in Wright county ; but sur- rounding the lake to the extent of five or ten miles, there are none . No one can form an idea as to the means employed to bring them to the spot, or who •constructed it. Around the entire lake is a belt of woodland half a mile in width, com- posed of oak; with this exception the country is a rolling prairie. The trees must have Tseen planted there at the time of the building of the wall. In the spring of 1856 there was a great storm, and the ice on the lake broke the wall in several places, and the farmers in the vicinity were obliged to repair the damages to prevent inundation. The lake occupies a ground surface of two thousand eight hundred acres; depth of water as great as twenty-five feet. The water is clear and cold; soil sandy and loamy. It is sin- gular that no one has been able to ascertain where the water comes from nor where it goes, yet it is always clear and fresh. MASON CITY. Running through from McGregor to Algona is a branch line of the Chicago, Mil- waukee and St. Paul, and 117 miles west of McGregor is Mason City, the southern ter- minus of the St. Paul and Mason City line. It is also the northern terminus of the Central Iowa Railroad, which, connecting at Ottumwa with the St. Louis, Kansas City ■and Northern Railway, forms a continuous all rail route from St. Louis to St. Paul. With such railroad advantages, it is little to be wondered at that Mason City is regarded as •one of the most flourishing towns of Northern Iowa. It has a population of 2,000 inhabit- ants, is county seat of Cerro Gordo county, and is celebrated for its pleasant and healthful situation. CLEAR LAKE. This town is located at the eastern end of a small lake of the same name, on the Iowa and Dakota line of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, about 170 miles from St. Paul. Clear Lake has lately begun to be patronized as a summer resort, but lacks yet the necessary hotel facilities. The hunting and Ashing in the neighborhood is •excellent, the scenery pleasant, though ordinary, and the town bids fair to one dav" become a popular local watering place. CALMAR TO PATTERSONVILLE. The new but flourishing towns on the line of the Iowa and Dakota division of the ■Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, embracing in addition to those named Charles City, Mason City, Sheldon and others, are deserving of at least a passing notice. The railroad is heading for Yankton on an air line and will reach that city, the metropolis of Dakota, within a brief period, thus furnishing a direct route from Milwaukee to Yankton, and passing through much of the richest country of Wisconsin and Iowa. By means of the connections already spoken of, St. Paul and Minneapolis will also be brought into •direct communication with the great and growing territory of Dakota. SABULA. Is a flourishing station on the Western Union Railroad, 165 miles from Milwaukee and 145 from Racine. This part of Jackson county was first settled in 1835, and is a very fine farming country. Sabula has valuable railroad and river connections and contains important packing houses and mills. Its population is about 1,600 and is rapidlv increasing. DAVENPORT. This important manufacturing and business centre, one of the most flourishing and well-built cities of the West, is reached by the Western Union Railroad and forms the terminus of one of its leading branches. Davenport has in it the elements of a metro- 4 50 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. politan city, and ranks with such cities as Cedar Rapids, Des Monies, Dubuque and other great railroad centres. It has many manufactures, first-class railroad facilities and unequalled river connections. This is one of the earliest settled and richest sections of Iowa and is thickly peopled by a cultured and wealthy class of citizens. MONTICELLO Is beautifully located on the banks of the Maquoketa river, in the triangle formed by the confluence of that stream and Kitty creek, a beautiful stream which traverses the eastern part of the town and forms several charming cascades. The town was first settled in 1836. The first post office was established 1841. In 1859 the Dubuque South- western Railroad was built. In 1864 M. M. Moulton established the Monticello Express. The town was incorporated in 1867. At present Monticello contains 2,000 inhabitants, and is making more rapid progress, and more substantial and handsome improvements, than any other town in this section of the State. It possesses, in a very special degree, all those natural advantages of location and surroundings that contribute to steady and permanent growth. It is the natural centre of an extensive area of country, as fruitful and as beautiful as the most idealistic agriculturalist could desire. CEDAR RAPIDS. This city, which is rapidly growing in population, commerce and all that goes to make up a flourishing and important business centre, is the terminus of the Western Union Railroad, which here makes connections for all Western and Northern points. Its population by the State census of 1875 was 7,107, now increased to 12,000. It contains many factories and mills, including the largest oat meal mills in the world, packing houses, grist mills, agricultural implement factories and the like. There is good fishing in Cedar river and its bayous, and river excursions in summer to the wooded reeesses of Blackhawk county and elsewhere. DELMAR, In Clinton county, has a population of about 1,000 and is the centre of a splendid agricultural country. In the neighborhood good duck and prairie chicken shooting can be had in the season. DUBUQUE. The city of Dubuque is one of the foremost in the great State of Iowa, and its manufactures, commerce and shipping trade are all very large. Dubuque is the oldest city on the Mississippi within the limits of Iowa, having been founded in 1788 by Julian Dubuque, a French trapper and hunter, who died there in 1810. The railroads have- made Dubuque a great distributing and shipping point, and it has also a flourishing river THE BURLINGTON INSURANCE COMPANY. One of the soundest and most solid of Iowa institutions is the Burlington Insurance- Company, which has its headquarters in the city of Burlington and transacts a business extending over the entire West. This company was organized hi 1860 and has a paid up capital of $200,000. It insures only farm property, detached buildings, barns and their contents, country churches and school houses, and takes no hazardous risks. No loss by any one fire can exceed two and one-half per cent, of its capital, thus rendering it the safest insurance association hi the United States. This is the pioneer company of Iowa, and the oldest stock company in the State. It affords the most comprehensive insurance, issuing a full policy, having no two-thirds or three-fourths clause. Its policies give a specific amount of insurance for a specific amount of premium, and during the nineteen years of its existence all losses have been promptly paid to the full amount of policies. It insures against loss or damage by lightning, whether fire ensues or not, and insures all kinds of farm property, including live stock, on a more liberal plan than any other company doing business in the State. Its officers are prominent business men and farmers, well known to the people, and it enjoys a reputation for integrity, promptness, liberality and fair dealing second to none. CHAPTER III. MINNESOTA — THE INDIANS — DEVELOPMENT— POPULATION — AGRICULTURE — MINING- WEALTH — TAXATION — DEBT — ITS FUTURE. Although one of tho youngest of the Northwestern States, Minnesota is also one of the most vigorous, and no one looking on the glorious record of the country since the organization of the territory in 1848, can doubt of the future of a land which in less than thirty years has been changed from a wilderness into a land of rich farms and smiling fields— from the hunting ground of a few thousand savage Indians to the home of 800,000 cultivated and intelligent people. In 1849 the only white inhabitants of Minnesota were a few hunters and trappers, some lumbermen and Indian traders, not 5,000 all told. Even so late as 1862 the aborigines were still strong enough to perpetrate the massacre at New Ulm, to depopulate whole counties and murder men, women and children by scores. These fearful crimes were fearfully avenged, thirty-eight of the principal actors in the massacre being hanged at Mankato on Dec. 21st, 1862. To-day Minnesota is as secure as New York or Illinois. Father Hennepin saw and named the beautiful falls of St. Anthony in 1680, but little did the good man foresee the twin metropolis which was to spring up beside the Father of the Waters. La Hontan, La Sueur, Capt. Carver, Zebulon Montgomery Pike, and other noted travelers, visited the Territory, which, in 1783, was transferred to the United States. Fort Snelling was built in 1820, but it was not until 1851 that the Indians ceded to the general government all their lands between the Mississippi | and the Big Sioux. The State of Minnesota, then containing 150,000 inhabitants, was admitted to the Union, May 11, 1858. The infant State gave 25,000 of its bravest and best — one-seventh of the whole population — to the defense of the Union, at the same time suppressing an Indian war within its own borders. Yet the population increased from 172,023 in 1865, to 440,000 in 1870, and has since almost doubled the last figures. Extending as it does from the Iowa line to the national boundary; from Wisconsin to the Dakota border, this favored State presents within its limits a variety of diversified scenery, a boundless wealth-pro- ducing potentiality in its far reaching prairies, a stored up force in its unrivalled water power, and a certainty of a prosperous future in its agricultural and mineral resources which render it one of the richest and most promising of the divisions of the Golden Northwest. Such of the original inhabitants as remain within the boundaries of the State — less than 6,000 in all — are peacefully settled upon reservations in the central and northern divisions, and attend school and church, and devote themselves to agriculture. The surface of Minnesota is an undulating plain, with an average elevation of nearly 1,000 feet above the sea, presenting unexampled drainage facilities. The Hautuers des Terres (Heights of Land) , in the northeast, rise above 600 feet above this average eleva- 52 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. tion, and form the dividing ridge between the Mississippi and Lake Superior. The land is a succession of small rolling prairies, abundantly diversified by thousands of lakes, and sloping southeast to the Mississippi, which rises in Lake Itasca in the extreme west of the Heights of Land, and has 800 miles of its course within or on the borders of Minnesota. The Minnesota River has a course of 450 miles within the State, the Red River nearly as much, and the St. Croix forms 130 miles of the eastern boundary. Altogether, there are 2,500 miles of navigable water within the State and 2, 108 miles of railroad. During the few years that have elapsed since Minnesota came into political being, vast changes have occurred within and without her borders. Rich cities line the banks of her rivers. The great Mississippi rising in one of her own lakes, Itasca, flows to the Gulf of Mexico, its surface unceasingly tormented by the buffetings of numberless pad- dle wheels, that move the commerce of an empire. Far reaching arms stretch out from her centres, gathering to her storehouses the wealth of a vast region, and bringing to her borders the people of the world. Far to the northwest even of Minnesota the tide of emigration has set, while the country westward is rapidly filling up with settlers. Great as is the present importance of the North Star State, productively, commercially, and politically, it is as nothing compared with what it must become when the promise of the future great empire of the Golden Northwest shall have been fulfilled. In 1878 there were in the State 60,816 farms covering a total tilled area of 3,429,164 acres. Nine year's progress in agricultural development may be seen by comparing these with similar returns for 1869, when the number of farms was 46,256 and the cultivated acreage 1,893,316. The area of wheat the past year is reported at 2,354,344 acres and the crop was over 26,000,000 bushels, although the number of bushels to the acre was much below the average, owing to bad weather. The crop of oats was 17,000,000 bush- els, and that of corn, 13,000,000 bushels, was the largest and best ever harvested in the State. During the year 1878 the sales of United States, State and railroad lands reached the enormous aggregate of 2,344,246 acres, a fact which alone speaks volumes for the growth of Minnesota. As to the health of the State, the vital statistics show a total of 21,799 births and only 6,599 deaths during the year, exhibiting the extraordinary ratio of 3.3 births to one death, no such satisfactory record having ever before been noted in any country, the death rate being only 0.86 per cent. The total bonded debt of the State is only $400,000, and '.hat of all counties, cities, towns and school districts, is less than $5,000,000. WINONA. Winona, named for the beautiful Indian maiden of the local legend which has been immortally preserved by the pen of Longfellow and others, lies on tne western shore of the Mississippi river, on a broad expanse of prairie. Like many, indeed almost all important points in the North Star State, it is famous for the salubrity of its climate, invalids flocking here from every quarter of the country. Generally known as the Queen City of Minnesota, the town has many claims to the title. The largest city in the south- ern part of the state, it is favored in being one of the leading grain markets of the Golden Northwest. Added to this it is the seat of tha State Normal School, an institution noted for its educational advantages. Huff's hotel can be recommended to the traveler visiting this bright little city. It is well-managed and both in price and quality of entertainment is eminently satisfactory. One of the leading professional institutions of Winona is the Northwestern Surgical Institute, which is located on the corner of Centre and Sanborn streets, one block east of the Normal School building and two blocks from the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway depot. We append an illustration of this handsome building, which is one of the attractions of the town. Dr. Holman S. Hum- phrey, the proprietor and surgeon in charge, is a gentleman of great experience in the treatment of diseases of the eye and ear and of functional disorders of every kind. He has been uniformly successful in his treatment of asthma, scrofula, consumption, and THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 53 other diseases of like character. In the treatment of deformities, disease of the heart and catarrh, he has met with unexampled success. The Winona Carriage Works, situated on the corner of Washington and Third streets are the largest works of this kind in the Northwest. This is a stock company with a paid-up capital of $30,000, actively employed in the business of manufacturing carriages, wagons and sleighs. The Hon. Thomas Simpson is president of the company; Mr. J. C. Blake, secretary and treasurer; and John Lalor, a gentleman of great and varied ex- perience in all branches of this business, is the able and efficient superintendent. This 54 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. firm manufactures every kind of carriages and sleighs, on the newest and most approved models. They use the best materials, both woodwork and hardware, and pride them- selves on turning out nothing but high grade goods. From forty to fifty men are con- stantly employed in these large works and machinery of the best description is used. By this means the Winona Carriage Works have built up a reputation for superiority of quality, which has brought them an immense trade. Their caiTiages and sleighs are shipped to all points in the Northwest, and their name is a guarantee of good material and workmanship. At the same time then- prices are placed as low as is consistent with good work and thorough completeness in every department. Space will not permit of NORTHWESTERN SURGICAL INSTITUTE. extended reference to this great industry, one of the most important of this thriving city, but readers desiring information can obtain price lists and all necessary details by addressing the Winona Carnage Works as above. WABASHA. Stopping in the wealthy modern city of St. Paul, and glancing over its princely palaces, its great warehouses and broad business thoroughfares, the traveler would scarcely imagine that within seventy miles the wildest scenes of nature could be encoun- tered, and all the excitements of frontier life enjoyed. Yet the lovely resort and hunting ground of Wabasha is only that far away from the capital. Opposite the mouth of the Chippewa river, and at the southern limit of Lake Pepin, this point combines natural attractions and commercial advantages with considerations of the greatest historical interest. As to the former, there is the navigation of the upper Mississippi, and the traffic on the Chippewa, navigable for steamers for ninety miles from its mouth. And as to the latter, here it is that the capital of the great Sioux nation existed for centuries before the pale face of the European arrived to disturb the savage rule of the red man. THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 55 All the grand councils of the various tribes included in this confederation as a family were gathered together here periodically. Ambassadors from nations far distant were received and feasted much as civilized people receive and fete such functionaries now. At Wabasha the wigwam of the grand sachem was located, and from this point radiated the governmental administration, such as it was, of the Sioux or Dakota Indians. But about the ancient Indian capital traces of a still older race exist, and the archaeologist may find at this place ample opportunities for the pursuit of his special science. As in other localities along the Mississippi, the Mound builders have left here the traces of their handiwork. Hundreds of mounds surround the present city, inviting the curious to delve into their depths and unearth the hidden historical treasures that must here he buried. LAKE PEPIN. "We leave the bright little town of Wabasha, rich in its history, as the capital city of the Sioux Kings long before the restless, busy Anglo-Saxon with his iron horses, and puffing, smoking marine monsters came to disturb the quiet of the land and waters of Minnesota. We leave it with regret, softened by anticipations of a feast to the eye and mind, the glories of which have been painted in rosy tinted hues upon the canvas of our imagination for years. Only a few miles distant, and on the same side of the river, we find the village and poi't of Head's Landing, opposite the mouth of the Chippewa River, and half a mile below Lake Pepin, the objective point of this particular trip. If the reader could only realise from experience the thousand beauties, each one susceptible of almost illimitable subdivision, which cluster about this region of pure and sublime beauty, he might understand the difficulty of conveying even a faint idea of the subject, within the limits of a brief sketch. All that might be written of the lovely lake and its surroundings, would alone fill a volume larger than this one. Lake Pepin is not, strictly speaking, a lake at all; that is, it is not entirely surrounded by land; and that at least was considered necessary before a body of water could set itself up in business as a lake, when the writer was at school. In reality the "lake" is only a part of the mighty Mississippi, which widens here for five and twenty miles, form- ing a distinct body to all intent, from three to five miles in width. It is distant but three hundred and forty miles from Chicago, and only about sixty-five from St. Paul, and is not only but easily and very comfortably accessible by land via the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. A single day's ride from the western metropolis, and there you are! Remembering that Lake Pepin is a part of the "Father of Waters," you will be surprised at the entire absence of any perceptible current here, and if you have ever traveled on the lower Mississippi you will not unwillingly miss the tawny color of the water you hes- itated so long to drink. The clear, deep, unbroken expanse of water is an astonishment to the tourist who never before visited the upper Mississippi. Not an island dots the sur- face of the lake to obscure the view of its surroundings, and the clear, high atmosphere of the region constitutes a telescope without speck or flaw, through which the eye may discern objects at distances inconceivable to those unacquainted with the Golden North- west. Encircling the lake innumerable giant bluffs raise their lordly battlements, in all the variety of form and design in which Nature's divine architect has so delighted to mould his work. Many of these bluffs rise to an altitude of 500 feet, and in size, as well as form, there is every conceivable diversity. Sharp, peaked pyramids relieve mounts whose gently curved lines again set off magnificent cones, and these form foils to huge, square, castellated masses, reminding one of historic piles seen long ago in the not more lovely Rhin eland. Never did mirror of faultless crystal reflect the image of woman's beauty more perfectly, than do the waters of this lake reproduce the inverted images of these Titanic sentinels, who for untold ages have looked calmly upon their reflections in its bosom. Clear cut, sharp and vivid, every tree, bush, shadow and cloud are seen in the mysterious depths of Pepin. 56 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. PKONTENAC. The accompanying view will afford the reader a faint conception of the beauties of Frontenac. But it is scarcely to be expected that a small illustration should convey to the mind a scene, which an intelligent verdict has designated the "Newport of the North- west.'' Situated as it is on Lake Pepin, it is scarcely necessary to say much of its sur- roundings, since they are treated of in another place. The natural attractions of the- place are greater than any other in the state, considered as a combination of hunting, fishing, boating, bathing, and the numerous delights of a fashionable watering place.. Frontenac is not cnly what kind nature has designed it to be, but art and civilization have molded the raw material until at this time it presents the aspect of a great resort richly deserving of the flattering name it has been accorded. To the thousand points of in- terest up and down the lake, and in and out of the great and small rivers about, steamers and steam yachts ply incessantly: while the sailing for scores of miles for pleasure boats THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 5T is not anywhere to be excelled. One particular lure held out by Frontenac will be ever appreciated by the sportsmen; it is one of the few localities left in the Northwest, any- where near civilization, where the grouse shooting is good. This fact is not unknown to- our votaries of the gun and bag, and hundreds hie themselves every season to the delight- ful hills and dales of this vicinity, intent upon the honorable slaughter of the noble bird- The village itself is not visible in the cut presented. It stands upon a plateau above and a little distance back of the river. The long, sharp cape seen extending into the lake, is Point au Sable, whereon tradition tells us the earliest military post established in the region was erp.cted, far back in the past, when Count Frontenac was French governor of Canada, and sent out the first expedition for the exploration of the Mississippi Kiver. There is an excellent hotel at this place, located only a few rods from the neat depot of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, by which line the beautiful resort is easily reached from any place in the country. One of the handsomest residences in this city of handsome buildings, is that of Gen. Israel Girard, who has created by the side of this, beautiful lake a home second in attractiveness to none in the Northwest. RED WING. Red Wing is a flourishing town, supplying a thickly settled and rich agricultural country, of which it is the business centre. It is also the county town of Goodhue county. Red Wing is 369 miles from Chicago, and forty from St. Paul, on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. It does not possess any particular attractions not shared by the many other prosperous communities to be found in every part of the State. Near Red Wing the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway make a curve around Barren Rock, on the very edge of the river. At this bend of the Mississippi one of the noblest views to be encountered in the West feasts the eye. A broad expanse of water, backed by hills and valleys extending to the distant horizon, and covering a range of many miles, constitutes a landscape of almost unequaled grandeur. Red Wing possesses a first-class financial institution in the First National Bank, of which Mr. J. B. Sheldon is president, and Jesse Mclntyre, cashier. It has a capital of $100,000. and a surplus of $20,000. Among the important industries of this city, must be- reckoned the steam flouring milis of Porter & Mowbray, which have a capacity of prod- ucing 450 barrels per day. The produce of this mill is of high grade and commands out- side prices. HASTINGS. This interesting town, with a population of 5,000, is the county seat of Dakota county, and is a place of more than a little commercial and industrial importance. It is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi, at the crossing of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, nineteen miles from St. Paul. The white settlement was begun in 1852, and since that time the adjacent country has grown in population to an extent that ren- ders Hastings a considerable local majket. The manufacturing enterprises conducted are: two saw mills, three large flouring mills, two foundries, several cabinet ware and wood-work factories, four wagon factories, and other establishments of less importance. Hastings is not deficient in objects of interest. The interesting formation known as the limestone walls occur near the railroad crossing, extending for some distance on the river. They are not high, but singularly regular and perfect in form, and surmounted by bluffs covered with bright verdure, form a spectacle ever to be regarded with admiration. The Vermillion Falls, a handsome fall sixty feet high, in the neighborhood, besides fish- ing and hunting grounds of great desirability— all these in combination render Hastings, a place worth visiting. ST. PAUL. One of the most important political, commercial and railroad centres, not only in the- Northwest, but in the whole country, is St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota and county and couuty seat of Ramsey county. The two great fines of the Chicago, Milwaukee and .58 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. St. Paul Kaihvay here form a junction, extending as a single line to Minneapolis. Here is also the southern terminus of the St. Paul and Pacific, and the Lake Superior and Mississippi Kailroads; the western terminus of the West Wisconsin, and the northeastern terminus of the St. Paul and Sioux City Railroads. St. Paul is situated on the banks of the Mississippi, 2,041 miles from its mouth, where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico, to which it enjoys the advantages of continuous navigation. The Minnesota empties into the Mississippi five miles above the city, and the Falls of St. Anthony are eleven miles above. The location of the city is a very eligible one, on the east bank at the foot of a range of bluffs rising at its back from fifty to one hundred feet, and crowned with the elegant homes of wealthy citizens St. Paul antedates all the other settlements in the state. Its location was mentioned by Father Hennepin, after his visit in 1680. The captivity of this pioneer missionary lias been already mentioned in the short paper on Minnesota. In 1767 Captain Jonathan Carver, from Connecticut, who had served with distinction in the French wars, started •on a speculative exploration of the Northwest territory, and according to his own account made a treaty with the Indians in Carver's Cave, an interesting natural cave yet in exis- tence within the city limits of St. Paul, under Dayton's Bluff. Carver s account of this treaty, by which he claimed to have receive a large tract of land in and about the site of the city, has always been regarded cum grano salis, and we believe his assertion that he was elected a chief of the Dakotas, rests upon no better foundation than his own w r ord. However, this adventure is entitled to the credit of bringing this rich region to the notice of his countrymen, and thus without doubt accelerating the day of its final settlement. Whatever else may be said of Carver, his prophetic vision of the future greatness of the Golden Northwest entitles him to rank as one of the most far-seeing "prospectors" of his own or any other time, He says of it: ; 'To what power or authority this new world will become dependent after it has arisen from its present uncultivated state, time alone can discover. But as the seat of empire from time immemorial has been gradually progressing toward the west, there is no doubt but that at some future period mighty kingdoms will emerge from these wildernesses, and stately temples with gilded spires reaching the skies, supplant the Indian huts whose only decorations are the barbarous trophies of then vanquished enemies." The first actual settlement of the town was made in 1838, by a Canadian named Parrant, immediately after the Indian title to the lands east of the Mississippi had been extinguished. This pioneer built a cabin where Bench street now passes. Where Catholic block now stands, in 1840 Father Gaultier built an humble log chapel and estab- lished the mission of St. Paul, and the settlement henceforth took its name from the mission — another evidence of the wonderful effect the Catholic missionary enterprises in the Northwest have exerted upon the civilization of the section. Building up a considerable river trade, and trade with the Indians, the little village grew slowly until 1849, when the territory of Minnesota was organized with St. Paul as its capital. A new life was infused by this accession to its importance, and before the end of that year several hundred inhabitants breathed the invigorating air of St. Paul. A little friendly rivalry has existed between this the political centre of the state, and its next door neighbor and rival, but comparisons would be invidious and unnecessary. St. Paul the capital, and Minneapolis the metropolis, will ever go hand in hand to secure the aggrandisement of their glorious commonwealth in the directions which Providence has variously endowed them with abilities and advantages to accomplish. St. Paul became an incorporated city March 4th, 1854, its domain covering 2,400 acres. This area was increased, in 1856, to 3,200 acres, its present limits. It is to be regretted that we have not space to relate in detail the struggles of the plucky, self-confident town, nor to sketch the careers of those brave and wise pioneers, whose efforts have made St. Paul the prosperous city of our day. But among the latter it would be improper not to say a word of one whose abilities and enterprise have been not among the least of the THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 59 factors in the development of this important point. Captain Kussel Blakely, a pioneer steamboat man of the Upper Mississippi, has done as much as any one else to push the commerce of St. Paul. He was born in Massachusetts in 1814, and after spending his early life in Western New York, Peoria, and Galena, Illinois, and Virginia, he returned to Galena in 1847, and engaged that year as clerk on the "Arno," a Missis- sippi steamer, that soon after sunk. He afterwards commanded the "Dr. Franklin" for some time. Through these connections and later, as captain of the "Nominee," in 1853, the celebrated packet "Galena" in 1854, burned at Bed Wing in 1858, Captain Blakely became widely and popularly known; perhaps had the largest acquaintance of any man in the Northwest of that day for one time or another he earned almost every inhabitant of the region up or down the river, on some one of the boats he commanded at various OLD BETS. times. Captain Blakely became agent for the Packet Company at Duluth, in 1855, and not long afterward bought the interest of C. T. Whitney in the Northwestern Express Co. He became a resident of St. Paul in 1856. "Soon after, the firm became largely interested in mail contracts, stage and transportation lines, etc. * * * * The business is now continued by Captain Blakely and C. W. Carpenter, Esq. Captain Blakely is also largely interested in the railroad business, being a director of the Sioux City Bailroad, and is a member of several other business organizations, contributing largely, both in capital and time, to promote the prosperity of the city and state, and build up its literary and other institutions." No description of St. Paul would be complete without some reference to "Old Bets," than whom, during her lifetime, there was not a better known character in the city. Bets was a squaw of the Sioux nation. Her native name was Aza-ya-man-ka-wan or Berry Picker. She was born near Mendota in 1788, and was at the time of her death only sevent y-five years old, though she was generally supposed to be 100. She was married after the Indian fashion, to Ma-za-sa-gia. or Iron Sword, who died a few years subse- quently at Mendota. She had several children, of whom one daughter was living not long ago in St. Paul. A son named Ta-poi, or "Wounded Man," bom at Mendota, became 60 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. somewhat noted as a convert to Christianity, and, after his death at Faribault in 1869 Bishop Whipple published a fine volume of his biography, with an engraved portrait. A town in southern Minnesota has been named for him. One of her brothers waa He-in- doo-ka, a famous warrior, prophet and medicine man, who was killed by the Chippewas some years ago. "One Legged Jim" was another brother of Old Bets. He lost a leg in a skirmish and used to peg around on a wooden stump. She was a privileged character in many ways, aud no old settler (she knew them all) would refuse her request for kosh poppy (money). During the Sioux war she was very kind to white prisoners, and possessed other good traits. She was a convert to Chris- tianity shortly before her death, by Father Ravoux. When her last illness was known, the Chamber of Commerce subscribed a sum of money for her comfort, and she had a Christian burial. She died in 1873 at Mendota.* THE RAILROADS. St. Paul is one of the most important railroad centres of the whole Northwestern country. The St. Paul and Pacific Kailroad extends from this metropolis to Brecken- ridge, 217 miles, this being known as the "First Division." From Breckenridge the route extends to Fisher's Landing, connecting with the Northern Pacific Railroad at Glyddon, at Fisher's Landing with the Bed River steamers, and at St. Vincent with the Canada Pacific Railroad. A detailed account of the chief cities on this route and others radiating from St. Paul will be found elsewhere in this work. The St. Paul and Duluth Railroad has a length of 155 miles and passes through the great prospective wheat producing country of Eastern Minnesota. This road takes in such thriving cities as White Bear, Stillwater, Wyoming, Rush City and Huckley, and has many valuable connections, one of the most important being that made with the Northern Pacific. The Northern Pacific Railroad has before it probably the most magnificent future of any great thoroughfare on this continent. Its possibilities are indeed boundless. Pass- ing through the centre of the great northern wheat belt, with one terminus at the head of interior navigation, and the other at the grandest harbor of the Pacific coast, this rail- road, when completed, will outrival all competitors and stand confessed the greatest work of this great nineteenth centnry. But we are called upon to deal in this work, less with the future than with the present; less with the wonderful possibilities of this road than with its present certainties. So far as completed, this road extends from Duluth, on Lake Superior, to Bismarck, Dakota Territory, and by means of its Brainerd extension and connecting lines from St. Paul to Bismarck. We have mentioned it under this head- ing for the reason that its headquarters have been established at St. Paul, and shall speak of some of the chief cities on its line of route in another place. FORT SNELLING. In 1820 a detachment of the 5th Regulars, commanded by Colonel Josiah Sne lling, commenced to erect the fort now known as Fort Snelling, on the bluff two miles below Minnehaha. The work was not completed until 1822, and was at first called Fort Anthony, but in 1824 Gen. Scott visited it, and was so pleased with the location and con- struction of the fort that he requested the War Office to give the post the name of its efficient constructor, and it was accordingly called Fort Snelling. The natural situation affiirms the good taste of the projector. The fort is built upon a high bluff, at the point where the waters of the Minnesota and Mississippi unite. The earliest army station of the United States in Minnesota, Fort Snelling, will ever be surrounded by reminiscences that must make it and its beautiful site interesting to both citizen and stranger for many a day. Those who have once seen its battled front rise high above the verdure at the base of the cliff; who have looked upon the rugged rocks just beneath its walls, and above all these the walls themselves, with bastion and angle, prim, grim and fitting for *History of St. Paul. THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 61 the home of Mars, will scarcely fail to hope that the reveille may sound for a thousand years within these same enclosures, and that the starry banner waving over the fort mav never fail to float in the breeze, while Anglo-Saxon blood remains on the continent to commemorate the strifes and triumphs of early settlement in the Northwest. MINNEHAHA FALLS. "As one sees the Minnehaha, Gleaming, glancing thro' the branches : As one hears the Laughing Water From behind its screen of branches." The lovely Falls of Minnehaha, perhaps as well known to the world as any feature of American scenery, through the immortal poem of Hiawatha, are located on Minnehaha MIRRR-mCHPRDS-.^Vt.; MINNEHAHA FALLS. River, which is the outlet of Minnetonka and other lakes in the vicinity. It is a shallow, clear stream; its bed covered with pebbles of crystal and opal, and its surface broken with numerous little islands. Rushing merrily around among these in its rapid career, it suddenly takes a bound over the falls. For ages the basin in which the water pours as it tumbles over the rock in one solid sheet of silver sheen, has been hollowing, until a large deep cup has been formed, into which Nature's glorious beverage is drawn, clear and sparkling, from the eternal fountain. The volome of water is limited, but, as a writer has prettily said, "it appears to more advantage at its lowest than at its highest volume; for the chief beauty of the falls is in the crossing of the delicate spiral threads of water, producing an effect which reminds one of fine lace." A couple of hundred feet below there is an old wooden bridge, whose span is only thirty feet, showing the modest scale upon which the beautiful cascade and its immediate surroundings are constructed. From the bridge a delightful view of the face is obtained, as it pours unceasingly into the basin sixty feet below its crest. 62 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. The narrow gorge from the centre of the fall to the bridge is in the form of an ellipse with a depth of about sixty feet. The summits are covered with forest trees of many varieties. The bluffs descend gradually from below the bridge to the water's edge, the shore continuing heavily fringed with dense foliage. Behind the thin, transparent veil of water at the falls a path allows the visitor to pass, affording a cool spray-dedewed halt- ing place not the least among the beauties of Laughing Water. MINNEAPOLIS. The "North Star City," as the rich and growing city of Minneapolis is proudly called by the people of Minnesota, is the county seat of Hennepin county, beautifully situated on both banks of the Mississippi, at the Falls of St. Anthony. At this point the two great lines of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway meet, the trains of each arriving and departing from the same place. In addition to this, the Brainerd branch of tehy Northern Pacific line connects at Sauk Rapids with the St. Paul and Pacific for Min- neapolis, whence trains are run through by this connection to Bismarck, D. T., making this route to the Black Hills considerably shorter than any other. Another imp ortan THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 63. commercial outlet is found through the St. Vincent branch of the St. Paul and Pacific road bv its new extension from Fisher's Landing to the State line, where it will connect with'the Canadian road to Fort Garry. Thus it will be seen that the entire Northwest is- reached by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul road through its Minneapolis connec- tions, opening up for that city a commerce in all directions, of which no rival can ever deprive the North Star Metropolis. The early history of Minneapolis is replete with the struggles of new settlements in the West. It has gone through dark times, often with every circumstance'' pointing to failure as the ultimate outcome. The first white settler, Franklin Steele, Esq., lo- cated a claim in 1837, a few weeks after the treaty with the Indians had been negotiated. €4 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. This claim was on the east side of the river, just opposite the Falls of St. Anthony. Others followed, and ten years later a small settlement called the Village of St. Anthony's Falls had grown up. At this time all the territory now occupied by the city on the west side of the river was included in the Fort Snelling reservation, and was not open to settlement. In 1849, Col. John H. Stevens secured a permit from the govern- ment to build and occupy a house on the west side of the river, which he did, keeping a ferry across the river above the falls, near where the suspension bridge is now located on the west side, and the year following several others staked out pre-emption claims, forming the nucleus for a village. During the next four years Minneapolis continued to improve, and the initiatory steps were taken to utilize the vast water power on the west side. In the meantime the villagre of St. Anthony's Falls continued to improve rapidly; severrl flouring mills were erected, and in 1855 the city of St. Anthony was chartered, and Henry T. Welles elected the first Mayor. MINNEAPOLIS SUSPENSION BRIDGE. Among the public works of importance, the suspension bridge, connecting the east and west divisions of the city, is one of the finest structure of the kind in the West. It crosses from Bridge Square, fronting the City Hall, and was erected in 1876, at a cost of $175,000. It is 675 feet in length, and has a roadway with double track for teams, twenty feet wide, two street car tracks, footways on either side, each six feet wide, supported by independent cables. Besides the one just described, there are two other costly and handsome bridges connecting the different parts of the city. Throughout the Northwest the public buildings of Minneapolis are noted for their number, and the expense which North Star enterprise has lavished in rendering them adequate to the requirements of their missions. The elegant building occupied by the City Hall and Post Office, an excellent idea of which may be gained Hy reference to the accompanying illustration, is a credit to the city. The University of Minnesota, a cut of which we present, was located at the Falls of St. Anthony by act of the territorial legis- lature, and the location was confirmed by the State constitution. Situated on the east .side of the river, its site is a commanding bluff, which overlooks the whole city, and the THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. Falls of St. Anthony. This institution went into actual operation as a preparatory school in 1867, and its first college commencement was held in 1873. There is an ample endowment consisting of lands granted by Congress, of which sales have been made amounting to $350,000, and it is expected over $1,000,000 will be realized from this source for the whole grant. At the present time there is a faculty of sixteen professors and tutors, and the number of students enrolled amounts to about 375. The principal build- ings are the main budding, in which the bulk of the scholastic work is carried on, and the Agricultural College, (53x146 feet) in which the chemical and physical laboratories, the plant house and the museums of geology and agriculture ar« situated. The main building contains fifty-four rooms, among them a fine assembly hall ninety by sixty feet, and twenty-four feet high. This hall is to be beautifully decorated. The UiVIVEKSITY OF MINNESOTA. library, the largest and best in the state, being, in fact, the general library of the state, and containing 12,000 bound books, is on the first floor. A fine reading room adjoining is open daily, free to the membei'S of the University and to the general public. The general museum, on the third floor, is well worth a visit. Here are to be exhibited the collections of the geological survey, which is now carried on by the scientific corps of the University, under the authority of the board of Kegents. The classical museum is also inaugurated in room 36. One of the handsomest school buildings in the United States has been erected dur- ing the past year as the High School of Minneapolis. As will be seen from the illustration the architectural design is of the most advanced school of aesthetic taste in construction, and the internal arrangements of the edifice fulfil the promise of the exterior to the letter. The extreme dimensions of the building are 112x131) feet, and the working rooms are all on the first and second floors, each of which contains two school rooms forty-four by fifty-four feet, each of which in turn is entered directly from both boys' and girls' hall, and indirectly through cloak rooms. The boys' and gills' halls are nineteen by twenty-two feet with a vestibule, and easy and spacious staircase, recessed in the round towers, and isolated from the main structure by heavy fire-walls. Adjoining each school room, and also connected with halls, are three recitation rooms each twenty by twenty -four feet. 06 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. The girls' entrance is sheltered by a stone piazza, ten by forty-five feet, upon which, also, opens the office of the superintendent, situated on the first floor of the main tower, the second story of which contains the laboratories. The third floor contains a hall, 52x70, with ample recessed stage, also a literary society room, 44x54, and a room for drawing, 22x54 feet. The basement contains, besides the steam heating apparatus, luel rooms, boys' and girls' toilet rooms, water closets, etc., a gymnasium, 43x53 feet and 13 feet high, well lighted from the Fourth avenue side, upon which is the street entrance to the gymnasium and superintendent's office. 8ILVEH CAbCADK NEAIt MINNEAPOLIS. The exterior walls are of the local gray limestone, roek-faced, with trimmings of cream-colored Kasota stone. The roofs are slated in black and red, the cornices, copings, etc., are of iron, and the gutters, flashings, etc., of lead. The style of the building is the secular gothic, so much employed in England for the past thirty years, and by the best designers of the East for a somewhat less period, and an effort has been made to carry into every part of the design the principle of hon- esty and constructional decoration which is foremost among the charms of the style. A little good carving and wrought metal work has been introduced, and in accordance with the best tradition of the style, the ornamental designs are in no case duplicated in execution, but vary with each individual capital, flnial, etc. Another educational institution of prominence is the Augsburg Lutheran Theological Seminary, very influential in the denomination it represents. The buildings were erected at a cost of $25,00w, and a faculty of four professors and two tutors, with 103 students devote themselves to religious study within its walls. Sixty-u.e d.i. nl.es of various denominations raise their spires above the suuoundirg mills and wiucLcutiso^ THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 67 Minneapolis. All denominations are represented, and the proportion of churches and missions to the aggregate population seems to suggest the North Star City as being a God-fearing, at least a liberal church supporting community. The manufacturing interests of Minneapolis, for a long time past of great importance, have within a few years received an impetus from the rapid extension of the city's railroad connections, and steady growth of settlement in the region tributary in every direction. During the year 1877 over 10,000,000 acres of laud were sold to actual settlers, thus creating a large home market for manufactured goods of all kinds, while the new country of Manitoba has been for a considerable period a heavy purchaser of machinery, agricul- tural implements, furniture, and so forth. The Upper Missouri valley, the Black Hills and all Dakota are now open to com- petition, and Minneapolis has the advantage in the contest in distance, being the nearest mivut'aaturing centre to all this Northwestern territory; of railroad communication, hav- ing direct connection with all that country without reshipmcnt; and last, though not least, the unoqualed facilities furnished for manufacturing purposes by the water power and large lumber interests centered here. The business men and manufacturers of the city are awake to the importance of preparing to meet this increased demand. Branches of manufacturing already established are preparing to increase their product, and new indus- tries, such as the growing trade demand, are being introduced. LAKE MINNETONKA. This beautiful body of water is one of the largest as it is also one of the most at- Uastive lakes in the State. It is distant twenty-four miles from St. Paid by the St. Paul and Paaifis R lilroad, and deservedly ranks as the leading watering place of Min- nesota. The total length of the lake is in the neighborhood of twenty-eight miles, and in width it varies, being not more than four to five miles at any point. The coast of Miiin3to:iki is at least two hundred miles in extent, as its shores are everywhere in- dented with bays, inlets and gulfs. These, natural features give the lake a variety of ssenery not to ba excelled in the whole Northwest. The shores are covered with the beautiful foliage peculiar to the North Star State, and the forests are alternated with golden fields and noble bluffs, all presenting nature in every phase delightful to the senses. As a summer resort Minnetonka has been steadily growing in favor for several years, and at the present time the results of recent enterprise on the part of those whose mis- sion is to cater to the comfort of visitors, are seen in the flocks of tourists who regular- ly take their holidays at the "Big Water," as the name of the lake signifies in English. Everything is found here calculated to please the careworn city man. The shooting and fishing are magnificent. Facilities for any kind of life, hotel, camp or cottfge, are amply present. Sailing, boating, "steaming," driving, bowling ! Everything is pro- vided for the heart's content. Wayzata, a station on the St. Paul and Pacific road is th3 entrepot to this lovely re- gion for all who journey thither bv rail, but many, especially residents of St. Paul and Minneapolis, ride or drive over the charming roads leading from those cities to the lake. From the latter town the distance to Excelsior on the lake is only eighteen miles by car- riage road, and this is naturally a popular trip, as the scenery all along is extremely picturesque. Wayzata being the only railroad point on the lake has considerable local importance. Here the visitor must look for his letters, baggage and the quartermaster and commissary stores so convenient to the summer wayfarer. WHITE BEAR LAKE. Near White Bear, a station on the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad, is situated one of the m st popular and delightful summer resorts in the country. White Bear Lako is especially favored, with reference to its local advantages, in being about equally diotauc 68 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. from the three largest cities in the State, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Stillwater, i'rom all of which places a large patronage, alone sufficient to support its pretensions to being considered a leading watering place. White Bear Lake is a charming little sheet of water about four miles in length by three wide. A picturesque island rises from the bosom of the lake near its centre. The bright pebbly beach is loaded with opalescent gems of agate and earnelian. while the crystal waters, clear and cold, are the home of of game fish in great numbers. Lake Shore, a new station, has been recently estab- lished by the St. Paul and Duluth company for the convenience of visitors to Bear Lake. In an historical description of the locality, Colonel J. Fletcher Williams of the State Historical Society writes : "This neighborhood was, from time immemorial, a grand battle ground between the Chippewas and Dakotas. There is hardly a foot of ground around White Bear Lake that has not been ensanguined by the blood of these hereditary foes. Spirit Island seems to have been the most hotly contested ground, and to this day the remains of rifle pits, redoubts and earth works are there to be found while its soil was enriched by the innumerable warriors who were slain. It is a perfect Golgotha— an island ceme- tery. These fierce combats continued as late as 1855, when a party of Sioux from Ka- posia passed the lake on a hunting expedition. Near Oneka Lake, a few miles above, they encountered the Chippewas, one of whom they killed and scalped, losing, howev- er, two of their own braves by mortal wounds. They brought their wounded comrades with them, on litters, and encamped on the banks of Gcose Lake, just above where St. John's Church was afterwards erected, and held a scalp dance. They spent two days and nights in their infernal orgies, frightening women and children by shaking the reek- ing scalp of their dead enemy above their heads. "During the early days of the white settlements the Indians were very troublesome. The Sioux claimed the right to hunt and fish and gather cranberries and rice, which were very abundant. Game was so plentiful that both Chippewa and Sioux dreaded the idea of abandoning it. The lake teemed with fish, aquatic fowl, muskrat and mink. The forest abounded with bear, deer and other game, while wild rice and berries were plen- tiful in the lakes and marshes. It was to them Wa-che-cha— the land of plenty. Some idea of the abundance of game may be gained by a single instance. In the winter of 1853-4, Little Crow, Red Iron and several other chiefs, who then had a village at Ka- posia, camped at the lake with a few lodges. During the winter, by actual count, they killed 1,265 deer. What wonder that game should grow scarce ? What wonder the red men should dislike leaving their Wa-se-cha." Among the beauties of White Bear Lake, Spirit Island stands pre-eminent. It is a favorite resort for camping parties, aud realizes thoroughly the ideal of retirement from all the bustles and cares of civilized life. An interesting Indian legend tells how it was reg irded with reverence by the Dakotas in the elder day. Railway and hotel facilities combined with natural attractions unsurpassed at any resort in the world, render it cer- tain that White Bear Lake will advance in popularity and prosperity as one of the most delight!' ul fashionable watering places in the Golden Northwest. BRAINERD. Brainerd occupying an attractive site on the banks of the Mississippi River is the seat of the general offices of the Northern Pacific Railroad, of which line it is an import- ant station. The town is largely visited by sportsmen who come to enjoy the fishing and shooting of the vicinity. The lakes in the immediate neighborhood are stocked with the finest black and rock bass, pike and pickerel in the country; and the country abounds with daer, partridge, ducks and geese. The town his 1,000 inhabitants and boasts of an excellent hotel. It is the junction of the Western Railroad, now running in connection with the St. Paul and Pajifi • direat to S". Paul thirteen miles distant. A stage line and mail route also connects it with Leech Lake Indian Agency to the north. THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 69 DETROIT. This town is the county seat of Beecher county and is located near the shore of Detroit Lake, on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad. It is just on the border of the beautiful park region, has a population of 1,200, mostly immigrants from New Eng- land. Detroit Lake is one of the finest sheets of water on the road, and has become quite a popular resort, the scenery, hunting and fishing of the neighborhood being un- surpassed anywhere. Besides its railway communications, Detroit is connected by stage with the White Earth Indian Reservation in the north, and southward through the Peli- can Valley to Fergus Falls and Campbell, on the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. DULUTH. One of the most interesting incidents in the history of Northwestern development is found in the startling growth of this city at the head of Lake Superior. Less than ten years ago a few scattered huts were all the evidences of settlement on the site of the important and growing commercial port and city of Duluth. Where now broad streets lined with warehouses, churches, schools and handsome residences, spread out in every direction, only a few years ago the gentle bovine ruminated in the shade of lordly forest trees, and the song of the fishenuan or the hum of the bees was all that broke the still- ness of the region. Superior City, a small settlement across the bay of Superior, three- quarters of a mile wide, in former years supplied the few people at Duluth with the necessaries of life. This, the earliest commerce of the place, was conducted by means of bark canoes during open navigation, and dog sledges in the winter. Superior City had ambitious aspirations, and experienced a sudden growth at the time the Northern Pacific Road became a fixed fact, but after two or three years of prosperity and progress ceased, Duluth meantime springing inte existence a full fledged city. Like almost every important town in the West, Duluth owes its good fortune to railways. Being the terminus of the St. Paul and Duluth, and of the Northern Pacific lines, its facilities for inland commerce extend in every direction, while added to this it commands the commerce of the great lakes, holding the head of navigation. This latter consideration must alone make Duluth the " Chicago of Minnesota," as its friends already delight to call it, for when the northwest is thickly populated as it will be within a short time, this city will necessarily become the commercial metropolis of a vast region. But the advantages of the situation are not alone sordid or material, for the site of Duluth is one of the most beautiful in the Golden Northwest. Lake Superior, " Gitchie Cumee " of the Dakotas, is celebrated the world over for the grandeur of its scenery, and in no part of it to a greater extent than in this vicinity. Government has lent a helping hand to this lusty child of the lakes and woods by constructing a magnificent breakwater to protect the outer harbor. The result of this judicious outlay gives Duluth a dockage of over twenty miles; sufficient to accommodate the great fleets that from the ports of our own country and over- sea will one day anchor at the gates of the North Star Empire. At the present time the city has about twelve miles of well graded streets, over a thousand business houses, with an annual trade of nearly six million dollars, a number of workshops and factories and adequate wharves and other facilities for the marine interest. Several prosperous churches, neat, ample and fully appointed schools and fine public buildings; all give to Duluth the air of a full grown, almost middle-aged town; truly surprising when one reflects ^that only the other day, as it seems, civilization had not yet disturbed the wildness of nature, where the metropolis of the future already defends its claim to consideration as one of the cities of the Northwest. The wonderful progress and development of this point is due confessedly to the enterprise and energy of the St. Paul and Duluth management more than to any other one influence. Through that road and its connections, especially one of them, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Road, Duluth has been favored with trade advantages, the outcome of which may be noted in her present important business interests. 70 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. NORTHFIELD. The terrible tragedy enacted at Northfleld a couple of years ago has environod that town with a romantic interest that it would never otherwise have attained. The raid of the James and Younger brothers, the capture of the Bank of Northfleld, the heroic defense and death of Heywood the cashier, and the subsequent excitement and campaign against the fleeing bandits— all this is still fresh in the minds of the public. Northfleld is a little city of 2,000 inhabitants, thirty-nine miles from St. Taul on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, and on the east bank of Cannon Eiver. Carleton College, one of the most popular seats of learning in the State is located here, and the city is otherwise of local importance as the supplying point for a large section of thriving country. A curi- ous natural feature rises from the prairie six miles north and one mile east of the railroad, called Castle^ Rock, a tower of white sandstone forty feet high. FARIBAULT. In the early part of the present century Alexander Faribault established a trading post on the site of the present wealthy and flourishing city that bears his name. The town was not laid out until 1855, since which time its growth has been steady. Faribault is situated on the Iowa and Minnesota line of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Rail- way, and distant from St. Paul fifty-three miles. Two small rivers, between which it is located, furnish an ample water-power utilized by a mini her of manufacturing establish- ments. The industrial interests of the city have been pushec 1 to a considerable extent, and its manufactures are steadily increasing. The county town of Rice county, Fari- THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. Tl bault has the further distinction of being the cathedral city of the Episcopal diocese of Minnesota, and the seat of several influential Angelican schools and colleges. The " Shattuck Grammar School and Seabury Mission," and St. Mary's Hall, the latter one of the most popular colleges for young ladies in the country, are located here. A new cathedral and Episcopal residence are now nearly completed, and will cost over $100,000. The Right Reverend H. B. Whipple, Bishop of Minnesota, under whose care and enter- prise the colleges and schools of Faribault have grown up to their present prosperity, has, of course, his residence here and is greatly respected, not only on account of his distinguished position as a prelate, but for the work he has done iu adding to the import- ance of his see city. The Central High School, a widely known educational institution, occupies a hand- some building which cost $30,000. On the bluffs east of the city the State Asylum for the deaf, dumb and blind occupies a prominent site. The buildings are comfortable, adequate and well appointed, and erected at a cost of $53,000. AUSTIN. Austin, which has grown so largely in importance during the past few years as to take rank among the leading interior towns of Minnesota, is situated on the Cedar liiver 101 miles from St. Paul by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway. It is the county seat of Mower county, has a population of 3,000 and controls a large trade drawn from the rich and fertile agricultural region around it, including several counties, both in Minnesota and Iowa. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway have a branch line which extends from Austin, southwest to Mason City, completing: the St. Paul connec- tion over this road of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota and the Central Iowa Railroads. MOOREHEAD. Moorehead, a busy, thriving town on the Red River, and a station on the Northern Pacific Railroad, has a population of about 1,000, and controls the trade of a large sec- tion of country. It has several fine churches, schools, a number of business houses, hotels, and so forth. A large grist mill is located here, with a capacity of (500 bushels daily. The geographical position of Moorehead and its railway connections give to the town an assurance of continued and enhanced prosperity, in common with its sister points on the great highway to the gold fields. CHAPTER IV. DAKOTA — MONTANA— WYOMING — THE BIG HORN COUNTRY — GOLD MINING AGRICUL- TURE— RAILROADS— THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE COUNTRY. The vast Territory of Dakota, with its 150,000 square miles of area stretching from the British possssions to Nebraska, and from the borders of Minnesota and Iowa to those of Wyoming and Montana, attracts at the present time probably more attention than any other division of our country. It is the watershed of the two great river systems of the continent, the Missouri basin and the tributaries of the streams which reach Hud- son Bay. From the northwest to the southeast border the great Missouri affords facilities for steamboat navigation and already several hundred miles of railroad are in operation. Within the past two years the flood of emigration induced by the discovery of gold in the Black Hills and the development of agriculture along the line of the principal railroads has been greater than that of any other State or Territory. Farming land which will grow seventy bushels of corn, thirty to fifty bushels of wheat, and forty to seventy-five bushels of oats to the acre, will not remain long uncultivated, and thousands of pioneers have erected their little homes and cleared their farms even far beyond the existing limits of the railroads, which in a few years will girdle the northern continent. Dakota is rich in every element of material prosperity, in fertile prairies and every useful mineral; in vast plains, watered by hundreds of streams and diversified by un- numerable lakes and ponds, and furnishing abundant pasturage throughout the year. It has water-power sufficient to make it in the future a great manufacturing region, and few years will pass ere the iron ores of Dakota will be smelted on the spot, with coal from the inexhaustible veins of the Missouri river country. Dakota is but in its infancy, but no sturdier child ever drank in Nature's nourishment and its growth is constant and rapid. The Territory of Dakota was organized by act of Congress approved March. 2, 1861, and included the present Territories of Montana and Wyoming. In 1861 it was reduced to its present limits. Its general surface, east and north of the Missouri, consists of an undulating prairie, traversed by many streams and dotted with innumerable lakes, and it is entirely free from swamps and marshes. The Black Hills, a description of which will be found elsewhere, are in the southwest and extend into Wyoming. The prevailing soil is a rich, dark, sandy loam from six to twenty feet deep, and remarkably fertile, and the bottom lands of the great rivers are excelled in fertility by none, The climate is pure and dry and extremely favorable to health, pulmonary diseases being almost entirely un- known. It is especially well adapted to stock raising and sheep husbandry, industries which are rapidly increasing. State government will doubtless be accorded to Dakota within vety few years, the wealth and population of the territory being already an ample justification for its admission to full membership in the Union. THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 73 FAKGO. This fine city is one of the most notable evidences of sudden, and at the same- time substantial growth and prosperity in the Northwest. It owes its being to the opening up of the region by the Northern Pacific Kailway, as do the other now prosperous towns along the line. Fargo is the county seat of Cass county, Dakota, situated on the west bank of the Red River and is a prominent station of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The shops and engine houses of the Dakota division of the road and the United States land office are located here. The city has a fine brick court house ; the finest public hall in the territory; several hotels such as the Headquarters House, which will compare favor- ably with any in the country; many elegant stores, grain warehouses, lumber yards and tasteful residences. There are a number of good schools and seven churches in the place, which speaks volumes for its intellectual and moral character. Three excellent news- papers find readers and patrons, the Republican, Times and Independent, one of which the Republican, is rapidly attaining a reputation and circulation beyond the territorial limits. Several local lines of railroad are pushing their way to the aspiring young metropolis, costly water works are projected, its trade is constantly extending into the rich and growing country around it, and all indications seem to justify the sanguine anticipations of its citizens as to its prosperous future. Stages connect Fargo and Moorhead with Caledonia, Grand Forks, Pembina and Fort Garry northward, with Devil's Lake northwest, with Norman and Owego south- west, and with Fort Abercrombie, Breckenridge and Fort Wadsworth south. Both towns are also, during the season of navigation, important shipping points for the great trade carried on by way of the Red River with the British Northwest, at Winnepeg and Fort Garry. BISMARCK. Bismarck, the present terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, is beautifully located on high grounds on the east bank of the Missouri River. It has a population of 2,500, which is daily increasing by the arrival of immigrants, speculators and enterprising men of every trade and profession, from the oldest regions of the East and South. The city is growing as if by magic, and already boasts of handsome public buildings, churches schools, stores and factories, and admirably kept hotels, the Sheridan House being recognizedly the costliest and finest in the Territory. The city is the headquarters ct General Rosser, chief engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and has until recently been the western terminus of that great line, but an extension of a hundred miles to the Yellowstone region is now under contract and work is being energetically pushed for- ward. Fort Lincoln, on the opposite side of the Missouri River, is one of the most important military posts on the northwestern frontier, and Mandan, which has just sprung up on the west bank of the river, bids fair to be a brisk and populous town. From Bismarck the Missouri River is navigable for 1,200 miles to the northwest, and during the season a regular line of boats is run to the Upper Missouri River, connecting at Forts Benton and Carroll with stage lines to Helena and other points in Montana. It is also, the connecting point with the Northwestern Express, Stage and Transportation Company's daily line of coaches to Deadwood and other points in the Black Hills. The place has a heavy and rapidly growing trade with the country around it, and the various Indian agencies and military posts above and below, and all the indications point to its becoming at no distant day one of the most important and prosperous cities in all the Golden Northwest. THE BLACK HILLS. The Black Hills, the El Dorado of the period, are to well known in a general sense to require introduction, They have been the dream of the adventurer for several years, and in the short time that has elapsed since our first authentic account of them in 1874, have already grown to rank as among the most promising mining districts of the world. 74 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. During the last year alone the gold yield was over $3,000,000. In his excellent Guide to the Hills, Judge Maguire thus speaks of their geography and topography: "The Black Hills are an isolated mass of elevations, about 120 miles in extent, from northeast to southwest, with an average width of fifty miles, their area being not less than 6,000 square miles. They are so. called from the sombre aspect they present from a distant view, caused by the vast evergreen forests of pine, with which they are generally clothed. Many are still ignorant of their geographical position, often confounding them with the two mountain districts of the same designation south of the Platte River, in Southeastern Wyoming. According to the latitudinal lines, they are about sixty miles north and a little over 800 miles west of Chicago, and are situated between two forks of the Cheyenne River, which surround them so completely that both these streams have their origin in the same locality, and their head waters interlock. The north current is usually called the Belle Fourche, or Beautiful Fork." The Hills are reached by the splen- did fast mail stage line of the Northwestern Stage and Transportation Company, from Bis- marck, connecting eastward with the Northern Pacific and Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railways. The Hills "embrace all that is grand and beautiful in nature — cloud- piercing peaks, snow-crowned nine months out of the twelve; deep-down canyons, gloomy and savage, with dense forests and craggy walls of slate, granite or limestone; fairy fountains and crystal streams, and richly flowered plateaus and glades — flowers gor- geous in coloring and sweetly fragrant. The highest peaks are from 5,000 to 8,000 feet high, not so great altitudes as are found among the perpetually snow-capped mountains of the Big Horn, further west, but they appear as lofty when measured by the eye in comparison with the surrounding elevations. Such is a 'birdseye' view of the Black Hills. The greater portion of them are in the southwestern corner of Dakota, which embraces nearly all the discovered mines; the other portion is in Northwestern Wyoming, and Southeastern Montana is in close proximity, As the new gold discoveries extend to the three territories, a new territorial organization, which will embrace them all under one system of laws, seems so obvious a judicial necessity that I have no doubt it will soon be consummated."* After the Custer expedition of 1874 had settled the fact that gold in paying quantities was to be found in the Hills, adventurers poured in towards the stockades on French creek, the present site of Custer City. In 1875 military orders were give to escort the settlers out of the region and the pioneers were collected at the stockades for that purpose. Before leaving, however, they organized a town government, named the settlement Cus- ter City, and dedicated a log buiding as the city hall. A few evaded the vigilance of the military and appeared again upon the scene almost as soon as the army disappeared over the hills. Settlers soon began to arrive again in numbers, and further interference on the part 'of the government was abandoned. In spite of the Indians, miners' claims soon covered the locality, extending over the rich placer diggings of Spring and Rapids creeks to the north. Deadwood and Whitewood gulches, seventy miles north of Custer City, were reached during the winter of 1875-76, and were claimed throughout their extent. It is said that one claim in Deadwood gulch was offered in February, 1876, for a little flour and bacon, which has since yielded $300,000. The number of people in the Hills in July 1876, was estimated at 6,500 — about half of whom were in Deadwood City. Since that time immigration has brought the population of Deadwood alone up to 10,000, while there are at least 50,000 in that place and the surrounding region. It was generally supposed that the Black Hills had been unknown to white miners up to 1874, but in view of discoveries made since the recent opening up of this country, that view is shown to have been incorrect. We quote again from Judge Maguire's interesting account: "Gold was discovered there by white men, years before the lamented Custer entered the country at the head of an army, and it would undoubtedly have been settled and developed immediately after, had not these unknown first discoverers all been mas- *Magmre. THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 75 sacred by Indians, wherefore reports of their discoveries were never published. Near Rapid Creek and on Whitewood and Deadwood Creeks, old 'prospect holes' have been found. There is an old shaft on a gold bearing quartz vein which crosses Deadwood Gulch; and the trees near by bear the marks of bullets and arrows, the appearance of which proves that they were made years ago. In making 'clean-ups' last summer, in one of the Deadwood claims, old, rusty nails were found; and on another there was an old pile of tailings. Of the conclusion arrived at from these evidences, there can be no reas- onable doubt — the unfortunate white men who sank the shaft on the gold vein, were seized and tied to the missile -scarred trees and riddled with arrows and bullets. Those who excavated the old 'prospect holes' likewise fell victims to the fiendish Sioux, and not one of these first discoverers was left to report the fate of the others." So many links are lost from as many family circles, and the mourning friends of the victims, whoever they may be, are to-day alternately hoping and despairing over the long silence of their loved ones. Better they should never know just how the gloomy messenger came to seal their lips forever! DEADWOOD. The city of Deadwood is located at the northern extremity of the Black Hills, at the confluence of Deadwood and "Whitewood creeks, and about eight miles in the interior, or from the foothills where the latter stream enters the prairie. The position while not at all eligible for a settlement of any kind, much less for a city of the pretensions of Dead- wood, has been so improved by artificial means, that not only are a surprisingly large number of people housed within its limits, but the tout ensemble is very pleasing to the eye. Originally, the narrow gulch admitted of but one street, but excavations and cribbing have gradually added one after another until the entire north hill is now cut up into avenues, like steps, appropriately named, and lined with pretty little cottages and dwellings of more elaborate designs. The southern hill, owing to its abruptness, is valueless for building sites, and, with the exception of one or two crudely constructed log cabins, regular "old timers," which threaten to wreck themselves and residences below at any moment, its breast is bare and uninviting. The city proper, as generally undei'stood, (there being no legally defined limits) , is about one mile long, and contains at the present time about 10,000 inhabitants, the male portion being engaged almost exclusively in mercantile and other legitimate business pursuits. Deadwood, although not immediately at the mines, is universally considered the metropolis of the Hills, being the county seat of Lawrence county, and having the land office, courts, banks, express offices, stage headquarters, signal service station, and commission houses — conveniences found nowhere else in the hills — and in addition contains many large jobbing houses, retail stores of every description, two excellent hotels, two daily, one weekly and one semi-monthly papers; two churches, Congregational and Catholic; schools, the telegraph, fire department, efficient constabulary force, a large and most excellent society that is daily increasing, and all the concomitants of a well regulated and prosperous community. Three daily mails, a money order post office, the telegraph and banks present facili- ties for conducting business, equal to those elsewhere enjoyed. Comfortable dwellings , marts of trade of all kinds, keeping stocks of graded qualities to suit the tastes and purses of every one, the poor as well as the rich; a charming climate, plenty of vigorous exercise and universal prosperity, makes life in the Hills both pleasant and healthful. THE BIG HORN COUNTRY. Comprehended within the designation of the Big Horn country is included all the region lying between the Yellowstone on the north and the Sweetwater on the south, and between the Black Hills on the east and the degree of longitude defining the line of Wyoming and Idaho on the west. * * Strahorn'8 Guide Book. 76 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. The Big Horn region has ever been regarded as the most delightful place of resi- dence by the American Indiaus. It has been for a long time the theatre of an unceasing and cruel war between the Crows and Shoshones on one side and their bloody enemies the Sioux, waged for the possession of the country. The saying of the Crows that "The Great Spirit only looks on other countries in the summer, but here he lives all the year,', beautifully expresses the savage appreciation of the most favored section on the conti- nent. Indian traditions inform us that many years ago whites came to the region and trapped the wild animals for furs, but beyond this they took something from the ground which they seemed to prize. This excited the jealousy of the natives and they slaughtered the intruders to a soul. At a later date when the aborigines learned the value of gold strangers were more suspiciously watched than ever, the former determin- ing to hold their hunting grounds at all hazards. During the Pike's Peak and Montana excitement, parties who traveled in or near the region found "color," and from that time the knowledge of its wealth, only waiting development, has been spread over the world. Since General Crook took command of the department, large numbers of settlers have been enabled to go in, and at the present time camps, trading posts and mail routes are established pretty well throughout the section. Gold has thus far been found in various quantities and degrees of purity in nearly all the streams between the Powder and Yel- owstone Rivers. Shipments of gold from the Big Horn were made last year in small quantities. The prospects on the mountain tributaries of the Tongue River have recently brightened materially through the discovery of some excellent diggings. There are between 3,500 and 4,000 prospectors and miners scattered along the various streams, some of whom are doubtless destined to become the Floods and Mackeys of the future. MONTANA. The Territory of Montana was organized in 1864, from land formerly included in Idaho, and as at present constituted, has an area of 146,000 square miles. On the north it is bounded by the British possessions, south by Idaho and Wyoming, west by Idaho, and east by Dakota. The western division is extremely mountainous, the great range of the Rocky Mountains passing through it, and the east consists of great plains or rolling table-lands, embracing three-fifths of its entire area. The Jefferson, Madison and Gal- latin Rivers, (so named by the famous explorers, Lewis and Clarke) which unite to form the main affluent of the mighty Missouri, take their rise hi this Territory, and there are many other rivers and numerous lakes. The climate is pleasant though dry, and is ex- tremely favorable for agriculture and stock raising. But it is the mineral wealth of Montana which, more than all other elements of material prosperity, claims the attention of the intelligent reader. Gold was first dis- covered in 1852, but it was not until 1861 that mining operations were begun. At first only the placer deposits were worked, but in 1863 quartz mining was initiated, and it is estimated on the best authority, that since that year over $150,000,000 worth of gold and silver has been obtained. Coal and lignite and all varieties of building stone abound, while lead and copper and other minerals are also plentiful. Montana has an abundance of excellent timber, estimated to cover over 25,000,000 acres, and consisting of pine, cedar, fir and hemlock of the best quality. The government is similar to that of other territories and law and order prevail. The finances of the Territory are in a flourishing condition; education receives its due meed of encouragement, and there is no lack of news- papers and other adjuncts of civilization. By means of the Missouri River, navigable during the season as far up as Fort Benton, ready access is had to the interior of the Territory. Helena is the seat of government and is reached by stage route from Fort Benton and from Corinne, Utah. The saddest chapter in the history of this great Terri- tory is the "Centennial Massacre" of July 25th, 1876. when the gallant Custer and his 300 cavalrymen were surrounded on the banks of the Little Big Horn, by more than 5,000 Sioux Indians and nearly every man was killed. CHAPTER V. SKETCH OF ILLINOIS— EARLY HISTORY— RAPID GROWTH — SOIL, CLIMATE AND RESOURCES — POPULATION, WEALTH AND DEBT. Among all the young giant States of the Golden Northwest, Illinois stands easily first. The name is a Delaware term signifying "Superior Men," and the early French gave the word a termination to suit their tongue. The Illinois Indians constituted a pow- erful confederacy and were, as their name implied, the best types of their race. Illinois was originally a part of Florida and belonged to Spain, but the first white settlements were made by those adventurous tramps, the French. Nicholas Perrot, in 1671, was probably the first white man who visited the region, followed by Joliet and Marquette in 1673. The first settlements were made at Kaskasktei and Cahokia by LaSalle in 1683. For nearly a hundred years it was a part of the French dominions, was ceded to Great Britain in 1763, and by her to the United States in 1787. Illinois was admitted into the Union as a State in 1818, having then about 50,000 inhabitants. The population by the census of 1870 was 2,539,891, and it is now considerably over 3,000,000. The state is 380 miles long, with an average width of 156 miles and an area of 55,410 square miles. It is mostly an elevated table land, with an elevation of from 350 to 800 feet above the level of the sea. Its soil is inexhaustibly fertile, and nowhere on earth do the labors of the hus- bandman yield more abundant returns. Illinois farmers as a class are thrifty and inde- pendent. A large part of the State is like a vast garden, neat houses, fine barns, bloom- ing orchards, fields of golden grain, rich pastures, meadows and vineyards forming a continuous panorama of agricultural beauty and prosperity. Half its 102 county-seats are cities of commercial and financial importance. Every branch of manufacturing is carried on in the State and stock-raising is an extensive and profitable industry. The coal fields of Illinois would supply the needs of the world for generations to come. Her rail- road system is among the finest in the Union, her whole surface being checkered with the iron pathways of trade and travel. She has within her limits -1,000 miles of navigable river, Lake Michigan washes her northern frontier, and the Illinois and Michigan Canal connects the great lakes with the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, affording every facility of transportation. The assessed valuation of the State in 1870 was $830,031,703, and the State debt was less than $ 5,000,000. The county, township, city and school indebt- edness, however, foots up an aggregate of about $50,000,000. Religious and educational institutions abound everywhere, and are generally well supported. The State Lunatic Asylum and Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Jacksonville are magnificent structures. The Penitentiary is at Joliet, and an admirably managed Home for Soldiers' Orphans at Nor- mal. The State now has nineteen representatives in Congress, which number will be much increased under the next apportionment, for at her present rate of growth Illinois 78 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. bids fair to be, ere long, second only to New York among all the queenly States of the Union sisterhood. KOCK ISLAND. This city, the county seat of Rock Island county, is the terminus of the "Western Union Railroad on the Mississippi River, and since the completion of the road has rapid- ly risen in importance as a manufacturing and commercial point. With a population of only about 1,700 in 1850, it sprang to 8,000 in 1870, and now reaches full 15,000, and is constantly and rapidly growing. Some half-dozen railway lines center here, which, with the great "Father of Waters," give it uncommon advantages for general trade and for the distribution of the immense product of its manufactories. These embrace the Rock Island Plow Works, Rock Island Stove Works, Rock Island Glass "Works, Christy's Cracker Factory, "Warnock & Ralstons Cracker Factory, Rock Island Ship Yard, Wag- ner's, Huber's and King s Breweries, Doyle's Malt House, Corse & Ohlweiler's Mineral Water Factory, Rock Island Lumber Manufacturing Company and Meyerhauser & Denkmann's Saw Mills, employing an aggregate of 813 skilled workmen and turning out annually about $2,000,000 worth of their wares. The annual capacity of one of the saw mills is 25,000,000 feet of pice lumber, 2,500,000 shingles and 3,000,000 laths, and of the other about 12,000,000 feet of lumber. The whole city is well built and wears an air of bustle and thrift. MOLINE. About three miles above Rock Island on the same side of the river is the city of Moline, with a population of 9,000 intelligent, wide-awake, prosperous people, No place of its size in all the West, or perhaps in the entire country, contains so many large and flourishing manufacturing establishments. Her citizens are unsurpassed in enterprise and progressiveness, and her situation at the foot of what is called the "Upper Rapids" gives her all the advantages of beautiful scenery and illimitable water-power. This kindness of Nature has been promptly appreciated and utilized, and the whole place teems with busy factories, employing an aggregate of 2,100 hands and yielding an annual product of $4,000,000. Among the most prominent of these establishments are the Deere Plow Works, the Moline Wagon Company, Moline Iron Works, Union Malleable Iron Works, Moline Or- gan Company, Barnard ll arranged and thorough in all of the branches pursued. The discipline 84 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. andelevated; near enough to Chicago so that MDltGAN PA«K MILITAHV INSTITUTE THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 85 large, finely arranged and furnished, and the grounds extensive, well laid out and cared for. There are two general courses of study, a Classical and an English and Commer- cial course. There is also a preparatory Department for those not sufficiently advanced to enter either of the regular courses. It is purely a preparatory school and particular at- tention is paid to fitting boys for the best American Colleges and the United States Mili- tary and Naval Academies. Cadets are admitted at any time when a vacancy exists. For full information send to either Capt. Ed. N. Kirk Talcott or Henry. T. Wright, A. M., Associate Principals for catalogue. CHICAGO'S GRAIN AND PROVISION EXCHANGE. Chicago, with her vast and constantly widening system of railroads extending to every region of the prolific. Northwest, is rapidly taking her position as the greatest CHICAGO GRAIN AND PROVISION EXCHANGE. grain market in the world, and her trade in provisions is outstripping the most sanguine imagination of a few years ago. Last year she handled nearly 140,000,000 bushels of grain, over 80,000,000 being of wheat alone, and she handled and packed more meat than all the other leading cities west of the AUeghanies combined. This immense trade is naturally directing attention to her as one of the world's great commercial and specu- lative centres, and the dealing on margins and in options has already assumed gigantic proportions. One of the institutions offering most advantages and facilities for all transactions of this kind is the Chicago Grain and Provision Exchange, Nos. 126 and 128 Washington street. The Exchange is incorporated under the laws of Illinois, with a capital of $100,000, and has for its object the dealing in grain and provisions for cash or S6 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. future delivery, in quantities, when required, smaller than is usual in similar organiza- tions. It enables its customers to buy or sell any article quoted on its boards in amounts to suit themselves, limiting their risk of loss to the actual amount of margin deposited, and granting them the privilege of terminating any trade on any last existing quotation. It makes investments for parties at a distance a specialty, and attends promptly to all orders by mail or telegraph, using all the care and judgment that per- sonal supervision can secure. The company is composed of capitalists of large means and extensive reputation, and its management is in the hands of gentlemen well and widely known to have the highest qualifications as to integrity, experience and sound judgment, for the successful conduct of business. The President and Treasurer is Chas. T. Doxey; Vice-President, T. Ormsbee, and Secretary, Henry R. Green, jr. No admis- sion ticket to the Board is required, and they issue a daily table of the market fluctua- tions, which is mailed to all their customers. Though comparatively a young enterprise, it has already established itself in public confidence and attained a most gratifying •success. THE CHICAGO AND ALTON RAILROAD. When, a few years ago, the writer of this sketch passed over the insignificant Petersburg and Tonica Railroad, with its fifty or sixty miles of rickety track, and its lit- tle daily accommodation train of freight cars and cabooses stopping anywhere to pick up a man with a bucket of butter or a basket of eggs, it would have required an inspired prophet's vision to have foreseen the grand future that lay ahead of the feeble enter- prise. That unpretentious and seemingly unpromising p ; gniy icad has expar.ded into one of the greatest railway lines upon the continent or in the world. As the Chicago and Alton Railroad, it stands to-day in the foremost lark of the mighty highways of travel and traffic that, from Chicago as a center, radiates to every point of the compass and open up to the Queen City of the Lakes an empire of trade more glorious than Roman legion or Grecian phalanx ever fought for. It constitutes a direct route of com- munication with St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver and the whole vast Southwest, opening up to Chicago and her enterprising business men the richest portions of Missouri, Kansas, Col- orado, Arkansas and Texas, and the region beyond. One great arm reaches out through all the most populous and productive parts of Central Illinois, clasping to the business heart of Chicago such beautiful and thriving cities as Joliet, Dwight, Streator, Wenona, Pontiac, Bloomington, Lincoln, Springfield, Jacksonville, Carlinville, Carrollton, Jerseyville, Al- ton and East St. Louis. Another aim stretches far across the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, gathering in its iron embrace the fertile grain-fields and exhaustless coal-beds of Northern and Central Missouri, and a long list of such cities k as Louisiana, Bowling Green, Mexico, Fulton, Glasgow, Cedar City, Marshall, Independence and Kansas City. The Chicago and Alton road furnishes the quickest and best means of communication between Chicago and Springfield, the metropolis and capital of Illinois, and between Chi- cago and St. Louis Kansas Cityand Denver. To the traveler on business or for pleasure coming from the West or Southwest, it offers every facility and advantage for reaching the Eastern cities and THE CHAKMING WATERING PLACES of the Golden Northwest. The Chicago and Alton Company, one of the wealthiest cor- porations hi the West, with a capital stock of $12,000,000, and managed by progressive, liberal men who stand in the front rank of tneir profession, can and does offer every pos- sible inducement and convenience to the journeying public. Owning and controlling over 1,000 miles of splendid track, much of it double, and all of it laid with steel rails, its management have equipped it with lavish disregard of costs, but the greatest care for the convenience and comfort of their patrons. Magnificent bridges span all the rivers on its route, and palatial parlor, restaurant and sleeping cars fly along its smooth, well- ballasted track at the rate of thirty miles an hour without a jolt or discomfort— sump- THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 87 tious hotels on wheels, where one can eat, drink, read or sleep at pleasure while he skims like a bird through glorious panoramas of city and country, farms orchards and wildwoods, prairie, hillside, valley and stream. Our engravings give a view of the in- terior of two of these wonderful establishments that stand among the foremost improve- ments of the age. The sleeping car is massive in build, elegantly decorated with carv- ing in various colored wood, gilding:, costly mirrors and curtains, and furnished with lux- urious cushions, marble wash-basins and snowy towels. The beds are as clean and com- fortable as those of the finest city hotels, and the weary traveler easily dreams over two hundred and fifty miles of space. The dining room or restaurant car is furnished with tables enough to accommodate twenty or thirty guests at a time. The table-cloths and napkins are of damask, white as snow; the silver and glass ware is heavy and fine, the INTERIOR VIEW OF DINING CAR. waiters well-trained and attentive, and the bill of fare as full and sumptious as any jour- neying epicure could ask. It embraces soups, fish game, meats, vegetables, fragrant coffee and tea, rich cream and milk, fruits and all the delicacies of dessert that usually furnish high-toned dyspepsia at first-class hotels. All to be enjoyed at thirty miles an hour, for seventy -five cents. No scalding of your mouth or swallowing of your fork in the I'ush and hurry of a twenty minute halt at a shabby wayside tavern. All calm leis- urely enjoyment of a dainty meal in the best style of culinary art, with thirty or forty miles of panoramic landscape thrown in through the ear window as an aesthetic relish and appetiser. Softly cushioned reclining chair cars are furnished without extra charge on the line from Chicago to the Kansas border. They run through without change, are provided with wash-room, towels and all other toilet conveniences, and each one is THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. in charge of a trusty porter just as the sleeping cars are. The chairs turn on a pivot in any direction, can be inclined back at an angle, and at night furnish a very comfortable sleeping-place. Such are the luxuries of transportation that the traveler coming eastward from the great West or Southwest first meets when he reaches the Chicago and Alton Road at its western terminus KANSAS CITY. This metropolis of Western Missouri and second city in the State, has sprung up with amazing rapidity. At the close of the war it was a straggling border village, in great measure made up of rude shanties and ruder men. It was then a mere Missouri River steamboat landing, one of the stepping-off places of civilization. It is now a hand- some city of nearly 50,000 inhabitants, with twelve great lines of railroad centreing in it, and a trade that extends throughout Western Missouri, most of Kansas, and many por- INTERIOR VIEW OF SLEEPING CAR. tions ot Colorado, Indian Territory and Northern Texas. It is situated partly on high bluffs and partly in the low lands at their feet, hi the delta forme d by the junction of the Kansas River with the Missouri. Here the Missouri is crossed by a handsome bridge 1,400 feet long, which was completed in 1869, and cost $1,000,000. The Union Depot of Kansas City is the largest, best constructed and most imposing structure of the kind between Chicago and the Pacific Ocean. All along the line through Missouri the depots are exceptionally neat and tasteful buildings. Those at Independence, Marshall and Glasgow are specially noticeable. Kansas City has a spacious Mecrhants' Exchange, several fine hotels, thirty churches, fifteen newspapers good public schools, a hospital and orphan's home, two theatre's two medical colleges, an opera house, and some of the largest wholesale houses in the western country. The sales of a number of them run over $1,000,000 a year each. The water works, recently completed, are as fine as those of any city west ot the Mississippi, and her fire and police departments are admirably THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 89 organized and conducted. The city is largely interested in the Texas cattle trade, and is becoming one of the important pork packing centres of the West. Her citizens are enterprising, self-confident and united in every effort to push their young metropolis for- HBHniFit Hup UiPpTiiTilil i1 | l!l i||i![|im!|ij|l|iiii||ii | !||ii||||l||||||l||||i|iv ir ward to the grand position that they all with unwavering faith believe awaits her. A run of ten miles through a rich " elmwood " region brings us to INDEPENDENCE, the county seat of Jackson county. It is four miles from the Missouri River, in the midst of a picturesque and fertile country; has a population of about 5,000, and is a well built »0 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. town in the old substantial style. It contains one of the finest female seminaries in the State, with spacious buildings surrounded by beautiful lawns and shady groves of ancient oaks and elms. The i - esidences of the town are notably pretty and attractive, surround- ed as they are in nearly every case by tasteful shrubbery and flowers. Here occurred some of the most thrilling incidents of the border warfare, desperate deeds of Quantrell and his guerrillas, and the fell retaliation of the Federal troopers. An hour brings us to fligginsville which, in spite of its name, is a rapidly growing town in the midst of a fertile region at the crossing of the Lexington and Sedalia branch of the Missouri Pacific road. An hour more and we pass through Marshall, the county- seat of Saline county, an old settled town of about 1,200 inhabitants, surrounded by one of the richest farming regions in the world. On through splendid timber and fertile prairie dotted with farm houses and pastures, till we cross the new steel bridge at Glasgow, the principal city in Howard county; an old and wealthy place with handsome residences and THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 91 an intelligent and cultivated population. It contains a number of stately churches, and a fine public library and hall, called after its founder, one of the extensive family of Lewises, who still live here. In this place Gen. Lucian J. Eastin, who, under an elm tree, where Leavenworth now stands, printed the first newspaper ever issued in Kansas, for years published the Glasgow Times, which is now conducted by his son; a short distance from the town, is Pi-itchett Institute, one of the leading educational institutions in the State. The next important station is MEXICO, the county seat of Audrain county, a well built city of 6,000 inhabitants, with a neat court house, churches, schools, business houses and tasteful residences. Here is Har- din Female College, a flourishing institution founded and endowed by ex-Governor C. H. Hardin, one of the most popular men in the State, who lives in the suburbs of the town- This place is the junction of the south branch with the main line of the Chicago and Alton. This branch extends through Fulton to Jefferson City. Fulton is the county seat of Callaway county, and is one of the wealthiest inland towns of the State. It is the seat of the State Lunatic Asylum, Deaf and Dumb Asylum, and Blind Asylum. The buildings are on a magnificent scale, and the management is unsurpassed by that of any institutions of the kind in the Union. Prof. Kerr, the venerable superintendent of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, has given his whole long life to the work, and is the originator of many improvements in the modes of teaching. Fulton is also the seat of West- minster College, over which the famous divine, Rev. Nathan L. Kice, D. D., presided for many years, until his death, which was deeply mourned by every citizen of the place, as well as by the Presbyterian Church in general, that had so long regarded him as one of its most eminent exponents in this country. The people of Fulton are far above the average in intelligence and refinement, and few places in Missouri offer more social and educational advantages. The trip from here to Cedar City, on the north bank of the Missouri River, is through a region of fine farms, heavy timber and much picturesque scenery. From Cedar City a large and powerful transfer boat does the crossing to JEFFERSON CITY, the capital of Missouri. It is a place of some 7,000 inhabitants, and stands on high and romantic bluffs, giving a commanding view of the river and its far reaching valley. The State Capitol is a rather shabby building, on a magnificent point of the bluff. The Penitentiary, which is the most liberally patronized institution of learning in the State, is within a few hundred yards of the Capitol. The Governor's mdhsion, built and furnished by the State, is a stately and elegant structure, worthy the occupancy of any chief executive in the Union. Governor Phelps, its present tenant, has long been one of the most notable characters in the history of the State, and his career has been a stormy and eventful one. Returning now to the main fine of the Chicago and Alton road, the route lies north- eastward from Mexico through a lovely farming country of timber and prairie, to Bowling Green, the county seat of Pike county, one of the oldest settled, wealthiest and most populous counties in the State, famous for its fine tobacco and its blooded stock, the Kis- singer Cattle Farm being one of the most noted in the West. The next stopping place of any special importance is Louisiana, on the west bank of the Mississippi, in Pike county. It has a population of 6,000 and is, perhaps, the best built city of its size in Missouri, nearly all the houses being of brick or stone, and many of them being large and of considerable architectural pretensions. There are a number of large tobacco fac- tories here, and immense lumber yards cover acres of ground, Louisiana being the great lumber distributing point for an extensive territory in Missouri, Kansas, Indian Territory and even as far west as Colorado. The railroad which is being built from Keokuk, via Hannibal and Clarksville, to St. Louis passes through Louisiana, and here the Chicago 02 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 93 and Alton road crosses the Mississippi River on a magnificent bridge that cost over $1,000,000 and is unsurpassed by any triumph of engineering in the West. A good en- graving of it appeai-s elsewhere. Through the valley of the mighty river, through prairies dotted with lakes and swarming in the spring and fall with ducks, geese and swans, we fly on to Koodhouse, the junction of the Missouri and Jacksonville divisions of the great line, and an hour or so more puts us in JACKSONVILLE, the county-seat of Morgan county, and one of the most beautiful interior cities on the continent. Seen in the early summer, embowered in shade and shrubbery and flowers, it rivals the fairest picture artist ever drew or dreamt. It is 215 miles southwest of Chica- go and thirty miles nearly due west of Springfield. It is charmingly situated in the midst of a gently undulating prairie country of inexhaustible fertility, and has a popula- tion of about 20,000. Its business houses, banks, public schools, gas and water works, factories and machine shops are all indicative of a progressive and prosperous city, but its great attractiveness lies in its homes and its charitable and educational institutions. Nowhere in the United States do the residences indicate more uniform elegance of taste, and nowhere is there more cultivation and refinement of social fife. We have only space to mention a few of the institutions for which the place is noted. The Illinois Central Insane Asylum is an immense five story building surrounded by 160 acres of ornamental grounds, lawns, gardens, groves and fountains. It has accom- modations for 500 patients, and cost upwards of $700,000. The Deaf and Dumb Asylum cost about $300,000, and the average number of in- mates is nearly 300, who are instructed in the industrial arts as well as in literature. The buildings are spacious and comfortable, heated throughout by steam and lighted by gas. In addition to ail the branches of an ordinary academic education, the pupils are taught printing, cabinet-making, shoe-making, carpentry, gaidening and sewing. A neat little newspaper is edited and printed by deaf mutes in the institution. Here are also the Asylum for the Blind and one for the education and care of feeble- minded children. Illinois College, under the auspices of the Congregationalists ; Illinois Female Col- lege, under Methodist control, and the long-established Jacksonville Female Academy are all large and successful insi'tutions; and Jacksonville may, without much liability to the charge of vanity, set herself up as the "Athens of Illinois." Direct connection from St. Louis to Peoria is made here via the Peoria, Pekin, and Jacksonville Railroad. BLOOMINGTON, the next stopping point of special importance, is a bustling city of some 20,000 inhabitants. Here are the extensive repair shops of the Chicago and Alton road. The place has one of the handsomest court houses in the State and many costly business blocks. Connec- tions are made here with the Lafayette, Muncie and Bloomington, and the Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western roads for all points in central Indiana and Ohio. And here the Jacksonville and Missouri divisions of the Chicago and Alton Railroad form a junc- tion with its great main line. Now coming on at a rate somewhere between thirty and forty miles an hour toward Chicago, we are whirled into NOEMAL, distant 124 miles from the metropolis, and famous for its educational advantages. Here is located the Illinois State Normal University, founded in 1857. The building is 160 feet long, with three stories and basement, is tasteful in architecture and stands in a beautiful park of fifty-six acres, amid groves of trees and abundant shrubbery and flow- ers. The value of building and grounds is about $500,000, and the annual cost to the State has been in the neighborhood of $28,000. Its object is the education and training of teachers for the public schools of the State. Tuition in the Normal Department is 94 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. free. The Model Department is simply an academy of high grade, supported by tui- tion fees. The average attendance in the Normal Department is 275, and in the Model Department 175. The whole number of students who have received instruction in the institution since it was founded is about 7,000. The University has an extensive mu- seum that formerly belonged to the Illinois Natural History Society; it contains 160,000 specimens and is valued at over $100,000. At Normal, is situated the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, incorporated in 1865. The present building was completed and occupied in 1869, since which time an average of 300 soldiers' orphans have been given homes and education within its walls. Many of its inmates have gone forth to enter upon active and successful careers. The cost of the building, land, furniture and improvements has been about $150,000. A fine farm is attached to the Home, on which large quantities of produce and garden vegetables are raised for the use of the inmates. A commodious school building has been erected; the heating, ventilating and cooking appliances are all of the most approved style ; an abund- ance of fine water is furnished; and the Soldiers' Orphans' Home is altogether an admirably conducted institution. At Chenoa, 102 miles from Chicago, close connections are made with the Toledo, Peoria and Warsaw railroad, giving the shortest and quickest route from Chicago to Peoria. Ten miles further, and Pontiac looms into view. It is a pretty and busy little city and is the seat of THE ILLINOIS STATE REFORM SCHOOL, established in 1871, for the correetion and reformation of boys under eighteen years, who have been convicted of various offences. It has a tract of 172 acres of land attached to it, and the cost of buildings, machinery, furniture and fixtures has been about $200,000. In its few years of existence it has proved a valuable and beneficial institution for the punishment and reclaiming of youthful law-breakers, and its capacity is taxed to the utmost to provide for the numbers entrusted to its care. At Dwight, the road enters the great coal region of this district and from here to Braidwood and Wilmington passes over some of the most valuable coal-fields in the state. The strata are of great thickness, and the coal is the best grade of bituminous coal, adapted to all ordinary household and mechanical purposes. From Dwight the western division of the Chicago and Alton branches off and runs through a rich and well-tilled region containing such thriving cities as Streator, Wenona, Lacon and Washington. JOLIET, the next notable place on the route, thirty-seven miles from Chicago, is the location of the most extensive hotel and industrial academy in the State, enjoying the patronage and presence of some 2,800 regular inmates. The fashions in the institution are peculiar, the hair being always worn short, and the costumes showing great sameness of taste, all the goods striped, and all the stripes running the same way. The State Penitentiary at Joliet, of which a cut appears on another page, was begun in 1857, and first occupied in 1859 by a part of the convicts from the old Alton Penitentiary. As work on the new buildings progressed the remainder of the Alton boarders were transferred here, and the old prison was abandoned until the war called it into temporary use again. The Penitentiary grounds embrace seventy-sLx acres, of which sixteen acres are enclosed within the prison walls. The outer wall is twenty-five feet high and six feet thick, and the parapet is constantly guarded by a strong force of armed patrols. The buildings, in addition to the cells, include a large number of shops and work- houses, with implements and machinery for many varieties of labor. The convicts are employed in manufacturing boots and shoes, harness, wooden ware, and other products, THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. M and immense quantities are annually turned out. The cells are well ventilated, the grounds and buildings are abundantly supplied with pure spring water, and the whole establishment is hested by steam. This Penitentiary contains many of the worst and most noted criminals in the West, but so efficient is the management, and so thorough the discipline, that no serious difficulty is ever experienced. IjOCKPOKT, which is four miles from Joliet and thirty-three from Chicago, is the site of the first lock built on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and is the headquarters of the Canal Commis- sioners. This great enterprise was begun in 1837, when Chicago was in the swaddling clothes and ruffled caps of babyhood; and it is said that the whole population took a holi- day and went out to Bridgeport to see the first shovelful of earth dug and to hear a speech from Dr. Egan, the orator of the day, on the benefits to accrue to Chicago and Illinois from the completion of this grand work. The canal was not finished until 1849, and cost $11,000,000. It gave an immense impetus to the young city and to the agricultural PENITENTIARY AT JOLIET. development of the magnificent region through which it passes; but as a means of trans- portation, it was in a measure superseded in a few years by the railroads. It is still patronized for the carrying of heavy freight, but it must gradually give way to its swifter competitor of the steel rail and iron steed. An hour's rush through a continuous garden, dotted with beautiful country homes, past Lemont, the great stone quarry centre of Northwestern Illinois, and with a screech of the locomotive and a slowing up with the air brakes, the train is gliding through miles of lumber yards, grain elevators, factories and packing houses, into the municipal Queen of the Lakes. Sfich, in a brief, hasty way, is an outline of the trip over the Chicago and Alton to one who comes, via Kansas City and the Missouri division of the road, from the far West and the Southwest. But suppose he runs up from Texas or Arkansas, Louisiana, Mis- sissippi, Alabama, Tennessee, or any other of the far Southern regions, by rail or river to St. Louis, on his way to the cool breezes and crystal waters, the lakes and trout streams, the pine woods and picturesque scenery, the fine fishing and hunting grounds, the thousand and one delightful summer resorts of the Golden Northwest. He strikes the grand trunk line of the Chicago and Alton Bailroad at ST. LOUIS. This great city, which was until within the last few years a formidable rival of Chicago, stands on the west bank of the Mississippi Kiver about twenty miles bel6w the mouth of '.in THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. the Missouri. Its local census shows a population of nearly 500,000, and it is a place <>1' considerable wealth and, considering its proximity to Chicago, of considerable trade. Its Merchant's Exchange is the finest in the world, its court house is a small-scale imita- tion of the Capitol at Washington, and it is famous as the home of L. U. Reavis who. Atlas-like in build, proposes at no distant day to shoulder that National Capitol and bear it to his "Future Great City " on the Mississippi banks. Many of the business blocks of St. Louis will compare favorably with those of New York or even of Chicago. Particu- larly noticeable are the St. Louis Mutual Insurance Company's building, and Dr. J. H. McLean's tall-towered edifice in the scrambled-egg style of architecture, and paid for out of the profits of McLean's Vermifuge and other infallible panaceas adapted to the ailments of the St. Louis latitude. The residence portion of the city on Lucas Place, Compton Hill, Grand Avenue and about Lafayette Park is as beautiful as the most fas- THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 97 tidious taste could demand. The St. Louisans are a good, solid, slow-going, hospitable, home-loving people, and their homes are justly their chief delight and pride. Her pub- lic schools are unsurpassed by those of any city in the Union. Her churches are numer- ous and many of them costly, and several of her clergymen, like Bishops Ryan and Robertson and Rev. Drs. Post, Holland, Sonneschein, McAnally, Nichols and Robert, are men of wide reputation, not only as theologians, but as scholars and writers. Her fire department, under Chief Sexton, is one of the best organized and most efficient in the world, and the chiefs of several European departments have deemed it worth a trip across the ocean to make a personal inspection of its admirable workings. Her police arrangements are excellent, and her gas works will never be found deficient while her editors and politicians live. The St. Louis Bar, headed by men of national fame, like Samuel T. Glover, John B. Henderson, A. W. Slayback, and James O. Broadhead, and including Britton A. Hill, the probable Greenback candidate for the Presidency, is not ex- celled by that of any city of similar size on the continent. Among her resident railroad men are a number who stand in the foremost ranks of their profession, such as John E. Simpson and Chas. E. Follett of the Vandalia; Thos. Allen, E. A. Ford and A. W. Soper of the St. Louis and Iron Mountain; C. C. Cobb of the St. Louis and Indianapolis; C. K. Garrison and A. A. Talmage of the Missouri Pacific; C. S. Cone of the Ohio and Missis- sippi; Jas. Baker and C. W. Rogers of the St. Louis and San Francisco; C. W. Bradley of the Wabash; J. H. "Wilson and John W. Mass of the St. Louis and Southeastern; H. S. DePew of the St. Louis and Cairo, and C. K. Herd and Thos. McKissock of the St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern, many of whose names are household words in railroad circles throughout the United States, and some of whom are widely known abroad. The city supports a large number of newspapers and periodicals, chief among which are the Globe- Democrat, Post- Dispatch, Times-Journal, Star and Republican. The Globe-Demo- crat is perhaps the best paying journal west of the Mississippi. The steamboating interest of St. Louis was once immense, but the growth of the vast railroad system has dwarfed its importance, and the levees, which once teemed with business, now seem almost deserted, though some fine lines of steamers, like the Keokuk Northern, Merchants', Peoples' and Anchor Lines, still find a lucrative traffic. Here centre a great many of the most important railroads leading from the South and Southwest, such as the great St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern, the St. Louis and San Francisco, and the Missouri Pacific, all of which make close connections with the Chicago and Alton trains in the splendid Union Depot on Twelfth street. From the Union Depot the trains pass through a two-mile tunnel under the very heart of the city , and glide across the mighty Mississippi on THE GREAT ST. LOUIS BRIDGE, one of the most stupendous achievements of western engineering. It was designed by Captain James B. Eads, who is now engaged in attempting to deepen the mouths of the Mississippi by his "jetty system." The bridge was begun in 1869, and a recent writer says of it: "The four massive piers of granite and limestone rest on the bed-rock of the river, to which they were sunk through the sand by the use of wrought iron caissons and atmospheric pressure. There are two spans of 515 feet each over the water-way and one of 520 feet, the rise of the arches being sixty feet, which admits the passage of steamboats at all stages of water. The railroad and the carriage-way are carried on arched trusses connected by diagonal braces, the material used being steel, and the structure combines in a remarkable degree the characteristics of lightness and strength. The width of the bridge is fifty-four feet and its cost, together with the tunnel under the city of St. Louis by which access is obtained to its western end, was nearly $14,000,000. It was opened July 4, 1874 and during the year ending April 30, 1877, the number of passengers passing over it was 600,000, of vehicles 404,000, and of loaded cars 7!>,782. It is incomparably the finest work of the kind on the Mississippi river, or we might say 98 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. in the entire country, and ranks with the greatest bridges in the world." Its admirable footways, its projecting alcoves with rustic seats and its great bright unite to render it one of the most charming places in Christendom for suicides or summer evening courtships. Its terminus on the Illinois side is East St. Louis, a city of ponds, railroad tracks, rolling-mills, eating-houses, beer-saloons and savage municipal squabbles, from which we cheerfully take our departure after a moment's halt, and spin along up the famous Mississippi "Bottom," whose fertility rivals the "garden of the gods." Twenty-five miles north of St. Louis, we come to LINCOLN MONUMENT, SPIUNGFIELD. ALTON, a picturesquely situated place of about 25,000 inhabitants. The city is built on a bluff of limestone rock full of caves and fissures, and the houses seem to gallop up and down its hills and hollows in a sort of wild free-and-easiness that gives a charm to the whole place. It straggles in this romantically irregular way lor two miles and and a half along the river front and a mile and a half back from it. Piasa creek, a small stream which Hows througn the city, has been arched over and forms the main sewer of the place. Alton is one of the few hill cities in Illinois, and a magnilicent fanning country lies back of it, giving it a steady and profitable trade. Extensive manufactures are carried on, and flouring- mills, woolen-mills, planing-mills, saw-mills, glass-works, tobacco and agricultural implement factories abound. The packing of hogs is a great and growing THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 99 industry, and large quantities of lime and building- stone are annually exported. There are churches of all denominations, including a handsome Catholic cathedral, a number of newspaper offices, banks, line gas and water works, and creditable public schools ami libraries. At Upper Alton, about a mile cast of the main city limits, is Shurtleff College, one f Louis XI. and Henry III. of France, and was introduced about tin- same time into England and other European countries. When it first made its appearance in America is unknown, but it is to-day almost a national game, and there is no town or village in all the country where its votaries are not found, and where the clink of its ivory globes is not heard. The game is pleasantly exciting, and affording graceful and healthful exercise to the body, and gentle recreation for the mind, is enjoyed by all classes and ages. No well-appointed city mansion is now com- plete without its billiard -room; and it is cer- tainly infinitely better that the boys and voting men of the family should be able to indulge in their favorite amusement with their friends at home, than that they should have to seek it in the gaily lighted saloon, with its evil asssociations, its wild companions, its gilded bar, its glitter of decanters and bottles, its fumes of wine and liquor and tobacco, and all its other temptations to dissipation and vice. The home billiard table is really a potent measure of social reform. Recognizing this fact, C. G. Akam, of No. 22 Adams street, has with commendable promptness and enterprise put it in the power of every home to own a perfect gem of a table. His tables are all of the finest materials and workmanship and the balls of genuine ivory. The Young America Table for the little fellows is made of two sizes; Hx3feetat $1.50; and 2x4 feet at $3.50. The outfit consists of four balls, two cues, level and counters. Youths' Tables, 2x4 feet, without stand, $6.00; 2x4 leet, with ornamented stand, $8.00. The outfit comprises four celluloid balls, four cues, counters, pool outfit, cue rack, level and chalk box. The Parlor Table, size 2ix5 feet, with oval, black walnut rail, $15.00; extra finish, $17.00. The combination Parlor Table, which can be converted in a moment from a billiard table into a dining table or ornamental sideboard, with beveled and flat-top rail, $19.00; veneered, $20.00; fancy. $22.00; with inlaid wood, $23.50. The sideboard and dining-table top comes at $2.00 extra for the black walnut, and $2.50 for the fancy wood. A complete and perfect billiard table for $15.00 certainly brings the fascinating game in reach of the humblest homes, and the fact that Mr. Akam has sold 11,000 in the last two years shows that the people appreciate a good thing. Correspondence from parties desiring to purchase, or from any wishing to act as agents for the sale of these goods will receive prompt attention. Address; C. G. Akam, 22 E. Adams Street, Chicago, 111. 104 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. THE TOURISTS' AND SPORT SMENS EMPORIUM. The besl place in the whole northwest for tourists and sportsmen to obtain the various articles required by them can be found at 118 Randolph street, the institution is presided over by A. G. Spalding & I3ro., perhaps we should say that A. G. Spalding is better known throughout the length and breadth of this country as Al. Spalding, who has for many years been considered the best pitcher in the base ball field. Two years since he quit playing ball, and started the present enterprise. To-day it stands as the leading wholesale house in its line The firm are manufacturers, importers and dealers in archery goods, base ball supplies, fishing tackle, skates, lawn tennis, croquet, theatrical and sporting goods of all kinds and desciiptions. They cany an immense stock of impoi-ted English bows and arrows the production of the well-known houses of Thomas Aldred, and Phillip Highfield of London, England. They also manufacture largely of this class of goods. In the base ball line, this house stands without a peer; the National League of professional base ball clubs, has given the Spalding League Ball, the highest endorsement possible adopting it as the standard ball to be used in all league games in the Uni- ted States, during 1879. In fishing tackle, the most capricious angler can be suited, a more complete assortment cannot be found, It is useless to enumerate, as they have everything needed. To those who desire to become fully posted on the immense stock in all its varieties, we will say, send to the firm for a copy of "Spalding's Journal of Ameri- can Sports,'' a valuable publication devoted to the interests of all out-door sports; it will be mailed free to any address. The demand has been so great for the goods handled by this firm, that they found it necessary to establish a large factory, which they have located in the heart of the timber region of Michigan, employing 120 men, and it it safe to say this, that this factory turns out during the year more croquet, base ball bats, Indian elubs, and other games and sporting implements of this kind than all others in the United States. We would Call attention to the game of lawn tennis as a field amusement, this is last superseding croquet, and will, as soon as its merits are known, become the popular recreation of the country. Ladies and gentlemen can join in the game, which can be played in either winter or summer. The exercise required to enjoy it is not of an exhausting character, and affords both sexes a training in graceful movements. THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. m.s SEWING MACHINES. This branch of industry has during the last few years attained mammoth proportions, thousands of sewing machines are sold annually. Among the largest operators in this branch of trade, 0. G. Akam stands at the head, located at No. 22 East Adams street; he can be found at all times, busy attending to the wants of hrs customers; durintr the last five years he has sold over SO, 000 sewing machines; the number may seem large at first, though such is the fact. His wonderful success can be attributed to his long familiarity with the' requirements of the public, and a knowledge of the fact that at the present day there is no article more essential to home comfort and household economy, than a good sewing machine, one that will not break at the first trial, but that will work for years without getting out of repair; such a machine he handles; it is constructed on the best tested principles, made of the best materials, and embodying all the recent improvements; he warrants every machine and can conscien- tiously recommend it. Following this course from the beginning he has built up the enor- mous business before mentioned, and to-day many homes are made glad, many a poor tired wife and mother blesses the day that one of the Improved Singer Machines came to the household, from the warehouse of Mr. Akam. No better machine is made than the one shown on this page; it is a model of convenience, simplicity, durability, and practical utility; the verdict of an unpreju- diced public has pronounced it the best in use. This machine is furnished at the low price of $20.00, delivered on the cars in this city; why then pay $45.00 for the same machine? Mr.Akam will fill orders for one machine or one hundred at the same rate. When ordering of Mr. Akam. you can save from $15.00 to $25.00 on each machine; it must be borne in mind that there is no longer a monopoly in sewing machines, but that the patents have expired, and no more extortions can be practiced on the purchaser. We have no hesitation in say- ing, that these machines com- bine simplicity and strength; its management is easily com- prehended, it can be readily adjusted, and is not liable to get out of order. At the same time it runs easily and quietly, and the noise and confusion which are the accompaniments of so many inferior machines, are entirely wanting in the "Improved Singer." • Being of recent introduction and manufacture, this machine embodies the result of the experience and experiments of many years, the mistakes and deficiencies of old-time machines being avoided, and all the latest and most desirable improvements and dls- ooveries incorporated in it. In spite of all opposition and prejudice it has won its way to the highest place in the favor of those by whom a good and effective machine is appreciated, and has become, by reason of its intrinsic merits, the most popular sewing machine of the day. 106 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. THE NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE. U. S. A. Life insurance has become so general within the past few years that now you rarely find a man of average intelligence who is not insured. The question is daily asked, "Where shall I insure my life ? " While there are so many good companies we can say without hesitation that there is none better than the one whose title heads this article Organized in 1868 by Jay Cooke and his associates with the largest capital of any life insurance company in the world, viz.. $1,000,000, it has steadily increased its assets and to-day its surplus is larger than its capital. It offers inducements to insurers in its low rate of premium and definite contracts. You know just what you will pay and how NATIONAL LIFE BUILDING. much you will receive, while the large assets of the company guarantees the safety of the investment made for the benefit of those held dear. The company was chartered by Congress with headquarters at Washington, but the management appreciating the fact that Chicago was the place to hail from wisely opened a branch office here, where it owns the fine building a view of which is here given. The .Board of Directors comprises many of our best business men. Mr. E. W. Peet, the President, is one of the leading authorities in the United States on all that pertains to life insurance. He has been connected with the company since its organization, first as actuary, from that he has risen to his present position, not by favor but by real merit and worth. J. A. Ellis, V. P.. is a well known business man in Chicago. J. M. Butler, like Mr. Peet, has been with the company since its inception. The aim of the manage- ment of this company has always been equity, promptness and justice. J. B. MACKEL, who is known so well in the city as the best fine boot and shoe maker, has been forced by his constantly increasing business to remove to the large, spacious and elegant store, HI Randolph street. Here he can be found ready at all times to take the measure and give THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 107 a perfect fit to any and all who desire. His aim is fashion, comfort and durability. A com- bination of these qualities, together with a moderate price, causes his store to be thronged daily. Mr. Maekel is one of those men of indomitable will and perseverance, who always succeeds. He has invented a plan of self measurement, so that no matter where his customer may be, let him follow Instructions and he will be sure of a perfect fitting pair of boots or shoes; and there is nothing that tends to disturb a man's peace of mind so much as an ill fitting shoe or boot. Mr. Mackel has recently, at great expense, issued a fine illustrated catalogue, giving a view of all the different styles of goods made by him. It will be mailed free on application. THE GOODRICH TRANSPORTATION COMPANY. No excursionist or tourist coming to the Golden Northwest will have seen all its beauties or experienced all its delights until he has made a trip across the blue waves of Lake Michigan to some of the thousand and one lovely summer resorts that cluster all along its shores. The dancing of the limpid waters, the roll of the white-capped billows, and the sweep of the cooling breezes over the vast and ocean-like expanse, are a gloriously refreshing and invigorating tonic to a system worn with the din and heat of city life or enfeebled by exposure to a Southern climate. The Goodrich Transportation Company offers every facility and opportunity for such a trip. Its splendid side-wheel steamers leave the docks, at the foot of Michigan avenue, in Chicago, daily for all the principal points in the whole lake shore region. Among the innumerable charming places to which they run are St. Joseph and Grand Haven, in the heart of the great fruit region of Western Michigan, and where the fishing is always fine. At St. Joseph are located some of the largest establishments in the world for the canning of peaches, tomatoes, raspberries, corn, and other fruits and vegetables. Boats also run to Escanaba and Negaunee, where the trout fishing is glorious sport, and where the waters of the streams in mid-summer are almost ice-cold. And they run to Manistee, where the gamy grayling abounds in such quantities as would have made old Izaak Walton's eyes pop out of his head with delight. The boats are all large, spacious and strongly built, their machinery first-class, their cabins roomy and elegantly furnished, and their bills of fare loaded with eveiy conceiv- able luxury. The officers are capable and tried seamen, who look carefully after the comfort of their patrons; and the very name of that old veteran of the waters, Superin- tendent T. G. Butlin, is a guarantee of perfection in all the details of management. Excursion tickets are sold during the summer seaaon at such low rates as to put a delightful trip in reach of every one, and every indication points to an immense travel this season. THE FRENCH INSURANCE CORPORATION. The great fire of 1871 having swept away nearly all of the local insurance companies of Chicago, it became necessary to look outside for good insurance companies. Many good companies have entered the State for the transaction of business; among these, there are none better than the French Insurance Corporation, of Paris, France. This company, established in 1»58, with a subscribed capital of $2, -100, 000, of which $1,400,000 is paid up, its gross assets are $3,(100, 000, its net assets after deducting liabilities are $5,210,000. It transacts a fire business only. Its council of administration and list of stockholders are composed of men of high business, political and social standing, and solid financial strength. It has since the date of its organization paid for losses, over $4,500,000 in gold, and all just claims against the company have always been promptly and fairly adjusted and paid. It is under the especial supervision of the French Government, and, as is the case with all other like corporations in France, is in the immediate charge of the Prefect of Police. The insur- ance laws of France require that the entire amount of capital shall be subscribed, and 108 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. the list of stockholders duly examined and approved, as to character, financial standing and subscriptions, prior to the transaction of any business in fire underwriting, and thereafter the company is constantly under the direct and most rigid scrutiny and con- trol of the Government, and is not permitted to call in to exceed four-fifths of the amount of its subscriptions thus approved; the remaining fifth being held in reserve for the benefit of policy-holders in event of serious disaster to the company. By reason of the admirable character of these laws and the continued thoroughness of the Govern- ment surveillance, the protection to policy-holders in La Caisse Generale is made as nearly complete and perfect as possible, no policy-holder having ever as yet sustained loss through the embarrassment or failure of any French Fire Insurance Company. The company has a large deposit in this country, its business in the hands of some of the ablest and most experienced fire underwriters in the United States. Particularly is this so in the West where its interests are looked after by B. D. West, Esq., with headquarters at 174 La Salle street, Chicago, who is one of the ablest of the younger generation of underwriters; his supervision extends over the whole Western and South- western field where he has made money rapidly for the company. CAPILLARY ART. It would delight the soul of a Sioux or Kickapoo "brave" to take a stroll through the immense establishments of M. Thome, at 144 and 146 Wabash avenue and 157 State street. He is one of the largest importers and dealers in hair and hair goods in the country, and keeps a vast supply of every conceivable shade and quality of tresses, locks, braids, switches, curls, and all the million other shapes and fantasies into which the indispensable adornment of the head-piece can be wrought or twisted. His whole- sale house is on Wabash avenue, and his retail department on State street. SURGICAL AND MEDICAL APPARATUS. Sylvester S. Bliss, No. 70 State street, is one of the leading Western' dealers in surgical instruments and physicians' goods. He has all the most approved appliances for remedying deformities of the human frame, braces, trusses, pads and bands, sup- porters, crutches, all the corrective machinery for distorted spines, weak ankles, club feet, knock knees, and the thousand other twists and torments that flesh is heir to. Of medicine chests and all the varieties of physicians' and surgeons' cases he has always an endless assortment, and he makes a specialty of Bliss' Prairie Cases, his own device and manufacture. He promptly furnishes prices and circulars to all who apply for them. DENTISTRY. There are few instances, even in the growing, pushing Golden Northwest, of a more rapid achievement of success by working for it and deserving it, than is afforded in the case of the McChesney Brothers, the popular dentists, at the corner of Clark and Ran- dolph streets. Commencing but a few years ago, they have, by doing the very best work at the very lowest rates, pushed themselves into one of the most extensive and lucrative runs of practice enjoyed by any firm in Chicago. They employ none but the finest material, and charge no fancy figures for mere style's sake. All their work is war- ranted, and at the rate their patronage is increasing they bid fair ere long to lead the whole dental fraternity of the Lake region. BAGGAGE CHECKS. \V. W. Wilcox, No. 88 Lake street, manufactures and keeps constantly on hand all varieties of railroad and hotel baggage checks, badges, stamps, ticket punches and des- tination cards. New forms and designs for checks and badges promptly furnished when desired, and all work done in the best manner and at reasonable rates. Railroad, hotel and express men will find it advantageous to remember the name and address of Wilcox' check factory. THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. 109 ENGRAVING. For all styles of designing and engraving on wood, J. Manz & Co., No. 9fi La Salle street, stand prominently before the public. They design and engrave outs and illus- trations for hook, newspaper and poster work in most artistic fashion, and many of their wood-cuts might easily be mistaken for Que Steel engravings. All orders will be promptly attended to and satisfaction is guaranteed both in regard to design and execution. The engravings in this book of the Mitchell building, Milwaukee, the club house and camp scene at Island Wild, and Dr. Von Suessmilch's residence, at Delavan Lake, on the line of the Western Union Railway, are executed on wood by this firm, and no further com- mendation of their work is needed. PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS. Fine photographic views of scenes contained in this book, and thousands of others of noted places can be obtained of Edward Lovejoy, No. 88 State street. He has a large assortment of Chicago views, before, during and since the great lire, views of pub- lic buildings, parks and other objects of special interest. His stock of pictures, chromos, frames, and all the articles usually found in a first-class art emporium, is extensive and attractive, anil he is always ready to supply dealers or fanciers, at whole- sale or retail, at prices that defy competition. PAPER. One of the marked peculiarities of our civilization is the universal and infinitely varied use of paper. It has become one of the world's staples, and nowhere is there a more extensive and enterprising establishment for its manufacture and sale than that of Clark, Friend, Fox «fc Co., 150 and 152 Clark street, Chicago. They make and handle every quality, size and shade of paper that is used, from the delicate note paper on which dangerous breach of promise case correspondence is penned in violet ink, to the huge sheets on which, in the shape of daily newspapers, the civilized world takes its morning dose of intelligence, political lire and fustian, legislative and congressional stu- pidity, financial failures, crime, gossip and humbug. Wrapping paper, printing paper, writing paper, book paper, envelope, card stock, and any thing and everything to be found in the largest and finest paper houses in the world can be found at Clark, Friend, Fox & Co.'s spacious ware-rooms, and their supply is kept up by the constant running of their three immense mills, the Lockland, Rialto and Crescent. The extent of then- business enables them to fill orders at the lowest possible rates, and buyers can be assured that no more reliable firm invites the trade of the West. PHOTOGRAPHY. For photographs, in all the highest styles of the art, the place to go in Chicago is Copelin's, No. 75 Madison street. He is more than a photographer; he is an artist, and his pictures combine all the charms of perfect likeness, graceful positions aud perfection of tints. From his smallest carte to his life size portraits in oil colors, the reproduction of feature and expression, is absolutely perfect, while his artistic taste throws a refining and beautifying halo over the entire work. His fame has gone throughout the country, and the immense patronage his skill is bringing him enables him to employ every facility and improvement known to his profession. To save all inconvenience to his patrons, an elevator runs constantly to his rooms, where, in addition to an extensive gallery of por- traits of celebrities, he has a large assortment of exquisite stereoscopic views of noted places and scenes in the great West, which he offers for sale at wholesale or retail. THE MICHIGAN CENTRAL RAILWAY. The advantages of travel over the lines of the Michigan Central Railway are num- erous. It is known to be the most direct, the most comfortable, but beyond this it is the only east and west line that runs the magnificent and convenient dining cars wherein the hungry traveler may eat at his leisure, while traveling at the rate of forty miles an hour. This system does away entirely with the excessively disagreeable jump and run experi- 110 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. ence of railway station feeding. Moreover the cuisine is comparable only with that of the very first hotels. All meals are served at the moderate price of seventy-five cents each, while the wine card tempts the epicure with every standard vintage and tap known to the most exclusive club. It should be remembered that a view of the Niagara Falls can only be obtained by this route, the crossing of the Niagara River being in such a position that passengers are enabled to enjoy the most perfect view of the whole grand scene while reclining comfortably in their seats. Both for freight and passage the Mich- igan Central is the most popular east and west route connecting Chicago with the seaboard. THE LAKE SHOEE AND MICHIGAN SOUTHERN RAILWAY. The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway is one of the oldest, as it is one of the most important connections with the East, that Chicago possesses. Intimately con- nected in control and management with the New York Central Railroad, it offers one of the finest routes imaginable to and from New York and the Atlantic seaboard. It is the only all rail route to the East that avoids both ferries and transfers. Both as to freight and passenger business, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway is as important a line as any in the world; its advantages as a trunk line are, however, of greater inter- est to the readers of this work than are other considerations. Through sleeping coaches run between Chicago and New York, via Albany, on every express train. This line pass- es a greater number of great points of interest to the business man than perhaps any other of equal length in the United States. All the great commercial cities of Illinois, Lidiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and the Eastern aud Middle States may be quickly, conveniently and comfortably visited by the Lake Shore route. THE GRAND TRUNK LINE. The Grand Trunk Railway is one of the most important links that connect the west and east socially and commercially. It enjoys advantages superior to those of other lines in controlling a vast traffic both to and from American and Canadian termini. For pas- sengers it is by several dollars the cheapest route to Boston aud points in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts. As a pleasure route the Grand Trunk offers attractions superior to any possessed by any other line. It connects with river steamers for the beautiful trip to the Thousand Islands and the St. Lawrence River to Montreal, shooting the world renowned Rapids of the St. Lawrence by daylight. This is the direct route via Montreal to Quebec, St. Johns, Halifax, White Mountains, Portland, Boston, Lake Champlain, Lake George, Hudson River, and seaside resorts. Through Wagner cars accompany every evening express train from Chicago to Buffalo and Boston without change, and Pullman Palaces are attached to the tl.00 A. M. through express from Chi- cago to Portland, making the entire run without change. CHICAGO AND WEST MICHIGAN RAILROAD. Among the many iron tentacles that stretch out from Chicago, the greatest railroad centre in the world, grasping and drawing into its mouth the commerce of the nations, the Chicago and West Michigan railroad is not the least important. Its main line extends from New Buffalo to Pentwater, 170 miles, with a branch from Holland to Grand Rapids, twenty-live miles, and another from Muskegon to Big Rapids, fifty-live miles. Trains with sleepers attached run direct from Chicago via this line, to Grand Rapids, via Hol- land. The distance from Chicago to New Buffalo is sixty-six miles, and from thence to Grand Rapids 115 miles. Both its freight and passenger traffic are extensive and rapidly increasing under the energetic administration of Geo. C. Kimball, Es^., general manager, an officer whose ex- ecutive abilities command for him the respect of the railroad profession, and the confi- dence of the public who have been benefitted by the advance in general usefulness made by the road since he took hold of its affairs. Mr. Kimball's task is lightened by his good fortune in having an excellent staff of experts about him. Mr. C. M. Lawler, assistant THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. Ill superintendant, is a railroad official of high standing and ability, and justly popular with the friends and patrons of the road. Mr. A. M. Nichols, general Freight and passenger agent, is also a well known, respected and able officer. The united labors of these ex- ecutive officers have rendered the mad one of Chicago's most important rail connections. THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY OF CANADA. The Great Western Railway of Canada, which runs, in connection with the Michigan Central Railway, through Canada from Detroit to Suspension Bridge at Niagara Falls, is one of the finest trunk lines on the continent, and magnificently supplies the great link which otherwise would be missing in the direct route from Chicago to the East. By this route the tourist passes over the great suspension bridge at Niagara Falls. This road is supplied with the finest of hotel cars run by this company. The tables are supplied with all the luxuries of the season at the low price of seventy-five cents per meal. The management of this line is excellent. The equipage of the freight and pas- senger service of this line is ample and excellent, and the Great Western deservedly ranks among the most necessary and valuable railway connections in the Great Chicago system of east and west lines. ST. LOUIS, IRON MOUNTAIN AND SOUTHERN RAILROAD. Seldom in the history of American railroads has there been a more remarkable in- stance of rapid growth, and the success that surpasses the most sanguine expecta- tions even of those who achieve it, than in the case of the great St. Louis, Iron Moun- tain and Southern Railway line. Only a few years ago it was a mere little local road ending in the wild " knobs'' of the Missouri iron region. But the indomitable energy of its President, Thomas Allen, and his corps of able lieutenants, numbering such men as A. W. Soper and E. A. Ford, has speedily pushed it to the very front rank of new world roads. It has become the great highway of communication between St. Louis and the South. It has opened up a new empire in southern Missouri. Arkansas and Texas, and the tide of emigrants that has poured over its line into this vast and fertile Southwest- ern region has surpassed all description. The company has steadily increased its ac- comodations, lengthened its trains and added to its cars, but still the throng of south- western bound home-seekers have crowded in and compelled yet greater efforts. It is now one of the best equipped and managed roads in the country, and its pal- ace and drawing-room cars offers luxurious ease to the tourist on business or for pleas- ure. It passes through the far-famed iron region of Missouri, giving a view from its car windows of the wonderful Iron Mountain, from which it derives part of its name. It runs through the rich valleys of the Black and the White rivers of Arkansas, which sur- pass in fertility the valley of the Egyptian Nile.. The company owrs 1.5(10,000 acres of the finest lands in the world, which it offers to the seeker for a home at merely nominal prices on long time. It is the shortest and best route to the marvelo'usly growing regions of Texas, con- necting at Texarkana with the whole system of Texan railroads for Sherman. Dallas. Houston. Austin, Galveston and San Antonio. It is the only route to Little Hock and the famous Hot Springs of Arkansas, and thousands of invalids from every part of the world will testify to the care of its managers and employes for the comfort of all who journey over it. Audit is the most direct line from St. Louis to Memphis. Vicksburg, New Or- leans, Mobile and Pensacola, running through from St. Louis to New Orleans and Mo- bile without change of cars. THE CANADA SOUTHERN RAILWAY. The lines of this enterprising and powerful railway corporation, extending from De- troit and Toledo to Buffalo, with their Niagara extension, form the only line from the West tunning directly to Niagara Falls They afford passengers an opportunity of wit- nessing the Horse Shoe Falls and the mighty rapids from the train, and land them on the Canadian side, within one block of the Clifton and Prospect Houses, where the fin- est view of the FaUs is obtained. Among all the iron roads leading to and from the Western metropolis, none are more worthy of note than the Canada Southern Railway. 112 THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST. ST. JOSEPH, MICH. St. Joseph is a handsome lake port and village situated on Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, in latitude 42; it is sixty-two miles from Chicago, and about 100 from Milwaukee, with both of which cities daily steam communication is main- tained during' the season of navigation. The St. Joseph River traverses the country from the southeast through the city of Niles and the villages of Buchanan ;ind Berrien; the Paw Paw River from the northeast through the village of Watervliet and near Colona, and the two rivers unite near the mouth of the former, forming with the lake two peninsulas. The St. Joseph is navigable for river steamers for the distance of 100 miles, and the Paw Paw for thirty. No resident or habitue of Lake Michigan and its ports and surroundings would regard a sketch of St. Joseph as complete without some reference to one of the most genial, widely knoAvn and popular characters. Captain Napier, who just now commands the tine steamer Corona, of ttie Goodrich Lh-e, is one of the oldest and most thoroughly educated naval commanders on the great lakes. No matter what line he may happen to be connected with, nor how much competition it may have, wherever Captain Napier is, there is business, and plenty of it. His genialty makes his passengers regret the moment when they have to leave his vessel, and to a man they appear on his passenger list again at the very first opportunity. St. Joseph is the most popular fishing resort anywhere within two hundred miles of Chicago. From the pier, off the bar. and up the river, according to wind and weather, hundreds of people may be seen every day, husy catching the most splendid specimens of bass. pike, pickerel, cisco, muskalonge and perch. The bass fishing at this point is especially famous, it being a common thing to hook black bass weighing from three to five pounds, and by the hundred. Everything requisite to the enjoyment of the sport is found on the ground. There are plenty of good boats, bait, tackle, and good men to row the boats. Among the solid fishermen may be mentioned W. H. Skinner, who seems to know, just where the fish are. and whoever secures his services will be sure of a good day's sport. Above all. the angle]- finds at St. Joseph something almost a vara avis, one of the finest and liberally kept first-class hotels in the "West. The Park House, con- ducted by Mr. Sam Brown, one of the best hotel managers in the country, was formerly the handsomest and most costly private mansion in the vicinity. Nothing could be more agreeable to sportsman or family than the quiet refinement of this little palace by the lake, where every delicacy one finds at Delmonico's, is served to enrapture the palate, and where rest is sought in apartments fit for princes. BENTON HARBOR. Benton Harbor is a lake village extensively engasred in the Michigan fruit trade, sit- uated on Lake Michigan near St. Joseph. The early history of the place is unimportant, but a good many years airo it began to be noticed that fruit orchards in the vicinity in- variably escaped the frosts that killed fruitin other and not distant localities. In conse- quence of this discovery, land was largely bought up at high prices, and devoted to peach culture, which interest alone lias made Benton Harbor a place of considerable im- portance. In 1860 a village was laid nut on a flat near the marsh which extends to the lake, and it was at first called Brunson Harbor. A canal twenty-five feet wide and ten feet deep was completed to the lake in 1862. In 1865 the name of the village was changed to Benton Harbor. Among the principal advantages which Benton Harbor enjoys commercially, the greatest is intimate and extensive connections maintained with the metropolis by the steamer line of Messrs. Graham. Morton A' Co.. Benton Harbor, Michigan, and 48 River street. Chicago; who have during the past winter thoroughly rebuilt the popular and last steamer Messenger which runs reerularly, leaving the company's dock at the foot of Wabash avenue every morning at lit o'clock. Saturdays and Sundays excepted; on Sat- urdays it leaves al 11:30 p.m. Returning, the steamer leaves Benton Harbor every evening a1 9 o'clock, Saturdays excepted. The trip occupying five hours either way. Captain Bartlett, commander of the Messenger, has been known for a long time on the lakes, as one of the most accomplished navigators of the country. He has had remark- able good fortune with the vessels at different times under his command: principally ow- ing to the unceasing vigilance that he always uses in the conduct of his duties. More than a little popularity of the Messenger as a favorite passenger vessel is (\wo to theeon- fidence that the public lias in the skill of its commander, coupled with his uniform p< 1 fce- ness and attention lo the comfort and wants of those who travel under Ins care. This trip allows parties from Chicago a long afternoon in Benton Harbor, followed by a pleasant night's rest in a comfortable Messenger stateroom, reaching Chicago bright and early in the morning. PHOTOGRAPHER, 75 1s/Lj±idt&oj- UJ n: 1- Q_ o H m en 3D m > O > CD I - m CAPT. H. TURNER, 1 PROPRIETOR. J, Finest Fishing in 1 I < I IIH I BOATS AND BAIT FURNISHED. AT ALL TIMES. Winona Carriage Works, Carriage and Sleigh Manufacturers, CORNER WASHINGTON AND THIRD STREETS, LARGEST ^WORKS IKT THE NORTHWEST. Burlington Insurance Company, BURLINGTON IOWA. o:r,3-.a.ntze:d leso. CAPITAL, $200,000 Insures only Farm Property, Detached Dwellings, Barns (their contents), Country Churches and School Houses, but no property more hazardous; and no loss by any one Are can exceed \\ per cent, of its capital. WOLCOTT SEYMOUR, President. WII-LIAM HF.LL, Vice P BMUMMT . JOHN (i. MILI.EK. BBOKKTABY. TO ANY OF THE Famous Summer Resorts OF THE ISTOI^TIi OIR, WORTH^WEST, GET YOUR TICKETS BY THE "IRON MOUNTAIN" ROUTE, VIA. ST. LOUIS. St. Louis, Iron Mountain ani Southern Railway FROM TEXAS. PULLMAN PALACE SLEEPING CARS Run from Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston and Galveston, without change, via. "IRON MOUNTAIN ROUTE." FROM NEW ORLEANS AND MOBILE PULLMAN PALACE SLEEPING CARS Run to St. Louis without change, over the NEW OELEANS, MOBILE & ST LOUIS THEOUGH LINE— "IKON MOUNTAIN ROUTE." E2TCTTKSX©3>T TICKETS Sold at the office of all Connecting Lines, at the lowest rates. FOR PARTICULAR INFORMATION Please call upon or address either of the following named Agents, J. W. COLEMAN, Ticket Agent, R. W. GILLESPIE, Cor. Camp d Common Sts., Southern Passenger Agent, New Orleans, La. Houston, Texas. C. L. COLMAN, LUMBER, GENERAL OFFICE AND MILLS, Ij-A. CE033E, T*7-J3CO:£T^I£T. HRANCII YARDS AT Hokat, Rushford, Whalan, Lanesboro, Preston, Fountain, Spring Valley, Grand Meadow, Albert Lea, Alden, Wells, Minnesota Lake, Delavan, Eastern, Winnebago. Armstrong, Hay- wood, Jackson, Fairmont, Sherburn. ROBBINS HOUSE, LA CROSSE, WIS. T. Gr. DE^OBBIlNrs, IFroprletor. E. 9. ROBBTXS, } n , M. W. FOWLER, \^ ierK8 - ONLY FIRST-CLASS HOUSE IN THE CITY. A. A. Freeman. M. L. Freeman. E. Zeidler A. A. FREEMAN & CO. Successors to E. V. WHITE d- CO. HVC I !_. !_. IE TZ S I LACROSSE, WIS. Manufacturers of the celebrated brands of Flour, Superlative and Dundas. LACROSSE NATIONAL BANK, LA CEOSSE, WIS. PAID UP CAPITAL, . . $100,000. 6. C. HIXOS. President. CHAS. MICHEL, Vice President. S. S. BURTOS, Cashier. ESTABLISHED 1843. BLAIR & PERSONS. Importers and Jobbers of Crockery, China, Glassware AMI OUTLEBY, Chandeliers, Brackets, Lamps, Silver-Plated Ware, Looking Glasses, Fruit Jars, Yellow and Rockingham Ware and Fancy Goods. 354 AND 356 EAST WATER STREET, Goods Carefully lie-packed MILWAUKEE WIS for the Country. A STRONG COMPANY. The Largest Capital of any Life Insurance Co. in the World. THE NATIONAL Life Insurance Company, U. S. of A. 'W-A.SKiiiNrG-Tonxr, id. c. CHARTERED BY CONGRESS. CASH CAPITAL, -~" - - $1,CCO,000 SURPLUS, January lst,_1879, - 1,328,098 Perfect Security. Low Rates of Premiums. Definaie Contracts. OIFIFICEIFLS- EMERSON W. PEET, President and Actuary. J. ALDER ELLIS, Vice President. JOHN M. BUTLER, Secretary. SAMUEL M. N1CKERSOX, Chairman Finana and Executive Committee. Business Office, Chicago, 111., 157-163 LaSalle St., Chicago, 111. L EVERINGHAM & Co. Commission Merchants, ROOMS 21 AND 22, MITCHELL BUILDING, Milwaukee. OUR SPECIALTIES WE GIVE THE CLOSEST ATTENTION TO INSPECTION OF GRAIN, AND TO Weights and Deductions of Dressed Hogs. LIBERAL ADVANCES MADE ON CONSIGNMENTS. FUTURE DELIVERY (OR OPTIONS), BOUGHT AND SOLD UPON MARGINS. Consignments can be made in OURNAMK. either to MILWAUKEE or CHICAGO, and Options bought and sold at EITHER PLACE, bv nchhc ssing ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO MILWAUKEE. Information freely given— Correspondence carefully noted— and Daily Price Current sent when requested. Special Attention given to orders from Millers and otln i>. Whether in Car or Cargo lots. WE PRESUME IT IS UNNECESSARY TO ADD REFERENCES. THE Chicago, Milwaukee and Si Paul zrahj-v^ay IS THE "VIE^-^" IBEST XjI3STE! TO THE FAMOUS SUMMER RESORTS PEWAUKEE, LAKESIDE, HAETLAND, NASHOTAH, GIFFORD'S, OCONOMOWOC. (The above, all located in the celebrated Lake Region of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, containing forty-one beautiful Lakes and many valuable Mineral Springs, within a radius of nine miles, amidst the most charming scenery in the West.) WAUKESHA AND PALMYRA, Famous for the life-giving properties of their renowned Mineral Springs. KILBOURN CITY, Where the wonderful Dells of the Wisconsin excite the admiration of all visitors. SPARTA, FRONTENAC, PRIOR LAKE, CLEAR LAKE, MA D I S N , The Capital of Wisconsin, And numerous others, offer the GREATEST INDUCEMENTS TO TOURISTS, and are all located on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, THE MAGNIFICENT AND IN EVERY RESPECT SUPERIOR PALACE SLBBPHsTG OARS EUN BY THE CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL R'Y ARE OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY THIS COMPANY. AN IRON SAFE Is provided in each Sleeper for the Safe Keeping of Moneys and Valuables of Paae- engers. Conductors will give Checks for Articles placed therein. AN ILLUSTRATED TOURISTS' GUIDE Containing full descriptions of all the above and all other principal points in the North- west for the Invalid, the Sportsman, the Seeker of Health and Pleasure, and the general Tourist, will be Mailed to any Address upon application to A. V. H. CARPENTER, General Pasxenger and Ticket Agent, MILWAUKEE, WIS Western Union Railroad, Most Direct Route from Milwaukee and all points in the Northwest, to Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Texas and California. Through Coaches Daily Between MILWAUKEE AND ATCHISON, KANSAS. TWO THROUGH TRAINS DAILY Between Milwaukee and all Western and Southwestern Points, THIS IS THE ONLY LINE RUNNING THKOUGH COACHES BETWEEN MIL- WAUKEE AND ANY MISSOUEI RIVER POINT. This is the direct route to the famous Summer (Resorts, Geneva Lake, Springfield station, (Brown's Lake, Burlington Station, and (Delavan. SLEEPING CARS ON ALL NIGHT TRAINS. Westinghouse Automatic Air Brake and Miller's Safety Platform, Buffer and Coupling on all passenger trains. RATES ALWAYS AS LOW AS BY ANY OTHER USE. st complete line of out-door sporting implements- ever shown in this c mntry, and we would respectfully call the attention of Base Ball Planers, Archers, Tennis Players, Croquet Players, Anglers, Skaters, Gymnasts, The- atrical people and the sporting world gea 'rally to our large and superior stock. TO nSKEKIbs/CEET- We would respectfully inform tlje Amateur Iish- eruiau of Chicago and the Northwest that we have engaged the services of an experienced workman froii] the East who is the only man in Chicago who thor oughly understands tin milking and repairing of fine Fish Reds and -«ho lias been engaged in the manufacture of FINE FISHING RODS AND REELS tor the past 20 years, and was awarded the 1st Prize and Diplo- ma at the Centennial for suPEiuoiuTY of WOBEUAK8HD? and style. We are prepared to make to or dtr Sj lit 1 amlco. Green- heart. Lancewood, Washebuugh, ironwood, and Natural bamboo Hods }<>>■ Ilij hI Eait lixhivg,. and any Special sti/le desired. Rods and Reels Repaired in the best manner and all work gvaran- teml. Illustrated Price Lists of all Pishing Tackle and General Sporting Goods furnished upon appli- cation. The largest and most complete assortment of Archery Good* ever shown in America. Our imported Archery is direct from the factories of the cel- ebrated English makers, Thomas Aldred and Phillip Highneld. Having engaged the services of an experienced Bowyer, we are prepared to make to order hows of any style or weight, also arrows. Repairing of Archery and all kinds of Bporting Implements a specialty. RpALDIHQfr ? A large 16 page journal, (same Bam • si/.- as EUrper's Wjekiy.) devoted to the best interests of popular American sports, containing interesting articles on Base Ball, Fishing, Archery, Lawn Tennis Croqu much LOWER than ail-rail routes. BELOW SEE ROUTES OF STEAMERS AND SAILINGS. For RACINE, MILWAUKEE, SHEBOYGAN. ETC., Daily, Saturday and Sunday excepted, at 9 a. m. Also, NIGHT BOATS for above Ports on Tuesday and Friday, at 7 p.m., and Saturday at 8 p. m. For GRAND HAVEN. MUSKEGON, GRAND RAPIDS, ETC., Daily, Sundays excepted, at 7 p. in, For GREEN BAY. MENOMINEE, DE PERE, ETC., Tuesday and Friday, at 7 p. m. For ESCANABA, NEGAUNEE, and Lake Superior Towns (viaEseanaba), Tuesday, at 7 p. m. For LUDINGTON AND MANISTEE Daily at 9 a.m., Saturday add Sun- day excepted, also Night Boat on Saturday at 8 p. m. For ST. JOSEPH, the Great Fruit Region of Michigan, Daily, Sundays excepted, at 10 a. ra. Saturday's St. Joseph Steamer does not leave till till 11 p.m. TICKETS FOR THESE POPULAR STEAMERS CAN BE HAD AT ALL RAILROAD DEPOTS. For Further Information . apply to the Company's Office. OFFICE AND DOCKS. FOOT OF MICHIGAN AVE.. CHICAGO. JOHN SIN3LETON. Pass. Agent. T. G. BUTLIN. Sup't. CHICAGO TO BENTON HARBOR, MICHIGAN. The centre of the Peach and Apple Orchards. The Popular and Fast Passenger Steamer Messenger, will run permanently, leaving our Dock, foot of Wabash Avenue, every morning at 10 o'clock; Saturdays and Sundays excepted; on Saturdays will leave at 11:80 p. ni.. returning will leave Benton Harbor every evening at 9 o'clock, Saturday excepted. This is the best five hour's trip across the lake, it gives parties from Chicago an afternoon at Benton Harbor, and after a good night's sleep, reach Chicago in the morning. Freights as low as by arty other line. Freights also carried by this line for Hager, Riverside, Calona. "Watcrvelict, Hartford, Bangor. Breedsville, Grand Junction, Millburg, Pipestone, EauClaire Berrien Centre and Shanghai. We also do a general dockage and storage business at reasonable rates. The following Propellers run from our dock: It. C. Brittain and G. P. Heath, for Saugatuck, and Douglas: Trader forPentwater; Snook for "Whitehall and Montague and Mary Groh for South Haven. GRAHAM, MORTON & CO., Benton Harbor, Mich., and 48 River Street, CHICAGO, ILL. / - W.W.WILCOX CHICAGO. /W.W.WILCOX, MAIMUF'R . BAGGAGE CHECKS LAKE STREET CHICAGO., Railroafl & HotelBagaage Cliects, BADGES, TICKET PUNCHES, RUBBER STAMPS, Hotel Checks, Dating Stamps, Destination Cards, 88 Lake Street, Chicago. Photograph Views contained in this Book, and thous- ands of others can be obtained of EDWARD LOVEJOY, (8UO0EB8OB TO LOVEJOY * FOSTKK. 88 ST^TE STREET. Chicago Vims in great variety. Wramea, Chromoa, Pictures, /•.'/-•.. wholesaU and retail. OF YODB LIFE IS SPIT 01 YODR FEET. Then Make Yourself Comfortable By purchasing a pair of Boots or Shoes made over Mackel's Improved Last — an improvement over all others. I GUARANTEE STRICTLY FIRST-CLASS WORK IX ALL THE LEADING STYLES, AT LOWER PRICES THAN ANY OTHER FIRST- CLASS HOUSE IN THE CITY. Catalogues containing prices and illustrations of all kinds of Boots and Shoes, sent free on application. J". IB. MACK THE FRENCH BOOT MAKER, lllTRANDOLPH STREET, BETWEEN CLARK AND DEARRORN. CHICAGO, ILL. J. Man/.. I) M< Lbax. 96 LpjSfli^BT. • Po^^ttf/iSHIIiGTOJq IE\£. THOME, Importer and Wholesale Dealer in Hair Goods, LARGEST STOCK IN THE WEST. "Wiiolesals l^i <£= 1-iS "Wa/fca-sla. -A.-sre3a.-u.e, RETAIL r>E:PA:RT:ivr.EISjT, 157 STATE STREET, Send for Price List. CHICAGO, ILL. SYLVESTER S. BLISS, 70 State Street, - - C!h-ica,g-o. Surgical Instruments § Physicians' Goods, Instruments for Deformities of Mum;ui Frame, Braces for Spine. Weak Ankle. Club-Foot. Knock-Knee. Wry Neck. Hip Joint. Trusses. Crutches Elastic Stockings. Knee Caps. Syringes. Atomizers. Magnetic Batteries. Medicine chests. [n\ alid'fl Chairs. Bed-Sore Cushions. Abdominal Supp rters. Veterinary Instruments. WRITE FOB PKICES AND CIRCULARS. Manufacturer of BLISS' PRAIRIE CASES, Pocket Case, (Russia) $14.00. Amputating Case, Operating Case, - - 45.00. Obstkteical Case, Buggy Case, 45.00. 6.00. Hypodermic Syringes $•21.00 15.00 3.00 ^cOmESH^E-E- BEOTHEES, DENTISTS, Corner Clark and Randolph Streets, Chicago. Finest and best Full Set, ?8, warranted. Finest Gold Fillings, one-third rates. Teeth extracted without pain or danger. The finest workmanship, and bat one price. Other Dentists have fancy prices for idle time, but no finer teeth. The most skillful and experienced workmen employed. Give all cases in filling or extracting their personal care and attention. A. H. ANDREWS & CO. 213 Wabash Avenue, .... CHICAGO, ILL. Largest Manufacturers in America of Hardwood Fittings. Art B unit's Paklok Folding Bed. "Pnrvr.mi" t istic Wood Mantels m special Mn«f- ™mf™.f.,i,i„ „ .. i m , LYOON UESK - designs ; Side Boards, etc. Most , ?E3h£2£SEffi£ *"* "^LEST ******* desk '. 10 ° ble and elegant made. TRIUMPH Church Pews, varieties of desks in stock. Send IS cents for the Opera Chairs. School, Desk. .$1 upwards in price. Best bocause dovetailed Pulpits, Chairs, Settees, cheapest DrawingBook Noiseless Seat & Hinge. together. Tables, Leetuyjis, etc. ever published, over '250 illustrations. Sent by "We manufacture in our four factories, every thing we sell. mail. Apparatus, such as Globes, Maps, Charts, School, Church, Office and Library Furniture, are all fully warranted. ASPSend for Catalogue, Illustrations, etc."=5j& H. B. I.OCKWOOD. N. C. DRAPER Lockwood & Draper, importers op TEAS. We will sell TEAS AT LOWER PRICES than you can buy in this or any other market. Orders by mail solicited, and Samples sent at our expense when reques^d. WE AI,KO CARRY A CiOOD STOCK OF C I O ^ IR, S ;, Foreign and Domestic — all grades. Send us your orders, we will give you good value, and guarantee all goods. 51 and 53 Wabash Avenue, Chicago. Index 111 BO 111 us Appleton, Wis 44 Ashland, Wis 40 Austin, Minn 71 Bangor, Wis -;< s Belolt, Wis L9 Harbor, Mich 112 Big Born Country 75 Biamarc] 73 Black Hills 73 Bloomington, HI '.'•! Brainerd, Minn oh Brown's Lake, Wis 1"> Cabnar, Ca 48 Cedar Rapids, la ">o ' Bl Chicago and Alton Railroad 86 in and Provision Exchange 85 Clear Lake, [a 19 Cordova, 111 80 territory VI Dakota, 111 " 80 Darien, Wis lit Davenport, la 19 Deadwood 75 Decorah, la 48 Delevan, Wis lb Delafleld, Wis 2."> Delmar, [a 50 Dubuque, la 50 Duluth, Minn 69 Elkhart Lake 45 Blkhorn, Wis 17 Fairbault, Minn iii Fargo 72 Freeport, 111 7s) Pond du Lac, Wis 13 Fori Snelling 60 Fox Lake Wis 28 Frontenac, Minn Geneva Lake, Wis 19 Green Bay, Wis 45 Gifford's, Wis 26 Hastings, Minn 57 Horicon Junction, Wis 24 Hartland, Wis 2f> Illinois 77 Independence, Mo 89 Iowa' 17 Jacksonville, HI 99 Ml.. Wis 21 Jefferson Citv, Mo ;n Joliet, 111 ' vii Kansas Citv, Mo 88 I, a Crosse, Wis 38 la 19 in. Wis 22 Manitowoc, Wis 45 oh, Wis 36 McGregor, la i'-» Menasha. Wis 44 Mexico, Mo 'Jl Milton, Wis 22 Middleton, Wis 2g Minnetonka Lake 07 Minnehaha Falls 61 Minnesota 51 Minneapolis, Minn 62 Milwaukee, Wis 8 Moline, Dl :> Moline Plow Co 78 Mount Carroll, 111 80 Morgan Park Military Academy 83 Montana 76 Monroe, Wis 21 Monticellola e>0 Moorbead, Minn 71 Nashatob 1i> Neenah, Wis 44 Normal. Ill < Iconomowoc, Wis 27 Oshk ish, Wis 42 Pattersonville, la 49 Pewaukee, Wis . 20 Pepin Lake 55 Pontiac, ill City, Wis 28 Prairie Du Chien, Wis '-23 Bed Wing, Minn 57 Ripon, Wis 12 Wis 14 Sparta, Wis '. Schlesengerville, Wis H -an. Wis 13 st. Joseph, Mich 112 Sabula, la 4!i St. Paul. Minn ">7 st. Louis Springfield 99 I Wis 37 Two Rivers, Wis 4!i Walled Pake 48 Waupun, Wis Waukesha, Wis 20 Watertown, Wis Wabasha, Minn 54 ionB.B L5 Winneconne, Wis Winona, Minn Wisconsin .• 7 White Pear Pake 07 BERG dt McC ASS. PRINTERS. 161 LA SALLE ST., CHICAQO. s&Bo^iifir iDi^y ®®^KSiKiLgQ Ql Thhest in the world »»«^ ^T-^ BETWEEN ^^ '^ZtOlTlS and CHIC A** a IT. W0& %. ™^© (gQW, AND NEW ^qOORUFF PALACE SLEEPING CARS BETlug^ ST. LOUIS X KEOKUK. LEograoB .aaana BanflBB j&bb FREE OF EXTRA CHARGE, WITHOUT CHANGE, BETWEEN KANSAS CITY & CHICAGO AND ST.LOUIS & KANSAS CITY. CONNECTIONS IN CHICAGO ST.LOUIS & KANSAS CITY ARE MADE IN mums m^pmn n A *J2AL,S,75 GENTS '8CltVEI> 1?* PULLMAN PALACE DINING CARS THROUGH TICKETS VIA THIS POPULAR ROUTE FOR SALE AT ALL COUPON TICKET OFFICES IN UNITED STATES AND CANADA. JAMES CHARLTON. J.C.Mc MULLIN. SeaeraJ Jluve/u/rr