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 c " v GUIDE . 
 
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 Northern PaaficRailroad 
 
 KteFICE, 120 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
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 / 
 
THE LANDS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 The Northern Pacific Railroad 
 
 IN MINNESOTA. 
 
 The Northern Pacific Railroad Company, by act of 
 Congress, is entitled to 3,276,000 acres of land in the State 
 of Minnesota. These lands are situated along the line of 
 railroad already constructed across the State from a point on 
 the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad near Lake Supe- 
 rior to Dakota, a distance of two hundred and twenty-eight 
 miles. A million acres have been surveyed, and are ready for 
 sale. The lands owned by the company are the odd-num- 
 bered sections in each township within the limits of the grant ; 
 while the even-numbered sections are held by the government, 
 and are open to settlement under the homestead and pre- 
 emption laws. 
 
 The lands have been classified into three divisions, accord- 
 ing to their situation, forest-growth, and characteristics of the 
 soil. 
 
 THE FIRST DIVISION 
 
 Embraces the territory between Lake Superior and the Mis- 
 sissippi River. It is mainly a forest region, — a portion of the 
 great pinery of Minnesota, embracing about twenty-one thou- 
 sand square miles, — a section as large as the States of New 
 Hampshire and Vermont together, located west and north-west 
 of Lake Superior. The entire country around the head 
 
2 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 waters of the Mississippi is covered with a forest-growth. 
 The flora embraces several varieties of pine, also cedar, fir, 
 tamarack, balsam, ash, aspen, elm, maple, birch, oak, and 
 other woods, and is Identical with the flora of New York, 
 Pennsylvania, the Bfew-Englahd States, and Canada. There 
 are numerous streams, lakes, and ponds, through which the 
 lumber is run into the Mississippi, floated to Minneapolis, and 
 there manufactured. Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Northern 
 Missouri receive a huge portion of the lumber required for 
 the building of houses or for fencing from this section of the 
 north-west. 
 
 The Northern Pacific Railroad runs along the southern 
 border of the pine region, and crosses the Mississippi Rt Brain- 
 erd, about one hundred and fifty miles above Minneapolis. 
 Lumber to the amount of two hundred million feet is floated 
 down the river every year from the section of country traversed 
 by the railroad, or from the region north of it. Hitherto, nearly 
 all of this great amount has been manufactured at Minneapolis ; 
 but steam-mills are erecting atBrainerd, and the prairie region 
 of the Red-river Valley, Western Minnesota, and Dakota, will 
 hereafter be supplied with lumber manufactuied at that point. 
 There are excellent facilities for the erection of steam-mills at 
 Brainerd, upon the shore of a small lake, into which the logs 
 may be driven from the river, and securely boomed. 
 
 Not only at Brainerd, but at other points along the line, 
 superior advantages are offered for the manufacture of lumber 
 into doors, sashes, blinds, finishing-material, agricultural im- 
 plements, farm-wagons, carriages, and furniture. 
 
 In tins forest region there are many meadows and marshes 
 covered with luxuriant native grasses, where thousands of tons 
 of hay may be had for the cutting. From these natural 
 meadows the lumbermen's teams are supplied with hay during 
 the winter. " The blue-joint, foul-meadow, and red-top, and 
 ofber varieties of grass, are indigenous, and yield not unfre- 
 quentlv three Ions per acre. As the timber disappears before 
 the lumberman's axe, the country will be dryer; and there 
 are large tracts which ultimately will be brought under culti- 
 vation, as has been the case in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and 
 Wisconsin. Between the lakes are low ridges and belts of 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 3 
 
 land where the soil is excellent, and where wheat, rye, barley, 
 and potatoes will yield as large returns as in other sections of 
 the State. English grasses grow luxuriantly. In the vicinity 
 of the Mississippi, the soil is sandy, but, from the fact that it 
 contains a large percentage of lime, produces good crops. 
 
 Settlers intending to take up farms will undoubtedly find 
 the prairies farther west more inviting than the lands of this 
 section ; but those engaged in lumbering, or in the manufac- 
 ture of farming-implements, wagons, carriages, or furniture, 
 will find excellent facilities for business along the line of 
 the Northern Pacific Railroad, between Lake Superior and 
 the Mississippi River. 
 
 THE SECOND DIVISION 
 
 Embraces the lands between the Mississippi River and the 
 Red-river Valley, — a distance of about a hundred and ten 
 miles. It is more diversified than the region east of the 
 Mississippi. There are prairies, low hills, ridges, swales, and 
 meadows, watered by numerous lakes, ponds, and clear-run- 
 ning streams. There are wide belts of forest, isolated groves 
 and parks, presenting, especially in the western portion, 
 beautiful and charming landscapes. In a region so extensive 
 and diversified, different varieties of soil are found. 
 
 Beginning at the Mississippi, and moving west, we see that 
 the land in the vicinity of the river, and for a distance of 
 twenty miles along the northern bank of the Crow Wing 
 River, is a sandy loam ; the growth consisting of maple, elm, 
 oak, and pine. Crossing the Crow Wing, the surface becomes 
 undulating ; and, while the forest is not dense, there is a large 
 amount of timber. 
 
 Ottertail County occupies the centre of this second division. 
 Ottertail City situated about fifteen miles south of the line of 
 the railroad, is the county-seat, and was settled many years ago 
 by the North-western Fur Company : so that the capabilities 
 of the soil are well known. It is a sandy loam, warm, quick, 
 and easy of cultivation. Corn ripens in August. Oats, 
 potatoes, and rye give large returns ; and, though the yield 
 of wheat in this county is below the average in the State, 
 it is higher than the average in Ohio or Iowa. 
 
4 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 In the Report of the Commissioner of Statistics in Minne- 
 BOta for 1869, the yield of wheat in Ottertail County is given 
 ;ti 1 2.58 bushels per acre ; while the yield in Ohio is but 11.31, 
 and in Iowa 9.06, 
 
 Thai this region will compare favorably with other sections 
 of the country in the production of wheat, oats, barley, buck- 
 wheat, and potatoes, will be seen from the following statement, 
 takm from the Report of the Agricultural Bureau at Wash- 
 ington for Ohio and Iowa, and from the Commissioner of 
 Statistics in Minnesota for Ottertail County: — 
 
 Wheat. Oats. Corn. Barley. Buckwheat. Potatoes. 
 
 Ottertail 12.53 26.65 12.73 22.15 11.21 88.07 
 
 Ohio 11.31 23.8G 34.37 20.38 10.97 72.12 
 
 Iowa 9.75 23.04 37.12 23.07 9.49 81.01 
 
 With the exception of corn, Ottertail County shows a yield 
 superior, in most respects, to those two great agricultural 
 States of the West. 
 
 In Becker County, the streams in the eastern section send 
 their waters to the Gulf of Mexico; while those that rise in 
 the western portion flow into Hudson's Bay. This county 
 also abounds in lakes and running streams ; and it has appro- 
 priately been called the "park region " of the North-west, on 
 account of the many picturesque parks and groves, which, 
 with the intervening lawns and undulating prairies, waving 
 in summer with luxuriant grasses, lend a charm and beauty 
 to the landscape hardly to be surpassed on the continent. 
 
 The soil is deeper, darker, and richer than that of Otter- 
 tail. The sandy element gives place to clay and lime, which, 
 with the great amount of organic matter, make it exceedingly 
 fertile. 
 
 The country west of Detroit Lake was a solitude in 1869, but 
 is now quite* thickly settled. Most of the desirable sections 
 of government land near the line of the railroad have already 
 been taken as homesteads. The region is so attractive, that 
 many settlers secured homes before the lands were surveyed, 
 or offered for sale. 
 
 In addition to the richness of the soil, the abundance of 
 pure water, and the attractive features of the landscape, is 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 5 
 
 the large area covered with timber, — not in unbroken forests, 
 but standing in groves, easy of access. Here the settler may 
 commence at once to turn the sod, enclose his field, and 
 obtain from a neighboring grove his fencing-material and 
 wood for his fire. 
 
 The attractions of this region have been highly praised by 
 visitors. Capt. Pope of the United-States Topographical 
 Engineers, in his report to government, thus speaks of the 
 country in the vicinity of Ottertail Lake, — 
 
 " The whole region of country for fifty miles in all directions around this 
 lake is among the most beautiful and fertile in the world. The fine scenery 
 of lakes, and open groves of oak-timber, of winding streams connecting 
 them, and beautifully-rolling country on all sides, renders this portion of 
 Minnesota the garden-spot of the North-west. It is impossible, in a report 
 of this character, to describe the feelings of admiration and astonishment 
 with which we first beheld the charming country in the vicinity of this lake; 
 and, were I to giv§ expression to my own feelings and opinions in reference 
 to it, I fear they would be considered the ravings of a visionary or an 
 enthusiast." 
 
 Mr. Bayard Taylor, in a letter to the New-York Tribune, 
 written July, 1871, thus describes his ride through this lake- 
 region of the North-west, — 
 
 " Away we went over the long undulations of soil, past the glimmer of 
 virgin lakes, through the unshorn gardens of the wilderness. Prairie-grass 
 and western winds, blue sky and bluer waters, vast horizons and flying 
 clouds, and wanton interchange of belted light and shadow, — they all filled 
 us, if not with a new delight, yet with one which never grows stale from 
 experience. The region resembles Southern Nebraska, which it fully equals 
 in richness, and boasts the additional charm of its numberless little lakes, 
 bright lovely tarns, generally with a timbered bluff on the northern side. 
 All the most attractive situations are being rapidly claimed by settlers. 
 
 " Looking from the rise of the grassy waves far and wide over the land, 
 we constantly saw the white speck of a tent or a hasty board-cabin on the 
 timbered knolls or beside the half-hidden lakes. Like Kansas and Nebraska, 
 ten years of settlement will give to North-western Minnesota the aspect of 
 an old country." 
 
 The attractive features of Becker County are given in a 
 letter to the New- York Standard, by an editorial excur- 
 sionist who visited the Red-river Valley in compan}^ with 
 Mr. Taylor. The writer says, — 
 
6 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 "No description wo can give will do justice to, or convey any adequate 
 idea of the beauty, the pa*k-lik6 loveliness, of ihe scenery between the Buf- 
 ulo River and Pelican Luke, — not that these points indicate any other limits 
 
 than those of our journey : on the contrary, we are told that the same 
 
 character pertains to the whole central section of North-western Minnesota, 
 from the Mississippi River to the Lake of the Woods. We stopped to 
 enjoy the scene, — a thousand hills gently sloping to valleys smooth and fair 
 as an English lawn, or t,, clear, calm lakes blue as the sky above ; wide 
 ranges oi woodland; solid masses of green in the distance, breaking nearby 
 into groves and groups of trees; splendid single oaks and elms Standing out 
 as sentinels in advance of the host; a rich, verdant vesture, deeper and 
 brighter in color than our highest Eastern culture can produce, covering every 
 opening ; water everywhere Btretching away like a placid river for miles and 
 miles, or interrupted by projecting headlands and clusters of islets wooded 
 from shore to crest; and over all the infinite arch of Celestial azure of whose 
 pure splendor the heart of man cannot elsewhere conceive. These be some 
 hints of the element? that compose these loveliest of landscapes, — not grand 
 nor romantic, but of that satisfying, peaceful beauty wherewith the best of 
 our race delight to surround their homes. . . . 
 
 " A hundred lakes wind in and out among the hills, forming bold, thick- 
 timbered headlands, — the finest sites imaginable for Ihe farm-houses of a 
 people intelligent and cultured to appreciate the wondrous iavors Nature has 
 here bestowed. 
 
 " A soil whose luxuriant products prove the richest fertility; an ample 
 provision of oak and other timber growing in charming groves; lakes 
 and streams affording frequent water-powers in every locality, — if Ceres 
 herself should seek a home for prosperous agriculture, her choice might well 
 be here." 
 
 Another editorial writer in the Springfield (Mass.) Re- 
 publican says, — 
 
 " The lakes are numberless, and of all sizes, and have the most beautiful 
 surroundings of oak-timbered rolling prairies that, the eve ever rested upon. 
 . . . The whole section of country hereabout is extremely fertile, has a 
 wonderfully uniform climate for such a high latitude, is, for a prairie country, 
 quite well wooded; and good water is easily obtained from springs and wells, 
 and from the lakes by those who choose to use lake-water." 
 
 THE THIRD DIVISION 
 
 Comprises the land in the Red-river Valley, which has a 
 width on the Minnesota side of from twenty to thirty miles, 
 and on the Dakota side of from thirty to forty. The soil is 
 wholly alluvial, — a dark loam abounding in organic matter, 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 7 
 
 twelve to twenty-five inches in depth, resting on a subsoil 
 of gray marl, rich in lime and other elements that enter into 
 the composition of grains and grasses. 
 
 Here the settler will find a field where great farms can be 
 managed with corresponding profit ; where furrows, unbroken 
 by hillocks, hollows, ridges, or other obstructions, may be 
 turned ten and even twenty miles between the streams 
 tributary to the Red River, or between the river and the 
 eastern boundary of the valley. To the eye, the valley seems 
 to be perfectly level ; but the descent towards the river is at 
 the rate of ten feet to the mile, — sufficient for drainage. 
 There are no lakes or ponds in the valley ; but it is watered 
 by the Buffalo River and its branches, the Wild Rice and 
 other streams on the Minnesota side, and by the Sheyenne, 
 Maple, Elm, and others on the Dakota side ; while excellent 
 water may be had by sinking wells fifteen to twenty-five feet 
 below the surface. The ground is covered in summer with 
 a heavy growth of grass, furnishing a vast area of fine pas- 
 turage, and where hay may be cut for winter use. The 
 prairie-grass is very nutritious ; and stock turned to pasture 
 in April is fit for the market in midsummer. 
 
 The valley of the Red River is about three hundred and 
 fifty miles long, and contains an area of about twenty thou- 
 sand square miles of arable land, — a territory nearly as 
 large as the States of Vermont and New Hampshire com- 
 bined, or half as large as the State of Ohio. The Northern 
 Pacific Railroad crosses it from east to west, about sixty miles 
 from the southern boundary. Fort Abercrornbie is situated 
 on the Red River, about forty, miles south of the line of the 
 road. The farms that have been under cultivation at that 
 point for several years produce, upon an average, thirty 
 bushels of wheat to the acre. Thirty-five and even forty- 
 five bushels have been harvested under favorable circum- 
 stances. Garden vegetables and all the cereals ripen in per- 
 fection at the Fort, and with a yield higher by several per 
 cent than the average throughout the State. 
 
 The northern portion of the valley lies in the Province 
 of Manitoba in British America. The characteristics of the 
 soil of that region are set forth in a pamphlet prepared by the 
 
8 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 clnk of the Province, which is approved by a joint committee 
 of both houses of the Manitoba parliament, and from which 
 the following extract is taken: — 
 
 '• Tin- soil is an alluvial, black, argillaceous mould, rich in organic depos- 
 its, and resting, for a depth of two to four feet, on :i tenacious day subsoil. 
 The measures of beat are ample for the production and development of 
 
 Indian corn. Wheal is the leading staple. Some fields have been known 
 
 to produce twenty successive crops of wheat without fallow or manure, the 
 yield frequently being fifty to sixty bushels to the acre. Forty budiels is 
 Bet down as an average crop." 
 
 Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, is two hundred and 
 thirty miles farther uorth than the line of the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad, li is tin; concurrent testimony of all who have 
 visited the Red-river Valley, that for the production of 
 wheat, oals, barley, buckwheat, rye, potatoes, and garden 
 vegetables, it is superior to any other equal area on the 
 continent. 
 
 The editor of the Pittsburg Commercial, who visited the 
 Red-river Valley in 1871, gives the following statement in 
 regard to its resources : — 
 
 " There are about twenty thousand square nules of land unsurpassed for 
 fertility. There i-; no pereeptible difference in the quality of the soil, on 
 cither Bide of the river (Minnesota and Dakota) ; all of it beimx a rich blaek 
 loam, dry, mellow, ami easily cultivated. J think, that, on the banks of the 
 river, it is a little richer than the rest; but all has rare fertility. Accord- 
 ing to the present mode of cultivation, no erop is produeed or expected until 
 the second year after breaking the prairie. A gentleman at Abercrombie 
 i- Baid to have produced forty-five bushels of wheat to the acre in his first 
 year of sowing. Garden vegetables, including cucumbers, radishes, peas, 
 beans, onions, and even watermelons, grow well in the gardens I saw on the 
 way. The wild rose grows in the woodlands ; and the garden of Bishop 
 Tache, in St. Boniface, bloomed with beautiful Bowers. Farming opera- 
 tions commence about the 10th of April, at Abercrombie, and from the 15th 
 to the 20th at Winnipeg." 
 
 The fertility of the Red-river Valley is thus described by 
 the editor of the Chicago Advance, in a letter written from 
 Manitoba : — 
 
 " The same remarkable fertility that I mentioned last week as the great 
 characteristic of the Red-river Valley appears here in data that cannot be 
 disputed. Gov. Archibald told us of fields that had been cropped with 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 9 
 
 wheat for forty successive years, and which still yield from thirty to forty 
 bushels to the acre. We saw those which were sown on the 15th of May, 
 and reaped on the 1st of August. Oats, barley, and potatoes yield corre- 
 sponding crops. The secret of this remarkable summer growth, aside from 
 the fertility of the soil, lies in the length and warmth of the summer days. 
 Though the nights were cool, during the week we were there, the mercury 
 went up at mid-day, in the shade, to a hundred degrees. And not only are 
 the days warm ; but here on the fiftieth parallel they are several hours 
 longer than with us. With such long days and warm days, growing crops 
 ought to do good work. Essentially the same conditions exist for fifteen 
 hundred miles farther up the great Saskatchawan Valley, which, if it had 
 the population to till it, could raise wheat enough to feed the world." 
 
 WHEAT. 
 
 That Minnesota has a climate and soil peculiarly adapted 
 to the production of wheat will be seen from the following 
 statement : — 
 
 Years. Bushels produced. Average per acre. 
 
 1859 2,374,415 19 
 
 1860 5,101,432 22.05 
 
 1865 9,475,000 22.7 
 
 1866 7,921,442 14.46 
 
 1867 10,014,828 14.64 . 
 
 1868 15,381,022 17.9 
 
 1869 17.660,467 17.55 
 
 The valley of the Red River contains not far from thirteen 
 million acres of the best wheat-lands on the continent, — an 
 area large enough and sufficiently fertile to produce more 
 wheat than is now raised in the United States ; and this 
 vast acreage, by the construction of the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad, and the Pembina Branch of the St. Paul and Pacific, 
 is now open to the agriculturist. Should the development 
 of this fertile section be as rapid as the growth of the State 
 has been between 1859 and 1869, the shipments of grain from 
 Duluth at the close of the present decade probably will not 
 be less than fifty million bushels per annum. 
 
 CORN. 
 
 Although Minnesota is not classed as a corn-growing State, 
 the following statement will be conclusive evidence that the 
 
10 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 summers are long enough for the cultivation of that 
 grain : — 
 
 Year. Area. —Acres. Bushels. Average. 
 
 1859 117,500 3.073,749 20.17 
 
 18G0 80,782 8,148,577 35.07 
 
 1806 88,183 8,058,647 23.32 
 
 1867 100,048 3,816,010 31.95 
 
 1808 129,909 4,849,930 37.33 
 
 18G9 117,587 4,519,120 80.62 
 
 1870 204,129 7,552,773 37.00 
 
 PRODUCTIVENESS OF THE SOIL. 
 
 Although the productiveness of Ottcrtail County, as has 
 been seen, is greater than the average in Ohio and Iowa, yet 
 the average for the State of Minnesota is much greater than 
 that of Ottertail County. The following table exhibits, in 
 bushels, the yield per acre of four of the principal crops for 
 a series of years : — 
 
 Year. 
 
 Wheat. 
 
 Oats. 
 
 Corn. 
 
 Potatoes. 
 
 1859 
 
 19 
 
 33.9 
 
 20.66 
 
 115 
 
 1800 
 
 22.05 
 
 42.39 
 
 35.67 
 
 138 
 
 1805 
 
 22.70 
 
 43.25 
 
 30.80 
 
 139.24 
 
 1800 
 
 14.46 
 
 23.37 
 
 23.32 
 
 113.00 
 
 1807 
 
 14.04 
 
 34.51 
 
 31.19 
 
 101.30 
 
 1808 
 
 17.91 
 
 30.09 
 
 37.30 
 
 105.90 
 
 1809 
 
 17.55 
 
 39.74 
 
 30.02 
 
 74.70 
 
 At the American Institute Fair held in New York in 1871, 
 at which nearly all of the Western States were represented, 
 the products of Minnesota took the highest premium. 
 
 Every kind of grain and garden vegetable raised in New 
 England, New York, Pennsylvania, Northern Indiana, Michi- 
 gan, Northern Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, may be raised 
 upon the lands of the Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 The advance of agriculture in Minnesota will be seen from 
 the following statement : — 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 11 
 
 Under cultivation in Acres. 
 
 1850 1,900 
 
 1S54 15,000 
 
 18G0 556,250 
 
 18GG 895,412 
 
 18G7 1,092,593 
 
 18G8 1,387,470 
 
 1SG9 1,610,456 
 
 1870 1,863,316 
 
 The area under cultivation at the present time, 1872, is 
 probably two million three hundred thousand acres. 
 
 FRUIT. 
 
 The country has not been settled long enough along the 
 line of the road to show its capabilities for the production of 
 fruit ; but at the Minneapolis Fair, held on Sept. 13, 1871, 
 there were seventy varieties of apples on exhibition, of large 
 size and excellent flavors, with Concord, Delaware, and 
 Isabella grapes ripened to perfection in the open air. The 
 wild grape is found along the Red River and its tributaries, 
 from which we may believe that the hardy varieties may 
 be successfully cultivated. Strawberries grow luxuriantly 
 throughout the State, especially in the Red-river Valley. 
 
 Settlers should plant apple-seeds as soon as possible after 
 getting upon their lands, and raise trees from the seed. 
 Trees brought from more southern latitudes do not thrive 
 well ; but seedlings are thrifty and hardy, and excellent vari- 
 eties may be obtained by careful selection. 
 
 Dwarf pears are successfully raised in the southern coun- 
 ties of the State, and with proper cultivation may be grown 
 in the Red-river Valley. 
 
 TIMBER AND FUEL. 
 
 As has been already seen, the first and second divisions are 
 well supplied with timber. The forest region reaches nearly 
 to the Red-river Valley. There are two saw-mills already in 
 operation at Brainerd, on the Mississippi, manufacturing fifty 
 thousand feet of lumber per day ; also a planing-mill and a 
 sash-factory. Pine lumber may be had at stations along the 
 
V2 .MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 lino of the road at about Minneapolis prices, — from sixteen 
 dollars to eighteen dollars per thousand feet for common, 
 twenty dollars for second-class, twenty-five dollars for firat- 
 class; shinnies four dollars and a half per thousand. 
 
 There is sufficient wood along the Bed River and its tribu- 
 taries to supply settlers with fuel lor the present; and there 
 arc exhaustless deposits of coal in Dakota, near the line of 
 the railroad, and on the Missouri River, about two hundred 
 miles west of Minnesota. 
 
 Upon the completion of the road to the Missouri River 
 during the autumn of this present year, 1872, the coal of that 
 region can be delivered at Moorhead and other stations, at a 
 price not exceeding five dollars to six dollars per ton. An- 
 thracite coal from Pennsylvania, taken to Duluth as ballast 
 by vessels engaged in the grain-trade, can be put down at 
 Moorhead at a cost not exceeding ten dollars or twelve dollars 
 per ton, and the bituminous coal of Ohio and Indiana at a 
 less price ; but, with a coal-field in Dakota many times larger 
 than that of New York and Pennsylvania, there will always 
 be an abundance of cheap fuel in the Red-river Valley. 
 
 MARKETS. 
 
 One of the most important things to be considered by those 
 who are seeking homes is cheap transportation for their farm- 
 products. Grain can be carried at a much lower rate by 
 water than by rail ; and fertile lands situated near lake-ports 
 are therefore more valuable than those of equal fertility lo- 
 cated farther away from water-carriage. Lands in Northern 
 Illinois, Southern Wisconsin, and Eastern Iowa, along the lines 
 of railways, have become very valuable, because the farmers 
 are so near to Chicago and Milwaukee, from whence their 
 grain is shipped by steamers and sailing-vessels to the East. 
 Lands, which, ten } 7 ears ago, were worth from three dollars to 
 ten dollars per acre, are now worth from fifteen dollars to fifty 
 dollars. That there will be a corresponding increase in the 
 value of the lands along the line of the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad in Minnesota must be plain to every one who exam- 
 ines the subject; for grain is shipped just as cheaply from 
 
NOETHEEN PACIFIC EAILEOAD. 13 
 
 Duluth to Buffalo, Oswego, and Ogdensburg, and other Eastern 
 lake-ports, as from Chicago or Milwaukee. The Boston colo- 
 nists who are rearing their homes on the shores of the 
 beautiful Detroit Lake in Minnesota can ship their grain to 
 market at as low rates as the farmers who live at Dubuque, a 
 hundred and eighty-eight miles from Chicago. The colonists 
 who have settled in the Red-river Valley are receiving as much 
 per bushel for their wheat as the farmers around Davenport, 
 the largest city of Iowa, or in the vicinity of Springfield in 
 Central Illinois. With cheap transportation, with a soil as 
 fertile as the most favored sections of the Western States, 
 with towns and cities rising as they have risen over Wiscon- 
 sin and Iowa, there must be, as there has been in those States, 
 a corresponding increase in the value of land ; and the settler 
 who secures a farm of a hundred and sixty acres now may be 
 sure of an advance of several hundred per cent for his invest- 
 ment a few years hence. 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 The climate of Central Minnesota in winter is very much 
 like that of Maine, New Hampshire, Northern New York, 
 Canada, Michigan, and Wisconsin, with this exception, — 
 that there is less moisture in the atmosphere. The mercury 
 frequently goes below zero in Minnesota, as it does in New 
 England and New York ; but the snow-fall is usually less 
 than in the eastern and northern portions of the Middle 
 States. The mean winter temperature of the State is 16°. 1, 
 an average about -1° lower than in New Hampshire, Ver- 
 mont, and Northern New York. 
 
 The average summer temperature is 70°. 6, and coincides 
 with that of Central Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The 
 mean yearl} T temperature is 44°. 6, and corresponds with that 
 of Wisconsin, Michigan, Central New York, Vermont, and 
 New Hampshire. The summers are like those of Central 
 Pennsylvania and Ohio ; the winters like those of New Eng- 
 land and Canada. Spring opens about the same time that it 
 does in New England. The first frosts occur about the 10th 
 of September ; but the streams do not freeze till the last of 
 November. 
 
14 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 Rev. Horace Bushnell, D.D., of Hartford, Conn., who 
 passed a winter in Minnesota for his health, writes thus 
 
 of tin.- climate : — 
 
 " The winter climate is intensely cold, ami yet so dry and clear and still, 
 fur tin' most part, as to create no very great suffering. One who is properly 
 dressed finds the climate much more agreeable than the amphibious, half- 
 fluid, balf-sloppy, graTe-Uke thill of the East. Heal snow-storms are rare: 
 there were none l.» -t winter. A little more snow, to make better Bleighing, 
 would lie an improvem< nt. As to rain in winter, it is almost unknown. 
 There was not a drop of it last winter from the latter part of October to the 
 middle or about the middle of March, except a slight drizzle on Thanks- 
 giving Day." 
 
 The railroads in Minnesota are not usually impeded by 
 drifting snows more than those of the Middle and Eastern 
 States. 
 
 HEALTH. 
 
 The air of Minnesota is very clear, pure, and bracing. 
 There are many people living in the State who formerly were 
 threatened with consumption, hut who, in their new homes, 
 enjoy perfecl health. Upon this subject, Hon. Alexander 
 Ramsey of the United-States Senate says, — 
 
 u Within the past few years, Minnesota has been a popmar resort of 
 invalid- afflicted with diseases of the throat and lungs ; and physicians who 
 formerly sent their patients to languish among the perennial flowers of some 
 soft southern sky now generally agree in prescribing the more elastic and 
 invigorating air of the far North-western States as the most efficacious of 
 inhalants. Dry air is a non-conductor of heat, like a garment of wool. The 
 dry cold winter air stimulates the appetite and digestion: it quickens the 
 circulation, and imparts elastic vigor and joyous exhilaration to body and 
 mind. It 'jives their full effect to all the invigorating influences of a north- 
 ern climate in building up the wasted strength of the body, freed from the 
 injurious counter-influences of a damp atmosphere. I suppose it is owing 
 partly to the same cause, that the scourge, fever and ague, is unknown in 
 Minnesota." 
 
 Rev. II. A. Boardman, D.D., of Philadelphia, says, — 
 
 " Tn the stores and shops, on the streets and by the firesides, it is an every- 
 day experience to meet with residents who came to Minnesota one, two, five, 
 or ten years ago for their health, and, having regained it, decided to remain. 
 I have talked with some, who,, having recovered, went away twice over, and 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 15 
 
 then made up their minds, that, to live at all, they must live here. The com- 
 mon mistake with consumptives is, that they defer coming until too late. 
 Every train brings its quota of invalids ; and among them there are apt to be 
 some whom no skill but that of the Great Physician could relieve. Far 
 better if they had staid at home to 'die among their kindred.' But, on the 
 other hand, there are witnesses here, by the hundred, to testily to the healing 
 virtue of this climate in the incipient stages of pulmonary disease." 
 
 Dr. Bushnell gives the following testimony : — 
 
 "I went to Minnesota early in July, and remained till the latter part of 
 the May following. I had spent a year in Cuba without benefit. I had 
 spent also nearly a year in California, making a gain in the dry season, and 
 a partial loss in the wet season, returning, however, sufficiently improved 
 to resume my labors. Breaking down again from this only partial recovery, 
 I made the experiment now of Minnesota; and submitting myself, on return- 
 in"-, to a very rigid examination by a physician who did not know at all what 
 verdict had been passed by other physicians before, he said, in accordance 
 with their opinions, ' You have had a difficulty in your right lung ; but it is 
 healed.' " 
 
 It is a country where there are streams of pure water, and 
 a dry atmosphere during the autumn and winter months ; as 
 a consequence, fever and ague, and kindred malarial diseases, 
 are unknown. It may be classed as one of the most health- 
 ful climates of the world. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 In every township throughout the State, two sections of 
 land, numbered 16 and 36, are set aside for school-purposes. 
 It is estimated that these lands will amount to two million 
 nine hundred thousand acres. About one-eighth of the 
 school-lands have already been sold ; and the fund now 
 amounts to $2,476,220, which is exceeded only by the 
 school-funds of Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio. The 
 interest of this fund, together with the proceeds of annual 
 sales of grass and lumber from lands held by the State, 
 and a two -mill tax on property, is sufficient to make the 
 common schools of Minnesota equal to those of any other 
 Western State. Three normal schools are in operation, — 
 located at Winona, Mankato, and St. Cloud, —which, to- 
 gether with the State University at St. Anthony, Carleton 
 
16 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 College at Northfield, and several high schools, furnish excel- 
 lent opportunities to those desirous of full courses of instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 RAILROAD FACILITIES. 
 
 Those colonists and settlers who build their homes along the 
 line of the Northern Pacific Railroad will be exempt from the 
 heavy taxes to which many new communities in the West are 
 subjected, — taxes Imposed to secure the construction of rail- 
 roads. In Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa, great lia- 
 bilities have, been incurred by the issuing of town and county 
 bonds for such purposes ; but a glance at the accompanying 
 map will make it plain that no such burdens will be imposed 
 upon those who secure homes in Central Minnesota or in the 
 Red-river Valley. By tin' St. Paul and Pacific (from St. Cloud 
 to Brainerd) and by the Pembina Branch of the same road 
 (from St. ( 'loud to Pembina), which crosses the Northern Pacif- 
 ic in the Red-river Valley, the settlers on these lands will have 
 communication with Minneapolis and St. Paul, — the manu- 
 facturing and commercial centres of the north-west, — and 
 with the great network of railroads radiating from those 
 cities. 
 
 With railways already constructed, with a gently-rolling 
 country, with a soil admirably adapted for the making of 
 smooth highways, with so large a fund for school-purposes, 
 the rate of taxation will be far less than in most new commu- 
 nities. 
 
 COLONIES. 
 
 Settlers will find it greatly to their advantage to go in colo- 
 nics. Fifty or a hundred persons combining may secure, on 
 favorable terms, all the land held by the railroad company in 
 a township. "The colony system is calculated to supply the 
 needs of all members of the community ; to furnish employ- 
 ment to every industry. Wherever a colony is established, 
 there will lie found near its centre the blacksmith, shoemaker, 
 carpenter, mason, storekeeper, the post-office, the school-house, 
 the Sunday school, the church; and the farmers will find a 
 market for their grain at the railroad station. A hundred or 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 17 
 
 more families uniting to form a community may insure every 
 thin" - that goes to make up the sum of civilization at once, — 
 "ood government, good neighbors, morality, security to prop- 
 erty, comfort, and prosperity. 
 
 The Boston colony at Detroit Lake, in township 139, range 
 41, established in 1871, before the track had reached their 
 township, is an illustration in point. Each member of the 
 colony took one hundred and sixty acres of government land 
 under the Homestead Act, and through a committee secured 
 all the land belonging to the railroad at favorable rates and 
 on easy terms of payment. The occupation of one-half of 
 the land in the township has given an increased value not 
 only to all the intermediate sections purchased from the rail- 
 road, but to their own homesteads. 
 
 In the vicinity of Detroit Lake there is a large body of 
 hard wood — oak, ash, elm, maple, and birch — suitable for the 
 manufacture of ploughs, reapers, mowers, wagons, and furni- 
 ture of every description. Being situated so near the 
 prairie-region, where there is a scarcity of timber for manufac- 
 turing purposes, this forest-growth must ultimately be of great 
 value. 
 
 The Red-river Colony, in Clay County, is located in the 
 valley of the Red River, and on its eastern border. The lands 
 selected by the colonists are watered by the Buffalo, South 
 Buffalo, Hay Creek, and numerous small lakes. The soil is 
 deep and fertile, and yields a large crop of grass. The Buf- 
 falo is fringed with timber, and furnishes several mill-sites. 
 So attractive are the lands along this stream, that nearly all 
 the wooded sections were occupied in 1871 by enterprising 
 settlers before the surveys were completed by the United- 
 States surveyors. The towns of Hawley and Glyndon are 
 both within the limits of the land selected by the colonists. 
 Glyndon is at the junction of the Northern Pacific with the 
 Pembina Branch of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. The 
 town was located in May, 1872, and gives promise of being 
 one of the most important points in North-western Minnesota. 
 Several hundred families have signified their intention of 
 locating in the vicinity during the present year. 
 
 2 
 
18 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 SOLDIERS' COLONIES. 
 
 The recent modification of the Homestead Law in favor of 
 soldiers and Bailors, reducing the time of occupation before 
 obtaining a title, coupled with the fact that the Northern Pa- 
 cific Railroad Company offers very liberal terms, with long 
 time I'm' payment, will doubtless induce thousands of veterans 
 of the late war to secure homes in this fertile and inviting 
 section of Minnesota. Lands which may be obtained by a 
 residence of twelve or twenty-four months will soon be worth 
 from ten to thirty dollars per acre, according to their fertility, 
 and nearness to railroad stations. 
 
 Soldiers residing in the same community, or formerly mem- 
 bers of tli' 1 same command, can, by uniting, reap all the ben- 
 efits of the new law and of the colony system combined. 
 They will also have this marked advantage over ordinary 
 colonists, that they can, after organizing, send out an agent 
 or committee to examine different sections, select a location, 
 and enter a homestead for each member of the colony ; the 
 members themselves having six months' time, after the entry 
 by the agent, before settling on and improving their home- 
 steads. 
 
 WHEN TO SETTLE. 
 
 Settlers should be on the ground, if possible, in the month 
 of June, that they may have time to break up a portion of 
 their lands for the next year. The prairie-sod must be broken 
 in June or July, when the grass-roots are filled with juice, 
 to secure a thorough rotting of the turf. If turned early in 
 June, potatoes and corn may be planted on the sod, and the 
 yield will be about half a crop; but the ground will be in 
 better condition for the succeeding year if nothing is planted 
 upon the turf. In the following spring, the ground should be 
 thoroughly harrowed, and the wheat drilled in, or sown broad- 
 cast. If sown in May, it will be ready for the reaper early 
 in August ; and, as soon as it is taken off, ploughing may com- 
 mence for the next year's crop. 
 
 Four oxen are needed to drag a plough turning a fourteen- 
 inch furrow. Many settlers prefer oxen to horses for the first 
 ploughing, inasmuch as they will work throughout the summer 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 19 
 
 without grain, keeping in good flesh upon the prairie-grass ; 
 while horses will need their daily allowance of grain. But 
 for all farm-purposes other than this, horses are much more 
 serviceable than oxen. The cost per acre for breaking is from 
 three to four dollars. 
 
 STOCK-RAISING. 
 
 These lands are admirably adapted to the raising of stock. 
 The grasses are nutritious and luxuriant. Shelter and feed- 
 ing in winter will be needed, as in the Eastern and Middle 
 States ; but a great amount of hay may be cut upon the prai- 
 ries for that purpose at a cost of about three dollars a ton. 
 Sheep thrive through all this section, and are not subject to 
 foot-rot and other diseases prevalent in Ohio and Illinois, 
 where the water is less pure, and the climate has a greater 
 dampness. Sheep are adapted by nature to withstand cold ; 
 but they will not thrive in a drizzly winter or a hot summer 
 climate ; nor will they drink the water of muddy streams. 
 Wool-growing in Minnesota has already become very profita- 
 ble. The farmers find a market at Minneapolis, where there 
 is a large manufactory of blankets, flannels, and other goods, 
 which are already known as equal to any manufactured in the 
 country. 
 
 PRICE OF LAND. 
 
 The Railroad Company is entitled to ten alternate sections 
 per mile on each side of the road in the State of Minnesota ; 
 making twenty sections to the mile, or twelve thousand eight 
 hundred acres. The charter provides, that, if any portion of 
 the land within the distance of twenty miles of the line shall 
 have been already taken, the Company shall have the privi- 
 lege of making up the deficiency beyond that limit to the dis- 
 tance of forty miles from the line of the road. In the map 
 accompanying this pamphlet, the twenty-mile limit is seen 
 in the shaded portion. The lands near the line have been 
 mostly appraised and graded according to their fertility, 
 quality of soil, and proximity to railroad stations, and will be 
 offered at exceedingly low prices, and on the following 
 terms : — 
 
20 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 TERMS OF SALE. 
 Payment for all lands (excepting timber-lands) may be made: — 
 
 Ten (10) percent in Cash. 
 Ten (10) per cent in One Year. 
 Ten (10) per cent in Two Years. 
 Ten (10) per cent in Three Years. 
 Fifteen ( 1 ."> ) per cent in Four Years. 
 Fifteen (15) per cent in Five Years. 
 Fifteen (15) per cent in Six Years. 
 Fifteen (15) per cent in Seven Years. 
 
 The rate of interest on the deferred payments will be seven 7) per cent 
 per annum, payable annually. 
 
 The Company will also take their own bonds in payment, 
 allowing the purchaser a premium of ten per cent. These 
 bonds bear 7-A interest in gold, are at present sold at par, 
 and are secured by a first mortgage on all the lands and all 
 the property and the franchise of the Company. 
 
 On the supposition that a settler purchases eighty acres 
 of land on the 1st of June, 1872, at five dollars per acre, paying 
 for it in instalments, his payments, with his interest account, 
 would be as follows : — 
 
 June 1, 
 
 rear9. 
 
 I 
 
 'rincipal. 
 
 Interest. 
 
 Amount each year. 
 
 1872 
 
 10 per cent 
 
 S40 
 
 
 $40.00 
 
 1873 
 
 M 
 
 40 
 
 $25.20 
 
 65.20 
 
 1874 
 
 M 
 
 40 
 
 22.40 
 
 62.40 
 
 1875 
 
 «< 
 
 40 
 
 19.60 
 
 59.60 
 
 1876 
 
 15 per cent 
 
 60 
 
 16.80 
 
 76.80 
 
 1877 
 
 (i 
 
 60 
 
 12.60 
 
 72.60 
 
 1878 
 
 « 
 
 60 
 
 8.40 
 
 68.40 
 
 1879 
 
 M 
 
 60 
 
 4.20 
 
 64.20 
 
 Total $400 $109.20 $509.20 
 
 Plans and descriptive notes of all the appraised lands will 
 be found in the Company's offices at St. Paul. 
 
 The Company will have agents at all important stations to 
 give full information to settlers, and to assist them in finding 
 desirable locations. The charter forbids the sale of any lands 
 while the road is under construction at less than the govern- 
 ment price, $2.50 per acre. The prices will vary for agri- 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 21 
 
 cultural lands, from |2.50 to about $7 or $8, according to 
 location and quality. The average price will be about $5 per 
 acre ; which will be $1.23 less than the price paid for school- 
 lands throughout the State, which have averaged $6.23 per 
 acre. 
 
 OUTFIT. 
 
 Settlers will be able to obtain all implements for the farm 
 at the prominent stations on the line of the road, — ploughs, 
 harrows, drills, reapers, mowers, rakes, wagons, harnesses, 
 and tools of all kinds. All articles of household furniture, — 
 stoves, iron, wood and tin ware, bedsteads, chairs, tables, 
 bureaus, bedding, — ready-made clothing, groceries, and dry- 
 goods of every description, may be obtained at the stores 
 already established at Duluth, Brainerd, Detroit Lake, and 
 Moorhead. The colonist from an Eastern State will find it 
 to his advantage to take no bulky articles to his new home, 
 as every thing necessary for the farm and the house may be 
 obtained on the spot at reasonable rates. 
 
 Cheap freights can be had from all the principal places east 
 by the lakes during the summer months. In all cases, it 
 is best to send by a despatch company. Freight may be 
 shipped from Boston and all points in the New-England 
 States, and from New York and Cleveland, by the several 
 despatch companies, in connection with the Vermont Central 
 Railroad, to Sarnia and Duluth ; from New York over the Erie 
 and Central Railways, and by the Union Steamboat Company 
 from Buffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit, to Duluth ; from New 
 York and Philadelphia over the Pennsylvania Central Road ; 
 and by the Atlantic and Duluth line of steamers from Erie, 
 Cleveland, and Detroit, to Duluth. 
 
 FREE TRANSPORTATION FOR SETTLERS. 
 
 Settlers purchasing forty acres or more of the Company's 
 lands in Minnesota are allowed free transportation for them- 
 selves, their wives, and children, over the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad, when going to settle upon the lands purchased. 
 
 Arrangements have been made by which parties of five or 
 more, whether purchasing the Company's lands or settling on 
 
2*2 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 government lands, can obtain reduced rates of fare from all 
 principal points east. 
 
 ACCOMMODATIONS. 
 
 Capacious and comfortable reception-houses are erected at 
 Duluth, Brainerd, and Glyndon. Others will be built if 
 Deeded. These houses are fitted up with cooking-stoves, wash- 
 ing conveniences, and beds, andfere to be used while emigrants 
 are looking about for farms. They are large enough for the 
 accommodation of several hundred persons at a time, and will 
 be under the charge of competent superintendents. Families 
 will have an opportunity to do their own cooking and wash- 
 ing ; and no charge will be made for the privileges of the 
 house. Provisions will be furnished at cost. There Avill be 
 a hospital attached to each establishment. 
 
 Settlers can remain in these buildings while on their way 
 to their own lands, without the expense they would otherwise 
 be subjected to if compelled to stop at hotels. 
 
 HOW TO SECURE GOVERNMENT LANDS. 
 
 HOMESTEAD ENTRY. 
 
 Under the Homestead Law, any person twenty-one years 
 of age, or the head of a family, a citizen of the United 
 States, or who shall have filed a declaration to become such, 
 who has never borne arms against the goyernment, or given 
 aid to its enemies, is entitled to enter one hundred and sixty 
 acres of land, without cost, except the fees hereinafter stated. 
 After five years' residence and improvement, the government 
 gives a free title. Unmarried women and widows are enti- 
 tled to the privileges and subject to the conditions of this 
 law. Within the limits of the Railroad Land Grant, the 
 homestead privilege is restricted to eighty acres instead 
 of one hundred and sixt} r ; lands within these limits being 
 considered worth twice as much as lands outside. The land 
 grant, as stated elsewhere, extends twenty miles from the 
 line of the railroad, on each side. 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 23 
 
 * SOLDIERS AND SAILORS. 
 
 By the act of Congress of July 15, 1870, soldiers, sailors, 
 and officers, who served ninety days during the Rebellion, and 
 have remained loyal, are exempted from the restriction above 
 noted, and may enter under the Homestead Act the full area 
 of one hundred and sixty acres within railroad limits. 
 
 PRE-EMPTION 
 
 Under the Pre-emption Law, persons entitled to the privi- 
 leges of the Homestead Law may acquire the right to pur- 
 chase one hundred and sixty acres of government land, 
 whether within railroad limits or not, by filing a declaration 
 that he or she has settled upon and claims the same. Within 
 railroad limits, the government price is two dollars and half 
 per acre : outside of such limits, the price is one dollar and 
 a .quarter. Pre-emptors are required to remain upon and im- 
 prove the lands for six months. Taking of lands under the 
 Pre-emption Law does not prevent entry under the Home- 
 stead Law afterwards. The same person may enjoy all the 
 privileges of both laws. A homestead entry may be changed 
 to a pre-emption claim, after six months' residence, and a 
 title obtained at once upon the payment of two doUars and 
 a half per acre. 
 
 FEES AND COMMISSIONS 
 
 for homesteads, when the entry is made, are to be paid as 
 
 follows : — 
 
 IN MINNESOTA. 
 
 Fees. Comm'n. Total. 
 
 Acres, 160 outside railroad limits 610 00 $4 00 $14 00 
 
 5 00 2 00 7 00 
 
 5 00 1 00 6 00 
 
 20 00 8 00 28 00 
 
 10 00 4 00 14 00 
 
 5 00 2 00 7 00 
 
 80 " 
 40 " 
 160 within 
 80 
 40 " 
 
 FREE HOMES FOR SOLDIERS AND SAILORS. 
 
 THE NEW LAW. 
 
 By act of Congress passed April, 1872, the law in regard 
 to soldiers' homesteads is so amended, that, instead of a resi- 
 
li-4 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 donee of five years, a residence of from twelve to twenty months 
 will entitle B soldier to B homestead of a hundred and sixty 
 BCres within railroad limits. 
 
 The law has the following provisions: — 
 
 1. The homestead may be located six months before the 
 commencement of improvements. 
 
 2. The time which the soldier or sailor may have served in 
 the army shall be deducted from the five years* occupancy 
 required under former acts. 
 
 3. The widow (if unmarried ) of any soldier, who, if living, 
 would be entitled to a homestead, is also entitled to the 
 benefit of the act: if she has died or has married again, the 
 minor children of the deceased soldier, through their guardian, 
 shall be entitled to the benefit of the act, subject to the 
 required settlement and improvement. If the soldier died, 
 during his term of service, the whole period of his enlistment 
 is to be deducted from the five years. 
 
 4. The entry or location may be made by an agent, winch 
 shall hold for six months, when improvements must be com- 
 menced by the soldier in person. 
 
 There are other provisions, as will be seen by a perusal of 
 the act : — 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That every private soldier and 
 officer who has served in the Army of the United States during the recent 
 Rebellion for ninety days or more, and who was honorably discharged, and 
 has remained loyal to the government, including the troops mustered into 
 the service of the United States by virtue of the. third section of an act 
 entitled " An Act making Appropriations for completing the Defences of 
 Washington, and for Other Purposes," approved Feb. 13, 1862, and every 
 seaman, marine, and officer who has served in the Navy of the United 
 States, or in the .Marine Corps, during the Rebellion, for ninety days, and 
 who was honorably discharged, and has remained loyal to the govern- 
 ment, shall, on compliance with provisions of an act entitled " An Act to 
 secure Homesteads to Actual Settlers on the Public Domain," and the acts 
 amendatory thereof, as hereinafter modified, be, entitled to enter upon and 
 receive patents for a quantity of public lands (not mineral) not exceeding 
 a hundred and sixty acres, or one quarter section, to be taken in compact 
 form according to legal subdivisions, including the alternate reserved sections 
 of public lands alone; the line of any railroad or other public work, not 
 otherwise reserved or appropriated, and other lands subject to entry under 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD 25 
 
 the homestead laws of the United States : Provided, That said homestead 
 settler shall be allowed six months after locating his homestead, within 
 which to commence his settlement and improvement : And provided also, 
 That the time which the homestead settler shall have served in the Army, 
 Navy or Marine Corps, aforesaid, shall be deducted from the time here- 
 tofore' required to perfect title, or, if discharged on account of wounds 
 received or disability incurred in the line of duty, then the term of enlist- 
 ment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to periect title, 
 without reference to the length of time he may have served : Provided, how- 
 ever That no patent shall issue to any homestead settler who has not re- 
 sided upon, improved, and cultivated his said homestead, for a period ot at 
 least one year after he shall commence his improvements as aforesaid. 
 
 Sect. 2. — That any person entitled under the provisions of the foregoing 
 section to enter a homestead, who may have heretofore entered, under the 
 homestead laws, a quantity of land less than a hundred and sixty acres, 
 shall be permitted to enter, under the provisions of this act, so much land as, 
 when added to the quantity previously entered, shall not exceed a hundred 
 
 and sixty acres. 
 
 Sect. 3. — That, in the case of the death of any person who would be 
 entitled to a homestead under the provisions of the first section of this act, 
 his widow, if unmarried, or, in case of her death or marriage, then his minor 
 orphan-children, by a guardian duly appointed and officially accredited at 
 the Department of the Interior, shall be entitled to all the benefits enumer- 
 ated in this act, subject to all the provisions as to settlement and improve- 
 ments therein contained: Provided, That, if such person died during his 
 term of enlistment, the whole term of his enlistment shall be deducted from 
 the time heretofore required to perfect the tide. 
 
 Sect. 4. — That where a party, at the date of his entry of a tract of land 
 under the homestead laws, or subsequently thereto, was actually enlisted and 
 employed in the Army or Navy of the United States, his services therein shall, 
 in the administration of said homestead laws, be construed to be equiva- 
 lent to all intents and purposes, to a residence for the same length of time 
 upon the tract so entered : Provided, That if his entry has been cancelled by 
 reason of his absence from said tract while in the military or naval service 
 of the United States, and such tract has not been disposed of, his entry shall 
 be restored and confirmed: And provided further, That, if such tract has 
 been disposed of, said party may enter another tract subject to entry under 
 said laws; and his right to a patent therefor shall be determined by the 
 proofs touching his residence and cultivation of the first tract, and his 
 absence therefrom in such service. 
 
 Sect 5 _ That any soldier, sailor, marine, officer, or other person coming 
 within the provisions of this act may, as well by an agent as in person, enter 
 upon said homestead: Provided, That said claimant in person shall, within 
 the time prescribed, commence settlement and improvements on the same, 
 and thereafter fulfil all the requirements of this act. 
 
 Sect. 6. — That the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall have 
 
26 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 authority to make all needful rules and regulations to cany into effect the 
 provisions of this act. 
 
 By this act, any soldiers who have not already taken a 
 homestead may Becore the rich wheat-lauds, supplied with 
 wood and water, and near to lake transportation, along the 
 line of the Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION. 
 
 A liberal law has been passed by the Minnesota legislature 
 in relation to homestead exemption. The provisions of the 
 act are as follows : — 
 
 " That a homestead consisting of any quantity of land not exceeding 
 eighty acres, and the dwelling-house thereon and its appurtenances, to be 
 selected by the owner thereof, and not included in any incorporated town, 
 city, or village, or instead thereof, at the option of the owner, a quantity 
 of land not exceeding in amount one lot, being within an incorporated town, 
 city, or village, and the dwelling-house thereon, and its appurtenances, owned 
 and occupied by any resident of this State, shall not be subject to attach- 
 ment, levy, or sale upon any execution, or any other process issuing out of 
 any court within this State. This section shall be deemed and construed to 
 exempt such homestead in the manner aforesaid, during the time it shall be 
 occupied by the widow or minor child or children of any deceased person 
 who was, when living, entitled to the benefits of this act." 
 
 There is also a liberal exemption from attachment b} r 
 process of law on personal propert} r , exempting the family 
 Bible, pictures, school-books, musical instruments, church- 
 pew, cemetery-lot, all wearing-apparel, beds, stoves, and 
 furniture, not exceeding five hundred dollars in value ; also 
 a certain number of cows, sheep, and working-team, with a 
 year's food for the same ; a wagon, sleigh, and farming-imple- 
 ments, not exceeding one hundred dollars in value ; also a 
 year's supply of family provisions or growing crops, and fuel, 
 and seed-grain not exceeding fifty bushels of wheat, fifty of 
 oats, five of potatoes, and one of corn ; also mechanics' or 
 miners' tools, with four hundred dollars' worth of stock-in- 
 trade, and the library and implements of professional men. 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 27 
 
 COST OF A HOUSE. 
 
 Seasoned lumber from Brainerd and Minneapolis may be 
 purchased in those places of the manufacturers, who will 
 deliver it at any station; or it may be had of dealers at 
 Detroit Lake, Oak Lake, Glyndon, Moorhead, and other 
 stations on the Northern Pacific Road. A settler who can 
 use a saw, axe, and hammer, may build himself a comfortable 
 dwelling in a very short time. Where lumber can be obtained 
 for sixteen or twenty dollars per thousand, it will be much 
 cheaper to build a board house than one of logs, as there 
 will be a great saving of time and labor. 
 
 A house containing one room 14 x 16 feet will require about 
 fifteen hundred feet of lumber for its construction. Such a 
 house, with sheathing-paper, shingled roof, door, two windows, 
 and double floors, can be built for about a hundred dollars, 
 and would be warm in winter. 
 
 A very comfortable house, large enough for a family of sev- 
 eral persons, may be built at a cost of about two hundred 
 dollars. It would be 16 x 20 feet inside ; contain a living- 
 room 13 x 16, bedroom 7 x 12, pantry 4 x 7 on the ground- 
 floor, with stairs leading to the attic. The studding would 
 be twelve feet from the sills to the eaves ; the lower story 
 eight feet. Four feet above, with a sloping roof, will give an 
 attic large enough for good sleeping-accommodations. ^ The 
 house would need five windows, one outside and two inside 
 doors. The items of expense would be, approximately, as 
 follows : — 
 
 4,000 feet common lumber at $20 $80.00 
 
 4,000 No. 2 shingles at $4 ir >- 00 
 
 Nails 10 - 00 
 
 Sheathing-paper 20 - 00 
 
 Doors and windows 18.00 
 
 Labor • 30 - 0Q 
 
 $174.00 
 Twenty per cent for contingencies 34.80 
 
 Total $ 208 - 80 
 
28 
 
 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 The following diagram shows the arrangement of the inte- 
 rior of the house : — 
 
 -i __i 
 
 PaHti\y 
 
 Liv'iplc ^ooh/\ 
 
 16 X 13 
 
 BED R.OON1 
 7 X 12 
 
 Al 
 
 JL= 
 
 PLAN.— Scale 3-1G of an INCH to the foot 
 
 The front elevation will be seen in the cut below. The 
 eaves should project a foot or more to carry the rain from the 
 sides of the building. Tile chimneys can be purchased at St. 
 Paul and Minneapolis, and doubtless will be for sale by the 
 
 FRONT elevation. 
 
 merchants at all the principal stations. Until brick or ready- 
 made chimneys can be obtained, a joint of stove-pipe will 
 serve instead, only great care should be taken to protect the 
 
 surrounding wood from taking lire. 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 
 
 29 
 
 The plan is drawn on a scale of three-sixteenths of an inch 
 to the foot : so that a settler with the plan before him may 
 make his own calculations, and be his own joiner. 
 
 The house should front toward the south or east. The 
 prevailing winds in Minnesota are from the west and south- 
 west. Easterly storms do not often occur. With a southern 
 or eastern exposure, the sun during winter will be felt in both 
 the living and sleeping rooms. In building the house, oaken 
 posts at each corner, three feet in length and eight or ten 
 inches in diameter, should be sunk into the ground nearly 
 
 END ELEVATION. 
 
 their full length, and the sills spiked firmly to them. This, 
 with proper bracing, will give sufficient firmness to the 
 structure against the winds. In the fall, it should be well 
 banked with straw or earth. 
 
 With battened walls and sheathing-paper, such a house is 
 very warm, and will give good accommodations till the owner 
 is in circumstances to replace it with one of more ample 
 dimensions. The walls of the cellar may be protected by 
 timber until stone or brick can be readily obtained. 
 
 READY-MADE HOUSES. 
 
 At Brainerd, ready-made houses of various sizes may be 
 had of a manufacturing company, which may be ordered in 
 
30 
 
 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 advance, costing from one hundred dollars to five hundred 
 dollars. They arc strongly built, have godd frames, matched 
 floors and roof, tongued and grooved ceilings, with windows, 
 doors, sash, and chimney. 
 
 It is expected that this manufacturing company will be 
 prepared, during the year, to supply settlers with brick at a 
 price not exceeding eight dollars to ten dollars per thousand 
 at the kiln. 
 
 FARM -IMPLEMENTS AND TEAMS. 
 
 It should be the aim of every settler to get a few acres of 
 land ploughed in June or July, in order to put in a crop next 
 spring. A team of four oxen or horses will turn two acres 
 of sod per day. Twenty acres of land broken this summer, 
 requiring ten days' labor, will enable the settler to harvest,' 
 probably, three hundred bushels of grain, besides potatoes,' 
 corn, and other products, next year, if the season be propitious. 
 Even house-building should be put aside to accomplish that 
 end. A tent or a covered wagon will give good shelter 
 during the summer in the delightful climate of Minnesota. 
 There will be time enough to build a house after it is too 
 late to plough. Settlers, by « changing work," can save 
 considerable outlay the first year. 
 
 A man owning a yoke of oxen and a plough can unite with 
 a neighbor, and make up a team for ploughing. The first year 
 will be mostly devoted to getting ready for the next. No 
 drill, reaper, or thresher will be needed for a twelvemonth. 
 A yoke of oxen or a span of horses, a wagon, plough, harrow, 
 shovel, hoe, axe, chains, and a grindstone are the main imple- 
 ments needed the first season. For the second season, a seed- 
 plough, a drill, combined reaper and mower, and a rake must 
 be added. Two or three farmers may unite and own the im- 
 plements in common while getting started. 
 
 ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES. 
 
 ! rates of fare from Boston am 
 
 Where parties of five or more go in company, settlers will 
 
 Wliatare the rates of fare from Boston and Neto York to 
 the Red River ? 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 31 
 
 obtain from the different railroads from twenty to thirty 
 per cent discount from regular rates. Full information on 
 this point can be obtained at the principal railway ticket- 
 offices in the cities. As elsewhere stated, all persons who 
 purchase lands of the Company may obtain free tickets over 
 the Northern Pacific Road when going to settle. 
 
 What is the lowest estimate of expenses and outlay for the first 
 year ? 
 
 The expense for a man who leaves his family behind till he 
 can get started will be, approximately, as follows : — 
 
 v , e , art $125.00 
 
 Yoke or oxon w 
 
 _ 75.00 
 
 VV a"on 
 
 Plough 25 - 00 
 
 House with one room 100.00 
 
 Stove 25 - 00 
 
 Chains, axe, shovel, grindstone, &c 25.00 
 
 $375.00 
 Living will cost about $3 per week. 
 
 Persons who can command from five hundred to a thou- 
 sand dollars can begin under very favorable auspices by 
 settling on government land, or by purchasing of the Com- 
 pany, and paying in instalments. 
 
 What are the chances for employment ? 
 
 During the present year, 1872, from five to six thousand 
 men will be needed on the construction of the Northern 
 Pacific Road in Dakota, and on the St. Paul and Pacific in 
 the Red-river Valley. Many carpenters, blacksmiths, shoe- 
 makers, tinware manufacturers, masons, and day-laborers will 
 find employment ; but clerks and book-keepers will not be 
 needed. 
 
 When is the best time to go to Minnesota? 
 
 Those settlers who intend to engage in farming should go 
 in May or June, and plough as much as possible before the 
 end of July. 
 
 Are there any mills along the line of the railroad ? 
 
 There are saw and planing mills at Brainerd, also at the 
 
32 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 crossing of the Ottertail River, and a saw-mill at Fort Aber- 
 crombie. Saw and grist mills probably will be established 
 during the present summer at Detroit Lake and Glyndon. 
 
 Do the Indiana give settlers any trouble ? 
 
 There are only a few Indians in Minnesota, — the Chippe- 
 was, — and they have always been friendly : they are now 
 on reservations, living in houses, and cultivating the land. 
 They are not troublesome. 
 
 Which is the best section for raising stock? 
 
 The entire region between Leaf River and the Red River 
 is alike adapted to stock-raising and grain-growing. 
 
 What does it cost to fence land? 
 
 From Lake Superior to Lakeside Station, nearly every sec- 
 tion of land has sufficient timber for farm-purposes ; and the 
 cost will be wholly one of labor. In the vicinity of Detroit 
 Lake there is an abundance of tamarack, suitable for fencing, 
 which can be delivered by rail, in the Red-river Valley, at 
 a cost not exceeding seventy-five cents to the rod, including 
 labor in cutting, freight on the cars, and building. 
 
 Shall I take my family ivitli me, and move to Minnesota before 
 providing a home ? 
 
 Many immigrants from Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and other 
 Western States, having sold their old homes, start with 
 their families in search of new ones. They pack their fur- 
 niture in a canvas-covered wagon, take their flocks and herds, 
 their cooking utensils and provisions with them, and live by 
 the way. They sleep in their wagon, or beneath it, and 
 travel till they find a locality that suits them. From May 
 till October, a family may thus travel, and experience no great 
 hardship. But the settlers who go by rail will be differently 
 situated. They may take their families with them, and find 
 temporary accommodations in the reception-houses ; but, if 
 their families are conveniently located, it may be better to 
 leave them behind until a selection is made and a shelter 
 erected. 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 33 
 
 Can wagons, ready made, be purchased along the line of the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad ? 
 
 There are several wagon manufactories in the State, — at 
 Minneapolis, St. Paul, and other places; and the manufac- 
 turers usually have agencies at all the principal railroad 
 stations. The Michigan manufacturers also have agencies 
 throughout the State. 
 
 Can ploughs, reapers, rakes, and other agricultural imple- 
 ments, be obtained along the line of the road ? 
 
 Nearly all of the Eastern manufacturers of agricultural im- 
 plements have general agents in the State, and sub-agents at 
 all the principal railroad-stations. Settlers will be able to 
 purchase farming-implements of every description. 
 
 Can- household furniture be obtained? and is there a supply of 
 food for the present season ? 
 
 All articles necessary for housekeeping — stoves, tables, 
 chairs, beds, &c. — may be obtained at stores already estab- 
 lished. Settlers having bedding will do well to take it with 
 them. Beef, pork, flour, potatoes, and other provisions may 
 be purchased at the stores, or of the farmers of Ottertail, 
 Becker, Douglas, Wilkin, and other counties already partially 
 settled. 
 
 If a settler goes to Minnesota this season, will he be able to 
 raise food enough for himself and family through the year? 
 
 If he makes his location by the middle or even during the 
 month of June, he may plant potatoes, sow turnips, and be 
 very sure of obtaining good crops. Early varieties of corn 
 may be planted, with the prospect of a fair yield. After the 
 furrow is turned, it may be planted by chopping a place with a 
 single stroke of a hatchet, dropping the corn in, and pressing 
 it down with the foot. Squashes, pumpkins, and melons 
 grow on the sod. Beans also may be grown on the turf. By 
 using early varieties of seed, an abundant supply of these 
 articles of food may be raised for the use of a family. 
 
 Can brick, stone, and lime be obtained along the line of the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad? 
 
34 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 Clay of superior quality may be obtained at many points. 
 In the division east of the Mississippi, along the Crow's 
 Wing, at Detroit Lake, Audubon, on the banks of the Buf- 
 falo, are clay formations, with wood near at hand, for the 
 manufacture of brick. Near the junction of the Northern 
 Pacific with the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad, 
 there is an extensive slate formation, where the rock can be 
 easily quarried. At several points along the Mississippi River 
 are granite ledges. At Sauk Rapids, near St. Cloud, an ex- 
 tensive quarry has been opened ; and, upon the completion of 
 the Brainerd Branch of the St. Paul and Pacific, stone from 
 that quarry can be transported to any point on the line of the 
 Northern Pacific. Building-stone may be obtained from the 
 Leaf Hills, near Perham Station. Large bowlders are found 
 near Hawley, on the eastern edge of the Red-river Valley, 
 from which suitable stone may be obtained for the founda- 
 tions of buildings. 
 
 Between Detroit Lake and Hawley there are bowlders of 
 limestone, which might be burned ; but lime can be obtained 
 from Minneapolis at cheap rates. 
 
 Upon the completion of the road to the coal-field of 
 Dakota, brick-making can be carried on at many points along 
 the line of the road. 
 
 INDUCEMENTS TO COLONISTS. 
 
 Attention is invited to the following summary of facts in 
 regard to these lands in Central and Western Minnesota : — 
 
 They are acknowledged to be better adapted to the culti- 
 vation of wheat than any other section of the continent. 
 ■ They produce as much grain per acre as the best lands of 
 Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, 
 or Nebraska. 
 
 They are also adapted to the production of oats, rye, barley, 
 potatoes, and garden vegetables, and produce more than the 
 averages of those States. 
 
 They are supplied with a great variety of timber ; and lum- 
 ber is much cheaper than in most of the Western States. Set- 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 35 
 
 tiers will have a supply of wood and coal, and may always 
 count upon having cheap fuel. 
 
 They are watered by running streams, lakes, and ponds of 
 the purest water ; and farmers will never need artesian wells, 
 or be dependent on irrigation. 
 
 They are located in a healthful climate, where fever and 
 ague and other malarial diseases are unknown. 
 
 They are as well adapted to the raising of stock as to the 
 cultivation of grain. 
 
 They are on a line of railway already constructed : conse- 
 quently settlers will never be called upon to pay taxes, or to 
 bond their towns, cities, and counties, or to mortgage their 
 farms, to secure railway facilities. 
 
 They are offered at a low price, and on easy terms of pay- 
 ment; and while, at present, the railroad company sells its 
 bonds at par, it receives them in payment for lands at ten per 
 cent premium. 
 
 Settlers and their families purchasing forty acres or more 
 of land of the Company will receive free tickets over the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad when going to settle. 
 
 All facilities and advantages furnished by the Company to 
 settlers on railroad lands are also furnished to homestead set- 
 tlers on the alternate government sections, except the free 
 transportation over the Northern Pacific Road. 
 
 Transportation at reduced rates will be furnished from all 
 principal points East. The Company will look after the 
 welfare of settlers, and provide them with comfortable recep- 
 tion-houses while selecting lands, &c, without charge. 
 
 That these lands will rapidly rise in value is evident from 
 the fact, that the rates of transportation to Boston, New York, 
 Philadelphia, and other Eastern cities, by water, are no 
 higher than from Central Illinois or Eastern Iowa, where 
 improved farms have an average value of thirty-five dollars 
 per acre. 
 
 They are located in a State that lias a larger school-fund 
 than any, with the exception of Massachusetts, New York, 
 and Ohio. 
 
 They are located in a State which had but five thousand 
 and fortv-two inhabitants in 1850, and had four hundred and 
 
36 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 forty-two thousand in 1870, and, by the same ratio, will have 
 a population of a million and a quarter in 1880. 
 
 They are located on a railroad which will be completed to 
 the Missouri River during 1872, and to the Pacific Ocean at 
 an early day, — the shortest line between the Atlantic and the 
 Pacific, and destined to become one of the great highways 
 of the world. 
 
 With these and other advantages that might be named, it 
 is evident that there are no other lands so inviting to settlers 
 who are seeking new homes in the West. 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 
 
 The construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad was 
 begun in June, 1870, and was completed across the State to 
 Dakota in December, 1871, — a distance of two hundred and 
 twenty-eight miles from the junction with the Lake Superior 
 and Mississippi Road, or two hundred and fifty-two miles 
 from lake-navigation at Duluth. The section west of Minne- 
 sota, between the Red River and the Missouri, was put under 
 contract in October, 1871, to be completed during the summer 
 of 1872, — a farther distance of a hundred and ninety-nine 
 miles, or a total from lake-navigation of four hundred and 
 fifty-one miles. 
 
 A preliminary survey of the line between the Missouri and 
 the Yellowstone was made in the fall of 1871, and will be 
 put under contract as soon as the locating surveys are com- 
 pleted, during the summer of 1872. The distance from the 
 Yellowstone to the Missouri is two hundred and twenty- 
 nine miles. Explorations and surveys were made of the 
 entire region between the Missouri and the Pacific Ocean in 
 1871, and will be continued through 1872. 
 
 Sixty-five miles of the western section of the road, between 
 the Columbia River and Puget Sound, are under construction, 
 to be completed during the summer of 1872 ; and the remain- 
 der of the section will be put under contract during the year. 
 The enterprise will be pushed to completion with the utmost 
 possible despatch. 
 
 The future of the Northern Pacific Railroad is thus set 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 37 
 
 forth by Gov. Hawley of Connecticut, in a letter written from 
 the Red River, and published in the Hartford Courant, in 
 1871: — 
 
 "In its first thousand miles, the Northern Pacific Road will pass through 
 the best wheat-growing region in the world, of vast extent and great fertili- 
 ty. It will run along the rich garden-lands of the valleys of the Red River 
 of the north, the Missouri, and the Yellowstone. The products of the wide 
 and fertile regions of the Assinniboin and Saskatchewan will find their way 
 to market over its rails ; and the rapidly increasing volume of mining-business 
 already existing in Montana will inevitably accept of the facilities the road 
 will afford. The excellence of the country, and the rapidity with which it 
 is fillino- with settlers, give promise of a local business whose figures alone 
 will riv°al the present earnings of the other line. And when to this is added 
 the through traffic of the world, there is left no room to doubt that the North- 
 ern Pacific will, from the start, perform in its field as great a work as is 
 now being done by its more southern neighbor. Were there, then, nothing 
 but the business of the road upon which to depend, its projectors might rea- 
 sonably hope for a paying return ; but behind and supporting all is the 
 immense grant of fifty million acres of land. These lands are not irreclaim- 
 able waste places, but are mainly fertile plains and rich valleys, well 
 watered, and lying in the midst of a temperate climate." 
 
 RAILWAY CONNECTIONS. 
 
 The grading of the Brainerd Branch of the St. Paul and 
 Pacific Railroad was completed in 1871, and the track will be 
 laid by midsummer of the present year (1872) ; thus making- 
 direct connection with Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the railway 
 system of the country. 
 
 The St. Cloud and Pembina Branch of the St. Paul and 
 Pacific Road, which crosses the Northern Pacific at Glyndon, 
 is under contract to be completed the present year. The 
 construction of these roads in connection with the Northern 
 Pacific gives railroad facilities to the entire region of Central 
 and North-western Minnesota ; while the immediate extension 
 of the line to -the Missouri, and the assurance of its early 
 completion to the Pacific Ocean, and of its becoming one of 
 the great highways of the world, give a value to the lands 
 along the line unsurpassed by those of any other section of 
 the continent. 
 
38 
 
 MTNNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 STATIONS ON THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD 
 FROM DULUTH. 
 
 Miles. 
 LAKE SUPERIOR & MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 Duluth. 
 
 Rice's Point 1 
 
 Oneota 4 
 
 Spirit Lake 9 
 
 Pond du Lac 15 
 
 Thomson 23 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC. 
 
 Junction 24 
 
 Komoka 25 
 
 Norman 33 
 
 Island Lake 46 
 
 Sicotte's 57 
 
 Sandy River 05 
 
 McGregor 70 
 
 Kimberley 76 
 
 Aiken 88 
 
 Withinsrton 98 
 
 Miles. 
 Brainerd (junction with St. 
 Cloud Branch of St. Paul & 
 
 Pacific) 115 
 
 Pillager 127 
 
 Motley 137 
 
 Aldrich 151 
 
 Wadena 161 
 
 Leaf River 166 
 
 Perham 185 
 
 Anthon 196 
 
 Detroit Lake 206 
 
 Audubon 213 
 
 Lakeside 219 
 
 Ilawley 229 
 
 Glyndon (junction with Pem- 
 bina Branch St. Paul & Pa- 
 cific) 241 
 
 Moorhead 252 
 
 As a guide to those who may wish to go in colonies, the 
 following articles of association are suggested, to be modified, 
 of course, by those associating for such a purpose. 
 
 ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION TO BE USED IN 
 FORMING A COLONY. 
 
 Article. 1. — This Association shall be known by the name of 
 
 Colony ; its object 
 being the purchase and settlement of lands on the line of the Northern 
 Pacific Railroad Company in the 
 
 of and the settlement, under the Home- 
 
 stead Act, of the alternate government sections along the line of said road. 
 
 Art. 2. — The officers of the Colony shall be a President, a Vice-Presi- 
 dent, a Corresponding Secretary, a Recording Secretary, and a Treasurer, 
 who shall perform the usual duties pertaining to such offices. They shall 
 be elected by ballot, and the term of each be for one year from their elec- 
 tion. 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 39 
 
 Art. 3. — There shall be a Committee on Finance, elected at the same 
 time and in the same manner, to consist of 
 
 members, whose duty it shall be to examine into the financial affairs of the 
 Colony, and who shall at all times have access to all of its books and papers. 
 No money shall be paid , until the accounts are approved by the Finance 
 Committee. 
 
 Art. 4. — The Colony is empowered to appoint Locating and other 
 Committees as may be found necessary for its prosperity ; the powers and 
 duties of such Committees to be defined on appointment. 
 
 Art. 5. ^ — It shall require a majority vote of two-thirds of all the mem- 
 bers present at a regular meeting for the admission of any member into the 
 Colony ; such vote to be by ballot in all cases ; and every person so elected 
 shall be of lawful age and good moral character, and shall subscribe to the 
 Articles of Association and By-Laws, anS pledge himself to promote, to the 
 extent of his ability, the best interests of the Colony. 
 
 Art. 6. — The fee of membership shall be dollars, 
 
 and must be paid to the Treasurer of the Colony (who will receipt for the 
 same) within days after the member is notified of 
 
 his election. 
 
 Art. 7. — No member of the Co.ony shall engage in the manufacture or 
 sale of intoxicating liquor of any kind, or permit it to be sold on his prem- 
 ises, except for purely medicinal purposes. All conveyances of real estate 
 made by the Colony, or any member of it, shall contain a covenant running 
 with the land, prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquor on such real estate 
 or any part thereof, except for purely medicinal purposes ; and, in case of 
 violation of such clause, then such real estate shall revert to its former owner 
 or owners, their heirs or assigns. All appropriations of money shall be made 
 by a vote of the members of the Colony at a regular meeting. All drafts 
 for expenditures shall be drawn by the President on the Treasurer, and 
 countersigned by the Finance Committee. The Treasurer shall be required 
 to give security in such amount as the Finance Committee shall determine. 
 
 Art. 9. — The Annual Meeting for the election of officers shall be held 
 on in each year ; 
 
 and regular meetings for the election of members and appropriation of 
 money shall be held ly. Any meeting called by the 
 
 President at request of members of this Colony shall 
 
 be held to be a regular meeting. 
 
 Art. 10. — The Colony may make such By-Laws as may be found use- 
 ful; and such By-Laws, as well as these Articles of Association, may be 
 amended at any regular meeting by a majority of all the members of the 
 Colony, provided the proposed amendment has been submitted at a former 
 regular meeting. 
 
 We, the subscribers, by these presents associate ourselves to form a settle- 
 ment in and agree to be governed by these articles, 
 and such further rules and regulations as a majority of the Association may 
 make at any regular meeting. 
 
40 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 UNITED-STATES LAND OFFICES. 
 
 At Duluth, for all lands along the line of the Northern 
 Pacific Railroad east of Range XXIV. 
 
 At St. Cloud, for nearly all the lands between Range 
 XXIV. and Range XXXVI., including the lands in the 
 counties of Crow Wing, Cass, Todd, and Wadena. 
 
 At Taylor's Falls, for a small portion of the timbered lands 
 near Lake Mill Lacs. 
 
 At Alexandria, for all lands in Ottertail and Wilkin Coun- 
 ties. 
 
 At Audubon, for all lands in Becker and Clay Counties. 
 
 ROUTES FROM THE EAST BY RAILROAD AND 
 STEAMER. 
 
 FROM BOSTON. 
 
 By Vermont Central Line to Ogdensburg, and Grand 
 Trunk to Sarnia ; to Duluth by steamer. 
 
 By Boston and Albany and New York Central Line to 
 Buffalo ; to Duluth by steamer. 
 
 FROM NEW YORK. 
 
 By Erie Railroad to Buffalo ; steamer to Duluth. 
 By Hudson River and New York Central to Buffalo ; 
 steamer to Duluth. 
 
 By Pennsylvania Central to Erie ; steamer to Duluth. 
 
 FROM PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 By Pennsylvania Central to Erie ; to Duluth by steamer. 
 
 The time by the above routes will be from five to seven 
 days. 
 
 All of the steamers on Lake Erie stop at Cleveland and 
 Detroit. Settlers from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 41 
 
 Michigan, can take passage from one of those ports, and have 
 a reduction of rates by applying to the proper agents. 
 
 Settlers who prefer to travel the entire distance by rail 
 may obtain tickets by the way of Chicago and St. Paul. 
 The expense will be about one-fourth more than by the 
 lakes. 
 
 A reduction of from twenty to thirty per cent from regular 
 rates of transportation will be made to settlers, or members 
 of a colony, on their application to the Superintendent 
 of Emigration, 120 Broadway, New York, or by giving 
 satisfactory evidence to the local agents of the Northern 
 Pacific Railroad in the Eastern States that they intend to 
 purchase land of the Company, or to pre-empt government 
 land along the line of the road 
 
 . LANDS IN THE TERRITORIES. 
 
 The Northern Pacific Railroad has been surveyed through 
 the Territories of Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington, 
 to Puget Sound; and the lands along the line have been 
 withdrawn from public sale by the government ; but the 
 even-numbered sections may be taken, as in Minnesota, under 
 the pre-emption and homestead laws. 
 
 The patents for the lands to which the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad is entitled are received from the United States Gov- 
 ernment, as fast as the road is constructed, in sections of twenty 
 miles ; and, as soon as the surveys are completed, they will be 
 appraised, and offered for sale on the same terms as the lands 
 in Minnesota. 
 
 DAKOTA. 
 
 The townships in the Red-river Valley on the Dakota side 
 have been surveyed, and pre-emptors may take their claims, 
 as in Minnesota ; the townships farther west have not 
 been subdivided, but claims may be taken subject to the cor- 
 rections made by the surveys when completed. 
 
\'2 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 The Red-river Valley in Dakota has the same general 
 characteristics as on the the Minnesota side, — a deep loam, 
 exceedingly fertile, and bearing luxuriant crops of native 
 grasses. The level prairie region extends west about fifty 
 miles, changing to undulations in the vicinity of the Sheyenne 
 River. 
 
 The country between the Red River and the Missouri is 
 watered by the Rush, Maple, Sheyenne, and James Rivers, 
 and small lakes and ponds. There are narrow fringes of 
 timber along the streams ; but this region will be mainly 
 supplied with timber from Minnesota, and with coal from 
 the Missouri River. It is a section of country admirably 
 adapted to the raising of stock. It has been the favorite 
 haunt of the buffalo, — the summer pasture where myriads 
 of animals have fattened upon the nutritious grasses. The 
 winters are milder than in Minnesota, and the fall of snow 
 less than in that State. The spring opens about tw r o weeks 
 earlier on the Missouri at Fort Rice than in the Red-river 
 Valley. 
 
 The Northern Pacific Railroad will cross the Missouri at 
 Burnt Boat Island, and follow up the valley of the Heart 
 River through the coal-field of Dakota. The coal-formation 
 shows itself about fifty miles west of the Missouri, and ex- 
 tends all the way to the Yellowstone, — a distance of one 
 hundred and seventy-five miles. There is an abundance of 
 timber on the Missouri and the Yellowstone, and on the 
 upper waters of the Little Missouri. The lumber may 
 be rafted down these streams to the line of the Northern 
 Pacific Road, and sent by rail to the settlers along the 
 line. 
 
 Settlers wishing to make a home in Dakota wall reach the 
 lands along the line of the Northern Pacific by taking the 
 cars to Moorhead, or beyond, as the track may be completed. 
 Steamers ascend the Missouri from Sioux City to Fort Benton ; 
 but the distance from Sioux City, in Iowa, to Burnt Boat 
 Island, is between eight hundred and nine hundred miles, and 
 is very tedious, requiring from two to three weeks' time. The 
 most feasible route, after midsummer of the present year 
 (1872), will be by the Northern Pacific Road. 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 43 
 
 MONTANA 
 
 According to the estimate of the Surveyor-General, there 
 are twenty million acres of land in Montana that may be 
 classed as agricultural. About one million five hundred 
 thousand acres have been claimed under the pre-emption and 
 homestead laws. 
 
 The lands in the mining-region of Montana on the Galla- 
 tin, Madison, and Jefferson forks of the Missouri, in the 
 vicinity of Helena, and in the Deer Lodge and Missoula 
 Valleys, have been surveyed, and are open to pre-emption 
 and homestead settlement. 
 
 Montana contains a population estimated, at the present 
 time, at about thirty thousand. It is the richest gold-field of 
 the continent, producing more of the precious metals per 
 annum than any other State or Territory. It is watered by 
 numerous streams, has a healthful climate, more genial even 
 than Minnesota. Very little snow falls in the valleys ; and 
 sheep, cattle, and horses are not often housed in winter. 
 
 It is believed that Montana possesses more advantages for 
 the raising of stock than any other section of the United 
 States. The grasses are exceedingly nutritious. The "Bunch 
 Grass " is said to be more nutritious than the celebrated 
 " Blue Grass " of Kentucky. It dries in the fall ; and the 
 cattle feed upon it in the pastures during the winter, prefer- 
 ring it to clover or timothy, and are fat enough for market in 
 the spring. This abundance of pasturage, with pure water, 
 and a climate so mild that cattle may be kept in the pastures 
 through the year, will make this an attractive region to the 
 stock-grower. Montana is admirably adapted to sheep-hus- 
 bandry ; and it is believed that the long staple, silver-lustred 
 wools, now obtained almost wholly from foreign countries, 
 may be produced in perfection. Upon the completion of the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad to the Yellowstone River, there 
 will be cheap transportation to Eastern markets from these 
 incomparable pasture-lands. 
 
 There is an abundance of timber, — pine, cedar, oak, and 
 other woods. The soil in the valleys is very fertile, producing, 
 not unfrequently, fifty and even sixty bushels of wheat to the 
 
41 MINNESOTA LANDS OF THE 
 
 acre. Rye, oats, barley, potatoes, corn, and garden vegetables 
 of enormous size, are raised in great abundance. 
 
 The present route to Montana is by the Union Pacific 
 Railroad to Corrinne, and thence by stage to Helena, — a dis- 
 tance of between five hundred and six hundred miles. Dur- 
 ing the summer months, steamboats ascend the Missouri from 
 Omaha to Fort Benton. Upon the completion of the Northern 
 Pacific Railroad to the Missouri, regular lines of steamers will 
 ply from Burnt Boat Island, the point of crossing, to Fort 
 Benton. 
 
 The present rates of fare from New York to Helena : first- 
 class tickets, one hundred and thirty-six dollars ; second-class, 
 one hundred and fourteen dollars. 
 
 The stage-fare from Corrinne to Helena is sixty-six dollars, 
 first class ; thirty-five dollars, second class. Families or colo- 
 nies will do well to take wagons from Corrinne with supplies 
 for eighteen or twenty days. In the spring of 1873, the 
 cheapest and quickest route will be by the Northern Pacific 
 to the Missouri River, and thence by steamer to Fort Benton. 
 
 IDAHO. 
 
 The line of the Northern Pacific Railroad passes through 
 the northern portion of Idaho. It is a country well supplied 
 with timber, with a fertile soil "in the valleys, and excellent 
 pasturage on the mountains. The lands are not yet surveyed ; 
 and there are but few settlers at present, except in the mining 
 camp. Upon the completion of the road, it will be an attrac- 
 tive region for emigrants. 
 
 The valleys in the southern portions of the Territory are 
 narrow, and have comparatively a small area suited to agri- 
 culture. The climate is more severe than in the northern 
 sections, where, as in Montana, cattle are not brought in from 
 the pastures during the winter. 
 
 The stockmen of the southern counties are accustomed to 
 drive their herds northward in the fall to avail themselves of 
 the rich pastures of the Upper Columbia, where there is an 
 abundance of pure water, and where the snow-fall is not so 
 great as in more southern latitudes. 
 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 45 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 The line of the Northern Pacific Railroad follows down the 
 valley of the Columbia River to a point opposite Portland in 
 Oregon, and up the Cowlitz, a branch of the Columbia, to 
 Puget Sound. The lands west of the Cascade Mountains have 
 been surveyed, and may be taken by pre-emption and home- 
 stead claims. The area west of the Cascade range is about 
 twenty thousand square miles, three-fourths of which is 
 covered with timber, — pine, cedar, fir, spruce, hemlock, oak, 
 maple, ash, and other woods. 
 
 As a lumbering region, Washington Territory excels all 
 others in the world ; and to the lumberman there is no other 
 locality offering such advantages. The harbors of the sound 
 are deep and capacious, and vessels may be loaded direct from 
 the mills. The manufactured lumber exported from Wash- 
 ington amounts to two hundred million feet per annum, and 
 is sent to all parts of the world. California, Chili, Peru, 
 China, Japan, Australia, and the islands of the Pacific, receive 
 their supplies of lumber from this Territory. Masts and 
 spars are shipped to England, France, and other European 
 countries. 
 
 The prairies of Washington are of limited extent, in com- 
 parison with Minnesota and Dakota, and consequently are 
 being rapidly taken by pre-e»ptors. The soil of the timbered 
 lands is of good quality, and, when cleared, will make fine 
 farms. The yield of wheat, like that of Oregon, is not un- 
 frequently forty and even fifty bushels to the acre. All other 
 grains are grown in perfection, with the exception of corn. 
 The summer nights, like those of England, are too cool to 
 raise good crops of this grain, though thirty and forty bushels 
 to* the acre are sometimes produced. 
 
 The winter climate is mild. Very little snow falls west 
 of the Cascade Mountains ; ice rarely forms ; and the tem- 
 perature is so genial, that flowers bloom throughout the year. 
 
 The Columbia River, and all of the streams emptying into 
 the Pacific Ocean, and the waters of Puget Sound, are filled 
 with salmon, which are caught in large quantities, and sent to 
 all parts of the world. 
 
 
46 NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 
 
 The Northern Pacific Railway is now under construction 
 from Kalama, on the Columbia River, to Olympia and Puget 
 Sound, and will be completed between those points the 
 present year. The lands owned by the Company are under 
 appraisement, and will soon be offered for sale. 
 
 Settlers wishing to occupy those lands may reach them by 
 the line of the Union and Central Pacific Railway to San 
 Francisco, and thence by steamer to Kalama. 
 
 Full information may be obtained in regard to that section 
 of the country, upon application to the office of the North- 
 ern Pacific Railroad, Kalama, Washington Terri- 
 tory, or to 120 Broadway, New York. 
 
PROSPECTUS. 
 A Railroad Bond and Real Estate Mortgage Combined. 
 
 Bonds Receivable for Lands at 1.10. 
 
 In its first-mortgage gold bonds, now selling at par and 
 accrued interest, the Northern Pacific Railroad Company 
 furnishes to the public an investment security which combines 
 the ready negotiability, the convenience, and the high credit 
 of a first-class railroad bond, with the solidity and safety of a 
 real estate mortgage on land worth at least twice the amount 
 
 loaned. 
 
 At the present gold premium they yield 81 per cent inter- 
 est, — over one-third more than United States^ 5-20's. Their 
 elements' of strength and safety are the following : — 
 
 I. They are the standard obligation of a strong corporation, 
 which represents in its shareholders and managers large cap- 
 ital and railroad experience,* and is engaged in prosecuting a 
 business-enterprise whose great usefulness and solid success 
 are not matters of doubt. 
 
 II. They are a first mortgage on the road, its right of way, 
 rolling-stock, telegraph-line, equipments, and franchises. 
 
 III. They are a first lien upon the traffic or net earnings 
 of the road. The net receipts of the first trans-continental 
 railroad, in the second year after completion, and mainly from 
 local business, were equal to nine per cent on the total esti- 
 mated cost of the Northern Pacific Road. 
 
 IV They are a first and only mortgage on a government 
 grant of land, which consists of twelve thousand eight hun- 
 dred acres for each mile of road through the States of Wis- 
 consin and Minnesota, and twenty-five thousand six hundred 
 
43 MINNESOTA LANDS. 
 
 acres per mile through the Territories of Dakota, Montana, 
 Idaho, and Washington. In average fertility of soil, health- 
 fulness and mildness of climate, diversity and extent of re- 
 sources, the belt of country comprising this grant is such as 
 to render the lands very valuable, and insure their speedy 
 sale and cultivation. Sold at the average price realized by 
 other land-grant roads, the real estate endowment of the 
 Northern Pacific Company will produce more than three 
 times the issue of bonds per mile. 
 
 The Company is now offering for sale to settlers and colo- 
 nies a portion of its valuable land-grant in Minnesota ; and a 
 large area on the Pacific coast will soon be placed on the 
 market. The offered lands are selling readily ; and hence- 
 forward the Company will realize a large yearly income from 
 this source. 
 
 The bonds are at all times receivable at ten per cent pre- 
 mium (1.10) in payment or exchange for the Company's land 
 at market-prices, — a provision which practically gives the 
 holder of these mortgage-bonds the power of foreclosure at 
 will. 
 
 The proceeds of all sales of land are required to be de- 
 voted by the trustees of the bondholders as a Sinking Fund 
 to the purchase and cancellation of the first-mortgage bonds, 
 or, temporarily, to the payment of interest thereon, if neces- 
 sary. This provision will make' the Railroad Company itself 
 a large purchaser of its own securities in the open market 
 from the time the road is completed until the bonds mature, 
 or are all bought in. 
 
 All marketable stocks and bonds will be received (by ex- 
 press or otherwise) at current prices in exchange for Northern 
 Pacific seven-thirties without expense to the investor. Pam- 
 phlets and ful) information will be furnished on application. 
 
 JAY COOKE & CO., 
 
 Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, 
 
 Financial Agents Northern Pacific Railroad Company. 
 
 D3T" For sale by banks and bankers generally. 
 
Offices 
 
 OF 
 
 Tl|e L(kqd ©epkftrqent 
 
 Northern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 120 Broadway, New York ; St. Paul, Minnesota ; Kalama, 
 Washington Territory. 
 
 After Sept. 1, 1872, the New -York office will be at the corner of 
 
 5th Avenue and 9 th Street. 
 
 All inquiries relating to Land or Immigration should be addressed 
 to one of the above offices. 
 
 Rand, Avery, & Co., Printers, Boston.