MINNESOTA. 39 



reON AND LEAD. 



A geological survey of this great mineral district has just been ordered by 

 the State legislature, the result of which will soon be made known to the public 

 in an authentic form, all of which will add greatly to the wealth of our young 

 State, and tend to place Minnesota in the first rank for agricultural, manufac- 

 turing, and mineral wealth. 



Already has eastern capital sought investment here, and, in consequence, 



RAILROADS 



are rapidly being built. As these great agents of commerce and civilization 

 are no longer imaginary, and as we now see the iron being laid, it may not be 

 out of place to notice such as are realities. The St. Paul and Pacific road, 

 with its branches, contemplates a railway from Winona to St. Paul, along the 

 west bank of the Mississippi to Hastings, where it will cross the river, thence 

 on the east shore to St. Paul, a distance of one hundred miles. This, with con- 

 nexions in Wisconsin, will place St. Paul about three hundred and seventy 

 miles from Chicago ; (our old stage route was estimated as three hundred and 

 fifty miles from Galena.) It will then extend from St. Paul to St. Cloud, 

 thence to Ottertail lake and Pembina, Avith a projection on through the British 

 possessions, by the Saskatchewan river, to the Pacific ocean. Thirty miles of 

 this road is already finished and cars running ; eighty more will be completed 

 the present season, and English capitalists have invested in the enterprise to 

 such an amount as to show a certainty of an early completion of the entire line. 

 This is the great national enterprise, in which the whole northwest feels a deep 

 interest. 



From Stillwater, on the St. Croix, to St. Paul, and from thence to Minne- 

 apolis and westward to the foot of Big Stone lake, the main line of this com- 

 pany, with its magnificent congressional grant, points to the gold fields of 

 Idaho. 



From Minneapolis and St. Paul the Cedar' Valley road runs in a southerly 

 direction through Northfield, Farribault, Owatoma, and Austin, to the southern 

 limits of the State, where it makes connexion with the Prairie du Chien and 

 Milwaukee road. 



From St. Paul there is a congressional land grant road, graded for fifty miles 

 up the valley of the Minnesota river to where it turns in a southerly direction, 

 and connects with the Union Pacific at Sioux City. From Winona there is 

 the Winona and St. Peter's road, with thirty miles completed and cars running. 

 It is contemplated to extend it to the western line of the State. The Root 

 River Valley road, also a congressional land grant road, extends from La Cres- 

 cent, via Chatfield, to Rochester, where it connects with the above road. These 

 roads are of vital interest, and no idle schemes, and show the enterprise of our 

 young State. I must not omit the proposed road to Lake Superior. From 

 Hudson, Wisconsin, sixteen miles from St. Paul, a road is now being built to 

 Superior, with a branch to Bayfield. Forty miles will be completed this sum- 

 mer. Our road from St. Paul to Stillwater will connect us with the route, and 

 furnish the much desired outlet to the great mining regions. 



The writer has sketched roughly a picture of Minnesota as he sees it now. 

 He came here the first week of its birth as a Territory, and has continued until 

 the present time, noting the changes in its growth. The bulk of the population 

 then consisted of Indians — Sioux, Chippewas, and Winnebagoes. The streets 

 of our little settlements were alive with the aborigines, and our merchants were 

 Indian traders. The whole of the territory on the west side of the Mississippi 

 was occupied solely by the Indians, with an occasional licensed trader. That 

 land was forbidden ground to any white man, but could not long remain 



