40 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



so. The rusli of immigrants soon made it evident that more room for enterpriee 

 was needed. A treaty was made and ratified with the Sioux in 1S51, and tlie 

 whole country west, upwards of one hundred miles, and extending from the 

 Chippewa lands (whose southern limit was at Fort Ripley) to the Iowa line, 

 was at once opened to white settlements, and a. law of Congress made it lawful 

 for settlers to go into unsurveyed lands. Minnesota now presented a new 

 aspect. The spirit of adventure of the old settlers induced many of them to 

 make voyages of discovery by land and water ; every available point was at 

 once selected and staked out for a future city, while the new immigrants turned 

 their attention to securing one hundred and sixty acres each for a future home. 

 The Sioux depredations have caused a large portion of the nation to remove 

 themselves from their reservations, and the whole country now between the Missis- 

 sippi and Missouri rivers, lies open to the Avhite man ; and should this section, 

 of' a great portion of which we have but slight knowledge, be as rapidly peopled 

 in proportion as the principal part of our State has been, ten years hence will 

 undoubtedly reveal a store of wealth, both mineral and agricultural, that will 

 cause a greater excitement in immigration than has ever yet been known in our 

 country. The Sioux Indians will never be allowed to re-occupy this land. 

 They must go further west. Nothing can impede the progress of the white 

 man. The question is often asked, what must eventually become of the races 

 of Indians in the northwest, and many conjectures have been made in reference 

 to the subject. 



Philanthropists argue that our government does not treat the Indians as hu- 

 manity dictates, and many noble and good men are endeavoring to devise some 

 way by which to clear us from the sin of totally exterminating them. It is 

 evident they cannot remain in their present condition as savages, and yet come 

 in contact with the whites. The pioneers of civilization are not ivsually (at 

 least of the present day) men of pure and spotless characters, nor have the 

 efforts thus far made by missionaries among the Indians met with sufficient 

 success to induce us to believe they can be converted to Christianity, and made 

 to adopt the customs and habits of civilization. 



In connexion with this digression from- my subject I may be allowed to men- 

 tion a tradition which prevails among the Sioux, that they came originally from 

 the southwest, and occupied the entire country until they reached the limits of 

 the great lakes in the northeast ; there they tarried for a length of time, and 

 gradually moved back to the great river and towards the northwest ; thence 

 they were, by means not given, still gradually to move on, and eventually be- 

 came extinct. 



But to return to our subject. Cities, towns, and villages have sprung into 

 existence as if by magic ; the iron bands are linking us with the greSt centre 

 of trade ; the Indian trails are obliterated, and the powerful locomotive, with 

 its long train of cars, goes thundering by us, while the telegraph wires stretched 

 over our heads flash thoughts as soon as conceived. It seems more a dream 

 than reality. This may be a rather glowing and vivid sketch of so young a 

 State, yet the statements are none the less true. Nowhere in the United States 

 can there be found a purer and more healthy atmosphere, so free from causes 

 of disease, and so invigorating to the human system. The laboring man or 

 woman can here secuije for himself a home and a farm of one hundred and sixty 

 aci-es, and pay for it with his own hands. The homestead law gives him the 

 land for about ten dollars in money, and a bare residence upon the land for five 

 years secures him a clear title ; or if he desires a home near old settled places, 

 the railroad company will sell at reasonable rates from their land grants, and 

 give ten years' time for payment. No large capital or heavy outlay is required, 

 since with industry, sobriety, and a careful economy, (the foundation of wealth 

 and happiness in all climes,) every man, however humble, can here become in- 

 dependent. , When one thinks of the thousands of poor who are crowded in 



