TO the good motto of "See America First," the citizens of 

 Minnesota, might well add: "See Minnesota First," for 

 many regions and many beauties of our North Star 

 Empire are almost entirely unknown. 



The scenery along the Minnesota, the St. Croix and the 

 Mississippi surpasses that of the song legend-famed Rhine 

 and Hudson, and more fertile soil and richer mines than in 

 Minnesota cannot be found anywhere on earth. 



But there is one practically unknown region of about 30,000 

 square miles, containing millions of acres of agricultural lands 

 as fertile as those of our Southern counties, and the famous 

 Red river valley. It embraces the counties of Beltrami, Koo- 

 chiching, Itasca, Clearwater, Cass and St. Louis. 



Area Is Large. 



The area is more than three times as large as Massachu- 

 setts, twice as large as Switzerland and half as large as Eng- 

 land. 



I have just spent about two months in this region, traveling 

 by boat, by canoe, by wagon and on foot; and was very much 

 impressed by its immense undeveloped resources. 



The least known district embraces the counties of Beltrami, 

 Itasca and Koochiching, the very counties in which the soil 

 is most productive. Unfortunately this region is supposed 

 even by many Minnesotans to be a big swamp and it has thus 

 far only one railroad, the Minnesota & International, trav- 

 ersing it from south to north, and none at all running east 

 and west north of Red lake. 



But One Railroad. 



Only the section directly tributary to the thriving town of 

 Bemidji is well opened by railroads. 



24 



