282 



THE FORESTER. 



December, 



and St. Lawrence Valleys, in New York, 

 Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana are now 

 productive farms and prosperous cities and 

 towns. The forests there were cut for the 

 sole purpose of preparing the soil for agri- 

 culture, for which it was fitted in the high- 

 est degree. It was part of Nature's plan 

 that those regions should be devoted to 

 those uses; but up in northern Minnesota, 

 the forests have been and are being de- 

 stroyed for the sole purpose of turning the 

 trees into money, and when the trees are 

 gone, the land is comparatively worthless 

 for the uses of man. 



In the southwestern part of the desig- 

 nated territory, lies a region about 1,297 

 square miles, or 830,000 acres, in extent, 

 which yet remains in its primeval condi- 

 tion, save as the railroads have penetrated 

 it from the East, West, and South within 

 the past few years. The forests are sub- 

 stantially intact. Within its borders are 

 the three large lakes of Leech, Winni- 

 bigoshish and Cass, the first having a shore 

 line of 576 miles, as measured by the sur- 

 veyors of the general government. There 

 are, in addition, about ninety smaller lakes, 

 while seven rivers and many smaller 

 streams thread their way through the 

 forests. The total surveyed water-surface 

 is 325 square miles, or one-fourth of the 

 whole area. 



The Mississippi river, rising in Lake 

 Itasca about 25 miles to the southwest, 

 flows northeasterly and easterly through 

 nearly the center of the tract, and through 

 Cass and Winnibigoshish Lakes. The 

 Turtle River, rising away to the northeast 

 of Cass Lake, empties into that lake. 



Leech Lake, into which the Kabekona, 

 Steamboat, and Little Boy rivers empty, 

 finds its outlet through Leech Lake River, 

 .UK! joins the Mississippi east of Winni- 

 M-Mshish Lake. In the northeastern cor- 

 ner is Uowstring Lake, whence flows the 

 river o| that name northward, to a junction 

 with the Hig Fork of the Rainy River. 



The lakes, rivers, and streams, com- 

 prising 325 square miles, out of a total area 

 of 1,297 square miles, swarm with fish- 

 muskallonge, great-northern pike, wall- 

 eyed pike, bass, pickerel, white fish, and 

 all the smaller kinds of fish native to the 



inland lakes and rivers of the upper val- 

 leys of the Mississippi and Hudson Bay. 



In the forests are moose, caribou, bear, 

 deer, foxes, otter, lynx, wolves, and other 

 smaller game found in that latitude. 



The region is remarkable for its wild 

 fowl, both those which make it their 

 home during the whole year, and those 

 which are migratory. Several kinds of 

 wild ducks which fly to a warmer climate 

 in the winter seek this region as their 

 nesting- place in the summer. 



The average elevation of this territory 

 is about 1,300 feet above sea level. The 

 shores of the lakes are, for the most part, 

 high, and the general topography of the 

 land is of the same character. 



The forests are white and Norway Pine, 

 Jack Pine, Birch, Aspen, Fir, Oak, Maple, 

 Linden, Elm, and Ash. In the lowlands 

 are Tamarac, Cedar, and Spruce. The 

 matured Norway and White Pine trees 

 have been examined by some of the most 

 distinguished foresters of the country, and 

 pronounced to be about 300 years old. 

 There are miles of such forests, where 

 one can drive amongst the great trees, 

 over the Pine needles, as comfortably and 

 safely as over the best roads in our cities. 



The climate from May until November 

 is so perfect, that within a year after the 

 region had been made accessible by rail- 

 road, a sanitarium had been established 

 on the western shore of Leech Lake just 

 off the western boundary of the proposed 

 park. 



The Minnesota Medical Society ap- 

 pointed a committee to visit personally 

 and report upon the region. That report 

 was of such a commendatory character 

 that the Society at once took the matter 

 up, and petitioned the Legislature of 

 Minnesota, as a result of which, that body 

 applied to Congress, to have the Pine 

 lands in that region withdrawn from sale. 



In brief, that territory lying as it does 

 at the head of Mississippi Valley, and the 

 Valley of Hudson Bay, is ideal for a 

 National Park. Neither the Adirondack 

 nor Catskill Preserves of New York, the 

 White Mountains of New Hampshire, the 

 Rangeley Lake Region of Maine, the Green 

 Mountains of Vermont, or the Yellowstone 



