THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 35 
The material laid down in the waters of Lake Agassiz is so soft and 
fine that it is washed away with great rapidity when it is exposed to 
the action of the elements. Ordinarily the surface 
Glyndon, vegetation protects it, but when this is removed dis- 
Pee astrous results follow. In 1895 a wagon road was 
St. Paul 242 miles, graded east of Red River and a short distance north 
of the railway near Glyndon for about 6 miles. The 
farmers at once began to drain their fields into the roadside ditch, 
which was deepened and widened so rapidly by the consequent 
erosion that in four years the road had been destroyed for nearly 
a mile and in its place there was a channel 80 feet wide and 25 
feet deep. 
Dilworth is a division terminal of the railway, established to relieve 
the congestion of the yards at Fargo, where the terminal was formerly 
ocated. In the Red River valley may be seen some 
of the magical effects of the mirage that is so striking 
Se eatoeawt a feature of an arid or semiarid region. Warren 
Upham describes it as follows: 
Dilworth. 
The mirage, typical of plains country or the ocean, may be seen in the Red River 
valley almost any sunshiny day in spring, summer, or autumn, This queer phenome- 
non makes the high land at-the sides of the valley, the tops of the distant trees, and 
houses appear to be raised a little above the horizon, with a narrow strip of sky between. 
The more complex and astonishing effect of mirage may be seen from the highland on 
either side of the lake-bed floor. There, in looking across the valley from one and 
one-half to two hours after sunrise on a hot morning following a cool night, the groves 
and houses, villages, and grain elevators loom up to two or three times their true 
height and places ordinarily hidden by the curvature of the earth are brought into 
view. Oftentimes, too, these objects are seen double, being repeated in an inverted 
image close above their real positions and separated from it by a foglike belt. In its 
most perfect development the mirage shows the upper and topsy-turvy portion of 
the view quite as distinctly as the lower and true portion. 
These appearances are due to refraction and reflection from layers 
of air of different density, such as are often formed above a wide 
expanse of level country in warm weather. 
The last town in Minnesota through which the train passes is 
Moorhead, named in honor of William G. Moorhead, a former director 
of the railway company. Between this town and 
Moorhead, Minn. Fargo, N. Dak., runs Red River, the boundary line - 
sz feet. between the two States, a deep, sluggish stream that 
St. Paul 251 miles. | 18 generally heavily charged with mud derived from 
: soft materials deposited in the ancient lake. This 
mud gives to the water a brownish-red color. 
