300 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



this point in search of health, are by no means as harsh and severe as 

 we might suppose ; but the spring is unpleasant, and the weather dur- 

 ing this part of the year disagreeable. The second disadvantage is the 

 fact that it cannot be said to have any surrounding farming land to give 

 it a local trade depending on agriculture. Thirdly, the shipping-season 

 is short, closing rather too early to allow time to gather in the crops 

 'from the distant sections, where they are somewhat kite. 



Its advantages in part are as follows: It is the extreme western lake- 

 point of the Northwest, which is a very important item ; it is the near- 

 est point of water-communication with the ocean for a very large area 

 of country, viz, Minnesota, Dakotai, and the grain-districts of British 

 America northwest of the lakes ; it has most excellent water-power close 

 at hand, in the Saint Louis Eiver ; being the only important lake-port of 

 Minnesota, it must necessarily have the influence and sympathy of that 

 rapidly- growing State ; and, finally, it is the eastern terminus of the 

 great northern Trans-Continental Eailway, which must make it an im- 

 portant point. These are important advantages, which must, in spite 

 of the disadvantages under which it labors, ultimately make a city of 

 considerable size, and, so long as this line of road controls the trade of 

 Manitoba and other portions of Western British America, give it an 

 international character. 



The following notes relate to the country along the Northern Pacific 

 line : 



After leaving the junction, as we move westward, we enter along 

 stretch of marshy lands, covered chiefly by forests of pine and tama- 

 rack, and tills continues, with but little variation, until we reach Aiken. 

 Here we notice a change in the surface and character of the land; the 

 soil also shows a variation from that eastward. The surface becomes 

 slightly undulating, the sub soil more sandy and mixed with gravel ; 

 oak also begins to make its appearance; and although there is occasion- 

 ally a swamp, yet the country westward from here to Brainard may be 

 fairly classed as agricultural. The timber between these points is 

 chiefly pine ; yet there is a slight intermixture of oak, elm, and aspen, 

 and occasionally an ash. A short distance before reaching Brainard 

 we enter upon a sandy level, which continues to the Mississippi, and is 

 repeated for some distance on the west side. The soil here, notwith- 

 standing its sandy character, is rich and productive, and will doubtless 

 produce heavy crops of cereals. The Mississippi cuts its way through 

 this level in a deep channel like a large canal, without low bottoms. 

 After crossing to the west side we pass for some distance over a sandy 

 level covered with an open pine-forest ; in a few miles the soil gradually 

 changes to a darker hue, and we occasionally meet with wet and marshy 

 spots, in which the ominous tamarack makes its appearance. Occasional 

 broad low ridges now begin to be seen, clothed with deciduous trees, 

 chiefly oak, elm, ash, and bass-wood ; the soil is good, and, with the ex- 

 ception of a few points, will make excellent farming lands. After leav- 

 ing the sandy region the soil is mixed with clay and gravel. A short 

 distance east of Wadena the surface becomes slightly undulating and 

 somewhat destitute of timber, being partially covered with oak-bushes, 

 which fade out as we enter upon the prairie-region ; the surface-soil is 

 quite rich. 



From Leaf Elver westward, for some fifteen or twenty mileS, we pass 

 through a section alternating with low, broad ridges, and wet, narrow 

 bottoms or " slashes,'' the ridges being composed almost wholly of 

 gravel, though the surface-soil is a rich mold, and mostly covered with 

 mixed timber, including an occasional large ]3ine;- but this tree is now 



