10 
THROUGH WONDERLAND. 
fishing ground on the continent. Nor need any angler or sportsman—for prairie 
chickens, ducks and deer are abundant—expect to have to look to sport to 
make up for the deficiencies of accommodation; for the Hotel Minnesota is said, 
on the highest authority, to be a gem of a hostelry for anglers, every facility 
and convenience they could wish for being obtainable at moderate charges. 
The scenic attractions, also, are of a high order, the natural features of the 
surrounding country being of the most diversified character. The air is pure 
and invigorating, and hay fever and malarial diseases are absolutely unknown. 
Lake' Park is another delightful resort in this region, having good fishing 
and boating within easy distance, and a first-class hotel adjoining the depot. 
Before arriving at Detroit, the traveler from St. Paul passes through 
Brainerd, the “City of the Pines.” The selection of this city for the location 
of the machine shops of the railroad has given a great impetus to its growth ; 
nevertheless, for deer and bear hunting, it is still one of the best localities in 
the State. There is fine fishing, too, in its immediate vicinity, and its hotel 
accommodations also are very good. Here it is, also, that travelers from the 
East, coming by way of the Great Lakes, join the west-bound train. 
The distance to Brainerd from Duluth, the point of debarkation, at the west 
end of Lake Superior, is 114 miles. 
The traveler, who, in 1886, visits Mr. Proctor Knott’s “Zenith City of the 
Unsalted Seas,” will find the straggling village of five years ago a busy city of 
20,000 inhabitants, with abounding evidences of the commercial importance it 
has attained. By reason of the advantages afforded by the great waterway of the 
continent, for the direct shipment of wheat to the Eastern States or to Europe, 
Duluth has become almost as formidable a rival of Minneapolis as that city is 
of Chicago. It handled last year no fewer than 15,819,462 bushels of wheat, 
while its saw mills cut up 125,000,000 feet of lumber, and an extensive trade 
was also carried on in coal, salt and lime. 
A few miles distant, and connected with it by a railway whose construction 
involved the building of an exceedingly fine iron bridge, is the city of Superior, 
also with excellent terminal facilities. The eastern terminus of this, the Wis¬ 
consin division of the railroad, is Ashland, an important town and favorite 
summer resort on Lake Superior. Midway between this town and Duluth the 
line crosses the Brule river, whose excellent fishing grounds its recent opening 
has, for the first time, rendered accessible. 
The Brule river proper is a large stream, averaging 100 feet in width, of 
clear, cold water, flowing, its entire length, through one of the great forests of 
Wisconsin. With high banks, and free from low or marshy ground, it is an 
ideal trout stream. The best fishing on the river is to be had in a stretch of 
fourteen miles, extending six miles above, and eight miles below, the crossing of 
the Northern Pacific Railroad. The trout attain a large size, catches of three 
and four pound fish being an everyday occurrence. In the surrounding forest, 
game, including moose, deer, beaver and pheasant, is found in great abundance. 
Large quantities of venison were shipped hence by rail during the winter of 
