86 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Of the lumber trade of Minneapolis, and furnish a convenient outlet, for 
the coal fields of Iowa. This Division penetrates a region of unsupassed 
fertility, the resources of which are yet comparatively undeveloped. It is 
understood that its further extension will not be continued during the pres¬ 
ent season, the company probably desiring to apply their energies in other 
directions. 
“ The same enterprising capitalists have also during the past year built 
41 miles of road along the river, between St. Paul and Winona. Sixty-one 
miles of this road are now in operation, and the remaining 43 miles to com¬ 
plete the line from St. Paul to Winona are under contract to be completed 
before the 1st of September. It is yet undetermined whether the Company 
will build a new line from Winona to La Crosse on the west side of the 
river, or make arrangements with the Winona and St. Peter Company to 
run over the same track from Winona to the Junction with the La Crosse 
road. The importance of this road will be appreciated when it is under¬ 
stood that its completion will shorten the distance between Milwaukee and 
St. Paul about eighty miles. 
“ It is announced, upon apparently good authority,, that arrangements 
haye been consummated which secure the building the present season of the 
main line of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad through to Breckenridge on 
the Red river, and also the construction of the branch line from Sauk Rap¬ 
ids via. Crow Wing to a junction with the Northern Pacific at or near Otter 
Tail lake. The extension of these roads greatly enhances the importance ' 
of the River road, inasmuch as it insures a direct and early connection with 
the Northern Pacific ; and it is greatly to the advantage of our city that this 
road is in the hands of a Milwaukee corporation. Its legal name is the 
“ St. Paul and Chicago Railroad,” though better known as the “River Road.” 
In connection with the La Crosse Division of the Milwaukee and St. Paul 
Railway, it will doubtless become the principal avenue of travel between 
the Northern Pacific Railway and the east, and the numerous flourishing 
towns along its line from La Crosse to St. Paul insure it a valuable local 
traffic. 
“ It is evident that the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway company appre¬ 
ciate the importance of seeming the most direct connections with the 
Northern Pacific Railroad over their lines, and in addition to the roads al¬ 
ready built and under construction, they have decided to build an air line 
road from Berlin, the present terminus of their Northern Division, direct to 
Superior and Duluth, thus securing the shortest possible connection with 
the Northern Pacific at its eastern terminus. The company will apply to 
Congress at the next session for the necessary legislation to carry out this 
great enterprise, 
“The West Wisconsin Railroad, an important tributary to Milwaukee, 
was extended 45 miles during 1870, and is now in operation to Menomonee, 
111 miles from Tomali, its junction with the St. Paul road. It will proba¬ 
bly be completed to the St, Croix river before the close of another season. 
