Indeed A Man Ought To Make A Fortune
To Compensate For Residing In A Town During The First Years Of Its
Rapid Building.
The streets appear, on the map, to be well laid out.
A
number of purchasers of lots are preparing to build; and a few new
buildings are already going up. As near as I am able to learn, the
things which conduce to its availability as a business place are
these First, it is the beginning of the Upper Mississippi
navigation. From this point steamboats can go from two to three
hundred miles. But they cannot pass below, on account of the
obstructions near Fort Ripley, at Little Falls, and at Sauk Rapids.
This of course is a great element in its future success, as the
country above in the valley of the river is destined to be thickly
settled, and boats will run between this point and the settlements
along the river. It will also be a large lumber market, for the pine
forests begin here and extend along the river banks for hundreds of
miles, while the facility of getting the logs down is unexceptionable.
The territory north of Crow Wing is now open for settlers to a great
distance, the Indian title having been extinguished. Two land
districts have also been established, which will be an inducement for
fresh emigration. There is no other place but this to supply these
settlements; at least none so convenient. A great deal of timber will
also come down the Crow Wing River, which is a large stream, navigable
three months in the year. Arrangements are complete for building a
steamboat the ensuing winter, at this very place, to begin running in
the spring as far up as Ojibeway. Next season there will be a daily
line of stages between this and St. Paul. I understand also that it is
intended next summer to connect Crow Wing with the flourishing town of
Superior by stage. It will require considerable energy to do this
thing; but if it can be done, it will be a great blessing to the
traveller as well as a profit to the town. The journey from St. Paul
to Lake Superior via Crow Wing can then be performed in three days,
while on the usual route it now occupies a week. Such are some of the
favorable circumstances which corroborate the expectation of the
growth of this place. The southern or lower portion of the town is
included within the Fort Ripley reserve, and though several residences
are situated on it, no other buildings can be put up without a license
from the commanding officer; nor can any lots be sold from that
portion until the reserve is cut down. With the upper part of the town
it is different. Mr. C. H. Beaulieu, long a resident of the place, is
the proprietor of that part, and has already, I am informed, made some
extensive sales of lots. He is one of those lucky individuals, who
have sagacity to locate on an available spot, and patience to wait the
opening of a splendid fortune.[1]
[1 Since this letter was written, Mr. Thomas Cathcart has purchased a
valuable claim opposite Crow Wing at the mouth of the river, which I
should think was an available town site.]
My observation and experience in regard to town sites have taught me
an important fact: that as much depends on the public spirit, unity of
action, and zeal of the early proprietors, as upon the locality
itself. The one is useless without these helps. General Washington
wrote an able essay to prove the availability of Norfolk, Va., as the
great commercial metropolis of the country. He speculated upon its
being the great market for the West. His imagination pictured out some
such place as New York now is, as its future. The unequalled harbor of
Norfolk, and the resources of the country all around it, extending as
far, almost, as thought could reach, might well have encouraged the
theory of Washington. But munificence and energy and labor have built
up many cities since then, which had not half the natural advantages
of Norfolk, while Norfolk is far behind. A little lack of enterprise,
a little lack of harmony and liberality, may, in the early days of a
town, divert business and improvements from a good location, till in a
short time an unheard-of and inferior place totally eclipses it.
Knowing this to be the case, I have been careful in my previous
letters not to give too much importance to many of the town sites
which have been commended to me along my journey. I do not discover
any of these retarding circumstances about Crow Wing. I must conclude
at this paragraph, however, in order to take a horseback ride to the
Chippewa agency. In my next I intend to say something about the
Indians, pine timber, and the country above here in general.
LETTER VII.
CHIPPEWA INDIANS. HOLE-IN-THE-DAY.
Description of the Chippewa tribes Their habits and customs
Mission at Gull Late Progress in farming Visit to
Hole-in-the-day His enlightened character Reflections on Indian
character, and the practicability of their civilization Their
education Mr. Manypenny's exertions.
CROW WING, October, 1856.
I CONSIDER myself exceedingly fortunate in having had a good
opportunity for observing the condition of the Chippewa Indians.
Sometime ago I saw enough of the Indians in another part of the
country to gratify my curiosity as to their appearance and habits; and
as I have always felt a peculiar interest in their destiny, my present
observations have been with a view to derive information as to the
best means for their improvement. The whole number of Chippewas in
Minnesota is not much over 2200. They are divided into several bands,
each band being located a considerable distance from the other. The
Mississippi band live on their reservation, which begins a few miles
above here across the river, while the Pillagor and Lake
Winnibigoshish bands are some three hundred miles further north.
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