Most People, I Suppose,
Have Heard Of Its Beautiful Cluster Of Islands Called The Twelve
Apostles.
One peculiar phenomenon often mentioned is the boisterous
condition of its waters at the shore, which occurs when the lake
itself is perfectly calm.
The water is said to foam and dash so
furiously as to make it almost perilous to land in a small boat. This
would seem to be produced by some movement of the waters similar to
the flow of the tide; and perhaps the dashing after all is not much
more tumultuous than is seen on a summer afternoon under the rocks of
Nahant, or along the serene coast at Phillips Beach.
The resources of that part of the territory bordering on the lake,
however, are sufficient to induce an extensive, if not a rapid,
settlement of the country. The copper mines afford occupation for
thousands of people now. I have known a young man to clear $40 a month
in getting out the ore. But the labor is hard. Somewhere near
Fond-du-Lac is destined to be a great commercial city. Whether it will
be at Superior, which has now got the start of all other places, or
whether it will be at some point within this territory, is more than
can be known at present. But a great town there is to be, sooner or
later; and for this reason, that the distance from Buffalo to
Fond-du-Lac by navigation is about the same as from Buffalo to
Chicago, affording, therefore, as good facilities for water
transportation of merchandise between Fond-du-Lac and the East, as
between Chicago and the East. Moreover, the development of this new
agricultural world will tend to that result. A railroad will then run
from that point directly west, crossing the upper Mississippi as also
the Red River of the North at the head of its navigation, which is at
the mouth of the Sioux Wood River.
During the last summer, congress established two new land districts in
the upper part of the territory, called the north-eastern and the
north-western. The former includes the country lying on Lake Superior,
and its land office has been located at Buchanan, a new place just
started on the shore of the lake. The land office for the
north-western district has been located at Ojibeway, a town site
situated sixty miles above here, on the Mississippi, near the mouth of
Muddy River. This district includes the head waters of the
Mississippi, and extends west as far as the Red River of the North.
The surveyors have been engaged in either district only a few weeks. I
don't expect there will be any land offered for sale in either
district till spring. While on the subject of land offices, let me
observe that the appointments in them are among the most lucrative
under the patronage of the general government. There is a register and
receiver for each office. They have, each, $500 per annum and fees;
the whole not to exceed $3000.
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