He Perfectly
Agreed With Me, And Attributed His Inability To Start Earlier To The
Dilatory Arrangements At The Hotel.
When jogging along at about eleven
at night between St. Anthony and the city, I could not help begrudging
every minute of fair daylight which had been wasted.
The theory of
Judge Story, that it don't make much difference when a man gets up in
the morning, provided he is wide awake after he is up, will do very
well, perhaps, except when one is to start on a journey in the stage.
I took a seat by the driver's side, the weather being clear and mild,
and had an unobstructed and delightful view of every object, and there
seemed to be none but pleasant objects in range of the great highway.
Though there is, between every village, population enough to remind
one constantly that he is in a settled country, the broad extent yet
unoccupied proclaims that there is still room enough. Below Sauk
Rapids a good deal of the land on the road side is in the hands of
speculators. This, it is understood, is on the east side of the
Mississippi. On the west side there are more settlements. But yet
there are many farms, with tidy white cottages; and in some places are
to be seen well-arranged flower-gardens. The most attractive scenery
to me, however, was the ample corn-fields, which, set in a groundwork
of interminable virgin soil, are pictures which best reflect the true
destiny and usefulness of an agricultural region. We met numerous
teams heavily laden with furniture or provisions, destined for the
different settlements above. The teams are principally drawn by two
horses; and, as the road is extremely level and smooth, are capable of
taking on as much freight as under other circumstances could be drawn
by four horses. Mules do not appear to be appreciated up this way so
much as in Missouri or Kentucky. Nor was it unusual to meet light
carriages with a gentleman and lady, who, from the luggage, &c.,
aboard, appeared to have been on somewhat of an extensive shopping
expedition. And I might as well say here, if I havn't yet said it,
that the Minnesotians are supplied with uncommonly good horses. I do
not remember to have seen a mean horse in the territory. I suppose, as
considerable pains are taken in raising stock, poor horses are not
raised at all; and it will not pay to import poor ones. A company of
surveyors whom we met excited a curiosity which I was not able to
solve. It looked odd enough to see a dozen men walking by the side or
behind a small one-horse cart; the latter containing some sort of
baggage which was covered over, as it appeared, with camping fixtures.
It was more questionable whether the team belonged to the men than
that the men were connected with the team. The men were mostly young
and very intelligent-looking, dressed with woollen shirts as if for
out door service, and I almost guessed they were surveyors; yet still
thought they were a party of newcomers who had concluded to club
together to make their preemption claim.
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