VOL. XXIII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, JUNE 30,1888.
NO. 26
THE NOETH-WEST   AND   ITS   EE-
SOUEOES-NO. 1.
A General View of the Country and its
Present Status.
The wldeness of the country,
Js like the wldeness of the sea,
And the grandeur of its prairies,
As the slopes of Galilee.
Kditorial Correspondence by J. B. C.
By agreement, representatives ol the
Xew England Farmer, Boston; American
Agriculturist, New York; Farm Journal,
Philadelphia; Ohio Farmer, Cleveland;
Indiana Farmer, Indianapolis; Western
Raral and Prairie Farmer, Chicago; Rural
".Yerld, St. Louis; The Farmer, St. Paul;
Farm Stock and Home, Minneapolis;
Western Farmer, Madison, Wis; and
Northwestern Farmer, Winnipeg, Canada,
met at St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 5th,
(or the purpose of  making  an  extended
better idea of the country over which we
traveled we give a map of it on this page,
together with a time card of the trip.
SPECIAL   EDITORIAL   TRAIN—TIME   SCHEDULE.
JuneSih.—
Leave St. Paul 2 p.m. for North Oaks; returning
at night.
June 7th.—
Lv. St. Paul 4 :*10 a. m.; arrive Benson 9:00 a. m.
Lv. Ben'on 10:30 p. m.; ar. Hanccck 11 a. m.
Lv Hancock 2:00 p. m.; ar. Fargo 7 p. m
Lv. Fargo_:<)0p. m.; ar. Grand Fork3 4:2.,
June 8th.—
T.v. Hillsboro3:00p. m.; ar. GrAnd Frrks4:20.
Lv. G rand Forks 8:30 p. m.; ar. Crookston 9:30.p.m.
June 9th.—
Lv. Crookston 9.P0 a. m.; ar. Warren 10-JtO a. m.
,   Lv. Warren 11:90 a. m.: ar. Stephen 12:00 p. m.
Lv. Stephen 1:00 p. m.; ar. Hallock 1:30 p. m.
Lv. HaUock3::'0p. m.: ar. Winnipeg 7.(10 p. m.
June loth.—
Lv. Winnipeg 9:00 a. m.: ar. St. Thomas 12:30 p. m.
By team St. Thomas to Graf con.
Lv. Grafton 3 :E0 p. m.;ar. Grand Forks 4:30 p.m.
Ar. Larlmore 5:30 p. m.
Lv. Larlmore7:30p. m.; ar. Devils Lake9:30p. m.
June llth.—
Lv. Devils Lake 10:30.: ar. Towner 12 :!0 a. m.
Lv. Towner 3:00 p. m.; ar. tainot 5:30 p. m.
Lv. Mlnot5:_0p. m.
June 12th.—
A r. Glasgow 4 a. m.
Ar.Assiniboine{'i5:«;|;S;
Ar. Benton 1 :'0 p. m.
Lv. Benton 4:00 p. m.; ar. Great Falls 5:00 p. m.
is also shown on the map in smaller lines,
from Duluth west. And yet the former
road is but 14 miles longer from St. Paul
to Helena than the latter, and the running
time is about the same between the two
points. It will be noticed that the road
over which the party traveled, traverses
the lake region of Minnesota to Fargo,
thence down the Red River of the North
to Winnipeg, Manitoba, 68 miles into Canada. Going west it crosses northern Dakota, entering Montana at Fort Buford,
just where the Yellowstone river puts
into the Missouri. It will be noticed on
the map that the road runs north of ar.d
almost around the Missouri river to Helena.
Dakota over which we traveled most is
larger than all New Kngland. It is a part
of the North Western Territory,purchased
under the administration of President
Thomas Jefferson, in 1803, and from which
so many grand  States have been  carved.
1801, Dakota was without legal name or
existence. A bill "To organize the Territory of Dakota, and for other purposes"
was introduced in the Senate by Hon.
Graham N. Fitch, of Indiana, December
20, 1858, and referred to the Committeo on
Territories. The line separating Dakota
and Montana Territories was adjusted in
1873. The Louis and Clark expedition up
the Missouri gave the first authentic account of this far western country. It also
gave a very correct idea of the great river
and its atlluents, and was no doubt instrumental in hastening the more perfect exploration and settlement of the country.
It also gave a fresh impetus to the fur
trade, and pioneered the way for numerous forts and trading posts. The great
British and American fur companies were
the first civilized people to occupy the Territory of Dakota. The earliest of these to
establish posts on the upper Missouri river
was the Missouri fur company, organized
at St. Louis, Mo., in 1808. At the head of
this company was Manuel Lisa, a Spanish
gentleman, and it is likely that some of
the Choteau family were also connected
with it. The company established trading
posts in Dakota about 1808-10. The American fur Company, of which John Jacob
Astor was president,was chartered in 1809.
The Great Pacific Company was organized
after the war of 1812, by Mr Astor, and
business operations were resumed by all
the companies, whose employees penetra-
Pwt8of^r0adandcarriage8 over lar8e
'"to M   . innesota» Dakota, Montana, and
T-6Wof".lt0ba' U was undertaken with a
[orthlearning more about this region
»ndabe"efit of the hundreds of thous-
*ho a readers of these papers,
of thn 6 also *-**- know more
o[th,s newe«t and most fertile part
*as 1nir?°IthWestem country. The party
C th ^ at St Paul by H°°- N. J. Col-
^'«shin!t 8sioner of Agriculture, of
Pr'vate» Dd Mr- °-   -0-   LaD-w, his
C- A"ow!!reiary; and *n-route by Dr. J.
M. Lic?«H nd Fork8> -D^ota; Col. W.
fil*ncw! * Ben8on' Mlnn-; Mr. S. S.
>o<i<-h r. B^nob--«a,Dak.; H. C. Hans-
S-tnT?^6- Dak-i I- C Wade,
Si  ; and E- H- Thursby.
01 ^e tr*.r      And the leader and prince
•»thot0u^aaJlr- D. H. McGinnis, who
p-«try.K^ fcmiliar with that whole
at the reader may have a
J"Lv. Grekt Falls 3:00 p. m.; ar. Helena 6.00 p. m.
June llth.—
Lv. Helena3:C0p.m.
June 15th.- Ar. Poplar 6:00 a.m.
Ar. Rugcya-ooi*. m-
Ar. Bottineau 4:00p. m.
I.v. Bottineau 6:00 p. m.; ar. Devils Lake 9:00 p. m.
jDLnve.K*iTs Lake 4:0* a. m, «J^ore^. m.
Ar. Fargo 10:15 a.m.
Ar. Geneva Beach 1 :lo p.m.
Lv. Geneva Beach 2:00 p m.; ar St.Cloud 3** p.m.
Lv. St. Cloud 4:.0 p. m.; ar. St. Taul 6.,J0I>. m.
The time card and map will enable the
reader to better understand what we shall
say in future articles on the subject, and
it will be well to preserve this map for
future reference, that localities may more
readily be determined. The heavy lines on
the map show the St. Paul, Minneapolis,
and Manitoba railway lines over which we
traveled from St. Paul north and west.
ThemainlinefromSt.PaultoHelena.Mon-
tana, is over eleven hundred miles This
road lies from one to two hundred miles
north of the Northern Pacific road, which
The Territory of Michigan was created
June 28th, 1834, and included that part of
Dakota lying east of the Missouri and
White Earth rivers, in addition to the
present States of Wisconsin, Michigan,
Iowa and Minnesota. July 3d, 183(5, Congress established the Territory of Wisconsin which included the eastern half of Dakota. The Territory of Iowa was organized June 12th, 1838, and a part of Dakota
was contained within its boundaries.
March 3d,1849, Minnesota Territory wases-
tablished which covered the eastern part
of Dakota.
Until the organization of Nebraska Territory May 30th, 1854, of which it became
a part, that portion of Dakota lying west
ofthe Missouri and White Earth rivers
was known as "Mandan Territory." From
May llth, 1858, the date when Minnesota
became a State, up tothe organization of a
territorial form of  government, April 2d,
ted all parts of the present Territory of
Dakota, excepting the Black Hills. The
oldest f ui- company in America was the
Hudson Bay companv,whioh was chartered by King. Charles IIin 1070. About 1811
Lord Selkirk, a Scottish Nobleman, was
granted by this company a lartre tract of
land lying on both sides of the Red River
of the North, snd extending as far south
as the mouth of the Red Lake river. Lord
Selkirk built a fort at Pembina, a short
distance siuth of the present International
line, about 1812. The first settler in this
region was a French trader, who settled
at Pembina about 1780. The authority for
this statement is Mr. Keating, the Historian of Major Long's expedition, which
visited the lo-ality in 1823 and found the
trader still living there. This was the first
actual settlement by white men within
the present limits of Dakota.
And so the "star of empire" has taken
its way, till this great country is now
entering upon its wonderful future in
agriculture, live-stock growing, etc.
In future articles on the trip and
country, the resources, grain and stock
raising, climate etc., will be noted.