Part 6 (1/2)
LETTER VIII.
LUMBERING INTERESTS.
Lumber as an element of wealth-- Quality of Minnesota lumber-- Locality of its growth-- The great pineries-- Trespa.s.ses on government land-- How the lumbermen elude the government-- Value of lumber-- Character of the practical Lumberman-- Transportation of lumber on rafts.
CROW WING, October 1856.
IT seems to have been more difficult for countries which abound in precious metals to attain to great prosperity than for a rich man to secure eternal felicity. Witness, for instance, the sluggish growth and degenerate civilization of the South American states. But timber is a fundamental element of colonial growth. The mines of Potosi cannot compare with it in value. An abundance of timber and a superabundance of it are two very different things. Some of the Middle, and what were once Western States, were originally covered with forests. So of the greater part of New England. In Ohio and in Michigan timber has been an enc.u.mbrance; for there was great labor to be performed by the settler in clearing the land and preparing it for the plough; and at this day we see in travelling through each of those states, as well as in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri, fields planted amidst heavy timber trees which have been belted that they may wither and die. By an abundance of timber I mean an ample supply not only for domestic but foreign market; and with this understanding of the word I will repeat what has often been said, and what I suppose is well known, that Minnesota has an abundance of excellent timber.
Unlike the gorgeous forests in New Hamps.h.i.+re, which behind high cliffs and mountain fastnesses defy the woodman, the timber of Minnesota grows in the valleys of her great rivers and upon the banks of their numerous tributaries. It is thus easily s.h.i.+pped to a distant market; while the great body of the land, not enc.u.mbered with it, but naked, is ready for the plough and for the seed. Most of the timber which grows in the region below this point is hard wood, such as elm, maple, oak, and ash.
There is considerable scrub oak also thinly scattered over large portions of fertile prairie. To a casual observer these oaks, from their stunted appearance, would be taken as evidence of poor soil. But the soil is not the cause of their scrubby looks. It is the devouring fires which annually sweep over the plains with brilliant though terrific aspect, and which are fed by the luxuriant gra.s.s grown on that same soil. If the oaks did not draw uncommon nourishment from the soil, it must be difficult for them to survive such scorchings. It is a consoling thought that these fires cease in proportion as the country is settled up. The rock maple is indigenous to the soil; and the Indians have long been in the habit of making sugar from its sap.
The timber most used for fences is tamarack. The pineries may be said to begin at the mouth of the Crow Wing River; though there is a great supply on the Rum River. For upwards of a hundred miles above here on the Mississippi-- more or less dense, the pine forests extend. Captain John Pope, in the interesting report of his expedition to the Red River of the North, in 1849, says-- ” The pineries of the upper Mississippi are mostly upon its tributaries, and I think are not found on the west side further south than the parallel of 46 degrees N.
lat.i.tude.” (The lat.i.tude of this place is 46 degrees 16' 50”.) ”They alternate, even where most abundant, with much larger tracts of fertile country.” Again he says-- ”As might be expected from its alluvial character, there is no pine timber in the valley of the Red River, but the oak and elm there attain to a size which I do not think I have ever seen elsewhere.” In another place he remarks that ”the pineries along the Crow Wing River are among the most extensive and valuable found on the tributaries of the Mississippi.” Mr. Schoolcraft says of this river, ”the whole region is noted for its pine timber.”
In speaking of the country on the St. Louis River, a few miles from where it empties into Lake Superior, the same gentleman remarks: ”The growth of the forest is pines, hemlock, spruce, birch, oak, and maple.” I had heard considerable about Minnesota lumber, it is true, but I was not prepared to see the pine timber so valuable and heavy as it is above and about here. The trees are of large growth, straight and smooth. They are not surpa.s.sed by ”The tallest pine, Hewn on Norwegian hills to be the mast Of some great admiral.”
Cujus est solum ejus est usque ad caelum-- whose the soil, his to the sky-- is a maxim in these pine regions of literal importance. There is something besides utility also to be mentioned in this connection.
With the exception of swamps, which are few and far between, the timber land has all the beauty of a sylvan grove. The entire absence of underbrush and decayed logs lends ornament and attraction to the woods. They are more like the groves around a mansion in their neat and cheerful appearance; and awaken reflection on the Muses and the dialogues of philosophers rather than apprehension of wild beasts and serpents.
The relative importance of the lumber business would hardly be estimated by a stranger. It has been carried on for at least six years; and considerable has found its way as far down as St. Louis. It will be asked, I imagine, if all this timber land, especially the pine, has been sold by the government; and if not, how it happens that men cut it down and sell it? I will answer this. The great region of pineries has not yet been surveyed, much less sold by the government.
But notwithstanding this, men have cut it in large quant.i.ties, sold it into a greedy market, and made money, if not fortunes in the business.
As a sort of colorable excuse for cutting timber, those employed in the business often make a preemption claim on land covered with it, and many people suppose they have the right to cut as much as they please after the incipient steps towards preemption. But this is not so. All that a claimant can do in this respect is to cut wood enough for his fuel, and timber enough for his own building purposes, until he receives a patent from the government. Of course it is altogether reasonable and proper that men should be precluded from doing so until their t.i.tle in the soil is complete. Because, until a preemption claim is perfect, or, until the land has been acquired by some legal t.i.tle, it is not certain that the claimant will ultimately secure it or pay any money to the government. But does not the government do anything to prevent these trespa.s.ses? Yes, but all its attempts are baffled.
For example, last spring a large quant.i.ty of splendid lumber was seized by the United States marshal and sold at public auction. It was bid off by the lumbermen themselves, who had formed a combination to prevent its falling into the hands of other purchasers. This combination had no resistance as I am aware of in the public opinion of the territory, and the timber was sold to those who had it cut at a price so far below its value that it didn't pay the expense of the legal proceedings on the part of the government. This is accounted for in the fact of the exhaustless quant.i.ty of pine timber towards the north; in the demand for it when sawed; and in the disposition to protect enterprising men, though technically trespa.s.sers, who penetrate into the forest in the winter at great expense, and whose standing and credit are some guaranty of their ultimate responsibility to the government, should they not perfect their t.i.tles. The business of getting out the timber is carried on in the winter, and affords employment for a large number of athletic young men. The price of timber, I ascertained of Mr. P. D. Pratt, a dealer at St. Paul, is, for the best, $30 per M.; for common, $20.
Most people have seen or been told something of the lumbermen of Maine. Allowing this to be so, it will not be difficult to comprehend the condition and character of the lumbermen of Minnesota and the northwest. But if there is anybody who fancies them to be a set of laborers, such as build our railroads and dig coal and minerals, he is greatly mistaken. The difference is in birth and education; between foreigners and native-born citizens. A difference not in rights and merits, so much as in habits and character. Born on American soil, they have attended our common schools, and have the bearing and independence of sovereigns. None but very vigorous men can endure, or at least attempt to endure, the exposure of living in the woods all winter and swinging the axe; though by proper care of themselves, such exercise is conducive to health and strength. Accordingly we find the lumberman-- I mean of course the practical lumberman-- to be a thick-set, muscular young man, with a bright eye and florid cheek; in short, one whom we would call a double-fisted fellow. He is not one of your California boys, but more affable and domestic, with a shorter beard, and not so great a profusion of weapons. His dress is snug and plain-- the regular pioneer costume of boots over the pants, and a thick red s.h.i.+rt in lieu of a coat. His capital stock is his health and his hands. When in employment he is economical and lays up his wages.
When out of employment and in town, his money generally goes freely.
As a cla.s.s, the lumbermen are intelligent. They are strong talkers, for they put in a good many of the larger sort of words; and from their pungent satire and sledge-hammer style of reasoning, are by no means very facile disputants. They are preeminently jokers. This is as they appear on their way to the woods. During the season of their active labor they usually spend the evening, after a day of hard work, in storytelling or in a game of euchre. Their wages amount to about two dollars a day, exclusive of board. They have good living in the woods, the provisions, which are furnished on an ample scale, being served by male cooks.
While on the subject of lumber, which may possibly interest some people who wish to redeem the fortunes they have lately lost in Maine lumber, I ought not to leave unmentioned the valuable cargoes of it which are floated down the Mississippi. When coming up in the boat I was astonished to see such stupendous rafts. Large logs are transported by being made into rafts. At a landing where the boat stopped, I on one occasion attempted to estimate the number of logs comprised in one of these marine novelties, and found it to be about eight hundred; the logs were large, and were worth from five to six dollars each. Here then was a raft of timber worth at least $4000.
They are navigated by about a dozen men, with large paddles attached at either end of the raft, which serve to propel and steer. Often, in addition to the logs, the rafts are laden with valuable freights of sawed lumber. Screens are built as a protection against wind, and a caboose stands somewhere in the centre, or according to western parlance it might be called a cabin. Sometimes the raft will be running in a fine current; then only a couple of hands are on the watch and at the helm. The rest are seen either loitering about observing the country, or reclining, snugly wrapped up in their blankets. Some of these rafts must cover as much as two acres. Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane was not a much greater phenomenon.
LETTER IX.
Sh.o.r.eS OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
Description of the country around Lake Superior-- Minerals-- Locality of a commercial city-- New land districts-- Buchanan-- Ojibeway-- Explorations to the sources of the Mississippi-- Henry R.
Schoolcraft-- M. Nicollet's report-- Resources of the country above Crow Wing.
CROW WING, October 7, 1856.
THERE is one very important section of this territory that I have not yet alluded to. I mean that part which borders on Lake Superior. This calls to mind that there is such a place as Superior City. But that is in Wisconsin, not in Minnesota. From that city (so called, yet city in earnest it is like to be) to the nearest point in this territory the distance by water is twelve miles. The St. Louis River is the dividing line for many miles between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The country round about this greatest of inland seas is not the most fertile. It is somewhat bleak, on the northern sh.o.r.e especially, but is nevertheless fat in minerals. On the banks of the St. Louis River the soil is described, by the earliest explorers as well as latest visiters, to be good. The river itself, though it contains a large volume of water, is not adapted to navigation, on account of its rapids.
Those who have sailed across Lake Superior to the neighborhood of Fond-du-Lac appear to have been charmed by the scenery of its magnificent islands and its rock-bound sh.o.r.es. Most people, I suppose, have heard of its beautiful cl.u.s.ter of islands called the Twelve Apostles. One peculiar phenomenon often mentioned is the boisterous condition of its waters at the sh.o.r.e, 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 das.h.i.+ng 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 sh.o.r.e 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. Aside from the official fees, they get much more for private services. They have more or less evidence to reduce to writing in nearly every preemption case, for which the general land office permits them to receive private compensation. It is rather necessary that the local land officers should be lawyers, as they have frequent occasion to decide on litigated land claims.