When we pass Jamestown, coming east, we enter the wheat belt of Dakota and pass fields of growing grain like that of Dalrymple’s, which is fifty thousand acres in extent. Here we come in contact with farming on a gigantic scale, and see the application of steam, not only for threshing, but for plowing, hauling and various other uses in which horses are generally employed.
Thence on to Minneapolis the route is through a level country, crossing the Red River of the North at Fargo, and by many pretty lakes to Brainard, where the road branches, one division leading to Duluth, and the other taking a southwest course to St. Paul.
PRAIRIE HOME OF A CREE INDIAN, NORTHERN MINNESOTA.—The Cree Indians are a small and constantly decreasing tribe. They have no record as great warriors, like the Blackfeet and the Sioux, but they seem to have held a secondary position throughout their entire history, so far as we have any information concerning them. Their villages were never so large and populous as those of other tribes, and their existence seems to be a dreary and unprofitable one. A more desolate home than the one photographed on this page could hardly be imagined. Even the dogs seem to regret that they were born.
FERRY ACROSS RED RIVER OF THE NORTH AT FARGO.—Red River of the North is a remarkable stream, because of its extreme narrowness, tortuous course and great depth. A few years ago there was a line of packets running on this river between Fargo, and Winnipeg, Manitoba. They did a very large business during the summer season, and assisted materially in settling up a large section of country rich in soil and mineral tributary thereto. The stream is so narrow, however, that two boats were unable to pass each other except at particular points where the banks were cut out for that purpose. It was like a single track line of street railway with turnouts. The ferry scene indicates the river’s width at Fargo, which was the southern terminus of navigation.