Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, December 9, 1915, Page 13

SECTION TWO i T BEMIDJL MINNESOTA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1915. BEMIDJT— BEMIDJI A CITY WITH A FUTURE; CITY OF PROMISE Best Type of Clean Hustling Commu- nity; Built on Solid Foundation of Natural Resources. RAPIDLY FORGING AHEAD AS MANUFACTURING CENTER Has Friendly, Democratic, Hard Working, Homeloving Ctitzens; Has Much to Offer. ““A city embossomed in the West, Set like a jewel in the billowy Folds of Nature’s green, luxurious drapery.” — it - (By Guy W. Small.) Published in the “Northern Minne- sota” Magazine at Duluth. Sixty miles north from the near- est railroad Chief Bemidji thought he was safe from their encroach- ments, but one day with the beauti- ful autumn haze hanging over the lake he saw seven white men invade his country. They were Tams Bixby, Harris Richardson, Henry Hutchin- son, A. C. Clauson, W. J. Hilligoss, Louis Lohn and F. A. Silver, and they had purchased the present townsite of Bemidji. One year later the little colony of palefaces had grown to 200 souls. Today it is a lively, bustling little city of more than 7,000 or more. Reasons for Growth. Few cities just grow of themselves. There must be some reason for build- ing a city on any location. Some are based, like Los Angeles, on their cli- mate. Some, like Des Moines, are simply huge farming- communities. - .Some like Pittsburg, are great manu- facturing centers. Some, like Chi- cago or St. Louis, or Kansas City or Winnipeg, are great distributing points. Some, like Duluth or New Orleans, are shipping points. Has Them All. Bemidji has all of these reasons for being, unless it is possible the last mentioned one. It has the North- ern Minnesota climate to begin with, and scoffers to the contrary, there is none better for lotus eaters and idlers. It is a vigorous, healthful climate for the full-blooded man who wants to do a day’s work. The cool breezes of summer, followed by the long mild days of golden autumn, offer at- tractions that make those of Califor- nia seem insipid. Ask any Minne- sotan who has lived in California which he prefers. Added to the in- comparable climate, is the most beau- tiful location any city can boast. Situated on the shores of the beauti- ful lake of the same name, it is in- deed the city beautiful. Thus, climate;and ‘topography have' made Bemidji above all else a livable city and that should be the first es- sential. Climate and topography can be capitalized, and Bemidji is capitalizing hers. A Productive Soil. Des Moines can claim no advan- tages over Bemidji as a center of an agricultural region. Surounding Be- midji are 40,000 acres of undeveloped land. For centuries it has been en- riched by forest wood until a rich black loam has accumulated above the clay formation soil. No more productive soil for diversified crops can be found, and the farmers of Illi- nois, Iowa, Nebraska and Southern Minnesota are realizing that they can sell their high priced land, move to Northern Minnesota and for a fraction of what they realized, pur- chase just as much and just as guud soil. Every settler who moves to the rich farming district surrounding Bemidji, increases this city’s import- ance as a distributing point. Its prestige as the center of this grow- ing empire is already too well estab- lished to be taken away from it. Four great railroad systems centering in Bemidji give it this prestige. The Great Northern, the Soo, the North- ern Pacific and the Minesota, Red Lake & Manitoba.. Bemidji was once a frontier lumber town. As the cen- ter of the great pine forest of North- ern Minnesota, it had its reason for being in the lumber industry. There isTistill -enough- lumber tnbu»tar keep Bemidji's saw mills busy ‘or a quarter of a centuary to come, but as the lumber is being stripped from the hillsides, a more permanent in- dustry is taking its place—the oldest industry in the world, farming. Al- ready Bemidji ranks as the fourth city in the state as a shipping center. Only Minneapolis, St. Paul and Du- luth outrank it in the number of cars frieght shipped in and out during the course of a year. A Manufacturing Center. Thus Bemidji has two great re- quisites of a city—topography and climate to make it a livable city, and great natural resources back of it. Bemidji today is the bigest little city in the west. The streets are wide and well kept, and the business district has a hustling, busy air that would do credit to a community many ‘times its size. The ordinary “new town” has a street or dilapidated frame building. Bemidji’s 'main tures. There is no better index to the general character of a town or a city than its hotels. Modern, well kept hotels, with up-to-date service, be- speak a lively and growing commu- nity. Bemidji has such hotels. They are well patronized and that means that outsiders have business to do in Bemidji. -A Manufacturing Center. Bemidji is rapidly forging ahead as a manufacturing center, and if it were surounded by a desert instead of a fertile empire, it wold have suf- ficient reason for existence. The Great Father of Waters is the source of this factor in Bemidji’s future. It sup- plies Bemidji with cheap power which together with transportationfacilities, is the prime essential of manufactur- .ing. The electric light and power company has already spent $50,000 on improvements which will enable it to supply curent to any locality within a radius of thirty miles of Bemidji. This power can never be- come an irksome monopoly, for the city owns on option on the plant which can be exercised if the. neces- sity arises. With such power facili= ties and with such excellent railroad conections, Bemidji is in a posi- tion to serve the great fertile do- minion of which it is the center, not only as a distributing point but as city - has' fourteen manufacturing plants which give employment to “GlaA YO, :street.:has -stone: or comerete istrue-| a manufacturing center. Already the |- “THE MAGIC CITY OF THE NORTH” L. _THEBEMIDJIDAILY PIONEER PAGES 9 TO 16 h < 8ECKER co. some 1,400 men.. The }ist Is' grow- ing every year, and it will 8row more rapidly as the country develops and the markets widen. There are four newspapers, the daily and weekly Pioneer, Sentinel and the Herald. Public Spirit An Aid. Public spirit-has played a big part in the development of Bemidji to date. The Commercial club is splendid body of wide-a-wake men The club occupies comfortable quar- ters where both social and business gatherings are held. The Bemidji Auto club is also a hustling organiza- tion, and these two asociations have done much for civic betterment. The Why Bemidji Prospers IT is located in the heart of one of the best undeveloped farm- ing regions in America, with ex- cellent railroad fac1ht1es cheap water power, big saw mills and lumbering activities. - It is a city 2+ Bemidji. BEMIIMI IS MEBGA FOR MANY SETTLERS 'FROM ALL SECTIONS Incorporated as a Village, May 20, 1896; First Settlers Appear in Spring of 1893. - NAMED IN HONOR OF OLD INDIAN CHIEF Growth Combined Characteristics ol the Oak With Those of the Mushroom. Bemidji was incorporated as a vil~ lage May 20, 1896, ° The first meeting of the village council, of record, was held August 24, 1896 at which date Fred M. Mal- zahn was - president of the village council, Edward Kaiser, recorder and George McTaggart, G. E. Carson and Guy Remore, trustees. el Good Trading Point. ¥} The motive that prompted the first White men to settle in Bemidji was, that it was a good point at which to establish a trading post to barter with the Indians, who were at that time living on the south shore of what is now known as Lake Bemidi, and so it came to pass than in May 1890, M. E. Carson blazed his way and cut a wagon road through the primeval forests to the present sifs of Bemidji, from his traditig post called Moose, tweiity nifles to the est. From that poiiit he hauled in & ‘wagon ‘load 6f siipphes with which he started in trade. il thé iieantime he had built himself & fade log house of small dimensions in the im- mediate vicinity of whete his pros- Dective customers were dwelling on the lake shore. - :['he b}lilding was located close to where he Missxsslppl river joins together Lakes Irving and Bemidji. It has long since ceased to be a Iand mark. : Settlers in 1893. In the spring of 1893 the first set- tlers began to put in appearance. At that time Freeman Doud came here and settled at the north end of Lake He was closely followed ‘by Thomas Joy, John Spaulding, Por- ter and Wilis Nye, father and son, who came from near Fergus Falls. The Indians were peaceable and well disposed toward the whites. Chief Bemidji was at the head of a’tribe of about fifty Chippewas, most of with such natural attractions as to give it fame as a summer re- sort, a fame that will spread. results of their work can be seen at a glance. Bemidji owns its own wa- ter plant, which furnishes the entire city with the best of pure water from artesian wells, and with fire protec- tion through twenty-eight blocks of city mains. Bemidji has more than three miles of paved streets and many miles of good roads, thanks to the 4 3 F s y actiyities .of . the automobile owners, Jargely., Itihas’anexcellent sewer- age:system, some twelve miles of concrete walks, a fine city hall, a Carnegie library, a fire department unequalled for a city of its size, an efficient. police department and schools and churches that are un- surpassed. These necessary ad- juncets of a modern city but help to make it a lovable city. Three mod- ern school buildings louse the young people of the city, and every church denomination of importance is rep- resented. 3 Is.a Paradise. Some reference has been made to Bemidji as a summer resort, but this feature deserves much more extended mention. It seems paradoxical that a live hustling community of 7,000 people, depending on manufacturing and distributing trade, can also offer attractions both as a summer resort and as a mecca for sportsmen and .| fishermen, yet such is the case with Bemidji. Bemidji is on the “height ‘of land”, the watershed between the Gulf of Mexico and Hudson’s Bay. The altitude and the wonderful sum- mer climate' make it an ideal resort for the summer visitor. The natural charms of the northern Minnesota woods is still untouched in many regions about Bemidji. The summer tourist can get any kind of an out- ing he 'desires.’ 'If he wants a well kept, modern summer hotel where ‘moderate prices are charged, he can *: Continued on: Page 13. % : CHIEF BEMIDJI (C ha-now-ish-kung). In whose honor the City of ‘Bemidji’ was named. whom dwelt on the south shore of Lake Bemidji or between that and Little 'Bemidji lake as Lake Irving was then called. Up to their final removal to the Cass Lake reserva- tion, “Chlef Bemidji and his tribe always retained friendly relations with the early settlers. To this fact, no little credit is due to the old chief, who at all times was found to be reli- nhlg and in every way trustworthy. Died in 1904, The present city of Bemidji is named in honor of the old chief who died in April, 1904, at the age of eighty-five years. In 1896 Bemidji became the mecca for many settlers from all sections of the south and west and the tide of immigration has ever since snrged this way, resulting in one season in the location on the present site of the city, a sufficient population to justify the organization of a village and later on incorporating as a city. Much History. So much historical lore is associat- ed with Bemidji that it would require volumes to properly depict it in all its elements of bravery, vigor, spon- ‘taneity, romance, richness and beau- ty. In nineteen years Bemidji has graduated to a fine first class city and one which has now unpreced- ented recognition for progressiveness and_ energy. In comparativeiy a few years it had won the nom de plumes of “The Hub City of the Northwest” and “The Magic City of the North.” West Shore of Lake. Bemidji is situated on the west shore' of ‘the’beautiful lake .of the same name in Beltrami county: Brief- 1y stated, it is 270 miles north; from St..Paul. and- Minneapolis, 180 miles west of Duluth and 90 miles east of Crookston. A glance at the map “ Continued-on-Page 13-