Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, December 9, 1915, Page 5

VOLUME 13, NO. 295. HISTORY OF THE TOP GOUNTY IN NORTH'STAR STATE Named After Count Beltrami of the Royal Court of Italy; First Ex- plorer; at Buena Vista in 1823, Located in Central Northern Part of Minnesota ; Has 2,515,941 Acres; Organized Feb. 28, 1866. In the spring of 1823 Count Beltra- mi, formerly Judge of thé royal court of the ex-kingdom of Italy, came to America and shortly thereafter joined an expedition about to start for the then practically unknown north re- gion of North America. The expedition began its journey at St. Louis and followed up the Mississippi. It was May 20, 1823 that the first steamer ascended the Mississippi river to the mouth of the Minnesota river (then the St. Peter river)' and among the passengers on this boat was Count Beltrami. July 8 of the same year Beltrami joined an expedition and followed up the St. Peter river to its sources in Big Stone Lake, where Ortonville is now located. They followed this lake which is about twenty miles long lying in a northwesternly direc- tion and passed from it by a narrow channel into Lake Traverse, then con- sidered the source of the Red River of the North. The expedition continued’ north- ward but Count Beltrami parted from them and took two Indians and a half breed and went to what is now Thief River Falls. Beltrami went up the river which was then known as Me- ni-cia-wat-pa or the Bloody river. Near what is known as High Land- ing they were attacked from ambush by a war patty of Sioux and one of the Indians of Beltrami’s party was wounded. Beltrami took one of lis Indians and following the river ar- rived .at the Red Lakes.. He then went to the Ten Mile lake, portaged to Rice lake and canoed to the north shore of lake Julia. He then journ- ied to the Turtle Lake and river, visited Lake Bemidji which he named Torigiani and journeyed down the Mississippi river. = .The above, in brief is the discovery of the county of Beltrami and it is after him that the county is named. * Ed * * The county was created February 28, 1866, with the county seat at Be- midji, and is located in the northern part of the state, its northern boun- dary being the Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River which separates the county from Canada. * ok % The area of the county is 4,962.29 square miles or 2,515,941.77 acres, of which 1,869,724.08 acres are land, 646,217.69 acres are water. The land surface is-divided into 1,677 farms, according to a report made by the State Immigration Department. * T * * * * Dairying, live stock, poultry and general farming are carried on quite extensively. In 1913 the county had one creamery with an output of 28,115 pounds of butter. The live stock of the county for 1913 was as follows: horses,.3,157; cattle, 8,659; sheep, 2,193; swine 1,959. T ox o The c‘ounty is well subplied with United States rural free deliveries, telephones, and transportation faci- lities, having six railroads, viz: Great Northern, Minnesota ‘& International, ‘Wilton & Northern, Minneapolis, Red Lake & Manitoba, The ‘“Soo” and the Canadian Northern. It also has five newspapers. * The population of the county in 1910 was-19,337, of which 14,100 were native born. The foreign popu- lation being as follows: 263; Sweden, 1,246; Norway, 1,934; Great Britain and Ireland, 190; Den- mark, 160; Finland, 94; Russia, 42; other countries 1,208.. Their occu- pations are the various agricultural pursuits and lumbering, together with manufacturing industries. .. - - * x It has 116 rural schools, four grad- ed schools, two high schools and 34 churches with denominations as fol- ows: - Catholic, Norwegian, Swedish ‘xui‘l German Lutheran, Presbyterian, Germany. Congregational, Methodish, Episcopal and Baptist. I On January 1, 1913, there were in the county ‘approximately 48,000 acres- of state land unsold, also ap- proximately 1,035,226 acres of gov- ernment land subject to homestead entry. Land can be purchased in. this county at $10.00 per acre and up- wards according to location and im- provements. ° * * * * x % Beltrami county is blessed ‘with a copious rainfall, the average annual precipitation being about 30 inches. There are no dry-farming problemns to solve. Hot winds and hailstorms are unknown. As a matter of fact the climatic counditions which con- front the farmer are practically the same as those which confronted the pioneer in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The water is not only abundant but is pure. - * % The surface of the county is gen- erally level. There are no rough, rocky or waste areas in any part of the county. The south twenty miles of the county or about twenty townships in the south end, lie in the Mississippi Valley proper and slope to the south and east, being drained by the Mis- sissippi river and the Turtle river and their tributaries. Eight townships in the southwest corner of the county along the Mis- sissippi river, have a mixed soil— sandy loam with jack pine timber and clay loam with hardwood timber, parts of each township having two kinds of soil and two varities of tim- ber. This part of the.county is fair- 1y well advanced in farming and has gaod roads. The twelve townships in the Mis- sissippi Valley which lie in the Turtle River Basin, are nearly all clay soil, clay subsoil, with mixed hardwood timber, and with some very fine, large areas of natural blue Jomt ‘and red top meadows. * * One part of the county lies in fertile and beautiful'Red Lake Ba: sloping gently towdrd the Big Red Lakes, the largest body of fresh water in any state in the Union. This basin covers approxhflatély 42 townships: ‘When- developed, this. * *x * ® section will become a very rich di-|. versified farm and dairy coyntry es- pecially adapted to the raising of corn and clover. Ninety bushels of well matured corn per acre . were raised on the shore of Upper Red Lake. * % * * The land south and east of the two Red Lakes, and in the valeys of the Shotley, North and South Battle, North and South Corormant, Black- |- duck and Mud rivers is part lefel and part rolling, mostly clay loam so6il, wi‘h hardwood timber and very few stones. Along the Sandy river the land is spotted, some of the yery best soil, and some jack pine lands. { The balance of the land in the Red Lake Bagin slopes gently towardg| * % x Red Lake, with ample fall for good s drainage. The soil is a rich black loam or vegetable formation, from one and one-half to four feet in thickness, overlaying-a solid clay subsoil. good stage of farm development, and are well settled. The remainder is covered partly with spruce, cedar, tamarack, birch, poplar, basswood ‘artd miple and oak timber, and over one- | half of this section is still vacant homestead lands. * - At the ea’stern ends of both Upper and Lower Red Lakes, along the mouth of the Battle and Blackduck rivers, and west of Lower Red Lake, along the ‘outlet of Red Lake river for many miles are unexcelled g‘razilng grounds, with thousands of acres of natural blue joint and red top hay meadows that can for the most.part be easily cut with a mower. * - * * While it is true that there is con- siderable low land in Beltrami coun- ty, a great deal has been done towards reclaiming the same and at the pres- ent writing there are many judicial ditches in the course of construction. (See ditch article) ‘When these lands are reclaimed it is a well known The |. northwest six townships are under a| BEMIDJL. MINNESOTA, THUBSDAY, DECEMBER. 9, 1915. BELTRAMI COUNTY—THE LANID OF CERTAHNTY Beltrami County Whedt Field; Which Producedcs6 Bushels to the Acre Five Railway Lines Traverse Beltrami County Five lines of railway, three of which are transcontinental, and their branches traverse Beltrami county. The Great Northern, Soo and Canadi- an Northern are the transcontinental lines; the Northern Pacific and its subsidiary line, Minnesota & Interna- * lapproximately $935,000. freight and passenger business totaled The busi- iness has increased considerable sincé that time. Several -Routes - Planned. There are several routes planned and -surveyed where the railroads may entend their service. The M. & I. has planned an extension on from Kelliher to International Falls. and to Baudette and Spooner. The Soo will probably build across the north- ern section of thé county; the Red Lake line ‘may extend - northward Chicken Yard of E:! J. 'Boobar, Couutv “Chicken King.™ . - | tional #d the MitEapoNts, Red Lake & Manitoba are the other lines. The Canadian Northern traverses the| northern part of the county and the others form 'a network through the southern section. % Railroads in Bemld]L Bemidji has the mam transconti- nental line of the Great Northern from Duluth to Grand Forks to the Pacific coast, the Wilfon & Northern | line, and the Bemidji Sauk Center- St. Paul line.” .Bemidji also has the aIcng “the Yeast: side of Red Lake:. [the M}nneapohs & St. Louis may build a new line from Minneapolis through Bemidji to Winnipeg. These 1proposed extensions would : open i nearly a million acres of land includ- ing homéstead lands in the county. Has Water Transportation. In \"atar'transportation facilities, \Beltraml county, has the Mississippi | North Turtle river, with its chain . i of t.welve lakes, emptying into_ the Beltrami County Wheat Field. Sob, Duluth to.Winnipeg line; the| Minnesota & International.and North- ern Pacific from St. Paul to Interna- tional Falls and St. Paul to Kelliher; the Minneapolis Red Lake & Mani- toba line from Bemidjx to Redhy Much Business Transacted: An immense volume of business is transacted by the roads in the coun- ty. Duging 1911 the railroads of the county handled approximately 650,- 000 tons of freight; 275,000 passen- ge‘rs and total revenue from this river in Cass Lake; the Lower Red Lakes; the Red Lake, Sandy, Mud, O’Brien, Blackduck, North and- South Cor- ‘mant, North and South Battle, Shot- ley, Tamarack, . North, South' and East branches of the Rapifl, Baudette, Winter Road and Rainy rivers, and the Lake of ‘the Woods. Large Steamboats ply the waters of the Mississippi, Red Lake and Rainey rivers and Lake of Woods and their tributaries. The lakes and rivers Mississippi Upper and “This was the Indian paradlse ploneered by the lumberman, in- | vaded by the homesteader, now ‘witnessing the beginning of an era ‘of agriculrural development desti- fact that they will.be the best to be found anywhere. The crop acreage in Beltrami Coun- ty Tor 1914 is as follows: corn, 1,295; oats, 4,213; 'wheat, 1,519; barley, 727; rye, 221; flax, 314; potatoes, 2,671; hay and forage, 15 404, ned to produce more wealth from the surface than ever produced.“ above or below. ‘| underbrush but they keep down all ‘rlver, Lake Bem!d_u, Cass Lake, the| lfrom the same land during the same afford tx'ansm,rtation: for farm:.and | forest. products; . and ' the. present volumn:and" future’ - possibilities of this yast network of water transpor- tation, laenmes qnnnot be: ovemtl- Stock Raising . -And Dairying Great Industries Daitying and stock raising are des- tined to be the greatest industries of Beltrami’ county because of the bountllul ‘supply of good clear wn.ter and the profuse growth of both tame and’ ‘wild grasses and all kinds of tame clover. Prof. W. M. Hayes, as- sistant secretary of agriculture at Washington, after examining this country, in Speaking of it said: “It is destined to be the greatest .dairy- ing country of the world.” C. P. Bull, professor of Agronomy, University of Minnesota, speaking of this section said: ‘“There is no better section of the state or country that is better suited for dairying and the raising of diversified crops than this part of Minnesota.” The late’ George Welsh, former Commissioner: of: Immigration, said: “In no other portion of the United ‘States can dairying be so pmfl.tlhly carried on.” ° Sheep. 3 .Next to the dairy cow, sheep are probably the most popular animals in Beltrami County. The farmer in this section estimates that a flock of 25 -sheep is equivalernt to one hired man. The sheep not ofly clear the land of noxious weeds, and turn unmarket- able hay and stump “pasturage into fancy wool and choice lamb chops. This animal is probably the easiest kept and .least expensive of all farm animals, while in proportion to the investment he represents he produces a larger income. “Corn” . Corn. is fast becoming ome of the staple ‘products of this country, the soil of ‘this locality is well adapted to its\growth, while the climate and atmospheric conditions insure a fully matured crop every season. The average yields are from 40 to 50 bushels per acre, w}ule larger yxelrls are frequently repnrted . Clover. -Clover is one of the most success- ful crops of Beltrami County. Farm- ers frequently receive as much as $100 per acre for their clover seed alone, not to mention the hay cut season. In addition to this is the well known fact that clover is one of the very best of fertilizers, always returning to the soil more than it takes from it. Timothy, red top, blue grass and in fact all of the tame grasses, and all kinds of clover as well, grow as pro- COUNT BELTRAMS 'WRITES BOOK OF _ EAUTIFUL LANDS Letters to Sweethesn -Countess-Ju- lian, Give Aeoount of Exploxer‘s vaeh Throngh ‘County. Describes, Lake Bemidji. and: Names - Lake Julian’; Articles Pab- ¢ Beltrami county was' named after Courit©J..C.. Beltrami, formerly ‘judge of a royal court in the ex—ldngdom of Italy who traveled 4hrbugh this territory; in- 1823. ; Beltrami published an nccoun ot his. travels in a_ hook nnmed “A.? Pils gramage in- Eurupe and . Amar‘lfl. Lending to t.he Discove.ry of. the Sources of Che Miumippl River %3 The book is written in the form ot a serfes’ of letters to' his sweetheart Countess Juljnn who was in Europe and was publlshed in London in 1828. A copy of the book is'in the nmeu!on of R. H. chkhnsbh of Buene-Vista:- Count'Beftrami in his book” 'de- seribes’ his 1ou ey in this district in part as tollows Stopped By hke “I left Red: Lake on: the morning of :the 26th dgy of--August 1823, Half way in‘my. course I was stopped by a fine lake surrounded with-icy- press trees. .It has neither entrance nor exit. Its waters are- gloomy like objects reflected by them and a cavern where the water is motionless as it is indeed in every part, recalled to my mind the Sybils’ Giotto at Cunae, as, however, I am no Eneas, 1 did not consider it prudent to enter. This lake has no name and I gavs it the appelation of Lake ‘Aveuis of .the New World.” * x * % Form of Half Moon. “After proceeding upwards of fiveor six miles always in a southerly di- rection we entered a noble lake, form- ed like the others by the waters of the river and which has no other issue that the rivers entrance and discharge. its form is that of a half moon and it has a beautiful Island in the center of it. Its circumfer- ance is about twenty miles. The Indians call it Puposky—Wiza-Kany- aguen, or the end of the Shaking lands, an etymology very correct as nearly all of the region we have traversed from the Lake of the Pine may be almost considered to float up- on the waters.” * x Heavenly Ecstacy. " “But now my dear Countess, let me request you to step on quickly, for a moment pass the short ' portage which conducts to the top of the * * fusely in this county as in any oth- er part of the state, and it is this fact ‘which-insures to the man of moderate | means who has a few cows, a few sheep and a few hogs, a good com- fortable living and means of laying a foundation for a home, and for the more ambitious, a fortune, with-out the usual attendant hardships in a new country. Alfalfa is also taking up its share as a crop—many acres being seeded this year. Wheat. ‘Wheat can be grown successfully in. this locality and wheat in this section will rank in quality with any grown in the southern part of the state. The climate and soil are adapted to both the spring and win- ter varities of this cereal. The yields of spring wheat will ordinarily run from 15 to 30 bushels per acre, while it is not unusual for the winter vari- ties to yield 45 bushels per acre. ‘Winter wheat sycceeds usually be- cause there is an even snow fall which stays on until the danger of sprjpg freezing is past. Potatoes. The reports of farmers living in Beltrami county on'their potato pro- ductions read almost like fairy tales, yet these men, many of them of un- impeachable integrity, have cworn to production of potatoes ranging up as high as 624 bushels per acre. 300 bushels per acre would at least be a reasonable average production. st Sm J ‘grain crops (Continued' on Page'8) small hill, which overhangs these sources on the south, and transport yourself to the place where I am now writing. Here, reposing under the tree, beneath whose shade I am rest- ing at the present moment you will survey with an eager eye and with the feelings of intense and new de- light, the sublime traits of nature, phenomena which fill the soul with astonishment and inspire it at the same time with almost heavenly ecstacy. This is the work which be- longs to the Creater of it alone to explain. We can adore in silence his omnipotent land. In this situation the mind of man rises in rapture to- -wards the Author of all the wonders which surround him.” ‘“Here the most determined infidel would be compelléd to admit the ex- istence of a Superior Being.” ‘v * * * 2 - Highest Land in America. “We are now on the highest land of North America, if we except the icy and unknown mountains which are lost in the problematical regions of the Pole of that part of the world and in the vague conjectures of visionary map makers.” 5 + “Yet all is here plain and level and the hill is' merely an eminence form- ed as it were for an observator.” “Casting your eye around us, we perceive the flow of water—to the south towards the Gulf of Mexico,'to the north towards the Frozen sea, on the east to the Atlantic and on the west_towards the Pacific ocean. A vast platform crowns this dlltlnguhh- i ed;. uumreme, _elevation. and, whnt 18 (Continued on Page 8)