University of Virginia Library

LETTER XII.
SPECULATION AND BUSINESS.

IT is maintained by the reviewers, I believe, that the duller a writer is, the more accurate he should be. In the outset of this letter, I desire to testify my acquiescence in the justice of that dogma, for if, like neighbor Dogberry, "I were as tedious as a king," I could not find it in my heart to bestow it all without a measure of utility.

I shall try to answer some questions which I imagine might be put by different classes of men who are interested in this part of the west. My last letter had some hints to the farmer, and I can only add, in addition, for his benefit, that the most available locations are now a considerable distance above St. Paul. The valley of the St. Peter's is pretty much taken up; and so of the valley of the Mississippi for a distance of fifteen miles on either side to a point a hundred miles above St. Paul. One of the land officers at Minneapolis informed me that there were good preemption claims to be had fifteen miles west, that being as far as the country was thickly settled. One of the finest regions now unoccupied, that I know of, not to except even the country on the Crow Wing River, is the land bordering on Otter Tail Lake. For forty miles all round that lake the land is splendid. More than a dozen disinterested eye-witnesses have described that region to me in the most glowing terms. In beauty, in fertility, and in the various collateral resources which make a farming country desirable, it is not surpassed. It lies south of the picturesque highlands or hauteurs des terres, and about midway between the sources of the Crow Wing and North Red Rivers. From this town the distance to it is sixty miles. The lake itself is forty miles long and five miles in width. The water is clear and deep, and abounds with white fish that are famous for their delicious flavor. The following description, which I take from Captain Pope's official narrative of his exploration, is a reliable description of this delightful spot, now fortunately on the eve of being settled—" To the west, north-west, and north-east, the whole country is heavily timbered with oak, elm, ash, maple, birch, bass, &c., &c. Of these the sugar maple is probably the most valuable, and in the vicinity of Otter Tail Lake large quantities of maple sugar are manufactured by the Indians. The wild rice, which exists in these lakes in the most lavish profusion, constitutes a most necessary article of food with the Indians, and is gathered in large quantities in the months of September and October. To the east the banks of the lake are fringed with heavy oak and elm timber to the width of one mile. The whole region of country for fifty miles in all directions around this lake is among the most beautiful and fertile in the world. The fine scenery of lakes and open groves of oak timber, of winding streams connecting them, and beautifully rolling country on all sides, renders this portion of Minnesota the garden spot of the north-west. It is impossible in a report of this character to describe the feeling of admiration and astonishment with which we first beheld the charming country in the vicinity of this lake; and were I to give expression to my own feelings and opinions in reference to it, I fear they would be considered the ravings of a visionary or an enthusiast."1 But let me say to the speculator that he need not covet any of these broad acres. There is little chance for him. Before that land can be bought at public sale or by mere purchasers at private sale, it will, I feel sure, be entirely occupied by actual settlers. And so it ought to be. The good of the territory is promoted by that beneficent policy of our public land laws which gives the actual settler the first and best chance to acquire a title by preemption.

Speculators have located a great many land warrants in Minnesota. Some have been located on lakes, some on swamps, some on excellent land. Of course the owner, who, as a general thing, is a nonresident, leaves his land idle for something to "turn up" to make it profitable. There it stands doing no good, but on the contrary is an encumbrance to the settler, who has to travel over and beyond it without meeting the face of a neighbor in its vicinity. The policy of new states is to tax non-resident landholders at a high rate. When the territory becomes a state, and is obliged to raise a revenue, some of these fellows outside, who, to use a phrase common up here, have plastered the country over with land warrants, will have to keep a lookout for the tax-gatherer. Now I do not mean to discourage moneyed men from investing in Minnesota lands. I do not wish to raise any bugbears, but simply to let them know that hoarding up large tracts of land without making improvements, and leaving it to increase in value by the toil and energy of the pioneer, is a way of doing things which is not popular with the actual settler. But there is a great deal of money to be made by judicious investments in land. Buying large tracts of land I believe to be the least profitable speculation, unless indeed the purchaser knows exactly what he is buying, and is on hand at the public sale to get the benefit of a second choice. I say second choice, because the preemptor has had the first choice long ago, and it may be before the land was surveyed. What I would recommend to speculators is to purchase in some good town sites. Buy in two or three, and if one or two happen to prove failures, the profits on the other will enable you to bear the loss. I know of a man who invested $6000 at St. Paul six years ago. He has sold over $80,000 worth of the land, and has as much more left. This is but an ordinary instance. The advantage of buying lots in a town arises from the rapid rise of the value of the land, the ready market, and withal the moderate prices at which they can be procured during the early part of its history.

To such persons as have a desire to come West, and are not inclined to be farmers, and who have not capital enough to engage in mercantile business, there is sufficient employment. A new country always opens avenues of successful business for every industrious man and woman; more kinds even than I could well enumerate. Every branch of mechanics needs workmen of all grades; from the boy who planes the rough boards to the head workman. Teaming affords good employment for young men the year round. The same may be said of the saw-mills. A great deal of building is going on constantly; and those who have good trades get $2.50 per day. I am speaking, of course, of the territory in general. One of the most profitable kinds of miscellaneous business is surveying. This art requires the services of large numbers; not only to survey the public lands, but town sites and the lands of private individuals. Labor is very high everywhere in the West, whether done by men, women, or children;—even the boys, not fourteen years old, who clean the knives and forks on the steamboats, get $20 a month and are found. But the best of it all is, that when a man earns a few dollars he can easily invest it in a piece of land, and double his money in three months, perhaps in one month. One of the merchant princes of Boston, the late Col. T. H. Perkins, published a notice in a Boston paper in 1789, he being then 25, that he would soon embark on board the ship Astrea for Canton, and that if any one desired to commit an "adventure" to him, they might be assured of his exertions for their interests. The practice of sending " adventures" "beyond the seas" is not so common as it was once; and instead thereof men invest their funds in western prizes. But let me remark in regard to the fact I relate, that it shows the true pioneer spirit. Col. Perkins was a pioneer. His energy led him beyond his counting-room, and he reaped the reward of his exertions in a great fortune.

I have now a young man in my mind who came to a town ten miles this side of St. Paul, six months ago, with $500. He commenced trading, and has already, by good investments and the profits of his business, doubled his money. Everything that one can eat or wear brings a high price, or as high as it does in any part of the West. The number of visitors and emigrants is so large that the productions of the territory are utterly inadequate to supply the market. Therefore large quantities of provisions have to be brought up the river from the lower towns. At Swan River, 100 miles this side of St. Paul, pork is worth $85. Knowing that pork constitutes a great part of the "victuals" up this way, though far from being partial to the article, I tried it when I dined at Swan River to see if it was good, and found it to be very excellent. Board for laboring men must be about four dollars a week. For transient guests at Crow Wing it is one dollar a day.

I have heard it said that money is scarce. It is possible. It certainly commands a high premium; but the reason is that there are such splendid opportunities to make fortunes by building and buying and selling city lots. A man intends that the rent of a house or store shall pay for its construction in three years. The profits of adventure justify a man in paying high interest. If a man has money enough to buy a pair of horses and a wagon, he can defy the world. These are illustrations to show why one is induced to pay interest. I do not think, however, money is "tight." I never saw people so free with their money, or appear to have it in so great abundance.

There is one drawback which this territory has in common with the greater part of the West, and in fact of the civilized world. It is not only a drawback, but a nuisance anywhere; I mean drinking or whiskey shops. The greater proportion of the settlers are temperate men, I am sure; but in almost every village there are places where the meanest kind of intoxicating liquor is sold. There are some who sell liquor to the Indians. But such business is universally considered as the most degraded that a mean man can be guilty of. It is filthy to see men staggering about under the influence of bad whiskey, or of any kind of whiskey. He who sends a young husband to his new cabin home intoxicated, to mortify and torment his family; or who sells liquor to the uneducated Indians, that they may fight and murder, must have his conscience—if he has any at all—cased over with sole leather. Mr. Gough is needed in the West.

Minnesota is not behind in education. Ever since Governor Slade, of Vermont, brought some bright young school mistresses up to St. Paul (in 1849), common school education has been diffusing its precious influences. The government wisely sets apart two sections of land—the 16th and 36th—in every township for school purposes. A township is six miles square; and the two sections thus reserved in each township comprise 1280 acres. Other territories have the same provision. This affords a very good fund for educational uses, or rather it is a great aid to the exertions of the people. There are some nourishing institutions of learning in the territory. But the greatest institution after all in the country—the surest protection of our liberties and our laws—is the FREE SCHOOL.