Chapter I: Front Matter

THE
SEAT OF EMPIRE.

BY

CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN,
"CARLETON."

"I now believe that the ultimate last seat of government on this
great continent will be found somewhere within a circle or radius
not very far from the spot on which I stand, at the head of
navigation on the Mississippi River."

W. H. SEWARD, _Speech at St. Paul, 1860_.

BOSTON:
FIELDS, OSGOOD, & CO.
1870.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of
Massachusetts.

UNIVERSITY PRESS: WELCH, BIGELOW, & CO.,
CAMBRIDGE.

TO

JOHN GREGORY SMITH,

_GOVERNOR OF VERMONT DURING THE REBELLION_,

WHOM I FIRST SAW TENDERLY CARING FOR THE SICK AND
WOUNDED IN THE HOSPITALS OF FREDERICKSBURG, AND
THROUGH WHOSE ENERGY AND PERSEVERANCE
ONE OF THE GREATEST ENTERPRISES OF
THE PRESENT CENTURY HAS BEEN
SUCCESSFULLY INAUGURATED,

~This Volume~

IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

FROM CHICAGO TO MINNEAPOLIS.

PAGE
Cutting loose from Care.--Map of the Northwest.--Leaving
Chicago.--Fourth of July.--At La Crosse.--Dance on a
Steamboat.--Up the Mississippi.--The Boundaries of
Minnesota.--Winona.--St. Paul.--Minneapolis.--The Father
of Waters in Harness 1

CHAPTER II.

ST. CLOUD AND BEYOND.

St. Cloud.--Our Party.--First Night in Camp.--A Midnight
Thunder-Storm.--Sunday in Camp.--Up the Sauk Valley.--
White Bear Lake.--Catching a Turtle.--Lightning Lake.--
Second Sabbath in Camp.--The River Systems of the Northwest
--Elevations across the Continent.--The Future 25

CHAPTER III.

THE RED RIVER COUNTRY.

Down the Valley of the Red River.--Breckenridge.--Fort
Abercrombie.--Climate.--Winters at Winnipeg.--Burlington.
--The Emigrant.--Father Genin.--Mackenzie.--Harman.--Sir
John Richardson.--Captain Palliser.--Father De Smet.--
Winters on the Saskatchawan.--Snow-Fall 51

CHAPTER IV.

THE EMPIRE OF THE NORTHWEST.

Winnipeggers.--Ride over the Prairie.--Dakota City.--
Georgetown.--Hudson Bay Company Teams.--Parting with
our Friends.--The 43d Parallel.--Dakota.--Wyoming.--
Montana.--Idaho.--Oregon.--Washington.--British Columbia.
--Distances.--Fisheries of the Pacific.--Mr. Seward's
Speech 77

CHAPTER V.

THE FRONTIER.

Bottineau.--The Leaf Hills.--A Ride over the Plain.--The
Park Region.--Settlers.--How they kept the Fourth of
July.--Chippewa Indians.--Rush Lake.--A Serenade on the
Prairie.--German Pioneers.--Otter-Tail Lake 109

CHAPTER VI.

ROUND THE CAMP-FIRE.

Noon Lunch.--Toasting Pork.--A Montana Dutchman.--Emigrant
Trains.--Camping at Night--Wheat of Minnesota.--The State
in 1849.--A Word to Young Men.--Boys once more.--Our Last
Camp-Fire 123

CHAPTER VII.

IN THE FOREST.

Down-Easters.--The Eden of Lumbermen.--Country East of
the Mississippi.--The Climate of the Forest Region.--White
Bear Lake.--Travellers from Duluth.--A Maine Farmer in
Minnesota.--Chengwatona.--Pitching of the Mud-Wagon.--
Grindstone.--Kettle River.--Superior 137

CHAPTER VIII.

DULUTH.

Duluth.--Minnesota Point.--The Projected Breakwater.--
Comparison with the Suez Canal.--The Town.--Period of
Navigation.--The Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad.
--Transportation.--Elevators.--St. Louis River.--Minnesota
Slate Quarry.--An Indian Chief and his Followers.--
Railroad Lands.--Manufacturing Industry.--Terms of the
Railroad Company 164

CHAPTER IX.

THE MINING REGION.

The Apostle Islands.--Bayfield.--The Harbor.--Breakfast
with Captain Vaughn.--Ashland.--Big Trout.--Ontonagon.--
Approach to Marquette.--The Harbor.--The Town.--Discovery
of Iron Ore.--Mining Companies.--Varieties of Ore.--The
Miners.--The Coming Years 169

CHAPTER X.

A FAMILIAR TALK.

A Talk about the Northwest.--Mr. Blotter.--He wants a
Farm.--Government Lands.--Homestead Law of Minnesota.--
Exemption Laws.--The St. Paul and Pacific Railroad.--
Liberal Terms of Payment.--Stock-Raising.--Robbing
Mother Earth.--Native Grasses.--Fruit.--Small Grains.--
Productions of the State, 1869.--Schools.--When to
Emigrate.--Prospective Development.--The Tide of
Emigration 186

CHAPTER XI.

NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.

How Communities grow.--Humboldt.--What I saw in 1846.--
The Pacific Coast.--River-Systems.--Lewis and Clark.--
Jeff Davis.--Charter of the Company.--The Projectors.--
The Line.--From Lake Superior to the Mississippi.--To
the Rocky Mountains.--Deer Lodge Pass.--The Western
Slope.--Mr. Roberts's Report.--Snow Blockades.--
Elevations.--Power of Locomotives.--Bureau of
Emigration.--Portable Houses.--Help to Emigrants.--
The Future 207

THE SEAT OF EMPIRE.