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FAKUO.—• HEAD U1-' NAVIGATION ON RBD KIVBR. THE COUNTY OF CASS AIVD THE CITY OF FARGO F 642 .C34 B7 1975 C.2 Green pastures; and vast wheat fields F 642 ., C34 G7 197j (_ . .,-.: Green pastures and vast w hi a a t -f i e 1 d s NORTH DAKOTA STATE LIBRARY BISMARCK 58505 NORTH DAKOTA STATE LIBRARY lllllllll ' ""••"" ' NORTH DAKDTA | 3R AUTHI '3 3165 66030 391 DATE DUE DEMCO 38-297 North Dakota State Library Bismarck, ND 58505 A BOX ELDER BUG PRESS REPRINT NORTH DAKOTA ' BDDK OR AUTHDR A SKETCH HISTORICAL, DESCRIPTIVE AND STATISTICAL. The Greatest Wheat-Producing County of the Greatest Wheat Territory or State in the Wheat Country of the World. Rich Resources, Unparalleled Increase in Population and Wealth, Illimitable Prospects for Agri­ culture, Trade and Manufactures. THE COUNTY OF CASS AND THE CITY OF FARGO, THE COUNTY SEAT TERRITORY OF DAKOTA. Prepared and Compiled under the Supervision of the Board of Trade of ihe City of Fargo by the Secretary. FARGO, DAK.: REPUBLICAN STEAM PRINTING HOUSE. North Dakota State Library Bismarck, ND 58505 PRINTED BY ACME PRINTING COMPANY PUBLISHED BY BOX ELDER BUG PRESS 350 7th AVENUE SOUTH FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA 58102 1975 THE COUNTY OF CASS AND THE CITY OF FARGO, THE COUNTY SEAT TERRITORY OF DAKOTA. 'O longer ago than in the latter part of the last generation the geographers of the period marked out on their maps the region of which the Ter­ ritory of Dakota forms a part, as a vast, arid, sterile, and uninhabitable waste—designating it "The Great American Desert;" and thus the children at school were taught by their instructors, and, needless to say, the parents were no wiser. In truth, the country now forming Dakota,—which was a part of the famous Louisiana purchase from the first Napoleon—with an area greater than New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, or England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, was a land fair to look upon, and of boundless resources, rich in gold, silver, iron, copper, tin, lead, mica, salt, gypsum and coal, and richer still in the amazing and phenomenal fertility of the soil; surpass­ ing, in reality, any in fable or story, and splendidly adapted for the production of all the kinds of grains and roots of the temperate zones, as well as for horses, cattle and sheep. Indeed, in Dakota, nature exhibits FARGO AND CASS COUNTY. Hwi iii«- Mtlwk&kk HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING. FARGO AND CASS COUNTY. the most marvelous feats of its workmanship—a mas­ terpiece—for a stretch of fertile country, and for min­ eral resources as well. In the valley of the Red River of the North, the most fruitful in grain and roots of all the valleys, 300 miles long and IOO miles and over wide, cleared by nature, excepting the fringes of timber along the river and its tributaries, and ready for cultivation long be­ fore the discovery of America, lies Cass county, the center of the richest and grandest natural pastures, and the vastest and most productive wheat fields on earth. In the early summer, in a day's journey up or down the valley, as far as the eye can reach, is pre­ sented the most gorgeous of earth's carpeting, and of dazzling loveliness, the young wheat, the greenest of grasses, starred with blooming wild roses and flowers of various species and hues; and not a venemous rep­ tile haunts the field or wood. Here, within the present generation, were the most magnificent of hunting grounds, which the most imaginative romancer need not have exaggerated. Attracted by the most luxuriant vegetation the valley was the rendezvous of countless herds of buffalo and myriads of the most valuable of other wild animals and fowls, bears, wolves, elk, moose, antelope, differ­ ent sorts of deer, beaver, otter, marten, mink, swan, turkeys, geese, ducks, prairie chickens, partridges and grouse. Between the years 1872-82 no less than 4,000,000 buffalos were slaughtered in Dakota and the adjoining territories, mainly in Dakota, simply for their skins, at $2 each, their wholesome and delicious meat being left on the prairies for beasts and fowls, and to decay and taint the air. Antelope were slaugh­ tered with as much ease as domestic animals, and their flesh would satisfy the most dainty palate. Small game is still abundant. FARGO AND CASS COUNTY. NORTH SIDE SCHOOL. FARGO AND CASS COUNTY. 1 From early April until December, sometimes till Christmas, it would be impossible to find a climate upon earth more absolutely delightful, bewitching, salubrious and exhilarating, or one in which there is greater pleasure in merely living and breathing, or one where life's ills and cares press less heavily. And here the Sioux and the Chippewas, the most intelligent and warlike of the savage tribes, and who possessed the valley, held high revel, in a land over­ flowing with good things, and which might even have realized their expectations of the Happy Hunting Grounds in the Lands of the Great Spirit; and, with their allies the fur traders, guarded the secret of the country's salubrity and richness with jealous solici­ tude. In 1862 the Sioux made their descent from Dako­ ta upon the white settlements of Minnesota to beat back civilization, butchering nearly i,ooo men, women and children, sparing only the young women and girls, for a fate worse than death. Only a comparatively short time since, the slen­ der garrisons of the forts on the Red and in the valley would occasionally placate and keep the savages at bay, men, women and children, by pointing loaded cannon and throwing to them huge slices of their rancid bacon, as if they were so many wolves whose close proximity was considered both disagreeable and dangerous. But whispers of the magnificence of the Red river domain having transpired, the enterprising and adventurous genius of the race that has led in the van of civilization and struck the note of liberty of the world reached it, crowding the savages further west, tested its fertility with plow and seed and began its development. It was not, however, until the spring of 1872, when Jay Cooke, one of the ablest and most famous FARGO AND CASS COUNTY. RED RIVER VALLEY NATIONAL BANK. FARGO AND CASS COUNTY. 9 men of his time, was directing the Northern Pacific railroad across the Red and penetrating the territory, on the way to cross the Rocky Mountains and reach the Pacific Ocean, that the attention of the people of the old states was attracted hither to any extent with a view to settlement. Even then the settlers were few, living, with two or three exceptions, in tents, for the great majority of the people were still skeptical as to the country's resources, and deterred by false ideas of the severity of the climate, believing it so cold and unhospitable as to be utterly unfit for habitation by the people of the New England, Middle and Western states, not to speak of those of the South, who now compose a considerable part of the population. Moreover it was generally considered by the short­ sighted press and public that the railroad was but a hairbrained scheme of Mr. Cooke's; that, if it could be constructed across" the "sea of mountains," which was doubtful, there was no outlet for it; that it only led to the jumping-off place, so to speak; and in any event, that the enterprise was impracticable on account of there being no traffic for it, and that it would be blocked by frost and snow for the greater portion of the year, which would make collapse inevi­ table. Distinguished senators in congress descanted eloquently on the absurdity of the scheme. One illustrious senator said in all seriousness from his seat in congress that the only traffic of the country was a few muskrat skins, and that there would never be anything else. These opinions were strengthened by Mr. Cooke's financial embarrassments and the standstill of the Toad during the following winter, and immigration was retarded. Indeed, it seems as if the majority in congress are yet unable to divest themselves of antiquated notions 10 FARGO AND CASS COUNTY. FIRST NATIONAL BANK. FARGO AND CASS COUNTY. 11 and realize the actual importance of the country's illimitable resources and gigantic possibilities. It was reserved, however for the talents and energy of Mr. Villard to complete the road, and to him and Mr. Cooke, with their untiring co-adjutors, the honors are chiefly due. As the last linkt was laid—in 1883—and the last spike driven, a golden one, the most conspi­ cuous figure in the ceremony of uniting the great artery of commerce from ocean to ocean was he who bore the most prominent part in the colossal struggle for the union of the nation—a happy augury and selec­ tion—our heroic and world-honored captain, U. S. Grant. There were also conspicuous among the dis­ tinguished personages, assisting and looking on at the ceremony, a number of the venerable senators who had, in their wisdom, heaped ridicule on the undertaking and predicted abject failure. The prophecies of the wiseacres have been con­ founded and Mr. Cooke's far-sighted sagacity most abundantly vindicated. The trains run as regularly and promptly on the Northern Pacific from Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean—1918 miles—and on all its ramifications as upon any other road in the world. The road is rapidly opening up for settlement, devel- opement and commerce a country vast and infinitely rich, and it has become the most practicable and expedious highway for the rich freights of Japan, China, the Indies and the South Seas.

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