Olmsted County, Minnesota, and Its Advantages of Soil, Climate, and Location

Excerpt from Olmsted County, Minnesota, and Its Advantages of Soil, Climate, and Location: With Rochester as a Most Favorable Point for Manufacturing To all those who are in anywise interested hi the progress, prospects and natural resources of the great northwest, a brief description of the grand state of Minnesota, its earliest settlement, its subsequent growth and development, can but prove truly interesting. lie it remembered that in temperament, education, religion, and pursuit, the discoverers of the northwest were the very opposite] to those who settled on the shores of Massachusetts Hay and the Connecticut River. Tile one were men of calm temperament and stern faith, content to till the land, to study the Divine Word and to train Their children to the fear of the Lord. The pioneers of the northwest were, however, men of ardent, and excitable temperament. Pride of conquest or discovery in the name of their Sovereign, the King of France, together with the greed for wealth, induced the French fur traders to penetrate the unknown wilds, while the Missionary, devoted to his cause and a life of poverty, often led the way and made safe the following of the selfish merchant. While the colonists of New England were looked upon by King Charles as outcasts, and dull, canting round heads, the Acadians of the north were praised by an applauding government for every step they took towards the interior of the continent, and as in their zeal or greed they pushed westward, they soon discovered the great waterway of the St. Lawrence and the great lakes, and used it as an highway cast up for the extension of their dominions. And although they did at times sow in tears, they speedily reaped a harvest in joy. Before even the disciples of Puritan Robinson had landed upon the icy coasts of Plymouth, the Missionaries of St. Francis had penetrated the forests and the straits of Mackinaw, and had named the Sault de Sainte Marie Falls. The Mayflower with her precious freight had not yet weighed anchor from Southampton. until after Quebec had taken on a name and been placed among the list of settlements formed by the colonists from the home of Longfellow's "Evangeline." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.