Minnesota; Its Character and Climate Part 3

The sandstone underlying the magnesian limestone, and which is so soft as to be easily crushed, could be used we judge in the manufacture of gla.s.sware at great profit to the manufacturer; but as yet, there is nothing done that we know, and it is not strange when we reflect that it is but a score of years since St. Paul was really occupied and settled.

All of this various strata of rock and sand belongs, geologically speaking, to what is known as the lower silurian system, extending from near the western sh.o.r.es of Lake Michigan, and sweeping over all the lower half of Minnesota, westward and upward along the valley of the great Red and a.s.sinniboin Rivers to the north, marking one of the most prolific grain growing belts on the continent, if not in the world.

While this limestone underlying the surface is valuable for the purposes heretofore named, it performs a still greater service to mankind in having contributed much of those qualities which have given in certain departments of agriculture, highest prominence to the State.

St. Paul is both the political and commercial capital of Minnesota, and must always remain such without doubt, though it does not occupy a central geographical position, still it is the practical centre of the commonwealth, made such by the enterprise of her people in extending the system of railways in all directions, with this point as a pivotal centre. There are already seven important roads[A] radiating from this city, either completed or in rapid course of construction, giving at the present time a total of about seven hundred miles of finished road, over which daily or more trains run, and all within the boundaries of the State. Other lines beginning and ending elsewhere, yet likewise in the State, are not included, of course, in this consideration. These roads penetrate already, or will when completed, the princ.i.p.al centres of trade and agriculture lying in the Northwest.

Daily communication is already had by rail with the cities of Chicago, Milwaukee, and Duluth, and in the near future another, and, perhaps, in some respects; the most important link of all, that connecting St. Paul with Omaha and the Union Pacific Railway, known as the St. Paul and Sioux City Road. This line traverses the most fertile district in the State, as well as the most populous, following up the rich valley of the Minnesota to Mankato, where it leaves the river, holding a southwest direction for Sioux City in Iowa. The road is now completed as far as Madelia, one hundred and twelve miles from St. Paul, leaving a gap of about one hundred and fifty miles to be finished in order to make the proposed connection with the great central trunk road to the Pacific coast. We do not think that there is a single township of poor land along its entire route. On the other hand, speaking from personal observation, we know that the land is uniformly above the average in fertility, productiveness, and beauty.

Another, a more recent link of road, binding the city to the northeast and east as firmly as does the other to the southwest, is that known as the Lake Superior and Mississippi Road, reaching one hundred and fifty miles to the young city of Duluth, standing at the head of the great lakes, whence cheap transportation to the Atlantic seaboard may be had for all the products of the Northwest.

Then there are the two lines in progress, which, with the one already running, will make three routes to Chicago and Milwaukee. By the present one, the St. Paul and Milwaukee, a whole day is consumed in making the journey, while by either of the others, sixteen hours only will be required. This saving of time will insure to the new routes a prosperous career. One of these new roads, the St. Paul and Chicago, nearly an air-line, is already done as far as Red Wing. This road follows the river to Winona, where it crosses, thence to Madison, making connection with a completed line to Chicago. When done, this will be the most desirable _all rail_ route from the latter city to St. Paul and the princ.i.p.al towns along the river in Minnesota.

These truly great enterprises, of which St. Paul is the centre, form a just commentary on the prescience and industry of her people, who, while watchful of their own, do not forget the general interest of all, thereby giving to individual life a zest and recompense which mark only the highest and best purposes of our race.

Thus we see the iron arms of this possible future capital of the nation reaching out in all directions from this central seat of empire, binding firmly to it the great resources and vast wealth of the outlying and now tributary country, which as yet is only in the alphabet of its development.

Time was when a visit to St. Paul was accounted an era in the life of the traveller, since its remoteness and general inaccessibility involved a special journey; but now, few fail to make the tour while pa.s.sing through the West, since both the facilities and pleasures are so great.

To stand at the head of two thousand miles of steamboat navigation along the line of a single river is in itself, were there no city, an inspiration. And when we contemplate that more than ten thousand miles of inland navigation attaches to this great river and its tributaries, at the head of which stands the beautiful city of St. Paul, we do not marvel at the dreams of splendor and of power already haunting the thinking population of this vast interior valley. A few brief years and the sceptre of political empire will have pa.s.sed forever into the hands of this people without question, and ere long thereafter we confidently predict that the seat of government will surely follow. We know that the population along the Atlantic coast deride this idea; and, while having shared heretofore like opinions with them, yet, on reflection, we believe the child is born who will live to see this an accomplished fact.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] We have counted the Pacific Main Line and the Branch Line as separate roads, and likewise have a.s.sumed, that the Milwaukee and St.

Paul terminates here. These roads are now owned by the North Pacific Railroad Company.

CHAPTER V.

CLIMATE.

The climatic divisions of the country.--Periodical rains.--Prevailing winds of the continent.--Changes of temperature.--Consumption in warm climates.--Cold, humid atmospheres.--What climate most desirable for the consumptive.--The dry atmosphere of the interior.--Dry winds of the interior.--Table of rain-fall of the whole country.

Until a comparatively recent date the climate of the continent was held, by all of the more learned in matters of physical geography and climatic law, to have but one general characteristic; but these conclusions have been found to be utterly erroneous, and now it is known to be susceptible of division into three great and entirely distinct areas, each being highly marked, and leaving, on these various surfaces, peculiar evidence of their existence.

Instead of an _oceanic_ climate prevailing over the entire continent, it is found to have but very narrow limits along the Pacific coast of the United States, being broken entirely from the interior by the elevated mountain ranges, conforming to them throughout their entire extent, and having a sweep from near the thirty-sixth parallel to Sitka and the Aleutian Islands, away to the extreme northwest.

The second division embraces the great interior basin lying between the ranges of one hundred and twenty degrees and ninety-two degrees west longitudes, having a general trend from the southwest, at San Diego, to Hudson's Bay in British America, in the northeast. This vast district is paralleled by that of the interior climate and character of the continent of Asia in its elevation, aridity, and great extent, and may be known as the true continental or Asiatic climate of the United States. It is on the edge of this district, and visibly under its influence, that the State of Minnesota, for the most part, lies. But we pa.s.s, for the present, to the brief consideration of the third grand division, embracing the entire country east of a line drawn from near Central Texas to the centre of Wisconsin, including the immediate region surrounding all the great lakes. Here we have an a.s.sociation of elements const.i.tuting a highly variable climate, which prevails over all its surface at all seasons, with remarkable uniformity. The wide range in both vegetable and animal life over this area is one of its chief distinguishing characteristics, partaking of the semi-tropical on the one hand, with a low winter temperature on the other, but traversing neither range so far as to prove directly destructive in its effects.

All over this eastern area are scattered lakes and rivers, with an ocean boundary line, and uniform forest ranges with a great variety of deciduous trees known to the temperate and sub-tropical lat.i.tudes; and it is quite remarkable to note that some of the latter forms extend in their acclimation to near the northern boundary lines of the Union, while the pine, walnut, and chestnut may be found at or near the extreme southern limits.

In all of these three grand divisions of climate, however, exceptional localities exist where there is a marked nonconformity to the prevailing characteristics. The peninsula of Florida is such an exception, owing to its peculiar location, and the great humidity of its atmosphere during a considerable fraction of the year. Here we have a fully developed season of periodical rains, beginning usually in June and ending in the latter part of September. The winter is the dry season, being contrary to the general rule applying to tropical and sub-tropical areas, and forms, with the mild temperature, the princ.i.p.al ground for the reputation which that State has as a resort for special cla.s.ses of invalids.[B]

The sudden and extreme variations of temperature in this eastern climatic tract, whether from local disturbing causes, as is not unfrequently the case, or otherwise, are usually accompanied by cold draughts of air, chilling and generating all manner of ills, of which rheumatism and consumption are the separate and highest types.

While it is generally understood that the prevailing winds of the whole continent embraced within the limits of the United States are uniformly from the west, still, over this eastern division, counter-winds of a lower character disturb, modify, and elevate the course of this great westerly current, giving rise to the exceeding variability of the surface winds, which, as is well known, may blow within the brief s.p.a.ce of twenty-four hours from all directions of the compa.s.s, at almost any time and point whatsoever.

Changes of temperature, while essential in some circ.u.mstances to health, may be, if of a certain specific character, infinitely damaging, and such are the cold humid winds from the northeast with easterly inclinations. These are the dreadful scourges of all the Atlantic slope above the Carolinas, and there is scarce any portion east of the Mississippi Valley free from their occasional visitation. In the extreme southern limits, along the Gulf, and on the Peninsular State, the poison, so to speak, of this wind, is so far modified by the greater temperature of these localities as measurably to disarm it of danger; yet, even in those lat.i.tudes, it is to be (during and after a prolonged storm) avoided by all, and especially weak and enfeebled const.i.tutions.

The cases of consumption found in these warmer climates have been cited as disproving the heretofore accepted theory that this disease was limited in range to the middle and eastern portion of the Union; and it has been further a.s.sumed that the liability to its attack was as great there as at any point further north.

These conclusions have little foundation in fact, as is well known by all who have taken pains to investigate the question with that thoroughness which the subject demands. The catalogue of ills belonging to all warm climates is not only long enough, but likewise sufficiently dreadful, without adding to it that scourge, which is the child of the northeast winds, with its home in the changeful temperature along the upper Atlantic coast. It is quite true that cases occur in even tropical districts, but they are the stray offspring of some unusual departure of the cold and humid northerly currents. It must not, however, be taken as a sequence of this proposition that any and all warm countries would prove a sovereign balm and remedy; but, that there are a few localities of this condition in temperature, where patients of the cla.s.s under consideration may reside with positive advantage, and not unfrequent restoration to health follow, we both believe and know.

But there is so great a liability to contract some of the many fatal febrile, and other diseases of hot countries, together with their usually excessive humid character and greatly enervating effects, especially on those who have been born and reared in cooler and higher lat.i.tudes, that it comes to be a serious question for consideration whether the chances of remedy hoped for in a residence at such places is not more to be dreaded than the disease itself.

In what direction, then, can the invalid turn with any immediate or ultimate hope of either relief or a permanent cure? We answer, that any place where a dry, equable climate can be found, all other things being equal, will give the desired relief and probable cure, if resorted to in season, and if certain hygienic regulations be carefully and persistently observed. The next question is, have we a climate answering this important requirement, and, at the same time, outside of the range of epidemics and fatal fevers; easily accessible, and affording, when reached, the necessary comforts and aids incidental to a restoration? To this we have an affirmative reply to give, coupled with some modifications, and point to the Central climatic division of the continent as possessing, in its dry elastic atmosphere and generally equable temperature, the requisite desideratum.

Minnesota lies within this division, and, while upon the outer edge, is still markedly under the influence of the prevailing climate which distinguishes the whole of this middle area. Other sections within its limits there may be, and, indeed, doubtless are, just as favorable, if not more so, than is that of Minnesota, but they are lacking either in facilities for reaching them, or in the needed comforts, and perhaps in the commonest necessities which are absolute in all cases,--a wholesome diet being one of the great essentials to recuperation.

Minnesota affords, of course, all of these aids in large abundance, and is likewise quite easy of access, thus answering, in these particulars at least, the ends desired.

It may now be well to examine the chief characteristics belonging to this central climatic division, on the northeastern edge of which lies the State under special consideration. We have already observed that the prevailing and prominent winds of the continent blow uniformly from the Pacific toward the Atlantic coast, having a slight northerly tendency.

It is important that this fact be kept in mind. This wind is constantly sweeping across the North Pacific Ocean, by which it is tempered and ladened with a vast amount of moisture, which is borne to the sh.o.r.es of the continent, and, but for the elevated mountain ranges along the whole of that coast, would be quite evenly distributed over the interior, giving to all of the western and central area such an abundance of fertilizing rains as the western half of the continent of Europe now possesses, and to which this would then be in climate almost an exact counterpart. But instead we have only a slender breadth of territory answering to the oceanic climate of Western Europe, embracing that which lies between the Pacific sh.o.r.es and the Sierra and Rocky Mountain ranges. Within this belt is precipitated nearly all of the moisture contained in the atmosphere. The warm, humid westerly winds, driven against the lofty and cool mountain sides, have their moisture suddenly and rapidly condensed, and the rain-fall on their western slope is found by measurement to be prodigious, reaching as high as sixty-five cubic inches for the year, being equal in quant.i.ty to that falling in many tropical districts, and greatly exceeding that of any other portion of the United States. These mountains have a determining influence on the climate, both of the coast and of that in the interior. They act on the clouds as they sweep against and over them, like a comb, extracting all possible moisture, leaving a cool, elastic, and arid continental atmosphere for this central area under present review. The effect is at once p.r.o.nounced and everywhere visible. Less than two degrees of longitude _east_ of these mountain ranges there is but about (taking the whole line from the thirty-fifth parallel to the northern boundary) an average fall of seven and a half cubic inches of rain, a difference of over fifty-five cubic inches within the year, in districts separated by less than one hundred miles in a straight line from each other. The consequence is, that, while in one there is a luxuriant growth in all kinds of vegetation, in the other barren plains (dest.i.tute of all except the lowest forms of vegetable life) exist, with a gradual but slow return, as the eastern course of the winds are followed, to that normal condition which prevails in districts where an abundant supply of moisture is furnished. This is not fully found till the western limit of the third climatic division is reached, where again we see on all hands a general distribution of rivers and forests over the whole of this area, with copious rains at all seasons, and humid and cool conditions of the atmosphere, following each other in rapid alternations; producing what we have seen fit to call the Variable climatic district, embracing the whole eastern half of the continent.

The extreme high temperature of the interior division equals that of points lying a dozen degrees south in other longitudes, and the desiccated winds from the west, as they blow over this parched and heated surface, have their aridity rather than their humidity increased, as would be the case in other circ.u.mstances; and not till they reach within perhaps five hundred miles of the eastern boundary of this continental division do they increase in humidity, as indicated by the rain-fall, which rises in quant.i.ty from the low minimum of seven and a half cubic inches per annum in the "great basin," and fifteen on the "great plains," to about twenty in Dakota territory and twenty-five in Minnesota, the eastern limit of this continental climate.

The effect of these dry winds on the humidity of the atmosphere in Minnesota is unquestioned and demonstrable by the records kept of the various governmental posts over the whole country. In contrast, the amount of rain falling annually in this State is shown by these statistics to be much below that of any lying east of the Mississippi, in the variable-climatic district; and, indeed, below that of every other in the entire Union, excepting Nebraska, which averages about the same amount of rain-fall, though without the same amount of dryness and elasticity, which are such notable features in the atmosphere of the former State.

The mean annual amount of rain falling in New England is about forty-three inches, nearly double that of Minnesota, exhibiting the vast difference in the humidity of the two localities, and this, in connection with the cold easterly winds before referred to as prevailing there at intervals, together with the severe changes (and which, it should not be forgotten, add to the quant.i.ty of moisture), may be ascribed the primal cause of all pulmonic diseases.

It should not be understood, however, that the _quant.i.ty_ of moisture precipitated in any given district determines of itself the prevalence or non-prevalence of phthisic complaints; not at all, for we see in Florida the rain-fall is very great, and as much exceeds that of New England as the latter does that of Minnesota, and consumption has no home on the peninsula of Florida. Why it has not, inheres in this fact, that the climate does not, or rarely, experience any of those violent and chilling changes of temperature that are almost constantly going on, especially in the fall, winter, and spring months, and which do the fatal work of death. But, some one says, the northeast winds reach Florida, and why do not the inhabitants suffer from it? For the reason that they are greatly changed in character, becoming mild and only pleasantly cool in temperature, offering no shock as a rule; and really the northeast trades, which almost daily blow, are the invigorating and healthful winds, sweeping away the miasma of the hot season, cooling the atmosphere, and preserving equability throughout the year. Then there are other matters; the drainage qualities of the soil, which is so great on that peninsula; then, too, is the distribution of the falling rain, whether it is filtered slowly through all the year, keeping things constantly drowned out, or in a state of flabbiness, or whether it is mainly confined to a single season or an inconsiderable fraction of the whole year, as in Florida. These become important inquiries, as all have a bearing on the question of the _healthfulness_ of climates.

We have stated the rain-fall to be less in Minnesota than in any other State in the entire Union, with one exception; and while this is true, it is still great enough for all agricultural uses, coming chiefly in the summer months, at a time when the crops are growing; and, by the middle of September, as a rule, the quant.i.ty has fallen off to a very low mean, accompanied by that elastic, invigorating atmosphere for which the State is so justly famed. This season of charming weather continues, with little interruption, only accompanied by a gradual diminishing scale of thermometric registration, up to the advent of winter, and even then the moisture falling in snow is less than is generally supposed or believed.

Since these matters are of vital character in determining the salubrity of the climate of this State, we append the following table, both for the purpose of comparison with other places and definiteness concerning this.

This table gives a sweep of country from ocean to ocean, and exhibits the rain-fall of the three climatic divisions very faithfully. The great quant.i.ty precipitated at Astoria, in Oregon, is observed, where the OCEANIC climate prevails, with the mountain barriers limiting its extent inland; while, at Port Laramie, in Wyoming Territory, is an average representation of the whole interior district possessing the dry and elastic CONTINENTAL climate, in which lies the State of Minnesota. The other portions of the table give a more extended view of the VARIABLE climate, covering the eastern area as previously defined.

_Average Annual Fall of Water (rain and snow, given in inches) for a Series of Years, as ascertained from Official Sources_.

________________________________________________________________ PLACES. WINTER. SPRING. SUMMER. AUTUMN. YEAR.

________________________________________________________________ Fort Snelling, Minn. 1.92 6.61 10.92 5.98 25.43 Fort Ridgely, " 4.11 7.29 9.29 4.83 25.52 Astoria, Oregon --- --- --- --- 65.00 Fort Laramie, Wy. 1.63 8.69 5.70 3.96 19.98 Fort Crawford, Wis. 4.00 7.63 11.87 7.90 31.40 Fort Gratiot, Mich. 5.75 8.02 9.99 8.86 32.62 New Harmony, Ind. 12.29 10.51 12.79 7.26 42.85 Cincinnati, Ohio 11.15 12.14 13.70 9.90 46.89 St. Louis, Missouri 6.94 12.30 14.14 8.94 42.32 Chicago, Illinois --- --- --- --- --- Philadelphia, Penn. 10.76 9.81 11.93 9.84 42.34 Lambertville, N.J. 9.67 11.25 12.15 11.59 44.09 Fredonia, New York 6.82 7.24 10.45 12.04 36.55 Utica, " " 8.72 9.26 12.83 9.76 40.57 Albany, " " 8.30 9.79 12.31 10.27 40.67 Brooklyn, " " 9.83 11.75 11.43 10.35 43.36 Providence, R.I. 9.44 10.45 9.66 10.50 40.05 New Bedford, Ma.s.s. 10.42 10.67 9.18 10.76 41.03 Worcester, " 11.85 10.89 10.71 13.51 46.96 Cambridge, " 9.89 10.85 11.17 12.57 44.48 Hanover, N.H. 9.10 9.90 11.40 10.50 41.00 Portland, Maine 10.93 12.11 10.28 11.93 45.25 ----------------------------------------------------------------

The fall of snow has been in this statement reduced to a water basis, allowing, as is the usual custom, ten inches of snow for one of water.

This calculation is not entirely reliable for all points; as, at the extreme southern snow-line, a less, while a larger amount is required for a more northerly district--say about eleven inches to make one of water in Minnesota. This would give a depth of about two and a half feet (snow) over the surface of the State for the entire winter months, while in Central New York--to which in mean annual temperature Minnesota parallels--the depth of all water falling, for the same season, would (in snow) amount to full five feet, or double that of the State under consideration.

FOOTNOTES:

[B] For further particulars of Florida climate, see _A Winter in Florida_, by the author of this volume, published by Messrs. Wood & Holbrook.

CHAPTER VI.

CLIMATE.--CONTINUED.

The atmosphere of Minnesota.--Its dryness.--Falling snow.--Equability of temperature.--Rain-fall for spring.--The const.i.tutional character of the climate.--The lakes and rivers of the State.--The northeast winds.--Where the northeasters begin.--Their general direction and limit.--The atmospheric basin of Iowa.--Neglect of meteorology.--Its importance to the country.