Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 November 1877 — LINCOLN TERRITORY. [ARTICLE]

LINCOLN TERRITORY.

Senator Saunders’ Proposition tor the Government of the Black Hills. Senator Saunders, of Nebraska, introduced a bill in the for the establishment of a portion of Dakota under a Territorial form of government The geographical boundary of this proposed division is as follows: Commencing at a point where the forty-third parallel of north latitude intersects with the twentyfifth meridian of longitude west from the city of Washington; thence following a due westerly course along said parallel to its intersection with the thirtieth meridian of longitude; thence north along said thirtieth meridian of longitude to its intersection with the channel of the Yellowstone river, to the center of said channel; thence following the center of said channel to its intersection with the forty-seventh parallel of north latitude; thence easterly along said forty-seventh parallel t* the western boundary of Dakota Territory; thence due south along said boundary line to the forty-sixth parallel of north latitude; thence east along said forty-sixth parallel to the twentyfifth meridian of longitude; thence south along said twenty-fifth meridian to the place of commencement. The territory thus mapped out, it will be seen, comprises the present southwestern portion of Dakota, together with a slice of Montana and Wyoming. On three sides it has natural boundaries; on the south the line of Nebraska, on the west the Big Horn divide, and on the north the Yellowstone. The eastern is arbitrary, and runs through the barren lands of the Sioux reservation. In area the district is 70,000 square miles, and the population, which chiefly consists of miners, is about 35,000, or four-fifths of the entire population of Dakota. A plan for the Territorial government of the northern portion of Dakota, under the name of Huron, is also to be brought forward soon. Should both succeed there will still be enough of Dakota left to make a State as large as Ohio.