Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 January 1887 — The Great American Desert. [ARTICLE]

The Great American Desert.

When railroads first touched the Mississippi River at Burlington—about 1852 or 1853, it must have been —a great celebration was held on the east bank, and a commendable glorification indulged in. The speakers were Stephen A. Douglas and Lewis Cass. Mr. Cass in his speech referred to the fact that, according to all school histories and geographies previous to that time, they must be very near the great American Desert, but he said “as this desert constantly recedes as we approach it, it will probably be found there is no desert at all.” Men now under 50 years of age, when at school studied geographies which located the American Desert lying in the western half of lowa, and extending to the Rocky Mountains. In fact, Des Moines is situated in the locality of what was then asserted to be part of the great desert. —Des Moines Register. The publisher of Baltimore (Md.) Every Saturday, Mr. T. J. Wentworth, says his child, aged six months, was suffering from a severe cold, and he gave it Red Star Cough Cure, which acted like a charm. No morphia.