Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 January 1887 — The De Lacs Country. [ARTICLE]

The De Lacs Country.

The town of Minot, out in Dakota, ' at the second crossing of the Mouse River, and for the present the terminus of the St Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railroad, is the latest Northwestern aspirant to greatness. It certainly has an excellent situation, and if a tine country will make a good town, its future prosperity is assured, for the Upper Mouse and De Lacs River country is as attractive a region to the settler as any in the country. The De- Laee River joins the Mouse eight miles above Minot, having its source in a lake thirty miles long, the head of which is one and one-half miles south of the boundary. The Goteaux come sheer up to the lake ou the south side, and are heavily timbered in places. On the north side is a fine country, well adapted for settlement, now occupied only by a few settlers from over the line in Ganada. Then come two smaller lakes, and below these for fifty miles is a fine, rich plain, twenty or thirty miles wide, through the center of which the river runs. Coal is found all over the country. It crops out in every hillside on the river. This country is the favorite range for white and black-tailed deer and antelope, and many hunters have had great sport hunting them this fall; two bagging twenty-five blacktailed deer in ten days. Throughout its course the river is heavily timbered, and its lateral feeders are also well supplied. Except where an occasional rancher has set his stakes, the whole county is public land, and it surely offers some fine opportunities for the homeless in the States to provide themselves with fine farms, only at the expense of coming and settling on them. The finest opportunities now offer themselves to secure the best locations. Only last week a claim was taken, adjoining the town of Minot, and public land is plainly in view across the river, only one mile away. The land in the Mouse River valley, along the timber, has to some extent bean taken by settlers who came in from Bismarck three years ago. Attention is chiefly directed to stock raising, each rancher having from twen-ty-five to one hundred head of cattle, though many fields are in cultivation and produce well. The soil in the valley is rich, but that on the surrounding prairie level is of the finer quality. The “old residents” claim that the climate of the valley is milder than any part of the territory, and their claim would seem to be substantiated by the many varieties of wild fruits growing in the forest, and the fact that wild grape-vines are growing on nearly every tree. RancKmen claim that on account of this exceptional mildness they can winter grown cattle with an outlay of Rut one ton of hay per head. The “chinook” winds', during winter, blow from the southwest down the Yellowstone Valley, pass over the low “divide” at Fort Buford and reaching the De Lacs Valley (fliange their direction to the southeast, reaching the Mouse River Valley as a warm northwest wind. They sometimes last for a week at a time, cut the snow off in a few hours, and oft ep raise the water in the rivers two feet. Not ithe least of the resources of the country Tie in the coal mines, which make outcrops in nearly every hill and ravine. A mine under process of development, six sailes from Minot, shows up a vein seven feet in thickness and of the best quality of lignite, burning easily and rapidly and used for all heating purposes. The coal sells for $1.25 per ton at the mine, and is in common use in Minot and throughout the surrounding country.— St. Paul Pioneer Press.