ormed, those of England in quality and quantity, and which must ere
long receive that attention they seem to demand at the hands of capital.

The now rude village of Thompson--named for J. Edgar Thompson, of
Philadelphia--with its half dozen extemporized buildings, in the quiet
of the woods, will ere long resound with the hum of many industries, and
already has considerable importance as being the point of junction of
the two great railways entering Duluth--the St. Paul and the Puget Sound
(Northern Pacific) Roads; the latter traversing a vast territory
abounding in everything which contributes to the growth of an
agricultural and manufacturing people.

The city of Duluth, seated at the eastern gate way of this new and
splendid domain, holds in her golden horn the destinies of many populous
and powerful States.

FOOTNOTES:

[D] Known as the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad.

CHAPTER XII.

THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.

The Northwest.--Its great extent and character.--Jay Cooke, Esq.--The
Northern Pacific Railroad and its advantages.--The general line of the
road.--The shortest route to Asia.--The Red River valley.--Puget
Sound.--The future of our country.

The vast reach of country lying between the Bed River and the Cascade
range of mountains possesses, to some extent, a climate little inferior
in healthfulness to that of Minnesota itself. The same dry, westerly
winds sweep over it, and are even more marked in their continental
character. Invalids will undoubtedly find as great advantages arising
from a residence there as in any other part of the Union, yet for the
present there are no means of easy access to any portion of this immense
district. By-and-by this will be changed.

The many natural curiosities abounding in this little-explored region
would alone prove sufficient to attract thither great numbers of our
people, but when the almost unparalleled attractions of the climate are
added, the travel and immigration must eventually become enormous.

The Northern Pacific Railroad,--the power which is destined to
transform these Territories into States,--is being pushed rapidly
westward, with the promise of an early completion.

To the energy of Jay Cooke, of Philadelphia, the distinguished banker
and philanthropist, will belong, perhaps, the chief honor of its
completion. Not that this great enterprise might not be begun and
carried to a triumphal close by others,--since the government sub