impressed with the growth of St. Paul
and Minneapolis. I had purchased, in connection with Mr. Cullen,
some years before, forty acres of land adjoining St. Paul. Upon
my arrival on this trip he showed me the land, worth then more
thousands than the hundreds we paid for it. This was but a specimen
of the abnormal growth of these sister cities, destined, in some
not far distant day, to be a single city. From St. Paul, we went
to Helena, then the terminus of the Northern Pacific railroad, and
the newly made capital of Montana. This was the second time I had
visited this territory, now a state. I studied, as well as I could,
its wonderful resources, both mineral and agricultural. It is
properly named Montana. Its mountains are not only filled with
minerals of every grade from gold to iron, but they contain, more
than any other part of the country, the freaks of nature and in
bolder form, such as geysers, sink pots, mountain lakes, deep
ravines, and they are surrounded by vast valleys and plains, the
native home of the buffalo, now the feeding ground of vast droves
of horses, herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep.

The strangely varied surface of the different states of the Union
would, in case of war with any power, enable us, from our own soil
and from the riches buried under it, to support and maintain our
population. Already more than nine-tenths of the articles needed
for life and luxury in the United States are the product of the
industry of our countrymen. The remaining tenth consists mainly
of tea, coffee and other tropical or semi-tropical productions,
the products of nations with whom we can have no occasion for war.
Articles of luxury and virtu are mainly the production of European
nations.

Our partial state of isolation is our greatest strength, our varied
resources and productions are our greatest wealth, and unity in
national matters, independence in local matters, are the central
ideas of our system of government.

On our return we stopped for a day at Bismarck, Dakota, then a
scattered village, but already putting on airs as the prospective
capital. We passed through St. Paul, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids and
Detroit on our way to Mansfield. This trip, leisurely taken,
occupied about one month.

During the remainder of the summer, until the canvass commenced,
I had a period of rest and recuperation. It was interrupted only
by the necessity of making some preparation for the canvass, which
it w