, so that the goods were delivered at
the agency, situated a few miles above its mouth. I mention this fact
because a wonderful change has taken place in the watercourses and lakes
of the state in the past twenty odd years, which I propose to account
for on the only theory that seems to me to meet the conditions. Up to
about twenty years ago, as soon as the ice went out of the Minnesota
river in the spring, it would rise until it overran its banks and
covered its bottoms for miles on each side of its channel, and would
continue capable of carrying large steamers until late in August. Since
that time it has rarely been out of its banks, and navigation of its
waters has entirely ceased. The same phenomenon is observable in
relation to many of our lakes. Hundreds of the smaller ones have
entirely dried up, and most of the larger ones have become reduced in
depth several feet. The rainfall has not been lessened, but, if
anything, has increased. My explanation of the change is, that in the
advance of civilization, the water sheds or basins of these rivers and
lakes having been plowed up, the rainfall which formerly found its way
quickly into the streams and lakes over the hard natural surface is now
absorbed into the soft and receptive ground, and is returned by
evaporation. This change is generally attributed to the destruction of
forests, but in this case that cause has not progressed sufficiently to
have produced the result, and our streams do not rise in mountains.

The trend of immigration toward Minnesota encouraged the organization of
transportation companies, by boat and stage, for passengers and freight,
and by 1856 it was one of the liveliest communities to be found
anywhere, and, curious as it may seem, this era of prosperity was the
cause of Minnesota's first great calamity.

The object of the immigrant is, always, the betterment of his condition.
He leaves old communities, where competition in all branches of industry
is great, in the hope of "getting in on the ground floor," as we used to
say, when he arrived in a new country, and every American, and, in fact,
everybody else, wants to get rich by head work instead of hand work, if
he can. The bulk of the immigration that first came to Minnesota
remained in the cities; there was no agriculture worthy of the name. I
may say that we had nothing at all to sell, and everything we needed to
buy. I can remember that as late as 1853, and even after, we imported
hay in