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Minnewaukan, on Devil's Lake, Dakota
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| Title | Minnewaukan, on Devil's Lake, Dakota |
| Date of Original | 1888 |
| Creator | Horton, William S., 1865-1936
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| Creator Role | Illustrator
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| Description | Steamboat on lake with waves; in background is dock and the town of Minnewaukan, N.D. People are standing on dock and a rowboat is also on the lake. |
| Ordering Information | Consult: http://library.ndsu.edu/ndsuarchives/duplication-services |
| General Subject | Transportation
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| Subject (LCTGM) | Steamboats
Lakes & ponds
Seas
Rowboats
Piers & wharves
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| Organization Name | Minnie H (Paddle steamer)
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| Location | Devils Lake (N.D. : Lake)
Minnewaukan (N.D.)
Benson County (N.D.)
North Dakota
United States
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| Decade | 1880-1889
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| Item Number | Folio 102.TrS73.3a |
| Format of Original | Lithographs
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| Dimensions of Original | 15 x 18 cm. |
| Publisher of Original | Smalley, E. V. (Eugene Virgil), 1841-1899
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| Place of Publication | Saint Paul (Minn.)
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| Transcription | "From a sketch by Will S. Horton" - With image caption.
"The Devil's Lake Country. The Indian name for the great salt lake of North Dakota is Minnewaukan, which means spirit lake, but the first explorers afflicted this beautiful sheet of water with the ugly name of Devil's Lake, which still sticks to it, in spite of all efforts to restore the Indian title. The pretty name of Minnewaukan has, however, been saved from oblivion by being applied to the new town at the extreme western end of the lake. This town has a commanding and beautiful situation, overlooking the western arm of the lake and many miles of the fertile prairie country surrounding it. Minnewaukan is the county town of Benson County and the northern terminus of the Jamestown and Northern Railroad. Its advantages for trade and steady growth are obvious to any one who will look at its situation on the map. Steamboats connect it with all points on the fifty miles stretch of salt blue water, and the railroad gives it an outlet to the east and south. Its present population is about 500. A large hotel is filled with tourists and fisherman in the summer season and with bird hunters in the autumn. There is a weekly newspaper, the Dakota Siftings, a mill and elevator and a good complement of mercantile houses. A recent writer in the St. Paul Globe gives the following description of the agricultural merits of the Devil's lake region: Now, reader, let me present you with some facts. This soil is not capable of drouth being composed of rich, black loam two or three feet deep, with a clay subsoil. This latter, freezing in winter to a depth of three or four feet, retains moisture the following summer until crops are well on the road to maturity. This moisture, obtained from the ground as the frost evaporates, keeps the roots cool and moist and in the absence of rain, which is not common, this prevents what would otherwise be termed a drouth – and every Kansan knows what the term means. Not least among the benefits of a cool surface in spring is the fact that any eggs that may have been deposited by migratory or other insects will not hatch, which renders this section of the country peculiarly free from insects – insomuch that the chinch bug is unknown, nor can be found any specimen of potato bug, corn worms, or, in fact, any of the pests that so ruthlessly destroy the gardens and products of the husbandmen of warmer sections. When the ground is properly prepared failures in wheat or other cereals are unknown, which, as I have said before, is due to the causes above cited. I may say further, that only sixty to seventy-five days are consumed between sowing and harvesting. Thus rendering cereals less liable to destruction from storms than where they are planted in the fall and exposed to the frosts of winter. This quick growth also enables the farmer to quickly dispose of his crop and engage in making improvements, or other profitable work outside of the farm. Stock-raising is nowhere carried on with more vigor and success, and the tendency is toward the higher grades – a number of thoroughbred Holsteins, Shorthorns and Polled Angus cattle having been imported into the country already, which is in only just proportion to the stock industry of the adjoining sections. The native grasses of this section are luxuriant and second to none in point of strength and quality. Tame grasses grow in abundance, and include such as timothy, blue grass, clover and orchard grass. The garden is indispensable to the farmer, and flourishes beyond all attempts to description, including all kinds and every variety known to Southern producers. This is owing to the light clay subsoil, retaining the moisture from spring rains, together with the incessant heavy dews and cool nights, and together with this, the long days of sunshine, over nineteen hours a day through the growing season. The water of Devil's Lake or Minnewaukan, an inland sea, are salt, consisting of chloride of sodium and with a trace of iron. Its specific gravity is about 1.004. The lake affords fine sport for the novice, as well as the expert. Fish of the pickerel family can be caught in abundance. Bathing is truly sea-like in its character, as the waves come surging up the long sandy beaches. The breezes and heavy waves make desirable facilities for boating. Its classic banks are lined with beautiful groves, and numerous boulders of granite and limestone, with sandy beaches. Its shores are broken by thousands of indentures and bays, making over 350 miles of shore, white its dimensions are fifty-five miles long and fifteen wide. In a word, this country offers special inducements to the farmer, mechanic, merchant, and last, but not least, the tourist and pleasure seeker. I would say to the latter, come and enjoy for one season the summer months, that are free from heat and contain in them the ingredients that will build up the most weakened constitution. It is in the air. Sufferers from drouth, come and build for yourself a home, free from heat and bugs" – Text with illustration, The Northwest Magazine, Jan. 1888, p. 13-14. |
| Notes | Title is caption with lithograph. |
| Repository Institution | North Dakota State University Libraries, Institute for Regional Studies
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| Repository Collection | Dakota Lithographs and Engravings Collection Folio 102
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| Collection Finding Aid | Consult: http://hdl.handle.net/10365/6673 |
| Credit Line | Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo (Folio 102.TrS73.3a) |
| Rights Management | Image in public domain. |
| Language | eng; |
| Digital ID | rsL00092.jp2 |
| Original Source | Northwest Magazine, Jan. 1888. p. 13 |
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