Item 003

WINTER SCENES IN MINNESOTA

May 7, 1870, pages 296 – 297 (Illustrated Article)

We give on this double page a series of engravings, from some exceedingly fine photographs sent us by Whitney and Zimmermann, of St. Paul, Minnesota, illustrating winter life and scenery in that State. The sketches tell their own story so graphically, that but few words are necessary in the way of explanation. The uppermost line of pictures illustrates the manner of getting out lumber in the great pine forests of Minnesota—from the cutting down of the great trees, sawing them into lengths, hauling them out with ox-teams, and, finally, "landing" the logs on the surface of the frozen river or stream, in readiness for the spring freshet to sweep them down to a market. Though many of these streams are too shallow in summer to float an Indian in the lightest bark canoe, yet when swollen by spring freshets, each one becomes a wide and deep river. In some instances the pines grow near the streams, and the trouble of hauling the logs is very slight; but often they grow four or five miles away, and the distance becomes greater every year, as the forests are gradually cut down, and with it the expense of logging. The camp-followers shown in one of our sketches are Chippewa Indians, who frequently stop at the camps to get provisions and whisky.

Underneath these forest scenes we give several views of the river scenery of Minnesota in winter. "St. Anthony’s Falls" and "Silver Cascade," within sight of each other, present a most beautiful appearance in their wintry garb; while the falls of "Minnehaha" on a frosty morning look more like a picture from Fairy-land than an actual scene in nature. Since the photograph was taken from which our engraving is made, a heavy freshet has destroyed several mills at St. Anthony’s Falls, and washed away a large portion of Hennepin Island, under which a tunnel had been excavated. Fears are entertained that this magnificent water-power may be permanently injured by this catastrophe.

The third series of sketches will give our readers an idea of the mode of gathering the ice-crop in Minnesota—a subject in which we are all interested this summer. The thickness of the ice is well indicated in the engraving, which shows the great, almost transparent blocks hauled out upon the bank, where they are chipped into shape for storage and transportation. As the thermometer sometimes indicates a temperature of 40 degrees below zer0, the thickness of these blocks is not surprising. When the ice is of moderate thickness, it is cut by means of ice plow; but when very thick, saw are employed for this purpose. The people of this city, where ice is no longer a luxury but a common necessity, will be glad to have the ocular demonstration afforded by these sketches—which are as nearly fac-similes of the original photographs as could be made in wood-engraving—that in Minnesota, at any rate, the crop has been so abundant that ice-dealers will have no excuse for an exorbitant rise in the price of this commodity.

May 7, 1870, pages 296 – 297 (Illustrated Article)

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