| Summary: | r\\/ALSH pQUNTY— D The City of Grafton is indebted for its steady and continued prosperity primarily to the enterprise of its citizens and the superior character of its tributary country. The Red River Valley, ia the center of which Grafton is located, is, according to the geologists, the bed of a great pre-historic lake or inland sea which once corered a vast territory aggregating many thousand square miles. And from the same source we learn that the rich soil which has made this valley famous as the "bread basket of the world" had its origin in the accumulated debris of ages at the bottom of this ancient lake. The Red River of the North, which with its tributaries drains this valley and which forms the boundary line between the states of Minnesota and North Dakota, has its source in Western Minnesota within a few miles of the headwaters of the Mississippi river and while the Father of Waters journeys t> the sunny south and to the Gulf of Mexico, the waters of the Red River find their way in the opposite direction, rushing after a tortuous journey of six hundred miles, toLake Winnipeg in Manitoba and thence to Hudson's Baj and to the Arctic regions. The western shore of the ancient lake extends through the western part of the present Walsh County and is visible in the form of ridges or terraces of "rolling" prairie, rising in the aggregate from one to two hundred feet above the level of the valley eastward. A little farther north the altitude of these terraces is some greater and are termed the Pembina mountain country. West of these terraces. or "mountain" country in Walsh County is the fertile Golden Valley. The eastern half of Walsh County is level prairie. The Park River with its three "forks" and the Forest River with its several branches empty into the Red River and drain nearly every square mile of the county in the most perfect manner, with the result that this county has a very small amount of waste land, scarcely any in fact, nor is artificial drainage needed as in other sections of the valley. Walsh County appears to have been expressly fitted by nature with every requirement of a perfect agricultural district. And the numerous streams which traverse the county have along their banks on cither side an abundance of timber, the want of which is a great drawback to many sections of western prairies. When the great fertility and abundant provision made by nature for this section are known it seems passing strange that the settlement of Walsh County has been deferred to the last two decades of the nineteenth century. For a hundred years or more this section has frequently been traversed by white people, hunters, trappers, adventurers, explorers and emigrants. This for ages had been the favorite camping ground of dusky savages. The Sioux and other tribes fought bloody wars for its possession, but until a quarter of a century ago this section had no attractions for white settlers. The first mention we find of this fair land was made by Nicollet, sent out by the French government of Canada to explore the country. He named the Indians he found here "Nadsnesioux," 2.1 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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