Minnesota; Its Character and Climate | Page 3

unhealthy precincts, to say nothing of those more pestilential-breeding apartments which are everywhere inhabited by the poorer class, as well as by thousands of the well-to-do and intelligent people of both town and country. It is noteworthy, however, to observe the increasing interest manifested of late in all things pertaining to the laws of hygiene; and yet the alphabet of the subject remains a profound mystery to the greater masses of men. Much praise should be awarded the daily press for its dissemination of valuable hints and arguments upon all the vital questions of health; and, but for newspapers, indeed, there would be no practical means of reaching the millions who, more than all others, so much need to be taught these invaluable, first lessons of life.
The tide of emigration from the seaboard to the West has usually followed parallel lines; so that we find the State of Texas settled, for the most part, by people from the States lying upon the Gulf, while in Missouri they hail largely from the Carolinas, and from what were once known as the border slave States. Going farther north, to Minnesota, a preponderance of the New England element is found; though people from all the various States of the Union are encountered to a greater extent than in any of the others lying in the Northwest; and this fact is important as one of the circumstantial evidences of the great repute this State bears, par excellence, in the matter of her climate. We cannot suppose that this minor and miscellaneous population were attracted hither from any special attachment either to the people or the institutions of the commonwealth, but rather in quest of that health and vigor lost within their own warm, enervating, or miasmatic homes, which so abound in all the central and southern portions of the Union. Finding their healths measurably benefited by a residence here, they have brought their families, engaged in their various callings, and may now be found settled permanently in their new homes throughout all the towns and villages of the State.
Minnesota is known as the New England of the West, this appellation growing out of the fact that the great preponderance of her citizens, as before stated, are either of New England birth or origin; and this well-merited sobriquet has, likewise, an additional application, since the general face of the country is diversified and quite in contrast with the endless stretch and roll of the shrubless prairies of some of the other great western and adjoining States.
The traveller has but to pass over the flat surface of the State of Illinois, and the nearly treeless country of Iowa, to duly appreciate the pleasing contrast which the State of Minnesota affords. While there is an utter absence of anything like mountain ranges (excepting upon the north shore of Lake Superior, where a belt of granite lifts itself above the surrounding woodlands), yet there is, everywhere, either a patch of timber, a valley bounded by gently receding country, or some gem of a lake set in the more open rolling prairie--all adding beauty and endless variety to the generally picturesque landscape.
It might be entirely safe to assume that the people of Minnesota, as a whole, are distinguished by a more aesthetic character than their neighbors living in the nearly dead level country below them. It is but reasonable to suppose that some, at least, in seeking new homes, would give a preference to attractive localities, even at the sacrifice of something of fertility; which is, to some extent, the case; as the low flat lands of the rivers below are unrivalled in their power of production--whether it be of the grains of wheat or disease. It is well known that scores of those moving into the West seek only the rich level lands which are easily manipulated; requiring no application, during their natural lives, of any restorative. And, if it only be free from surface obstructions at the outset, they are content--asking no questions relating to the more important matters of life, such as concern the health, companionship, and education of either their families or themselves, and accounting all the influences of the surrounding prospect as of no value.
Perhaps the ratio of increase in population is not greater in Minnesota than in some of her adjoining sister States, notwithstanding her superior attractions of climate and scenery. Yet, if this be true, it is readily accounted for in that the majority of the people moving westward do not readily consent to make their new homes north of the parallel of their old ones. On the contrary, the general tendency is to drop southward, desiring to escape as much as may be the protracted cold of winter; forgetting, or never knowing, that the isothermal lines have a general northwest direction