heretofore made by engineers, from Ontonagon and Marquette, show their respective routes to be feasible for a railroad, and the land good, heavily timbered, with very valuable varieties; and also refer to the well-known fact, that inexhaustible deposits of pure copper and iron ore exist along the lines of road. The extensive forests of pine, for which Northern Wisconsin is celebrated, and through which the contemplated line will pass, cannot fail to be of great value, especially when the road is finished through them. The rapid and continually-increasing growth and settlement of the area of country south of the line above indicated, together with the already marked inroads now being made upon the forests north of that line by the enormous amount of timber annually cut there, prove that these lands will be very valuable. On or near the Brulé River, on the route of this road, are inexhaustible beds of the finest quality of slate and marble. As there are no other slate-quarries within many hundred miles south and west, eventually this slate will be sent by railroad, southerly, in large quantities, for roofing and other purposes; of course, this land must be valuable, and much of it will be owned by the company. "But the most valuable are the mineral lands. Pure, unadulterated copper' is found along the whole trap-range, extending from Montreal River, north-easterly, past Ontonagon harbor, nearly parallel with the southern shore of the lakes, and about fifteen to twenty-five miles from it, a distance of nearly one hundred and fifty miles, to the extremity of Keweenaw Point." W. B. Ogden, Esq., President of the Chicago, St. Paul, and Fond du Lac Railroad Company, in a circular-letter to the stockholders, says: "Preliminary surveys have been 1 A general description of this copper-region will be found in the Second Part of this work. made of these lines, which show them entirely feasible for a railroad, at an average cost of about $25,000 per mile, and running through a peculiarly healthful region of good farming and valuable timber and mineral lands. We shall obtain the full quota of lands to which we are entitled under the Act of Congress, viz.: 3,840 acres per mile, and all (after excluding all swamp and refuse lands granted to the State,) within ten miles of our road. Many of these lands have a special value, in addition to their worth for farming purposes. With the exception of the prairie region in the vicinity of the southern part of the road, and occasional meadows and openings all along it, the whole line north from Appleton (some forty miles north of Fond du Lac,) passes over lands covered with fine white pine and other valuable timber, well watered, and abounding in great wealth of iron, copper, slate, and marble. "The Marquette line passes over superior and extensive slate-quarries of various colors, and the only known accessible slate west of Vermont, for the supply, over our road, of the Great Northwest and the Valley of the Mississippi. It also passes over and along the noted Lake Superior Iron Range, extending from fourteen to fifty miles in width, north and south, and over one hundred miles in length, east and west, and producing, as proved by repeated practical analysis, experiment, and use, the finest iron in the world. A single known bed of it, directly on the line of this road, is capable, according to the United States Geological Survey and official Government Report, of supplying the world for ages.' "On the Marquette line, seventeen miles of road are already constructed, and become our property by this consolidation, with an ample and paying business already at hand, in the transportation of ore and iron to the Lake at Marquette. There are single sections of iron-ore land, along this line, which could not be purchased for $100,000. "The Ontonagon line passes over the great Lake Superior copper and mining region, and directly past the rich Minnesota mine, with its recent wonderful discoveries of immense masses and columns of solid virgin copper. A section of land covering this mine has now a market value of near $1,500,000. "The Government having made no reserve of minerals to itself, and as our line of road penetrates to the interior of this region, and opens a country hitherto (for want of roads,) comparatively unoccupied, we shall, doubtless, in locating our lands, obtain, in addition to extensive tracts of fine pine timber-lands, many thousands of acres of great value on account of the minerals they contain. As often as every ten miles along the entire line, towns and villages will spring up, and give great value to our adjoining lands for villages and town lots. "The Illinois Central Railroad Company, in their last report, value their remaining unsold lands, taking their large actual sales as a standard, at $13 52 per acre, and express great confidence that a larger price will be realized. "If we estimate our lands at the same rate, as with all their wealth of timber and minerals we may safely do, we have "1,267,200 acres, at $13 50 per acre, worth The 330 miles of road to be constructed by these $17,107,200 8,250,000 Leaving a surplus of $8,857,200 "On this basis there is value enough in these lands, not only to build the 330 miles of road north of Fond du Lac, but to reimburse to our stockholders their entire outlay in building their road from Chicago to Fond du Lac. "The company have ten years' time in which to complete the line to Lake Superior, and their lands are free from all taxes during these ten years, unless previously sold by the company. The company have also the right of way, free of cost, through all public lands, and all lands reserved by Government in any manner or for any purpose. "And this line, when constructed, will not want for business. A large population have already gathered in the vicinity of Ontonagon and Marquette, and heavy investments have been made in mining the copper and iron, which business is rapidly increasing. Every year sends a powerful emigration thither; and these emigrants, while they develop the country, will draw their supplies from the prairies of Wisconsin and Illinois. As the mining resources of the region are developed, and it becomes easily accessible by our road, this emigration will increase accordingly. Manufacturing establishments will, of necessity, grow out of the mining operations. The Great West will look mainly to the Lake Superior district for its supplies of copper, iron, and slate, as they will be delivered over our road at all seasons of the year, and at greatly reduced cost. The carrying trade of lumber, iron, slate, and marble, from our lands and the line of our road southerly, and of the supplies of all sorts needed upon it in return, will give full occupation for the entire capacity of the road. "The construction of a railroad from this extraordinary tumber and mineral region south, as a means of intercourse with the important lake cities on the western shore of Lake Michigan and the great markets of the country, would be an attractive investment of capital, without regard to the land grant. "Some of the most substantial and lucrative roads and 150 CHICAGO, ST. PAUL, AND FOND DU LAC RAILROAD. improvements of the country have been constructed expressly for the accommodation of such a traffic; and there is not one of them where the object to be attained compares, in extent and inexhaustible resources, for all time to come, with ours. "In another respect this road will compare favorably with other roads of the country, viz.: IN CHEAPNESS OF COST-the grades are easy, the country favorable for construction, the materials for ties and other structures on the line abundant, the right of way furnished without cost. "The company have also a charter for a road northwesterly from the above north and south line to St. Louis River, or the west end of Lake Superior, with the landgrant privilege attaching to it—the whole distance supposed to be about 200 miles. At some future day, and not far distant either, a line of road from the City of Superior, south-easterly, to our north and south line, may not only be demanded by the wants of that section, but be a most essential tributary to our main line towards Chicago. In such event, if our other roads to Marquette and Ontonagon should then be completed, it might be very important and indispensable for the company to have the benefit of the land-grant along its line." The earnings of this road, while in course of construction to Janesville, were, for the first eight months of 1856, $166,198 98. The road was opened to Janesville in September, and the earnings on this portion of the line were, for the eight months following, $288,048 33; and for the month of May, 1857, $60,168 32, being an increase over the corresponding month of the preceding year, of $30,655 31. The connection with the Milwaukee and Mississippi Road was made on the 11th of May, 1857, thus opening a through route to the Mississippi, at Prairie du Chien, and promising a very large increase of annual receipts. |