Minnesota has fixed its desires upon a railway to the Pacific.  The “St. Paul and Pacific Railway” is already in operation about forty miles west of St. Paul, and its projectors hope, in time, to extend it to the shores of the “peaceful sea.”  It has called British capital to its aid, and is slowly but steadily progressing.

In the latter part of 1858 several enterprising citizens of St. Paul took a small steamer in midwinter from the upper waters of the Mississippi to the head of navigation, on the Red River of the North.  The distance was two hundred and fifty miles, and the route lay through a wilderness.  Forty yoke of oxen were required for moving the boat.  When navigation was open in the spring of 1859, the boat (the Anson Northrup) steamed down to Fort Garry, the principal post of the Hudson Bay Company, taking all the inhabitants by surprise.  None of them had any intimation of its coming, and were, consequently, as much astonished as if the steamer had dropped from the clouds.

The agents of the Hudson Bay Company purchased the steamer, a few hours after its arrival, for about four times its value.  They hoped to continue their seclusion by so doing; but were doomed to disappointment.  Another and larger boat was built in the following year at Georgetown, Minnesota, the spot where the Northrup was launched.  The isolation of the fur-traders was ended.  The owners of the second steamer (the International) were the proprietors of a stage and express line to all parts of Minnesota.  They extended their line to Fort Garry, and soon established a profitable business.

From its organization in 1670, down to 1860, the Hudson Bay Company sent its supplies, and received its furs in return, by way of the Arctic Ocean and Hudson’s Bay.  There are only two months in the year in which a ship can enter or leave Hudson’s Bay.  A ship sailing from London in January, enters the Bay in August.  When the cargo is delivered at York Factory, at the mouth of Nelson’s River, it is too late in the season to send the goods to the great lakes of Northwestern America, where the trading posts are located.  In the following May the goods are forwarded.  They go by canoes where the river is navigable, and are carried on the backs of men around the frequent and sometimes long rapids.  The journey requires three months.

The furs purchased with these goods cannot be sent to York Factory until a year later, and another year passes away before they leave Hudson’s Bay.  Thus, returns for a cargo were not received in London until four years after its shipment from that port.

Since American enterprise took control of the carrying trade, goods are sent from London to Fort Garry by way of New York and St. Paul, and are only four months in transit.  Four or five months will be required to return a cargo of furs to London, making a saving of three years over the old route.  Stupid as our English cousin sometimes shows himself, he cannot fail to perceive the advantages of the new route, and has promptly embraced them.  The people of Minnesota are becoming well acquainted with the residents of the country on their northern boundary.  Many of the Northwestern politicians are studying the policy of “annexation.”