good preemption claims to be had fifteen miles west, that being as far as the country was thickly settled.  One of the finest regions now unoccupied, that I know of, not to except even the country on the Crow Wing River, is the land bordering on Otter Tail Lake.  For forty miles all round that lake the land is splendid.  More than a dozen disinterested eye-witnesses have described that region to me in the most glowing terms.  In beauty, in fertility, and in the various collateral resources which make a farming country desirable, it is not surpassed.  It lies south of the picturesque highlands or hauteurs des terres, and about midway between the sources of the Crow Wing and North Red Rivers.  From this town the distance to it is sixty miles.  The lake itself is forty miles long and five miles in width.  The water is clear and deep, and abounds with white fish that are famous for their delicious flavor.  The following description, which I take from Captain Pope’s official narrative of his exploration, is a reliable description of this delightful spot, now fortunately on the eve of being settled—­ " To the west, north-west, and north-east, the whole country is heavily timbered with oak, elm, ash, maple, birch, bass, &c., &c.  Of these the sugar maple is probably the most valuable, and in the vicinity of Otter Tail Lake large quantities of maple sugar are manufactured by the Indians.  The wild rice, which exists in these lakes in the most lavish profusion, constitutes a most necessary article of food with the Indians, and is gathered in large quantities in the months of September and October.  To the east the banks of the lake are fringed with heavy oak and elm timber to the width of one mile.  The whole region of country for fifty miles in all directions around this lake is among the most beautiful and fertile in the world.  The fine scenery of lakes and open groves of oak timber, of winding streams connecting them, and beautifully rolling country on all sides, renders this portion of Minnesota the garden spot of the north-west.  It is impossible in a report of this character to describe the feeling of admiration and astonishment with which we first beheld the charming country in the vicinity of this lake; and were I to give expression to my own feelings and opinions in reference to it, I fear they would be considered the ravings of a visionary or an enthusiast."[1] But let me say to the speculator that he need not covet any of these broad acres.  There is little chance for him.  Before that land can be bought at public sale or by mere purchasers at private sale, it will, I feel sure, be entirely occupied by actual settlers.  And so it ought to be.  The good of the territory is promoted by that beneficent policy of our public land laws which gives the actual settler the first and best chance to acquire a title by preemption.

[1 To illustrate the rapid progress which is going on constantly, I would remark that in less than a month after leaving Crow Wing, I received a letter from there informing me that Messrs. Crittenden, Cathcart, and others had been to Otter Tail Lake and laid out a town which they call Otter Tail City.  The standing and means of the men engaged in the enterprise, are a sure guaranty of its success.]