built of a line from Canton to the Missouri river; completed in 1880 to the Missouri.

Also a line upon which work is now in progress from Eden to Yankton.

The Sioux Falls and Pembina Railroad, up the Big Sioux River valley, of which some seventy miles are in operation.

The Dakota Central Railroad, located from Garey to the Dakota river, upon which work is now progressing; completed to Huron, on Dakota river.

The Worthington and Sioux Falls Railroad (Saint Paul and Sioux City), of which about forty miles are built, having Yankton for its objective point; and

The Southern Minnesota Railroad, building from Flandreau to Sioux Falls.

The total length of road now in operation in the Territory is almost 1,200 miles.

Indian Tribes and Reservations.-The Indian reservations in Dakota, in January, 1880, still comprised about 42,000,000 acres, about seven-sixteenths of the entire area of the Territory. This vast area is cut up into several reservations in different parts of the Territory. As it is largely in excess of the needs of the Indians, arrangements are making by the government to purchase considerable portions of it, and to distribute the remainder in severalty to the Indians, giving them also the interest of the purchase-money of the lands which the govern- ' ment buys from them, as annuities. There were on these reservations in January, 1880, 26,530 Indians of all ages. Of these 25,237 were Sioux or Dakotas, of twenty-one different bands or sub-tribes; 1,393 (the Indians at the Fort Berthold Agency) were the remnant of other tribes formerly hostile to the Sioux, and were divided as follows: Arickarees, 720; Gros Ventres, 448; Mandans, 225. Since the severe punishment of Sitting Bull and his band for their massacre of General Custer and his troops, and their escape into British America, the remaining bands of Sioux have been peaceful and friendly to the whites. They are, for the most part, making decided progress in civilization. With the almost complete destruction of the

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buffalo, they have very generally abandoned the chase, except a moderate amount of hunting and trapping of the fur-bearing animals, and with each year an increasing number of them are turning their attention to the raising of cattle and horses, to drawing freight, and to the simpler forms of agriculture. Very many of them have built for themselves comfortable log-cabins. in the place of the tepees or lodges of skins in which they formerly dwelt. Of the Sioux 10,162, or more than two-fifths, have assumed and constantly wear citizens' dress. Of the Fort Berthold Indians, only one-twentieth have done this, but the number is increasing every year. Religious instruction as well as secular education is imparted to the Indians at each of the ten agencies, and the more promising Indian children are now in considerable numbers sent East to receive higher instruction, and on their return become not only teachers but leaders of their people in their progress toward civilization.

The present population of the Territory, including 26,148 tribal Indians, is 162,328; of which Northern Dakota has about 36,000, Central Dakota 10,000, Southeastern Dakota 74,000, Black Hills 16,000. The inhabitants of Northern Dakota are very largely of European birth, though there is a sufficient American element, mainly from New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, to maintain American institutions. The Mennonites, Russians who have been associated with them in Russia, and who have come here for the religious and civil liberty they cannot enjoy there, Norwegians and Swedes, and some Germans; the Catholic colonies from Belgium, France, and Ireland, which have come over under the direction of the Catholic Emigration Societies-these make up the bulk of the settlers of the northern section. Considerable numbers have come from Manitoba, dissatisfied with the homestead laws there and with the lack of enterprise and push in that colony. The inhabitants of this section are not, for the most part, of the poorer class of emigrants. One company of Russians recently brought with them. $490,000; and the Mennonites are usually men of property. In several cases they have bought large blocks of land, sometimes 100,000 to 200,000 acres, and settle on them so as to have entire communities of their own faith.

In Central Dakota the emigration is largely European, Norwegian, Swedish, and German, with a considerable admixture of American families. In Southeastern Dakota the American families predominate, though there are here also Mennonite, Belgian, German, and Irish colonies. The farming lands of this region are more generally in small holdings, and the class of immigrants who are occupying them are of a character superior to those who are settling in many other regions. It is a very desirable region for the best class of farming immigrants.

The character of the population of the Black Hills has been already described. They are, as a rule, superior to most mining populations. When the division of this Territory is accomplished, as it will be when railroad communication is established from the East with the Black Hills, the southern part will probably have for its northern boundary the forty-fifth parallel as a continuation of the line of Wyoming, and the new State may also have that portion of Wyoming which contains the western half of the Black Hills, as it will be desirable to have that region under one government. This region will have a sufficient lation for admission into the Union as a State by that time. The northern part of the Territory, while the largest, will probably have no mineral products except coal, and possibly lead; but it will be a rich farming and grazing country, and accessible both by its rivers and railways to the best markets.

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Churches and Religious Teachings.-The population of Dakota, though drawn from such diverse sources, has more of the religious element in it than is found in most of the States or Territories of the West. Several of the colonies, of which there are a considerable number in the Territory, are founded in part on religious principles. This is especially the case with the Mennonite settlements, in which there are from 10,000 to 20,000 people, and the Roman Catholic colonies, which are rapidly increasing in numbers and already give full employment to an active and energetic bishop. The Scandinavian immigrants are mostly Lutherans, and they bring their clergymen with them, and establish churches at once. The Germans, when not Catholics, are mostly rationalists, and not favorably disposed toward religion,

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though some of them are very earnest in their Christian zeal. But the large numbers of immigrants from the Eastern States were mostly from Christian homes, and they manifest their remembrance of their early associations by rearing schools and churches at once in these new villages, even while they themselves may be living in a dug-out or a sod-house. All of the Protestant denominations seem to be very fairly represented, and all manifest much zeal in organizing churches and gathering congregations. The irreligious element is stronger in the Black Hills than elsewhere in the Territory, but from Mr. White's testimony already quoted, it seems that there is less Sabbathbreaking and open, unblushing vice there, than in most mining districts.

Taking it all in all, there is not at the present time a better region for the farmer or stock-raiser than Dakota, and those who prefer a mining region can be as well accommodated in the Black Hills as in any part of the West, especially if they do not propose to engage personally in mining.

Other States and Territories may boast of greater natural wonders and more grand and delightful scenery, though, in both these particulars, Dakota has much to produce emotions of surprise, awe, and delight; but what gives this Territory its peculiar charm is its thorough adaptation for quiet and beautiful homes. The sun shines on no fairer land, and on none where so many circumstances combine to make a residence so home-like and delightful.

CHAPTER VI.

IDAHO TERRITORY.

TOPOGRAPHY-BOUNDARIES-LENGTH AND BREADTH-AREA-LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE-DISTRIBUTION OF AREA-ARABLE LANDS-GRAZING LANDSTIMBER LANDS-MINING LANDS-DESERT LANDS-MOUNTAINS-LAKES— RIVERS CLIMATE-METEOROLOGY OF BOISE CITY-GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY-THE PRECIOUS METALS-OTHER METALS AND MINERALS-MINERAL SPRINGS-NATURAL WONDERS-SULPHUR LAKE AND Deposits-Salt SPRINGS -SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS-FOREST TREES-ZOOLOGY-MINES AND MINING PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER SINCE 1862-PRESENT FALLING OFF-GREAT MINERAL WEALTH-STOCK-RAISING-SHEEP-FARMING -THE CULTURE OF ARABLE LANDS-OBSTACLES TO THE Progress of GROWTH OF IDAHO-THE LACK OF RAILROADS AND OF WAGON-ROADS-THE LACK OF CAPITAL-MORMON INFLUENCE the Greatest Obstacle of all.

IDAHO TERRITORY is one of the central or interior Territories of the northern tier, in form much like a huge chair. Its northern and very narrow boundary (at the top of the chair) is British America, while the seat of the chair is bounded on the north by Montana. The Bitter Root Mountains, one of the principal ranges of the Rocky Mountains, form the eastern boundary between Idaho and Montana, and between it and Wyoming the boundary follows the 111th meridian west from Greenwich. On the south, following the 42d parallel, it is bounded by Utah and Nevada; on the west it is bounded by Oregon and Washington Territory, the line being the 117th meridian to the mouth of the Boise river, thence along the Snake river for 350 miles to Lewiston, and thence northward along the 117th meridian to British America. The southwest corner of Yellowstone Park is within the bounds of Idaho. The Territory lies between the 42d and 49th parallels of north latitude, and between the 111th and 117th meridians of longitude west from Greenwich. It is about 410 miles long from north to south, and a little less than 300 miles wide at its widest portion. Its area as stated at the Land Office is 86,294 square miles, or 55,228,160 acres. There are very diverse estimates of the proportions of this area in arable, graz