of perjury, and shall forfeit the money which he or she may have paid for such land, and all right and title to the same; and any grant or conveyance which he or she may have made, except in the hands of bonâ fide purchasers for a valuable consideration, shall be null and void. Proof of the requisite settlement and improvement shall be made by the preemptor to the satisfaction of the register and receiver, in the district in which the lands so claimed lie, who shall each be entitled to receive fifty cents from each applicant for his services rendered as aforesaid; and all assignments and transfers of the right hereby secured prior to the issuing of the patent, shall be null and void. (See U. S. Stat. at Large, vol. 5, 453-458.) But I was on the point of advising the settler what he should bring with him into a new country and what leave behind. He should not bring much furniture. It is very expensive and troublesome to have it transported. Nor will he need much to be gin with, or have room for it. It will cost nearly as much to transport it seventy miles through the territory as it will to bring it from whence he started within the limits of the territory. Let him pack up in a small compass the most precious part of his inanimate household, and leave it ready for an agent to start it after he shall have found a domicil. This will save expensive storage. Then let his goods be directed to the care of some responsible forwarding merchant in a river town nearest to their final destination, that they may be taken care of and not be left exposed on the levee when they arrive. St. Paul is now a place of so much mercantile importance and competition that one may buy provisions, furniture, or agricultural tools cheaper there than he can himself bring them from the East. The professional man, however, will do well to bring his books with him. Let us assume now that the settler has got his house up, either a frame house or of logs, with a part of his farm fenced; and that he has filed his application for preemption at the land office in the district in which he resides. Let us suppose further, that he is passing his first autumn here. His house, if he is a man of limited means, has but two rooms, and they are both on the basement story. He has just shelter enough for his stock, but none for his hay, which is stacked near by. The probability is, that he lives in the vicinity of some clear stream or copious spring, and has not, therefore, needed to dig a well. The whole establishment, one would think, who was accustomed to the Eastern style of living, betrayed downright poverty. But let us stop a moment; this is the home of a pioneer. He has been industrious, and everything about him exhibits forethought. There is a cornfield all fenced in with tamarack poles. It is paved over with pumpkins (for pumpkins flourish wonderfully in Minnesota), and contains twenty acres of ripe corn, which, allowing thirty-five bushels to an of acre, is worth at ninety cents per bushel the sum $630. There are three acres of potatoes, of the very best quality, containing three hundred bushels, which, at fifty cents a bushel, are worth $150. Here then, off of two crops, he gets $780, and I make a moderate estimate at that. Next year he will add to this a crop of oats or wheat. The true pioneer is a model farmer. He lays out his work two weeks in advance. Every evening finds him further ahead. If there is a rainy day, he knows what to set himself about. He lays his plans in a systematic manner, and carries them into execution with energy. He is a true pioneer, and therefore he is not an idle man, nor a loafer, nor a weak addle-headed tippler. Go into his house, and though you do not see elegance, you can yet behold intelligence, and neatness, and sweet domestic bliss. The life of the pioneer is not exposed to such hardships and delays as retarded the fortunes of the settlers in the older states. They had to clear forests; here the land is ready for the plough. And though "there is society where none intrude," yet he is not by any means beyond the boundaries of good neighborhood. In many cases, however, he has left his dearest friends far away in his native village, where his affections still linger. He has to endure painful separations, and to forego those many comforts which spring from frequent meetings under the parental roof, and frequent converse with the most attractive scenes of youth. But to com pensate for these things he can feel that the labor of the pioneer, aside from its pecuniary advantage to himself, is of service to the state, and a helpmate to succeeding generations. "There are, who, distant from their native soil, 11 the ther mile LETTER XII. SPECULATION AND BUSINESS. Opportunities to select farms-Otter Tail Lake-Advantages of the actual settler over the speculator-Policy of new states as to taxing non-residents-Opportunities to make money-Anecdote of Col. Perkins-Mercantile business-Price of money-IntemperanceEducation-The free school. CROW WING, October, 1856. It is maintained by the reviewers, I believe, that the duller a writer is, the more accurate he should be. In the outset of this letter, I desire to testify my acquiescence in the justice of that dogma, for if, like neighbor Dogberry, "I were as tedious as a king," I could not find it in my heart to bestow it all without a measure of utility. I shall try to answer some questions which I imagine might be put by different classes of men who are interested in this part of the west. My last letter had some hints to the farmer, and I can only add, in addition, for his benefit, that the most available locations are now a considerable distance above St. Paul. The valley of the St. Peter's is pretty much taken up; and so of the valley of the Mississippi for a distance of fifteen miles on either side to a point a hundred miles above St. Paul. One of |