Away at the head of our lake system stands a most marvellous illustration of the rapid growth, in population and power, of the American people.

It is less than ten years since the nearly impenetrable forest was levelled to make way for the infant city of Duluth, which, under the inspiring hand of genius and capital, has grown to the importance of chartered rights and privileges more quickly than any other city with which we are familiar.

It is situated on the immediate shore of the lake, and across the shoulder of what is known as Minnesota Point, a long scythe-shaped sand-bar, six miles in length, caused by the action of the waves, separating the waters of Duluth Bay from those of the lake, and extending along the shore of said Duluth Bay.

From the lake back to the top of the bluff, a mile distant, the ascent is easy and regular, affording one of the loveliest sites for the foundation of a great and beautiful city.

Duluth was named for Daniel Greyson Duluth, a native of France, who was the first white man to explore the head-waters of Lake Superior. He landed here in 1679, and advanced far into the interior, westward, toward the Mississippi, cultivating friendly relations with the tribes inhabiting this portion of the country. From his time to the present little or nothing has been done toward the founding, at this point, of a place suitable to the great possibilities of trade and commerce. Thus the spell which seemed to shut from view this key-point of a vast interior country remained till the prophetic eye of capital discovered and possessed it.

That this wilderness, heretofore so wrapt in mystery, should now blossom into life, seems quite plain to the commonest observer of us all.

How faith is given us when success walks hand-in-hand with enterprise.

Though the city of Duluth is only ten years old, it boasts a population of over three thousand, with many of the conveniences of older settlements. Its streets are laid out with great regularity, and the principal one, next the lake, full a mile in length, is lined along nearly its whole extent with stores and warehouses of every kind and description. The sound of the hammer and saw may be heard on every side.

Buildings so crowd upon the forest that the woodman is hard pressed to clear the way; and thus the brave work goes on of transforming this wilderness into gardens where roses in their season bloom abundantly.

We counted not less than five handsome churches, all erected the past year, representing as many different denominations, and, in point of style and interior finish, quite up to the requirements of the most enlightened taste. Two convenient and comfortable hotels give rest and refreshment. Ample provision is being made for public schools; and the projectors of the town have, in their wisdom, set apart one entire square on which a ladies’ seminary is to be erected; in short, everything is being done in a most determined and energetic manner. There is no place for idlers here. Such a wide-awake community naturally weeds itself of them; and, consequently, the society is industrious and moral, if not always elegant and pretentious.

Duluth will in time possess a completely landlocked harbor, and indeed has it already, but not at present as accessible as it will soon be made to the commerce seeking her wharves. The work of cutting a ship channel across the shoulder of the sand-bar before referred to is in progress, the distance being but a few hundred feet of loose earth, which, when completed, will open communication to an immense bay, where all the commerce of the lakes might ride at anchor in perfect safety, were some slight dredging done to increase the present depth of water. This bay is now reached by a circuit of half-dozen miles around the end of this sand-bar, known as Minnesota Point. The Bay of Duluth must eventually, we think, be the great harbor, though a breakwater is in course of construction, which, when completed and made permanent, will give ample shelter to all immediate necessities. Costly wharves have been constructed on the lake side of the Point, and there vessels load and unload almost constantly.

Since it is the established policy of the government to improve the rivers and harbors of the country, surely the small needs of this place ought not to be overlooked. While private enterprise can and does do much, yet it is a sound theory for the general government, which derives its revenues from the people, to aid them in removing or building such obstructions or guards as the merits of the case and the public interest-demand.

Already the trade and commerce of the town employs about a dozen steamships, and numerous sailing vessels are also kept in motion, transporting supplies for the great railway enterprise which has its eastern base at this point.

There are three lines of propellers plying between this port and Buffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit, each employing three ships, while there is an additional line to and from Chicago. They together average four arrivals weekly. The trip from Buffalo is performed in little less than a week, that being the most distant of the respective places. These steamers have accommodations for over half a hundred cabin passengers, as a rule, and both invalids and pleasure travellers will find this, in every respect, the most interesting and comfortable means of access to Minnesota during the summer season. Formerly many availed themselves of such facilities as there then was to make, during the summer, the grand tour of the lakes, but were obliged to return by the route they came. Now, however, the tourist is not compelled to turn back from the head of Lake Superior, as in former days, since the completion of the railway from Duluth to St. Paul, connecting the head of the great lakes with the navigable head of the great river, permits a sweep of travel through the interior of the continent such as is not enjoyed elsewhere on the globe, either in distance, interest, or variety. Each year must give added fame to this route.

Duluth is at the extreme western limit of all the great lakes of the interior, and must eventually become the commercial centre for the Northwest. It is already reaching out its arms to grasp the trade and commerce of that region, which, once in its control, must ever remain tributary to it. The Lake Superior and Mississippi Railway one hundred and fifty-four miles in length above referred to, inaugurates a new era in the agricultural interests of the State, and opens an entirely new line of travel. By means of this road the products of Central and Southern Minnesota are placed three hundred miles nearer lake transportation eastward than heretofore, since the distance to Chicago the present point of destination for these things by rail is that much greater. This new outlet connects at St. Paul with all of the interior lines of railroad in the State, likewise with the navigation of the Mississippi, and on the completion of the St. Paul and Sioux City Road, will drain one of the most fertile valleys, in wealth of exports, to be found in any portion of the West.

The great staple of all this region of country is wheat, and the question of its rapid and cheap transportation is a most important one, both to the producer and consumer. Combinations have been formed in the past whereby the carriage and price was subject to the control of a few, to the great detriment of the producer; but this wheat oligarchy is now likely to receive its quietus in view of this new and competing outlet to eastern markets by way of Duluth.

The water transportation eastward from the latter city is at as low a rate as from Chicago, while the time is by a day in favor of Duluth, owing to the less favorable winds over Lake Michigan.

It is assumed by some that in view of the lower latitude of Chicago, the advantage of that city must ever remain pre-eminent, since the ice obstruction would be less, giving to commerce a much longer season than it could enjoy at any other of the great ports on either of the two westernmost lakes. This seems plausible at first view, but is hardly justified by actual facts. The difference, though slight, is not sufficient to hold any valid claim to a monopoly in the carrying trade of these inland seas. While the ice disappears earlier by a few days at Chicago than at Duluth, in consequence of its geographical position, it will be observed that the course of its lake commerce is due northward, and before that of the two rival lakes meet in the common waters of Huron, they must both pass through narrow and contiguous straits, in both of which the ice obstructions leave about the same time. Hence the advantages of the one port over that of the other, to the shipper, are not of any great moment, and are more than counterbalanced by the less time occupied in reaching the Lake Erie ports from Duluth, over that consumed by vessels from Chicago, growing out of the more favorable winds blowing over Superior, as before mentioned.

The advantage, then, by this new route to the East (via Duluth for a portion of Northern Iowa and Southern and Central Minnesota) is a saving of the three hundred miles of extra rail transportation incurred by way of Lake Michigan; to say nothing of avoiding the exorbitant tolls and inexplicable delays of the latter route. The difference inhering to the benefit of the public, between the two routes, has been estimated, amounts to about one dollar per barrel in favor of this new outlet. If this can be proved true by practical experience, it must inevitably turn the golden stream of grain into the lap of Duluth, since destiny itself is not more certain than that the speediest and cheapest lines will do the world’s marketing.

Anticipating the wants of this route, there has been erected at Duluth, during the past season, an immense elevator, with a present capacity of over a third of a million of bushels, which, with a small additional expenditure, can be increased to a half million. Its proximity to the docks and railway is such that grain can be taken from the cars upon one side, and loaded directly into vessels upon the other, or stored, as the case may be.

The elements of future prosperity surround this new city and lie at her very doors. The north shores of Superior are rich in iron, copper, and silver; while the southern already supply the markets of the Union with the most of its copper, which has grown from small beginnings (of twenty years ago) to be one of the great interests in all our many valuable mining arts.

The fishing interest, which already gives employment to a great number of people, is in the first stages of development. They are now taken chiefly at the straits, but the business may be made extremely profitable at Duluth, since the head of the lake is their natural feeding-ground, and thousands swarm these waters. We all have eaten of the lake trout and white-fish, which may be had in the most of our cities and towns, and know how successfully they compete with the best of our salt-water article. It is already an important and growing trade, and highly profitable.

Each morning during our stay in Duluth the tables of the “Clark House” were served with both of these delicacies; and these fish certainly surpass, when taken fresh, any fish it was ever our fortune to eat. The cost of living is much cheapened in consequence of their abundance, and surely nothing more wholesome can be placed on the table.

If Duluth had but the one interest, that of lumber, its prosperity would be assured. It lies in the very heart of a vast district abounding in pine-forests, and which have scarcely been explored, and we believe much of it remains unsurveyed by the general government up to the present time. The St. Louis River, which empties into Duluth and Superior Bays, courses, with its branches, a thousand miles among the dense forests of pine; and yet this is but a fraction of the immense tract of valuable timber to the north and west of this young and nourishing city.

There is no lack of water-power to reduce the raw material to a marketable condition, since the river above named can turn all the wheels of every mill in the country, could they be planted beside it. The point of contact by the river with the outlying rim of the basin of the great lake is at the village of Thompson, some twenty miles distant from Duluth, on the St. Paul Railroad. Here the waters of the St. Louis River struggle by and over this rim of rocks, downward and onward, roaring and surging in their tumultuous ways, to the level below. These rapids are known as the “Dalles of the St. Louis,” and extend some four and a half miles in an elbow direction. If a canal were cut across this elbow, this splendid water-power could be utilized beyond that of any other in the country.

What a field for enterprise is presented to lumbermen! A vast forest, a river furnishing transportation and unlimited power for manufacturing, and, finally, an open sea, with almost countless markets!

Besides this, there lies among the cliffs and high lands adjoining the rapids of this river inexhaustible quarries of slate, surpassing, we are informed, those of England in quality and quantity, and which must ere long receive that attention they seem to demand at the hands of capital.

The now rude village of Thompson named for J. Edgar Thompson, of Philadelphia with its half dozen extemporized buildings, in the quiet of the woods, will ere long resound with the hum of many industries, and already has considerable importance as being the point of junction of the two great railways entering Duluth the St. Paul and the Puget Sound (Northern Pacific) Roads; the latter traversing a vast territory abounding in everything which contributes to the growth of an agricultural and manufacturing people.

The city of Duluth, seated at the eastern gate way of this new and splendid domain, holds in her golden horn the destinies of many populous and powerful States.