Page:1862 Territory of Dakota Session Laws.pdf/7

viii fires have been kept out, stock will subsist and do well all winter without extra forage or attention.

Gold, iron, coal, lead, and salt have been discovered in different localities in the territory, and though comparatively little is known of its mineral wealth, enough has been developed to excite curiosity and provoke adventure. The hardy pioneer is already in the field, and the day is near, aye, is at hand, when the journey of the gold hunter for California and Washington will be shortened by the more glittering attractions of the Black hills and the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains. The history of Dakota is written in the past history of the Western states. This vast terra incognita is already undulating with the breath of civilization, and the time cannot be far distant when its noble prairies and fertile valleys must yield up their wealth to the restless, aggressive, and all-conquering energy of the American people.

J. T.