No longer a trackless waste,
abandoned to the roaming bands of Indians and the wild beasts of the
forest, and plain, the western continent was fast yielding to the
plowshare of the husbandman, and to the powerful agencies of education
and improvement.
Bismarck itself was a wonderfully active town, and during the season of
navigation a large commercial business was transacted with the various
towns upon the river, both above and below it. Before the advent of the
Northern Pacific railroad, Bismarck had an existence, but simply as a
sleepy river station, with its periodical bursts of life and animation
during the months when the river was navigable and when trade along its
waters was possible. When winter came, however, with its chilling
blasts, and the river was frozen, trade almost ceased entirely, and
Bismarck remained in sluggish inactivity until spring with its
refreshing showers and balmy breezes awakened it to new life and being.
Now, however, all was changed. The railroad with its facilities, had
opened the way to emigration; the pioneers had penetrated the solitudes,
and Bismarck had grown with that wonderful rapidity so characteristic of
the western town. The advent of the iron horse had opened up new and
hitherto undreamed of possibilities.
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