J - t , 1 • -^ ^^. ^'.-'^ .v'^ E ^"1 Cb K^^ 121 5v J The Boise Fokte Indian Reservation in Minnesota. By Albert B. Reagan. The Boisic) ForWc) t'l!ii)i)0\va ludiiins iivi' in iKHilicni Miiiuesotii on a roservatifiii of llie same namt- snrrnuiidm.i; tlif beautiful Nett Lake. The rescrvatidu (()\ei's (lue wimlf Inwnshi)) and eight fractional townships. Its eastern i)art is in St. liouis County, the hulk 0,0()0 acres of Inherited Indian lands to be sold within the next I wo years. Nett Lake is in the east central ]iart of the reservation. It is more than half a townshi[) in area. It is in the shape of a giant lobster's iiaud \\itii the cl.iws pointing eastward, the large claw being the north digit. The lake is shallow and has a mud buttom. It is a rice field and a duck pond combined. In summer, it looks like a vast wheat field. In the fall it swarms with ducks and consequently is a sporting center for the hunters of all this northern country. The lands included in the reservation are well timbered. The princi- lial species represented are white and N(U'way pine, spruce, cedar, elm, Cottonwood, oak, birch, and poplar. The latter two are the most abundant and will be of value some day as pulp wood. The land of the reservation is very variable in condition of soil and jiossible fertility. f)ne-lin]f of it is swamp and is known to the Indians as "Muskeg" lands. Over this area there is a stratum of peat from six inehps to five feef ii) thicknesjs. ^Yhon once drained this wil} be the Uefjt 122 liiiid in tlj«" countfy. The ii(iii-s\v;iiiip cnstcni p.ii't of flie rosorvjitioii is composed of i"ock-rid,s?cs flanked witli lower land. These lower stretches are clay flats covered with black loam. On them ujrow birch and poplar forests; and when cleared they will make flnc farms of the dairy type. Roots and grass do well on snch lands. The ridge lands are the pine lands and will not be of much value, except for building sites and orchard loca- tions. The western part of the reservation that is not covered with "mus- keg" swamp is a sand region. On it grew much pine in the old times : but when cleared it will be practically worthless, as is some pine lauds east (if the south lobe of the lake. The region about Little Fork Kiver is in the southwestern part of the reservation. It will make good farm land when cleared. Some open areas are fine meadows now. The surface material, except that on the ridges, was left on the re- treat of the glaciers. Its depth varies from nothing on the ridges to 200 feet in the pre-glacial intervalley spaces. The irregular dunijiing of tliis material and the partial filling of ancient valleys has produced the lakes of the covmtry. In composition, this material varies very much. In the eastern part of the reservation it is composed iirincipally of ground mo- raine material — a blue clay filled witli boulders. Some of these ai'e found to be of local origin; others to have been transported from a region far to the north. At other places on the reservation, the l"orination appears to be practically pure sand. On the rock ridges the glacial debris is entirely wanting, but instead the exposed I'ocks show the glacial scratchings. The climate is very ch;mgeable in this part, ranging from 102 degrees above zero in summer to (>0 degrees below in winter. The average summer is too cool for corn, and wheat has never been tried. Oats does fairly well. The Indians have been allotted nearly twenty years; yet not one of them has ever made any effort to improve his allotment. As yet there is little inducement for them to improve them. There is no market where they could sell their jiroduee. Furthermore it would cost .$100 per acre to ck'ar the lan . •'?<«5?,- .«^ \ '-y^W: ^% \ 5I|: ^^-^■^ ■'"■''-'-'''■'^ "■- ••* -?<^.* /\ "fSf / y I ^ - Z"' -> .^^ ... ^-^ A <^. •-W^/ /\ '-flP/ J'\ '^'^s /0^^k FLA. f'- .^* '*' H,>!2 A. .. ^ c» t .t«?-,(r»»s. *_