This work recounts the early history of Minnesota and celebrates its virtues which attracted new settlers to the territory. It includes a chapter on the "Minnesota River Country," in which the author describes, in glowing terms, the region's landscape, soil fertility, timber resources, and water. Bond doubts "whether any portion of the west presents greater inducements for immigration that the charming valley of the Minnesota river." To make his case, he presents excerpts from reports by early explorers, including Carver, Featherstonhaugh, and Nicollet.
