1918 Map of Goos

About this map

The Great Northern railway cuts a straight line through the heavy wetlands of Roseau County, defining the early 20th-century development of northern Minnesota. This military survey captures a landscape in transition as extensive drainage projects, such as Proposed State Ditch No. 98 and numerous lateral ditches like Lateral No. 1 through Lateral No. 13, were plotted to reclaim the vast Swamp for agriculture. Small railroad settlements and rural hubs including Salol, Mandus, Pequis, and Malung anchor the local geography, surrounded by a network of country schools and early river crossings. The Roseau River and the North Fork Roseau River snake through the townships of Norland, Spruce, and Falun, illustrating the natural drainage patterns that the ditch system sought to master during this era of frontier expansion near the International Boundary.