It was late in the season of 1853 when the bands of the upper and lower Sioux were established on their reservations on the upper Minnesota. Some adventurous prospectors had not waited for them to abandon their villages on the Mississippi, but had staked out claims in their corn and bean patches. There may have been 10,000 whites when the Indians had departed. In the early summer of 1854 the Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was built through to the Mississippi. The event was celebrated by a grand excursion from Chicago to St. Paul and Fort Snelling. Five steamers carried the party from Rock Island up the river. Among the guests were statesmen, divines, college professors, and eminent men of affairs. At the reception in St. Paul addresses were made by ex-President Fillmore and George Bancroft the historian. This excursion, widely heralded, gave notice that Minnesota was in steam communication for half the year. That year saw the arrival of the advance guard of the host to follow. The season of 1855 saw 50,000 people in the territory; that number was doubled in 1856. The sales of public lands, which in 1854 had been but 314,715 acres, rose to 1,132,672 in the next year, and to 2,334,000 in 1856. These figures indicate that the people came to stay and cultivate the soil. The Middle States sent the largest contingent, next the Northwestern States, and then New England. The prairie lands, if broken early, would yield a crop of sod corn the same year, and in any case returned a bounteous harvest in the second year. In a time incredibly short these pioneers, rudely housed and their animals sheltered, were surrounded by all solid comforts. They lost no time in starting their schools, churches, and other associations. Minnesota was hardly ever missionary ground for white people.