CHAPTER XXIII.
MISCELLANEOUS BIOGRAPHIES.
PIERRE BOTTINEAU was born in the Red River settlement, now Dakota, in
1817. His early life was passed amongst the Ojibways in the employ of
various fur companies. He has lived an eventful life and endured many
hardships as a hunter, trapper and guide. He was early noted as a
pilot to and from the Selkirk settlement. In 1843 he removed his
family from Selkirk to St. Paul. In 1845 he removed to St. Anthony
Falls, east side, where he laid out an addition to the new village. He
was also, in 1851, the first settler at Maple Grove, or "Bottineau's
Prairie," in Hennepin county. When he came to Fort Snelling he was
employed by Gen. Sibley as a guide. In 1856 he assisted in selecting
locations for forts. In 1858, after the establishment of Fort
Abercrombie, he located the village of Breckenridge, now in Wilkin
county, Minnesota. In 1859 he accompanied Geologist Skinner in his
exploring expedition, having for its object the survey and location of
salt mines, and was guide to Col. W. H. Noble's wagon road expedition
to Frazer river. In 1860 he accompanied a military expedition with
Gov. Ramsey to conclude treaties with the Northern Minnesota
Chippewas. In 1862 he accompanied Capt. Fisk's Idaho expedition, and,
in 1863, Gen. Sibley's expedition to the Missouri. Mr. Bottineau now
resides at Red Lake Falls, Polk county, Minnesota.
ANDREW G. CHATFIELD, a member of the Minnesota district bench at the
time of his death, was born in the town of Butternuts, Otsego county,
New York, Jan. 27, 1810. In 1838 he was a member of the New York
assembly; in 1848 he removed to Racine, Wisconsin, where he was
elected county judge. In 1853 he was appointed associate justice of
the supreme court of Minnesota Territory, and he made his home on a
beautiful prairie in Scott county, on which he laid out the town of
Belle Plaine. He acted as judge four years and then resumed the
practice of law. In January, 1871, he was elected judge of the Eighth
Judicial district, which he held until his death, which occurred Oct.
3, 1875. Judge Chatfield was married in 1836. His widow and an only
daughter, Mrs. Cecilia Irwin, reside at Belle Plaine.
HAZEN MOOERS.--Biographical details of Mr. Mooers are scant and
unreliable. He was probably born about the year 1796. It is said that
he was in the battle of Plattsburgh, September, 1814, when he was a
youth of eighteen years of age, and that he acted as a guard in
protecting government and private property. We find by the Minnesota
historical collections that he came to Gray Cloud island in 1835 and
remained till 1843. It is probable that he remained there till 1848.
He was commissioner of St. Croix county, Wisconsin, in 1840-41 and
1842. When he came to Gray Cloud island he was accompanied by a Mr.
Robinson, and located in section 23. While at Gray Cloud he was
married to a daughter of Dickson, the trader, and sister of Mrs.
Joseph R. Brown. We have been unable to find mention of him later than
1848.
JOHN MCDONOUGH BERRY was born at Pittsfield, New Hampshire, Sept. 18,
1827. Mr. Berry received an excellent education at the Pittsfield
Academy, Phillips Academy and at Yale College, from which he graduated
in 1847. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He was in the
law office of Ira Paley, later chief justice of New Hampshire. In 1850
he was admitted to the bar at Concord, New Hampshire. He commenced
practice at Alton Corners, Belknap county, New Hampshire. Three years
later he came West and located at Janesville, Wisconsin. In 1855 he
moved to Faribault, this State, and at once came into prominence. In
1856 he was a member of the territorial house of representatives and
chairman of the judiciary committee. In 1862 he was sent to the state
senate from Rice county, and in 1864 he was elected associate justice
of the state supreme court, a position he has filled with honor to
himself and the bar. He removed to Minneapolis in 1879 and died there,
greatly lamented, Nov. 15, 1887. An obituary notice from the daily
press gives a fair estimate of his character:
"He was not a man that mingled much in society or put himself forward
on any occasion, yet he had a very social, genial disposition, and
every one that knew him valued the acquaintance highly. As a judge he
was universally esteemed. His decisions were always marked by a
peculiarly vigorous grasp of bottom facts. His mind was a naturally
judicial one. His own ideas were fresh and original, and his way of
expressing them unusually vigorous. He devoted himself wholly to his
judicial duties and to his family. He was a great reader and student
and a great home man. His affections were wholly centred in his wife
and children. His distaste for ostentation and publicity is evidenced
in his expressed wish for a private funeral."
He was married May 26, 1853, to Alice A. Parker, of Roscoe, Illinois,
who survives him.
MARK H. DUNNELL is of Scotch descent. He was born July 2, 1823, at
Buxton, Maine. He was raised on a farm, but graduated at Waterville
College, Maine, in 1849, and for three years following was engaged in
teaching. In 1852 he was elected to the Maine house of
representatives, and afterward served five years as state
superintendent of schools. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in
1856, and in 1860 practiced his profession in Portland. In 1861 he was
appointed United States consul to Vera Cruz, Mexico. Before going to
Mexico he was appointed colonel of the Fifth Maine Volunteers, and
participated in the first battle of Bull Run. He resigned his
consulship in 1862, and returned to Maine, where he aided the governor
in recruiting and organizing regiments for the military service. In
1865 he came to Winona, Minnesota, was a member of the Minnesota house
of representatives in 1867, and afterward served three years as state
superintendent of instruction. He resigned this office to take a seat
in Congress, and represented his district a period of ten years. He
was married Nov. 20, 1850, to Sarah A. Parrington, of Goshen, Maine.
They have three children living.
JAMES HEATON BAKER, son of Rev. Henry Baker, a Methodist preacher, and
Hannah (Heaton) Baker, was born in Monroe, Ohio, May 6, 1829. He
graduated at Ohio Wesleyan University in 1852. In 1853 he purchased
the Sciota _Gazette_, at Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1855 he was elected
secretary of state on the ticket headed by Salmon P. Chase as
governor. In 1857 he removed to Minnesota, where, for two successive
terms he was elected to the same office. At the outbreak of the Civil
War he resigned, and accepted a colonel's commission in the Tenth
Minnesota Volunteers. In 1863 his command was ordered to the South,
and he was detached and made provost marshal of St. Louis, and
subsequently of the department of Missouri, in which position he
served until the close of the war, he being meanwhile promoted to a
brevet brigadier generalship.
At the close of the war he was appointed register of the land office
at Booneville, Missouri, but in two years resigned and returned to his
farm in Blue Earth county, Minnesota.
In 1871 President Grant appointed him commissioner of pensions, a
position for which he was singularly well fitted. He resigned in 1875,
and was appointed by President Grant surveyor general of Minnesota.
Gen. Baker has been prominent in Masonic circles, and has contributed
much to the newspaper and periodical press. He was married Sept. 25,
1852, to Rose R., daughter of Reuben H. Thurston, then of Delaware,
Ohio, now of Mankato, Minnesota. This estimable lady died at
Washington City, March 21, 1873, leaving two sons, Arthur and Harry E.
Gen. Baker, since his appointment as surveyor general, has resided at
Mankato. He served in 1885 and 1886 as railroad commissioner for the
State.
HORACE BURTON STRAIT is of Virginia Revolutionary stock. He was born
in Potter county, Pennsylvania, Jan. 26, 1835. His educational
advantages were such only as the common schools afforded, and he is
largely self cultured. He came to Minnesota in 1855, and engaged in
farming near Shakopee, but in 1860 moved to the county seat, and
engaged in mercantile business. In August, 1862, he enlisted in
Company I, Ninth Minnesota Volunteers, commanded by Col. Alexander
Wilkin; was commissioned as captain, and in 1864 as major; was
mustered out at the close of the war, since which time he has been
engaged in milling, banking and farming. He was president of the First
National Bank of Shakopee. He served as mayor of Shakopee in
1870-71-72, when he was elected to Congress, and served by continuous
re-elections until 1888, when J. L. MaDonald became his successor. He
was emphatically a working member. He has been twice married. His
first wife died in 1872, leaving one child.
JUDSON WADE BISHOP was born at Evansville, New York, June 24, 1831. He
received an academic education at Fredonia Academy, and at Union
Academy, Belleville, New York. Leaving school at the age of sixteen,
he was employed for several years as clerk and book-keeper and in
teaching. Having a taste for civil engineering he fitted himself for
usefulness in that department at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
of Troy, New York, and in 1853 secured a position as draughtsman on
the Canadian Grand Trunk railway. At the completion of the road, in
1857, he obtained employment in railroad surveying, making his
residence at Chatfield until 1861, where he purchased a newspaper, the
Chatfield _Democrat_. At the first call for troops in 1861 he sold his
office, volunteered as a soldier, and was mustered in as captain of a
company in the Second Regiment, June 26, 1861. He was mustered out at
the close of the war with the brevet rank of brigadier general, and
resumed railroad work, in which he has since been active and
conspicuous. For some years he was manager of the St. Paul & Sioux
City. His connection with railroad enterprises necessitated his
removal in 1864 to Le Sueur, in 1868 to Mankato and in 1873 to St.
Paul, which has since been his home. He has also been a heavy dealer
in real estate. He was married Jan. 11, 1866, to Nellie S. Husted, of
Galena, Illinois, who died Sept. 19, 1878, leaving three sons, Charles
Husted, Edwin Judson and Robert Haven.
JOHN LOUIS MCDONALD.--The paternal ancestors of our subject were
Highlanders, of the clan "McDonald of the Isle." John Louis was born
in Glasgow, Scotland, Feb. 22, 1836; came with his parents to America
in 1842, lived a few years in Nova Scotia, then removed to Pittsburgh
where he received an academic education. He removed to Belle Plaine,
Scott county, Minnesota, in 1855, read law with Judge Chatfield, and
was admitted to practice at Shakopee in 1858, removing thither three
years later, and continuing in practice, serving as probate judge from
1859 to 1864 and publishing and editing the Belle Plaine _Enquirer_,
and later, the Shakopee _Argus_, serving two years as prosecuting
attorney, four years as superintendent of schools, two years as state
representative (1869-70) and three years as state senator (1874-75 and
1876). In 1877 he was elected district judge, and served seven years.
In 1888 he took his seat as representative in Congress. As a judge he
is thoroughly well informed, clear-sighted and impartial.
THOMAS H. ARMSTRONG was born in Milan, Ohio, Feb. 6, 1829. He
graduated from Western Reserve College in 1854, commenced the practice
of law at La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1856, practiced at High Forest,
Minnesota, until 1870, when he discontinued practice. Three years
later he moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota, and established the Freeborn
County Bank.
Mr. Armstrong has acted a prominent part in the legislation of the
State, having been a representative in the legislatures of 1864 and
1865, and, as lieutenant governor, president of the senate for the
four succeeding terms. He was elected speaker of the house in the
legislature of 1865. As a presiding officer he was courteous,
dignified, and fair in his rulings, and an excellent parliamentarian.
April 1, 1868, he was married to Mrs. Elisabeth M. Butman, daughter of
John Burgess, of Cleveland, Ohio.
AUGUSTAS ARMSTRONG, a younger brother of the foregoing, and a
prominent citizen of Albert Lea, died in 1873.
MOSES K. ARMSTRONG, another brother, has represented Dakota in
Congress.
JAMES B. WAKEFIELD was born at Winstead, Litchfield county,
Connecticut, March 21, 1828. He graduated at Trinity College,
Hartford, in 1846; studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1851;
came to Shakopee, Minnesota; practiced law two years and removed to
Blue Earth City. He has been called to fill various and responsible
public positions. He was a member of the legislature several terms,
serving as representative in 1858, 63 and 66, and as senator in
1867-68-69. He served as deputy Indian agent at the Lower Sioux agency
from 1856 to the Indian outbreak, and in 1869 was appointed receiver
of the Winnebago land office, which position he held six years. From
1875 to 1879 he served as lieutenant governor of Minnesota, and from
1884 to 1886 as member of Congress. He served as a delegate to the
Republican convention which nominated President Grant in 1868, and to
the convention which nominated President Hayes in 1876. Mr. Wakefield
was married in August, 1864, to Miss Nannette Reinhart, of Blue Earth
City.
WILLIAM WALLACE BRADEN was born in Iberia, Ohio, Dec. 3, 1837. He was
educated in the district schools and reared as a farmer. In November
he came to Fillmore county with his father, and engaged in farming. He
was a member of the legislature in 1866-67, and has served three
terms as county treasurer. During the Civil War he served three years
with the rank of lieutenant, and then of captain in Company K, Sixth
Minnesota Volunteers, and was for some time detached from his command
as provost marshal of Southern Missouri, with headquarters at
Springfield. Capt. Braden is prominent as a Mason, and as a Republican
takes an active interest in the politics of the State and nation. He
was elected state auditor in 1881, and re-elected in 1885. He was
married March 7, 1866, to Addie Griswold, of Pennsylvania.
REUBEN BUTTERS was born in Union, Lincoln county, Maine, May 26, 1816.
He received such education as could be obtained at winter schools, and
employed himself chiefly in clerking and mercantile pursuits until
1851, when he came to Minnesota and became the first permanent settler
in the Minnesota valley above Shakopee. He made the first claim at Le
Sueur, having, in connection with Messrs. Thompson and Lindsey, a
station at that place, also at Kasota. He has been engaged chiefly in
farming. He has also a stone quarry and store in Kasota, and does a
fair amount of trading. Mr. Butters was a member of the first state
legislature, and has served seven or eight sessions since. He was
county commissioner many years. In politics he is a Democrat.
Mr. Butters has been twice married, first in November, 1847, to
Elizabeth Hill, of Cleveland, Ohio, and second in May, 1861, to Mrs.
Mary E. Rogers, of Maine. He died March 29, 1888.
MICHAEL DORAN, a most successful business man and prominent in
political affairs, having served six terms in the state senate, was
born in the county of Meath, Ireland, Nov. 1, 1829. He received but
little education before coming to this country in 1850, when, although
over twenty-one years of age, he obtained two years' schooling. He
landed in New York City, remained in the State about a year and
removed to Norwalk, Ohio, where he farmed and kept a grocery store. In
1856 he came westward and located at Le Sueur, where he engaged in
farming. In 1860 he was elected county treasurer and served and held
the office eight years. Since 1870 he has been engaged in banking,
farming and real estate operations. He is also one of the owners of
the elevator and flouring mill at Le Sueur.
In politics he is a Democrat and was an elector on the McClellan
ticket. His senatorial terms were from 1872 to 1875 and 1877 and
1879. He has been twice married. His first wife was Ellen Brady, of
Norwalk, Ohio, married in May, 1855. His second wife was Catherine J.
Grady, of Le Sueur, married Feb. 10, 1864.
ANDREW MCCREA was born in New Brunswick in 1830, received a common
school education and learned the business of farming and lumbering.
His father having died early, the support of a mother and crippled
brother devolved upon him. He was married to Jane Murphy, in New
Brunswick, when he was twenty-one years of age. Mrs. McCrea died in
1878. He married a second wife in 1880. His family consists of eight
sons and one daughter. He came to Minnesota in 1854, removed to
Stearns county in 1858, and to Otter Tail county in 1872, where he now
resides in the town of Perham. He was a member of the legislature of
1876-77, and of the senate of 1878 to 1882, inclusive. In 1885 he was
appointed one of the commissioners to locate the second state prison.
JOHN W. BLAKE was born in Foxcroft, Maine, in 1839. His parents moved
to Wisconsin in 1840. He received a good education in the common
schools, in Milton Academy, and Wisconsin State University, and became
a civil engineer. He served as a soldier during the war of the
Rebellion. In 1872 he came to Minnesota, located at Marshall, Lyon
county, and the same year was elected a representative in the
legislature. He was a member of the senate during the years 1875,
1876, 1882, and 1884.
KNUTE NELSON, born in Norway, came to America, studied law at
Wisconsin University, and was admitted to the bar. He came to
Alexandria in 1870, where he practiced law. He was a senator in the
seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth legislatures, and
was elected representative to Congress from the Fifth Minnesota
district in 1884 and 1886. Mr. Nelson is a man of unquestioned ability
and force, a strong Republican, and an enthusiastic advocate of a
modified tariff.
W. R. DENNY was born at Keene, New Hampshire, in 1839; received an
academic education, and after spending eight years in Wisconsin, came
to Carver, Minnesota, in 1867. He served in the state legislatures of
1874, 1876, 1879, and 1881. He was appointed United States marshal
from 1882 to 1886. He was Grand Master of the Masonic fraternity in
1884-5. He was married in Wisconsin in 1863, and has a family of four
children.
[Illustration: PRESENT HOME OF THE AUTHOR ERECTED BY HIM A.D. 1855.]
APPENDIX.
MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS, ITEMS AND STATISTICS, INCLUDING AN
ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF THE VARIOUS TREATIES BETWEEN THE UNITED
STATES GOVERNMENT AND THE INDIAN TRIBES INHABITING THE
TERRITORIES OF WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY UNTIL THE CREATION OF
WISCONSIN TERRITORY IN 1836.
SPANISH CLAIMS.
The Spaniards have made persistent claims to territory lying along the
Atlantic coast, the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and up the valley of
the Mississippi, basing their claims on discovery and conquest.
In 1512 Juan Ponce de Leon, a companion of Columbus, discovered
Florida, and planted on its shores the standard of Spain.
In 1539 Hernando de Soto visited Florida and having strengthened the
Spanish claim adventured west to the Mississippi, on which river he
died and in which he was stealthily buried by his surviving followers,
who returned to Florida broken and dispirited with the loss of half
their number. By virtue of De Soto's discovery of the Mississippi, the
Spaniards now laid claim to the land along that river and its
tributaries. They also claimed land lying along the Atlantic coast,
without limit, northward. This large and somewhat indefinite empire
was by them styled Florida, after the name of the peninsula on which
they gained their first foothold. Unable to defend or enforce their
claims, they gradually relinquished them, giving up tract after tract,
until the peninsula of Florida alone remained to them. This was ceded
to the United States in 1819.
The government of the Territory was vested in the discoverers. Ponce
de Leon was governor from 1512 until 1521. De Soto was governor of
Florida and Cuba until 1541. Melendez, by compact with King Philip,
succeeded him, his commission giving him a life tenure. The history of
the Spanish possessions is by no means interesting, and illustrates
chiefly the Spanish greed for gold.
FRENCH CLAIMS.
The French early disputed the claims of the Spaniards and Portuguese
to the possession of the New World, and accordingly in 1524 sent a
Florentine, Jean Verrazzani, who explored the coast from Carolina to
Nova Scotia, took possession of it, and called it New France. Ten
years later Cartea continued the work, sailing around New Foundland
and ascending the St. Lawrence as far as the site of Montreal. In 1564
a French colony located in Florida, but were almost immediately
exterminated by the Spaniards. During the following century the French
pushed their explorations to the regions of the Mississippi and the
great lakes. In the year 1603 Champlain was engaged in the exploration
of the St. Lawrence, and in 1609, he, with two other Frenchmen,
explored Lake Champlain and the country of the Iroquois and took
possession of it in the name of Henry IV of France. In 1611 and 1612
he explored Lake Huron, entered Saginaw bay, passed down Detroit
river, exploring Lake Erie, and laid the foundation of French
sovereignty in the valley of the St. Lawrence. Champlain for many
years prosecuted the fur trade where Boston now stands, prior to the
landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock.
We have not space for a complete account of the conflicting claims of
the French and English, but will give the boundaries of New France as
defined by French and English authorities at different times: 1609--L'
Escartot, in his "Histoire de la Nouvelle France," defines the French
boundaries as extending "on the west to the Pacific ocean, on the
south to the Spanish West Indies, on the east to the North Atlantic,
and on the north to the Frozen Sea." 1683--Baron La Honton says, "All
the world knows that Canada reaches from the 39th to the 65th degrees
of north latitude and from the 284th to the 336th degrees of
longitude." [More accurately from about 45 to 90 degrees west, or from
Cape Race to the Mississippi.] The French government persistently
denied the right of the English to any territory west of the
Alleghanies. The great Northwest, therefore, was for a long time under
French rule and influence. We must accord to France the credit of
making the first progress in civil government in the Northwest. They
made many permanent settlements and by a wise and pacific policy so
conciliating the Indian tribes that they were able to hold their
positions on the frontier at will. They were early and persistent
explorers, and, under the guidance of pious and devoted Jesuit
missionaries, planted settlements in the most desirable places. They
made a cordon of posts reaching from Louisiana to the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and along the chain
of the great lakes, completely surrounded the English colonies and
disputed with them the possession of the country. The French-English
War of 1689 to 1697 failed to decide satisfactorily the question of
the interior domain.
In 1712 New France was divided into two provinces, that of Canada and
that of Louisiana, the dividing line being the Ohio, Mississippi and
Missouri rivers, the Mississippi boundary line extending from the
mouth of the Ohio to the mouth of the Missouri river. Mobile was made
the capital of the southern province. The patent or commission of the
new province was issued to Crozat, Marquis du Chatel. The Illinois
country was afterward added, and it seems probable that the country
east of the Wabash was also included in it. All north of the boundary
named formed part of the province of Canada. Other boundaries than
these have been given by geographers, but these boundaries are
sufficiently established by official documents.
In 1763 all of the territory claimed by France lying east of the
Mississippi river was ceded to the English, the territory lying west
to Spain. Virginia, by three royal charters, given in 1606, 1607 and
1611, by the English government, held a part of the Northwest
Territory, and in 1776 established three counties north of the Ohio
river, named Ohio, Youghiogheny and Monongahela, but in 1787 ceded
this territory to the United States. Its settlement was somewhat
impeded by the perils of the wilderness, not the least of which was
the doubtful and often unfriendly attitude of the Indians, resulting
in many cases from the changes in the tenure of the lands, and the
influence of French or English emissaries, generally hostile to
American claims. The history of these early settlements is replete
with thrilling adventures.
The first settlement made in the newly ceded territory was at
Marietta, Ohio, in 1788, under the supervision of Gen. Rufus Putnam,
nephew of Gen. Israel Putnam, and first surveyor general of the
Northwest Territory. The settlement was named Marietta, in honor of
Queen Marie Antoinette, who had been a firm friend to the colonies
during the Revolutionary struggle. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was appointed
governor July 15, 1788, of the newly organized Ohio Territory.
The country claimed by Virginia under the royal charters included the
land lying between the sea shore on the east, and the Mississippi on
the west, the Ohio river on the south, and the British possessions on
the north. It will be seen, therefore, that that part of the Northwest
Territory lying immediately along the eastern banks of the Mississippi
now comprised in the state of Wisconsin and part of Minnesota, has
been successively claimed by Spain, France, England, Virginia, and the
United States, and under the territorial governments of the
Northwest--Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin
territories. That part of Minnesota lying west of the Mississippi
belonged to the French by right of discovery, but passed into the
hands of Spain, thence back again into the hands of France, by whom,
with the territory known as Louisiana, it was sold to the United
States in 1803. The original grant to Virginia included far more than
the area of the State and that of the Northwest Territory, but was
subsequently reduced by grants made by states lying north of Virginia,
and vexatious disputes arose as to titles, a circumstance calculated
to retard rapid settlement.
We append the following data concerning the early history of the
territory included in the present states of Wisconsin and Minnesota,
tabulated for more convenient reference:
1634. Jean Nicollet ventured into Wisconsin, and explored the country
from Lake Michigan for a considerable distance down the Wisconsin
river.
1658. Two fur traders penetrated to Lake Superior and wintered there,
probably on Wisconsin soil.
1660. Rev. M. Menard with eight companions came to La Pointe, Lake
Superior.
1665. Claude Allouez, an eminent pioneer missionary, succeeded Menard,
and re-established the mission at La Pointe.
1669. Father Allouez established a mission on the shores of Green bay,
locating it at Depere in 1671.
1670. Father Allouez made a voyage of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to
within a short distance of the Mississippi--a near approach to the
discovery of the Father of Waters.
1671. In this year the French took formal possession of the whole
Northwest, confirmed in 1689.
1673. Louis Joliet, accompanied by Father James Marquette, discovered
the Mississippi river.
1674. Father Marquette coasted Lake Michigan, from Green Bay, by
Milwaukee, to the site of the present city of Chicago.
1679. The Griffin, a schooner built by La Salle, and the first to make
a voyage of the lakes above Niagara, arrived at the mouth of Green
bay.
Capt. Duluth held a council, and concluded a peace with the natives of
Lake Superior.
1680. About the first of May Father Louis Hennepin arrived at Mille
Lacs, as prisoner of a Dakotah war party, who captured him at Lake
Pepin, while on his way up the Mississippi. He remained at Mille Lacs
several months. On his return homeward, after being released, he
discovered the falls, which he named for his patron saint, Anthony of
Padua. His book, published after his return to Europe, is the first
printed account of Minnesota.
1683. Le Sueur made a voyage of the Fog and Wisconsin rivers to the
Mississippi.
1688. Nicholas Perrot first planted the cross and arms of France on
the soil of Minnesota, and first laid formal claim to the country for
France. He built a fort on Lake Pepin, near Lake City.
1695. Le Sueur built a fort on Isle Pelee, in the Mississippi, below
Prescott.
1700. Le Sueur established Fort L'Huillier, on the Blue Earth river
(near the mouth of the Le Sueur), and first supplied the Sioux with
firearms.
1716. Le Louvigny's battle with the Fox Indians at Butte des Morts.
1719. Francis Renalt explored the Upper Mississippi with two hundred
miners.
1721. Previous to this date a French fort had been established at
Green Bay, on the present site of Fort Howard.
1727. The French established a fort on Lake Pepin, with Sieur de
Lapperriere as commandant.
A trading post, called Fort Beauharnois, was established on the north
side of Lake Pepin.
1728. There was a great flood in the Mississippi, and Fort Beauharnois
was submerged.
A French expedition, under De Lignery, from Mackinaw, punished the
Foxes.
1734. A battle took place between the French, and the Sacs and Foxes.
1751. Sieur Marin, in command at Green Bay, made a peace with the
Indians.
1761. Capt. Balfour and Lieut. Gorrell, with English troops, took
possession of Green Bay.
1763. The English, under Lieut. Gorrell, abandoned Green Bay in
consequence of the Indian War under Pontiac.
Treaty of Paris, by which all the territory of New France, including
Wisconsin, was surrendered to the English.
About this date the Canadian-French trading establishment at Green Bay
ripened into a permanent settlement, the first upon any portion of the
territory now forming the state of Wisconsin.
By the treaty of Versailles, France ceded Minnesota east of the
Mississippi to England, and west of it to Spain.
1766. Capt. Jonathan Carver visited St. Anthony falls and Minnesota
river. He pretended to have made a treaty with the Indians the
following spring, in a cave near St. Paul, known for several years as
Carver's Cave. He also reports a town of three hundred inhabitants at
Prairie du Chien.
1774. A civil government was established over Canada and the
Northwest, by the celebrated "Quebec Act."
1777. Indians from Wisconsin join the British against the Americans.
1786. Julian Dubuque explored the lead region of the Upper
Mississippi.
1788. There was an Indian council at Green Bay. Permission to work the
lead mines was given to Dubuque.
1793. Lawrence Barth built a cabin at the portage of the Fog and
Wisconsin rivers, and engaged in the carrying trade.
1795. French settlement commenced at Milwaukee.
1796. The western posts were surrendered by the English to the United
States, and the ordinance of 1787 extended over the Northwest.
1798-99. The Northwestern Fur Company established itself in Minnesota.
1800. Indiana Territory organized, including Wisconsin.
1803. Antoine Barth settled at the portage of the Fog and Wisconsin
rivers.
1804. Indian treaty at St. Louis; Southern Wisconsin purchased.
1805. Michigan Territory organized.
1809. Thomas Nuttall, the botanist, explored Wisconsin.
Illinois Territory was organized, including nearly all the present
state of Wisconsin.
1812. Indians assembled at Green Bay to join the English.
1814. Gov. Clark took possession of Prairie du Chien. Prairie du Chien
surrendered to the British.
1815. United States trading post established at Green Bay.
1816. Indian treaty confirming that of 1804.
United States troops took possession of Prairie du Chien, and
commenced the erection of Fort Crawford.
Col. Miller commenced the erection of Fort Howard, at Green Bay.
1818. State of Illinois was organized; Wisconsin attached to Michigan.
Brown, Crawford and Michillimackinac counties were organized by the
territory of Michigan which embraced in their boundaries, besides
other territory, the whole of the present state of Wisconsin.
1820. United States commissioners adjusted land claims at Green Bay.
1822. The New York Indians purchase lands east of Lake Winnebago.
James Johnson obtained from the Indians the right to dig for lead by
negro slaves from Kentucky.
1823. January. Counties of Brown, Crawford and Michillimackinac made a
separate judicial district by Congress.
First steamboat on the Upper Mississippi, with Maj. Taliafero and
Count Beltrami.
Lieut. Bayfield, of the British Navy, makes a survey of Lake Superior.
1824. First term of United States court held at Green Bay, Judge Duane
Doty presiding.
1825. Great flood on the Red River of the North; a part of the colony
driven to Minnesota, and settle near Fort Snelling.
1826. First steamboat on Lake Michigan.
1827. Rush of speculators to lead mines.
Treaty with Menomonies at Butte des Morts.
1828. Fort Winnebago built. Indian treaty at Green Bay. Lead ore
discovered at Mineral Point and at Dodgeville.
1832. Black Hawk War.
Schoolcraft explored sources of Mississippi river. First mission
established at Leech Lake, by Rev. W. T. Boutwell, now of Stillwater.
1834. The portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi attached to
Michigan. Gen. H. H. Sibley settles at Mendota.
1835. Catlin and Featherstonhaugh visit Minnesota.
1836. The territory of Wisconsin organized. Nicollet visits Minnesota.
1837. Gov. Dodge, of Wisconsin, made a treaty at Fort Snelling, with
the Ojibways, by which the latter ceded lands on the St. Croix and its
tributaries; a treaty was also effected at Washington with a
deputation of Dakotahs for their lands east of the Mississippi. These
treaties led the way to the first actual settlements in the Territory.
1838. The treaty ratified by Congress. Frank Steele makes a claim at
St. Anthony Falls. Pierre Parrant makes a claim and builds a shanty on
the present site of St. Paul.
1839. Sioux and Chippewa battle fought near Stillwater.
1840. St. Croix county established.
The chapel of "St. Paul" built and consecrated, giving the name to the
capital of the state of Minnesota.
1843. Stillwater settled.
1846. August 6th, the Wisconsin enabling act passed.
1847. The Wisconsin constitutional convention meets. The town of St.
Paul surveyed, platted and recorded in the St. Croix county register
of deeds' office. First improvement of the water power at falls of St.
Anthony. Treaty with the Chippewas at Fond du Lac, August 2d. Treaty
with the Pillagers at Leech Lake, August 21st.
1848. May 29th, Wisconsin admitted. August 26th, the "Stillwater
Convention" held, to take measures for a separate territorial
organization. October 30th, H. H. Sibley elected delegate to Congress.
1850. Great flood on the Mississippi. Minnesota river navigated by
steamboats. Census of Minnesota shows population of 4,780.
1851. Permanent location of the capital of Minnesota at St Paul.
Treaty of the Traverse des Sioux, opening territory west of the
Mississippi to settlement July 23d. Treaty at Mendota with the Sioux
August 5th.
1852. President Pierce appoints Willis A. Gorman governor of
Minnesota.
1854. Real estate mania commenced. Treaty with the Chippewas at La
Pointe, September 30th.
1855. Treaty at Washington, District of Columbia, with the Chippewas,
and cession of lands in Minnesota, February 22d.
1857. Enabling act to admit Minnesota passed Congress. President
Buchanan appoints Gen. Sam Medary governor of Minnesota. Ink-pa-dootah
massacre in April. Minnesota constitutional convention met in June.
Constitution adopted in October.
1858. Minnesota admitted as a state. State loan of $250,000
guaranteed. The $5,000,000 loan bill adopted.
1859. Hard times. Work on the land grant road ceases. Collapse of the
$5,000,000 scheme. First export of grain this fall.
1860. Federal census, 172,123.
1861. April 13th. President's proclamation for troops received. The
First regiment recruits at once. June 22d it embarks at Fort Snelling
for the seat of war.
1862. Call for 600,000 men. August 17th, massacre at Acton; 18th,
outbreak at Lower Sioux agency; 19th, New Ulm attacked; 20th, Fort
Ridgely attacked; 25th, second attack on New Ulm; 30th, Fort
Abercrombie besieged; September 1st, the bloody affair at Birch
Coolie; 19th, first railroad in Minnesota in operation between St.
Paul and Minneapolis; 22d, battle of Wood Lake; 26th, captives
surrendered at Camp Release; military commission tries 321 Indians for
murder, rape, etc.; 303 condemned to die; December 26th, 38 hanged at
Mankato.
1863. Gen. Sibley's expedition to the Missouri river. July 3d, Little
Crow killed; 24th, battle of Big Mound; 26th, battle of Dead Buffalo
Lake; 28th, battle of Stony Lake. Treaty at crossing of Red Lake river
with Chippewas, and cession of Dakotah lands, October 2d.
1864. Large levies for troops. Expedition to Missouri river under
Sully. Inflation of money market. Occasional Indian raids.
1865. Peace returns. Minnesota regiments return and are disbanded; in
all 25,052 troops furnished by the State. Census shows 250,000
inhabitants.
1866-72. Rapid railroad building everywhere, immigration heavy, "good
times" prevail, and real estate inflated.
1873. January 7th, 8th and 9th, polar wave sweeps over the State;
seventy persons perish. September, the Jay Cooke failure creates
another panic. Grasshopper raid begins and continues five seasons.
1876. September 7th, armed outlaws from Missouri attack a Northfield
bank. Three killed, three prisoners.
1877. Minnesota legislature adopts biennial sessions.
1878. May 2d, three flouring mills at Minneapolis explode; eighteen
lives lost.
1880. November 15th, hospital for the insane at St. Peter partly
destroyed by fire; twenty-five lives lost.
1881. March 1, capitol at St. Paul destroyed by fire.
1886. Cyclone destroys Sauk Rapids. Wisconsin legislature adopts
biennial sessions.
THE BOUNDARY QUESTION.
The question of the western boundary of Wisconsin had been agitated
since the Martin bill for the organization of the State had been
introduced in 1846. This bill established the present boundary. The
majority of the people residing in the valley of the St. Croix were
opposed to it on the ground that the interests of the valley on both
sides were identical, and that it was not proper that the two sides
should be separated by a state line. The question became a political
one, and at the election of delegates for the constitutional
convention of Oct. 5, 1846, Wm. Holcombe was elected over Joseph
Bowron, as representing the sentiments of the people of the valley as
opposed to the proposed boundary line.
In convention Mr. Holcombe advocated a boundary line commencing at
Mount Trempeleau on the Mississippi, running due north to Lake
Superior. Failing in this, he advocated a boundary line to be
established at a point fifteen miles due east of the most easterly
point on Lake St. Croix, said line extending from that point due south
to the Mississippi and due north to the tributary waters of Lake
Superior. In this he was successful, and the constitution in which
this boundary line was thus fixed went to the people and was rejected,
greatly to the disappointment of the people of the St. Croix valley,
who felt that they had been unjustly dealt with. There seems, indeed,
to be but little excuse for the attitude of the majority of the
citizens of Wisconsin with regard to this boundary. Certainly but
little attention was shown to the interests of the people in the
western section of the Territory.
Prior to the meeting of the second constitutional convention, Dec. 15,
1847, public meetings were held at St. Croix Falls and in Stillwater,
at which latter place enthusiastic resolutions were passed
remonstrating against this unnatural boundary, which resolutions were
signed by nearly all the citizens of the St. Croix valley, and a few
in and around St. Paul, asking the convention to establish the western
boundary on a line running due north from the foot of Lake Pepin to
Lake Superior. George W. Brownell was elected from the St. Croix
district to the second convention, with instructions to work for this
boundary. Joseph Bowron, Brownell's opponent, was defeated by a large
majority. The following is the abstract of votes:
BOWRON. BROWNELL.
Willow River (now Hudson) 7 4
Lake St. Croix 7 14
Stillwater 9 39
St. Paul 41 40
Marine Mills ... 22
St. Croix Falls 26 18
Clam River 6 17
Apple River 1 6
Wood Lake 2 6
Rush Lake 2 8
Osceola (no election) --- ---
Totals 101 174
Mr. Brownell made strong and persistent efforts to have the boundary
line adjusted in accordance with the sentiments of the people of the
valley, but in vain. Morgan L. Martin, delegate to Congress from
Wisconsin Territory, had framed the bill establishing the present
boundary, and it was urged that any effort to change the line would
tend to prevent the immediate admission of the State, and it was
thought a political necessity that the State should be admitted at
once, that it might take part in the ensuing presidential election.
Under such pressure the convention made haste to adopt, and the people
to accept, a constitution with boundary lines that should never have
been made. The State was admitted in time to cast its electoral vote
for Gen. Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore.
At a meeting held by the people of the St. Croix valley, subsequent
to this convention and prior to its adoption by the people, the
following resolutions were passed, and we append them as expressing
very generally the sentiments of the people of the valley:
WHEREAS, By the establishment of the St. Croix river as a part of the
boundary line between the State and territory of Wisconsin, the
inhabitants of our remote settlements are greatly aggrieved, our local
rights and privileges neglected and abridged, our geographical,
material and natural political alliance with our neighbors of the new
territory will be cut off; and
WHEREAS, Our oft repeated remonstrances and appeals to the authorities
of the new state have been unavailing; therefore
_Resolved_, That the establishment of the St. Croix river as a part of
the boundary of the state of Wisconsin, against the will of the
inhabitants of the valley of said river, is unjust, unreasonable and
contrary to the principles upon which our government is founded.
_Resolved_, That in establishing the present boundary, our known and
acknowledged wishes and interests are invaded by the might of a
majority; that as the boundary is now established, so great is the
distance and obstacles intervening, severing us, together with the
people of Lake Superior, from the seat of government, that we can not
enjoy a prompt and equitable share in representation, and we would
respectfully admonish our brethren that equal representation involves
a principle which is deeply and peculiarly American.
_Resolved_, That the interests of the inhabitants of St. Croix, being
identical from the nature of the staple business of the country, the
river being the natural centre to which all the business of the valley
tends, a boundary severing the natural ties in connection is uncalled
for, inconvenient and vexatious.
_Resolved_, That the inhabitants of the territory of the whole
Northwest are deeply interested in procuring a just and wise
alteration of the present line of divisions, because from the
geography of the country, the line as now established, we are robbed
of a future star in the galaxy of the American sisterhood of states.
_Resolved_, That we pledge ourselves to stand united and unceasingly
use all honorable means in our power to procure the establishment of a
boundary east of St. Croix valley.
_Resolved_, That a committee of three be appointed to prepare and
forward a memorial to the present legislature on this subject.
The resolutions as a whole were unanimously adopted.
In accordance with the last resolution the chair appointed Wm. R.
Marshall, G. W. Brownell and W. H. C. Folsom, Esqs., a committee.
On motion the secretary was instructed to forward copies of the
proceedings of the meeting to the Prairie du Chien _Patriot_, Galena
_Gazette_ and Wisconsin _Argus_, requesting their publication.
H. H. PERKINS,
_Chairman_.
R. V. D. SMITH,
_Secretary_.
No attention was paid to the action of the public meeting. It is
possible that none was expected. It was some satisfaction to the
people of the valley to give such an expression of their opinion of
the wrong done them. The admission of Wisconsin with the St. Croix as
a boundary line left the country immediately west of that river
virtually without law. Nevertheless, Wisconsin territorial laws were
acknowledged west of the St. Croix and were generally considered
binding until a new territorial government should be organized. The
territorial governor, Gen. Henry Dodge, had been elected United States
senator and therefore could not claim jurisdiction over this part of
the territory lying beyond state limits. John Catlin, territorial
secretary, held that the territorial government still existed in the
part of the original territory excluded.
At a public meeting held in Stillwater, Aug. 26, 1848 (a preliminary
meeting having been held August 24th, at which an understanding was
effected with Mr. Catlin and he invited to exercise authority as a
territorial officer), steps were taken for the organization of a new
territory, and Mr. Catlin, having removed to Stillwater, issued a
proclamation in his official capacity, ordering an election to be held
for the selection of a delegate to Congress. To facilitate this
movement John H. Tweedy, territorial delegate from Wisconsin,
resigned. The election was held Oct. 30, 1848, and H. H. Sibley was
elected as a successor to John H. Tweedy, his papers being certified
by John Catlin, secretary of Wisconsin Territory. Mr. Sibley proceeded
to Washington, presented his credentials and patiently awaited
recognition, which was not very speedily accorded, there being
considerable discussion as to the right of excluded territory to
continued political existence. His admission, on the fifteenth of
January, as a delegate, settled the question and established a
precedent that the creation of a state government does not deprive
portions of the territory not included within state limits of the
right to existence and representation. Mr. Sibley ably presented the
claims of his constituents and with great difficulty succeeded in
procuring the passage of a bill organizing the new territory of
Minnesota.
With all respect to the action of Congress in receiving Mr. Sibley as
a legally elected delegate (and, under the circumstances, the action
seems wise), the question still rises: "Had we a legal territorial
government?" If we had, what was the necessity for a new organization?
Why could not the excluded territory continue under the old _regime_,
or inherit, so to speak, the old government machinery? If we had no
legal existence, by what authority could Mr. Sibley represent us? The
Wisconsin territorial government had ceased to exist. Ours had not
begun to live.
The territory of Minnesota was created by act of Congress, March 3,
1849, a little over thirty days after the introduction of the bill
creating it. There had been some discussion as to the name. In the
bill presented by Morgan L. Martin it was named Minnesota. Senator
Stephen A. Douglas, chairman of the committee on territories,
recommended the passage of the bill, and that the new territory be
named Itasca. When the bill was before the house the names Chippewa,
Jackson and Washington were proposed, but the name in the original
bill was adopted. It is a compound word, taken from the Sioux
language, and has for its meaning "Land of sky-tinted water." The news
of the passage of the bill reached Stillwater April 9th, and was
received with great rejoicing.
The United States land office which had been established at St. Croix
Falls in 1848 was removed to Stillwater July 1, 1849. Abraham Van
Voorhes was appointed register and William Holcombe receiver.
INDIAN TREATIES.
Sept. 23, 1805, at the mouth of St. Peter's river (now Mendota) with
the Sioux. (For account of this treaty see "Gen. Pike and the
Indians.")
July 29, 1837, at St. Peter (now Mendota), Wisconsin Territory, the
Chippewa Indians ceded to the United States the following tract of
country: Beginning at the junction of the Crow Wing and Mississippi
rivers, between twenty and thirty miles, above where the Mississippi
is crossed by the forty-sixth parallel of north latitude, and running
thence to the north point of Lake St. Croix, one of the sources of the
St. Croix river; thence to and along the dividing ridge between the
waters of Lake Superior and those of the Mississippi, to the sources
of the Ochasua-sepe, a tributary of the Chippewa river; thence to a
point on the Chippewa river twenty miles below the outlet of Lake De
Flambeau; thence to the junction of the Wisconsin and Pelican rivers;
thence on an east course twenty-five miles; thence southerly on a
course parallel with that of the Wisconsin river to the line dividing
the territories of the Chippewas and the Menomonies; thence to the
Plover portage; thence along the southern boundary of the Chippewa
country to the commencement of the boundary line dividing it from that
of the Sioux, half a day's march below the falls on the Chippewa
river; thence with said boundary line to the month of the Waw-tab[F]
river, at its junction with the Mississippi; and thence up the
Mississippi to the place of beginning.
HENRY DODGE,
_Commissioner_.
Sept. 29, 1837, at Washington, District of Columbia, the Sioux nation
of Indians ceded to the United States all their lands east of the
Mississippi river, and all of their islands in the said river, Joel R.
Poinsett, secretary of war, commanding, which cession embraced all
their land east of the Mississippi and west of the following lines
commencing at the Chippewa river, half a day's march below the falls,
from thence to Red Cedar river, immediately below the falls; thence to
the St. Croix river at a point called the Standing Cedar, about a
day's paddle in a canoe, above the lake at the mouth of that river;
thence passing between two lakes called by the Chippewas, "Green,
Lakes," and by the Sioux, "The Lakes they Bury the Eagles in," thence
to the Standing Cedar, that "the Sioux split;" thence to Rum river,
crossing at the mouth of a small creek called Choking creek, a long
day's march from the Mississippi; thence to a point of woods that
project into the prairie, half a day's march from the Mississippi;
thence in a straight line to the mouth of the first river which enters
the Mississippi at the east side above the mouth of Sac river (Watab
river). The above boundary line was established between the Sioux and
Chippewa Indiana at Prairie du Chien, Aug. 19, 1825.
WILLIAM CLARK,
LEWIS CASS,
_Commissioners_.
St. Paul, East Minneapolis and Stillwater are embraced within the
above limits.
Nov. 1, 1837, at Washington, District of Columbia, with the
Winnebagoes.
The Winnebagoes at this treaty ceded all their lands lying east of the
Mississippi river, and received in return $200,000. Of this amount
$150,000 was reserved to satisfy the claims of Indian traders, and the
remaining $50,000 was paid to certain individuals of the tribe. There
was set apart the further sum of $100,000, to be paid, by order of the
president of the United States, to mixed blood relatives of these
Indiana. Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, and James Murray, of
Maryland, were commissioned to adjust claims, pay debts and partition
the amount alloted to the mixed bloods. The Winnebagoes, including
mixed blood relatives, numbered over 4,000 souls. The payments and
adjustments were made at Prairie du Chien, October, 1838. Soon after
complaints were made of the arbitrary and unjust distribution of these
funds. The secretary of war, Joel R. Poinsett, countermanded the
action of the commissioners and appointed Judge Fleming, of New York,
to act as commissioner. The parties were reassembled at Prairie du
Chien in September, 1839, and the unpleasant business was in some way
adjusted and closed up.
Aug. 2, 1847, at Fond du Lac of Lake Superior, the Chippewa Indians of
the Mississippi and Lake Superior ceded to the United States the
country beginning at the junction of the Crow Wing and Mississippi
rivers, thence up the Crow Wing river to the junction of that river
with the Long Prairie river; thence up the Long Prairie river to the
boundary line between the Sioux and Chippewa Indians; thence southerly
along said boundary line to a lake at the head of Long Prairie river;
thence in a direct line to the sources of the (Waw-tab) river; thence
down that river to its junction with the Mississippi river; thence up
the Mississippi river to the place of beginning.
ISSAC A. VERPLANCK,
HENRY M. RICE,
_Commissioners_.
Aug. 21, 1847, at Leech Lake, the Pillager band of Chippewa Indians
ceded to the United States the country beginning at the south end of
Otter Tail lake; thence southerly on the boundary line between the
Sioux and Chippewa Indians to Long Prairie river; thence up said river
to Crow Wing river; thence up Crow Wing river to Leaf river; thence up
Leaf river to its head; thence in a direct line to the place of
beginning.
ISSAC A. VERPLANCK,
HENRY M. RICE,
_Commissioners_.
July 23, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux (now St. Peter), the See-see-toan
and Wah-pay-toan bands of Dakotah or Sioux Indians ceded to the United
States all their lands in the state of Iowa; and the territory of
Minnesota, lying east of a line beginning at the junction of the
Buffalo river and the Red River of the North; thence along the western
bank of said river to the mouth of the Sioux Wood river; thence along
the western bank of said Sioux Wood river to Lake Traverse; thence
along the western shore of said lake to the northern extremity
thereof; thence in a direct line to the junction of Kampeska lake with
the Tchan-kas-an-data or Sioux river; thence along the western bank of
said river to its point of intersection with the northern line of the
state of Iowa, including all the islands in said rivers and lake.
LUKE LEA, Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
ALEXANDER RAMSEY, Governor and
_Ex-officio_ Superintendent of Indian Affairs,
_Commissioners_.
A small reservation was set apart for said Indians, which they
forfeited by their attack upon the whites in 1862.
Aug. 5, 1851, at Mendota, the Med-ay-wa-kan-toan and Wah-pay-koo-tay
bands of Dakotah and Sioux Indians ceded to the United States all of
their lands in the territory of Minnesota and state of Iowa.
LUKE LEA,
ALEXANDER RAMSEY,
_Commissioners_.
The two treaties made by Commissioners Lea and Ramsey included the
following area:
Beginning at the junction of Buffalo river with the Red River of the
North, in Clay county; thence along the western bank of the Red River
of the north to the mouth of Sioux Wood river; thence along the
western bank of Sioux Wood river to Lake Traverse; thence along its
western shore to its southern extremity; thence to the head of Sioux
river; thence along said Sioux river to the northern line of the state
of Iowa; thence along the southern boundary of the state of Minnesota
to the Mississippi river; thence up said river to the mouth of Waw-tab
river (just north of St. Cloud in Stearns county); thence up that
river to its head; thence to the place of beginning. A part of the
state of Iowa not included in the above was also ceded to the United
States. A large strip of Dakota Territory is included. This last tract
includes nearly one-half of the state of Minnesota, containing its now
richest and most populous counties.
Sept. 30, 1854, at La Pointe, Lake Superior, Wisconsin, the Chippewas
of Lake Superior ceded to the United States all of their lands lying
east of a line beginning at a point where the east branch of Snake
river crosses the southern boundary line of the Chippewa country,
running thence up the said branch to its source; thence nearly north
in a straight line to the mouth of East Savannah river; thence up the
St. Louis river to the mouth of East Swan river; thence up the East
Swan river to its source; thence in a straight line to the most
westerly bend of Vermillion river, and thence down the Vermillion
river to its mouth.
HENRY C. GILBERT,
DAVID B. HERRIMAN,
_Commissioners_.
The foregoing treaty embraced all of the country bordering upon Lake
Superior in the state of Minnesota, including the valuable iron and
other mines.
The city of Duluth is within the limits of the cession.
Owing to the efforts of Henry M. Rice, then in Congress, the
commissioners were appointed, and to his personal influence with the
Chippewas the treaty was made.
Feb. 22, 1885, at Washington, District of Columbia, the Mississippi,
Pillager, and Lake Winnibigoshish bands of Chippewa Indians ceded to
the United States all the lands owned or claimed by them in the
territory of Minnesota, and included within the following boundaries,
viz.: "Beginning at a point where the east branch of Snake river
crosses the southern boundary line of the Chippewa country, east of
the Mississippi river, as established by the treaty of July 29, 1837,
running thence up the said branch to its source; thence nearly north
in a straight line to the mouth of East Savannah river; thence up the
St. Louis river to the mouth of East Swan river; thence up said river
to its source; thence in a straight line to the most westerly bend of
Vermillion river; thence northwestwardly in a straight line to the
first and most considerable bend in the Big Fork river; thence down
said river to its mouth; thence down Rainy Lake river to the mouth of
Black river; thence up that river to its source; thence in a straight
line to the northern extremity of Turtle Lake; thence in a straight
line to the mouth of Wild Rice river; thence up the Red River of the
North to the mouth of Buffalo river; thence in a straight line to the
southwestern extremity of Otter Tail lake; thence through said lake to
the source of Leaf river; thence down said river to its junction with
Crow Wing river; thence down Crow Wing river to its junction with the
Mississippi river; thence to the place of beginning."
GEORGE W. MANYPENNY,
_Commissioner_.
All lands in Minnesota Territory east of the foregoing boundary line
were ceded to the United States at La Pointe, Lake Superior, Sept. 30,
1854. Several reservations were set aside in each purchase for the
future residence of various bands of said Chippewa and Pillager
Indians.
It was by the efforts of Henry M. Rice, then in Congress, that the
Indians were invited to Washington, and through his personal influence
that the treaty was made. Several treaties were afterward made with
the Chippewa and Pillager Indians, merely changing or reducing their
reservation.
Oct. 2, 1863, at the old crossing of the Red Lake river, in the state
of Minnesota, the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians ceded
to the United States all their right, title and interest in and to all
the lands now owned and claimed by them in the state of Minnesota and
in the territory of Dakota within the following boundaries, to wit:
"Beginning at the point where the international boundary between the
United States and the British possessions intersects the shore of the
Lake of the Woods; thence in a direct line southwestwardly to the head
of Thief river; thence down the main channel of said Thief river to
its mouth on the Red Lake river; thence in a southeasterly direction,
in a direct line toward the head of Wild Rice river, to a point where
such line would intersect the northwestern boundary of a tract ceded
to the United States by a treaty concluded at Washington on the
twenty-second day of February, 1855, with the Mississippi, Pillager
and Lake Winnibigoshish bands of Chippewa Indians; thence along said
boundary line of said cession to the mouth of Wild Rice river; thence
up the main channel of the Red river to the mouth of the Sheyenne;
thence up the main channel of the Sheyenne river to Poplar Grove;
thence in a direct line to the head of the main branch of Salt river;
thence in a direct line due north to the international boundary line;
thence eastwardly to the place of beginning."
ALEXANDER RAMSEY,
ASHLEY C. MORRILL,
_Commissioners_.
All the lands included in the foregoing treaty east of the Red River
of the North are within the state of Minnesota.
The heretofore mentioned treaties include all the lands within the
state of Minnesota originally owned by Indian tribes, except the Red
Lake reservation, and for its cession a treaty was negotiated in 1886,
which to this date, April, 1888, has not been ratified.
GEN. PIKE AND THE INDIANS.
Gen. Zebulon M. Pike, United States Army, was sent by the government
in 1805-6 on a tour of inspection, to select sites for forts, and to
treat and hold councils with the various Indian tribes of the Upper
Mississippi. He met the Sioux in council at the junction of the St.
Peter's and Mississippi rivers, Sept. 23, 1805, and informed them
that he came to purchase lands for government forts, and to tell them
what the Great Father at Washington desired them to know about his
people and their government. A part of his speech we subjoin:
"BROTHERS: You old men probably know that about thirty years ago we
were subject to the king of England, and governed by his laws. But he
not treating us as children we refused to acknowledge him as father.
After ten years of war, in which he lost 100,000 men, he acknowledged
us as a free and independent nation. They knew that not many years
since we received Detroit, Michilmackinac, and all the ports on the
lakes from the English, and now but the other day, Louisiana from the
Spanish; so that we put one foot on the sea at the east, and the other
on the sea at the west, and if once children are now men; yet I think
that the traders who come from Canada are bad birds amongst the
Chippewas, and instigate them to make war on their red brothers, the
Sioux, in order to prevent our traders from going high up the
Mississippi. This I shall inquire into, and so warn those persons of
their ill conduct.
"Brothers, I expect that you will give orders to all your young
warriors to respect my flag and protection, which I may send to the
Chippewa chief who may come down with me in the spring; for was a dog
to run to my lodge for safety, his enemy must walk over me to hurt
him.
"Brothers, I am told that the traders have made a practice of selling
rum to you. All of you in your right senses must know that this is
injurious and occasions quarrels, murders, etc., amongst yourselves.
For this reason your father has thought proper to prohibit the traders
from selling you rum.
"Brothers, I now present you with some of your father's tobacco, and
some other trifling things, as a memorandum of my good will, and
before my departure _I will give you some liquor to clear your
throats_."
At this conference the Sioux granted to the United States government a
tract nine miles square at the mouth of the St. Croix, and a similar
tract at the mouth of the St. Peter's, lying on both sides of the
Mississippi and including the falls of St. Anthony. Pike says: "They
gave the land required, about 100,000 acres of land (equal to
$200,000), and promised me a safe passage for myself and any chief I
might bring down. I gave them presents to the amount of about two
hundred dollars, and as soon as the council was over allowed the
traders to present them with liquor which, with what I gave, was equal
to sixty gallons." Pike in his journeying through the territory
ordered Dickson and others to haul down the British flag. It is on
record that the flags were hauled down, but also that they were
hoisted again after Pike's departure.
From Pike's own account of one of his inland tours he was hospitably
entertained by his red brothers, as the following paragraph from his
journal will show:
"After making this tour we returned to the chief's lodge and found a
berth provided for each of us, of good soft bear skins nicely spread,
and on mine there was a large feather pillow. I must not here omit to
mention an anecdote which serves to characterize more particularly
their manners. This, in the eyes of the contracted moralist, would
deform my hospitable host into a monster of libertinism; but by a
liberal mind would be considered as arising from the hearty generosity
of the wild savage. In the course of the day, observing a ring on one
of my fingers, he inquired if it was gold; he was told it was the gift
of one with whom I should be happy to be at that time; he seemed to
think seriously, and at night told my interpreter, 'that perhaps his
father (as they all called me) felt much grieved for the want of a
woman; if so, he could furnish him with one.' He was answered that
with us each man had but one wife, and that I considered it strictly
my duty to remain faithful to her. This he thought strange (he himself
having three) and replied that 'he knew some Americans at his nation
who had half a dozen wives during the winter.' The interpreter
observed that they were men without character; but that all our great
men had each but one wife. The chief acquiesced; but said he liked
better to have as many as he pleased."
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITED STATES SURVEYS IN THE NORTHWEST--A
CONDENSED STATEMENT FROM THE RECORDS OF THE BOOKS IN THE SURVEYOR
GENERAL'S OFFICE.
On the twenty-sixth day of January, 1796, when the American Congress
was in session at Philadelphia, a bill was reported for establishing
land offices in the Northwestern Territory. The bill was ably
discussed and there was much variance of opinion as to the
disposition of the lands to be surveyed and brought into the market.
Some favored a proposition to give the lands to actual settlers, and
others favored selling the lands at a stipulated price, applying the
proceeds to the payment of the national debt. The bill, when agreed
upon, bore the following title: "An act providing for the sale of the
lands of the United States in the territories northwest of the river
Ohio, and above the mouth of the Kentucky river." The bill was
approved by President Washington May 18, 1796.
This law established the office of surveyor general with powers
specifically limited. It directed him to run lines north and south
according to the true meridian, to be known as range lines, and
others, crossing them at right angles, to be known as township lines,
the townships thus formed to consist of areas six miles square, the
whole to be subdivided into 36 sections, each a mile square, each to
contain 640 acres of land, as near as may be, and to be subdivided
into quarters, containing 160 acres, and these quarters to be further
subdivided into forties. Marks were to be established at the corners
of every township and section. These surveys were not to conflict with
Indian treaty and military land warrants, or the course of navigable
waters.
This admirable device for surveying the public lands grew out of a
correspondence between Gen. Rufus Putnam and President Washington, in
1875, in which the former proposed the division of the public lands
into townships six miles square, to be marked by township and range
lines. Perhaps no more convenient and acceptable plan of survey could
have been devised. Gen. Benjamin Tupper was one of a company of
surveyors in 1796 that established the first lines under this new
system. This survey was made in Southeast Ohio.
The first surveyor general's office was opened at Marietta, Ohio, soon
after the approval of the bill, and Rufus Putnam was appointed
surveyor general. In 1803 he was removed by President Jefferson and
the office was located at Vincennes. A year later it was removed to
Cincinnati, in 1814 to Chillicothe, in 1829 to Cincinnati, in 1845 to
Detroit, and in 1857 to St. Paul, where it has since remained. The act
for the survey of the public lands has since been modified and
improved. In 1804 an act was approved providing for the marking of
quarter sections on the section lines.
By the same law under which the lands were subdivided and opened to
the public, one section, No. 16, in every township was reserved from
sale for the support of common schools. Two townships were also set
apart for the support of a university. This was the beginning of the
donations of land for school and other purposes.
THE UNITED STATES LAND OFFICE.
The first government land office in Wisconsin north of Mineral Point
was located at St. Croix Falls in 1848. Township plats were received,
lands advertised and offered for sale in September, covering the
ground where the cities of Stillwater and St. Paul are now located,
and adjacent country. The office was removed to Stillwater in 1849,
and the land district divided by the St. Croix river. The land office
for the east side was located at Willow River in 1849, and there
remained till 1860, when it was removed to St. Croix Falls. The
following are the receivers and registers:
1848. Samuel Leach, receiver; Charles S. Whiting, register.
1849. Moses S. Gibson, receiver; T. D. Catlin, register.
1853. Otis Hoyt, receiver; John O. Henning, register.
1857. J. D. Reymert, receiver; J.B. Spencer, register:
1859. Orpheus Evarts, receiver; J. B. Spencer, register.
1861. Benj. W. Reynolds, receiver; Michael Field, register.
1864. Hiram Calkins, receiver; Michael Field, register.
1869. Fayette Allen, receiver; Michael Field, register.
1871. Joel F. Nason, receiver; Michael Field, register.
1884. Alvah A. Heald, receiver; Michael Field, register.
1887. Alvah H. Heald, receiver; Wm. M. Blanding, register.
The first entry in the new district, Aug. 17, 1849, was by W. S.
Hungerford. Lot 4, Sec. 19, and Lots 1, 2, 3, Sec. 30, T. 34, R. 18,
where the village of St. Croix now stands. The second entry was by
George Brownell, Lot 3, Sec. 20, T. 24, R. 18. The oldest record to be
found in the office is the proving up by James Purinton of his
pre-emption, July 24, 1848. The first recorded correspondence is a
letter from S. Leach, receiver, to Geo. W. Jones, surveyor general,
Dubuque, Iowa. In June, 1863, under the receivership of Mr. Reynolds,
the safe in the office was blown open with powder and the contents
stolen. Some time afterward, in 1865, fifty land warrants and a bunch
of keys from the articles missing were thrown in at the office
window. They had the appearance of having been buried in the ground.
FIRST ENTRIES.
July 24, 1848. James Purinton, residence, St. Croix Falls. Lot 1, in
east fractional part Sec. 23, T. 29 north, R. 20 west, and W. 1/2 of
N. W. 1/4 and S. E. 1/4 of N. W. 1/4, Sec. 24, T. 29, R. 20, 137
70-100 acres; price, $1.25; cost, $172 12-100, silver; pre-emption
act, 1841. This pre-emption is where the dam and mills have since been
erected at North Hudson.
Aug. 12, 1848. Samuel Burkelo, Orange Walker and Hiram Berkey. Lots 7
and 8, west of river, Sec. 6, T. 31, R. 19, 108 25-100 acres; cost
$135 43-100, 1/4 gold; pre-emption act, 1840 (Marine Mills).
Aug. 16, 1848. Richard Freeborn. West 1/2 of N. W. 1/4 and N. E. 1/4
of N. W. 1/4, and Lot 3, Sec. 12, T. 28, R. 23, St. Paul; pre-emption
act, 1841.
The first land offered at public auction sale was Aug. 27, 1848.
4. Albert Henry Judd, Orange Walker, Samuel Burkelo, Hiram Berkey,
George Baldwin Judd, Asa Parker were the purchasers of Lots 5 and 6,
Sec. 7, T. 31, R. 19, west of river; cost, $106 46-100, gold.
5. Martin Mower, David B. Loomis; Lots 7 and 8, Sec. 29, T. 31, R. 19,
west of river; cost, $54 81-100, 1/4 gold (now Arcola).
6. John Allen; Lots 4 and 5, Sec. 2, T. 29, R. 20, west of river; gold
(Allen's Point, now South Stillwater).
7. Eleazer R. Steves; Lots 1 and 2, Sec. 14, T. 29, R. 20, east of
river; gold, $9.66; silver, $54.85; $64 51-100 (now Hudson).
8 and 9. Stephen Harris; N. 1/2 of S. E. 1/4 and E. 1/2 of S. W. 1/4,
Sec. 22, T. 29, R. 20.
10. Himan W. Greely; E. 1/2 of N. E. 1/4, Sec. 22, T. 29, R. 20, gold.
11 and 12. Albert N. Judd; W. 1/2 of S. E. 1/4 and E. 1/2 of S. W.
1/4, Sec. 22, T. 29, R. 20, gold.
13 and 14. Louis Massey; E. 1/2 of S. W. and Lots 1 and 2, Sec. 24, T.
29, R. 20, silver; east of Lake St. Croix (now Hudson).
15 and 16. Peter F. Bouchea, Lot 1, east of river, Sec. 25, T. 29, R.
20 and Lot 2, Sec. 25, T. 29, R. 20; gold, $63 22-100; silver,
$10--$73 22-100.
17 and 18. John O'Brien; Lot 3, Sec. 26, T. 29, R. 20 and W. 1/2 of S.
W. 1/4, Sec. 26, T. 29, R. 20, silver and gold (now Lakeland).
19 and 20. Albert H. Judd; E. 1/2 of N. E. 1/4, and W. 1/2 of N. W.
1/4, Sec. 22, T. 29, R. 20, gold.
21. Himan W. Greely; W. 1/2 of N. E. 1/4, Sec. 22, T. 29, R. 20, gold.
The above are all the purchasers at the first sale of land in the
valley at St. Croix Falls. Sale was continued from day to day until
townships 25 to 31 of ranges 19 and 20 were offered, covering the
settlement of St. Anthony Falls, St. Paul, Cottage Grove, and Point
Douglas.
The United States land office was moved from St. Croix Falls to
Stillwater in September, 1849. The first public sale of lands at
Stillwater was Oct. 9, 1849. The office was held in Stillwater nine
years. In October, 1858, it was moved to Cambridge, Isanti county;
November 3d the first sale of lands was held at Cambridge. April 7,
1860, the office was burned, many valuable papers were destroyed, and
many records were replaced from the archives at Washington. July 5,
1860, the office was moved to Sunrise, and Oct. 8, 1868, it was moved
to Taylor's Falls, where it is at the present time (1888).
LIST OF OFFICERS.
RECEIVERS. APPOINTED.
Samuel Leech 1848
N. Green Wilcox 1849
Jonathan E. McKusick 1852
William Holcomb 1853
Milton H. Abbott 1857
William H. Mower 1860
Lucas K. Stannard 1861
Oscar Roos 1871
George B. Folsom 1875
Peter H. Stolberg 1884
E. A. Umland 1887
REGISTERS. APPOINTED.
Charles S. Whitney 1848
Abraham Van Voorhes 1849
A. Pierce 1852
Thomas E. Fullerton 1853
Charles G. Wagner 1857
Henry N. Setzer 1860
Granville M. Stickney 1861
Charles B. Whiting 1864
William Comer 1666
John P. Owens 1869
Lucas K. Stannard 1884
The records do not show the date of commission of any officer; we
gather the dates as near as possible from recorded correspondence.
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF WISCONSIN.
Governors: Henry Dodge, 1836-41; James Duane Doty, 1841-44; N. P.
Talmadge, 1844-45; Henry Dodge, 1845-48.
Delegates to Congress: George W. Jones, 1836-37; James D. Doty,
1837-41; Henry Dodge, 1841-45; Morgan L. Martin, 1845-47; John H.
Tweedy, 1847-48.
Chief Justice: Charles Dunn, 1836-48.
FIRST LEGISLATURE--REPRESENTATIVES OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.
First Session, 1836--Council: Thomas P. Burnett.[G] (Rejected by a
ruling of Gov. Dodge, and district left without representation.)
House: James H. Lockwood, James B. Dallam.
Second Session, 1837--House: Ira B. Brunson, Jean Brunet.[H]
Third Session, 1838--House: Ira B. Brunson, Jean Brunet.
SECOND LEGISLATURE.
First Session, 1838--Council: George Wilson. House: Alex. McGregor.[I]
Second Session, 1839--Council: George Wilson. House: Alex. McGregor,
Ira B. Brunson.
Third Session, 1839-40--Council: Joseph Brisbois. House: Alex.
McGregor, Ira B. Brunson.
Fourth Session, 1840--Council: Charles J. Learned. House: Alex.
McGregor, Ira B. Brunson.
THIRD LEGISLATURE--REPRESENTATIVES OF CRAWFORD AND ST. CROIX COUNTIES.
First Session, 1840-41--Council: Charles J. Learned. House: Alfred
Brunsou, Joseph R. Brown.
Second Session, 1841-42--Council: Charles J. Learned. House: Joseph R.
Brown, Theophilus J. LaChapelle.
FOURTH LEGISLATURE.
First Session, 1842-43--Council: Theophilus La Chapelle. House: John
H. Manahan.
Second Session, 1843-44--Council: Theophilus La Chapelle. House: John
H. Manahan.
Third Session, 1845--Council: Wiram Knowlton. House: James Fisher.
Fourth Session, 1846--Council: Wiram Knowlton. House: James Fisher.
FIFTH LEGISLATURE.
First Session, 1847--Council: Benj. F. Manahan. House: Joseph W.
Furber.
CRAWFORD, ST. CROIX, CHIPPEWA AND LA POINTE COUNTIES.
Special Session, 1847--Council: Benj. F. Manahan. House: Henry
Jackson.
Second Session, 1848--Council: Benj. F. Manahan. House: Henry Jackson.
First Constitutional Convention, Oct. 5, 1846--Delegate from St. Croix
county, Wm. Holcombe.
Second Constitutional Convention, Dec. 15, 1847--Delegate from St.
Croix county, George W. Brownell.
STATE GOVERNMENT OF WISCONSIN.
Governors: Nelson Dewey, 1848-52; L. J. Farwell, 1852-54; W. A.
Barstow, 1854-56; Coles Bashford, 1856-58; Alex. W. Randall, 1858-62;
Louis P. Harvey, 1862; Edward Salomen, 1862-64; James Q. Lewis,
1864-66; Lucius Fairchild, 1866-72; C. C. Washburn, 1872-74; Wm. R.
Taylor, 1874-76; Harrison Luddington, 1876-78; Wm. E. Smith, 1878-82;
Jeremiah Rusk, 1882-58.
UNITED STATES SENATORS.
Isaac P. Walker, June 8, 1848; Henry Dodge, June 8, 1848; Charles
Durkee, Feb. 1, 1855; James R. Doolittle, Jan. 23, 1857; Timothy O.
Howe, Jan. 23, 1861; Matt H. Carpenter, Jan. 26, 1869; Angus Cameron,
Feb. 3, 1875; Philetus Sawyer, Jan. 26, 1881; John C. Spooner, Jan.
26, 1885.
UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVES.
From districts bordering on the St. Croix: Mason C. Darling, 1848-50;
Orasmus Cole, 1850-52; Ben. C. Eastman, 1852-56; C. C. Washburn,
1856-62; Luther Hanchett, 1862-63; Walter D. McIndoe, 1863-68; C. C.
Washburn, 1868-72; Jeremiah M. Rusk, 1874-78; Hiram L. Humphrey,
1878-84; Wm. T. Price, 1884-88; Nels P. Haugan, 1888.
District judges presiding in territory originally included in St.
Croix county:
Wiram Knowlton, of Prairie du Chien, 1848-50; district--Crawford,
Chippewa, St. Croix and La Pointe counties.
S. S. Fuller, of Hudson, 1850-60; district--Pierce, St. Croix, Polk,
Douglas, and La Pointe counties.
Henry D. Barron, of North Pepin, 1860-61; district--Pierce, St. Croix,
Polk, Douglas, Ashland, and Bayfield counties.
L. P. Weatherby, of Hudson, 1861-67; district--Pepin, Pierce, St.
Croix, Polk, Burnett, Douglas, Bayfield, and Ashland counties.
Herman L. Humphrey, of Hudson, 1867-77; district--St. Croix, Pierce,
Pepin, Dunn, and Barron counties.
Solon S. Clough, of Hudson, 1864-76; district--Polk, Burnett, Douglas,
Ashland, and Bayfield counties.
R. P. Bundy, of Menomonie, 1876-85, re-elected until 1891;
district--Buffalo, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce; and St. Croix
counties.
Henry D. Barron, of St. Croix Falls, 1876-82; district--Chippewa,
Barron, Polk, Burnett, Douglas, Ashland, and Bayfield counties.
Solon S. Clough, of Superior, 1882-88; district--Ashland, Barron,
Bayfield, Burnett, Chippewa, Douglas, Polk, and Washburn counties.
R. D. Marshall, of Chippewa Falls, 1888.
WISCONSIN STATE LEGISLATURE.
Representatives of territory originally included in St. Croix county:
First Session, 1848--Senate: Daniel S. Fenton. Assembly: W. R.
Marshall. (Seat successfully contested by Joseph Bowron.)
Second Session, 1849--Senate: James Fisher. Assembly: Joseph Bowron.
Third Session, 1850--Senate: James Fisher. Assembly: John S. Watrous.
Fourth Session, 1851--Senate: Henry A. Wright. Assembly: John O.
Henning.
Fifth Session, 1852--Senate: Henry A. Wright. Assembly: Otis Hoyt.
Sixth Session, 1853--Senate: Benj. Allen. Assembly: Orrin T. Maxson.
Seventh Session, 1854--Senate: Benj. Allen. Assembly: Wm. M. Torbert.
Eighth Session, 1855--Senate: Wm. T. Gibson. Assembly: Smith R. Gunn.
Ninth Session, 1856--Senate: Wm. T. Gibson. Assembly: Almon D. Gray.
Tenth Session, 1857--Senate: Wm. Wilson. Assembly: Orin T. Maxson.
Eleventh Session, 1858--Senate: Daniel Mears. House: James B. Gray,
Lucius Cannon.
Twelfth Session; 1859--Senate: Daniel Mears. House: Moses S. Gibson.
Mr. Gibson's seat successfully contested by M. W. McCracken.
Thirteenth Session, 1860--Senate: Charles B. Cox. House: Asaph
Whittlesey.
Fourteenth Session, 1861--Senate: Charles B. Cox. House: John
Comstock.
Fifteenth Session, 1862--Senate: H. L. Humphrey. House: George R.
Stuntz, James W. Beardsley. Mr. Beardsley was elected speaker of the
house.
Sixteenth Session, 1863--Senate: N. L. Humphrey. House: Henry D.
Barron, Charles B. Cox.
Seventeenth Session, 1864--Senate: Austin H. Young. House: Henry D.
Barron, Joseph S. Elwell.
Eighteenth Session, 1865--Senate: Austin H. Young. House: Amos S. Gray
(successfully contested by A. C. Stuntz). House: Marcus A. Fulton.
Nineteenth Session, 1866--Senate: Marcus A. Fulton. House: Henry D.
Barron, William J. Copp. Mr. Barron elected speaker of the assembly.
Twentieth Session, 1867--Senate: Marcus A. Fulton. House: Henry D.
Barron, John D. Trumbull, H. L. Wadsworth.
Twenty-first Session, 1868--Senate: Wm. J. Copp. House: Henry D.
Barron, Eleazer Holt, Marcus A. Fulton.
Twenty-second Session, 1869--Senate: Wm. J. Copp. House: Henry D.
Barron, Edward H. Ives, Charles D. Parker.
Twenty-third Session, 1870--Senate: Edward H. Ives. House: Samuel B.
Dressor, Oliver S. Powell, Charles D. Parker.
Twenty-fourth Session, 1871--Senate: Edward H. Ives. House: Samuel S.
Vaughn, Oliver S. Powell, Ruel K. Fay.
Twenty-fifth Session, 1872--Senate: Joseph E. Irish. House: Henry D.
Barron, Oliver S. Powell, John C. Spooner.
Twenty-sixth Session, 1873--Senate: Joseph E. Irish. House: Henry D.
Barron, speaker; James H. Persons, David C. Fulton.
Twenty-seventh Session, 1874--Senate: Henry D. Barron. House: Samuel
S. Fifield, James H. Persons, Harvey S. Clapp.
Twenty-eighth Session, 1875--Senate: Henry D. Barron, House: Samuel S.
Fifield, Thomas S. Nelson, Philo Q. Boyden.
Twenty-ninth Session, 1876--Senate: Henry D. Barron. House: Samuel S.
Fifield, speaker; Christopher L. Taylor, Philo Q. Boyden.
Thirtieth Session, 1877--Senate: Samuel S. Fifield. House: Woodbury S.
Grover, Ellsworth Burnett, Guy W. Dailey.
Thirty-first Session, 1878--Senate: Dana R. Bailey. House: Canute
Anderson, Charles A. Hawn, James Hill.
Thirty-second Session, 1879--Senate: Dana R. Bailey. House: Wm. J.
Vincent, Nils P. Haugen, James Hill.
Thirty-third Session, 1880--Senate: Sam S. Fifield. House: Nils P.
Haugen, James Hill, Lars L. Gunderson.
Thirty-fourth Session, 1881--Senate: Sam S. Fifield. Assembly: Geo. D.
McDill, Franklin L. Gibson, Merton Herrick.
Thirty-fifth Session, 1882--Senate: James Hill. Assembly: Geo. D.
McDill, Franklin L. Gibson, speaker; Olof A. Sangestad.
Thirty-sixth Session, 1883--Senate: James Hill. Assembly: Canute
Anderson, John D. Putnam, Geo. D. McDill, James Johnston.
Thirty-seventh Session, 1884--Senate: Joel F. Nason. Assembly: Hans B.
Warner, Frank M. Nye, Thomas Porter; Charles S. Taylor, J. B. Thayer.
(For thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth Sessions see Addenda.)
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA.
Governors: Alexander Ramsey, from June 1, 1849, to May 15, 1853;
Willis A. Gorman, from May 15, 1853, to April 23, 1857; Samuel Medary,
from April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858.
Delegates to Congress: Henry H. Sibley, Jan. 15, 1849, to March 4,
1853; Henry M. Rice, Dec. 5, 1853, to March 4, 1857; W. W. Kingsbury,
Dec. 7, 1857, to May 11, 1858.
Chief Justices: Aaron Goodrich, June 1, 1849, to Nov. 13, 1851; Jerome
Fuller, Nov. 13, 1851, to Dec. 16, 1852; Henry Z. Hayner, Dec. 16,
1852, to April 7, 1853 (Judge Hayner never presided at a single term
and gave but one decision, which was to pronounce the prohibition law
unconstitutional); William H. Welch, April 7, 1853, to May 24, 1858.
Associate Justices: David Cooper, June 1, 1849, to April 7, 1853;
Bradly B. Meeker, June 1, 1849, to April 7, 1853; Andrew G. Chatfield,
April 7, 1853, to April 23, 1857; Moses G. Sherburne, April 7, 1853,
to April 13, 1857; R. R. Nelson, April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858;
Charles E. Flandrau, April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858.
CENSUS OF THE TERRITORY--AUGUST, 1849.
PRECINCTS. MALES. FEMALES. TOTAL.
Stillwater 455 154 609
Lake St. Croix 129 32 161
Marine Mills 142 31 173
Falls of St. Croix 15 1 16
Snake River 58 24 82
St. Paul 540 300 840
Little Canada and St. Anthony Falls 352 219 571
Crow Wing and Long Prairie 235 115 350
Osakis Rapids 92 41 133
----- --- -----
Total 2,018 977 2,935
Upon the basis of this population the governor established the
following legislative districts:
First district: St. Croix precinct, extending on the west side of the
St. Croix and Mississippi rivers to the Iowa line; Second district:
Stillwater; Third district: St. Paul; Fourth district: Marine Mills
and the country north to the British possessions; Fifth district: St.
Anthony Falls; Sixth district: The country east of the Mississippi not
embraced in the Fourth district, and extending north to the British
possessions; Seventh district: All the territory on the west of the
Mississippi river not embraced in the sixth and first districts.
FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE.--HELD SEPT. 3 TO NOV. 1, 1849.
Council: David Olmsted, president; district No. 1, James S. Norris;
No. 2, Samuel Burkelo; No. 3, William H. Forbes, James McC. Boal; No.
4, David B. Loomis; No. 5, John Rollins; No. 6, David Olmsted, William
Sturgis; No. 7, Martin McLeod.
House: Joseph W. Furber, of Cottage Grove, speaker; district No. 1,
Joseph W. Furber, James Wells; No. 2, M. S. Wilkinson, Sylvanus Trask,
Mahlon Black; No. 3, Benj. W. Brunson, Henry Jackson, John J. Dewey,
Parsons K. Johnson; No. 4, Henry N. Setzer; No. 5, William R.
Marshall, William Dugas; No. 6, Jeremiah Russell, Allan Morrison,
Lorenzo A. Babcock, Thomas A. Holmes; No. 7, Alexis Bailly, Gideon H.
Pond.
The limits of this work preclude the insertion of a complete list of
the entire State, and we give, therefore, the representation of the
St. Croix valley.
SECOND TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1851.
Council: James Norris, Samuel Burkelo, D. B. Loomis, president. House:
John A. Ford, Michael E. Ames, speaker; Jesse Taylor, John D. Ludden.
THIRD TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1852.
Council: Elam Greely, David B. Loomis. House: Jesse Taylor, Mahlon
Black, Martin Leavitt, John D. Ludden.
FOURTH TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1853.
Council: Elam Greely, David B. Loomis. House: N. Green Wilcox, Albert
Stimson, Caleb Truax, John D. Ludden.
FIFTH TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1854.
Council: Albert Stimson, John E. Mower. House: John Fisher, Wm.
McKusick, Robert Watson, N. C. D. Taylor, speaker.
SIXTH TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1855.
Council: Albert Stimson, John E. Mower. House: James B. Dixon, William
Willim, James Norris, Samuel Register.
SEVENTH TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1856.
Council: John D. Ludden, Henry N. Setzer. House: James S. Norris,
Abraham Van Voorhes, N. C. Taylor, Henry A. Jackman.
EIGHTH TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE, 1857.
Council: John D. Ludden, Henry N. Setzer. House: Elam Greely, Mahlon
Black, Joseph W. Furber, speaker; L. K. Stannard.
The legislature of 1852 passed a prohibition law and submitted it to
the people of the Territory, who adopted it by a vote of 853 for to
622 against. This law was declared unconstitutional by Judge Hayner on
the ground that it was unconstitutional to submit a law to the vote of
the people. After rendering this decision he resigned his office.
At a second appointment in 1855 the counties of Washington, Chisago,
Superior, Itasca, and Doty were included in the St. Croix district. A
special session was held in May, 1857, to accept and make provision to
use the magnificent railway land grant donated by Congress.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1857.
In accordance with the enabling act of Congress, passed March 3, 1857,
delegates were elected and met in convention at the capital on the
second Monday of July, 1857.
REPRESENTATIVES FROM ST. CROIX VALLEY.
Washington county: Wm. Holcombe, James S. Norris, Henry N. Setzer,
Gould T. Curtis, Charles E. Leonard, Charles J. Butler, Newinton
Gilbert, R. H. Sanderson.
Chisago county: P. A. Cedarstam, Charles F. Lowe, Lucas K. Stannard,
W. H. C. Folsom.
The convention continued in session from July 13 to Aug. 29, 1857, and
although divided into two wings, accomplished considerable work, such
as preparing duplicate state constitutions and redistricting the
State. The St. Croix valley was redistricted as follows:
First district, Washington county: Twenty-fifth district, Chisago,
Pine and Isanti counties.
GOVERNORS OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA.
Henry H. Sibley, May 24, 1858, to Jan. 2, 1860; Alexander Ramsey, Jan.
2, 1860, to July 10, 1863; Henry A. Swift, July 10, 1863, to Jan. 11,
1864; Stephen Miller, Jan. 11, 1864, to Jan. 8, 1866; William R.
Marshall, Jan. 8, 1866, to Jan. 9, 1870; Horace Austin, Jan. 9, 1870,
to Jan. 7, 1874; Cushman K. Davis, Jan. 7, 1874, to Jan. 7, 1876; John
S. Pillsbury, Jan. 7, 1876, to Jan. 10, 1882; Lucius F. Hubbard, Jan
10, 1882, to Jan. --, 1886; A. R. McGill, Jan. --, 1887, to ----.
SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICES.
Lafayette Emmett, May 24, 1858, to Jan. 10, 1865; Thomas Wilson, Jan.
10, 1865, to July 14, 1869; James Gilfillan, July 14, 1869, to Jan. 7,
1870; Christopher G. Ripley, Jan. 7, 1870, to April 7, 1874; S. J. R.
McMillan, April 7, 1874, to March 10, 1875; James Gilfillan, March,
10, 1875, to ----.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICES.
Charles E. Flandrau, May, 24, 1858, to July 5, 1864; Isaac Atwater,
May 24, 1858, to July 6, 1864; S. J. R. McMillan, July 6, 1864, to
April 7, 1874; Thomas Wilson, July 6, 1864, to Jan. 10, 1865; John M.
Berry, Jan. 10, 1865, to ----; George B. Young, April 16, 1874, to
Jan. 11, 1875; F. R. E. Cornell, Jan 11, 1875, to May 23, 1881; D. A.
Dickenson, June 27, 1881, to ----; Greenleaf Clark, March 14, 1881, to
Jan. 12, 1882; William Mitchell, March 14, 1881, to ----; C. E.
Vanderburgh, Jan. 12, 1882, to ----; L. W. Collins, January, 1888, to
----.
UNITED STATES SENATORS FROM MINNESOTA.
James Shields, May 11, 1858, to March 4, 1860; Henry M. Rice, May 11,
1858, to March 4, 1863; Morton S. Wilkinson, March 4, 1860, to March
4, 1867; Alexander Ramsey, March 4, 1863, to March 4, 1875; Daniel S.
Norton, March 4, 1867, died July 14, 1870; O. P. Stearns, January --,
1871, to March 4, 1871; William Windom, March 4, 1871, to March 12,
1881; S. J. R. McMillan, Dec. 6, 1875, to March 4, 1886; A. J.
Edgerton, March 12, 1881, to Oct. 26, 1881; William Windom, Oct, 26,
1881, to March 4, 1883; Dwight M. Sabin, March 4, 1883, to March 4,
1889; C. K. Davis, March 4, 1887, to ----.
REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS.
W. W. Phelps, May 11, 1858, to March 4, 1859; J. M. Cavenaugh, May 11,
1858, to March 4, 1858; William Windom, Dec. 5, 1859, to March 4,
1869; Cyrus Aldrich, Dec. 5, 1859, to March 4, 1863; Ignatius
Donnelly, Dec. 7, 1863, to March 4, 1869; M. S. Wilkinson, March 4,
1869, to March 4, 1871; E. M. Wilson, March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1871;
John T. Averill, March 4, 1871, to March 4, 1875; M. H. Dunnell, March
4, 1871, to March 4, 1883; H. B. Strait, Dec. 1, 1873, to March 4,
1879; William S. King, Dec. 6, 1875, to March 4, 1877; J. H. Stewart,
Dec. 3, 1877, to March 4, 1879; Henry Poehler, March 4, 1879, to March
4, 1881; H. B. Strait, March 4, 1881, to March 4, 1885; W. D.
Washburn, March 4, 1879, to March 4, 1885; Milo White, March 4, 1883,
to March 4, 1887; J. B. Wakefield, March 4, 1883, to March 4, 1887;
Knute Nelson, March 4, 1883, to March 4, 1889; J. B. Gilfillan, March
4 1885, to March 4, 1887: Thomas Wilson, March 4, 1887, John Lind,
March 4, 1887; John S. McDonald, March 4, 1887; Edmund Rice, March 4,
1887.
FIRST STATE LEGISLATURE, 1857-8.
Richard G. Murphy, president; William Holcombe, lieutenant governor.
Senate: First District--Joel K. Reiner. Twenty-fifth District--W. H.
C. Folsom. House: First District--J. R. M. Gaskill, George W.
Campbell, Robert Simpson. Twenty-fifth District--John G. Randall.
SECOND STATE LEGISLATURE, 1859-60.
Senate: First District--Wm. McKusick, Socrates Nelson. Twenty-fifth
District--Lucas K. Stannard. House: First District--E. D. Watson,
Abraham Van Voorhes, Orange Walker. Twenty-fifth District--Patrick
Fox.
THIRD STATE LEGISLATURE, 1861.
Senate: Second District--Joel K. Reiner. House: Second District--H. L.
Thomas, E. D. Whiting, Emil Munch.
FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 1862.
Senate: Second District--Joel K. Reiner. House: Second District--Wm.
H. Burt, H. L. Thomas, E. D. Whitney.
FIFTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1863.
Senate: Second District--John McKusick. House: Second District--Samuel
Furber, J. B. R. Mitchell, Ansel Smith.
SIXTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1864.
Senate: Second District--John McKusick. House: Second District--Jere
M. Soule, R. R. Henry, Ansel Smith.
SEVENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1865.
Senate: Second District--John McKusick. House: Second District--L. A.
Huntoon, Ansel Smith, Lars J. Stark.
EIGHTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1866.
Senate: Second District--John McKusick. House: Second District--J. B.
R. Mitchell, Robert Watson, Smith Ellison.
NINTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1867.
Senate: Second District--W. H. C. Folsom. House: Second
District--Henry Jackman, Ebenezer Ayres.
TENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1868.
Senate: Second District--W. H. C. Folsom. House: Second District--J.
W. Furber, William Lowell.
ELEVENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1869.
Senate: Second District--James N. Castle. House: Second
District--Joseph Haskell, W. H. C. Folsom.
TWELFTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1870.
Senate: Second District--James N. Castle. House: Second
District--James S. Norris, William Lowell.
THIRTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1871.
Senate: Second District--Dwight M. Sabin. House: Second
District--Joseph Haskell, Lucas K. Stannard.
FOURTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1872.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Dwight M. Sabin. Twenty-eighth
District--Jonas Lindall. House: Twenty-second District--Ebenezer
Ayers, J. R. M. Gaskill, H. R. Murdock. Twenty-eighth District--Adolph
Munch.
FIFTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1873.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Dwight M. Sabin. Twenty-eighth
District--Jonas Lindall. House: Twenty-second District--E. W. Durant,
J. R. M. Gaskill, James Huganin. Twenty-eighth District--Joel G.
Ryder.
SIXTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1874.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Wm. McKusick. Twenty-eighth
District--L. K. Burrows. House: Twenty-second District--D. B. Loomis,
Chas. Eckdahl, J. A. McCloskey. Twenty-eighth District--Frank H.
Pratt.
SEVENTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1875.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Wm. McKusick. Twenty-eighth
district--W. H. C. Folsom. House: Twenty-second district--J. W.
Furber, E. W. Durant, J. E. Mower. Twenty-eighth district--Lars J.
Stark.
EIGHTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1876.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Ed. S. Brown. Twenty-eighth
District--W. H. C. Folsom. House: Twenty-second District--A.
Fredericks, J. S. Middleton, O. W. Erickson. Twenty-eighth
District--W. A. Brawley.
NINETEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1877.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Ed. S. Brown. Twenty-eighth
District--W. H. C. Folsom. House: Twenty-second District--A.
Fredericks, A. Huntoon, O. W. Erickson.
TWENTIETH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1878.
Senate: Twenty-second District--Roscoe F. Hersey. Twenty-eighth
District--John Shaleen. House: Twenty-second District--Dwight M.
Sabin, Wm. Fowler, Charles Peterson. Twenty-eighth District--F. S.
Christensen.
TWENTY-FIRST STATE LEGISLATURE, 1879.
Senate: Twenty-second District--James N. Castle. Twenty-eighth
District--John Shaleen. House: Twenty-second District--A. M. Dodd,
Chas. Peterson, Andrew Peterson. Twenty-eighth District--John Dean.
TWENTY-SECOND STATE LEGISLATURE, 1881.
Senate: Twenty-second District--J. N. Castle. Twenty-eighth
District--John Shaleen. House: Twenty-second District--Dwight M.
Sabin, Andrew Peterson, Wm. Schmidt. Twenty-eighth District--John
Dean.
TWENTY-THIRD STATE LEGISLATURE, 1883.
Senate: Twenty-fourth District--J. N. Castle. Thirty-eighth
District--John Shaleen. House: Twenty-fourth District--Dwight M.
Sabin, C. P. Gregory, A. Stegman. Thirty-eighth District--Levi H.
McKusick.
TWENTY-FOURTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1885.
Senate: Twenty-fourth District--J. N. Castle. Thirty-eighth
District--John Shaleen. House: Twenty-fourth District--E. W. Durant,
W. H. Pratt, Arthur Stephen. Thirty-eighth District--Levi H. McKusick.
TWENTY-FIFTH STATE LEGISLATURE, 1887.
Senate: Twenty-fourth District--E. W. Durant. Thirty-eighth
District--Otto Wallmark. House: Twenty-fourth District--F. Dornfield,
R. M. Anderson, C. P. Gregory. Thirty-eighth District--Henry Smith.
The first legislature continued in session one hundred and forty-eight
days. Its most important measure was the passage of the $5,000,000
loan bill. At the twentieth session a law was passed changing the
sessions of the legislature from annual to biennial.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1857.
As a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1857, and a member
of what was styled the Republican wing, the writer considers it not
amiss to insert a chapter concerning that somewhat famous and farcical
affair.
The Congress of 1856-57 passed an enabling act for the formation of a
state government in Minnesota, providing that a constitutional
convention of delegates, chosen by the people, should assemble at
midday, July 13, 1857, at the hall of the house of representatives at
the state capitol, and adopt a constitution, subject to the
ratification of the people.
The territorial governor, Samuel Medary, ordered an election to be
held on the first Monday in June, 1857, for delegates, the number to
consist of one hundred and eight. The State was nearly equally divided
between the Republicans and Democrats; still the question of politics
did not enter largely into the contest, except as a question of party
supremacy. The people were a unit on the question of organizing a
state government under the enabling act, and in many cases there was
but a single ticket in the field. It was a matter, therefore, of some
surprise that there should be a separation among the delegates into
opposing factions, resulting practically in the formation of two
conventions, each claiming to represent the people, and each proposing
a constitution. The delegates, although but 108 were called, were
numbered on the rolls of the two wings as 59 Republican and 53
Democratic, a discrepancy arising from some irregularity of
enrollment, by which certain memberships were counted twice. The
Republican members, claiming a bare majority, took possession of the
hall of the house at midnight, twelve hours before the legal time for
opening the convention, the object being to obtain control of the
offices and committees of the convention, a manifest advantage in the
matter of deciding upon contested seats.
In obedience to the call of the leaders of the party, issued the day
before, the writer with other Republicans repaired to the house at the
appointed hour, produced his credentials as a delegate, and was
conducted into the illuminated hall by Hon. John W. North. The
delegates were dispersed variously about the hall, some chatting
together, others reading newspapers, smoking, or snoring, as here and
there one had fallen asleep in his seat. Occasionally a delegate
nervously examined his revolver as if he anticipated some necessity
for its use.
The Democratic delegates were elsewhere probably plotting in secret
conclave to capture the hall, and perhaps it might be well enough to
be prepared for the worst. Thus the remainder of the night passed and
the forenoon of July 13th. As soon as the clock struck twelve, the
Democratic delegates rushed tumultuously in, as if with the purpose of
capturing the speaker's stand. That, however, was already occupied by
the Republican delegates, and the storming party was obliged to
content itself with the lower steps of the stand. Both parties at the
moment the clock ceased striking were yelling "order" vociferously,
and nominating their officers, _pro tem._ Both parties effected a
temporary organization, although in the uproar and confusion it was
difficult to know what was done.
The Democratic wing adjourned at once to the senate chamber, and there
effected a permanent organization. The Republicans being left in the
undisturbed possession of the hall, perfected their organization, and
the two factions set themselves diligently to work to frame a
constitution, each claiming to be the legally constituted convention,
and expecting recognition as such by the people of the State and by
Congress. The debates in each were acrimonious. A few of the more
moderate delegates in each recognized the absurdity and illegality of
their position, and questioned the propriety of remaining and
participating in proceedings which they could not sanction.
The conventions continued their sessions inharmoniously enough. Each
framed a constitution, at the completion of which a joint committee
was appointed to revise and harmonize the two constitutions, but the
members of the committees were as belligerent as the conventions they
represented. Members grew angry, abusing each other with words and
even blows, blood being drawn in an argument with bludgeons between
Hon. Willis A. Gorman, Democratic, and Hon. Thomas Wilson, Republican.
An agreement seemed impossible, when some one whose name has not found
its way into history, made the happy suggestion that alternate
articles of each constitution be adopted. When this was done, and the
joint production of the two conventions was in presentable shape,
another and almost fatal difficulty arose, as to which wing should be
accorded the honor of signing officially this remarkable document. One
body or the other must acknowledge the paternity of the hybrid.
Ingenuity amounting to genius (it is a pity that the possessor should
be unknown) found a new expedient, namely, to write out two
constitutions in full, exact duplicates except as to signatures, the
one to be signed by Democratic officers and members, and the other by
Republicans These two constitutions were filed in the archives of the
State and one of them, which one will probably never be known, was
adopted by the people Oct. 13, 1857.
The question arises in the writer's mind as to the legality of the
constitution of Minnesota. Have we a constitution? If so, which one?
The question of legality, however, has never been raised before the
proper tribunals, and it is perhaps well to leave it thus
unquestioned.
FIRST MINNESOTA STATE LEGISLATURE, HELD 1857-8.
Under a provision of the constitution adopted Oct. 13, 1857, the
legislature was elected and convened December 2d of that year,
although the State had not then been admitted to the Union, and Gen.
Sam Medary was still recognized as governor, though not at the time in
the Territory, and acting through his private secretary. The whole
state, judicial and legislative ticket had been elected in October,
but none of the state officers could qualify prior to the formal
admission of the State. The legality of their proceedings was called
in question. The Republicans entered a protest against legislation
until after the admission of the State, but the Democratic party was
in the majority, and territorial Democratic officers governed the
legislature, and the protest was unheeded. Notwithstanding the
doubtful validity of acts passed by this body, some bold and
extravagant measures were proposed and passed, among them the famous
$5,000,000 loan bill, authorizing the issue of bonds to that amount,
ostensibly to aid in the construction of railroads in Minnesota, and
to be used as a basis for banking. This bill was passed near the close
of the session, which lasted ninety days, and was an amendment to the
constitution to be voted on April 15, 1858.[J] The result proved even
worse than had been predicted by the most ardent opposers of the bill,
and although adopted by an overwhelming majority, speedily fulfilled
the predictions of its opponents. The State was flooded with worthless
bank issues, based upon these worthless bonds. Financial distress and
panic ensued. A reaction followed, and in November, 1860, the
amendment to the constitution was expunged. Of these bonds, $2,275,000
had already been issued, when the section granting their issue was
repealed. These the State subsequently redeemed.
This bill, though afterward adopted as an amendment to the
constitution by an overwhelming majority, was opposed most vigorously
in both houses of the legislature, and characterized at the time as
mischievous and infamous. Though not present at the time of its
passage, on account of sickness, the author fully committed himself as
an opponent of the bill, and placed himself on record in an address to
his constituents dated March 19th, at the senate chamber, which
address was circulated extensively at the time. The views and
predictions therein expressed as to the disastrous character of the
bill have been amply justified and verified by subsequent events.
Hon. Chas. F. Lowe, when a member of the Republican wing of the
constitutional convention, had designed and prepared a seal to be used
by the incoming state government. It was adopted by that wing of the
convention, and Mr. Lowe hoped to have it formally adopted by the
first state legislature. At the request of Mr. Lowe, it was presented
by the writer, then a member of the senate, and was adopted by the
senate and house with many encomiums upon its beauty and
appropriateness. The design was indeed a beautiful one, and the
workmanship of the seal, by Buechner, of St. Paul, was admirable. The
design of the seal was as follows:
[Illustration: STATE SEAL.]
A waterfall (supposed to be that of Minnehaha) within a shield; this
part of the device was intended to symbolize the idea of water for the
amount and varied forms of which Minnesota is distinguished above any
other part of our country. In addition was represented the figure of
an Indian pointing toward the setting sun, as his course of destiny
runs, with his tomahawk, bow and arrows; at his feet opposite the
Indian was the figure of a white man, with a sheaf of wheat and the
implements of agriculture at his feet, representing to the Indian that
he must partake of the habits of civilized life or depart toward the
setting sun. In one corner of the field appeared a distant view of
Lake Superior, with a ship in sail. In another was a view of a river,
indicating the Minnesota river, running from the westward, with a
steamboat ascending its stream. In rear of the shield and waterfall
were three trees, which are typical of the three timbered regions, the
oak on the left typifying the south and southwest portion of the
State, the pine in the centre typifying the great pine regions of Lake
Superior, Upper Mississippi and St. Croix, and the maple on the right
typifying the north and northwestern portion of the State. For a motto
to accompany the words state of Minnesota, A. D. 1858, which were
placed upon the upper rim of the seal, the words placed upon the lower
rim of the seal were, "Liberty and Union, Now and Forever One and
Inseparable." The act of the legislature went to the governor, who
returned it to the senate approved and signed, July 14, 1858.
Some length of time elapsed before the appearance of the great seal as
appended to official documents, and when it did appear it was very
different from the one adopted, and the credit of the design was given
to Rev. E. D. Neill by the newspapers commenting upon it. However
beautiful and appropriate the design of the present great seal of the
state of Minnesota, there seems to be no evidence that it was ever
legally adopted, and the question may well be raised as to its
validity. It lies, however, in the eternal fitness of things that a
state without a legal constitution should also be without a seal.
At the joint convention of Dec. 19, 1857, Hon. Henry M. Rice and Gen.
James Shields, of Mexican War fame, were elected senators. The
Republicans supported David Cooper and Henry D. Huff. During this
session the presiding officer of the senate was Richard G. Murphy, a
somewhat eccentric character. His decisions were often diverting. When
perplexing questions arose he would say gravely, "The chair can not
decide more than two questions at oncet." After passing many really
important measures, the legislature adjourned March 25, to meet June
2, 1858.
ADJOURNED SESSION.
The legislature met, pursuant to adjournment, June 2d, the State
having been admitted in the interim. Lieut. Gov. Holcombe presided
over the senate and proved an acceptable and able presiding officer.
The five million amendment having been approved by the people, this
legislature passed a banking law, establishing banks in various parts
of the State with the five million bonds as a basis.
It can do no good at this late day to raise a question as to the
validity of the acts of the first state legislature, but it is due to
ourselves and others who with us at the time protested against the
validity of acts passed at this session, to give a few extracts from
senate and house journals tending to show that a feeling of distrust
was quite general. The ground of this opinion was the fact that the
legislature elected as a state legislature held its first session
prior to the admission of the State, and under the administration of
the territorial governor, Medary, through his secretary, acting in his
place. The question was openly discussed, not only in the legislature
but in the public press of the State.
As early as Dec. 8, 1887, the following protest was presented in the
senate:
SENATE CHAMBER, ST. PAUL.
We, the undersigned senators of the state of Minnesota, do hereby
enter and record this, our _solemn_ PROTEST, against the recognition
by this body, in any manner, directly or indirectly, of Samuel Medary,
Esquire, governor of the territory of Minnesota, as the governor of
the state of Minnesota, or as being invested with any of the rights,
authority, privileges, powers or functions of governor of said state
of Minnesota.
And we do _solemnly_ PROTEST against the recognition by this body, in
any manner, of the claims of the said Samuel Medary, to exercise any
of the rights, authority, privileges, powers or functions of the
governor of the state of Minnesota--such claim being wholly
unauthorized and unwarranted by the constitution of the state of
Minnesota; and in violation of the expressed will of the people of the
state of Minnesota, and an attempted usurpation of office, at war with
the fundamental principles of free government, and dangerous to the
liberties of the people.
D. G. NORTON,
LEWIS MCKUNE>,
GEO. WATSON,
EDWIN M. SOMERS,
BOYD PHELPS,
J. K. REINER,
H. L. THOMAS,
JAMES RIDPATH,
MICHAEL COOK,
CHARLES H. LINDSLEY,
E. N. BATES,
E. HODGES,
A. G. HUDSON,
JONATHAN CHASE,
W. H. C. FOLSOM,
S. S. BEMAN,
DELANO T. SMITH.
On December 8th Mr. Norton offered the following resolution to the
senate:
"WHEREAS, By the provisions of the constitution the executive officers
of the State can not qualify until after the admission of the State by
Congress, and
"WHEREAS, There is no governor of the state of Minnesota to whom acts
may be submitted, as required by the constitution; therefore,
"_Resolved_, That this legislature can pass no acts which could become
a law until after the admission of the State by Congress, and the
qualification of the governor elected by the people."
The resolution was adopted and referred to the following committee:
Van Etten, Streeter, Jones, Norton, and Folsom.
The majority of the select committee reported December 21st, claiming
that by the enabling act the people of the Territory were empowered to
form a state government, which they did, electing their delegates on
the second Monday in July, 1857, to form a state constitution, and
take necessary steps for establishment of a state government; that
these delegates met at the time and place appointed, and on the
twenty-ninth of August adopted a constitution which was submitted to
the people and adopted by a majority of over 28,000 votes. That on the
thirteenth of October, in conformity with an article (section 16,
article 16) of the constitution then adopted, the people had elected
representatives to Congress, governor and lieutenant governor, judges
and members of both houses of the legislature, the latter to meet on
the first Wednesday in December at St. Paul.
The majority admitted that the governor elected under the act could
not qualify until after the admission of the State, but claimed that
the members of the legislature did not rest under the same disability,
but were competent to legislate because they derived their power from
the constitution itself, and had been directed to meet for that
purpose on the first Monday in December, and that because they were
thus required to meet they were authorized to act. The people were
omnipotent in the premises. They had declared that the governor should
not qualify until after the admission of the State, and that the
members of the legislature should meet. It was absurd to suppose this
body should be called together and have no power to act. They held,
moreover, that the territorial governor was empowered to act until his
successor could legally qualify; that the framers of the constitution
of Minnesota and the people had declared that he should be continued
in office until superseded by a state officer, and that the very time
had been specified when he should be thus superseded, namely, on the
admission of the State into the Union, and therefore that Samuel
Medary was, _de facto_ and _de jure_, governor of Minnesota; that
Minnesota was then a state _out_ of the Union, and that the acts of
the first legislature would be legalized when the State was admitted.
The minority report, signed by D. S. Norton and W. H. C. Folsom,
claimed that the constitution contemplated an admission into the Union
as a prerequisite to the exercise of state sovereignty, in article 5,
section 7, where it is enacted that "the term of each of the executive
officers named in this article shall commence upon taking the oath of
office, _after the State shall be admitted by Congress into the Union,
etc._"
Section 9, same article, provides that "Laws shall be passed at the
first session of the legislature _after the State is admitted into the
Union_ to carry out the provisions of this article.
"Section 1, article 16, _schedule_, provides that all process which
may be issued under the authority of the territory of Minnesota
previous to its _admission into the Union of the United States_, shall
be as valid as if issued in the name of the State."
Section 8, same article, provides that if the constitution shall be
adopted by a vote of the people, the governor of the Territory shall
forward a certified copy of the same to the president of the United
States, "_to be by him laid before the Congress of the United
States_."
The minority claimed that under the first of the above cited sections
there can be no qualified governor (_elected under, and according to
the provisions of the constitution_) to whom "bills" _must_ be
submitted before they can become laws, until _after_ "admission"--nor
indeed can there be _any_ executive officers, contemplated to perform
the duties of their several offices, until that time.
In reference to the provisions of section 18, article 16, _schedule_,
as inconsistent with that view, it was claimed that the territorial
government should continue, and that its officers should exercise the
sovereign powers delegated to them by the Union, until, upon an
admission by Congress, and a surrender of sovereignty to the State,
its authority should commence.
It was claimed that this section (6) of article 16, requiring the
legislature to convene on the first Wednesday of December, 1857, was
an oversight or error. After considerable debate the majority report
was adopted by a party vote. A similar protest, signed by all the
Republican members of the house, was presented to that body. In
addition to these protests there was in both branches of the
legislature continuous and various protests by the minority against
the exercise of legislative functions.
In the house, on Jan. 25, 1858, Mr. Sheetz offered a resolution with
reference to the causes of the delay in the admission of Minnesota,
asking that a committee of three be appointed with instructions to
investigate the circumstances of this delay and report to this house
upon these points:
_First_--As to whose duty it was to forward to the president for
submission to Congress a copy of the constitution.
_Second_--Why an incorrect or incomplete copy of said constitution was
forwarded to the president.
_Third_--What official correspondence, if any, has passed between the
governor and the acting governor in regard to this matter.
On motion the resolution was adopted.
Mr. Sheetz, from the committee appointed to communicate with the
acting governor relative to the admission of the state of Minnesota,
submitted the following report:
_To the Honorable House of Representatives:_
Your committee appointed to inquire into the causes of the probable
delay in the admission of Minnesota into the Union, ask leave to make
the following report:
Your committee find that according to section 8 of the schedule to the
constitution, it is made the duty of the governor of the Territory,
upon the adoption of the constitution by the people, to forward a
certified copy of the constitution to the president of the United
States, to be by him submitted to Congress.
Your committee have conferred with his excellency, Acting Gov. Chase,
and have ascertained from him that at or about the time of the
adjournment of the constitutional conventions, there were deposited
with him, as acting governor in the absence of Gov. Medary, two copies
of the constitution as adopted by the two branches of the
constitutional convention, one copy signed by _fifty-one_ members of
the Democratic branch of the convention, and the other signed by
_fifty-three_ members of the Republican branch of the convention, that
the two copies were preserved by him in the same safe, side by side
where they now are.
Your committee are further informed that a short time prior to the
departure of our senators and representatives elect for Washington,
the governor caused to be made a transcript of the constitution as
requested by the schedule and that instrument, which transcript was
forwarded to the president of the United States.
No record is known to your committee to exist of the time and manner
of making such transcript, and your committee, in the absence of the
governor and his private secretary, can not ascertain whether said
transcript contained the names of the members of the two branches of
the constitutional convention or not.
Your committee are also informed by Acting Gov. Chase that there has
been no official correspondence between the governor and himself upon
this subject since the departure of the former for Washington.
All of which is respectfully submitted and signed.
H. W. SHEETZ,
G. L. OTIS,
J. J. CRUTTENDEN,
_Committee_.
LAND GRANTS, RAILROAD SURVEYS AND CONSTRUCTION.
In May, 1857, Congress gave to Minnesota, then a territory, a
magnificent grant of about 9,000,000 acres of land, to aid in the
construction of several projected trunk roads through her bounds. The
roads specified were: From Stillwater, by way of St. Paul and St.
Anthony Falls, to a point between the foot of Big Stone lake and the
mouth of the Sioux Wood river, with a branch via St. Cloud and Crow
Wing to the navigable waters of the Red River of the North; from St.
Paul and St. Anthony via Minneapolis to a convenient point of junction
west of the Mississippi to the southern boundary of the Territory in
the direction of the mouth of the Big Sioux river, with a branch via
Faribault to the north line of the state of Iowa, west of range 16;
from Winona to a point on the Big Sioux river south of the forty-fifth
parallel of north latitude; also from La Crescent via Target lake, up
the valley of Root river, to a point of junction with the last
mentioned road, east of range 17, every alternate section of land
designated by odd numbers, for six sections in width on each side of
said road and branches. It was enacted that the lands granted were to
be subject to the disposal of the legislature.
An extra session of the legislature was convened in June, 1857, to
accept the grant and devise means to build the road.
The financial crisis of 1857 and unwise legislation in 1858, notably
the attempt to issue $5,000,000 in bonds to aid in building the roads,
served to delay the various enterprises projected, and for many years
but little work was done, notwithstanding persistent effort at every
state legislature to effect favorable changes in the condition of
affairs.
A few of the $5,000,000 bonds were issued, but the general
dissatisfaction, and feeling that they were not issued on a legal or
rational basis, depreciated their value, and they were sold at a
sacrifice and afterward redeemed by the State.
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.
The idea of a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific was openly
discussed as early as 1837, in which year Dr. Hartwell Carver
memorialized Congress on the subject and promulgated his views through
the press and by pamphlets. In 1845 Asa Whitney evolved a plan for
the northern route, and awakened considerable popular enthusiasm, but
by many the project was considered as a swindling scheme, or at best a
visionary enterprise. Mr. Whitney made a preliminary survey from
Prairie du Chien as far as the Rocky mountains. Mr. Josiah Perham,
afterward the first president of the Northern Pacific Railroad
Company, in 1857 projected a road from Maine to Puget Sound, to be
known as the People's Pacific Railway, and obtained a charter from the
Maine legislature, but on bringing his scheme to the attention of
Congress was prevailed upon by Thaddeus Stevens to abandon this scheme
for another, agreeing to aid him in the passage of a bill for the
construction of the present Northern Pacific route. The bill passed
both houses and was signed by President Lincoln, July 2, 1864. The
first permanent officers were: Josiah Perham, president; Willard Sear,
vice president; Abiel Abbott, secretary; J. S. Withington, treasurer.
The grants of land voted by Congress were accepted, and in the
following year the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota granted right of
way. Not much was done until 1869, when Jay Cooke & Co. became
financially interested in the road, and might have been successful in
placing the bonds of the road upon the eastern markets but for the
European war, during which time the firm of Jay Cooke & Co. went down
overburdened with railroad securities. The financial panic of 1873
which followed found the company in possession of 555 miles of
completed railroad, of which 450 reached from Duluth to Bismarck, and
105 from Klamath to Tacoma on Puget Sound; but embarrassed by want of
funds the enterprise made but little headway, and in 1875 Henry
Villard was appointed receiver, and a decree of sale obtained by which
the bondholders were enabled to become the preferred stockholders.
Under the new arrangement and by the powerful aid of Henry Villard and
Thomas F. Oakes, the public, and especially the capitalists of the
country, regained faith in the enterprise, and the work was pushed
steadily forward until September, 1883, when the golden spike was
driven at Gold Creek by Henry Villard. Mr. Villard resigned the
presidency of the road in December of the same year, and Robert Harris
succeeded him. The main line of this road extends from Duluth to
Tacoma, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles, and the number of miles on
the main and branch lines aggregates 3,395.
The magnitude of the work, the leagues of wilderness to be traversed,
the mountain ranges to be crossed, the streams to be bridged, the
supposed obstructions from wintry storms to be overcome, all these
were of such a nature as to make the project seem impossible. It was,
nevertheless, through the liberality of the government and the
enthusiasm and executive ability of its managers, accomplished in a
comparatively short time.
The government contributed to this road a land grant of forty sections
to the mile. With this liberal basis, bonds for the required amount of
money were speedily furnished to build and equip the road from Lake
Superior to the Pacific coast. This road has, however, the advantage
of southern roads, in that it traverses a rich agricultural and
mineral region throughout almost its entire extent, passing through
belts of timbered land not excelled in the quantity and quality of
their production. The mineral regions are rich in gold, silver,
copper, lead and coal.
The country along the road is being rapidly settled, and the property
in its possession, and that of those who have made improvements along
its line, has increased to many hundred times its original value.
THE CHICAGO, ST. PAUL, MINNEAPOLIS & OMAHA RAILROAD.
The Wisconsin legislature in 1854 chartered a company to construct and
operate this road, then called the St. Croix, Superior & Bayfield
railroad. May 3, 1856, Congress granted twelve sections of land to the
mile to aid in building a railroad from Hudson in the St. Croix valley
to Bayfield on Lake Superior, with a branch to Superior City. July 5,
1864, this grant was increased to twenty sections per mile, with
indemnity lands to make up deficiencies. These lands were ceded
directly to the State. A company was created by the state legislature
of Wisconsin, to which were consigned the lands and franchises granted
by the government for the purpose of building the road. The lands and
franchises passed through several organized companies. Impediments to
construction arising, extension of time was asked and obtained from
the United States and Wisconsin governments, complications arose,
delaying the construction still further, other companies claimed part
of the indemnity lands, and litigation ensued. The state legislature
upheld the chartered right, and appointed agents to watch the timber
and protect the interests of the company. A sum amounting to $200,000
was collected from trespassers and at once applied to the building of
the roads in 1879.
The St. Paul, Stillwater & Taylor's Falls Company in 1872 had built a
line of railroad from Hudson to New Richmond. In 1874 the St. Croix,
Superior & Bayfield Company obtained possession of this line of road
and continued it in the direction of Superior, completing it in 1883
to Superior City, Bayfield, Washburn, and Ashland. The company have
built a road from Hudson by River Falls to Ellsworth in Pierce county.
The main line to Lake Superior passes through a rich agricultural and
immense pine region. The company have constructed at Washburn, on
Chequamegon bay, extensive docks, elevators, warehouses and shops.
There are on the main line 20 wooden bridges from 25 to 100 feet long,
10 from 100 to 300 feet, 10 from 300 to 500 feet, one of them on a
branch of White river being 90 feet high. The amount of logs and
lumber carried over this road amounts (1888) to 1,240,000,000 feet,
and 1,500,000,000 feet remain. There are few trips more enjoyable to
the tourist than the one over this road, terminating as it does on the
north, in a region attractive for its beautiful scenery, including the
lovely bays of Ashland, Washburn and Bayfield, with their picturesque
shores, hills green with spruce pine and balsam, and the Apostle
islands, favorite haunts of summer travelers. The road is splendidly
equipped and well officered.
THE ST. PAUL & DULUTH RAILROAD (FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE LAKE SUPERIOR &
MISSISSIPPI).
The first land grant for Minnesota was made in 1854, for a road from
St. Paul to Lake Superior. This bill gave twenty sections per mile to
the company building. While the bill was in the hands of the enrolling
committee, some fraudulent changes were made in its provisions, as a
consequence of which, after it had passed both houses and was in the
hands of the president, it was recalled by the house of
representatives, which had originated it, the fraudulent passages were
pointed out, and the further consideration of the bill was
indefinitely postponed.
Railroad enterprise received a check from which it did not recover in
many years. May 5, 1864, Congress gave ten alternate sections on each
side of lands to aid in building the Lake Superior & Mississippi
railroad. This grant was increased to twenty sections per mile, and
indemnity lands were given. The state of Minnesota has also given
seven sections of swamp land per mile. The city of St. Paul also gave
a bonus of $250,000 in city bonds, to run twenty years, and St. Louis
county gave $150,000 in bonds for a like period. From the proceeds of
these lands and bonds an excellent thoroughfare has been built and
maintained. The franchises pertaining to this road changed holders
many times before the road was completed.
The original incorporators were mostly citizens of Philadelphia who,
under the name and title of the "Nebraska & Lake Superior Company,"
obtained their charter from the territorial legislature May 25, 1857.
Their chartered rights were amended and their name changed to that of
"Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad Company." The times for building
were extended by Congress and the state legislature from time to time,
as asked for by the company. The road was commenced in 1867 and
completed to Duluth in 1870, and the name changed to "St. Paul &
Duluth" in 1875. The first cost of building was $7,700,000. The
company have in addition built branch roads from White Bear to
Minneapolis, from White Bear to Stillwater, from Wyoming to Taylor's
Falls, from Rush City to Grantsburg, from North Pacific Junction to
Cloquet, and a branch in Pine county to Sandstone City. The Taylor's
Falls & Lake Superior branch road received seven sections per mile of
swamp lands from the State, $10,000 in ten per cent bonds from the
town of Chisago Lake, $5,000 from the town of Shafer, and $18,600 from
the town of Taylor's Falls.
Presidents of the St. Paul & Duluth railroad: Lyman Dayton, W. L.
Banning, Frank Clark, John P. Illsley, H. H. Porter, James Smith, Jr.,
and Wm. H. Fisher.
MINNESOTA & MANITOBA RAILROAD.
Under the land grant of 1857 a road was projected between St. Paul and
St. Anthony Falls, and completed in 1862, the first railroad in
Minnesota, though others had been projected at an earlier period. This
road was afterward extended to Breckenridge on Red river, and branches
were built to St. Cloud, and from St. Cloud via Fergus Falls and
Crookston to the national boundary at St. Vincent, and from
Brekenridge through Dakota to the Great Falls in Montana. Subordinate
branches to various points in Northern Minnesota, Dakota and Montana
were also built. The roads from Minneapolis to St. Cloud and
Breckenridge were built with German capital.
After the completion of the main lines a financial depression
occurred, the bonds were sold at a low figure and subsequently passed
into the hands of J. J. Hill and others. The aggregate mileage of this
road and its branches amount to 2,685 miles. It traverses a wheat
growing region not surpassed on the continent. The present terminus,
the Great Falls of Missouri, is a mining centre for gold and silver.
The country tributary to the road can not fail to make it one of the
most important highways of commerce in the great West, and thus far
the energy and ability of its managers has made it equal to the
immense demands upon it.
STILLWATER, WHITE BEAR & ST. PAUL RAILROAD.
Under the grant of 1857, a road from Stillwater to St. Paul was
projected, the road to commence at Stillwater and to proceed via St.
Paul and Minneapolis to the western boundary of the State. The company
holding the grant, through legislative action effected a change in the
conditions of the grant allowing them to commence at St. Paul,
building west and northwest, as a result of which the road from
Stillwater to St. Paul was not built. After ten years of inactivity
upon this portion of the road, the Stillwater people demanded, through
their representatives in the legislature of 1867, legislation
compelling the building of the road as originally devised. At this
session Hon. John McKusick, not then a member of the legislature, but
still an influential man, and representing public sentiment,
importuned the company holding the franchises, through the president,
Hon. Edmund Rice, either to build the road or to transfer the
franchises to some responsible company who would build it. Hon. Henry
A. Jackman and the writer, members of the ninth legislature, after
conference with the president of the company, introduced a bill
conveying the franchises from the original company to a company of St.
Croix valley men, to be organized forthwith, with the conditions that
they at once proceed to build the road from Stillwater to White Bear,
connecting with the St. Paul & Duluth at that point. A section was
placed in the bill locating the railroad lands near Kandiyohi lake.
These lands were among the most valuable in the grant and were to
inure to the new company at the completion of the road. The bill was
passed and approved by the governor. The road was completed to
Stillwater Dec. 20, 1869.
The legislature of 1869 transferred 44,246 acres, or one-half of the
Kandiyohi lands, to the St. Paul, Stillwater & Taylor's Falls
railroad.
THE ST. PAUL, STILLWATER & TAYLOR'S FALLS RAILROAD.
Part of the lands originally granted to the Stillwater, White Bear &
St. Paul railroad were transferred by the legislature of 1869 to the
St. Paul, Stillwater & Taylor's Falls railroad. The proceeds of the
sale were to be applied to the construction of the above named road.
The company was organized under the general laws of the State and
incorporated Sept. 23, 1869. The route of the road defined in the
articles of incorporation is between St. Paul and Taylor's Falls by
way of Stillwater, passing through or near Marine, with a branch road
to Hudson, Wisconsin. Length of main line from St. Paul to Stillwater
is seventeen and fifty-four one hundredths miles. Hudson branch line
from Stillwater junction to Lake St. Croix, three and one-fourth.
South Stillwater branch line from Stillwater to South Stillwater,
three miles. The first train by this line reached Stillwater from St.
Paul Feb. 9, 1872. The capital stock, $1,000,000, may be increased at
pleasure. The number of shares of capital stock is 10,000 of $100
each, limit of indebtedness, $1,500,000.
That part of the road to be built from Stillwater to Taylor's Falls up
to the present date has not been completed.
THE WISCONSIN CENTRAL (BRANCH) RAILROAD.
In 1884 the Wisconsin Central built a branch road from Chippewa Falls
via New Richmond to St. Paul, passing into Ramsey county east and
south of White Bear. The bridge over the St. Croix river about four
miles above Stillwater, belonging to this road, is a fine piece of
workmanship, built entirely of iron and resting on solid stone piers.
The total length of the structure is 2,400 feet, there being ten
spans, each 160 feet long, and a viaduct, 800 feet long, on the
Wisconsin side.
The track is 87 feet above low water mark. The entire cost of the
bridge was about $197,000. It was damaged by a cyclone in 1885 to the
amount of $10,000.
TAYLOR'S FALLS & LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD.
The franchises and swamp land grant of the Lake Superior & Mississippi
railroad pertaining to the Taylor's Falls branch were in 1875, by
legislative enactment, transferred to the Taylor's Falls & Lake
Superior Company. In 1879 these franchises and lands were transferred
to the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad Company. In the fall of 1879
the St. Paul & Duluth Company built a branch road to Centre City. In
the spring of 1880 the Minneapolis & St. Louis Company built three
miles of road southward from Taylor's Falls, accomplishing in that
distance as difficult and expensive work of its kind as had been done
in the State, the grading being made through the trap rock ledges of
the Dalles, and along the face of the nearly perpendicular bluffs
overlooking the river. In the summer of 1880 they transferred their
franchises and one-half their swamp land grant to the St. Paul &
Duluth Company, by whom the road was completed from Centre City to the
road already built at Taylor's Falls, Oct. 29, 1880.
CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL RAILROAD--RIVER DIVISION.
The river division of this road follows the west bank of the river
from Dubuque to Hastings, passing through all the river towns.
Crossing the river at Hastings it passes through the towns of Newport,
Cottage Grove and Denmark, and the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis,
terminal stations. The line from St. Paul to Hastings was built in
1869, by the Chicago & St. Paul Railway Company, under charter granted
to the Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company in 1857. The present
management obtained control of the line in 1872. The bridge across the
Mississippi at Hastings was constructed in 1878, and was the first
iron railroad bridge in the State. In respect to cost and workmanship
it ranked with the important structures of the Northwest. The total
length of the river bridge is 706 feet, and consists of an iron draw
span 300 feet long, two fixed spans each of 150 feet in length, and a
combination span on the north shore 106 feet in length. The cost of
the structure was $200,000. In 1884 a branch line was extended from
Point Douglas to Stillwater.
MINNEAPOLIS, SAULT STE. MARIE & ATLANTIC.
The following memorial, introduced by the writer while a member of the
state senate of 1877, is the first public mention or suggestion of
this road as far as we are aware. It was adopted by the legislature,
forwarded to Washington, read and duly referred to the committee on
railroads:
STATE OF MINNESOTA.
NINETEENTH SESSION. S.F. NO. 36.
A MEMORIAL
_Introduced by Mr. Folsom, Jan. 12, 1877._ TO CONGRESS FOR
RIGHT OF WAY AND GRANT OF LAND FOR RAILROAD PURPOSES.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States in Congress assembled:_
Your memorialists, the legislature of the state of Minnesota,
respectfully represent that the rapidly increasing settlements of the
Northwest, the surplus agricultural products and material developments
demand greater and cheaper facilities than now existing, and a more
direct transit to the Atlantic seaboard and European ports, and
eastern products transported to the Northwest.
That the saving in the distance to eastern markets of three hundred
miles, by a railroad route from St. Paul and Minneapolis to Sault Ste.
Marie, will tend to more fully develop the great wheat growing region
of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Dakota, and Montana. The surplus of wheat,
which forms one of the most reliable exports from our government, in
shortening the distance to European markets three hundred miles will
give encouragement to this great source of wealth to our whole land,
and deserves aid and protection.
That by reason of the facts set forth in this memorial, and many
other considerations, the nearest transit makes cheap transportation
and thereby develops the country and increases prosperity.
To further these objects, we ask Congress to donate land to aid, and
the right of way through government land to build, a railroad from the
cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis to the falls of St. Marie's river.
Sept. 20, 1879, a large mass meeting was held at St. Croix Falls, the
object being to consider the feasibility of the "Soo" route. Over five
hundred persons were present, among them delegates from Minneapolis,
St. Paul, Stillwater, and Superior City. The subject was discussed and
resolutions passed favoring the building of the road to Sault Ste.
Marie via the Dalles of St. Croix.
Not, however, till Sept. 12, 1883, were the articles of incorporation
filed in Wisconsin and Minnesota by W. D. Washburn and others of
Minneapolis, for the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railroad
Company.
The road was completed to the "Soo" in December, 1887. At that point
it connects with a branch of the Canadian Pacific. The St. Marie river
is to be crossed on a union bridge built by the roads centring at that
point. It is now under construction, and will cost when completed over
a million dollars. The length of the line is about 225 miles. The
capital stock is $12,000,000, divided into 80,000 shares of common
stock, and 40,000 shares preferred. The board of directors for the
first year is composed of the following persons, all residents of
Minneapolis: W. D. Washburn, president; H. T. Welles, John Martin,
Thomas Lowry, George R. Newell, Anthony Kelly, M. Loring, Clinton
Morrison, J. K. Sidle, W. W. Eastman, W. D. Hale, C. A. Pillsbury, and
Chas. J. Martin.
The following comparison of distance will be of interest to the people
of the Northwestern States:
MILES. MILES.
St. Paul to Chicago 411
Chicago to New York City 962
New York to Liverpool 3,040
----- 4,413
St. Paul (via Sault) to Montreal 997
Montreal to Liverpool 2,790
----- 3,787
-----
Difference in favor of Montreal route 626
CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & NORTHERN RAILROAD.
The Chicago, Burlington & Northern Company constructed a road from
Chicago to Savannah, Illinois, and from that point up the Mississippi,
along its east bank to St. Paul, crossing the St. Croix at Prescott.
The road from Savannah to St. Paul is two hundred and eighty-five
miles in length, and was completed in 1886. The cost complete,
including rolling stock, was $30,000 per mile. The road was built on a
grade of nine and eight-tenths feet to the mile, and its curvature
nowhere exceeds three degrees in one hundred feet. The St. Croix,
Chippewa, Wisconsin, Platte, Grant, and Fever rivers are crossed by
iron bridges.
MILEAGE OF ROADS CENTRING IN ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS IN 1887.
MILES.
Manitoba 3,200
Northern Pacific 2,200
Hastings & Dakota 344
Pacific division of the Minneapolis & St. Louis 223
Minneapolis & Pacific 230
Omaha, Western division 627
Milwaukee, River division 100
Milwaukee, Iowa division 100
Minneapolis & St. Louis 100
Burlington & Northern 100
Northwestern, Omaha section 176
Minnesota & Northwestern (now Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City) 200
Wisconsin Central 100
Soo Ste. Marie 210
North Wisconsin 250
St. Paul & Duluth 216
-----
Total 8,476
CONGRESSIONAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE ST. CROIX
RIVER.
As early as 1858, when the writer was a member of the Minnesota
senate, he introduced a memorial to Congress for the improvement of
the St. Croix river, and of the Mississippi at Beef Slough bar, below
Lake Pepin. This was the first memorial presented on this subject.
Subsequent legislatures continued to memorialize Congress, but it was
twenty years of continuous pleading before any attention was paid to
the subject. In 1878 Thaddeus C. Pound, representing the St. Croix
valley in Congress, secured the first appropriation. Mr. Pound also
secured the first appropriation for the Mississippi reservoirs.
The following appropriations were made from time to time: 1878,
$8,000; 1879, $10,000; 1880, $8,000; 1881, $10,000; 1882, $30,000;
1883, $7,500.
This money has been expended under the supervision of Maj. Farquier
and Charles J. Allen of the United States engineering corps, with
headquarters at St. Paul. The improvements carried out consisted in
removing snags and all impediments in the channel or along shore,
removing sandbars, thus deepening the channel, building wing dams, and
riprapping the shores. The work has been well done, and the
expenditure is a most judicious one.
INLAND NAVIGATION.
As the prosperity of a country depends, next to its natural resources,
upon the avenues of communication with other countries, the people of
the Northwest naturally took a great interest in the improvement of
their waterways. The states lying along the Mississippi and its
tributaries found by these streams an advantageous southern outlet for
their produce. But much needed to be done in the direction of
improving navigation by clearing away obstructions, deepening the
channels, and affording facilities for crossing rapids. As the
settlements extended toward the great lakes, it became evident that
the prosperity of the country would be greatly enhanced by
communication with the lakes. In the absence or scarcity of navigable
streams this communication, if obtained, must be by the improvement of
navigation of the upper portion of these streams having their source
near the lakes and their connection by canals with the lakes or their
tributaries. By this means it was thought a better route to the
Atlantic and to the Eastern States would be afforded for grain and
other products than that afforded by the Mississippi. In the Minnesota
state legislature of 1875 a bill was introduced making an
appropriation of $10,000 for a survey of the route connecting the
waters of Lake Superior with those of the St. Croix. This bill met
with much opposition, but was finally passed, the amount having been
reduced by amendment to $3,000. Lucas R. Stannard and Robert B. Davis
were appointed commissioners, and with the meagre amount did all that
was possible to be done in surveying the route. As the author of the
bill, I insert here, as a matter of history, and as a sufficient
explanation of my own views and those of the friends of the measure, a
synopsis of the arguments presented to the senate advocating the
measure:
"The route from Duluth via the lakes and St. Lawrence, and the
Atlantic to England, according to correct computation, is about six
hundred miles shorter than the route via Chicago and New York. The
northern route is being made feasible by the improvements made by the
British government on the Welland canal and Lachine rapids, and by the
improvements made by our own government on the St. Clair flats and the
Sault Ste. Marie canal, by which a depth of water is obtained
sufficient to float vessels drawing twenty feet. This route to Europe
will be traversed in much less time than the New York route. Vessels
will be constructed for this inland American trade, and starting from
the west end of Lake Superior with a cargo of grain that two weeks
before was waving in the sunlight on northwestern prairies, will pass
direct to Europe without breaking of bulk or reshipping, while the
southern route requires reshipments at Buffalo and New York. Figures
can scarcely do justice to the vast business that will be transacted
on this open route as the northern part of the United States and the
adjacent British possessions are settled.
"The opening of this route will tend to create new treaty stipulations
and unlooked for interpretations of the old with the Dominion
government, and establish commercial confidence and secure trade not
realized to-day. Cheap transportation is the demand of the age, and
this route will afford to the hundreds of millions of bushels of wheat
and the commerce of Central North America the desired outlet to the
best markets of the world. To many these ideas may seem chimerical,
but we believe that the progress of the country and the development of
her commerce in the not distant future will justify them, and that
predictions now regarded as fanciful will be fulfilled to the letter.
"Minnesota as a state is just in the age of development. She is rising
to power and influence. Much depends upon our legislature, more than
depended upon the legislature of New York when, actuated by good
counsels it connected the waters of the Hudson with those of Lake
Erie by the 'Clinton Ditch,' so called in derision by the enemies of
the measure. But the wisdom of Dewitt Clinton, the originator of that
famous waterway, advanced the settlement of the great West at least a
quarter of a century.
"Minnesota in her location holds the key that will unlock the largest
body of fresh water on the globe, and open to it one of the most
fertile and extensive wheat growing districts on the continent, a
country that will soon vie with the country around the Black sea in
the quantity and quality of its grain production.
"Shall we stand idly by whilst our neighboring states are moving to
secure cheaper communications with the seaboard states? Cheap
transportation, the lever that moves the world, is claiming the
favorable attention of Congress, and men and means have been provided
to ascertain the most feasible routes on which to bestow her aid for
the transferring of the surplus products of the country to the markets
of the East.
"The reports made thus far by the national committee make no allusion
to Minnesota's great gateway to the East by Lake Superior, nor to the
improvement of the Sault Ste. Marie canal. The committee dwelt
somewhat elaborately upon the project of connecting the Mississippi
with the lakes by means of a canal between the waters of Wisconsin and
Fox rivers, neither of them good navigable streams. No authorized
survey has ever commended this as a cheap route. Only one plan can be
adopted by which a thoroughfare can be made profitable to the
government and to the Northwest over this route, and that is to
construct a ship canal along the Wisconsin river from the portage to
the mouth.
"If the government can be prevailed upon to open up this route no one
will deny that it will be of incalculable benefit to the people of
Wisconsin, and to those further up the valley of the Mississippi. Let
its friends do all they can to push forward the great movement.
"To Minnesotians I would say, let Wisconsin have much of our aid. I
trust it will not take thirty-five years of the future to open up what
thirty-five years of the past has projected. Wisconsin alone and
unassisted ought to have accomplished this great work years ago, if
the work could have been accomplished as cheaply as it has been
represented.
"Let Minnesota look nearer home. The headwaters of the St. Croix are
nearer to Lake Superior than those of any other navigable stream.
Large Mississippi boats, whenever occasion has demanded, have made
their way to the Dalles of the St. Croix. The falls and rapids above
this point for a distance of four miles have a fall of but
seventy-four feet, an elevation that could be overcome by means of
locks. By means of wing dams at Kettle River falls, and other
improvements at no very great cost, the river could be made navigable
to the mouth of the Namakagon. This river, though put down as a
tributary, is in reality the main stream, and can be navigated to
Namakagon lake, which is but thirty miles from Ashland, and can be
connected by a canal with Chequamegon bay, or with White river, a
distance of only a few miles.
"If we pass up the St. Croix from the mouth of the Namakagon river, we
shall find no serious obstructions to navigation till we reach the
great dam built by the lumbermen twenty miles below Upper Lake St.
Croix. The conformation here is of such a character that an
inexhaustible supply of water can be held--more than three times what
is held in the celebrated Summit lake in Ohio, which feeds the canal
connecting the waters of the Ohio and Lake Erie. It is but a mile from
the former lake to the source of Brule river, an affluent of Lake
Superior, but as the waters of the Brule are rapid and the channel
rocky, and its outlet is on a bleak and unhospitable stretch of lake
shore, destitute of any harbor, we prefer the route from the Upper St.
Croix lake to the bay of Superior, a distance of about thirty miles, a
route well supplied by reservoirs of water, and with no difficult or
insurmountable hills to overcome.
"Hon. H. M. Rice, who was one of the commissioners to survey the St.
Marie's canal, pronounces this the most feasible and direct route for
our contemplated canal.
"Other routes have been proposed, as from the St. Croix to the Nemadji
and St. Louis rivers, but of the feasibility of these I am not so
definitely informed.
"Believing, gentlemen of the senate, that you are in full accord with
me that this great Northwest demands not only state aid in developing
our natural resources, but the assistance of the general government, I
recommend the proper presentation of this subject before Congress by
our senators and representatives until our prayers are granted for
the improvement of the same."
In the session of the Minnesota legislature of 1876 I again introduced
a memorial to Congress asking for an appropriation of $10,000 to make
a government survey of the St. Croix and Lake Superior routes.
George R. Stuntz, the veteran explorer, surveyor and civil engineer,
who accompanied the United States reservoir commission to the Upper
St. Croix waters, and who had made previous scientific examinations
for the purpose of forming a correct idea of the contour of the summit
dividing the waters flowing north and south, and of the practicability
of constructing reservoirs, and of the cost of connecting the Lake
Superior and St. Croix waters, makes the following report, which is
valuable for the reliable data given:
"There are evidences that in the glacial period this was the channel
through which flowed a river of ice, and that subsequently for a long
period a vast volume of water coursed through this channel from Lake
Superior to and down the Mississippi. The valley is everywhere of
great width in proportion to the present volume of water, showing
evidences of currents of great velocity fifty feet above the high
water marks of the present time. These ancient banks of the river are
composed of heavy drift gravel and boulders bearing the marks of the
glacial action and having their origin north of Lake Superior. This
valley extends across the height of land in township 45, in range 11
west, and in the northern part of it the Brule river rises and flows
north into Lake Superior.
"At the copper range in township 48, range 10 west, section 23, a
ledge of trap rock stands in the valley. In the eddy of this rock and
extending to the southward or up the present stream is a well defined
moraine of large boulders and gravel showing that the glacial river
ran south. To the north of this point the Brule river makes a straight
cut to the lake through sandy red clay deposits peculiar to that
region.
"In this ancient valley the lowest point on the summit at the
headwaters of these two streams is about 460 feet above Lake Superior
[Lake St. Croix, at Stillwater, is 117 feet higher than Lake Superior]
and 346 feet above Lake St. Croix. Upper Lake St. Croix is 12 feet
below this summit. The St. Croix river one mile above the mouth of
Moose river is 25 feet below this summit. The St. Croix river
discharges 15.360 cubic feet of water per minute at the mouth of Moose
creek. The Brule river discharges about 5.805 cubic feet of water per
minute in the north part of township 46, range 10. The distance from
Taylor's Falls to Lake Superior by the valley of the St. Croix and the
valley of the Brule river is nearly 150 miles.
"There are several exposures of trap rock along these streams and an
abundance of brown sandstone of good quality for building purposes,
being easily worked.
"Can Lake St. Croix, at Stillwater, be connected with Lake Superior by
canal and slackwater navigation? Yes. This question has been
definitely settled by the recent examination of the United States
engineers, under the direction of Maj. Chas. J. Allen, of the sources
of the St Croix river, with reference to the construction of
reservoirs to improve the navigation of that river and the
Mississippi.
"By constructing a dam one mile above the mouth of Moose creek, on the
St. Croix, of sufficient height to raise the water 25 feet, cutting a
canal 75 feet wide, 12 feet deep, 1-1/2 miles long, across the summit,
and building a dam in township 46, range 10, across the Brule river,
high enough to raise the water to the same height as the dam on the
St. Croix, and you construct a lake over thirty miles long, affording
uninterrupted navigation across the summit for that distance, and
utilize the waters of the St. Croix and its branches and the Brule,
and by the capacity before given the amount of water is sufficient to
pass vessels through locks 75 feet wide, 300 feet long, 12-1/2 feet
lift, at the rate of 3 per hour, or 73 in 24 hours, at the dryest
season of the year. This settles the question of practicability.
"The whole improvement will cost less than $8,000,000, and by placing
the lowest dam and lock at Prescott so as to always hold Lake St.
Croix at the high water mark will give two hundred miles of slackwater
navigation connecting the Mississippi river with Lake Superior,
accommodating boats of large size and deep draft, propelled by steam,
at the usual rates of speed used on the rivers. Average cost per mile,
$40,000.
"It would accomplish another object. The improvement of navigation on
the Mississippi river by a system of reservoirs on its tributaries
would be most effectually accomplished by holding one or two feet of
extra head upon each of the thirteen dams proposed, thus storing up
during the spring freshets vastly more water than can be held in the
small reservoirs on the tributaries of the St. Croix. There are no
very large natural reservoirs in the Upper St. Croix valley.
"Hold a three foot head on the lake as a reserve from the spring
freshets and you have stored up 34,073,000 cubic yards of water to be
used in the dry season in August and September. Continue this plan to
the source and you have in the St. Croix valley a continuous reservoir
one hundred and fifty miles long. Connect the two systems as proposed
above and you have a route furnishing the cheapest transportation that
can be had and at the same time obtain a system of large reservoirs to
improve the navigation of the Mississippi river.
"This is one of the improvements that the Northwest needs for its
present, future and more perfect development.
"The proposition and figures are given, after a series of examinations
extending through a period of over twenty-five years, for the purpose
of calling out investigation."
THE WATERWAYS CONVENTION OF 1885.
Public discussions of the matter in the legislature and in conventions
were not entirely in vain. Public attention was aroused and interest
awakened in the great question of inland navigation. In 1885 the great
waterways convention convened in St. Paul, at the call of Gov.
Hubbard, of Minnesota. This convention was attended by over 1,000
delegates from the states of Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Kansas,
Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and from the
territories of Dakota and Montana. Ex-Gov. Bross, of Illinois, acted
as temporary chairman. The permanent organization elected Maj. Wm.
Warren, of Kansas City, president, Gen. G. W. Jones, of Iowa, vice
president, and Platt B. Walker, of Minnesota, secretary.
Various schemes for internal improvement were brought before the
convention and ably advocated, but each in the interest of a
particular section. The members from Florida wanted a ship canal for
that State. Illinois and Eastern Iowa advocated the Hennepin canal
scheme. Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Western Iowa, Dakota, and Montana
demanded the improvement of the Missouri river. Wisconsin and
Northern Iowa the completion of the Fox and Wisconsin canal. Minnesota
and Wisconsin agreed with all for the improvement of the Mississippi
from the falls of St. Anthony to the Balize, for the improvement of
the Sault Ste. Marie canal, and for the internal improvements asked
for generally in the states and territories represented.
The result was the passage of a series of resolutions recommending a
liberal policy in the distribution of improvements, and favoring every
meritorious project for the increase of facilities for water
transportation, but recommending as a subject of paramount importance
the immediate and permanent improvement of the Mississippi and
Missouri rivers and their navigable tributaries. It was recommended
that the depth of the Mississippi be increased to six feet between
Cario and the falls of St. Anthony. The Hennepin canal was strongly
indorsed, as was also the improvement of the Sault Ste. Marie, and of
the navigation of Wisconsin and Fox rivers, of the Red River of the
North, and of the Chippewa, St. Croix and Minnesota rivers. The
convention unanimously recommended as a sum proper for these
improvements the appropriation of $25,000,000.
Some of the papers presented were elaborately prepared, and deserve to
be placed on permanent record. The memorial of Mr. E. W. Durant, of
Stillwater, contains many valuable statistics. We quote that portion
containing a statement of the resources and commerce of the valleys of
the Mississippi and St. Croix:
"The Northwestern States have not had the recognition that is due to
the agricultural and commercial requirements of this vast and poplous
territory, whose granaries and fields not only feed the millions of
this continent, but whose annual export constitutes a most important
factor in the food calculation of foreign nations. During the past
decade the general government has expended $3,000,000 on the waterways
of the Upper Mississippi. The improvements inaugurated by the general
government in removing many of the serious impediments to navigation
warrants the belief that still more extensive improvements should be
made. It is an error to suppose that the palmy days of steamboating on
western rivers has passed. In demonstration of this take the quantity
of lumber sent down the Mississippi. There was shipped from the St.
Croix river during the year 1884 to various distributing points along
the Mississippi river 250,000,000 feet of lumber, 40,000,000 of lath,
37,000,000 of shingles, 2,000,000 of pickets; from the Chippewa river
during the same period, 883,000,000 feet of lumber, 223,000,000 of
shingles and 102,000,000 of lath and pickets; from Black river during
the same period was shipped 250,000,000 feet of lumber, 40,000,000
shingles, and 32,000,000 lath and pickets, aggregating 1,383,000,000
feet of lumber, 300,000,000 of shingles and 176,000,000 of lath. The
tonnage of this product alone foots up over 3,000,000 tons. The lumber
value of raft and cargoes annually floated to market on the
Mississippi will not vary far from $20,000,000. The capital invested
in steamboats, 100 in number, used for towing purposes is $1,250,000;
while the saw mills, timber plants and other investments incidental to
the prosecution of this branch of industry will foot up fully
$500,000; while the labor and their dependences engaged in this
pursuit alone will equal the population of one of our largest western
states. There are sixteen bridges spanning the river between St. Paul
and St. Louis, and it is important that some additional safeguards be
thrown around these bridges to afford greater safety to river
commerce."
Mr. Durant says there has been a general cry for some time past that
the days of steamboating on the Northern Mississippi and tributaries
were over; but he thinks it will be forcibly shown in the coming
convention that, if they are, the only cause for it is the extremely
short and uncertain seasons for steamboating, resulting from the
neglected and filled up channels. If the channels can be improved, so
that steamers can be sure of five months' good running each year, he
thinks they will prove to be one of the most important means of
transportation in the Upper Mississippi valley. They will then be used
for the transportation up and down stream of all heavy and slow
freights in preference to railroads, on account of cheapness. It would
prove a new and the greatest era in upper river steamboating.
It appears from a report made at the convention, that during the year
1884 there were 175 steamboats plying on the Mississippi from St.
Louis to points above. Two thousand seven hundred rafts from the St.
Croix and Chippewa passed the Winona bridge, and the total number of
feet of logs and lumber floated down the Mississippi from the St.
Croix, Chippewa and Black rivers was 1,366,000,000. The total
passages of steamers through the Winona bridge for 1887 was 4,492. On
the St. Croix, above Lake St. Croix, during the season of 1887 there
were 3 steamers and 25 barges engaged in freight and passenger traffic
only. The steamers made 141 round trips between Stillwater and
Taylor's Falls, 75 round trips between Marine and St. Paul, and 20
round trips between Franconia and St. Paul.
The following is a showing of the lumber, logs, rafting, and towing
business on the St. Croix during 1887: There were 51 steamers engaged
in towing logs and lumber out of the St. Croix and down the
Mississippi, the total number of feet handled by them being
250,000,000, board measure: The total number of feet of logs (board
measure) which passed through the St. Croix boom in 1887 was
325,000,000. The lumber manufacture of the St. Croix during that year
was valued at $2,393,323.
RESOLUTION INTRODUCED AT THE WATERWAYS CONVENTION HELD IN ST. PAUL,
SEPTEMBER, 1885.
WHEREAS, The North American continent is penetrated by two great water
systems both of which originate upon the tablelands of Minnesota, one
the Mississippi river and its tributaries, reaching southward from the
British line to the Gulf of Mexico, watering the greatest body of
fertile land on the globe,--the future seat of empire of the human
family on earth,--the other the chain of great lakes flowing
eastwardly and constituting with the St. Lawrence river a great water
causeway in the direct line of the flow of the world's commerce from
the heart of the continent to the Atlantic; and
WHEREAS, Between the navigable waters of these continental dividing
systems there is but a gap of ninety miles in width from Taylor's
Falls on the St. Croix, to Duluth on Lake Superior, through a region
of easily worked drift formation, with a rise of but five hundred and
sixty feet to overcome, and plentifully supplied with water from the
highest point of the water-shed; therefore,
_Resolved_. That we demand of Congress the construction of a canal
from Taylor's Falls to Duluth, using the Upper St. Croix and the St.
Louis rivers as far as the same can be made navigable, the said canal
to be forever free of toll or charge, and to remain a public highway
for the interchange of the productions of the Mississippi valley and
the valley of the great lakes; and should the railway interests of the
country prove powerful enough to prevent congressional action to this
end, we call upon the states of the Northwest to unite and build, at
their own cost, such a canal, believing that the increased value of
the productions of the country would speedily repay the entire outlay.
EARLY STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION.
The Pennsylvania was the first steamer that descended the Mississippi.
She came down the Ohio from Pittsburgh, creating the utmost terror in
the minds of the simple-hearted people who had lately been rather
rudely shaken by an earthquake, and supposed the noise of the coming
steamer to be but the precursor of another shake. When the
Pennsylvania approached Shawneetown, Illinois, the people crowded the
river shore, and in their alarm fell down upon their knees and prayed
to be delivered from the muttering, roaring earthquake coming down the
river, its furnaces glowing like the open portals of the nether world.
Many fled to the hills in utter dismay at the frightful appearance of
the hitherto unknown monster, and the dismal sounds it emitted. It
produced the same and even greater terror in the scant settlements of
the Lower Mississippi.
In 1823 Capt. Shreve commanded the Gen. Washington, the fastest boat
that had as yet traversed the western rivers. This year the Gen.
Washington made the trip from New Orleans to Louisville, Kentucky, in
twenty-five days. When at Louisville he anchored his boat in the
middle of the river and fired twenty-five guns in honor of the event,
one for each day out. The population of Louisville feted and honored
the gallant captain for his achievement. He was crowned with flowers,
and borne through the streets by the huzzaing crowd. A rich banquet
was spread, and amidst the hilarity excited by the flowing bowl, the
captain made an eloquent speech which was vociferously applauded. He
declared that the time made by the Gen. Washington could never be
equaled by any other boat. Curiously enough, some later in the season,
the Tecumseh made the trip in nine days. The time made by the Tecumseh
was not beaten until 1833, when the Shepherdess carried away the
laurels for speed.
We have but little definite information as to navigation on the
Mississippi during the ten years subsequent to the trip of the
Pennsylvania. The solitude of the Upper Mississippi was unbroken by
the advent of any steamer until the year 1823. On the second of May in
that year the Virginia, a steamer 118 feet in length, 22 in width,
with a draught of 6 feet, left her moorings at St. Louis levee for
Fort Snelling laden with stores for the fort. She was four days
passing the Rock Island rapids, and made but slow progress throughout.
It is heedless to say that the Indians were as much frightened at the
appearance of the "fire canoe" as the settlers of the Ohio valley had
been, and made quick time escaping to the hills.
Judge James H. Lockwood narrates (see Vol. II, Wisconsin Historical
Collections, page 152) that in 1824 Capt. David G. Bates brought a
small boat named the Putnam up to Prairie du Chien, and took it thence
to Fort Snelling with supplies for the troops. The steamer Neville
also made the voyage to Prairie du Chien in 1824. The following year
came the steamer Mandan and in 1826 the Indiana and Lawrence. Fletcher
Williams, in his history of St. Paul, says that from 1823 to 1826 as
many as fifteen steamers had arrived at Fort Snelling, and that
afterward their arrivals were more frequent.
During this primitive period, the steamboats had no regular time for
arrival and departure at ports. A time table would have been an
absurdity. "Go as you please" or "go as you can," was the order of the
day. Passengers had rare opportunities for observation and discovery,
and were frequently allowed pleasure excursions on shore while the
boat was being cordelled over a rapid, was stranded on a bar, or
waiting for wood to be cut and carried on board at some wooding
station. Sometimes they were called upon to lend a helping hand at the
capstan, or to tread the gang plank to a "wood up" quickstep. When on
their pleasure excursion they strayed away too far, they were recalled
to the boat by the firing of a gun or the ringing of a bell. It is
doubtful if in later days, with all the improvements in steamboat
travel, more enjoyable voyages have been made than these free and easy
excursions in the light draught boats of the decades between 1830 and
1850, under such genial captains and officers as the Harrises,
Atchinson, Throckmorton, Brasie, Ward, Blakeley, Lodwick, Munford,
Pim, Orrin Smith and others.
Before the government had improved navigation the rapids of Rock
Island and Des Moines, and snags, rocks and sandbars elsewhere were
serious obstructions. The passengers endured the necessary delays from
these causes with great good nature, and the tedium of the voyage was
frequently enlivened by boat races with rival steamers. These
passenger boats were then liberally patronized. The cost of a trip
from St. Louis to St. Paul was frequently reduced to ten dollars, and
considering the time spent in making the trip (often as much as two or
three weeks) was cheaper than board in a good hotel, while the fare on
the boat could not be excelled. The boats were frequently crowded with
passengers, whole families were grouped about the tables or strolling
on the upper decks, with groups of travelers representing all the
professions and callings, travelers for pleasure and for business,
explorers, artists, and adventurers. At night the brilliantly lighted
cabin would resound with music, furnished by the boat's band of sable
minstrels, and trembled to the tread of the dancers as much as to the
throbbing of the engine.
The steamer, as the one means of communication with the distant world,
as the bearer of mails, of provisions and articles of trade, was
greeted at every village with eager and excited groups of people, some
perhaps expecting the arrival of friends, while others were there to
part with them. These were scenes to be remembered long, in fact many
of the associations of river travel produced indelible impressions. In
these days of rapid transit by rail more than half the delights of
traveling are lost. Before the settlement of the country the wildness
of the scene had a peculiar charm. The majestic bluffs with their
rugged escarpments of limestone stretched away in solitary grandeur on
either side of the river. The perpendicular crags crowning the bluffs
seemed like ruined castles, some of them with rounded turrets and
battlements, some even with arched portals. Along the slopes of the
bluffs was a growth of sturdy oaks, in their general contour and
arrangement resembling fruit trees, vast, solitary orchards in
appearance, great enough to supply the world with fruit. On the slopes
of the river bank might have been seen occasionally the bark wigwams
of the Indian, and his birch canoe gliding silently under the shadow
of the elms and willows lining the shore. Occasionally a deer would be
seen grazing on some upland glade, or bounding away in terror at sight
of the steamer.
A complete history of early steamboat navigation on the Upper
Mississippi would abound with interesting narratives and incidents;
but of these, unfortunately, there is no authentic record, and we can
only speak in general terms of the various companies that successively
controlled the trade and travel of the river, or were rivals for the
patronage of the public. During the decade of the '30s, the Harrises,
of Galena, ran several small boats from Galena to St. Louis,
occasionally to Fort Snelling, or through the difficult current of the
Wisconsin to Fort Winnebago, towing barges laden with supplies for the
Wisconsin pineries. Capt. Scribe Harris' favorite boat from 1835 to
1838 was the Smelter. The captain greatly delighted in her speed,
decorated her gaily with evergreens, and rounding to at landings, or
meeting with other boats, fired a cannon from her prow to announce her
imperial presence.
The Smelter and other boats run by the Harris family held the commerce
of the river for many years. In 1846 the first daily line of steamers
above St. Louis was established. These boats ran independently, but on
stated days, from St. Louis to Galena and Dubuque. They were the
Tempest, Capt. John J. Smith; War Eagle, Capt. Smith Harris; Prairie
Bird, Capt. Niebe Wall; Monona, Capt. ---- Bersie; St. Croix, Capt.
----; Fortune, Capt. Mark Atchinson. These boat owners, with others,
subsequently formed a consolidated company.
In 1847 a company was formed for the navigation of the Mississippi
above Galena. The first boat in the line, the Argo, commanded by
Russell Blakeley, was placed upon the river in 1846. The boats in this
line were the Argo, Dr. Franklin, Senator, Nominee, Ben Campbell, War
Eagle, and the Galena.
In 1854 the Galena & Minnesota Packet Company was formed by a
consolidation of various interests. The company consisted of the
following stockholders: O. Smith, the Harrises, James Carter, H.
Corwith, B. H. Campbell, D. B. Morehouse, H. M. Rice, H. L. Dousman,
H. H. Sibley, and Russell Blakeley. The boats of the new company were
the War Eagle, Galena, Dr. Franklin, Nominee, and the West Newton. In
1857 a new company was formed, and the Dubuque boats, the Itasca and
Key City, were added to the line. This line continued until 1862, and
the new boats, Dr. Franklin, No. 2, and the New St. Paul, were added.
The Galena had been burned at Red Wing in the fall of 1857.
The following is a list of the earliest arrivals at St. Paul after the
opening of navigation between the years 1843 and 1858: April 5, 1843,
steamer Otter, Capt. Harris; April 6, 1844, steamer Otter, Capt.
Harris; April 6, 1845, steamer Otter, Capt. Harris; March 31, 1846,
steamer Lynx, Capt. Atchison; April 7, 1847, steamer Cora, Capt.
Throckmorton; April 7, 1848, steamer Senator, Capt. Harris; April 9,
1849, steamer Highland Mary, Capt. Atchison; April 19, 1850, steamer
Highland Mary, Capt. Atchison; April 4, 1851, steamer Nominee, Capt.
Smith; April 16, 1852, steamer Nominee, Capt. Smith; April 11, 1853,
steamer West Newton, Capt. Harris; April 8, 1854, steamer Nominee,
Capt. Blakeley; April 17, 1855, steamer War Eagle, Capt. Harris; April
18, 1856, steamer Lady Franklin, Capt. Lucas; May 1, 1857, steamer
Galena, Capt. Laughton; March 25, 1858, steamer Gray Eagle, Capt.
Harris.
The following list includes boats not named in the packet and company
lists with date of first appearance as far as can be ascertained:
Virginia May 20, 1823
Rufus Putnam April 5, 1825
Mandan 1825
Neville ----
Indiana 1825
Lawrence May 18, 1826
Versailles May 12, 1832
Missouri May 5, 1836
Frontier 1836
Palmyra 1836
Saint Peter's 1836
Rolla 1838
Sciota 183-
Eclipse 183-
Josephine 183-
Fulton 183-
Red River 183-
Black Rover ----
Burlington 1838
Ariel 1839
Gypsy 1839
Fayette 1839
Warrior 1840
Enterprise 1840
Volant 1840
Glancus 1840
Pennsylvania 1840
Knickerbocker 1840
Otter 1841
Highland Mary 1849
Gov. Ramsey (above the falls) 185-
Anthony Wayne 185-
Yankee 185-
Black Hawk 185-
Ben Accord 185-
Royal Arch 185-
Uncle Toby 185-
Indian Queen 185-
Di Vernon 185-
Osprey 185-
Lamartine 185-
Fannie Harris 185-
Asia 185-
Equator 1860
The following made their appearance some time in the '40s: Cora, Lynx,
Dr. Franklin, No. 2, and St. Anthony.
The Northern Line Company organized in 1857 and placed the following
steamers upon the Mississippi, to run between St. Louis and St. Paul:
The Canada, Capt. Ward; Pembina, Capt. Griffith; Denmark, Capt. Gray;
Metropolitan, Capt. Rhodes; Lucy May, Capt. Jenks; Wm. L. Ewing, Capt.
Green; Henry Clay, Capt. Campbell; Fred Lorenz, Capt. Parker;
Northerner, Capt. Alvord; Minnesota Belle, Capt. Hill; Northern Light
and York State, Capt. ----.
Commodore W. F. Davidson commenced steamboating on the Upper
Mississippi in 1856 with the Jacob Traber. In 1857 he added the Frank
Steele, and included the Minnesota river in his field of operations.
In 1859 he added the Æolian, Favorite and Winona. In 1860 he organized
the La Crosse & Minnesota Packet Company, with the five above named
steamers in the line. In 1862 the Keokuk and Northern Belle were
added.
In 1864 the La Crosse & Minnesota and the Northern Line Packet
companies were consolidated under the name of the Northwestern Union
Packet Company, with the following steamers: The Moses McLellan, Ocean
Wave, Itasca, Key City, Milwaukee City, Belle, War Eagle, Phil
Sheridan, S. S. Merrill, Alex. Mitchell, City of St. Paul, Tom Jasper,
Belle of La Crosse, City of Quincy, and John Kyle. This line
controlled the general trade until 1874.
There were upon the river and its tributaries during the period named
the following light draught boats: The Julia, Mollie Mohler, Cutter,
Chippewa Falls, Mankato, Albany, Ariel, Stella Whipple, Isaac Gray,
Morning Star, Antelope, Clara Hine, Geo. S. Weeks, Dexter, Damsel,
Addie Johnson, Annie Johnson, G. H. Wilson, Flora, and Hudson.
LATER NAVIGATION ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI.
The Northwestern Union Packet Company, more familiarly known as the
"White Collar Line," from the white band painted around the upper part
of the smokestacks, and the Keokuk Packet Company, sold their steamers
to the Keokuk Northern Line Packet Company, which continued until
1882, when the St. Louis & St. Paul Packet Company was organized. Its
boats were: The Minneapolis, Red Wing, Minnesota, Dubuque, Rock
Island, Lake Superior, Muscatine, Clinton, Chas. Cheever, Dan Hine,
Andy Johnson, Harry Johnson, Rob Roy, Lucy Bertram, Steven Bayard, War
Eagle, Golden Eagle, Gem City, White Eagle, and Flying Eagle.
STEAMBOATING ON THE ST. CROIX.
The steamer Palmyra was the first boat to disturb the solitude of the
St. Croix. In June, 1838, it passed up the St. Croix lake and river as
far as the Dalles. The steamer Ariel, the second boat, came as far as
Marine in 1839. In the fall of 1843, the steamer Otter, Scribe Harris,
commanding, landed at Stillwater. The steamer Otter was laden with
irons and machinery for the first mill in Stillwater. Up to 1845
nearly every boat that ascended the Mississippi also ascended the St.
Croix, but in later years, as larger boats were introduced, its
navigation was restricted to smaller craft, and eventually to
steamboats built for the special purpose of navigating the St. Croix.
Quite a number of these were built at Osceola, Franconia and Taylor's
Falls. The following is a list of boats navigating the St. Croix from
the year 1852 to the present time: Humboldt, 1852; Enterprise, 1853;
Pioneer, 1854; Osceola, 1854; H. S. Allen, 1857; Fanny Thornton, 1862;
Viola, 1864; Dalles, 1866; Nellie Kent, 1867; G. B. Knapp, 1866;
Minnie Will, 1867; Wyman X, 1868; Mark Bradley, 1869; Helen Mar, 1870;
Maggie Reany, 1870; Jennie Hays, 1870; Cleon, 1870.
A number of raft steamers, built at South Stillwater and elsewhere,
have plied the river within the last ten years. A number of barges
were built at South Stillwater, Osceola and Taylor's Falls.
The passenger travel on the St. Croix has decreased since the
completion of the railroad to Taylor's Falls and St. Croix Falls.
An interesting chapter of anecdotes and incidents might be compiled,
illustrating the early steamboat life on the St. Croix. We find in
"Bond's Minnesota" a notice of one of the first boats in the regular
trade, which will throw some light on the subject of early travel on
the river. It describes the Humboldt, which made its first appearance
in 1852:
"In addition, some adventurous genius on a small scale, down about
Oquaka, Illinois, last year conceived the good idea of procuring a
steamboat suitable to perform the duties of a tri-weekly packet
between Stillwater and Taylor's Falls, the extreme point of steam
navigation up the St. Croix. It is true he did not appear to have a
very correct idea of the kind of craft the people really wanted and
would well support in that trade, but such as he thought and planned
he late last season, brought forth. * * Indeed, the little Humboldt is
a great accommodation to the people of the St. Croix. She stops
anywhere along the river, to do any and all kinds of business that may
offer, and will give passengers a longer ride, so far as _time_ is
concerned, for a dollar, than any other craft we ever traveled upon.
She is also, to outward appearances, a temperance boat, and carries no
cooking or table utensils. She stops at the 'Marine,' going and
returning, to allow the people aboard to feed upon a good, substantial
dinner; and the passengers are allowed, if they feel so disposed, to
carry 'bars' in their side pockets and 'bricks' in their hats. A very
accommodating craft is the Humboldt, and a convenience that is already
set down on the St. Croix as one indispensable."
The Diamond Jo line of steamers was established in 1867. Jo Reynolds
was president of the company and has served as such continuously to
date. Under his general supervision the company has been quite
successful. The business has required an average of six steamers
yearly. In 1888 the line consists of the boats the Sidney, Pittsburgh
and Mary Morton.
The St. Louis & St. Paul Packet Company, successors of the various old
transportation companies, is in successful operation in 1888,
employing three steamers. There are but few transient boats now on the
river.
ICE BOATS.
Several attempts have been made to navigate the river during the
winter months by means of ice boats, but the efforts have uniformly
failed. Of these attempts we mention the two most notable:
Noman Wiard, an inventor of some celebrity, made an ice boat in 1856
and placed it on the river at Prairie du Chien, intending to run
between that point and St. Paul. It was elaborately planned and
elegantly finished, and resembled somewhat a palace car mounted on
steel runners. It failed on account of the roughness of the ice, never
making a single trip. It, however, proved somewhat remunerative as a
show, and was for some time on exhibition within an inclosure at
Prairie du Chien.
Martin Mower, of Osceola, Minnesota, invented a boat to run on the
ice between Stillwater and Taylor's Falls, in the winter of 1868-9. It
made several trips, carrying passengers and freight. The rough ice
prevented regular trips and the project was abandoned.
STEAMBOAT LIFE--1846.
James W. Mullen, of Taylor's Falls, spent much of his early and middle
life on the river, and cherishes many pleasant recollections of the
early days. We have been favored with a few of these, which will give
the reader a vivid idea of the scenes depicted:
"A. D. 1816 found me a cabin boy on the War Eagle at the St. Louis
levee, with sign board up for Stillwater and Fort Snelling. The levee
was a wonder to behold. It was thronged with teams, policemen keeping
them in rank. Piles of freight were awaiting shipment. Steamboats for
three-quarters of a mile along the levee were discharging and
receiving freight; passengers were rushing frantically to and fro;
bells were ringing, and boats leaving for the Cumberland, Tennessee,
Missouri and Illinois rivers; and New Orleans, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh,
Keokuk, Galena, Stillwater, and Fort Snelling.
"It was a delightful June day on which we pulled out from this busy
scene and commenced our voyage to the far off north land, then known
as Wisconsin Territory. Capt. Smith Harris gave the last tap of the
bell; the lines were loosened; the wheels of the War Eagle revolved
slowly at first, and we were soon on the broad bosom of the
Mississippi, heading northward in the wake and black smoke of the
steamers Ocean Wave, Tobacco Plant and Western Belle. The Luella, the
Alton packet, followed us closely, racing with us. All was enjoyment.
We pass the steamers Osprey and Di Vernon. At Nauvoo we note the
magnificent Mormon temple on the high ground, and also long files of
Mormons going westward. We pass many fine farms, much beautiful
scenery, and many growing towns, among them Rock Island and Davenport,
the latter the home of Antoine Le Clair, a half-breed Indian trader
and heavyweight, tipping the beam at three hundred and fifty pounds
avoirdupois. He lives there in sumptuous splendor from his profits
made in trade. The villages, or tepees, of Sac and Fox Indians are
seen along the shores; their bark canoes glide silently over the
waters. Further on we ascend for seven miles the sluggish and narrow
channel of Fever river, and find ourselves at Galena, the home of the
Harrises, river captains.
"We find at the levee here the steamers Falcon and St. Croix, laden
with lead for St. Louis. Back through Fever river to the Mississippi
and past Dubuque, an active, rising town; past Cassville, the expected
but disappointed capital city of Wisconsin Territory, a lovely
location, its castellated hills frowning above it and its fine three
story brick hotel and other buildings; past Prairie du Chien and Fort
Crawford, with soldiers drilling on the green. Here Amable Moreau, a
French Upper Mississippi pilot, came on board. Squads of Indians were
hanging around begging for whisky and tobacco. Resuming our way,
stemming the current of the river we pass other scenes, other birch
canoes gliding over the waves, other tepees and Indian villages along
the shore. At La Crosse we find a few whites and lots of Indians on an
unimproved prairie, with a background of high bluffs. We pass
Trempeleau and then Winona prairie, on which we find an old Indian
village, dating back to unknown time. Opposite the mouth of the
Chippewa river we pass Nelson's Landing with its two log warehouses
and mackinaw boats loading for the Chippewa river. We pass into lovely
Lake Pepin, Maiden's Rock or Lover's Leap rising into a battlement on
the right, and the famous Point-no-Point on the left. Out of the
beautiful lake again into the river, between low, forest covered
islands, till we pass Barn Bluff or Mount La Grange, a bold, abrupt
and isolated hill just below Red Wing. We passed more Indian tepees,
villages and burying grounds,--not that, for the dead bodies of the
Indians were not buried but fastened upon scaffolds and the limbs of
trees, according to Sioux custom. At the mouth of St. Croix river we
pass Prescott Landing, where lives the old pioneer trader Philander
Prescott. Across the St. Croix, opposite Prescott Landing, is Point
Douglas. Some miles above Point Douglas we pass Little Crow village, a
missionary station, where young Indian boys ran down to the landing
and greeted us with such yells as have not rung through these wilds,
perhaps, for ages past.
"We find St. Paul to be a small village. There are a few houses on a
high, almost perpendicular bluff, overlooking the river. At the base
of the bluff on the river shore stands a warehouse with the sign
'Choteau & Valle.' We are soon at Mendota and Fort Snelling. A squad
of soldiers guard the freight over night. We have ample time in the
morning to visit the post before starting down the river, and the
following morning finds the prow of the War Eagle resting against the
Stillwater landing. Here Capt. Harris greets his friends and is warmly
welcomed. So far, Stillwater seemed the most active and enterprising
village on the whole route. Joe Brown's town, Dakota, lies a short
distance above at the head of the lake. Capt. Harris on his return
towed a raft comprising ten acres of logs. Big Joe was one of the
pilots on the raft."
ST. CROIX BOOM COMPANY.
Previous to the organization of the boom company, in 1857, the logs
were floated down the St. Croix and caught in side booms by individual
owners, and owners of lake booms would raft them indiscriminately,
regardless of log marks, but with the mark side up for the convenience
of scaling. The scaling was done by some responsible party in the
interest of the various owners, and balances were settled by
exchanges, or if not balanced by cash or by note, to be paid out of
the profits of the next year's logs. Instances of fraud seldom
occurred. When Minnesota became a territory this system was superseded
by another method of handling, assorting or delivering. The
legislature established surveyor general districts, of which the St.
Croix valley was designated as the First. The surveyors general were
elected in a joint convention of the two houses of the legislature,
and the candidacy for this office, together with questions of salary,
became a leading feature in the politics of the district.
The surveyors general of the First district have been, Robert Harsy,
Samuel Winship, Charles J. Gardiner, Ivory McKusick, James D. McComb,
Z. Wilder Chase, John S. Proctor, and Al. Hospice. The law defining
the duties of the surveyors general has been awarded from time to
time, and the system of scaling improved till it has reached its
present form, in which it meets with very general approval. In 1867 a
law was passed giving to the governor the power of appointing
surveyors general.
The boom company was organized by the territorial legislature, Feb. 7,
1851, with a capital stock of $10,000, with privileges of increase to
$25,000. The incorporators were Orange Walker and George B. Judd, of
Marine; John McKusick, Socrates Nel son and Levi Churchill, of
Stillwater; Daniel Mears and William Kent, of Osceola; and W. H. C.
Folsom, of Taylor's Falls. Fred R. Bartlett was the first secretary,
but was superseded by David B. Loomis.
The first boom was built near an island lying opposite and above
Osceola. The surveyor general had his office at Stillwater, an
arrangement that gave great satisfaction, but as the boom was not
advantageously located, the channel of the river above being too
narrow for the annually increasing production of logs, the company, in
1856, obtained a new charter with power to construct booms from the
head of Lake St. Croix to Taylor's Falls. The capital stock was
increased to $25,000 with the privilege of increasing it to $50,000.
It was subsequently increased to $100,000. The incorporators of the
new company were Martin Mower, W. H. C. Folsom, Isaac Staples,
Christopher Carli and Samuel Burkelo.
The company placed a second boom a mile and a half above Stillwater.
The increase of their business compelled them from time to time to
build side booms and shear booms to prevent the logs from lodging
against the banks or passing bayous or secondary channels, and also to
keep the primary channel free from obstructions to navigation. They
built firm and expensive piers, drove piling and made canals for the
use of steamboats when the main channel was wanted for booming
purposes.
Notwithstanding all this care, navigation was frequently obstructed by
the accumulation of logs. Litigation ensued, and heavy expenses were
incurred in defending the rights of the company or paying damages.
These controversies were not unattended with ill feeling. Public
meetings were frequently held and denunciating resolutions adopted. In
one case, when navigation had been interrupted for fifty-seven days,
the damages were estimated at $146,525. Some controversies also arose
as to jurisdiction. St. Croix river being the boundary line between
two states, the Wisconsin authorities claimed concurrent jurisdiction.
The boom company was organized under Minnesota law and its members
were residents of Minnesota. The surveyor general of the First
district claimed entire jurisdiction and scaled the logs irrespective
of the state in which they were cut. The action of the surveyor
general had been accepted both by the original owners and purchasers
of the logs.
In January, 1885, Gov. Hubbard, of Minnesota, appointed A. L. Hospes
surveyor general, and the appointment creating some dissatisfaction, a
lumberman's board of exchange was organized, and Judson McKusick was
appointed as private scaler. He proceeded, under the direction of the
exchange, to scale logs that had already been scaled by Hospes. When
the members of the exchange proceeded to take possession of their logs
and run them out into the lake, Hospes commenced a series of
injunction cases to prevent them from so doing. The exchange brought
suit against Hospes in Wisconsin courts to prevent him from scaling
logs owned by the exchange. The exchange also declared that McKusick
was a deputy of the general surveyor of the Fourth district,
Wisconsin. Pending these suits, Hospes commenced a _quo warranto_
proceeding in the Minnesota supreme court to have the articles of
incorporation of the exchange annulled, but was defeated on the ground
that the exchange could employ a private scaler at will, but held that
such scaler could not interfere with the claims of Hospes, he being
recognized as surveyor general. In July of the same year the claims of
the conflicting parties were settled by the parties themselves,
outside the courts, and the question of conflicting jurisdiction has
therefore never been legally determined. It is true that some courts
have passed upon the question, and appeals have been taken to higher
courts. The decision of Judge Nelson of the supreme court has been
given, a decision that the surveyor general of the First district of
Minnesota has a right to scale all logs in his district, yet by his
own decision Wisconsin has equal rights under concurrent jurisdiction.
Should both state authorities under their surveyors general claim
jurisdiction at the same time, concurrent jurisdiction would lead to a
double taxation upon log owners. It seems, however, to be an admitted
principle that when suits between the same parties, in relation to the
same matter, are pending at the same time in different courts of
jurisdiction, a judgment in the one may act as a bar to further
proceedings in the other. The question ought to be more definitely and
satisfactorily settled.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE LOGS.
It may not be amiss to explain somewhat in detail the system of
marking adopted by the lumbermen. Owners of logs must be able to
identify their property or lose the reward of their labor. A system of
marking each log has, therefore, become a feature of the lumbering
business, and has been in existence ever since lumbering has been
prosecuted. When the business was confined to a limited number of
firms it was an easy matter, and one of mutual arrangement, to select
the property. But firms change; from a score the number of lumber
firms increased to hundreds. A record of ownership of log marks is
necessary, and a law has been enacted protecting the ownership of a
mark as thoroughly as a trade mark is protected. This system of marks
in the process of time has become a language in itself deep and
intricate to the average mind, but as plain as the alphabet to every
man having to do with the manufacture of logs. It is the aim of every
lumberman originating a mark to make it simple, containing as many
straight lines as possible, so that it can be put on the log speedily.
These marks are cut on the logs, through the bark and a few inches
into the body of the timber, soon after the tree is felled, by a
skilled axeman who is charged with the duty. The cut is made deeper
than the bark so it will be preserved after the bark comes off. The
mark is made upon the side of the log.
This system of marks is a language in itself. Every prominent firm has
a particular character, which, in a general way, is indicative of his
ownership or interest in the log. This mark may be varied by
additional or supplementary characters, indicating who cut the log, on
whose land it was cut, or under what particular contract it was put
into the stream. Some idea of the extent and variety of these marks
can be formed from the statement that there is recorded in the St.
Croix district--only a small portion of the entire lumber region of
the Northwest--over 1,700 different and distinct characters. Many of
these are quaint and interesting, and the whole etymology curious in
the extreme.
In the books in the surveyor general's office these marks and figures
are the only characters used except in the recording of the marks
themselves and of instruments and agreements. The identity of mark and
its association of ownership necessarily calls into play the utmost
familiarity. To one not thoroughly familiar with the method the books
are about as intelligible as the figures on the side of a Chinese tea
chest to the average American. Once a man becomes thoroughly familiar
with the marks on a river where lumbering is so extensively carried on
as on the St. Croix, he becomes invaluable in the surveyor general's
office, or in the booms, identified in some capacity with the scaling
process. The fact that some particular character runs through the
varied marks of all the leading firms is a key to the readiest
understanding, just as the twenty-six characters in the alphabet are
necessarily understood before one can read readily or intelligently.
When the logs reach the booms the marks serve as a guide in their
distribution by the scaler, whose business it is to measure the logs,
call out the number of feet in each log to the tallyman, who records
it in a book kept for the purpose, the record, together with the mark
attached, to be forwarded to the surveyor general's office, there to
be posted and footed. A small army of men is engaged in bringing logs
to the gap, a narrow passage admitting scarcely more than one log at a
time.
A catch mark is a mark representing the original mark and is so placed
as to appear always upon the upper side when the log floats at rest.
Once through the gap, experienced men gather the logs, as they are
floated downward by the current, into brills. These are subsequently
gathered together in rafts, laid, as a rule, with the logs headed in
the direction of the current. Rafts may be transported to any distance
southward by the current of the stream, and through the waters of the
lake, and not infrequently the whole distance by tow boats.
AMOUNT OF LOGS CUT FROM 1857 TO 1888.
The earliest statistics in the following table are from persons
operating, and the later from record books. We have given the figures
in round numbers. The table includes logs cut and floated down the St.
Croix river and tributaries:
YEAR. FEET.
1837-38 300,000
1838-39 700,000
1839-40 1,500,000
1840-41 2,500,000
1841-42 3,000,000
1842-43 3,500,000
1843-44 8,500,000
1844-45 14,000,000
1845-46 25,500,000
1846-47 26,000,000
1847-48 37,000,000
1848-49 50,000,000
1849-50 75,000,000
1850-51 87,000,000
1851-52 90,000,000
1852-53 110,000,000
1853-54 125,000,000
1854-55 165,000,000
1855-56 187,000,000
1856-57 200,000,000
1857-58 135,000,000
1858-59 156,000,000
1859-60 175,000,000
1860-61 160,000,000
1861-62 175,000,000
1862-63 150,000,000
1863-64 140,000,000
1864-65 144,000,000
1865-66 137,000,000
1866-67 174,000,000
1867-68 183,000,000
1868-69 194,000,000
1869-70 209,000,000
1870-71 170,000,000
1871-72 224,000,000
1872-73 108,000,000
1873-74 188,000,000
1874-75 178,000,000
1875-76 197,000,000
1876-77 183,000,000
1877-78 225,000,000
1878-79 242,000,000
1879-80 230,000,000
1880-81 247,000,000
1881-82 295,000,000
1882-83 302,000,000
1883-84 230,000,000
1884-85 235,000,000
1885-86 285,000,000
1886-87 350,000,000
1887-88 370,000,000
CHARTERED DAMS.
The Namakagon Totogatic Dam Company obtained a charter in 1869 from
the Wisconsin legislature empowering them to construct two dams for
sheering logs, one to be at the outlet of Namakagon lake, the other on
Totogatic river, a stream tributary to Namakagon river, entering that
stream about eight miles above its junction with the St. Croix. In
1870, by legislative act, the charter was amended by permission to
erect sixteen dams, to be built severally on the waters of the Upper
St. Croix, Moose, Eau Claire, Namakagon, Totogatic, Yellow, and Clam
rivers. The name was changed to the "St. Croix Dam Company," and the
capital stock was fixed at $50,000. The incorporators were A. M.
Chase, Joel Nason, Henry D. Barron, Wm. Kent, and S. B. Dresser. A. M.
Chase was the first president. The company had permission under the
charter to hold the water during the seasons when it was not necessary
to navigation on the St. Croix. These dams were usually shut down to
gather a head during the months of March and April, with the exception
of the dams on the Namakagon and Eau Claire, which have the privilege
of gathering and retaining a head of water during any part of the
year. The head of water above these dams varied from seven to ten
feet, and the average cost of construction was $4,000. The tolls per
1,000 feet at these dams were as follows: Namakagon and Clam, 25 and
20 cents; at Totogatic, 20 and 15 cents; St. Croix, 20 and 15 cents;
other dams, 3 to 10 cents.
A. M. Chase was the original mover in organizing the corporation and
forwarding its interests. He was foreman in selecting sites and
building the various dams. He was also owner and general agent until
within the last few years, when he transferred his interests to other
parties. The charter expires in 1893.
The dam on Clam river, built at a cost of $10,000, was, in 1886, blown
up by dynamite and destroyed by Robert Davidson, who claimed that the
flowage interfered with his meadow lands.
LUMBERING ON THE ST. CROIX IN 1845.
The progress of civilization involving the building of railways, the
transformation of the wilderness into cultivated fields, the growth of
villages and cities, the increased facilities for manufacturing and
the bringing the forest domain under law, has created such changes in
the business of lumbering as to justify the insertion of a chapter
relating to the life and surroundings of the early lumberman. Let us
go back to the year 1845. The country, save a few sparse settlements
on the navigable streams, is as yet an unbroken wilderness, and
tenanted only by wild beasts and roving Indians. There are vast
regions, densely wooded, in which the sound of the woodman's axe has
never been heard, lying about the headwaters of the Chippewa, St.
Croix and other streams. These pineries can only be reached by
stemming the currents of the minor streams in bateaux or birch bark
canoes, or by traversing the country on foot or with teams. Parties
operating must purchase their outfit, consisting of teams, supplies of
flour, pork, etc., in Illinois or Missouri. Sometimes they drive their
teams through unsettled country, without roads, swimming and fording
streams, clearing away obstructions, and camping where night overtakes
them. Sometimes they ship their supplies by steamer to Stillwater or
St. Croix Falls. When landed at Stillwater the supplies are packed
upon flatboats and poled to Taylor's Falls, where they are to be
portaged to the head of the rapids, a distance of six miles, and
transferred to bateaux. The portage is a difficult one. The goods are
to be hoisted up over the rocks of the Dalles and placed upon sleds
calculated to run upon the bare ground. Considering the inequalities
of the surface from the Dalles to the head of the rapids, the portage
is an immensely difficult one. They are then taken to their place of
destination, the bateaux returning to the Falls for successive loads,
the whole transfer requiring considerable time. Sometimes, if late in
the season, part or whole of the fleet of bateaux may be caught in the
ice, in which case a bushed road must be made, and the supplies
transported by teams and men.
Arriving on the ground, the operators blaze trees on lines surrounding
the region which they wish to work during the winter. These claims are
generally respected by others. The first work to be done is making a
camp, building stables, clearing streams of obstructions, and making
roads. Incidentally the Indians, certain to be visitors at the camps,
are to be propitiated with presents of flour, pork and tobacco. These
pacified and out of the way, the lumberman may say with Alexander
Selkirk--
"I am monarch of all I survey;
My right there is none to dispute."
Trespassing is unknown. The lumberman is not conscious that he himself
is a trespasser on the domain of Uncle Sam. Nor is he. Has he not the
best title in the world? Who is there to dispute it? No government
agent ever troubles him, or questions his right to fell the royal
trees and dispose of them as he may choose. He is earning by his
strong right arm his title to the trees. He endures much, accomplishes
much and is the advance courier of civilization. He spends long months
away from the common haunts of men. He is cut off from the mails and
from home pleasure. He lives an industrious life. Cold is the day when
the stroke of his axe is not heard. The snow deepens around him, the
temperature sinks lower and lower, till it would not discredit
Labrador; still he toils on unceasingly, and at night builds high his
blazing fire, wraps himself up in his buffalo robe and blankets, and
sleeps through the night the sleep of the tired and the just.
Meanwhile his appetite is marvelous. The cooking (done by one of the
crew) maybe of the rudest, and the provisions none of the daintiest,
but exercise and the cold gives a relish to the food not often found
in the fashionable restaurants. The members of the crew have each
allotted duties. To one is intrusted the cooking department, to
another the position of teamster, to another that of sled tender;
some are choppers, some are swampers, some are sawyers. The records of
the camp are kept by the foreman or some person detailed for that
purpose.
The winter over, the teams are returned to the settlements. The log
driving crew succeeds the choppers and other workers. The logs, having
been hauled upon the ice of the driving streams, with the melting of
snow are afloat on the swollen streams, and the drivers commence their
work, following the logs in their downward course to the mills or
booms, dislodging them when they are driven upon shore, and breaking
jams when they occur. This work is difficult and attended by
considerable exposure, as the driver is often obliged to go into the
stream. It therefore commands higher wages than other work. The
drivers are without tents, but a wangan, or small flat boat,
containing bedding, provisions and a cooking kit, is floated down the
stream so as to be convenient at night. The wangan is managed by the
cook alone, and his work, when he ties up for the night, is to take
ashore the bedding, cooking material, etc., build a fire and provide a
meal for the hungry crew. His cooking utensils are of the rudest kind,
consisting of a tin reflector and a few iron pots and pans. The savory
repast is scarce finished before the arrival of the crew, cold, wet,
tired, and hungry. They are not particular about a table with its
furniture, but are satisfied to eat from a tin plate, sitting or lying
on the ground. Hunger satisfied, they spend their evenings by the
blazing fire, drying their clothing, jesting, story telling, or
recalling the events of the day, or scanning the open or clouded sky
for indications of weather changes. When the sky is clear they trace
the constellations, locate the principal stars and planets, or follow
the devious windings of the milky way. Some of them have studied
astronomy, and some have learned from others, and all are intent,
though without books or teachers, on learning the wisdom that Nature
teaches, and some are found who have learned to look "from Nature up
to Nature's God."
Occasionally some rougher specimen mars the order and pleasantness of
this wild-wood converse by an oath or coarse remark, heard, perhaps,
but unheeded by the more serious and thoughtful. Such men are found
everywhere, in the streets, saloons, and even in the wilderness, men
who pollute the air in which they move with profanity and obscenity.
These are not the men who succeed and build up great fortunes; these
are not the true conquerors of the wilderness. The sober, thoughtful
man is the man who succeeds. It is not necessary that he have the
learning acquired from books, or a smattering of science from the
schools. He may acquire great knowledge by close study of men, and
observation of the phenomena of nature, and so make himself a peer of
the book worm and scholar of the library and schools.
The acquaintances formed in these camp scenes and toils often result
in life long friendships, and the scenes of camp, river and forest
become cherished reminiscences to the actors, who are as fond of
recalling them as veteran soldiers are of recounting the hairbreadth
escapes and stirring incidents of campaign life.
The drive ends with the delivery of the logs at the booms and mills,
the men are paid off and devote themselves for the remainder of the
summer to other work.
LUMBERING ON THE ST. CROIX IN 1886.
The St. Croix lumberman, after the lapse of nearly fifty years, is
still a picturesque figure, clad, as he is, in coarse, strong woolen
garments, these of brilliant red, yellow, blue and green, or in some
cases as variegated as Joseph's coat of many colors. He is usually a
man of stalwart frame, which is set off to advantage by his close
fitting garments. His circumstances are, however, widely different
from his old time predecessor.
The rough, hard work of the wilderness, including the building of
dams, the construction of reservoirs and roads, and the improvement of
the streams, has been accomplished chiefly by his predecessors. He is
abundantly supplied with food, produced almost in the neighborhood of
the scenes of his winter's work. He travels by rail almost to his
destination or drives blooded teams over comparatively good roads,
where his predecessors tediously blazed the way and cleared it of
underbrush. His camp accommodations are far superior. He is housed in
comfortable cabins, warmed with large stoves and heaters, whereas the
cabin of the lumberman of 1845 had a fire built on the ground in the
centre of the room. The modern camp is well furnished with tables and
other conveniences. The cook has a separate room furnished with a
cooking stove and modern appliances for cooking. He has his assistant,
known as the "cookee" or second cook. The table is spread with a
variety of food, and delicacies that would have astounded the
lumberman of 1845. Each operator is limited to his own special work.
His bounds are set and he can go no further, except at the risk of the
loss of his labor.
The work goes on with clock-like precision and is comparatively easy.
Everything is done on a larger scale and more economically. The crews
are larger and the life is not near so solitary. The various crews
employed for the spring drive combine and thereby greatly increase
their efficiency. They are supplied with better and covered boats. The
cook in the drive has in addition to his "cookee" a wangan man to
assist in managing the boat. The drives are larger and yet more easily
handled, the conveniences are greater and the expenses less. The men
are more independent, and owing to the number employed, and the
nearness of settlements and villages, more sociable, and possibly more
hilarious and less thoughtful. We shall nevertheless find among them
men of character, thoughtful, industrious and earnest men, who would
have shone in the associations of the earlier camps and who will
doubtless in the future be ranked among the successful and capable
men, worthy successors of the veterans now leaving the stage of
action.
Conjecture as to the future of the lumbering industry, and
consequently as to the character of the men engaged in it, would be
idle. Who can tell what a day or another fifty years may bring forth?
The pine woods will not last always; already the camps are being
pushed further and further to the north and west, and whereever the
denuded pine lands are arable the farmer is making his home. The
lumbering industry is also passing into the hands of corporations, and
with their extensive means and the armies of men employed by them the
forests are disappearing more rapidly than ever. It is possible that
the present generation of lumbermen may be the last in the valley of
the St. Croix, and that before another fifty years have passed the
last of the number may have shouldered his axe or peavy and passed
"over the divide."
THE LOG JAMS OF THE ST. CROIX.
The St. Croix river in its passage through the Dalles is compressed
into a comparatively narrow channel, by which means the logs driven
down the stream are crowded closely together, so closely as to
sometimes become firmly wedged or jammed together. The jam generally
occurs at a point known as Angle Rock, a huge promontory of massive
trap rock extending into the middle of the channel from the Minnesota
side, and opposite to the St. Croix landing. The river makes a bend
around this rock nearly at a right angle with the channel above. At
this point jams are, under certain conditions, almost inevitable.
Sometimes they are of small dimensions and are easily broken.
Sometimes the logs gather in such quantity and become so tightly
wedged that it is a labor of weeks to break them.
The first jam worthy of note occurred in 1865, during the prevalence
of high water. It is, in fact, only during high water that jams can
occur, the current being at such time swift and strong, and the logs
apt to accumulate in greater number than in the regular drives, from
the fact that logs that have been stranded in former seasons or at low
water are floated off, and the river is thus filled with logs from
bank to bank. These are crowded into the narrow channel of the Dalles
faster than they can be discharged, and a jam results. An obstruction
once formed, the logs continuing to come in from above fill the
channel. The tide of logs arrested, crowd downward until they rest
upon the bottom of the river, and are heaped upward sometimes to a
height of twenty or thirty feet above the surface. The river thus
checked in its course rises, wedging the logs more closely and heaping
them higher.
In the jam of 1865 the river channel was filled nearly to the St.
Croix dam, a distance of a mile and a quarter above Angle Rock. This
being the first of the great jams excited unusual attention.
Excursionists came up daily in the boats to look upon it. It was
indeed a wonderful sight. The logs were heaped together in the wildest
confusion, and wedged in at all angles. Men and horses were employed
to break the jam, which at that time, owing to the inexperience of the
workers, was no light task. The _modus operandi_ of jam breaking is to
remove logs from the lower part of the jam till some log which serves
as a key to the jam is reached. This being removed the logs above
commence moving, and, if the haul be a long one, in a short time the
movement is extended to the head of the jam. Perhaps the logs are so
heaped above that no water is visible. It matters not; the tremendous
current beneath sweeps downward, carrying the logs along, and the
spectator beholds a wonderful scene, a river of logs, the current
swiftest in the centre of the stream, the logs rolling, tumbling,
crashing, grinding, sometimes snapped in sunder like pipestems. The
jam breakers are in the wildest excitement, cheering and hurrahing,
and some may be seen out in the current of logs, jumping from one to
another, or making their escape to the shore. Others on the lower part
of the jam at the moment of breaking are carried down the river.
Though apparently a scene of great danger, comparatively few accidents
occur. The workers are cool, experienced men with steady nerves and
stalwart arms, a race of men not surpassed for muscular development.
In 1877 another jam took place nearly as large as that of 1865. This
jam came near destroying the beautiful bridge that spanned the river
at the head of the Dalles. Many of the logs carried high in air by the
pressure of the logs below struck the bridge, and at times its
destruction seemed inevitable. This bridge has since been replaced by
an iron structure, much higher than the first, but even this
occasionally received a blow from some log carried along by the
current at a "present arms."
In 1883 another jam of considerable dimensions occurred, but it was
removed with less labor and expense than its predecessors, and
steamboats anchored below were used to aid in breaking it. It cost
from $5,000 to $10,000 to break these jams.
By far the greatest of the jams occurred in June, 1886. The water was
high, the current strong and the river above so full of logs that a
log driver might have crossed upon them. This abundance was owing to
other causes than those mentioned in the account of the jam of 1865.
The dams at Snake, Kettle and other rivers had been simultaneously
opened, and the logs in these streams all set free at once in the
current of the St. Croix. On they came in long procession with but
little obstruction till they reached Angle Rock, where they were
suddenly arrested, and, owing to the force of the current, wedged more
tightly and heaped higher than on any previous occasion, and the river
channel was filled with logs to a point two miles above the St. Croix
falls formerly known as the dam. To break this jam, two steamers, two
engines, several teams of horses and over two hundred men were
employed, and during the six weeks that occurred before it was broken,
thousands of visitors came by rail and steamboat to look upon it. This
jam was estimated to hold during its continuance 150,000,000 feet of
logs.
POPULATION OF WISCONSIN.
The first census of the Northwest Territory, taken in 1790, does not
show the population of the region now known as Wisconsin. The census
of 1800 gave the following figures: Ohio, 45,363; Indiana Territory,
5,641; Green Bay, 50; Prairie du Chien, 65. According to the census of
1880, the original Northwest Territory contained a population of
12,989,571, or more than one-quarter of the population of the United
States. The population of Crawford county in 1820 was 492; in 1830,
692; in 1834, 810; in 1836, 1,220; in 1838, 850; in 1841, 1,503; in
1847, 1,409.
In 1836, when Wisconsin Territory was organized, the population of the
Territory was, 11,883. The whole number of votes cast at the election
in 1836 was 2,462. The population, according to the census taken at
the close of every five years, was as follows: In 1840, 30,945; in
1845, 155,275; in 1850, 305,301; in 1855, 552,109; in 1860, 775,881;
in 1865, 868,325; in 1870, 1,054,670; in 1875, 1,236,729; in 1880,
1,315,480; in 1885, 1,563,423.
The official compilation of the census of Wisconsin gives the
following details: Total population, 1,563,423; white, males, 806,342;
females, 748,810; negroes, in full, 5,576; Indians, 2,695. The
nativities are divided as follows: United States, 1,064,943; Germany,
265,756; Scandinavia, 90,057; Ireland, 36,371; Great Britain, 32,731;
British America, 21,887; Bohemia, 15,838; Holland, 7,357; France,
3,963; all other countries, 20,030; subject to military duty, 286,289;
soldiers of the late war, 29,686.
POPULATION OF ST. CROIX, PIERCE, POLK, BURNETT, AND SAWYER COUNTIES.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|1840.|1845.|1850.| 1855.| 1860.| 1865.| 1870.| 1875.| 1880.| 1885.|
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St. Croix | 618 | 809 |624 | 2,040| 5,392 |6,255 |11,039|14,957|18,838|22,389|
Pierce | | | | 1,720| 4,672 |6,824 |10,004|15,101|17,685|19,760|
Polk | | | | 547| 1,400 |1,677 | 3,422| 6,736|10,095|12,884|
Burnett | | | | | 12 | 238 | 705| 1,436| 2,980| 4,607|
Sawyer | | | | | | | | | | 2,481|
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POPULATION OF MINNESOTA.
In 1849 the Territory had a population of 4,680. The census taken at
periods of every five years shows the following population: In 1850,
6,077; in 1855, ----; in 1860, 172,073; in 1865, 250,099; in 1870,
439,706; in 1875, 597,403; in 1880, 780,773; in 1885, 1,117,798.
The following table gives the population of the counties on the St.
Croix waters.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1850. | 1855. | 1860. | 1865. | 1870. | 1875. | 1880. | 1885.|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Washington | 1,066 | ---- | 6,123 | 6,780 | 11,809 | 9,994 | 19,562 | 29,763|
Chisago | ---- | ---- | 1,743 | 2,175 | 4,378 | 6,046 | 7,982 | 9,765|
Pine | ---- | ---- | 92 | 64 | 648 | 795 | 1,365 | 2,177|
Kanabec | ---- | ---- | 30 | 31 | 93 | 311 | 605 | 1,119|
Isanti | ---- | ---- | 281 | 453 | 2,035 | 3,901 | 5,063 | 7,032|
Carlton | ---- | ---- | 51 | 28 | 286 | 495 | 1,230 | 3,189|
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MINNESOTA STATE CAPITOL.
By the organic act of Minnesota Territory, $20,000 were appropriated
for a capitol building. At the time the Territory was organized,
however (June 1, 1849), the _permanent_ seat of government had not
been determined on, and the money was therefore not available. The
Central House in St. Paul, a log tavern weather-boarded, situated at
the corner of Bench and Minnesota streets, where the rear of the
Mannheimer block now is, was rented for the public offices and
legislative assembly. It was for some months known as "The Capitol."
On the lower floor was the secretary of state's office, and the house
of representatives chamber. On the second floor was the council
chamber and the territorial library. Neither of these legislative
halls was over sixteen or eighteen feet square. The rest of the
building was used as an inn. The Union colors, floating from a flag
staff on the bank in front of the building, was the only mark of its
rank. During his entire term of office, Gov. Ramsey kept the executive
office in his private residence, and the supreme court met in rented
chambers here and there.
On Sept. 3, 1849, the first session of the legislature assembled at
the above temporary capitol. Gov. Ramsey delivered his message to the
two houses in joint convention assembled, in the hotel dining room.
The whole fitting of the assembly rooms was of the plainest
description.
Considerable discussion ensued during the session on this subject, as
to whether the Territory had a right to expend the $20,000
appropriated in the organic act, for a capitol building. The question
having been submitted to Hon. Wm. Meredith, secretary of the treasury,
he replied that the "Department can not doubt that the public
buildings in question can only be erected at the _permanent_ seat of
government, located as described."
The second session assembled Jan. 2, 1851, in a brick building, since
burned, which occupied the site of the Third street front of the
Metropolitan Hotel. At this session the seat of government was fixed
at St. Paul, as above noted. D. F. Brawley, Jonathan McKusick, Louis
Robert and E. A. C. Hatch were elected building commissioners. Charles
Bazille, a pioneer resident and large property owner of St. Paul,
donated to the government the block of ground since known as "Capitol
Square," and plans drawn by N. C. Prentiss were adopted. The contract
was let to Joseph Daniels for $33,000, but the building finally cost
over $40,000. It was commenced at once, but not completed until the
summer of 1853. The third and fourth sessions of the legislature were
compelled, therefore, to meet in rented buildings. That of 1852
assembled in Goodrich's block on Third street below Jackson, and that
of 1853 in a two story brick row on Third street, where the front of
the Mannheimer block now is.
BURNING OF THE CAPITOL.
At nine o'clock on the evening of March 1, 1881, while both houses of
the legislature were in session, and all the halls and departments
were crowded with visitors, the dome of the building was found to be
on fire. The flames spread with too great rapidity to be checked, and
all that could be done was to save the contents of the building. The
most valuable records and papers of the various offices, and of the
legislature, with some of the furniture, were carried out, but the
greater part of the contents of the building, including the valuable
law library, the supply of state laws, documents and reports, and all
the stationery in the secretary of state's store rooms, etc., were a
total loss. The Historical Society's library was mostly saved. The
entire loss to the State was fully $200,000.
Fortunately the city of St. Paul had just completed a fine and
spacious market house, which was still unoccupied, and its use was at
once tendered the State by the city authorities, and while the flames
were still burning the furniture and effects saved from the old
capitol were removed thither. At nine o'clock next morning the state
departments and both houses of the legislature were again at work in
their new quarters. But two days of the session yet remained. Gov.
Pillsbury immediately secured estimates for rebuilding the burned
edifice, using the old walls, and an act appropriating $75,000 for
that purpose was passed. Work was commenced at once. It was then found
that the old walls were too unsafe to use, and at the extra session in
September, 1881, the further sum of $100,000 was appropriated for the
completion of the building. Its total cost was about $275,000. The
dome of the building is two hundred feet above the ground, giving a
noble view to the visitor who ascends it. The exterior of the edifice
is neat and tasty, and it is altogether creditable to the State,
considering its comparatively small cost.
SELKIRK VISITORS.
In the early days a somewhat primitive people inhabited the Northwest,
making their homes on the banks of the Red River of the North and on
the shores of Winnipeg, in what was known as the Selkirk settlement,
now included in the province of Manitoba. They were a mixed race of
Scotch, French and Indian stock, born and raised under the government
of the Northwest British Fur Company. They were a peaceable, partly
pastoral and partly nomadic, trading people. They cultivated the
ground quite successfully considering the high latitude of their home
and the absence of machinery for farm work, raising wheat, vegetables,
cattle and horses. They engaged in hunting and trapping and yearly
visited St. Paul with the surplus products of their labor to be
disposed of for money or goods. They came usually in caravans
consisting of files of carts drawn by cows, oxen and ponies, and
commanded by a captain elected to the position who exercised over them
a rigid military rule. Their carts were rude, creaking affairs, made
entirely without iron, all the fastenings being sinews and leathern
thongs. This harness was made of raw hides, Indian tanned, and sewed
with animal sinews. Their costume was a happy cross between the
civilized and savage. Their caravans included from 100 to 600 carts,
which were laden with furs, buffalo robes, buffalo tongues, dried
pemmican, etc. As they came a distance of 450 miles, the journey
required many days, but was made in good military order. The raising
of a flag was the signal for starting, the lowering, for stopping. At
night the carts were ranged in a circle about the encampment, and
sentinels posted. Their encampment within the suburbs of St. Paul
attracted great crowds of the curious. In 1857 their train consisted
of 500 carts, and in 1858 of 600, but later, as railroads were built
northward and steamers were placed upon the Red River of the North,
their number gradually diminished and finally their visits ceased
altogether.
CYCLONES.
Recorded and unrecorded, Minnesota and Wisconsin have had their full
share of those atmospheric disturbances that have wrought so much
destruction in the Western States. In the early days, when the country
was sparsely settled and villages and towns were few and far between,
they came and went unnoted, or attracting but little attention. They
left no traces on the plain, and in the forests only a belt of fallen
timber, known as a "windfall." These belts are sufficiently numerous
to establish the fact that these storms were probably as frequent in
early, even in prehistoric, times as at the present. Their movements
are more destructive in later times because of the improvements of
civilization, the increased number of human habitations and the growth
of towns and cities. The tornado has more to destroy, and as a
destroying agent, its movements are better known and more widely
published.
Scientists are not agreed as to the cause of these destructive
phenomena, but enough is known to overthrow the theory so persistently
advanced that it is in consequence of the cutting away of the forests
and the substitution of farms. In fact much of the country was already
prairie land and abundant evidences of tornadoes are found in the
midst of old forests in which have since grown up trees of
considerable size, and this at a period long before the lumberman
commenced his destructive work.
We append a few sketches of cyclones that have occurred in
comparatively recent times.
THE ISANTI COUNTY CYCLONE.
This storm occurred in September, 1865, and spent its fury chiefly in
Isanti county, but extended beyond and was felt even in Wisconsin.
The tornado gathered its wrath in the southwestern region of Isanti
county, in what is called the "Lake Typo settlement," some forty miles
north of St. Paul. It was first discovered in the shape of "two
clouds," as the people there residing expressed it, "approaching each
other from different directions." Suddenly the mingling of these
counter currents of strong winds appeared to form the blackened
heavens into a funnel-shaped mass. The direction of the whirlwind was
from southwest to northeast, and after crossing the St. Croix river
passed through an unsettled portion of timber lands known as "pine
barrens," a growth of scattering pines interspersed with black oaks of
medium size.
On Wood river, Burnett county, Wisconsin, the trunks of pine trees,
three feet in diameter and eighty feet high, were twisted into "broom
splints" and carried high in air. The intervening oaks were also
served the same way; and the whole track of the tornado, from thirty
rods to three-fourths of a mile in width, had left no tree standing.
Pines and oaks were all prostrate, and promiscuously heaped up in
winrows over the ground, their branches and trunks interlocked, and in
some places piled to the height of thirty feet.
The author of this work lost about 10,000,000 feet of pine logs in
Wood river in this cyclone. On Clam river, Wisconsin, for four miles
in length and about half a mile in width, the forest was laid in
winrows, and parties who came through soon after the tempest had to
cut their way.
The tornado, traveling with the velocity of lightning to the
northeast, overtook Dr. Comfort, of Wyoming, as he was crossing
Sunrise prairie with a mule team, accompanied by a hired man. The
doctor and man saved themselves by clinging to some shrubs near by,
but when the fury of the whirlwind had passed, all they could find of
their outfit was the poor mules, half frightened to death, and the
fore wheels and tongue of the wagon. The hind wheels, box, and the
rest of the outfit, together with the doctor's medicine kit, which he
had along, when last seen, were bound zenithward.
Wm. A. Hobbs, late quartermaster sergeant of the Third Minnesota
Battery, Light Artillery, and Orville Grant and brother--sons of R.
Grant, Esq., a farmer living in Isanti county--were out hunting, and
happened to be caught where the storm passed through the heaviest
timber. They saw it approaching, and at first attempted to take
shelter in an old school house near by, but soon saw that was no place
for them and made for an old pine log which they got behind; soon that
commenced to move. Hobbs seized hold of an oak, some ten inches in
diameter, which immediately commenced to be loosened at the roots and
to spin around like a top. The tree was prostrated and he with it--he
receiving very severe injuries. The Grant boys, were also injured, but
none near so badly as Hobbs. The log school house shared the fate of
the surrounding forest. A resident near by states that he saw one-half
the roof sailing upward at least four hundred feet above the tops of
the tallest trees.
THE COTTAGE GROVE CYCLONE.
On June 15, 1877, a terrific cyclone visited the town of Cottage
Grove, Washington county, Minnesota. We append the correct and vivid
description taken from the "History of Washington County:"
"At 9 o'clock P. M. there arose in the southwest a dark and heavy
cloud, attended with loud thunder, vivid lightning and a strong wind.
The cloud moved forward rapidly; soon the rain began to fall in
torrents, when suddenly the wind came dashing with great violence,
sweeping everything before it. There seemed to be two currents of
wind, one coming from the west and the other from the southwest. These
two currents came together in section 22. The stronger current being
from the southwest, the storm took a northwestern direction, and did
some damage in section 27, taking away a portion of the roof of Ethan
Viall's house, and a trunk out of the chamber, no trace of which could
be found. A corn cultivator was taken up, some portions of which were
never found, while other parts were found two miles from the place of
its taking. In section 22, when the currents met, the destruction of
property beggars description. The timber in its track was prostrated;
fences were torn up and scattered in every direction; E. Welch's house
came in the line of desolation; Mr. and Mrs. Welch had stepped out to
look after some chickens in which Mrs. Welch was specially interested,
and, startled by the roar of the wind, were in the act of returning to
the house. When near the door the wind took up the house, bearing it
away, and a stick of timber struck both Mr. and Mrs. Welch, knocking
them down. When Mr. Welch recovered he had hold of his wife, but she
was dead. The stick of timber struck her on the head and caused
instant death. The next object in the path of destruction was C. D.
Tuttle's two story dwelling, located in the northwest corner of
section 26. The main part of the house was torn to pieces and
scattered in every direction, while the wing was left unmoved. The
family, consisting of six persons, fled to the cellar and were
miraculously preserved. The large barn a few rods further on was
completely destroyed. Next in its course was Mr. J. C. Tucker's barn,
the roof of which suddenly passed along on the breeze. At this point
the storm turned, taking a northeasterly direction, and struck the
house of Robert Williams, damaging the house and entirely destroying
the barn. A horse tied to a girder in the barn was found, uninjured,
sixty feet outside of the limits of the building, with the girder
lying across him, and the strap still tied to it. Next in line was a
small lake in the southwest corner of section 23. It was almost robbed
of its treasure. The water and mud was carried a long distance up the
bluffs, fifty feet above the level of the lake. Next came the fine
house of John Morey, giving a portion of its roof to the excited wind;
then passed into the town of Denmark, continuing its destructive
course, killing a horse for W. G. Wagner, near the town line. A man
known as Michael Schull, a farm hand, was taken up by the wind and
dashed against a pile of wood, injuring his brain, causing him to
become dangerous. He is now at St. Peter in the insane asylum. The
destruction of property was great. No accurate account of the amount
of damage done has been compiled. Mr. Tuttle, living in section 26,
suffered the most. He estimated his loss at $7,000. His house was
situated in a valley surrounded by oak trees, and we would suppose was
protected by the strong bulwarks of Nature, and yet house, barn,
farming utensils, and machinery were scattered over the country. The
next morning sheets of tin two feet square, found in Mr. Tuttle's
yard, were supposed to have come from a church in Dakota county.
Portions of Mr. Tuttle's house were found miles away."
The same cyclone visited Lake Elmo and did great damage, blowing down
the depot buildings, Lake Elmo Hotel and other structures. The
buildings and trees of the agricultural fair grounds were destroyed.
Some parts of the buildings were carried miles away by the storm.
THE CYCLONE AT WHITE BEAR AND MARINE, MINNESOTA, AND CLEAR LAKE,
WISCONSIN.
Sept. 9, 1884, a storm arose in Hennepin county and did some damage;
continuing to White Bear lake, Oneka and Grant, in Washington county,
it gathered force and proved very destructive to life and property. As
it passed through Oneka and Grant its path was about ten miles in
width. Churches, school houses, dwellings, barns, grain stacks, and
fences in its way were either partially or wholly destroyed, and the
wrecked property was distributed for miles around. The cyclone passed
on over Marine, Big Lake and Scandia, crossed the St. Croix, passed
over the town of Somerset, Star Prairie, New Richmond, in St. Croix
county, and over Black Brook, Clear Lake, Pineville and Clayton in
Polk county and Turtle Lake in Barron, pursuing the usual
northeasterly direction common to these cyclones, and disappearing in
terrific thunderstorms, in the timbered lands of Barron and Chippewa
counties. An eye witness, Mr. Ivory Hatch, of Oneka, thus describes
the approach of the storm:
"I was standing near a shed in the barnyard, when suddenly the sky
became black and threatening. In about five minutes I saw two
funnel-shaped clouds descend and approach each other. I started for
the house to warn my family, when, as quick as a flash, I was
enveloped in the cloud, and while clinging to a post for safety my
grain stacks and buildings disappeared. The storm did not continue
over a minute and a half. I escaped almost miraculously without a
bruise." The testimony of others in the neighborhood is substantially
the same. In the town of Oneka the destruction was worse than in any
other locality.
In the track of the storm through Washington county not less than
fifty houses were demolished. The loss on each averaged $600, making a
total of $30,000. Losses on barns, machinery and stock raised this sum
to $50,000. The loss at Marine was computed roughly at $75,000, which
made a total of $135,000, not including hay and grain. The entire loss
to Clear Lake was estimated at $200,000. Three persons lost their
lives, Mrs. P. Burdick, Willie Kavanagh and John Saunders. The
Methodist, Congregational and Swedish churches were leveled with the
ground. The timber losses were close to $1,000,000; private property
in villages, loss near $500,000, and all other losses, such as farm
property and the like, in the hundred thousands. The total loss in
Wisconsin has been placed at six lives and $4,000,000 in property.
THE ST. CLOUD AND SAUK RAPIDS CYCLONE OF 1886.
The most destructive storm yet recorded occurred on the afternoon of
April 14, 1886. The clouds were first seen from St. Cloud to gather a
short distance over the basin of the Masour cemetery about three
o'clock, Sunday afternoon, in dark, overhanging masses. Then sharp
tongues of lightning darted down with terrific force, and the storm
with all its fury burst upon the doomed cities. The south end, or
beginning of the cyclone track, was located two or three miles south
and a little west of St. Cloud and its total length was twenty-four
miles. The property destroyed amounted to over a quarter of a million
of dollars, and the loss of life at St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids was
seventy-five. If we include those who died later of injuries from
wounds, exposure and fright, we may safely say a hundred.
The first victim of the cyclone was Nicholas Junneman. The cyclone
rising, as we have said, over or near Calvary cemetery, for a space of
about three hundred yards in diameter the trees were uprooted or
twisted off, gravestones were thrown flat, and fences demolished.
Crossing over Calvary Hill, in a path about one hundred feet wide, it
wrecked the small Catholic chapel and badly injured the crucifix
located there. Next in its course was the farm house of Nicholas
Junneman which was left a pile of ruins, and Mr. Junneman was killed,
while his wife was dangerously injured. The first house struck within
the city limits was J. W. Tenvoorde's. Just across the street J.
Schwartz's two story brick house was almost wrecked. Here the path of
the tornado was about two hundred feet wide, and increased until by
the time it reached the Manitoba depot the width was six hundred feet,
taking in in its fearful embrace during the length of its course half
a hundred or more buildings, which were totally wrecked, moved from
their foundations, or more or less damaged. In many instances there
was nothing left to show where a house had stood, and the prairie was
covered far and wide with the debris of the demolished buildings. Over
fifty houses in St. Cloud were totally destroyed and as many more
badly damaged. Before striking the river it swerved slightly
northward, and thus the costly building blocks and crowded streets in
the heart of the city were spared. Had the cyclone veered in its
course more to the south, the loss of property and life in St. Cloud
would have been incalculable.
Striking the river the cyclone appeared to be almost motionless for a
few moments, or moved so slowly as to seem to hang over the face of
the water, its huge black column rising toward the zenith. Then
leaving the river, this monster of the air struck Sauk Rapids at
Stanton's large flouring mill, which was left a heap of ruins. It then
took Demeules' store and the Northern Pacific depot, and passed on
through the main business part of the place, leaving but one important
business house standing, Wood's store, which was badly damaged. Court
house, church, school building, post office, newspaper offices,
hotels, dwelling houses, all went down under the relentless power of
the storm. Streets were blockaded with the wreck so as to be
practically impassable. The list of dead out of a village of about
1,000 population included some of the leading county officials and
prominent citizens. Amongst them were John Renard, county auditor, and
Gregg Lindley, register of deeds; also Edgar Hull, president of the
German-American National Bank; E. G. Halbert, of the New York
Insurance Company, with whom Mr. Hull had just filed an application
for a $5,000 policy, was so badly injured that he died in a few days.
The destruction of property in Sauk Rapids was far greater than in St.
Cloud, as the business portion of the city was almost entirely swept
away. The loss of life was also proportionately greater.
After leaving Sauk Rapids the cyclone struck Rice's, a station on the
Northern Pacific road, about fourteen miles from the former village.
Some four miles southeast of the station, at the house of a farmer
named Schultz, a happy wedding party was gathered, a daughter of the
farmer having been married to Henry Friday, chairman of the board of
supervisors of Langola. Almost before they realized it the terrible
power of the storm encircled them, and in the twinkling of an eye nine
of the goodly company were mangled corpses, among the number being the
groom, while the bride was dangerously if not fatally injured. The
victims also included the Rev. G. J. Schmidt, pastor of the German
Evangelical church of Sauk Rapids. The Rev. Mr. Seeder, pastor of the
Two Rivers district, was found out on the prairie with both legs
broken.
At Buckman, Morrison county, several persons were killed, and six or
seven farm houses destroyed. The suffering caused by this most
terrible of cyclones evoked the liveliest sympathy, and large
contributions of money, food and clothing were forwarded by the
citizens of St. Paul, Minneapolis and other cities throughout the
State.
G. W. Benedict, of Sauk Rapids, relates his experience in the storm as
follows: "I was in the yard at my residence half a mile north of the
depot, when I heard a terrible deafening roar, and on looking up I saw
what first appeared to be a very heavy black volume of smoke from a
railroad engine, but in a moment I realized what it was. The volume of
black cloud soon increased to double its size, and had a funnel shape,
gyrating in a peculiar zigzag form. Untold amounts of debris of
houses, fences and everything above the surface were shooting and
flying with terrific velocity from the cloud, which took a northerly
direction. The horrible writhing demon of destruction, with its
deafening roar, increased in volume and force, and hurled to utter
destruction everything in its path, a great portion of which was
carried miles in the air out of sight as though but trifles of
lightest chaff."
Thos. Van Etten was walking on the street, going home, when the
cyclone struck the town, and he was bodily lifted into the air,
carried four hundred feet up a steep hill and landed in a street,
literally plastered over with mud. A young man fishing near the end of
the bridge, on the opposite side from Sauk Rapids, says that many of
the houses were lifted high in the air, and did not seem to be injured
until they were dashed to the ground, when they collapsed, and the
pieces were scattered in all directions. None of the very large number
of persons who went into a cellar for protection from the storm were
badly injured. The Fink family, the mother and four children of which
were almost instantly killed, were in a house which had an excellent
cellar, but the family forgot to utilize it. Near the ruins of the
Carpenter house is a tree about ten inches in diameter, through which
a pine board was driven so that it protruded at both sides of the
tree. The property loss in Benton county was estimated at $300,000,
and in St. Cloud at $56,000.
STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.
Some time in the '50s Messrs. Oaks, Rand, Witham, Carson, and twelve
other men were in a tent on the banks of Lake St. Croix, just below
the mouth of Willow river, during a severe thunder storm. It was about
9 o'clock P. M. when lightning struck the tent and passing down killed
Witham and Carson, and severely stunned Oaks and Rand. The other men
were not injured, but, being badly frightened, ran away, and did not
return till the following morning, when they found two of the men
supposed killed still alive, but dazed and motionless. The two killed
were lying close together, while Mr. Oaks lay upon one side and Mr.
Rand upon the other. The lightning had struck the men who were killed
upon the head, and traversing the body had passed out below the
ankles. The current of electricity had passed up the arm of Mr. Oaks
and down his body, burning spots the size of a pea, and plowing lines
under the skin, the scars of which, after recovery, were raised in
welts nearly as large as a whipcord. Mr. Oaks was nearly a year
recovering. He says that during the time he lay motionless and
apparently stunned he was in full possession of his faculties. Mr.
Rand had one side of his body burned to a blister. Prior to this he
had been affected with weak eyes, but the electrical treatment there
received effected a complete cure.
ASIATIC CHOLERA.
Minnesota was early visited by this scourge of the eastern world. It
was brought up the river on the crowded steamers and created the
utmost consternation, and even panic. No one on board the Royal Arch,
May, 1853, can forget the dreadful scenes upon this boat. The first
case occurred at Galena, that of a child, and the next at La Crosse,
that of a woman, who was put ashore in a dying condition twenty miles
above. From thence to St. Paul the boat was a floating hospital, and
thirteen corpses lay under a canvas on the lower deck.
Notwithstanding the ghastly freight carried by the steamer, and its
sick and dying passengers in the cabin above, kind hearts sympathized
and kind hands were extended to help; and the dead were buried and
every thing possible was done for the sick and suffering survivors,
many of whom died after being carried ashore at St. Paul. What these
good Samaritans did was at the risk of their own lives, and more than
one, among them Henry P. Pratt, editor of the St. Paul _Minnesotian_,
sickened and died from infection caught by ministering to the stricken
ones.
DECREE OF CITIZENSHIP.
The first naturalization papers on record in Minnesota are somewhat
unique, and for that reason worthy of preservation, and are herewith
presented _et literatim_:
DECREE OF CITIZENSHIP.
TERRITORY OF WISCONSIN,
ST. CROIX COUNTY.
I, William Willim, an alien by birth, aged twenty-six years,
do hereby, upon my oath, make known that I was born in the
county of Hereford, in the kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, on the twenty-sixth day of June, A. D. 1821; that I
emigrated from the kingdom aforesaid, and landed in New
York, in the state of New York, on the first day of October,
1838; that I was at that time a minor aged seventeen years,
and that I have since that time resided in the United States
of America; that it is my _bona fide_ intention to become a
citizen of the United States, to renounce forever all
allegiance and fidelity which I, in anywise, owe to any
foreign power, potentate, state or sovereignty whatever, and
more particularly all allegiance and fidelity which I, in
anywise, owe to Victoria, queen of Great Britain, of whom I
have heretofore been a subject, and, further that I do not
possess any hereditary title, or belong to any of the order
of nobility in the kingdom from whence I came; so help me
God.
WILLIAM WILLIM.
Sworn and subscribed to before me on this eighteenth day of
June, 1847, in open court.
JOSEPH R. BROWN,
_Clerk of District Court of St. Croix County, Wisconsin Territory._
Another oath, such as is now administered, to support the constitution
of the United States, was signed and attested in like manner.
BURNING OF THE INTERNATIONAL HOTEL.
On a clear, cold night in February, 1869, the International Hotel,
located at the corner of Seventh and Jackson streets, took fire and
was speedily consumed. The alarm was sounded at two o'clock in the
morning. The hotel was crowded with boarders, among whom were many
members of the legislature, then in session, and their families. The
writer occupied a room on the second floor and was among the first
aroused. Hastily seizing my trunk I hurried down stairs and returned
to assist others, but was stopped by the smoke at the entrance. The
guests of the house were pouring from every outlet. A group of ladies
had escaped to the sidewalk, partly clad, some with bare feet. Ladders
were placed to the windows to save those who had failed to escape in
the hallway. Senators C. A. Gilman and Seagrave Smith, with their
wives, were rescued in this manner. Many diverting circumstances
occurred illustrative of nonchalance, coolness and daring, as well as
of bewilderment and panic.
Senator Armstrong tried in vain to throw his trunk from a window in
which it was wedged fast and was obliged to leave it to the flames.
Judge Meeker came out of the house carrying his clothing upon his arm,
having a shawl wrapped round his head, and bewailing the loss of the
maps and charts of Meeker's dam. Seagrave Smith tarried too long
searching for a senate bill, and narrowly escaped sharing the fate of
the bill. Many of the guests escaped in their night clothing, and
carrying their clothing with them completed their toilet standing in
the snow in the light of the burning building. Considering the
rapidity of the fire, and the hour at which it occurred it seemed
marvelous that no lives were lost.
GRASSHOPPERS.
Minnesota has been visited at intervals by that scourge of some of the
Western States, grasshoppers. The first visitation was from the
Selkirk (now Manitoba) settlement, about 1838-9. The pests are said to
have accompanied some of the early immigrants from Selkirk who came
down to the reservation about Fort Snelling. They made yearly
visitations and threatened to become a serious obstacle to the
settlement of the country. Some seasons they proved quite destructive.
In 1874-5-6-7 the state legislature made appropriations to relieve
those suffering from their ravages in the western and southwestern
parts of the State. There were also large private contributions to the
relief fund. One of the acts passed at the session of 1877
appropriated $100,000 for bounties to pay for the destruction of
grasshoppers and their eggs. Townships and villages were also
authorized to levy taxes for the destruction of the common enemy, and
$75,000 was appropriated to furnish seed grain for those who had lost
their crops, and $5,000 was voted for a common relief fund. Special
prayers were offered for an abatement of the scourge. In 1877, when
the grasshopper appeared in myriads again, the governor appointed a
day of fasting and prayer for riddance from the calamity. From some
unknown cause the grasshoppers disappeared, and have not since
returned in such numbers as to prove a plague. These grasshoppers were
a species known as the Rocky Mountain locusts.
ANCIENT MOUNDS.
The valley of the Mississippi and the valleys of its tributary streams
abound with mounds of various sizes and fashions, circular, oval or
oblong, serpentine and sometimes irregular in outline, and all works
of intelligence and design, wrought by some ancient people for
purposes now not fully known. It is probable, however, that some were
used as places of defense, others were built for sacrificial or
religious purposes, others for sepulture, and others still may be the
remains of dwellings. Most of them contain relics, coins or implements
made of shells, of flints and in some instances of baked earthenware,
and lastly human remains. These relics are not necessarily of
cotemporaneous date, and many of them are comparatively modern. Such
mounds were used for burial places long after their original builders
had passed away.
That they are very ancient is unquestionable. They outdate the
traditions of the Indians who inhabited this country at the date of
its discovery, while the most ancient remains taken from them indicate
as their builders a people widely different from the present
aborigines, and possessed of arts unknown to them. Conjecture points
to a race from the South, probably the Aztecs, as the mound builders.
This race was exterminated in some way, or driven away by some
stronger tribes, who may in turn have given place to our present race
of Indians. A full description of these ancient works would require
volumes; we can therefore allude only to a few that may be considered
typical specimens of their class.
At Prairie Village, now Waukesha, Wisconsin, in 1836, the writer saw a
mound six feet high, representing a tortoise, the head, feet and tail
being still distinctly traceable. Many mounds exist at Prairie du
Chien, some quite large, and of varying shape, some representing
inclosures or fortifications, with gateways or openings. These are
located on the high bluffs east of the Prairie. Many of these, very
distinct in the early days, are now almost obliterated by the
plowshare of the farmer and the spade of the relic hunter.
The builders of the ancient mounds certainly exercised great taste in
their location, as they are generally found in pleasant localities, on
grassy plateaus or elevated lands, and by the shores of lakes and
streams. Some, originally built on plains, have since been overgrown
with trees. In some cases trees of immense size have been found
growing even on the summit of the mounds. The most notable mounds of
the St. Croix valley are at Vasa village, in Marine township,
Washington county, Minnesota, and in the neighborhood of Osceola
Mills, Polk county, Wisconsin. We append notes of a survey of the
latter, made in 1870. They are sixteen in number and we mention only
the most remarkable.
No. 1 is of circular form, 20 feet in height and 60 in diameter. Trees
2 feet in diameter are found on this mound. Mound No. 2 has a diameter
of 90 feet, and was originally 30 feet high; at present but 20. This
mound is also of circular formation. Mound No. 3 is circular in form,
36 feet in diameter and 2 feet high. Mound No. 4 is circular, 40 feet
in diameter and 5 feet high. Mound No. 5 is oblong and 40×60 feet in
dimensions, and 4 feet high. The largest and finest of these mounds
have been nearly destroyed by the encroachments of the road makers.
These mounds are located two miles north of Osceola, on Close creek.
Alanson Thompson made a homestead of the land on which they are
situated, and built his home immediately in the rear of the two larger
mounds. His garden included many of the mounds.
Mr. T. H. Lewis, of St. Paul, made a later survey of these ancient
mounds. In the group north of the creek and near the school house,
which he classifies as the upper group, he finds ninety-six well
developed mounds, and some of them of peculiar shape and great
interest. In the group south of the creek, which he calls the lower
group, he finds forty-nine mounds, a total of one hundred and
forty-five in the two groups; at least five times as many as has been
supposed to be there.
But one of the mounds is an effigy mound, and this is not clearly
defined, plowing in the field having disturbed the outline of the
effigy. The most of them contain bones, as has long been known, and
Mr. Lewis finds in them shell relics, which are rarely found in any
mounds; also pottery, and beads made from shells.
Another peculiar mound not included in this description may be found
on the bluff overlooking the St. Croix, not far from the Close creek
series of mounds. It is over one hundred feet in length and serpentine
in form, one end being enlarged to represent the head. There are also
fine specimens of ancient mounds on Chisago lake, near Centre City and
Chisago City.
The subject is a fascinating one to the archaeologist, but it behooves
him to make haste with his investigations, as these marvelous works
are rapidly disappearing, being dug over by the irresponsible and
unscientific relic hunter, or worn down by the plow, or carted away
for loose earth to mend a roadway or fill a sinkhole.
LAKE ITASCA.
The Mississippi appropriately takes its name at the outlet of Lake
Itasca, its reputed source. This lake, although known to the fur
company adventurers of the eighteenth, and the early part of the
nineteenth centuries, received the name Itasca in 1832 from
Schoolcraft and Boutwell. A complete account of the naming of the lake
will be found in the biography of Rev. W. T. Boutwell, attached to the
history of Pine county in this work. Itasca lies in range 36,
townships 133 and 134, and is about three miles in length by one and
one-half in width. Its title to the distinction of being the true
source of the Mississippi has been frequently called in question.
There are tributary lakes of smaller size lying near it, connected
with it by small streams, barely navigable for birch canoes. Elk lake,
a body of water three-fourths of a mile in length, lying south, is
connected with it by a stream 25 links wide and 30 rods in length.
Elk lake has an influent stream 2 miles in length, which drains a
swamp lying south.
Another stream from the south, two miles in length, flows into Itasca,
and has its source in a lake one-fourth of a mile long. As this lake
has not been named in any original or later township map, United
States Surveyor Chandler, Chief Clerk B. C. Baldwin and the writer, in
January, 1887, agreed to give it the name of Boutwell, in honor of the
devoted missionary who visited Itasca in company with Schoolcraft in
1832. This lake is really the source of the Mississippi, though from
its small size is not likely to receive general recognition as such.
Lakes Itasca, Elk and Boutwell lie in range 36, township 143, west of
the 5th principal meridian, United States survey, latitude 47.10, and
longitude 95.30 west from Greenwich United States survey. The lands
bordering on and adjacent to these lakes were surveyed in October,
1875, by Edwin Hall, and lie in Beltrami county, which was named after
an Italian traveler who visited this section in 1823.
Hon. B. C. Baldwin, a member of the Minnesota constitutional
convention of 1857, told the writer that when surveying government
lands in 1874, he discovered in range 37, township 143, six miles west
of Itasca, a lake two and a half miles in length, without inlet or
outlet, the waters apparently rising, as trees were standing in the
water near the shore and submerged at least eight feet. Small lakes of
similar character were also discovered. Twelve miles west of Itasca
the tributaries of the Red River of the North have their source.
The latest claim made as to the discovery of the source of the
Missispippi is that of Capt. Willard Glazier, who, in 1881, claimed to
have discovered Elk lake as the source of the Mississippi. The
Minnesota State Historical Society promptly repudiated his
assumptions, and protested against affixing to Elk lake the name
Glazier, as the captain was in no sense a discoverer, either of the
lake or its connections with Itasca, the adjacent lands having been
surveyed in 1875, and partially covered with claims in 1881. With far
more justice we might claim for Lake Boutwell, a more remote lake, the
distinguished honor of being the true source of the Mississippi.
COPPER MINING ON THE ST. CROIX.
As early as 1842, a company, composed of the Harris brothers and
others, of Galena, Illinois, prospected in the Upper St. Croix valley
for copper. Their superintendent, Mr. Crosby, located a mineral permit
at Pine island, one mile above St. Croix Falls, where he found rich
specimens. Citizens and operatives at St. Croix Mills gave liberally
to aid the enterprise, but Mr. Crosby's health having failed he left
expecting to spend the winter in Cuba, but sickened and died at New
Orleans, and the mining enterprise of the Galena company was never
resumed.
In 1847, a Boston company, composed of Caleb Cushing, Robert Rantoul,
Dexter and Harrington, and others, of Boston, and some other
capitalists, located a mineral permit one mile square at St. Croix
Falls, and another of the same dimensions on the St. Croix and Kettle
River rapids. This proved to be a speculative scheme of Boston and
Washington capitalists and politicians.
In 1848, David Dale Owen, a prominent geologist, made an exploration
of the territory now included in Minnesota and Wisconsin and published
a report. His work being done at the order of the government, he was
accompanied by a corps of scientific men, and had time and means to
make thorough investigations. He reported that the trap rock ranges of
the St. Croix, a continuation of the copper ranges of Superior, are
rich in specimens of copper. These ranges crop out every few miles in
a southwesterly direction from Superior. The most southerly are those
known as the Dalles of the St. Croix, including as a part the
Franconia ledge three miles below. The Kanabec river range crops out
near Chengwatana. The Kettle river range crosses the St. Croix further
north.
In 1865 the Minnesota legislature placed the sum of $1,000 in the
hands of N. C. D. Taylor for the purpose of examining and reporting
the different mineral prospects on the St. Croix and its tributaries.
He reported the Kettle river veins as being very promising. Mr. Taylor
sunk a shaft in a locality in Taylor's Falls to a depth of forty feet
and found excellent indications of copper, and some good specimens. He
reports most of the rock in the St. Croix valley above Taylor's Falls
to be of the different kinds of trap rock, with belts of conglomerate
running through them in a direction from northeast to southwest, the
conglomerate being most abundant on the Kettle river. There are
limited patches of sandstone which in places contain marine shells,
but no rock in place. Prof. Hall says of the Taylor's Falls vein that
it is a very distinct vein and shows quite equal to the early showing
of many of the best paying mines of Superior. He regards the Kettle
river vein as one of the most promising yet found in the country.
Other veins have been discovered in the vicinity of the St. Croix
Dalles. Considerable money has been spent in prospecting and
development, but more capital is needed than miners have yet been able
to obtain.
Taylor's Falls Copper Mining Company was organized Dec. 15, 1874, W.
H. C. Folsom, president; Geo. W. Seymour, secretary; Levi W. Folsom,
treasurer; David A. Caneday, mining agent. They sunk a shaft one
hundred and thirty feet deep and found good indications. This mine was
worked in 1875-76, at an expenditure of over $5,000. Excellent
specimens were found but not in paying quantities. The rock increased
in richness as the shaft sunk in depth. The work was suspended for
want, of material aid. There is but little doubt that as the valley
becomes known and populated, that as wealth increases, the mineral
resources of the country are better known, mining will become a
prominent and profitable industry.
REMINISCENCES OF REV. JULIUS S. WEBBER.[K]
We reached Stillwater, June 3, 1850, and moved into the Elfelt house
on North Hill. The village contained at that time about thirty
dwellings, two hotels, three stores, and a number of saloons. Three
religious denominations held services each Sabbath, the missionaries
in charge alternating through the successive Sabbaths, and supporting
in addition a union prayer meeting and Sabbath-school, of which Capt.
Wm. Holcomb was the first superintendent. The meetings were held in a
school house on Third street.
My appointments outside of Stillwater were at Willow River, Kinnikinic
and Prescott, Wisconsin, and at Cottage Grove and Point Douglas in
Minnesota. In 1852 Rev. S. T. Catlin was appointed to that part of my
field lying east of the St. Croix river, and I formed appointments at
Arcola, Marine, Taylor's and St. Croix Falls. We organized a Baptist
society at Stillwater, Oct. 26, 1850, consisting of eight members;
Rev. J. P. Parsons and wife, Dean A. H. Cavender and wife of St. Paul,
J. S. Webber and wife, constituting a council of recognition. Rev. J.
P. Parsons preached the sermon of recognition, and J. S. Webber
extended the right hand of fellowship. The first baptism by immersion
in the county was administered in a large spring just below Nelson's
store, Jan. 30, 1853, the waters of the spring being free from ice.
The candidate was Margaret Towner, of Pembina. In 1853 I made a tour
of the Minnesota valley to Mankato. On the first day, September 23d, I
traveled from Fort Snelling to Shakopee and saw not a human habitation
nor a human being on the trail. At Shakopee I found a home with Judge
Dowling. On the next day I traveled to Le Sueur. On Sabbath morning I
preached at Traverse des Sioux, and in the afternoon I went to
Mankato, and stopped at the house of Mr. Hannah, where I preached in
the evening, to a congregation that had come together hastily from the
neighborhood, the first sermon preached in Mankato. On the
twenty-sixth I preached the first sermon at Le Seuer, and the first
sermon at Shakopee on my return.
In 1854 I opened on the South Hill, known later as Nelson's addition
to Stillwater, a school known as Washington Seminary, which received
liberal patronage from the citizens of Stillwater and surrounding
country. In May, 1855, I sold the school to Mr. Kent, and it passed
into the hands of an Episcopal clergyman. I returned to New York where
I have since lived, pursuing my calling, which has suffered thus far
no interruption from sickness or infirmities.
The remembrance of my association with the people of the St. Croix
valley is pleasant. Amongst the most pleasant of my recollections are
those of the lumbermen of St. Croix, who often made up a large portion
of my congregation. They were kind and courteous, attentive hearers
and valued as friends and associates.
AN AMUSING INCIDENT.
An amusing incident occurred in Carver county, in Judge E. O. Hamlin's
district (an account of which was published in "The Drawer" of
Harper's _Monthly_, some years after it occurred). Judge Hamlin,
going to Chaska to hold his first term of court in Carver county,
found the sheriff absent, and his deputy, a foreigner who could speak
English very imperfectly, ignorant alike of his duties and of the
language in which they were to be performed, confessed his entire
ignorance of "how to open court," but said he could read writing.
Therefore Judge Hamlin wrote out the form for opening court, and
instructed him when the order was given for "the sheriff to open
court," to stand up and read distinctly the form prepared for him.
This was in the usual terms, beginning "Hear ye, hear ye, all manner
of persons having any business," etc., etc., and ending with "come
forward and give your attendance, and you shall be heard." At the hour
fixed the court room was reasonably well filled. Parties, witnesses
and jurors, together with the district attorney (who at that time went
with the judge over the whole district) were in attendance. The judge
was on the bench, and the deputy sheriff, fully conscious of the
dignity of his office, awaited the order of the judge. Upon being told
to "make proclamation for the opening of court," this officer arose,
and holding the written form before his eyes, roared out in stentorian
tones: "_Here we are! Here we are!_" and running through the remainder
of the form closed with "come forward and give your attendance, and
you _will be sure to be here_!" The air of importance with which it
was said, together with his self complacency in the discharge of his
new duties, was scarcely less amusing than the mistake he had made.
Its effect may be better imagined than described.
THE OLD SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
By an act of the legislature approved May 33, 1857, the "Old Settlers
Association" was incorporated with the following charter members: H.
H. Sibley, Socrates Nelson, Franklin Steele, A. L. Larpenteur, Wm.
Holcombe, Wm. H. Randall, Wm. Hartshorn, Cornelius Lyman, Lorenzo A.
Babcock, J. D. Ludden, David Olmsted, H. M. Rice, Alex. Ramsey, Wm. R.
Marshall, Jos. R. Brown, Chas. W. Borup, Henry Jackson, Martin McLeod,
Norman W. Kittson, Vetal Guerin, J. W. Selby, Aaron Goodrich, and
Philander Prescott. These members, with those whom they might
associate with them, were duly empowered to buy, sell, hold property,
to sue or be sued, to receive donations, to keep a common seal, and to
enjoy all the franchises incident to a corporate body.
It was provided that no person should be eligible to a membership who
had not been a resident of the Territory prior to Jan. 1, 1850. The
seal of the association was devised by Aaron Goodrich. On the two
sides of the seal were represented the past and the future. In the
background of the side representing the past is delineated a plain; in
the distance are seen the last rays of the declining sun; nearer are
seen Indian hunters, their lodges, women and children, and a herd of
buffalo.
Prominent in the foreground of the side representing the future stands
an aged man with silvered hair; he leans upon his staff; he is in the
midst of a cemetery; the spire of a church is seen in the distance; as
he turns from a survey of the various monuments which mark the resting
place of departed old settlers, his eye rests upon a new made grave.
It is that of his last associate; _he is the last survivor_; his
companions have fallen asleep. A group of children in the foreground
represents the rising generation of Minnesota which shall reap the
fruits of the pioneer's toil.
[Illustration: SEAL OF THE ASSOCIATION.]
ORGANIZATION.
The first meeting of the Old Settlers Association was held, in
pursuance of public notice, at the hall of the Historical Society of
Minnesota, in the capitol, in St. Paul, on Saturday, Feb. 27, 1858.
On motion of Judge Goodrich, his excellency Henry H. Sibley was
unanimously elected president. Hon. Aaron Goodrich and Hon. L. A.
Babcock were unanimously elected vice presidents, A. L. Larpenteur,
Esq., secretary, and J. W. Bass, Esq. treasurer. After which Gov.
Sibley addressed the meeting in a manner able, pertinent and feeling.
Several other members spoke.
On motion a committee of three was appointed by the chair to report
by-laws for the government of the association. Also a committee of
three to report such measures as shall be deemed best calculated to
effectuate the objects of the charter.
The president appointed H. L. Moss, L. A. Babcock and T. R. Potts
committee on by-laws, and Aaron Goodrich, B. W. Lott and Chas. S. Cave
committee on charter.
Judge Goodrich said this occasion was one of deep and abiding interest
to the pioneers of Minnesota; that there were epochs in our history
that should be commemorated. He desired that the first day of June be
fixed upon as the day for the future meetings of the association; he
named this day for the reason that on the first day of June, 1849, the
local organization of this Territory took place.
The following resolution was adopted:
_Resolved, That the annual meeting of this association be held_ on the
first day of June, providing that when said month shall commence on
the Sabbath, said meeting shall be held on the following Monday.
On motion of Judge Goodrich the following preamble and resolution were
adopted:
WHEREAS, The object of this association and the individuals composing
the same are closely _allied_ to and identified with that of the
Historical Society of Minnesota, therefore
_Resolved_, That up to the period in which this association shall
possess a hall in which to meet, its place of meeting shall be the
hall of said Historical Society.
As a matter of history we record the names of the members originally
and subsequently enrolled.
Ames, Michael E.*
Ayer, Frederick.*
Abbott, G. S.+
Altenberg, William.*
Armstrong, William.+
Atkinson, John W.
Anderson, John.+
Arpin, A.*
Babcock, Lorenzo A.*
Bailly, Alexis.*
Bass, Jacob W.
Beatty, James.
Banfill, John.*
Barton, Thomas.*
Bazille, Charles.*
Becker, George L.
Berard, Antoine.+
Bevans, Henry L.*
Black, Mahlon.
Bautien. V.+
Beaulieu, Clement H.
Beau, James.+
Bishop. Thornton.
Beaupre, Philip.
Blackburn, John T.
Burns, Hugh.
Berriwick, J.*
Blair, O. H.*
Boutwell, W. T.
Blakeley, Russell.
Bolles, Lemuel.*
Borup, Chas. W. W.*
Bostwiek, Lardner.*
Bradley, J.*
Brady, Patrick.*
Brawley, Daniel J.*
Brisette, Edmond.*
Bromley, C. B.
Brown, Joseph R.*
Brown, Wm. R.*
Brunson, Benj. W
Bryant, Alden.+
Buffit, C.+
Burkelo, Samuel.*
Bottineau, Pierre.
Bettington, John C.+
Beauchier, Francis.+
Besour, A. C.*
Bailly John.+
Boal, James Mc C.*
Campbell, George W.*
Cavalier, Charles.
Cave, Chas. S.
Cavender, A. H.
Chute, Rirchard.
Clewitt, James R.*
Colter, William.*
Conway, Chas. R.
Cooper, David.*
Cormack, John.*
Cave, William.
Culver, George.*
Culver, J. B.*
Connell, William.+
Cummings, R. W.
Curtis, Harley.*
Chapman, John J.+
Cloutier, A.+
Colby, Wm. F.
Colter, Charles.
Carlie, C.*
Chase, A. M.
Comer, Elias H.
Church, Cal.+
Dana, Napoleon, J. T.
Day, David.
Day, James.*
Dayton, Lyman.*
Desmarais, Louis.
Desnoyers, Stephen.*
Dewey, John J.
Dibble, William B.*
Doe, William E.*
Day, Henry T.
Day, Leonard P.*
Dorr, Caleb D.
Dobney, John.
Durant, E. W.
Day, William P.+
Dudley, John.
Davis, Patten W.
Dresser, Horace.+
Elfelt, Charles D.
Ely, Edmund F.*
Ellison, Smith.
Eddy, Frank S.*
Eldridge, Ariel.
Eaton, Alonzo.+
Elfelt, L. C.*
Faribault, J. B.*
Faribault, Alex.*
Farrington, G. W.+
Fisher, Jacob.
Forbes, W. H.*
Ford, J. A.+
Finch, T. M.+
Findley, S. J.*
Foster, A. D.*
Foster, Thomas.*
Freeborn, William.*
French, A. R.*
Folsom, S. P.
Furber, J. W.*
Furber, P. P.*
Fuller, A. G.+
Folsom, W. H. C.
Fox, Patrick.
Fairbanks, John H.
Foster, Henry.+
Furber, Theodore.
Fisk, Frank.
Folsom, Edgar.
Folsom, Ward W.
Farnham, S. W.
Fillmore, R. G.
Fisher, John.
Finn, William.
Farnham, Rufus, Jr.
Gammel, Irenus.*
Gibbs, H.R.
Gilman, David.*
Godfrey, Ard.
Goodrich, Aaron.*
Greely, Elam.*
Guerin, Vetal.*
Gautier, Napoleon.
Guernsey, W.H.
Glenn, Samuel.*
Getchel, W. W.
Gervais, Benjamin.
Gardner, Charles R.
Gardner, John C.*
Gray, Isaac.
Guion, Joseph.
Hartshorn, W.*
Hartshorn, W. E.
Hobart, Chancey.
Holcombe, William.*
Holmes, Thomas.*
Hoyt, B. F.*
Hoyt, Lorenzo.
Hopkins, Daniel.*
Hopkins, Peter.
Humphrey, J. K.
Harris, George.
Holton, John.*
Houghton, George.
Houghton, James.
Haskell, Joseph.
Hone, David.*
Henkly, J. S.+
Hoffman, James.+
Haskill, Hiram.+
Hetherington, Thomas,*
Holcombe, W. W.
Hill, Lewis.
Irvine, J. R.*
Irvine, B. F.
Jackson, Henry.*
Jarvis, W. H.*
Johnson, P. K.
Johnson, R. W.
Jackins, John.*
Jackman, H. A.
Kellogg, M. N.
Kennedy, Robert.
Kittson, N. W.*
Keogh, James.
Knox, M. C.
Kent, William.
Kattenberg, Henry.
Lambert, H. A.*
Larpenteur, E. N.*
Larpenteur, A. L.
Lennon, J. G.*
Lennon, J. E.
Leavitt, Martin.
Lull, C. P. V.
Lyman, Cornelius S.*
Lott, B. W.*
Ludden, J. D.
Leonard, C. E.
Loomis, D. B.
Lowry, S. B.*
Lyman, Stoers B.
Lyman, David P.
McKenny, J. H.*
McKenzie, J. G.
Masterson, H. F.
McKusick, John.
McKusick, J. E.
Mitchell, J. B. H.
Marshall, W. R.
McLeod, Martin.*
McCleod, Alexander.*
McLean, N.*
Murphy, Edward.*
Meeker, Bradley B.*
Murphy, Alfred C.+
McKusick, William.
McHattie, Alexander.
Manaege, Peter.
Mackey, Andrew.
McDonald, R.+
Masier, Josiah.*
Marks, Isaac.*
Moreau, Charles.*
Mahoney, Wm.*
Mahoney, Jeremiah.
Morgan, John.*
Moffett, Lot.*
Morrison, W. C.
Morrison, Allen.*
Morton, T. F.*
Moss, H. L.
Murray, M. P.
Murphy, J. W.
Myrick, Nathan.
McComb, J. D.
McKean, Elias.
McMullen, James.+
McLean, Henry.+
Masterman, Joseph.
Mause, John.
Mower, Wm.*
Mower, Martin.
Mower, John E.*
Mosher, Jacob.
McHale, M.+
McHattie, John.
McLery, Charles.+
Moulton, E. (Jr.)+
McCarty, A.+
Manse, Charles.+
Neill, E. D.
Nichols, G. C.*
Nelson, Socrates.*
Nobles, W. H.*
Norris, J. S.*
North, J. W.
Northrup, Anson.
Newbury, H. H.
Oakes, C. H.*
Oakes, David.*
Odel, T. S.*
Olmsted, David.*
Owens, J. P.*
Parker, Rodney.*
Perin, Moses.
Potts, T. R.*
Prescott, Philander.*
Presley, Bartley.*
Pomeroy, J. H.
Proctor, J. S.
Pond, G. H.
Powers, Simon.*
Potter, Colver.+
Perro, Joseph.
Parker, L. N.
Parsons, Oliver.
Quinn, W. B.
Quinn, Peter.+
Randall, B. H.
Randolph, S. R.*
Ramsey, Alexander.
Ramsey, J. C.*
Ravoux, Auguste.
Reed, C. M.*
Rice, H. M.
Rice, Edmund.
Robertson, Andrew.*
Rice, C. R.*
Robert, Louis.*
Robert, Joseph.*
Richardson, R. M.
Rollins, John.*
Rose, Isaac.*
Russell, R. P.
Russell, Jeremiah.*
Riggs, S. R.*
Robert, Alexis.+
Roy, Peter.*
Russell, William.
Rohrer, Daniel.
Robert, Nelson.
Rogers, John.
Ramsden, Thomas.
Rutherford, Wm.*
Rogers, Richard.+
Rutherford, James.*
Selby, J. W.*
Simons, Orlando.
Simpson, J. W.*
Simpson, Robert.
Shaffer, C. E.
Shearer, A. L.*
Sherman, M.
Spencer, J. B.
Spicer, Nathan.+
Shelley, E. Y.
Steele, Franklin.*
Spencer, John H.+
Sawyer, Seth M.*
Spates, Samuel.+
Somerville, John.+
Stevens, J. H.
Stone, Lewis.*
Sturgis, W.*
Sweet, G. W.
Setzer, H. N.
Stanchfield, Sam.*
Sibley, H. H.
Stinson, C. F.+
Santel, A.+
Staples, Josiah.+
Shamley, John+
Sanford, H. S.+
Shearer, James.
Stratton, L. W.*
Scott, C. P.+
Short, A. J.
Shoasby, John.*
Stiles, W. L.+
Taylor, J. L.
Taylor, Jesse W.*
Taylor, N. C. D.*
Terry, J. C.
Tinker, W. H.
Thompson, James (colored).*
Trask, Sylvanus.
Trower, John.+
Thompson, G. W.*
Terry, Robert.*
Van Voorhes A.*
Villaume, Thomas.*
Von Tassel, William.*
Walker, Orange.*
Whitaker, E. H.
Whitney, J. C.
Wilkinson, M. S.
Wilkin, Alex.*
Wells, James.*
Wilson, Harvey.*
Woodbury, Warren.*
Willoughby, A.*
Wright, Thomas.+
Williamson, T. S.*
Willim, William.
Wilmarth, Alvin M.
Wallis, John.+
Worthingham, Wm.+
White, Asa.*
Westing, Henry.*
Welshance, M.*
Williams, D. D.*
Whalen, Patrick.*
Yorks, J. C.
[Note: * Deceased.]
[Note: + Unknown.]
OBJECTS AND ORGANIZATION.
The society was organized in 1849 by a few of the pioneers of the
Territory, and incorporated by an act of the first territorial
legislature, approved Oct. 20, 1849, this being the first literary
institution organized in the Territory; and its "library," then only a
few volumes, was the first ever established in Minnesota. The original
charter of the society stated its objects to be: "The collection and
preservation of a library, mineralogical and geological specimens,
Indian curiosities, and other matters and things connected with, and
calculated to illustrate and perpetuate the history and settlement of
said Territory." The amended charter of 1856 enacted: "The objects of
said society, with the enlarged powers and duties herein provided,
shall be in addition to the collection and preservation of
publications, manuscripts, antiquities, curiosities, and other things
pertaining to the social, political and natural history of Minnesota,
to cultivate among the citizens thereof a knowledge of the useful and
liberal arts, science and literature."
The work of this society may therefore be formulated thus:
I. (1) The collection, (2) the preservation, (3) the publication of
materials for the history of Minnesota and its people.
II. The collection and management of a library containing useful works
of reference on the most valuable departments of knowledge.
III. The diffusion among citizens of the State of useful knowledge.
ITS PROGRESS.
In the early days of the Territory, owing to its want of means, the
sparse population and its poverty, and the infancy of the commonwealth
generally, the society accomplished but little beyond collecting some
information regarding the early history of this region, and printing
the same in several pamphlet volumes. In 1864 it had only eight
hundred and forty volumes in its library. It was then reorganized, and
with the aid of a small annual appropriation from the State, since
enlarged, has been able to make very gratifying progress.
ITS PRESENT CONDITION.
It has now comfortable apartments in the state capitol, a building
believed to be fireproof; a sufficient income to pay its current
expenses, granted partly by the State and partly contributed by its
members; one of the largest and most valuable libraries in the State,
containing 22,000 volumes of choice works, together with a cabinet or
museum of historical and archælogical curiosities, and a number of
historical pictures, engravings, manuscripts, etc. An endowment fund
of several thousand dollars, accumulated by gifts and membership fees;
two lots, eligibly situated, on which at no distant day, will be
erected a fireproof building.
PROPOSED BUILDING FOR THE SOCIETY.
Reference was made before to the building lots of the society. These
were purchased by a subscription of the members in 1855, for the sum
of $1,500, in hopes that the society would be enabled to erect thereon
a fireproof building for its use, but up to this time it has not been
able to do so. The lots are now valued at $20,000 or more. Several
months ago an effort was made by the president of the society to raise
enough by subscription to insure the commencement of a building to
cost, completed, $50,000; of this amount $14,500 was subscribed, and
it is believed that there are liberal and public spirited citizens of
our State who will contribute the balance when called on, or provide,
by will, for bequests in its aid. Such an edifice would be a
perpetual monument to their generosity and public spirit, and would be
an inestimable boon to succeeding generations, who will frequent our
library in pursuit of knowledge.
PRESIDENTS OF THE OLD SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
1858. Henry H. Sibley.
1859. Socrates Nelson.
1860. J. E. McKusick.
1861. Wm. H. Nobles.
1862. Dr. T. R. Potts.
1863. Frank Steele.
1864. R. M. Richardson.
1865. John D. Ludden.
1866. Socrates Nelson.
1867. Abram Van Voorhes.
1868. Henry H. Sibley.
1869. Nathaniel McLean.
1870. Bartlett Presley.
1871. John H. Stevens.
1872. George L. Becker.
1873. David B. Loomis.
1874. Henry M. Rice.
1875. Alex. Ramsey.
1876. Norman W. Kittson.
1877. Charles H. Oakes.
1878. Mahlon Black.
1879. Charles E. Leonard.
1880. Benj. H. Randall.
1881. S. P. Folsom.
1882. Jacob W. Bass.
1883. Benj. W. Brunson.
1884. Clement H. Beaulieu.
1885. Henry L. Moss.
1886. R. W. Johnson.
1887. Anson Northrup.
1888. David Day.
Judge Goodrich was secretary of the Old Settlers Association from 1859
until his death, in 1887.
THE ST. CROIX VALLEY OLD SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
This association was organized Nov. 5, 1875, at the office of Durant &
Wheeler, in the city of Stillwater. Charles E. Leonard was elected
president, and David B. Loomis, secretary. The latter has been
re-elected and served continuously to the present time. It is a
requisite that members shall have been residents in the Northwest
prior to 1850.
The following have been presidents of the association, the term of
service being limited to one year:
1875. D. B. Loomis.
1876. Christopher Carli.
1877. W. T. Boutwell.
1878. John D. Ludden.
1879. Henry L. Moss.
1880. Wm. R. Marshall.
1881. Daniel Mears.
1882. Henry A. Jackman.
1883. W. H. C. Folsom.
1884. Edward W. Durant.
1885. Albert Stimson.
1886. Henry N. Setzer.
1887. Morton S. Wilkinson.
The annual meetings are held on or about the middle of September, at
Stillwater.
NEWSPAPER HISTORY IN RAMSEY COUNTY.
The St. Paul _Weekly Pioneer_, established by James M. Goodhue as the
_Minnesota Pioneer_, issued its first number April 28, 1849, one day
later than the St. Paul _Register_, but, unlike that paper, it was
printed in the place of publication. In March, 1854, Earl S. Goodrich
purchased the _Pioneer_, and on May 1st issued the first number of the
_Daily Pioneer_. On Oct. 31, 1855, the _Democrat_ was merged in the
_Pioneer_, which became the _Pioneer and Democrat_, which name it
continued to bear for six years, when it resumed its former name, the
_Pioneer_. Nov. 8, 1865, the _Pioneer_ was sold to H. P. Hall and John
X. Davidson. July 29, 1866, the _Pioneer_ was sold to Capt. H. L.
Carver, C. W. Nash and others. April 22, 1874, the _Pioneer_ became
the property of David Blakely. April 11, 1875, the _Pioneer_ and
_Press_ consolidated, and the name was changed to St. Paul _Pioneer
Press_, under the management of the Pioneer Press Company, with J. A.
Wheelock editor-in-chief. The _Pioneer Press_ now embodies, by
consolidation, twenty-five distinct newspapers. Its daily issue is
about 18,000 copies. The stock company is now officered by J. A.
Wheelock, president; F. Driscoll, Sr., vice president and treasurer;
F. Driscoll, Jr., secretary. The management is in the hands of J. A.
Wheelock, editor-in-chief; F. A. Carle, managing editor; F. Driscoll,
business manager; A. W. Dunn, city editor.
The St. Paul _Globe_ was established Jan. 15, 1878, by H. P. Hall, and
conducted as an individual enterprise until July 1, 1881, when it was
made into a stock company with a capital of $150,000. Its first
officers were: President, H. H. Sibley; vice president, P. H. Kelly;
treasurer, Albert Scheffer; secretary, Ansel Oppenheim; general
manager, H. P. Hall. This company, which was called the St. Paul Globe
Printing Company, was sold to a new company, styled the St. Paul Globe
Publishing Company, Feb. 1, 1885. The first officers of that company
were: President, N. W. Kittson; vice president, P. H. Kelly;
treasurer, Albert Scheffer; secretary and general manager, Lewis
Baker. All the officers of each company were resident in St. Paul. The
_Globe_ publishes daily and weekly editions.
The St. Paul _Dispatch_ was founded by H. P. Hall and David Ramaley,
Feb. 29, 1868. It has passed through many ownerships. The company
publish a weekly and evening daily paper.
The St. Paul _Daily Times_ was established in 1854, by T. M. Newson,
M. J. Clum and J. B. H. Mitchell. In 1869 it was merged into the St.
Paul _Press_.
The _Register_, _Chronicle_ and _Democrat_ were published in
territorial days, and have been discontinued.
_Die Volkszeitung_, the first German paper of St. Paul, was
established in 1857. Another German paper was subsequently
established, and the two were consolidated, Sept. 6, 1877, as _Die
Volkszeitung_. It issues daily and weekly editions. Chas. H. Lineau is
general manager, A. Wolff, editor-in-chief; C. Newhausen, city editor,
and Louis Hern, literary editor.
The _Northwest Magazine_ is a monthly journal, devoted to the
interests of the Northwest. It was established in 1883. E. V. Smalley
is the editor.
OTHER ST. PAUL PUBLICATIONS.
_A. O. U. W. Guide_, weekly Guide Publishing Company, established
1883.
_Pythian Advocate_, monthly, Pythian Company, established 1884.
_Northwestern Chronicle_, weekly (Catholic), Northwestern Publishing
Company, established 1866.
_Herald_, weekly, Chantler & Nichols, established 1883.
_Der Wanderer_ (German), weekly, Wanderer Publishing Company,
established 1867.
_Familien Zeitung_ (German), weekly, Engel-Dreis Company, established
1885.
_Le Canadien_ (French), weekly, E. R. Dufresne, L. N. Dixon,
established 1877.
_Nordvesten_ (Scandinavian), weekly, C. H. Brandt, established 1880.
_Skaffaren_ (Swedish Lutheran), weekly, J. E. Osborn, established
1877.
_Northwestern Lancet_, semi-monthly, C. B. Witherle, established 1882.
_Northwest Reporter_ (legal), weekly, West Publishing Company,
established 1881.
_Saturday Evening News_, weekly, Lewis & Bole, established 1883.
_Western Appeal_, weekly, F. D. Parker, established 1885.
_Home Gazette_, monthly, S. Sherin, established 1883.
St. Paul _Daily Evening News_, established 1888.
St. Paul _Labor Echo_, Eric Olson, established 1884.
White Bear _Lake Breeze_, A. H. S. Perkins, established 1879.
HENNEPIN COUNTY.
The first paper established in Hennepin county as now bounded was the
St. Anthony _Express_, E. Tyler, publisher, Isaac Atwater, editor. The
first number was issued May 31, 1857. The Minneapolis _Democrat_ was
established in 1854. Neither of these papers is to be found in the
directory.
PAPERS OF MINNEAPOLIS.
_Evening Journal_, daily, D. B. Blakely, established 1887.
_Evening Mercury_, daily, E. Ferwald, established 1885.
Minneapolis _Gazette_, daily, W. Bickley, established 1870.
Minneapolis _Tribune_, daily, Will E. Haskell, Tribune Publishing
Company, established 1867.
_Commercial Bulletin_, weekly, Commercial Publishing Company,
established 1883.
Minneapolis _Life_, weekly, W. E. Atkins, established in 1885.
_Saturday Evening Spectator_, weekly, C. H. Dubois, established 1879.
_Temperance Review_, weekly, L. Bixby, established 1865.
_Budstikken_ (Norwegian), Johann E. Gidde, established 1873.
_Folkebladt_ (Norwegian), weekly, Folkebladt Publishing Company,
established 1878.
_Svenska Posten_ (Swedish), weekly, Svenska-American Publishing
Company, established 1885.
_Svenska Tidning_ (Swedish), weekly, Svenska Publishing Company,
established 1883.
_Svenska Kistna Herolden_, weekly, Svenska Herolden Publishing
Company, established 1885.
_Herold_ (German), weekly, German Press Association, established 1884.
_Freie Presse_ (German), weekly, F. Doerr, established 1869.
_Le Progres_ (French), weekly, J. B. A. Paradis, established 1884.
_Echo De L'Ouest_ (French), weekly, A. F. Carrier, established 1883.
_Free Baptist_, weekly, A. A. Smith, established 1882.
_Northwestern Standard_, weekly, Ed. O'Brien, established 1885.
_Northwestern Presbyterian_, weekly, Edgar A. Gay, established 1884.
_Our Church_ (Unitarian), semi-monthly, Rev. L. D. Boynton,
established 1885.
_Farm, Stock and Home Journal_, monthly, Farm, Stock and Home Company,
established 1884.
_Mississippi Valley Lumberman_, weekly, Platt B. Walker, established
1876.
_Northwestern Miller_, weekly, C. M. Palmer, established 1873.
_Northwestern Trade_, bi-weekly, E. E. Haynes, established 1883.
_Homestead_, monthly, Homestead Publishing Company, established 1885.
_Housekeeper_, monthly, Buckeye Publishing Company, established 1878.
_Medical Mirror_, monthly, N. M. Cook, M.D., established 1881.
_Northwestern Architect_, monthly, Bruce & Brundage, established 1884.
_Pilgrim_ (Congregational), monthly, Pilgrim Publishing Company,
established 1881.
_Poultry and Farm Journal_, monthly, I. I. Bachellor, established
1877.
_Real Estate Review_, monthly, C. H. Dubois & Co., established 1883.
_Temperance Educator_, monthly, L. Bigby, established 1882.
_To-Day_ (Evangelical), Geo. F. Wells, A. S. Edwards, established
1880.
_Wood and Iron_, monthly, Wood and Iron Publishing Company,
established 1880.
_Methodist Herald_, weekly, R. H. Young, established 1887.
EXCELSIOR.
Minnetonka _Mirror_, weekly, W. H. Mitchell, established 1885.
_Northwestern Tourist_, weekly, A. S. Dimond & Son, established 1876.
WASHINGTON COUNTY.
The first newspaper published in Washington county was the St. Croix
_Union_, established Oct. 8, 1854, in Stillwater. It was continued
under the management of Cable & Easton one year, when F. S. Cable sold
out to Milton H. Abbott. Soon after Mr. Abbott bought out the interest
of M. S. Easton. The paper went down in the crash of 1857.
The Stillwater _Messenger_ made its appearance under the management of
A. T. Van Voorhes, Sept. 11, 1856. It changed ownership several times,
and in 1871 Seward & Taylor, the present owners, came into possession.
The Stillwater _Democrat_ succeeded the defunct _Union_ in 1858. L. F.
Spaulding and C. P. Lane became the editors and proprietors. It was
discontinued in 1861.
A. B. Easton and J. N. Castle established the Stillwater _Gazette_,
the first number appearing Aug. 6, 1870. This paper was successful
from the first, and with but few changes in proprietorship is
published at the present day as a daily and weekly by Clewell &
Easton.
The Stillwater _Lumberman_ was established April 9, 1875, by Ed. H.
Folsom. It afterward passed into the hands of a stock company, and was
discontinued in 1884.
The Stillwater _Post_, a German paper, was established by W. P.
Shilling & Co. Aug. 26, 1876. Two years later it passed into the hands
of Wm. Schermuly, and in 1880 it was taken charge of by Julius Duel,
who is succeeded by F. C. Neumeier.
CHISAGO COUNTY.
Taylor's Falls _Reporter_, F. H. Pratt, established February, 1860; in
1862 the name was changed to Taylor's Falls _Monitor_; in 1883 the
name was again changed to Taylor's Falls _Journal_; present editor,
Ed. H. Folsom.
Rush City _Pos._, Hial P. Robie, established in 1875.
Chisago County _Times_, Taylor's Falls, Rowe & Walker, established
April 19, 1888.
PINE COUNTY--PINE CITY.
_Pine County Pioneer_, weekly, Ed. C. Gottry, established 1885.
CARLTON COUNTY--CLOQUET.
_Pine Knot_, weekly, Dr. H. B. Allen, established 1884.
_Industrial Vidette_, established 1887.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY--DULUTH.
_Tribune_, weekly and daily, R. C. Mitchell, established 1881.
_Lake Superior News_, weekly, Wm. S. Woodbridge, established 1878.
Duluth _Daily News_, established 1885.
Duluth _Skandinav_, Wesenbergad Hurst, established 1887.
_Paragrapher_, established 1887.
_Volksfreund_, Dworsehak & Son, established 1886.
_Evening Journal_, established 1887.
TOWER.
Tower _Press_, C. T. Bingham, established 1885.
TWO HARBORS.
_Iron Post_, A. De Lacy Wood, established 1887.
AITKIN COUNTY--AITKIN.
Aitkin _Age_, weekly, E. F. Barrett, established 1883.
CROW WING COUNTY--BRAINERD.
Brainerd _Dispatch_, weekly, Ingersoll & Willard, established 1881.
Brainerd _Journal_, weekly, H. C. Stivers, established 1882.
_Northwestern Tribune_, weekly, Halsted & Pennell, 1872.
The _News_, daily, established 1887.
KANABEC COUNTY--MORA.
Mora _Times_, weekly, R. W. Safford, established 1882.
MILLE LACS COUNTY--PRINCETON.
Princeton _Union_, weekly, R. C. Dunn, established 1876.
MORRISON COUNTY--LITTLE FALLS.
Little Falls _Sun_, weekly, Little Falls Publishing Company, Cyrus D.
Auyer, editor, established 1882.
Little Falls _Transcript_, weekly, W. M. Fuller, established 1877.
_Morrison County Democrat_, weekly, Cyrus D. Auyer, established 1886.
ROYALTON.
Royalton _Record_, weekly, changed name to Royalton _Banner_, A. W.
Swanson, editor, established 1884.
The first newspaper in Morrison county was the _Northern Herald_,
established in Little Falls, 1856, suspended in 1858. The Little Falls
_Courier_ was established later, but discontinued and the _Transcript_
took its place.
STEARNS COUNTY--MELROSE AND SAUK CENTRE.
_Herald and Record_, weekly, C. F. Hendryx, established 1867.
SAUK CENTRE.
_Democrat_, weekly, Barnum and Henshaw, established 1885.
_Tribune_, weekly, W. C. Brower, established 1873.
ST. CLOUD.
_Der Nordstern_ (German), weekly, Rosenberger & Remer, established
1874.
_Journal-Press_, weekly; W. Mitchell, established 1857.
_Times_, weekly, C. F. MeDonald, established 1861.
The first paper in St. Cloud, and in Stearns county, was styled the
_Minnesota Advertiser_. The first number appeared Jan. 1, 1857, H.
Cowles, editor, and James Mowatt, publisher. Mrs. Jane G. Swisshelm
succeeded to the proprietorship in December, 1857, and changed the
name to the St. Cloud _Visitor_, and edited it till the destruction of
her press and material by a mob, March 24, 1858. The paper reappeared
under new auspices and with the name changed to the _Democrat_. In
1866 W. B. Mitchell changed the name to the _Journal_. In 1876 he
purchased the _Press_ and consolidated it under the name of
_Journal-Press_.
The St. Cloud _Union_ was established in 1861, by C. C. Andrews,
afterward a general in the Union Army and minister to Sweden and
Norway. In 1862 Mr. Wood purchased the paper, but sold it in 1863 to
Spafford & Simonton, who sold it in 1864 to R. C. Moore, who published
it as the St. Cloud _Times_. In 1875 it was purchased by the present
owner, C. F. McDonald.
The _Nordstern_ was originally established by Peter E. Kaiser and
Peter Brieke and has now a circulation of 25,000 copies.
SHERBURNE COUNTY--ELK RIVER.
_Sherburne County Star News_, weekly, A. N. Dare, established 1875.
A. J. Clark started the Sherburne _Weekly_ in 1867, and published it
one year, when John W. Thompson started the Elk River _News_. The
_Sherburne County Star_ was established in 1875, and consolidated with
the _News_ in 1861.
ISANTI COUNTY--CAMBRIDGE.
_Isanti County Press_, weekly, C. W. Van Wormer, established 1874.
BENTON COUNTY.
Watab _Reveille_, weekly, J. W. Chasanack, editor, established 1850.
_Free Press_, weekly, A. De Lacy Wood, established 1885.
In 1854 Jeremiah Russell and George W. Benedict started the Sauk
Rapids _Frontiersman_, and continued the publication three years, when
the _New Era_ made its appearance, published by W. H. Wood assisted by
G. W. Benedict. The _Era_ was afterward merged in the St. Cloud
_Times_. In 1868 G. W. Benedict established the Sauk River _Sentinel_
which, with a few changes, has continued to the present time.
ANOKA COUNTY--ANOKA.
_Anoka County Union_, weekly, Granville S. Pease, established 1865.
_Anoka County Herald_, weekly, Alvah Eastman, established. 1865.
DAKOTA COUNTY--FARMINGTON.
_Dakota County Tribune_, weekly, C. P. Carpenter, established 1884.
Hastings _News_, daily, D. F. Chamberlain, established 1881.
Hastings _Banner_, weekly, E. D. Barker, established 1865.
Hastings _Gazette_, weekly, Irving Todd, established 1857.
Hastings _Bugle Call_, monthly, Chamberlain & Smith, established 1886.
GOODHUE COUNTY--CANNON RIVER FALLS.
_Beacon_, weekly, S. S. Lewis, established 1876.
KENYON.
_Leader_, weekly, U. Curtis, established 1885.
PINE ISLAND.
_Journal_, weekly, Holmes & Ingalls, established 1882.
RED WING.
Red Wing _Republican_, daily, Red Wing Publishing Company, established
1885.
Red Wing _Advance Sun_, weekly, Red Wing Publishing Company,
established 1884.
Red Wing _Argus_, weekly, C. L. Davis, established 1864.
ZUMBROTA.
_Independent_, weekly, E. A. Mitchell, established 1875.
_News_, weekly, Thompson & Bradford, established 1877.
WABASHA COUNTY--MAZEPPA.
_Tribune_, weekly, M. Schrane, established 1877.
PLAINVIEW.
_News_, weekly, Ed. A. Paradis, established 1874.
_Wabasha County Herald_, weekly, O. F. Collier &.Co., established
1857.
_Wabasha County Post_, weekly, John P. W. Weller, established 1885.
WINONA COUNTY--ST. CHARLES.
St. Charles _Union_, weekly, J. S. Whitten, established 1877.
Winona _Republican_, daily and weekly, Sinclair Publishing Company,
established 1855.
_Adler_, weekly, Adler Publishing Company, established 1873.
_Herald_, weekly, Boynton & Metcalf, established 1869.
_Westlicher Herald_, weekly, Joseph Leicht, established 1881.
_Wiarus_ (Polish), weekly, Wiarus Publishing Company, established
1885.
NEWSPAPERS IN WISCONSIN.
PIERCE COUNTY--ELLSWORTH.
_Pierce County Herald_, weekly, Case & Doolittle, established 1868.
_Ariel_, weekly, John M. Pryse, established 1884.
_Pierce County Plaindealer_, weekly, E. H. Ives, established 1874.
RIVER FALLS.
_Journal_, weekly, S. B. Merrick. W. S. Fowler, established 1874.
The first paper named in Prescott was the _Paraclete_, published by C.
E. Young, Feb. 14, 1854. The name was changed in 1855 to the
_Transcript_. In 1857 the _Northwestern Democrat_ was issued by Lusk,
Wise & Bailey. In 1861 Lute A. Taylor moved the River Falls _Journal_
to Prescott, changing the name to Prescott _Journal_. In 1868 Flint &
Webber purchased the _Journal_. In 1872, after the fire, the River
Falls _Journal_ was revived at River Falls by A. Morse; the office and
material were burned. In 1873 M. B. Kimball issued the Prescott
_Clarion_ and changed the name to _Pierce County Plaindealer_. In 1876
E. H. Ives became editor and proprietor.
ST. CROIX COUNTY--BALDWIN.
_Bulletin_, weekly, Ferd. Peachman, established 1879.
HAMMOND.
_Hammond Review_, weekly, ---- Frost, established 1886.
HUDSON.
_Star and Times_, weekly, Taylor & Price, established 1855.
_True Republican_, weekly, Cline & Cogswell, established 1871.
NEW RICHMOND.
_St. Croix Republican_, weekly, Abe C. Van Meter, established 1869.
The _Voice_, weekly, E. P. Huntington, established 1886.
The _St. Croix Banner_, the first paper in the St. Croix valley, was
issued Jan. 20, 1850, by Col. and Mrs. James Hughes. It was printed in
the _Pioneer_ office, St. Paul. Saxton & Johnson in the same year
commenced publishing the _St. Croix Enquirer_. These papers were
short-lived. In 1853 U. B. Shaver started the Hudson _Journal_,
afterward edited by Col. Hughes as the Hudson _Republican_. The office
was destroyed by fire and the paper discontinued in 1854. The _Star_
was established by Dr. Otis Hoyt in 1855, and in the same year U. B.
Shaver established the _Chronicle_. In 1860 these two papers were
purchased by Horace A. Taylor, and consolidated as the _Star and
Times_.
In 1856 Col. Hughes issued the _Shield and Banner_, which was
succeeded by a campaign paper called the _Pathfinder_. The Hudson
_Democrat_ was established in 1864 by E. O. Jones and discontinued in
1875. The _True Republican_ was established by M. A. Fulton in 1875,
and sold to the present owners in 1886.
POLK COUNTY--CLEAR LAKE.
Clear Lake _Herald_, weekly, A. T. Churchill, established 1884.
_North Wisconsin News_, weekly, Johnson E. Russell.
OSCEOLA MILLS.
_Polk County Press_, weekly, Charles E. Mears, established 1860.
ST. CROIX FALLS.
_St. Croix Valley Standard_, weekly, George F. Ely, established 1885.
The _St. Croixian_ was first established at St. Croix in 1860 by John
D. Reymert and Junius Bartlett. S. S. Fifield bought the paper in
1861, and removed it to Osceola, changing the name to _Polk County
Press_. In 1872 C. F. Meara succeeded to the ownership. In 1874 C. C.
Jordan established the _New Era_ at Osceola, but soon discontinued it.
The _Dalles of the St. Croix_ was established at St. Croix Falls in
1881 by D. A. Caneday, and discontinued in 1884. The _Polk County
News_ was established at St. Croix Falls in 1885 by George H. Ely, who
was succeeded by L. A. Ingersoll, who changed the name to _St. Croix
Valley Standard_.
BARRON COUNTY--BARRON.
_Barron County Shield_, weekly, Charles S. Taylor, established 1876.
CHETEK.
_Alert_, weekly, Walter Speed, established 1882.
CUMBERLAND.
_Advocate_, weekly, Cumberland Publishing Company, established 1885.
RICE LAKE.
_Barron County Chronotype_, weekly, P. H. Swift, editor, established
1874.
_Times_, weekly, Times Publishing Company, established 1883.
SAWYER COUNTY--HAYWOOD.
_North Wisconsin News_, weekly, E. O. Johnson, established 1878.
BURNETT COUNTY--GRANTSBURG.
_Burnett County Sentinel_, weekly, W. A. Talboy, established 1875.
ASHLAND COUNTY--ASHLAND.
Ashland _Press_, weekly and daily, Sam S. Fifield, established 1872.
Ashland _News_, weekly, John S. Saul, established 1885.
GLIDDEN.
Glidden _Pioneer_, weekly, R. M. Williams, F. A. Healy, established
1884.
HURLEY.
_Montreal River Miner_, weekly, Gowdey & Goodale, established 1885.
BAYFIELD COUNTY--BAYFIELD.
Bayfield _Press_, weekly, Currie G. Bell, established 1868.
WASHBURN.
Washburn _Bee_, weekly, Allan T. Williams, established 1885.
_Itemizer_, weekly, Bareger Brothers, established 1884.
DOUGLAS COUNTY--SUPERIOR.
Superior _Chronicle_, John C. Wise, established 185-.
Superior _Times_, Bardon Brothers, established 1870.
_Inter Ocean_, weekly and daily, Street & Co., established 1881.
Superior _Sentinel_, M. B. Kimball, established 1888.
_Sunday Morning Call_, established 1887.
WASHBURN COUNTY.
Shell Lake _Watchman_, William Irle, established 1882.
AN ODD CHAPTER IN POLITICAL HISTORY--THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
Gen. Winfield Scott, when a young man, was stationed at Fort Snelling,
at that day perhaps the remotest outpost of the United States. When
the Black Hawk War was inaugurated some militia from Illinois
proffered their services to aid in conquering the savages. With a view
to mustering them into the service of the United States two
lieutenants were sent by Scott to the then village of Dixon. One of
these was a very fascinating, good-looking, easy-mannered, affable,
and fluent young gentleman. The other equally pleasant, but an
exceedingly modest young man. On the morning when the mustering in was
to take place a tall, gawky, slab-sided, homely young man, dressed in
a suit of home-made blue jeans, presented himself to the two
lieutenants as the captain of the recruits, and was duly sworn in.
This was he who afterward became the president of the United
States--the lamented Lincoln. One of the lieutenants, the modest
youth, was he who fired the first gun from Sumter, Maj. Anderson. The
other, and he who administered the oath, was in after years president
of the southern confederacy, Jefferson Davis.
AN EARLY RUNAWAY MATCH.
We have gleaned from the newspapers the particulars of a love romance
in which Jefferson Davis was the central figure.
It was down at old Fort Crawford, whose ruins are still to be seen
just south of Prairie du Chien. It was away back in 1834, when
ex-President Zachariah Taylor, then a colonel in the regular army, was
commandant of the post. Jeff. Davis, who was then a young lieutenant,
was assigned to duty under Col. Taylor, and fell in love with his
commander's beautiful daughter. The love making between the young
people was the most natural thing in the world under the
circumstances, but for some reason Col. Taylor had taken the most
intense dislike to the young lieutenant and frowned upon his suit. In
order to prevent his daughter from marrying Davis the grim old warrior
sent her to a convent at Baton Rouge.
Some months afterward the young lieutenant appeared before Col. Taylor
with a document which required his signature. It was an order from
Gen. Wayne granting a furlough to Davis. Old Zach. understood human
nature well enough to know that when young Davis got his leave of
absence he would take a bee line for Baton Rouge, so he immediately
dispatched his swiftest messenger to bring his daughter home by the
most circuitous route, and thus thwart the young officer, who he knew
would be hurrying to meet her. When Davis returned to Fort Crawford
the coldness between himself and his old commander grew more frigid,
while the young woman pined away in the seclusion of a log hut, where
her father had established his headquarters, until at last she was
released from her imprisonment by her lover, who took her from her
father's roof by stealth and in the night, and taking her across the
river to a spot where a priest was in waiting, they were made man and
wife.
George Green, an old river man, now eighty years old, who still lives
at Prairie du Chien, is the person who rowed them over the river that
night. He says that Davis took the young woman from an upper window in
the log cabin and by the assistance of the chaplain was able to get
her beyond the picket lines unobserved. Green was at the river bank in
waiting with a canoe and took them to the spot where the marriage
ceremony was performed. He says the young lady cried a good deal
during the voyage across the river, but she leaned her head on the
young lieutenant's bosom in a way that assured him that she was not
altogether unhappy. Soon after the marriage a steamboat from St. Paul
came down the river and by a preconcerted arrangement halted, took the
bridal couple on board and passed on down the Mississippi to Jeff.
Davis' home in the South.
Gen. Taylor never did forgive Davis for marrying his daughter. He
never spoke to him from that time until the evening after the close of
the battle of Buena Vista. Jeff. Davis had undoubtedly won the battle
with his Mississippi Rifles, and as he lay wounded in his tent that
night Gen. Taylor walked in, extended his hand in friendly greeting
and thanked him for his gallant services. But there was no further
attempt at reconciliation after that. Mrs. Davis did not live long,
and the lady who now presides over Beauvoir is Mr. Davis' second wife.
She was a Miss Howell, of Georgia.
DRED SCOTT AT FORT SNELLING.
The following incident connected with the famous Dred Scott case,
taken from a St. Paul paper of 1887, may prove of interest to the
present generation of readers, few of whom are aware that the
principal personage in the case was a resident of Fort Snelling, or
more exactly speaking, the chattel of an American officer at that
place:
In the year 1839 the Fifth United States Infantry was stationed on the
Upper Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers, and, although Fort Crawford
(Prarie du Chien) was their headquarters, Fort Snelling was the most
important, it being the only military post north of Prairie du Chien,
between Lake Superior and the Pacific ocean, and far from the
frontier, as the nearest settlement was several hundred miles away.
During the season of open water the post was reached by boats, and in
the winter by pony or dog trains, but in the spring before the river
was free of floating ice and in the fall before it was frozen, the
inhabitants were almost cut off from civilization, as the place was
considered inaccessible, by all but the hardy voyageur and the
postman, who brought the mail on his back twice a month from Prairie
du Chien. Fort Snelling was the only post office in what is now
Minnesota, Dakota and Montana.
It was seldom that a stranger made his appearance after the close of
navigation, for the timid did not venture so far from the comforts of
life. During the winter the weather was severe, the houses were not so
comfortable as now, storm windows and furnaces were unthought of, and
stoves were considered luxuries.
It happened that on a cold, dreary day in the early winter the
quartermaster was distributing stoves, but did not have more than
enough to supply the officers and the married men of the command, and
not all of the latter. The surgeon, Dr. Emerson, a giant in body,
applied for one for his slave, Dred Scott, but was told by Lieut.
McPhail, the quartermaster, who was a man under size, that the darkey
would have to wait until the others were supplied, and it was doubtful
if there were enough for all. The doctor became very much excited and
insinuated that McPhail was lying, whereupon the latter hit the doctor
between the eyes, breaking his spectacles and bruising his nose.
Emerson, very much infuriated, rushed to his quarters, loaded a pair
of huge flintlock pistols, returned to McPhail, who was unarmed, and
without ceremony presented them to the head of the little
quartermaster. He, not liking their looks, sought safety in flight,
and with a speed that showed a good condition of body ran across the
parade ground, followed by the doctor. As they neared McPhail's
company quarters a friend of his, Lieut. Whitall, and a sergeant,
seized firearms and prepared to give their assistance if it was
needed. The commanding officer, Maj. Plympton, armed with a cane, ran
after the doctor, and upon overtaking him put him under arrest. By
this time the occupants of all the quarters had gathered upon the
scene, too excited to feel the cold or think of stoves, and two
parties were quickly formed. The smaller party consisted of the young
men, who, anxious for a fight, insisted that by running McPhail had
brought disgrace upon himself which could be wiped out only by blood.
The other and influential side was composed of men with families, who
knew that in case of illness no other physician could be had except
from Prairie du Chien, and the roads were such that it might be
impossible to get one at all; therefore they urged peace, and after
several days of excitement they were able to unfurl the flag of
triumph.
The terms of settlement between the belligerents were not made known,
and those who had hoped for a fight felt that the secrecy added
largely to their already heavy disappointment; but the men of peace
wore an expression of relief when they realized that if ill, their
victory would enable them to obtain the immediate services of the
doctor, and that there would not be a repetition of the duel which had
been fought there many years before, the first and last duel ever
fought in Minnesota. Although peace was declared, bitter feelings
which had risen during the strife still lingered in the heads of all
but Dred Scott, the innocent cause of the trouble, who for the first
time in his life became at all conspicuous. Shortly after, however,
his name was as well known, and oftener heard in social, military and
political circles than any other, not only in his own country, but
abroad. He left Fort Snelling with Dr. Emerson, and was afterward in
Missouri, where he was one day whipped, as he had often been before.
But this proved to be the last time the poor fellow intended
submitting as a slave, for immediately after a suit was commenced for
assault and battery, claiming that as he had been in a free territory
he was a free man. His master dying, his widow and daughter defended
the suit, which was decided in their favor two days after the
inauguration of President Buchanan, and Dred Scott was remanded to
slavery. This was considered a great victory for the South, but in
reality was not, for the civilized world became aroused in behalf of
freedom, and public opinion, the higher law, was invoked. Civil war
soon followed; slavery was abolished, and Dred Scott made free. It was
half a century ago that this simple-minded negro lived in slavery in
Hennepin, the historic county of Minnesota.
OLD BETZ AND THE ST. PAUL TRIBE OF INDIANS.
No history of the early days would be complete without mention of the
celebrated and picturesquely homely squaw known as Old Betz and the
tribe to which she belonged. The camp of the latter may still be seen
at South St. Paul to the number of three or four tepees. The Indians
are the descendants of the warriors of Little Crow. They live in
canvas tepees of primitive style, but with the exception of moccasins
and a few Indian trinkets they have conformed somewhat to the costumes
of the civilized people around them.
The Indians living in this vicinity, says A. L. Larpenteur in the
_Pioneer Press_, represent a remnant of the Minnesota Sioux who were
not taken to the reservation after the massacre of 1861. There may be
nearly a score of families in all, including the inhabitants of the
little Indian village at South St. Paul, the aboriginal residents at
Mendota, and some red men living near Newport. These are mostly
descendants of the members of Little Crow's band. Three or four
families have descended from the famous old squaw known as "Old Betz,"
who died at an advanced age only two years ago. At least two of old
Betz's daughters are living. They are very large, fleshy squaws, and
are frequently seen on the streets of St. Paul. When you catch sight
of a big squaw with a heavy pack slung over her shoulders, seated in
some doorway down street panting for breath, you may make up your mind
that it is one of Old Betz's daughters--either Doo-to-win (Scarlet
Female) or Pa-zen-ta-win (Medicine Woman); for such are their names.
They obtain a livelihood suitable to their lingering aboriginal tastes
and their condition of life, by selling moccasins, ginseng and wild
flowers in their season, and the skins of animals which they hunt or
trap. These skins are chiefly muskrat skins. They bring several
hundred to market in the course of the season. Then the squaws do the
begging, and the great white packs which these dusky females carry
upon their backs as they trudge along the streets of the city are
filled with specked fruit, tainted chickens and meat, dried up
cranberries and other unsalable stuff that the commission men of the
city have kindly bestowed upon them. An Indian is not so particular
about what he eats as a white person. When meat is tainted he boils it
until he gets all the taint out. What remains serves as savory sauce
for the meat. The Indians are intelligent. They don't have much to say
to strangers, but among themselves they are quite sociable, and sit
together by the hour smoking pipes and recounting traditions and
incidents. They are very fond of story telling. They also discuss
topics of interest with a freedom and intelligence worthy of a modern
white man's debating society. "I have sat with them in their lodges by
the hour," says Mr. Larpenteur, "and have been vastly entertained by
their anecdotes and discussions." So it appears that the Indians
hereabout are not so glum and reticent as red men in general are
credited with being.
There are a great many people in St. Paul who remember Old Betz, and
the stories that were told in relation to her, quite well. She was
said to be one hundred and twenty years old when she died, and, as
there was no evidence to the contrary, and she certainly bore the mark
of great age, this estimate of her years was generally accepted. Mr.
Larpenteur has reason for thinking that her age has been very much
exaggerated. Old Betz told him one day, a short time before her death,
in a confidential way, that when soldiers first came to Fort Snelling
she was still in her teens. That was in 1819, and, therefore, Old Betz
could not have been over eighty-eight when she died.
FOOTNOTES:
[F] NOTE.--The Wah-tap--or Wa-tab--empties from the west into the
Mississippi just above Sauk Rapids--H. M. R.
[G] The rejection of Thomas P. Burnett as a member of the council, by
Gov. Dodge, created great excitement at the time, and the governor was
severely criticised for his action. In making the apportionment the
governor had made Crawford county a district, but had left it without
a representative in the council, although two had been assigned to the
house, the governor claiming that this was equivalent to one in the
senate and one in the house. His action, to say the least, was curious
and unprecedented.
[H] Jean Brunet was of French extraction. He made the first
manufacturing improvements at Chippewa Falls.
[I] Alexander McGregor, a Scotchman, built a large hotel in Prairie du
Chien, and located a claim on the western side of the Mississippi
rivers opposite which has become the site of the city of McGregor. In
the third session of the territorial legislature he was elected to
represent the Dubuque district, and charges were preferred against him
of accepting a bribe. Pending the investigation of the charges he
resigned, removed to the east side of the river and was elected to
represent the Crawford district. The ensuing session, the house, by
resolution, declared him unworthy of confidence.
[J] The loan amendment was approved by Gov. Medary, through his
private secretary, March 9, 1858. The amendment was adopted by the
people April 15, 1858, by a vote of 25,023 to 6,733. The amount of
bonds issued was $2,275,000. The expunging resolution was adopted Nov.
6, 1860, by a popular vote of 19,308 to 710.
[K] Rev Mr. Webber was born in the state of New York in 1821; was
educated for the ministry ordained and sent to Minnesota as a
missionary by the Calvinistic Baptist church. He came to Stillwater in
1850. He is now a resident of Fleming, Cayuga county, New York.
ADDENDA.
A history of the Northwest that would omit any mention of the war of
the Rebellion would be an unfinished work. It was the original
intention of the author of this work to add a military history in
which should be placed upon record not only some statistics as to the
number of troops contributed to the United States service from the
parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin lying along the Mississippi river,
but some account of incidents connected with the war, which the
citizens of the valley would take pride in perusing. The plan was
abandoned reluctantly on account of the want of space for such a
record. We are able to furnish a synopsis of the military history of
Minnesota taken from a recent address made by ex-Gov. Ramsey before
the Loyal Legion at St. Paul. It is doubly interesting, coming as it
does from the governor of the State during the earlier portion of the
war:
Ex-Gov. Alexander Ramsey was called upon to respond to the toast,
"Minnesota and the War; For God, Our Country and the Right." He said:
"Amid the many evidences of harmony and prosperity in all sections of
the great republic it is difficult to realize that the citizens of
Minnesota, within the memory of many still alive, were called upon to
preserve the integrity of the United States of America by the force of
arms.
"There has ever been a community of interest between our own State, in
whose midst are found the sources of the Mississippi, and the several
states on its borders toward the Gulf of Mexico; the wheat fields of
Minnesota, the cotton and sugar plantations of Mississippi and
Louisiana must be inseparable, yet it can not be disguised that a
short-sighted statesmanship made a vigorous attempt to separate those
whom an all-wise Providence had joined together.
"In the month of April, 1861, upon official business as governor of
Minnesota, I was called to the city of Washington. The knots of
earnest men and anxious faces in the corridors and reading rooms of
the hotels indicated a widespread belief that there was an impending
peril, a serious conspiracy upon the part of some in the cotton
producing and slave holding states to secede from the Union, although
the general government had never infringed upon their rights under the
constitution.
"On Saturday night, April 13th, the population of Washington was
deeply moved by the intelligence that Fort Sumter in the harbor of
Charleston had been attacked by insurgents, and that the garrison had
surrendered.
"Early Sunday morning, accompanied by two citizens of Minnesota, I
visited the war department, and found the secretary with his hat on
and papers in his hand about to leave his office. I said 'My business
is simply as governor of Minnesota to tender a thousand men to defend
the government.' 'Sit down immediately,' he replied, 'and write the
tender you have made, as I am now on my way to the president's
mansion.'
"This was quickly done, and thus Minnesota became the first to cheer
the president by offers of assistance in the crisis which had arrived.
"My action and the acceptance of this offer were dispatched to St.
Paul, and in a few days companies in the different towns in Minnesota
were being organized, and on the twenty-seventh of the month Adjt.
Gen. John B. Sanborn issued an order that more companies had been
organized than were necessary to complete the First regiment of
Minnesota, and on the third of May, having returned to St. Paul during
April, I sent a telegram to the president offering a second regiment.
"On the twenty-first of June the First regiment, under Col. Gorman,
left Fort Snelling, and in one month, on Sunday, the twenty-first of
July, distinguished itself as the advance of Heintzleman's division in
the battle of Bull Run, Virginia. The Second regiment, in command of
Col. H. P. Van Cleve, a graduate of West Point, left Fort Snelling in
October, and on the nineteenth of January was in close conflict with
the enemy near Mill Springs, Kentucky, Gen. Zollicoffer and other
insurgent officers having fallen under their fire. A third regiment,
under Col. H. C. Lester, left the State in November, 1861, and a
fourth regiment, under Col. John B. Sanborn, was soon organized, and
not long after a fifth, under Col. Borgersrode, was formed. In the
spring of 1862, within a few weeks of each other, the last two left
for the seat of war, and were assigned to the Army of the Mississippi,
and before the close of May were, with their comrades of the Second,
in the action at Corinth.
"But while Minnesota was thus rapidly sending forth her able bodied
men, she was called upon to endure a trial greater than any of her
sister states. On the nineteenth of August there rushed into the
governor's office at the capitol a dusty and exhausted messenger who
had been fifteen hours in the saddle with dispatches from Galbraith,
the Sioux agent, containing the startling intelligence that the Sioux
had risen and were murdering the settlers and plundering and burning
their houses. An hour or two later another messenger arrived from
Forest City with information that the Sioux had also killed many
whites at Acton. It was evident that there was a general uprising, and
that no time was to be lost.
"I immediately proceeded to Fort Snelling and consulted as to the best
measures to protect our people. Here were only raw recruits, without
arms or clothing, but at length four companies of the Sixth regiment
were organized, and that night sent up the Minnesota river to
Shakopee, and ex-Gov. H. H. Sibley, who had had a long acquaintance
with the Sioux, was placed in command.
"From that point they were directed to proceed by land. Telegrams were
sent to President Lincoln and the governors of Wisconsin, Iowa,
Illinois, and Michigan relative to the horrible outbreak and asking
for aid.
"When the troops reached St. Peter they were delayed in moulding balls
to fit their arms and in preparing canister shot. By September
portions of the Third regiment, which had returned to the State, and
the Sixth and Seventh regiments, which had been organized, were in the
field, and on the twenty-third of the month had a battle with the
Indians at Wood lake, Lieut. Col. Marshall, of the Seventh regiment,
your late commander of this legion, leading five companies of his own
and two of the Sixth in a successful charge, clearing a ravine of
hostile savages.
"Never before in the history of the republic had so many settlers
fallen from Indian barbarity. In ten days in August about eight
hundred white men, women and children were killed, and at least 15,000
persons fled from the scalping knife to St. Paul and other places of
security.
"During the summer of 1862 the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Minnesota
regiments of Volunteers were organized. In January, 1863, having been
elected to represent the State in the United States senate, Lieut.
Gov. Swift on and after the tenth of July acted as governor for the
unexpired term, who was succeeded by Gov. Stephen H. Miller, both of
whom, in every way possible, sustained the general government.
"Minnesota during the war had surely not more than 40,000 citizens
able to bear arms. She furnished eleven regiments of infantry, one of
heavy artillery, three batteries of light artillery, four cavalry
organizations and two companies of sharpshooters, and official returns
show that she contributed 25,000 soldiers in all."
Mention of George H. Hazzard, of St. Paul, unintentionally omitted
from the body of the work, is appended below.
[Illustration: GEORGE H. HAZZARD.]
George H. Hazzard is one of St. Paul's wide awake, energetic young
men. He is a native of the state of New York. He came to the West
when a youth and located in St. Paul in 1859. He has been engaged in
general agencies and real estate, and has served as county
commissioner of Ramsey county and filled other city positions in St.
Paul. He was a member of the Methodist General Conference in New York
City in 1888. He married a daughter of Rev. Benjamin F. Hoyt, of St.
Paul.
LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ST. CROIX VALLEY--WISCONSIN SIDE.
Thirty-eighth Session, 1885--Senators: Hans B. Warner, Joel F. Nason.
House: Thomas Porter, James Johnson, Charles S. Thayer, Frank M. Nye.
Thirty-ninth Session, 1887--First Biennial Session--Senate: Joel F.
Nason, William A. Rust. House: J. B. Thayer, John A. Murphy, H. L.
Humphrey, James N. McCourt, Charles S. Taylor.
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