COLLECTIONS
OF THE
State Historical Society
OF
NORTH DAKOTA
VOL. I
BEING FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NORTHlDAKOTA
TO THE GOVERNOR OF NORTH DAKOTA
FOR YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1906. ,t / (
BISMARCK, N. D.
TRIBUNE, STATE PRINTERS AND BINDERS 1906
F 631
I/./
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year A, D. nineteen hundred and five,
BY O. G. LIBBY
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D, C.
COLLECTIONS OP THE STATE HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
VOLUME I.
PART I.— Report of Secretary. Constitution and By-Laws. List of Officers and Members. Eeport of Expenditures. Library and Museum. Newspaper Collection.
PART II. — Addresses and Papers.
PART III.— Biography. Necrology of Members. Biography of Old Settlers. Gazeteer of Old Settlers, Trappers, etc., earlier than 1862.
PART IY.— North Dakota History, General and Local.
PART V.— Indians of North Dakota.
INDEX.
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
To the Governor:
It is with pleasure that the secretary of the State Historical Society reports the progress that has been made during the past year. Since the annual state appropriation of fl,250 became available, July 1, 1905, the general outline of work has been ar- ranged and some small part of the task has been accomplished. When the Society was reorganized in 1903, very little was at- tempted during the next two years except some archaeological work in the Missouri valley, an exhibit at the St. Louis world's fair and the beginning of a collection of the newspapers ®f the state. The proposed reconstruction of the capitol building has delayed our occupation of the rooms set apart for us, but in June we were notified that we could take possession of the museum room, office and vault in the basement of the new wing at the capitol. This was welcome news to all friends of the Society. During the interregnum the collection of newspapers, books, Indian relics and other miscellaneous material was stored in various places, in danger of loss by fire and subject to all the wear and tear incident to such storage. The furnishing of the museum room with suitable display cases, and the vault with file cases for papers and documents, has yet to be done, no funds are available just now for any of these purposes. In spite of this, however, the Society has taken possession of the rooms and is having temporary cases made till permanent furniture can be supplied, so that the public may see what we have done to justify state aid in the past and why we ask for a larger appro- priation for the future.
It has been found quite impossible for the secretary, with the limited funds at his disposal, to keep in touch with all the state and county organizations with which it would be advantageous to co-operate. Yet undoubtedly such co-operation would be. of the greatest benefit to all concerned and would enable the Society to locate and preserve many of the local records which otherwise soon dissappear. Everyone admits the advantage of having on file in the Society's library at Bismarck copies of all the reports, minutes and publications of the local and state organizations, yet little has been done in this direction.
I wish especially to call your attention to the aid that has been given to the Society in the preparation of this volume
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
by trained specialists, " both out of the state and within it, who are giving us freely what ordinarily costs a state heavily, and their unpaid services can be largely drawn upon in the future at no greater cost than in the past. An his- torical society such as ours always works in conjunction with other societies, who are making special studies in geography, genealogy, history, archeology, ethnology and allied subjects, and this correlation of their labors and this mutual helpfulness among their experts produces the most accurate and valuable results. While, therefore, our Society will never lose sight of its local task of writing the history of the state and the preservation of its records, it can at the same time interest a much larger circle of readers and attract more attention to the state by their keep- ing in touch with societies in other states and in Canada.
O. G. LIBBY,
Secretary State Historical Society of North Dakota. Grand Forks, N/D., July 1, 1900.
Part I
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NORTH DAKOTA.
REPORT OF SECRETARY OF STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
LEGISLATIVE .ENACTMENT.
During the legislative session of 1905 the friends of the Soci- ety, through Senator Cashel, secured the enactment of a law for the furthering of the interests of the historical work in the state. This law gives the State Historical Society a legal status and provides for the proper coordination of its work with that of the regular state officials. The law (Chap. 25, laws of 1905), article 8, appears in the revised codes of 1905 as chapter 4, and is as follows :
Section 24O. State historical society. Powers. Ex officio members of board.] The state historical society of North Dakota shall be the trustee of the state, and as such shall faithfully expend and apply all money received from the state to the uses and purposes directed by law, and shall hold all its present and future collections and property for the state, and shall not sell, mortgage, transfer or dispose of in any manner, or remove from the historical rooms in the capitol at Bismarck any ar- ticle therein without authority of law; provided, this article shall not prevent the sale or exchange of any duplicates that the society may have or obtain: and provided, that the secretary of -the said society shall have power to withdraw for temporary use such of the collections as shall be needed for the compilation and editing of the publications of the society, and that such of the collections as may be needed for exhibition purposes may be withdrawn for that purpose by the authority of the board of directors. The governor, auditor, secretary of state, commissioner of agriculture and labor, and superintendent of public instruction shall be ex officio members of the board of directors of said society, and shall take care that the interests of the state are protected.
Sec. 2-41. Duties.] It shall be the duty of said society:
1. To collect books, maps, charts and other papers and materials illustrative of the history of this state in particular and of the west generally.
2. To obtain from the early pioneers narratives of their exploits, perils and adventures.
3. To procure facts and statements relative to the history, progress and decay of our Indian tribes so as to exhibit faithfully the antiquities and the past and present resources and conditions of this state.
4. To purchase books to supply deficiencies in the various depart- ments of this collection, and especially reports on the legislation of other states, on railroads and geological surveys, and of educational and humane institutions for legislative reference, and such other books, maps, charts and materials as will facilitate the investigation of historical, scientific and literary subjects. The secretary of state shall furnish to the state historical society of North Dakota, for reference and exchange purposes, fifty copies each of every state publication.
10 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
5. To thoroughly catalogue the entire collections of said society for the more convenient reference pf all persons who have occasion to consult the same. The state shall bind the unbound books, documents, manuscripts and pamphlets, and especially newspaper files containing legal notices, in the possession of the state historical society of N.orth Dakota.
6. To prepare biennially for publication a report of its collections and such other matter relating to the transactions of the society as may be useful to the public. There shall be printed by the state one thousand five hundred copies of the biennial volume of collections of the state historical society of North Dakota, five hundred copies of which shall be bound in cloth and the remainder authorized by law shall be bound in pamphlet form.
7. To keep its rooms open at all reasonable hours on business days for the reception of the citizens of the state who may wish to visit the same, without fee.
8. Whenever any grant, devise, bequest, donation, gift or assign- ment of money, bonds or choses in action, or of any property, real or personal, shall be made to the state historical society of this state, said society is hereby directed to receive and 'accept such and that the right and t.itle to the same shall pass to the state.
Sec. 242. Appropriation.] For the purpose of aiding in the per- formance of said duties there is hereby annually appropriated to the said society the sum of one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. The board of directors of said society shall keep a correct account of the manner of expenditure of the money hereby appropriated and report annually to the governor a detailed statement of such expenditure.
Sec. 243. Powers of society as to historical sites and relics.] The state historical society may from time to time receive contributions of historical sites and relics, or money for the purchase of such sites or relics, and may purchase such sites or relics. It may purchase not exceeding ten acres of land, embracing the site of old Fort Aber- crombie, in Richland county, at a cost not exceeding five hundred dollars, and not exceeding ten acres of land, embracing the site of the first Christian mission grounds, at Walhalla, in Pembina county, at a cost not exceeding five hundred dollars. When land shall be con- tributed or purchased as herein authorized for historical purposes, title shall vest in the state of North Dakota, and the land may be placed in the custody of the old settlers' associations of the respective counties in which said sites are located, and may be improved and used by them for public park purposes and for the accumulation and care of relics of historical interest. When relics are contributed or pur- chased they shall be placed in the custody of the state historical society and those of a local historical nature may be loaned to the county old settlers' associations when proper provision has been made for their care and preservation. Money contributed for the purchase of historical relics or sites shall be placed in the hands of the state treasurer and shall be paid out on warrant of the state auditor when approved by the state historical society, or a majority of its members.
Sec. 244. Appropriation.] There is hereby appropriated for the purpose of the preceding section the sum of one thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, out of any money in the state treasury not otherwise appropriated; provided, that before said appro- priation shall be available there shall have been placed in the hands of the treasurer of the state of North Dakota, to the credit and for the use and benefit of said state historical society the sum of one thousand dollars as a contribution from interested persons for carrying out the provisions of section 243.
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION.
ARTICLE. 1.
The name of the society shall be .the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Its principal place of business shall be Bismarck, North Dakota. Its duration shall be perpetual. It is organized under chapter 3 (Com- piled Laws of 1887, being the general incorporation laws), for the purpose of collecting and preserving historical records and matter per- taining to the history of North Dakota.
ARTICLE 2.
The number of the directors of this society shall be sixteen. Bight of these directors shall hold office until March 31, 1905, and eight of them shall hold office until March 31, 1907. The present board of electors shall elect eleven additional members, and they shall also determine the length of term of each of these members, but all future directors and officers shall hold office for four years, or until their successors are elected and qualified. Its first board of directors shall be as follows: Clement A. Lounsberry, Fargo, N. D., president; Linda W. Slaughter, Bismarck, N. D., vice president and corresponding sec- retary; Marshall H. Jewell', Bismarck, N. D., second vice president; Warren C. Baker, Grand Forks, N. D., treasurer; Walter F. Gushing, Fargo, N. D., recording secretary. They shall hold office until their successors are elected and qualified as provided for in the by-laws of the society. The directors may elect one of their number correspond- ing secretary,
ARTICLE 3.
Should the state of North Dakota appoint an historical commission, naming the president of this society as one of that commission, it shall be the duty of the board of directors to act in harmony with said commission in the matter of collecting and preserving the records, relics and general information pertaining to the early history of North Dakota. The society shall also make such collection of material as relates more particularly to the history of the west and of Canada, but the board of directors shall have full power to determine what shall be collected by the society, and how it shall be used.
ARTICLE 4.
This society may acquire the necessary real estate for the transac- tion of its business and the preservation of its records by purchase, bequest, contribution, or subscription, or from payment of dues, or sales of its publications, and other property by the same means, not exceeding $50,000, but should the society be dissolved by the voluntary action of its members or otherwise, its property shall pass into the hands of a receiver, to be appointed by any court having jurisdiction, who shall settle all debts of the corporation, turning over to the state whatever may remain after the settlement of the debts.
12 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
ARTICLE 5.
The debts of the society, except for the purchase of real estate, shall not exceed $1,000, and for the purchase of real estate to be used in the necessary transaction of business, $2,000. No member of the society shall be liable for the debts of the society beyond the amount of his unpaid dues, as fixed by the by-laws of the society.
BY-LAWS. ARTICLE 1.
Section 1. The regular meetings of the society shall be held bi- ennially at the principal place of business at such time during the month of January as the board of directors may determine.
Sec. 2. Special meetings may be called by the president or secretary upon the written request of any other three members.
Sec. 3. There shall be held each year at Bismarck, N. D., a meeting of the society, at which papers shall be read by members, and such program carried out as shall be provided for by the board of directors. A second meeting shall be held annually in the state, at such time and in such city or place as shall be fixed by the board.
Sec. 4. Notices of all meetings shall be sent by the secretary to every member of the society.
ARTICLE 2.
Section 1 The officers of this society shall consist of a president, a vice president, a secretary, a treasurer, and a board of directors.
Sec. 2. The board of directors shall be elected by ballot from among the members at the regular meetings of the society, and the members of this board shall hold office for four years or until their successors are elected and qualified. The following state officers shall be ex officio members of the board of directors: Governor, auditor, secretary of state, commissioner of agriculture and labor and superintendent of public instruction.
Sec. 3. The remaining officers of the society shall be elected by the board of directors from among their number. • The duties of these officers shall be such as usually devolve upon such officers.
Sec. 4. In addition to his usual duties, the president shall sign all legal documents for the society as its official representative.
Sec 5. The treasurer shall pay all warrants on the treasury signed by the secretary. At the regular meeting he shall make a full report of all receipts and expenditures.
Sec. 6. The secretary shall countersign all documents signed by the president, and no such document shall be valid unless so counter- signed. He shall keep the records of the society and of the board of directors and he shall have charge of and be responsible for all documents, manuscripts and other collections in possession of the society. He shall edit its publications, conduct its correspondence, and shall in general act as the principal administrative officer of the society. He shall collect membership dues, receive all other moneys of the society and transmit the same to the treasurer.
It shall further be the duty of the secretary, under the advice of the board of directors, to make such collection, exchange and loan of historical material as shall best further the interests of the society. He shall, as soon as practicable, catalogue and arrange the collections of the society, and for this purpose he may appoint a librarian and such other officers as may be needed.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 13
Until otherwise provided for, the office of the secretary shall be at Grand Forks, N. D.
Sec, 7. Meetings of the board of directors may be called by the president or the secretary, and these meetings shall be held at Grand Forks, N. D. The board of directors shall appoint officers to fill all vacancies until the next regular meeting of the society. They shall fix the time and place for all meetings of the society and arrange programs, for all literary meetings.
Sec. 8. All property of the society shall be under the control of the board of directors, who shall decide upon the place or places where the collections of the society shall be kept. They shall have power, also, to make such use of the funds and property of the society as may seem to them necessary and proper for carrying into effect the purposes of the organization.
Sec. 9. The board of directors may require any officer of the society to give bonds for the faithful performance of his duty; the amount of the bond shall be fixed by the board.
Sec. 10, Any officer of the society may be removed from office by the board 'of directors for cause, provided he be given ten days' notice of such intended action. No such action shall be taken except upon a two-thirds vote of the whole number of directors, and unless each member of the board shall be notified of such intended action ten days before the meeting.
Sec. 11. Six honorary vice presidents may be appointed biennially by the board of directors upon nomination of the society at its regular meeting.
ARTICLE 3.
Section 1. The members of this society shall be chosen by the board of directors and shall consist of annual, life and honorary members.
Sec. 2. The membership dues shall be twenty-five dollars for life members and two dollars yearly for annual members. Arrears in dues shall be considered a cause for dropping any member from the roll of the society
Sec. 3. Honorary members shall be chosen by the society at the regular meetings upon nomination by the board of directors.
Sec. 4. Surviving members of the Ladies' Historical Society of Bismarck and North Dakota — Mrs. Linda W. Slaughter, Mrs. Christina A. Dunn and Mrs. Phoebe Marsh — shail be considered honorary mem- bers of the society. These members shall retain the right of voting at all meetings of the society.
Sec, 5. Members unable to attend the meetings of the society may send proxies with such powers as they may chose to confer.
ARTICLE 4.
Section 1. All by-laws previously adopted by the society are hereby repealed.
Sec. 2. Each member shall be entitled to receive all publications of the society.
Sec. 3. Branch societies may be organized whenever, in the judg- ment of the board of directors, such organizations are called for.
Sec. 4. There shall be issued biennially by the society a publication containing such historical material as may be considered by the sec- retary as worthy of preservation in this form
Sec. 5. The fiscal year of the society shall begin on the first day of April and end on the last day of March.
OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS.
OFFICERS.
TERM EXPIRES.
CHAS. F. AMIDON, Fargo, President March 31, 1907
M. H. JEWELL, Bismarck, Vice President March 31, 1907
J. L. CASHEL, Grafton, Treasurer .March 31, 1907
O. G. LIBBY, Grand Forks, Secretary ' March 31, 1907
DIRECTORS.
TERM EXPIRES.
ALFRED BLAISDELL, Minot March 31, 1909
CHAS. J. FISK, Grand Forks March 31, 1909
N. G. LARIMORE, Larimore March 31, 1907
C. A. LOUNSBERRY, Fargo March 31, 1909
REV. G. L. WILSON, Langdon March 31, 1907
W. F. BALL, Fargo March 31, 1907
C. B. LITTLE, Bismarck March 31, 1909
DR. J. D. TAYLOR, Grand Forks March 31, 1909
C. F. TEMPLETON, Grand Forks March 31, 1907
F. A. WARDWELL, Penibina 7 . . .March 31, 1909
WM. H. WHITE, Fargo March 31, 1909
GEO. B. WINSHIP, Grand Forks March 31, 1909
EX-OFFICIO DIRECTORS — Governor, Auditor, Secretary of State, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Commissioner of Agricul- ture and Labor.
STANDING COMMITTEES.
RULES OF MUSEUM — Pres. Chas. F. Amidon, Col. C. B. Little, O. G. Libby.
LOAN COLLECTIONS— Col. C. B. Little, M. H. Jewell, Governor of the state.
AUDITS — Wm. H. White, N. G. Larimore, Dr. J. D. Taylor.
EXPENDITURES.
REPORT OF EXPENDITURES OF STATE HISTORICAL
SOCIETY OF NORTH DAKOTA FROM MAY 13,
1905, TO JULY 1, 1906.
I. Vouchers drawn by the secretary on the annual appropriation
(|1,250) from July 1, 1905, to July 1, 1906.
June 30, 1905, O. G. Libby ; f 16.13
June 29, railroad fare, St. Paul to Fargo . . . f 8 . 18
June 30, bus and transfer charges 1 . 25
June 30, railroad fares, Fargo to Grand
Forks, H. C. Fish and O. G. Libby 4.70
June 30, hotel expenses, Fargo 2 . 00
Total $ 16.13
April 15 to November 15, 1905, E. R. Steinbrueck, field
collecting, seven months at $30 per month 210 . 00
July 12, 1905, O. G. Libby, Winnipeg collecting trip. . . 82.27
July 1, hotel expenses, Grand Forks $ 5.00
July 1, railroad fares, Grand Forks to Pem-
bina 5.10
July 1, meals 1 . 00
July 3, cost of securing Canadian boundary
post 5 . 00
July 3, freight on Canadian boundary post. . 1.67 July 3, railroad fares, Pembina to Winnipeg 4.10
July 3, storage on baggage .50
July 4, long distance telephone .20
July 4, old French trapper's rosary .50
July 4, meals .35
July 6, book, Northwest Passage Across
Canada .75
July 7, book, Canadian Northwest 1 . 25
July 8, drugs .70
July 10, railroad fare, Winnipeg to Grand
Forks 4 . 55
July 10, seven Chippewa pipes 5 . 00
July 11, hotel expenses, Winnipeg 31.80
July 11, railroad fare, Winnipeg to Grand
Forks 4.55
July 11, baggage transfer .75
July 11, developing and printing photographs 1 . 50
22 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
July 11, postage and car fare 1 . 10
July 11, board and livery, Union Point, Man. 4.50
July 11, stone ax, flesher and scraper 2.40
Total $ 82.27
July 12, B. G. Skulason 10.30
July 6, return railroad fare, Grand Forks to
Winnipeg $ 9.10
July 6, hack .25
July 7, meals .95
Total I 10.30
July 12, J. A. Tanner, work on newspaper collection. . 30.00 July 12, Bailes & Perkins, ^balance due for eight collect- ing trunks 21.62
July 12, The Herald, file case and supplies 32 . 85
July 12, K.,B. Griffith 92.30
May 15, envelopes $ 1 . 25
May 29, cards and desk sponge .40
June 3, envelopes .50
June 8, lock .40
June 9, tripod for camera 6 . 00
June 23, nails and paper for shelving 5.75
July 3, camera and supplies 67 . 90
July 30, kodak supplies 10 . 10
Total | 92.30
July 12, Arthur H. Clark Co., Cleveland, Ohio 62.40
June 16, Early Western Travels, vols. V, VI,
VII, XIV, XV, XVI I 24.00
June 19, Journal of Lewis and Clark Expe- dition, 5 vols 37.50
June 19, express .90
Total I 62.40
July 31, Goodspeed's Bookshop, Boston, Mass 7.00
July 31, E. E. Jones, Belcourt, board and room, H. C.
Fish and O. G. Libby 23.10
July 31, O. G. Libby, Turtle mountain collecting trip. . 88.56
July 12, hotel expenses, Grand Forks $ 3 . 50
July 12, railroad fare, Grand Forks to Rolla 4.65
July 12, baggage delivery .25
Julv 12, express 1 . 45
July 12, meals 2.00
July 13, hotel expenses, Holla 3.25
July 13, stage, Kolla to Belcourt '. 1.00
July 14, buffalo skinning knife 2 . 00
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 23
July 15, Chippewa pipe .75
July 19, notebooks 1 . 45
July 19, services of Indians 1.25
July 19, Chippewa game, arrow and spoon . . .50
July 20, stage, Belcourt to Dunseith 2 . 00
July 20, meals .75
July 20. drugs 50
July 25, six Chippewa pipes 3.10
July 26, board and room 8 . 00
July 26, thirteen specimens of Chippewa work 6 . 20
July 26, medicine drum, Chippewa games. . . 14.75
July 26, Chippewa bead work . . 1.00
July 26, three Chippewa whistles, two pam- phlets 1.00
July 27, services of Chippewa interpreter. . . 5.00 July 27, Chippewa paint bag, grinding stone
and tobacco bag 2 . 25
July 27, meals .75
July 27, stage, Dunseith to Belcourt 2.00
July 31, postage .18
July 31, railroad fare, Kolla to St. Paul... 17.78
July 31, meals 1.00
July 31, notary's fee .25
Total I 88.56
August 28, O. G. Libby, Elbowoods collecting trip 106.75
July 31, Diamond, dyes for Indian chart. . . .$ 1.70
August 1, express .50
August 1, hotel expenses. Grand Forks .... 3.75
August 1, baggage transfer .50
August 1, railroad fare, Grand Forks to
Fargo 2.35
August 2, hotel expenses, Fargo 1 . 00
August 7, typewriting .50
August 8, hotel expenses, Bismarck 7 . 50
August 8, baggage transfer .50
August 8, railroad fare, Bismarck to Wash- burn ~. • 1.35
August 8, books, J. H. Taylor 3.00
August 8, meals .25
August 9, hotel expenses, Coal Harbor 1.00
August 9, stage fare, Washburn to Elbowoods 6.50
August 17, interpreter and team 4 . 00
August 17, three arrow heads .30
August 17, buffalo horn cup and spear head 1.00
August 17, painted calf hide, Mandan design 3.75 August 17, grinding stone, rawhide wood
carrier and flint knife . 1 . 00
24 KF.I'OKT OF HISTOKir.M. SOn ETV
August 1!). meals and lodging 1 .00
August -1. interpret*'!- and team 5.5i>
August LM, ("row ornament and hammer .7.".
August *J1. meals .50
August 'J'J. interpreter .7.")
August 'Jo. stone a\. Minis and arrow points I.L'O
August 'J:>. hoard and room 'J.50
August 'J.'i. meals . ."0
August 'J:>, use of boat on Missouri river.... .50
August !':>, Mandan game, seven pieces 7.70
August 'Jl. stone lianuuer .50
August 'J 1, camp supplies 1.<>5
August Ha. conjuring bowl and ladle 5.00
August 'jr>. ball for woman's game -..".0
August !!.">. meals ..">(»
August L'."). Mandan basket 2.00
August L'S. interj»reters and teams . ." :>1 .7.")
August 'JS. use of team 1 .50
Total : | KM;. 7:.
September 15. ( >. (]. Libbv. Klho\\oods and Fort Yates
collecting trip (17.70
August IS. notarx 's fee f .1*5
August '_'!!. postage .'J!»
August :>0. camp supplies .50
August :U. interpreter and team 1.50
September 1. team 1 .50
September 1. room and board, Klhowoods. . 11.50
September J. room and board. Armstrong.. ;>.0(l
September 5. room and board. Coal Harbor. . 1 .00
September 5. stage. F.lhoxvoods to NYaslihum 7.75
September 5. meals .75
September 5. railroad fare. NVashburu to His-
marck 1 .:v.~
September 5. eXCCM bt)
September 7. team ^.50
September s. return fare. Ilismarck to Man
dan
September S. hotel expenses. Mandan 1 . 75
September 9. Cliippe\\ a pipes 1.10
September !>. meals .75
September M. Sioux pipe
September M. hotel expenses. I'ismar. k ('i.OO
September 10. stage. Hismaivk loCaxtitn P.O. 'J.50
September 10, meals and use of team .W
•tember 10. ferr\ charge
September 11. camp supplies ....
September 1'J. s\v eel grass hammer .50
MEMBERSHIP.
LIFE MEMBERS.
G*AX B. Wiasfcip Grand Forks
A. LooBsbeirT Far$o
HONORARY MEMBERS.
Mrs. Linda W. Slaughter Witnn
Mrs. Phoebe Marsh. Bismarck
Mrs. Christina A. Dunn Bismarck
Helen Ywrfer Mandan
Jodson LaMonre IVmbina
T. E, Cooper Graftal
E, R. Steinbrueck Mandan
ANNUAL MEMBERS.
Amidon. C*usis. F Fargo
Andrews, 0 w WalhalU
Ansyll. E. D Far^o
Arnold. H. V LarimoW
B«bcxvk. E. J Tnh> a
BacxHi. J. D Grand Forks
Baker. Tfcosu Jr Fargo
Ball. W. F Fargo
Ballon. Wm Fargo
Bangs, G. A Grand Forks
Banats, Traer Grand Forks
BtWher, D. H Grand Forks
BbusdelL Alfred Minot
Bosard. J. H Grand Forks
Brannon. M. A : Uni>-ersiiA-
Br»nsv>n. H. A Grand Forks
Bnuv. A. A Grand Forks
Budge. Wm Grand Forks
Borleson. Rev. -T. K Grand Forks
Burrows. A. S Grand Forks
Campbell. Dr. R. D Grand Forks
CarnK»dy. John Hillsboro
Carothers. R. M Grand Forks
Cashel. J. L Grafton
Christianson, I^rs Fargo
Clarke. Sidney Grand Forks
Clifford. Geo, B Grand Forks
Clifford. J. E Grand Forks
-
18 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Colling, Jas. H Inkster
Collins, Stephen Grand Forks
Cooper, E. C .*.... Grand Forks
Corliss, Guy C. H Grand Forks
Crane, Dr. C. S ". Grand Forks
Creel, H. M Devils Lake
Darling, C. W . . . . Fargo
Darrow, Dr. E. M Fargo
Dougan, Rev. Thos Chicago, 111.
Douglas, Win. B Fargo
Elton, Jas Grand Forks
Farrand, John I) . . . Fargo
Fish, H. C Marshfield, Wis.
Fisk, C. J Grand Forks
Forster, Geo. F Harvey
Gillette, John M Valley City
Grethen, Anton Harvey
Griffith, R. B Grand Fork's
Hagen, H. J Abercrombie
Hager, G. S . . St. Thomas
Hansb rough, H. C . . . Devils Lake
Hays, Rev. F. H Chicago, 111
Heyward, R. F Langdon
Holmes, D. M Grand Forks
Hoover, W. E Fargo
Hubbard, N. K '. Fargo
Hunter, W. H Fargo
Jackson, Leroy Larimore
Jewell, M. H Bismarck
Johnson, Jas Minot
Johnson, J. A Fargo
Joy, W. A Grand Forks
Kent, E. H Grand Forks
Kneeshaw, W. J Pembina
Lander, E. J Grand Forks
Larimore, N. G Larimore
Leonard, Mrs. Catherine Gue Grand Forks
Leonard, Prof. A. G Grand Forks
Libby, O. G Grand Forks
Little, C. B Bismarck
McCumber, P. J ' . Wahpeton
McDonald, Don Grand Forks
McEwan, G. K Park River
McFarland, Geo. A Valley City
McKenzie, Alex Bismarck
McLain, J. F Grand Forks
Macnie, John University
Maher, John W Devils Lake
Mann, Bishop Cameron Fargo
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 19
Marshall, Thos. F Oakes
Merrifield, Webster University
Metzger, G. B Williston
Middaugh, Henrv G Devils Lake
More, S. G ". ' Buffalo
Morgan, D. E Devils Lake
Murphy, J. S ' Minot
Nash, Dudley . * Grand Forks
Nash, Willis K Grand Forks
Nichols, G. E Fargo
Nuessle, W. L ; Washburn
Peake, Col. A. P Valley City
Plumley, H. C Fargo
Pollock, Kobt. M Fargo
Powell, W. D Casselton
Quarve, Timan L Fessenden
Radcliffe, Sam. J Larimore
Rex, Scott Grand Forks
Roach, Joseph Minot
Rourke, Patrick H Lisbon
Russell, W. S . . .Grand Forks
Ryan, Hugh Grand Forks
Schultheis, A. G Grand Forks
Scott, W. A Farg6
Serumgard, Ole Devils Lake
Shanley, Rt. Rev. John Fargo
Skulason, B. G Grand Forks
Sorley, J. A Grand Forks
Spalding, B. F Fargo
Stearns, Wallace N Grand Forks
Stockwell, W. L Grafton
Taylor, Dr. J. D Grand Forks
Templeton, C. F Grand Forks
Thomas, Geo. S Grand Forks
Thompson, F. J Fargo
Tinglestad, John Grand Forks
Towle, Geo. F Park River
Upson, E. M Grand Forks
Walker, F. P Fargo
Wallace, J. F Bismarck
Wardwell, F. A Pembina
Wheeler, Dr. H. M Grand Forks
White, Wm. H. Fargo
Whithed, H. L Grand Forks
Wilder, W. L Grand Forks
Williams, E. A Bismarck
Wilson, Rev. G. L Langdon
Young, N. C Fargo
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 29
April 24, E. R. Steinbrueck, collecting work, March 15
to Apr. 15 30.00
, April 24, E. R. .Steinbrueck, additional services in mu- seum, Jan. and Feb., 190G 60.00
April 24, E. R. Steinbrueck 28.11
April 24, book , f 1.50
April 24, ink 35
April 24, brush .05
April 24, photo plates, 4x5 4 . 55
April 24, photo plates, 5x7 3.30
April 24, photo printing paper 4 . 65
April 24, paste .25
April 24, chemicals .70
April 24, mounts 1.20
April 24, nails 10
April 24, stationery and postage .26
April 24, repair of wagon 3 . 00
April 24, hoe and pick handles .50
April 24, rope .70
April 24, horseshoeing 2 . 00
April 24, horse collars 5.00
Total $ 28.11
May 16, The Herald, printing 300 proof sheets 2.50
May 16, R. B. Griffith 11.43
December 11, 1905, pencils I .20
December 22, tracing- paper 1 . 00
February 28, 1906, canvas 1 .23
March 16, plates and films 3.80
April 16, printing photographs 3.10
April 18, paste .10
April 23, canvas 30
April 24, typewriter ribbon .75
April 25, envelopes and blank book .80
April 30, envelopes - .15
Total $ 11.43
May 16, Holmes & Liedman, insurance on contents of
office 7.15
May 16, O. G. Libby 15 39
April 4, railroad fares, Bismarck to Fargo, .f 12.30
April 25, stamps 3.00
April 30, postage .09
Total I 15.39
May 17, E. R. Steinbrueck, collecting work, April 15 to
May 15 30.00
30 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
May 21, J. A. Tanner, preparing newspaper files for
binding; 45.00
Total $1,795.86
Total state appropriation available for the State His- torical Society $ 2,500.00
Total expenditures July 1, 1905, to July 1, 1906 1,795.86
Balance on hand July 1, 1906 $ 704.14
II. Warrants drawn on the treasurer, J. L. Cashel, for the
expenditures of the State Historical Society of North Dakota,
and receipts into treasury of same from May 13, 1905, to July 17 1906:
RECEIPTS. .
May 13, 1905, balance on hand $ 80.82
May 13, dues 178.00
June 17, State University of North Dakota, for books
sold 50.00
October 19, O. G. Libby 50.00
December 26, state warrant 52 . 51
February 12, 1906, State University of North Dakota,
books 5.00
April 11, state warrant 47.95
April 19, note of E. R. Steinbrueck for money loaned to
him by the State Historical Society 65.00
Total $ 529.28
EXPENDITURES.
Warrant No. 62, May 15, 1905, R, B. Griffith $ 1.90
Warrant No. 63, May 15, 1905, Julia A. Thomas, type- writing 4 . 00
Warrant No. 64, May 17, J. A. Tanner . 22.00
Work on newspapers, Jan. 1 to March 29. . .$ 20.00 Work on packing specimens 2 . 00
Total I 22.00
Warrant No. 65, May 17, O. G. Libby, postage 2.16
Warrant No. 66, May 17, Mrs. Wm. Budge, stamped
envelopes 10 . 60
Warrant No. 67, June 17, O. G. Libby 40.28
May 6, return railroad fare, Grafton to Pem-
bina $ 1.90
May 31, collecting trip to Con way 7.65
June 2, express .50
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 31
June 5, postage .95
June 17, expenses of trip to St. Paul 29.28
Total ' | 40.28
Warrant No. 68, June 17, W. B. Koe, developing nega- tives 2.00
Warrant No. 69, June 17, Caldwell, the stamp man. . . .35
Warrant No. 70, Plaindealer, printing 4 . 00
Warrant No. 71, June 17, typewriting 1 . 25
Warrant No. 72, July 18, John W. Cadby, Albany,
N. Y ". "..... 1.00
Warrant No. 73, July 18, C. F. Libbie & C., Boston,
Mass 2.77
Warrant No. 74, July 18, University P. O. box rent,
July 1 to Oct. 1, 1905 1.50
Julv 21, amount advanced for collecting expenses to
"O. G. Libby 50.00
August 20, amount advanced for collecting expenses to
E. R. Steinbrueck 25.00
Warrant No. 75, October 9, O. G. Libby, postage 1.56
Warrant No. 76, October 9, typewriting .75
Warrant No. 77, October 9, J. R. Parsons, office table 4.00 Warrant No. 78, October 9, Grand Forks Furniture
Co., stove 7.20
Warrant No. 79, Burrows Bros. Co., Cleveland, Ohio. . 3.25
Warrant No. 80, October 20, Sitting Rabbit, balance
due on Indian picture 10 . 00
Warrant No. 81, October 20, Spotted Weasel, flint lock
buffalo gun 4 . 00
Warrant No. 82, October 20, Oliver Typewriter Co.,
first payment on typewriter 25 . 00
Warrant No. 83, November 13, Oliver Typewriter Co. 5.00 Warrant No. 84, November 20, University Book Store .50
Warrant No. 85, December 4, A. S. Barnes & Co .98
Warrant No. 86, December 4; H. A. O'Leary, Brooklyn,
N. Y. . 1.50
Warrant No. 87, December 4, Albert Britnell, Toronto,
Can. , 3.70
Warrant No. 88, December 4, Union Library Associa- tion 1.08
Warrant No. 89, December 13, T. O. Edwards & Co.,
chairs 3 . 45
Warrant No. 90, December 13, R. B. Griffith 2.92
Warrant No. 91, December 13, Oliver Typewriter Co. 5.00 Warrant No. 92, December 22, Irwin A. Churchill,
Minneapolis, Minn ; . : 3 . 00
Warrant No. 93, December 22, Mrs. Wm. Budge,
stamped envelopes 10 . 60
32 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Warrant No. 94, January 8, 1906, Lee Bros., Minne- apolis, Minn., photographs of F. F. Gerard 2.00
Warrant No. 95, January 8, Oliver Typewriter Co... 5.00 Warrant No. 96, February 13, Oliver Typewriter Co. 5.00 Warrant No. 97, February 26, Frank L. Dixon, plumb- ing • 4.90
Warrant No. 98, February 26, Librairie Beauchemin,
Montreal, Can 1 . 00
Warrant No. 99, February 26, H. A. O'Leary 4.00
Warrant No. 100, March 21, R. E. Wenzel, work on
newspaper collection 7.00
Warrant No. 101, April 9, Thomas J. Taylor, Taunton,
Mass 1.10
Warrant No. 102, April 9, C. F. Libbie & Co 1.14
Warrant No. 103, April 9, Wm. Briggs, Toronto, Can. 2.50
Warrant No. 104, April 9, Chas. Scribner's Sons.... 1.50
Warrant No. 105, April 9, Frank L. Dixon 3.65
Warrant No. 106, April 9, Little, Brown & Co., Boston,
Mass 1 .48
Warrant No. 107, April 9, Nash Bros., express paper 1.33 Warrant No. 108, April 9, E. E. Wenzel, work on news- paper collection 5 . 00
Warrant No. 109, April 9, Mrs. Wm. Budge, stamped
envelopes 10 . 60
Warrant No. 110, May 7, Albert Britnell, Toronto.. 5.40 Warrant No. Ill, May 7, University P. O., box rent
Oct. 1, 1905, to July 1, 1906 4.50
Warrant No. 112, May 14, Roger St. Pierre, Dunseith,
Chippewa chart of buffalo hunt 10 . 00
Warrant No. 113, May 28, postage and express. ...... .60
Warrant No. 114, May 28, CreswelPs Among the Sioux 1.06
Warrant No. 115, May 28, C. F. Libbie & Co 1.98
Warrant No. 116, May 28, J. A. Johnson, Fargo, trav- eling expenses of A. C. McLaughlin, Ann Arbor,
Mich., and rent of hall 65.00
Warrant No. 117, June 16, Mandan playing ball 2.20
Total " $ 410.24
Balance on hand July 1, 1906 1 119.04
LIBRARY AND MUSEUM.
The librarj7 of the State Historical Society has hardly yet begun to grow, numbering as it does about 1,500 books and pam- phlets, with some maps, pictures and manuscripts. It has not been catalogued and arranged, and proper accommodations have not been provided for it in our rooms. As in the case of the
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 25
September 12, board and room, Cannon Ball 3.00
September 13, ferry charge .25
September 13, stage, Shermer's place to Bis- marck 1.75
September 14, developing and printing photo- graphs 12.20
September 14, hotel expenses, Bismarck.... 1.50
September 15, lodging, Winnipeg Junction. . .50
September 15, baggage transfer .75
Total :.$ 67. 7G
October 16, J. L. Cashel, treasurer State Historical
Society 52.51
(The items of expenditure appear in the second part of this report.)
October 16, H. A. O'Leary, for books. 16.25
October 16, Hudson Bay Co., memorials $ 1.75
October 16, Hudson Bay Co., papers 2 . 50
October 16, Hudson Bay Co., reports 5.50
October 16, Hudson Bay Co., Bed River Set- tlement " 1.00
October 16, Ballantyne's Hudson Bay 1.50
October 16, Mackenzie's Voyages 1.50
October 16, McKeevor's Hudson Bay 2 . 50
Total | 16.25
October 16, Arthur H. Clark Co 13.05
July 14, Early Western Travels, vol. XVII. . .f 4.00 September 11, Journal Lewis and Clark Ex- pedition, vol. VI 7.50
September 11, express .22
September 27, Copway's Indians . . 1 . 33
Total | 13.05
October 16, R. B. Griffith 14.53
August 1, camp supplies f 1.35
August 1, canvas 1 . 20
August 2, blank books 3 .30
September 5, paper .50
September 18, mounts .54
September 21, envelopes .36
September 23, lock for office 1.50
September 30, printing photographs 3 . 26
October 2, camera plates and desk pad 2 . 52
Total . .* 14.53
26 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
October 16, St. Hilaire Lumber Co 16.30
June 22, 327 feet shelving, No. 2 $ 8.20
June 22, 323 feet shelving, No. 1 8.10
Total | 16.30
November 29, Gibbs Grain & Fuel Co., coal and wood . . 6 . 00
November 29, M. J. Londergan, drayage 7.50
November 29, R. B. Griffith \ 14.53
October 2, window shades and matting for
floor | 10.88
October 12, cards and card index 2.35
October 14, blotters 10
October 16, oil cloth 35
October 23, dozen sheets carbon paper .50
October 23, coal hod .35
Total *- | 14.53
November "29, O. G. Libby 20.96
September 25, office cleaning $ .45
September 29, express .45
October 2, interest on loan .25
October 2, express .60
October 9, interest on loan .50
October 23, office- furniture 1 .40
November 16, express .95
November 20, paper and twine .25
November 21, express .80
November 23, drayage .50
November 26, return railroad fare, Grand
Forks to St. Paul 13.75
November 26, photograph, F. F. Gerard.... 1.00
Total | 20.96
December 16, E. R. Steinbrueck, museum work, Nov. 15
to Dec. 15, 1905 30.00
January 22, 1906, E. R. Steinbrueck 12.49
January 22, 1906, drayage $ 5.25
January 22, freight 3.69
January 22, ferry charges .20
January 22, one day's time 3 . 00
January 22, museum supplies .35
Total I 12.49
January 22, E. R. Steinbrueck, museum work, Dec. 15,
1905, to Jan. 15, 1906 30.00
January 22, A. C. Mather, office rent, Sept. 26 to Dec.
31, 1905 25.00
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 27
January 22, J. A. Tanner ^ 5 .35
December 2, 1905, express paid f 4 . 75
December 2, nails, twine and paper .60
Total | 5.35
January 22, J. A. Tanner, work on newspaper cases. ... 15.00
January 22, The Herald, letter heads and paste 7 . 75
February 26, E. E. Steinbrueck, museum work, Jan. 15
to Feb. 15 30.00
February 26, The Herald, printing and stationery. ... 6.50
February 28, J. A. Tanner 129.50
Work on newspaper collection, July 1 to Dec.
31 ". 116.00
Office work, Oct. 9 to Dec. 31, 57 hours at 25c 13.50
Total ...$129.50
March 19, E. R. Steinbrueck, museum work Feb. 15 to
Mar. 15 30.00
March 19, Oliver Typewriter Co 15.00
March 21, O. G. Libby 17.64
December 11, 1905, express $ 2.15
December 14, express .75
December 14, freight and drayage .75
January 3, 1906, office cleaning .60
January 8, postage .50
January 29, registered mail ' .11
February 5, postage 1 . 18
February 12, express .25
February 15, return railroad fare, Grand
Forks to Pembina 5 . 10
February 16, hotel expenses, Pembina 2.00
February 26, postage .70
February 26, freight and drayage .85
March 5, express .80
March 13, long distance telephone 1.40
March 19, office gas . ' .50
Total $ 17.64
March 21, J. L. Cashel, treasurer State Historical So- ciety 47.95
April 1, J. C. Ritchey, Bismarck, drayage 1.50
April 9, Arthur H. Clark Co ". 30.30
November 7, 1905, Journal of Lewis and Clark
Expedition, Vol. VII $ 7.80
January 3, 1906, Atlas Lewis and Clark Ex- pedition 7 . 80
January 4, Early Western Travels, Vol. XXI 4.00
28 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
January 30, Early Western Travels, Vol.
XXII 4.00
February 21, Audubon's Western Journal. . . 2.70
March 9, Early Western Travels, Vol. XXIII 4.00
Total $ 30.30
April 9, The Herald, 100 sheets manilla paper 3.00
April 9, W. E. Butler, Bismarck, developing and print- ing photographs . . . : 7 . 20
April 12, A. C. Mather, office rent Jan. 1 to March 31,
1906 24.00
April 23, O. G. Libby, expenses of trip with Leonard
Crunelle, Chicago 55 . 38
March 24, railroad fare, Grand Forks to
Fargo, N. P. R. K $ 2.83
March 25, lodging, Winnipeg Junctign .50
March 25, meals, Fargo .20
March' 26, hotel expenses, Bismarck 4.00
March 26, drayage .75
March 26, meals, Underwood 1 .00
March 27, hotel expenses, Garrison 2.00
March 27, meals, John Nagle's .50
March 28, stage, Garrison to Elbowoods 5.00
March 29, services of Indian .50
March 30, meals and room, Shell Creek 1 . 50
March 31, elk teeth and picture 2 . 50
April 2, meals and room, Elbowoods 14.00
April 2, meals, John Nagle's .50
April 2, telegram .50
April 2, stage, Elbowoods to Garrison 5.00
'April 3, hotel expenses, Garrison 2.50
April 3, drayage .25
April 3, meals, Bismarck .50
April 4, sleeping car tickets 2.00
April 4, hotel expenses, Fargo 1.00
April 4, railroad fare, Fargo to Grand
Forks, G. N 2.35
Total | 50.38
April 5, J. H. Balch, services $ .90
April 6, express 3 . 50
April 6, drayage and storage .75
April 9, express • • • -35
Total $ 55.38
April 24, M. J. Londergan, freight and drayage 15.05
April 24, Mrs. M. A. Thompson, Fairfax, S. D., old Ft.
Randall church pew 15 . 00
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 33
museum, however, provision is being made for book cases, and it is expected that the already numerous donations listed on the following pages and the books and pamphlets purchased dur- ing the past three years may soon appear on our shelves where the public can have access to them.
The secretary desires to urge upon all residents of the state that they contribute what they can to "increase our collection of maps, pamphlets, magazines and books. It will be our policy to accept the gifts of magazine files, old newspapers and other periodicals, and thus keep on hand a large number of duplicates for exchange with other societies.
From a limited experience in this state, the secretary is con- vinced that there is in a majority of homes, stored in attics and cellars, much valuable printed and other historical material which should be sent in to our Society. It is not possible for us to collect and preserve for future use these valuable records with- out the ready co-operation of every one interested in the matter. Only recently a very old and valuable file of county papers that had been left in an attic was used for kindling fires by the parties who later c ?cupied the house. The loss in this instance was the more irreparable on account of the recent burning of the court house with the large number of records kept there.
The quite common custom among the county and town officials of destroying all records not in immediate use is another illus- tration of this waste of original records which may come later to have the highest value. In this way poll books, assessment rolls, census returns, old village and town plats, and a great variety of similar materials are lost, when they should be pre- served in the vaults of the State Historical Society.
Another numerous class of state records is commonly neglected, namely, the reports, minutes of proceedings and annual publica- tions of the very large number of organizations in the state. In a few years many of these records will be invaluable for refer- ence, and certainly they should be more carefully preserved by the officers of the various organizations issuing them and copies of each should find their way to the collections of the Society.
There is probably not a community in the state that does not contain some historic records, either public or private, that should be sent to us for preservation. Since all the expense of trans- portation is paid by the Society, it would seem that more material of this kind would find its way into our possession. We are confident, however, that with this present notice that the small list of donors appearing in this volume will be increased by another year many fold, and that there will be a corresponding increase in the number and value of the donations.
Hist.— 3
34 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
GIFTS TO THE LIBRARY OP THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OP
NORTH DAKOTA.
Alloway, C. V., Winnipeg, Man., three pamphlets.
Andrews, C. W., Walhalla, one pamphlet.
Armstrong, M. K., St. James, Minn., one book and two pam- phlets.
Arnold, H. V., Larimore, one pamphlet.
Brower, J. V., St. Paul, Minn., nine books.
Bruce, A. A., Grand Forks, three books and 161 pamphlets.
Burleson, Rev. J. K., Grand Forks, seven pamphlets.
Cavalier, E. K., Pembina, one photograph.
Collins, John S., Omaha, Neb., one book.
County Commissioners, Pembina, maps and manuscript records of the county.
Cushing, W. F., Bismarck, eleven photographs.
Einarsson, Svanhvit, Hensel, one pamphlet.
Evanston Historical Society, Evanston, 111., one book and three pamphlets.
Fish, H. C., Marshfield, Wis., eleven pamphlets.
Forster, Prof. George F., Harvey, one book.
Grover, Frank R., Chicago, 111., one pamphlet.
Hall, Rev. C. L., Elbowoods, three pamphlets, three photo- graphs.
Hamel, Chas., Grafton, nine registers for visitors at Roosevelt cabin, St. Louis and Portland.
Historical Society of New Mexico, Sante Fe, N. M., one pam- phlet.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa., fourteen books and pamphlets.
Hudson Bay Company, Winnipeg, Man., one map.
Ipswich Historical Society, Ipswich, Mass., one pamphlet.
Jewell, M. H., Bismarck, one book.
Lee, Charles H., Walhalla, one pamphlet.
Libby, O. G., Grand Forks, twenty-three pamphlets.
Lounsberry, Col. C. A., Fargo, 184 books, 411 pamphlets, 424 periodicals, 13 manuscripts, also plates and 500 photos for Record illustrations.
McLain, J. F., Grand Forks, two books.
MacFarlane, R., Winnipeg, Man., one pamphlet.
Moran, Patrick, Bismarck, old Ft. Randall newspaper, the Independent, Jan. 18, 1865.
New England Hist, and Geneal. Soc., Boston, Mass., two pam- phlets.
Ontario Historical Society, Toronto, Can., two books.
Plumley, H. C., Fargo, five books.
Prud'homme, L. A., Winnipeg, Man., one pamphlet.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 35
Robertson, I. P., Winnipeg, Man., seven pamphlets.
Skulason, B. G., Grand Forks, three pamphlets.
South Dakota Historical Society, Aberdeen, S. D., four books and one pamphlet.
State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, three books and ten pamphlets.
State Historical Society of Kansas, Topeka, Kan., one book.
Stein, Annie, Georgetown, Minn., one photograph.
Taylor, Dr. J. I)., Grand Forks, four books and sixteen maps.
Thomas, Maj. A. W., Elbowoods, two books and one photo- graph.
Yineland Hist, and Antiq. Soc., Vineland, N. J., two pamphlets. • War Department, Washington, D. C., one set of maps of Mis- souri River Survey.
Westergaard, Christian, Buffalo, N. D., twenty-seven news- papers.
West Virginia Hist, and Antiq. Soc., Charleston, W. Va., one pamphlet.
Wilson, Rev. G. L., Langdon, four pamphlets.
Woburn Public Library, Woburn, Mass., one pamphlet.
The museum consists of a number of unclassified specimens, many thousand in number, more than enough already to fill the room set apart for the display of this portion of our collection. Nearly two years ago the board of directors elected E. R. Stein- brueck curator of the museum at a salary of $600 a year. Owing, however, to the small sum appropriated for us at the last session of the legislature, and because of the impossibility of taking possession of our rooms, the curator has not yet been placed in charge of the work. This lack of facilities for the arrangement and classification of material in the museum has been a serious handicap to the satisfactory collecting of new specimens, yet this work has gone on steadily. It has been the aim of the secretary to keep the interest alive in as many lines as possible by having a number of persons in different parts of the state collect material illustrative of the various periods in our development, of the earlier and the later life among the Sioux, Mandan, Arikara, Grosventre and Chippewas, and of the old world survivals among the many nationalities within our borders. With historical ma- terial representing all these phases of our life and collected by so many individuals, it is obvious that our museum will have its interest alike for the scientist, the old settler, and even the latest arrival from Europe ; every one will want to see our collec- tion and many will donate liberally to increase it. As we continue our work other departments will be added as they appear to be needed. For example, we should have not only portraits of our early settlers and Indian fighters, but also of
36 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
our leading citizens, prominent in every walk of life, and group pictures of important legislative bodies, conventions and local organizations. Characteristic costumes of the various Indian tribes in ceremonial dress furnish abundant material for photo- graphs, as do also those of the French trapper, the scout and the cowboy. Elsewhere in this volume is a list of early residents and visitors to the state previous to 1862. Such a list would be doubly valuable if we could supplement it by portraits of each of these men.
With the display cases now being made we hope to be able by December to make such a showing of the varied and abundant historical material in the state that every one will be convinced of the desirability of saving it as speedily as possible from any further loss.
The following list of gifts to the museum is an illustration of how widely interest in our collection has already spread :
Alloway, C. V., Winnipeg, Man., Hudson Bay tobacco box with flint and steel; reindeer hide sleeping-bag and robe; two buffalo horns.
Amidon, Mrs. C. F., Fargo, four Indian hammers.
Baldwinson, B. L., Winnipeg, Man., specimen of Icelandic brass and leather work.
Brunelle, John, Belcourt, N. D., stone hammer.
Carrigan, Major, Fort Yates, eight guns taken by U. S. govern- ment from Indians, 1890.
Cold Hand, Gayton P. O., two pieces quartz crystal.
Fish, H. C., Marshfield, Wis., four flint arrow heads; one flint spear head; three small trilobites.
Grodahl, Ole, McCanna, mortar and pounding stone.
Hall, Rev. C. L., Elbowoods, Arikara game.
Hudson Bay Co., Winnipeg, Man., Hudson Bay company flag.
Inflecting Voice (Chippewa), Dunseith, Indian "charm.
Johnson, M. N., Petersburg, trapper's double spoon.
Juneau, Dinace, Dunseith, white quartz arrow head.
Lowe, D. G., Union Point, Man., stone hammer; arrow head' Indian pottery; Hudson Bay company gun wrench.
McLaughlin, Mrs. James, Fort Yates, petrified shell ; metal ax head; Ree praying stone; Sioux gift stick.
Mackey, Mrs. F. L., Garrison, Chippewa bead work.
Nordby, Olaf, Argusville, stone hammer.
Okapayyasikai (Chippewa), Belcourt, wooden hide scraper.
Olgeirson, G., Underwood, Icelandic walking stick.
Orr, Lawrence M., McCanna, stone ax.
Osby, Martin, Argusville, stone ax.
Parkin, Mrs. A. J., Gayton P. O., one piece of Mandan game; bear tooth medicine holder ; Sioux grinding stone ; stone hammer ; Mandan stone ax; Mandan pottery; braid of sweet grass.
Peterson, P. A., Bismarck, iron arrowhead.
Red Bear (Chippewa chief), Belcourt, Chippewa pipe.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 37
Russell, W. D., Stanton P. O., bone flesher.
St. Pierre, Roger, Dunseith, stone ax; Indian scented root (Ma-nwa).
Simpson, A. M., Forman, ancient geological specimen.
Smith, R. W., Winnipeg, Man., pair Flemish sabots and stone hammer.
Steinbrueck, E. R. collection of Indian specimens from Mis- souri valley (see public document No. 40).
Suverly, G. S., Gayton P. O., two stone hammers; Mandan pot- tery.
Vatne, Andrew, Cooperstown, Norwegian lamp.
Wanaqwut (Chippewa), Belcourt, one pair Indian earrings.
Warner, F. C., Pembina, United States international boundary post.
Weatherby, E. S., Fort Yates, five flint arrow heads; piece decorated Mandan pottery.
Wells, E. A., Gayton P. O., Mandan sacred stone.
NEWSPAPER COLLECTION.
No part of our work for the past two years has been more successful than the effort to collect and file all the newspapers of the state. Reinforced by the law passed at the last legislative session, we have succeeded in having practically every paper in the state send us two copies of each issue. The first portion of our collection is now being bound at Bismarck, and hereafter these bound files will constitute an important part of the his- torical records we are preserving for future use. In a number of instances editors have sent or promised us very important volumes of back numbers. With the losses by fire from which so many newspapers have suffered in recent years, the importance of thus preserving a complete file of every paper is apparent to all.
The text of the law defining a legal newspaper and providing for our collection is given below :
CHAPTER 139. (H. B. No. 201 — Streeter.)
LEGAL NEWSPAPERS.
An Act to Amend Section 1804 of the Revised Codes, Prescribing the
Requirements of Newspapers Qualified to Do Legal Printing. Be It Enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the State of North Dakota:
1. Amendment.] That section 1804 of the revised codes be amend- ed so as to read as follows:
Sec. 1804. Requirements of Newspapers Qualified to Do Legal Print- ing. Two Copies of Each Issue to be Filed With State Historical Society.] Before any newspaper in this state shall be qualified to pub- lish any legal notice, or any matter required to be printed or published in some newspaper in the state, or any public notices for any county, city or other municipality within this state, such newspaper must have
38 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
been established at least six months, and hereafter for one year, at least one page of the same actually printed at the place designated in the date line, and have been in regular and continuous circulation dur- ing that time with a bona fide subscription list of at least one hundred and fifty regular and continuous subscribers. Such newspaper must contain at least four pages of five columns to the page, said columns to be not less than eighteen inches in length and twelve ems pica in width, with not less than four columns of reading or news matter; or must contain eight pages of four columns to the page, or its equivalent, the columns thereof to be not less than twelve inches in length; pro- vided, that in counties where there is no newspaper published having the above prescribed qualifications, any newspaper at the county seat shall be entitled to publish such legal notices even though it may not have been established six months; provided, further, that in counties in which no newspaper is published any notices required by law to be pub- lished may be published in a newspaper printed in an adjoining county having a general circulation in said county. It shall be the duty of the owner or publisher of every legal newspaper in the state to send to the state historical society of North Dakota, to such address as shall be designated by the secretary thereof, two copies of each issue of such newspaper.
II. Emergency.] An emergency exists in that it is desirable that the state historical society shall be furnished the files of all state pub- lications, beginning at once, therefore this act shall take effect and be iu force from and after its passage and approval.
Approved March 11, 1905.
Laws passed by the ninth session of the legislative assembly of the state of North Dakota, p. 246.
LIST OF NEWSPAPERS • IN THE POSSESSION OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, JULY 20, 1906.
Papers published outside the state are marked thus*
NO. ISSUES.
Abercrombie Herald ..'... 139
Adams Budget ; . . . . 39
Adams Enterprise 4
Alberta Herald * 42
Anamoose Progress 60
Aneta Panorama 134
Antler American 58
Ashley Tribune 138
Balfour Leader ' 107
Balfour Messenger 25
Balfour Statesman 215
Berthold Tribune 57
Berwick Post 118
Billings County Herald 13
Billings County Kepublican 54
Binford Times 64
Bisbee Gazette 63
Bismarck Weekly Tribune 125
Bottineau County News 121
Bottineau Courant .. 132
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 39
NO. ISSUES.
Bowbells Bulletin 50
Bowbells Tribune 64
Bowdon Guardian 63
Braddock News 68
Brinsmade Star 8
Buffalo Express . . . < 62
Buford Tribune 136
Canadian Farmer * 49
Cando Herald -. 127
Cando Record 107
Carpio News 57
Carrington Record 51
Carrington Independent 57
Casselton Eye 39
Casselton Reporter 123
Cavalier County Clipper 21
Cavalier County Republican 131
Cavalier Chronicle . . . ; 104
Center Republican ..;... 63
Christine Eagle 62
Church's Ferry Sun 79
Cogswell Enterprise 131
Cooperstown Courier 124
Courier Democrat 129
Courtenay Gazette 138
Crary Public Opinion 128
Crosby Eagle 57
Crosby Review 69
Crystal Call 139
Deepriver Pioneer 20
Dawson Leader 26
De Lamere Mistletoe Ill
Denbigh Promoter 37
Denhoff Voice 33
Der Deutsche Republikaner \ 89
Der Deutsche Pioneer 3
Der Nordwesten* 29
Der Volks Freund 47
Des Lacs Valley Observer 65
Devils Lake Free Press 354
Devils Lake Inter-Ocean 112
Devils Lake Journal 59
Devils Lake News 19
Dickey County Leader ; . . . . 66
Dickey Reporter 64
Dickinson Press 139
Dickinson Recorder . . 128
40 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
NO. ISSUES.
Die Staats Presse 127
Die Wacht am Missouri 56
Donnybrook Courier 133
Drake News 44
Drayton Echo 122
Eddy County Provost 63
Edgeley Mail 67
Edinburg Tribune 63
Edmore Herald 131
Egeland Enterprise 9
Emmons County Advocate 63
Emmons County Record 60
Emmons County Republican 67
Esmond Bee , 63
Esmond Leader 4
Fair'dale Times 12
Fargo Forum (weekly) 92
Fargo Journal 77
Fingal Herald 61
Finley Beacon 138
Flasher Hustler 53
Flaxton Eagle 13
Flaxton Times 64
Flickertail Flicker 18
Forbes Republican 18
Forbes Tribune . 18
Forman News , . 121
Fram 50
Free Press 41
Germania* 69
Glenburn Advance 59
Glen Ullin News 129
Goodrich Weekly Citizen 109
Goose River Farmer 153
Grafton News and Times 138
Grand Forks Courier 36
Grandin Chronicle 138
Granville Record 134
Grano Tribune 51
Griggs County Sentinel 68
Hamilton Independent 5
Hankinson News 140
Hannaford Enterprise 51
Hansboro Pioneer 19
Harvey Herald 63
Harvey Journal 7
Hatton Free Press . 15
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA- 41
NO. ISSUES.
Heimskringla* 118
Herald Granville 85
Hettinger County Dynamo 40
Hillsboro Banner 134
Hope Pioneer 14
Hunter Herald 32
Independent (Mandan) 112
Independent (Lansford) 44
International (Portal) 129
Jamestown Weekly Alert 125
Kathryn Weekly Star 60
Kenmare Journal 133
Kenmare News 49
Kidder County Republican 33
Kindred Tribune 59
Knox Advocate 44
Knox Independent 22
Kulm Messenger 47
LaFollette Forum 20
Lakota American 118
Lakota Herald 104
LaMoure County Chronicle 132
Lansford Times 42
Larimore Pioneer • 134
Leeds News 141
Lidgerwood Broadaxe 64
Lidgerwood Monitor 139
Lisbon Free Press 121
Litchville Bulletin 68
Logberg (Winnipeg) * 117
McCumber Herald . . '. 43
McHenry County Journal 59
McHenry Tribune 63
Mclntosh Republican 138
McLean County Gazette 42
McLean County Independent '. 59
McLean County Journal 3
McLean County Miner 132
McLeod Enterprise 55
Maddock Standard .128
Mandan Pioneer 140
Mandan Republican 56
Mandan Times .* . 117
Manhaven Journal . . . . 60
Marion Sentinel 58
Mayville Tribune 129
Medina Citizen 70
42 ' REPORT OF .HISTORICAL SOCIETY
NO. ISSUES.
Michigan Arena 42
Milton Globe 138
Minnesota Stats Tidnung* 29
Minot Weekly Optic 101
Minto Journal 49
Mohall News 141
Moon (Hanna) 54
Mouse River Journal 93
Mouse River Standard 21
Munich Herald 63
Napoleon Homestead 71
Neche Chronotype 116
Nelson County Independent 88
Nelson County Observer 140
New Salem Herald ' 38
Normal Oracle (Valley City) 18
North Dakota Banner 39
North Dakota Capitol 136
North Dakota Eagle 129
North Dakota Farmer 8
North Dakota Independent 65
North Dakota Magnet 47
North Dakota Patriot 128
North Dakota Record 133
North Dakota Siftings 50
North Dakotan 20
Northwood Gleaner .- . 133
Norwich Item 61
Oakes Republican 76
Oakes Times 26
Oberon Reporter 143 ,
Omemee Herald 120
Optimist (Rugby) 22
Osnabrock Independent 71
Page Record 70
Palermo Standard 9
Palladium 245
Park River Gazette News 141
Perth Journal 107
Petersburg Record 43
Pierce County Tribune 131
Pink Paper 87
Pioneer Express 105
Portland Republican 115
Post (Dickinson) 39
Ransom County Independent 113
Ransom County Gazette 33
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 43
NO. ISSUES.
Kay Pioneer 54
Red River Valley Sun . 16
Renville County Tribune 114
Reynolds Enterprise 103
Richardton News 50
Rolette County Examiner 43
Rolette County Herald 68
Ross Valley News x. 145
Rugby Optimist 65
Ryder News , 138
St. Peter's Bote* 51
St. Thomas Times 140
Sanborn Enterprise 64
Sandoun Enterprise 44
Sargent County Independent 84
Sargent County Teller 63
Sarles Budget 10
Sawyer Clipper 58
Searchlight 57
Sentinel 55
Settler 77
Sharon Reporter 86
Sheldon Progress 131
Sheldon Enterprise 3
Sherwood Journal 56
Sherwood Tribune 65
Sheyenne Star 44
Souris Republican 132
Springbrook Eagle 11
Springbrook News 53
Stanley Sun 53
Starkweather Times 141
State Journal 62
Stats-Tidende 90
Steele County Tribune 132
Steele Ozone 138
Stutsman County Democrat 58
Stutsman County Leader 6
Stutsman County Patriot 76
Sunday Eagle 3
Sykeston Tribune 68
Svenska Volks Tidnung* 24
Tagus Mirror 53
Times 86
Times-Vidette 37
Tioga Gazette 133
Tower City Topics 127
44 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
NO. ISSUES.
Towner News and Stockman 130
Towner County Democrat 59
Towner Tribune 5
Traill County Blade 63
Transcript 64
Tribune (Kindred) 37
Turtle Mountain Star 50
Underwood Leader 10
Uphain Star 10
Valley City Alliance 68
Valley City Times-Record 54
Vinland * 27
Voice 50
Wahpeton Gazette 139
Wahpeton Globe 135
Wahpeton Times 73
Walcott Reporter . . . . • 89
Walhalla Mountaineer 249
Wallace County Record 5
Walsh County Record 142
Walsh County Republican 63
Ward County Independent '. 55
Ward County Reporter ." . . . 98
Washburn Leader 132
Weekly Star 53
Weekly Student 54
Weekly Times 25
Wells County Free Press 61
Wells County News 63
Westhope Standard 92
Wheatland Eagle 135
Wheelock Times 43
Wheelock Tribune 72
White Earth Record 63
WThite Ribbon Bulletin 25
Williston Graphic 62
Williston Herald 56
Williston World 3
Wilton News 64
Wimbledon News 53
Wishek News 151
Wolford Mirror 20
York Ledger 94
DAILIES.
Bismarck Tribune 963
Evening Press (Grand Forks) 529
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 45
NO. ISSUES.
Evening Times (Grand Forks) 190
Fargo Forum 915
Grand Forks Herald 866
Jamestown Alert 760
Jamestown Capital 800
Manitoba Free Press* 310
Minot Daily Optic 691
Morning Call (Fargo) 762
Plaindealer (Grand Forks) 260
Ward County Reporter (Minot) 95
LOAN COLLECTIONS.
Loan collections to historical societies have proved to be ex- cellent means of securing the use of valuable specimens at very little cost. While a society thus profits by this plan to give the public access to collections they would probably otherwise never see, the owner of the loan collection secures perfect safety for his specimens and avoids further trouble of storing or caring for them. Our society has so far obtained but one such collection, but others will soon be added on the same terms, as our accom- modations become ample enough to provide for the necessary display.
The George H. Binghenheimer Sioux collection, now in the possession of the Society, is a fair illustration of the benefit we derive from such an arrangement. We have in this case the added advantage of being able to purchase the collection as fast as funds become available for that purpose. The itemized col- lection, with the contract agreed to by both parties is given below:
Inventory of Binghenheimer collection of Sioux material loaned to the State Historical Society of North Dakota on the terms given in the contract below.
1. Cowhide decorated with sunburst $ 12.00
2. Cowhide decorated with Sioux pattern.. 16.00
3. Buffalo hide, undecorated 50.00
4. Buffalo hide decorated with sunburst... 150.00
5. Fawn skin decorated with porcupine work 3.75
6. Calf hide decorated like No. 2 4.25
7. Calf hide decorated like No. 2 4 . 50
8. Calf hide decorated with porcupine work 5.25
9. Two buffalo calf hides decorated with
porcupine work 70 . 00
10. Sioux painting on cloth — Horse Stealing
-7 yds. by 2 yds 14.00
11. Coo-stick with otter fur 25.00
46 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
|
12. |
Otter fur for coo-stick |
10.00 |
|
13. |
Vest covered with white shells |
3.75 |
|
14. |
Three tepees, two set up and one down . . |
15.00 |
|
15. |
Blue-beaded knife sheath |
1.50 |
|
16. |
Cowhide bag, 12 by 9 inches |
1.10 |
|
17. |
Loon skin, with bells for dance |
2.00 |
|
18. |
Buckskin bag, with porcupine work, 10 |
|
|
inches square |
1.50 |
|
|
19. |
Buckskin suit, with porcupine work and |
|
|
• |
weasel fur |
50.00 |
|
20. |
Buckskin suit, with porcupine flowers |
|
|
and flags |
32.50 |
|
|
21. |
Buckskin coat, with porcupine flowers. . . |
15.00 |
|
22. |
Skin saddle bag, painted in pattern |
6.00 |
|
23. |
Two buckskin satchels, large size, porcu- |
|
|
pine work • |
17.00 |
|
|
24. |
Sweet grass mat |
1.00 |
|
25.. |
Two buckskin satchels, large size, beaded |
9.00 |
|
26. |
Buckskin parasol |
2.00 |
|
27. |
Four beaded velvet bags, Sioux work, |
|
|
flowers |
37.00 |
|
|
28. |
Brass necklace from Indian grave |
.75 |
|
29. |
Small drum, once owned by Crawler. . . . |
10.00 |
|
30. |
Horn spoon, deer head (split across) . . . |
.50 |
|
31. |
Pair gauntlet gloves, beaded |
5.00 |
|
32. |
Eagle feather headdress, with feather |
|
|
trail |
31.00 |
|
|
33. |
Woman's collar, decorated with shells. . . |
1.75 |
|
34. |
Bov's travois $ |
1.00 |
|
35. |
Men's beaded velvet leggings |
1.50 |
|
36. |
St. Joseph collar, beaded |
1.00 |
|
37. |
Buckskin lightning shield, painted by |
|
|
Swift Dog . . |
20.00 |
|
|
38. |
Dance shield, cloth, painted |
.50 |
|
39. |
Feather dance ornament, circular |
.75 |
|
40. |
White bead breast ornament |
1.25 |
|
41. |
Indian painting, 1 yard by 2 yards |
5.00 |
|
42. |
Bead hat band, Chippewa |
1.00 |
|
43. |
Square of bead work |
5.00 |
|
44. |
Miniature Chippewa canoe |
1.00 |
|
45. |
Buckskin baby cap, decorated |
1.00 |
|
46. |
Glue stick |
10.00 |
|
47. |
Two beaded vests : |
2.50 |
|
48. |
Pappoose and carrier (miniature) |
2.00 |
|
49. |
Sioux painting, life of Good Voice Eagle, |
|
|
4 yards by 8 yards |
14.00 |
|
|
50. |
Sioux painting, one-half of the whole pic- |
* |
|
ture, end beaded |
5.00 |
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 47
|
51. |
Medicine Joe's box |
3.00 |
|
52. |
Colored hair head ornament with bone. . |
2.00 |
|
53. |
Two buffalo horn spoons |
1.50 |
|
54. |
Sioux game, sticks and rings |
2.00 |
|
55. |
Baby cap, ornamented with porcupine |
|
|
work |
5.00 |
|
|
56. |
Turtle shell |
.15 |
|
57. |
Turtle shell, large |
.75 |
|
58. |
Bull Head's primer . . . . |
10.00 |
|
59. |
Two bladder bags, beaded for quills.... |
1.25 |
|
60. |
Pair Chippewa shell ear rings |
2.50 |
|
61. |
Leather sling |
.15 |
|
62. |
Wooden saddle and stirrups |
15.00 |
|
63. |
Sweet grass and roots — "medicine" |
.75 |
|
64. |
Knuckle bone and stick game |
.50 |
|
65. |
Seventeen gift sticks, porcupine decora- |
|
|
tions, two large, fifteen small |
3.00 |
|
|
66. |
Two squaw combs |
.50 |
|
67. |
Two tom-tom supports .- |
1.00 |
|
68. |
Cow's tail brush |
.15 |
|
69. |
Baby carrier, porcupine decoration ..... ' |
5.00 |
|
70. |
Buckskin beaded gun case |
15.00 |
|
71. |
Small beaded bag with porcupine work. . |
1.25 |
|
72. |
Two large beaded bags with porcupine |
|
|
work |
16.00 |
|
|
73. |
Beaded buckskin pipe bag • |
3.00 |
|
74. |
Small bag, two flags, bead work |
2.00 |
|
75. |
Beaded bag (tobacco bag) |
1.50 |
|
76. |
Very small bag, porcupine work |
.35 |
|
77. |
Tobacco bag, slightly beaded, marked . . . |
1.50 |
|
78. |
Bladder bag, porcupine work, buckskin at |
|
|
top |
1.00 |
|
|
79. |
Beaded whiskbroom holder |
1.00 |
|
80. |
Beaded bag for matches (small) '. |
.30 |
|
81. |
Old paint bag, beaded slightly |
1.00 |
|
82. |
Two knife sheaths, beaded and with por- |
|
|
cupine work |
1.75 |
|
|
83. |
Shoot Holy's tobacco bag |
3.00 |
|
84. |
Two large beaded tobacco bags |
8.50 |
|
85. |
Two looking glass bags, with porcupine |
|
|
work |
4.25 |
|
|
86. |
Large match carrier |
1.00 |
|
87. |
Rabbit's ears bag |
1.00 |
|
88. |
Beaded white purse |
.50 |
|
89. |
Chamois skin bag, machine made |
1.00 |
|
90. |
Sioux game, spindle and pieces on string |
.60 |
|
91. |
Three pair moccasins, porcupine work, |
|
|
large |
10.00 |
48 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
92. Pair moccasins, porcupine work and
beads 2.00
93. Four pair moccasins, beaded variously, no
porcupine 5 . 25
94. Medicine Joe's moccasins 2.50
95. Pair Chippewa woman's moccasins 2.50
96. Two pair children's moccasins 2.00
97. Cloth bag, beaded .30
98. Two beaded bags, one looped .60
99. Four dolls 8.00
100. Head for doll, black hair .75
101. Four balls, various sizes 4.25
102. Three beaded turtles and one lizard. ... 1.80
103. Three eagle feathers 1.50
104. Black beaded squaw leggings 3.00
105. Three war clubs, unpainted (red hair
tails) ' 13.50
106.- War club, red painted 1.10
107. Three armlets, porcupine work 1.75
108. Four strips beaded work 1 . 25
109. Man's porcupine belt 1 . 50
110. Two stilleto cases .- 2.00
111. Two whips 2.00
112. Boy's bow 2.00
113. Nine iron tipped arrows and two blunt
arrows 4 . 50
114. Buffalo horn club 1.50
115. Three small clubs 3.00
116. Beaded drum stick .75
117. Two pair large buffalo horns 1 . 00
120. Buffalo cow horn, beaded . . 1.00
121. Eighteen red pipestone pipes and one
brass pipe 93 . 00
122. Picture of Running Antelope, presented
to him by President Grant 15 . 00
123. One sinew bow, one wooden bow 10.00
124. Kill Crow's saddle bag (from Custer bat-
tlefield, one-half of an officer's saddle
bag) 15.00
Total $1,023.85
It is hereby agreed, between George H. Bingenheimer of Man- dan, N. D., and the State Historical Society of North Dakota, that the Sioux collection above inventoried remain in the rooms of the State Historical Society of North Dakota for three years from June 22, 1906, and that the State Historical Society during this time guarantee said collection as per inventory from any damage or loss. It is further agreed that the State Historical
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 49
Society may purchase any portion of the collection at the prices given in the inventory except the decorated buffalo hide, number 4 in the inventory. It is understood that the above collection will be exhibited in the rooms of the State Historical Society as soon as suitable cases can be provided for the same.
All of which report is respectfully submitted,
O. G. LIBBY, Secretary.
Hist.-4
Part II
ADDRESSES AND PAPERS
I
ADDRESSES AND PAPERS.
THE USES OF AN HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
An address delivered by Prof. A. C. McLaughlin (Department of History, University of Chicago) at the annual meeting of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, held at Fargo, June 7, 1906.
The American mind is declared to be a peculiarly practical mind. We are often told that we pay attention only to the present and the tangible and have no patience with idealistic theory or with the unattained future. Such general propositions might easily be refuted, for it may well be doubted whether any nation has ever been so commonly moved by ideals or inspired by the abstract. And yet I suppose it can be said that, under the influence of a practical American spirit which has so much of the present to occupy it, we are peculiarly apt to stop and say, "What is the use?" WThat is the use we may say of an historical society? Is it to be established and supported for the gratifica- tion of a few antiquaries who have a strange fondness for brush- ing the dust from uninteresting documents? Is it to be sup- ported as a mere acquiescence to the dilettanti — those who are interested in articles of virtue, not because of any meaning they convey or any lesson that they teach, but because they satisfy "a contemplative but inactive temperament?" Is an historical society to be founded and encouraged simply because a few earnest souls are eager for the past? Or is there a broader and more rational basis which makes an historical society an object of public support?
I would not for the world throw the cold water of disparage- ment on the antiquarian or the dilettante; the world would not be so interesting without them. And those of us who take no interest in old things simply because they are old, in first editions simply because they are first, in useless ornaments chiefly because they are useless, should be grateful for the prevalence of a spirit that is unlike our own because it adds to the attractiveness of a monotonous existence.
But I am putting myself now in the place of the practical citizen of this northern state, covered with wide prairies that are being rapidly covered with wheat fields, a virgin state first settled to all practical purposes only in your lifetime and mine, a state full of the possibilities for wealth. Everywhere nature is holding out temptations; on every side come suggestions to work for immediate profit and immediate improvement. Why should North Dakota have an historical society, and, above all, why should it be a public historical society aided by the state and encouraged by the people?
54 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
One might naturally say that Dakota has no history. True it is that to follow its career one must go back to the founding of the Hudson Bay company over three hundred years ago, one must know the controversy between France and England in the early eighteenth century, one must trace the travels of the Veren- drye brothers over the western prairies, one must follow the trails of Lewis and Clark. But the practical man of affairs will naturally say, nevertheless, that Dakota has a history so short in comparison with that of Virginia or Massachusetts that its history as yet can awaken little enthusiasm and is of no great consequence. He might also even more naturally say that if any one is interested in history he should be allowed to gratify his taste without enlisting public recognition or asking private co- operation. These objections or these questionings I should like to consider; I am not wrong, I think, in believing that they are not of my creation; they have entered your minds and those of the men of the state whose attention has been called to your efforts to found and build up this historical society.
My chief est proposition is that an historical society is decid- edly and significantly an object of public concern. True, a few curious individuals may for private amusement, if they choose, hunt about for curios in the documents of Dakota's history; and this much of mild-mannered exploration may concern us not at all, or at least we could justly say that it is a matter of purely personal taste and only of indirect general interest. But if any one has the idea that this curious mousing after well forgotten facts is the sole or chief subject of a state historical society, it must be because he has not thought of the subject, or because he has thoughtlessly accepted the usual conception of history as a study of the dead past. He has not stopped to think that real history has not to do with death but life; not with statics, but with dynamics; not with conditions, but with move- ments; not with what was, but with what grew to be; not with something that is inert and buried, but with something that we may be sure is here with us and that we will meet in the future. For nothing that is done in the life of a community is lost in its influences. The present is made up out of the past; the future is to be made up out of the present. The present is the unfolded past. The study of history is the study of this unfolding, this evolution from one stage to another, this marvellously interesting change that is going on in human society. Does this sound like modern scientific evolution? It is in part, though the scientists, or some of them, perhaps have as yet hardly understood the breadth and scope of their doctrine. History and the study of society began to be imbued with this spirit and this notion decades before Darwin's Origin of Species. And I imagine that not all the natural scientists understand that evolution is not confined to a mode of building up animal life or the differentia-
I STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 55
tion of species, but has to do with the great process of unfolding which is going on. For the doctrine of evolution, of course, does not make environment the creator — to do so would be to abjure evolution and go back to a creational idea — but it does necessarily suppose that in each stage and in each moment a future stage and a future moment are enclosed, to be brought into new condi- tions and to be given new form by the influence of environment.
This all sounds philosophical and vague. But philosophy may not be falsehood. And the first thing I would do in calling atten- tion to the work of history is to combat that well cherished notion that history has to do with phenomena that are without relation to anything, with facts that are detached, that have no more vitality than have pieqes of pasteboard. If once we can fully realize that the history of a nation is a study of the life of a nation, a study of its living, we can take a new interest. If once we can understand that a nation is as much the product, of its past career as you are of yours ; that in the case of a state as well as of an individual the child is the father of the man — in fact that the child and the man are one being — then history has a meaning. If we can once for all cast aside the notion that historical study means dealing with buried facts, with exhuming something^to gloat over in its strange and unnatural appearance and to gratify a morbid curiosity; with things that have gone and left nothing behind them but dead evidences; with deeds that are altogether abstracted from human affairs because they are really gone — if we can once get rid of these ideas, then we can see some use in historical study and historical societies. Can we not remember that it is quite as unthinkable that a thing that has happened should disappear into nothingness as that n.n object in one's hand should spring into existence from nothingness.
But beyond all question the value of historical study is that it widens and lengthens the experience, extends and deepens the sympathy of the student. No man can be wide-minded who allows himself to be hemmed in by a narrow circle of interests and conceptions. Life today is so full- of multifarious antidotes to mere moral and intellectual selfishness, we have so expanded our intelligence beyond the little domain in which we physically move, that we sometimes think it sufficient that we see and study society as it is. If by travel and reading, by contempla- tion and thought, we know the present day society, if we know of the railway problem and the labor problem and the Eastern problem, we know more than enough to wrest us from the danger of provincialism and from the narrowness that comes to the man that can view his whole world from his own doorstep. But this knowledge of society is strictly speaking but superficial; the view thus obtained is like the one you would get if you looked at the cross section of a tree trunk, and were totally oblivious of
56 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
roots and branches and twigs and leaves. Historical study seeks to bring to the student's vision not alone a given cross section, but the tree itself, and that not as a finished product, not as a fossilized tree, but as an organism.
One of the greatest duties of a man is to extend his relations, for by doing so he extends himself. Each one of us grows strong and really increases his stature, not by virtue of any totally detached and isolated growth, if such a growth is even hypo- thetically possible, but by the number and strength of his moral and intellectual connections. Now the function of history is to offer opportunities for relationships with the past — let me say rather for making connections in sympathy and in intelligence with human living. That man is large who has wide vision and a long reach,' who can come into living contact with the distant, who has a share in the thoughts and activities of other men and of other nations, whose sympathies and sensations are not con- tracted,' who is responsive to ideals and conditions that move not his neighbor because his neighbor is too narrow and too hardened in his incasement of ignorance or selfishness to be touched by them. One need not argue long to prove that this is what constitutes human development — a development of the real inward man in all his capacity and in all his dimensions, in the extent of his sympathies, in the width of his knowledge and his wisdom. It is the function, then, of historical study to enlarge the student by widening his experience, by adding to his immediate present a knowledge of the doings and strivings, the successes and failures, of previous generations, above all, by letting him see society as it grows and moves, in order that he may then know the life about him more surely, because he has made the past which produced the present a part of himself. However widely you may know the present in society or in poli- tics, if you know not the past, you must be a sociologist or a politician of but two dimensions. History offers the opportunity to add the third dimension — to add depth and height to mere breadth and length.
In considering the work of an historical society, we realize that it is interested in the life .of the state. Especially in a new community there is need of building up a public consciousness and a sense of historical continuity. This gives dignity, sobriety and earnestness, and adds conservatism to optimism and energy. But we should know more than the mere narrow line running into the past of our own limited environment. We should link the life of Dakota with the life of America and the life of Europe, we should see our place in history. Without a sense of our indebtedness to the past there can scarcely be an appreciation of our responsibility to the future. It is indeed under any circum- stances difficult to see that what we now do is determining what
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 57
the future will be, and that as surely as the past is with us, is the future already in our hands and slipping through our fingers. It is, I believe, Bentham who reminds us that this age is the old age of mankind; that this is not the youth of the world. The good old times were the new and the young. It is wise, therefore, to take advantage of the experiences of the past. Let us appreci- ate this fact and act not as if our American communities were in primeval youth, guileless, innocent and unsophisticated, free from the teaching of adolescent follies.
Historical study is possibly needful in this .western country. A state that has no sense of its individuality can have little recognition of its duties and the moral effect of its conduct. Individuality, with its increasing sense of dignity and responsi- bility, needs perhaps especial encouragement in states that have no geographical peculiarity, especially in the surveyor-made states of the west. And yet, this reasoning is, I confess, in part a priori. I do not know that we in the east have less state pride than do the people of the west, if we do have less sense of unity and individuality of our communities. If we are sufficiently proud of our respective states, we shall be interested in seeing that they shun the primrose path of dalliance and corruption.
We need now in this country far and wide the sense of social responsibility. We are in a curious mixed state of collectivism and selfish individualism. This selfishness takes advantage of the collectivism to fill its own pocket and satisfy its own thirst. Looking back on the course of what we commonly call our politi- cal or constitutional history, we see plainly that there were at work forces of integration and disintegration. The power that was making for oneness in our national political life conquered. The civil war was waged against slavery, but whatever may have been in the consciousness of the men of 1861, we see now that slavery succumbed to one of the great overpowering forces of the nineteenth century — the force of organization and integra- tion— the same force that unified Italy, that established the Ger- manic empire, that changed the map of Europe. The inevitable result of the successful war was to give a new impulse to integra- tion. We first began to notice it in connection with the power of the national government; we spoke of it as a constitutional question. But that was only one manifestation. The product of this mighty effort to assert national unity was of course to add to the spiritual oneness of the actors. Modern psychology well proves that action not only expresses a state of mind or a reality but produces it. Within a few decades after the war came manifestations of the essential compactness, the real one- ness of the people. As one could not well select a particle of iron from a rod of iron and say, this is the unit and the rod is not, so it was impossible to isolate the individual, and close
58 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
one's eyes to the essential unity of the community. This salient collectivism — which philosophers would of course maintain al- ways has been and always will be, because isolation is unthink- able and untrue — came out nevertheless with ,startling distinct- ness in the decades after the war. Parties became organized as never before, and party men, swept into the maelstrom and fasci- nated by the attraction of party oneness, forgot often that there was a higher body and greater unity than their own party. Industrial combinations and labor unions, church affiliations and unifications, expanding state universities and widening public activities, attested to the open-eyed the presence of an overpow- ering fact, which was having in modern days an influence never so clearly manifest before in the history of the world. All philo- sophic thinking, all sociological thinking, all the work of public philanthropy, is under the sway, consciously under the sway, of this dominating idea.
Now the industrial combination is in the field of commerce the visible expression of .this new fact, the fact of physical compactness of the nation, the fact of intellectual commonness, the fact of spiritual identity. But curiously — and yet as antag- onisms are apt to show themselves in history which scorns logic —there is coupled with all this a startling lack of a full apprecia- tion of civic responsibility. The big corporations have too often "sharked for their own booty," as if they were the real and essential unit. Within the past few months something has been done to break down the supposition of exclusive existence. Cor- porations big and small have become more amenable to public opinion. The active consciousness of the great public must be the controlling force, if there be one or if we abandon not ourselves to fatalism. This is what the great cry for publicity means; this is democracy coming to its own; this is popular government, not alone through law, but through pressure of pub- lic desire. We have the real unity, the actual collectivism in the life of the American people, when, however many the traits, however wide the combinations, they are securely influenced by the wish of the people; when, willingly or not, they appreciate their burdens, duties and responsibilities. f
I may appear to have wandered far from history and historical societies, but I do not think I have. The way to get a realizing sense of society and what it means is to study social progress. The way to awaken a feeling of civic responsibility is by studying history to see our indebtedness to the past. Public opinion to be wise must be enlightened. We need to produce a nation that can think before it feels. If history can beget this senti- ment, there may be, you will admit, some reason for the study of history. But is there any for the establishment of a «public state historical society?
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An historical society, developed on liberal lines, can become the center of historical interest and a source of inspiration. It feels the obligation of encouraging the study of history and appreciates the fact that it has duties to perform, not merely for itself, but for others. There are, it is true, in this country associations of historical students who gather documentary ma- terial and preserve it with care and reverence, but feel no responsibility to use it or to open it freely for public consump- tion. They conceal their treasures with a sense of exclusive proprietorship. Such a sentiment is the historical spirit inverted. Of course to gather and hoard is not the function of an associa- tion that feels the burden of its duty to quicken interest and awaken the public consciousness. Some of the principal associa- tions have been and 'are of immense usefulness. The Massa- chusetts and Pennsylvania Historical Societies — to select the most prominent eastern societies — have for decades done a great work in preserving materials and in publishing articles and docu- ments. They are possessed of a generous and scholarly spirit. The treasures they have collected and widely cared for are price- less, and one can hardly imagine what would be our knowledge, or our ignorance, of American history if these associations had not been in existence. At the very beginning, the Massachusetts Historical Society was imbued with a catholic spirit and guided by men who were not limited by a narrow and selfish purpose, and the success of the society may, we believe, be attributed in no small measure to the breadth of its early undertaking. Its founders were big men — the most influential person being Dr. Jeremy Belknap, whose scholarly history of New Hampshire we still regard as one of the very best pieces of American his- torical writing in the eighteenth century. Writing to Mr. Hazard in February, 1791, Dr. Belknap says : "We have now formed our society, and it is dubbed, not the Antiquarian, but the 'Historical, Society.' * * * We intend to be an active., not a passive, literary body; not to lie waiting, like a bed of oysters, for the tide (of communication) to flow in upon us, but to seek and find, to preserve and communicate literary intelligence, especially in the historical way. We are not, however, quite ripe for action. Will it suit you to be a corresponding member? If you say yes, I will propose you."1 In a later circular to the public the same idea is emphasized. "Ever since the institution of the society, it has been their invariable aim to pursue the objects for which they associated, namely, to collect, preserve and communicate materials for American history. In collecting they have been very successful; in preserving they have been equally fortunate, and in communicating -they have endeavored to select such arti- cles for publication as in their opinion were important, and
Hist. Proceedings, 1791-1835, xv.
60 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
would probably be lost without this mode of preservation by multiplying copies."1
The western societies are, however, not private associations; they have the characteristics of their section. Possibly the most characteristic institution of the west is the State University. It belongs to the state and is supported by the state, and, never- theless, is not merged in the formal, official life of the state. It has its own individual life which is really academic and is not formalized by the bureaucratic influence. It rests upon the assumption that the public are deeply concerned in the oppor- tunities of the individual; upon the proposition that the state is entitled to trained lawyers, engineers, doctors and teachers; upon a comprehension of the fact that every addition to the strength of the citizen increases the power and vigor of the state itself. Can a state be interested in anything better than a development of its own manhood? Can it bend to a wiser task than an effort to make itself more worthy, sober-minded and conscientious, and to rear its young citizens into a knowledge of the burdens and opportunities for service? With this western scope of public education, the historical society, aided by state appropriation naturally agrees. It has a public duty and an
'Mass. Hist. Proceedings, xxx. The circular which they issued to the public is nearly a perfect model of what such a circular ought to be.
"ARTICLES ON WHICH THE SOCIETY REQUESTS INFORMATION.
"1. The time when your town was granted and incorporated: its Indian name; when the settlement began; whether it was interrupted, and by what means; to what colony or county it was first annexed; and, if there have been any alteratiqns, what they are, and when made.
"2. The exploits, labors and sufferings of the inhabitants in war; particular ac- counts of devastations, deaths, captivities and redemptions.
"3. Divisions of your town into parishes and precincts, or the erection of new towns within the former limits.
"4. Time of gathering churches of every denomination; names of the several ministers; the times of their settlement, removal and death, and their age at the time of their death.
"5. Biographical anecdotes of persons in your town or within your knowledge, who have been remarkable for ingenuity, enterprise, literature or any other valuable accomplishment; an account of their literary productions, and, if possible, copies of them.
"6. Topographical description of your town and its vicinity, mountains, rivers, ponds, vegetable productions, remarkable falls, caverns, minerals, stones, fossils, pigments, medicinal and poisonous substances, their uses and antidotes.
"7. The former- and present state of cultivation and your thoughts 'on farther improvements, either in respect to agriculture, roads or canals.
"8. Monuments and relics of the ancient Indians; number and present state of any remaining Indians among you.
"9. Singular instances of longevity and fecundity from the first settlement to the present time.
"10. Observations on the weather, diseases and the influence of the climate, or of particular situations, employments and aliments, especially the effect of spirituous liquors on the human constitution.
"11. Accurate bills of mortality, specifying ages and casualties, and the propor- tion of births and deaths, and the increase or decrease of population.
"12. Accounts of manufactures and fisheries and thoughts on the farther develop- ment of them.
"13. Modes of education, private or public; what encouragement is given to schools, and what is done to advance literature; whether you have a social library, and what is the number of books, and of what value.
"14. What remarkable events have befallen your town, or particular families or persons, at any time.
"P. S. Any books, pamphlets, manuscripts, maps or plans which may conduce to the accomplishment of the views of the society, and any natural or artificial produc- tions which may enlarge its museum, will be accepted with thanks."
Mass. Hist. Proceedings, 1791-1835, xxi.
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educational function ; but it should not be purely official or allow its activities to become clerical and formal. It should take advantage of personal interest, aptitude and enthusiasm, but be aided by the state in recognition of its essential public service.1
In the east, the large historical societies do a great service without the aid of state grants. The Massachusetts society, with a beautiful building and a rare collection of material, spends $18,000 per year. The Pennsylvania society, equally rich in it* possession, expends $24,000 and the New York society $12,000. In the west only a few states do not give liberal aid. Wisconsin, whose society is a model for the work of like societies, gives in one form or another $43,000 per year, and has built a magnificent building for the society, one of the finest public buildings in America. Iowa gives over $17,000 and Minnesota gives $15,000.2
The tasks of the State Historical Society are not simply to study the records of the past, not simply to hold meetings, to read papers and publish articles. Its first great duty beyond that of continual inspiration of historical interest, and its reflex on the state is to collect historical documents and to preserve the records of the state's history, for in doing so it does more than save curious pieces of paper; its work, if imbued with a vital purpose, will by this act of preservation, save and help to build up the public consciousness of historical continuity. The historical society working in the past is particularly charged with a duty to the future. It is working for the future. The labors of Lyman C. Draper, the real founder of the Wisconsin Historical Society, redound to the interest of historical students now long after his death and will be of incalculable value for many generations to come. The purpose and duty of an his- torical society then is to save the present and the past for the future. There are scattered over this western land manuscripts that are of interest, the value of which is quite unknown to the holder, which should be saved, and, if possible, gathered together. Something should be done, too, to encourage the preservation of the local records of the present day. This historical society cannot now go up and down the length and breadth of the state instructing town clerks and other local officers in the care of their records. But may not something be done in the course
'Some years ago the prince consort of Great Britain used these words: "We may be justified in hoping * * * that the legislature and the state will more and more recognize the claims of science to their attention, so that it may no longer require the begging box, but speak to the state like a favored child to its parent, sure of his pater- nal solicitude for its welfare; that the state will recognize in science one of its elements of strength and prosperity, to foster which the clearest dictates of self interest demand. (Papers Am. Hist. Ass. Vol. iv, 76.) This is undeniably true of pure science and of all investigation into the physical world about us. It is likewise true, pre-eminently true perhaps, of political science and of the history of the state itself.
2The work of Am. Hist. Societies, by H. E. Bourne. Ann. Rep. Am. Hist. Asso., 1904, 125.
of a few years to impress on the local custodian the idea that these papers have perennial value and are not to be treated as if they were so much waste paper. The work that has been done by the manuscript commission of Massachusetts in this direction is a lesson to the other states. Why should North Dakota wait till its records are lost or burned before taking steps for their orderly preservation? The town clerk of a western state is not likely to hold office for many consecutive years, and the records of his office, seeming to be of only tem- porary value and of purely formal significance are likely to be mislaid or not turned over in good condition to a successor. In one respect they did better than this in the early days. In the first 250 years the town of Hartford, Connecticut, had only twenty town clerks ; one of them held office for thirty-seven years and another for fifty. Even this was outdone in the case of the secretaries of the commonwealth. Hezekiah Wyllys, his son and successor, George Wyllys, and George's son and successor, Samuel Wyllys, retained the office in their family from 1712 to 1810.1 Even the important archives of the state itself are likely to be badly taken care of. Perhaps a better condition of things exists here in North Dakota than has existed in many of the states. These remarks are not intended as an indictment of public officers. The teaching of experience, however, plainly shows that there is in this country a lamentable failure to appre- ciate the value of public papers; and it is the duty of those who have historical interest to do whatever may tactfully and wisely be done to encourage the preservation of archives. If I should give you a picture of the conditions in other states you would be surprised (if you have not looked into the matter) at the results of carelessness and inattention. Hardly any state in the union possesses, either in manuscript or in print, a complete file of its own records.2 Documents belonging to the states have found their way into private hands, or into the archives of the federal government, or have been wantonly destroyed. "A typical case," we are told, "of the loss of important records through ignorance and carelessness is found in Nebraska. Some time since the janitors at the capitol, in the course of their cleaning, found a box of manuscripts and, concluding that they were of no value, burned them. As near as can be made out, the entire records of the constitutional convention of 1875 went up in smoke."3 "It may be doubted," says the public archives commission of the American Historical Association, "if, in any country in the world, archives of relatively so much value are
Johnston's Connecticut, 81. The Whiting family held the office of treasurer for seventy years.
"Ann. Rep. Am. Hist. Ass. 1900, II., 19. 3Ibid. II., 19.
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so lightly regarded or so carelessly kept."1 Much work is being done now to gather and publish the records of Iowa, but, even of this comparatively new state, it could be said a few years ago that "The public archives of Iowa are not complete for any period of the history of the state."2
The public record commission of Massachusetts gives a state- ment of the condition in which local records were found. "In some of the towns the state of affairs was so bad that one's reputation for veracity is almost doubted if he narrates it. * * * The town clerk was often the keeper of a country store, licensed to sell gunpowder, and carrying a miscellaneous stock, including kerosene, alcohol, oilskin garments (which, out of their native element, may set themselves on fire), excelsior, straw and other highly inflammable goods. Packed away with these were the ancient records in all stages of dilapidation."3
The presence of the historical society ought to be so distinctly felt in a community that any person possessing manuscript ma- terials, books and pamphlets would say instinctively to himself, "I wonder if the historical society can make use of these." He should at least be always possessed of a consuming fear that he may destroy historical records that would be of interest to you or your ancestors. Perhaps the feeling for the value of manuscripts is more easily inculcated than an appreciation of the value of newspapers and pamphlets. These appear to be of only fugitive character, and the absence of binding conceals their usefulness. The historical investigator would much rather be put down in a library with copies of The Liberator, files' Register., The Democratic Review and Rivington's Gazette than with a fairly well selected list of secondary authorities. Indeed, so thoroughly has the work of the writers of American history been assimilated that the historical investigator would not shed many tears if all secondary writing on American history up to twenty years ago were swept away by fire. I do not mean by any means to underestimate the value of Parkman and Bancroft and Hildreth and many others. On the contrary, the collection of materials is for the purpose of their use by the historian, and the finished, artistic work of history is the end that collectors and students must have in mind. But, after all, the volumes of undying interest are not many ; there has been but one Gibbon ; and after the truth that he unearthed has been acquired and assimilated, after the lessons he told by his interpretation and his marvellous power of organization have been thoroughly learned, his value is slight to the investigator in comparison with the original and unused records; he stands for an example of industry and artistic workmanship. However great the value
'Ann. Rep. Am. Hist. Ass., 1900, II., 24.
2Ibid., II., 39.
3Ann. Rep. Am. Hist. Ass., 1901, I., 99.
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of books, it remains true that history as a living subject is always in the making, and it is to be made and remade, not from books, but from manuscripts and pamphlets and newspapers and the shabby materials that are usually devoid of interest to everyone save the historical workman. The private citizen natur- ally prefers books to pamphlets and newspapers; but as has been well said, what is the worry of the tidy housekeeper is the delight of the librarian and, above all, the pleasure of the his- torical society.
History coming to a realization of itself and its own duty, has become year by year more social, more extensive and compre- hensive in its sympathies. The great questions of the future in North Dakota history will not be confined to governmental or purely political topics. These subjects will not lose their interest, for in a free state public acts and party tendencies are likely to- be a fair expression of popular desires, and back of popular desires rest or move the urgent needs, the economic strivings, the social aspirations of the people. The more truly democratic, the more really popular a state is in its make up and in its life, the more fully will its laws and its government express the conditions and the changes of its people. But we all know that at the best a law is but a faint expression of real life and relations. Often laws are broken and not enforced. Not through the laws of the modern state can one study its actual growth. The future student of history will be interested in the making of North Dakota. I mean the real North Dakota, not the land and rivers, not even the government or the constitution, not the state organization, but the North Dakota of flesh and blood and spirit. When did the people move in here? What motive actuated them? Where did they settle? Why did they choose certain places of settlement? How in reality did they first here and there begin institutional life; not when was this township established by law, but how did people actually gather and work together? Eeal American history has to do not with the mere phenomena of governmental action, but with the up- building of the American people. We know that they are made up of many races. Here in the new west is going on that mar- vellously interesting process which began on this continent 250 years ago — the making of one people from many nationalities. The immigration of German and Swiss and French Huguenots and Dutch and Swedes and Scotch and Irish in the days before the revolution has received very inadequate attention, but one of the most fascinating tasks of American history is to trace the effect of this immigration, to see the part that each race played in the work of building up America. This movement is still going on. Wherever we turn we see that fact and the problem, and nowhere more directly than in the state of North Dakota. It is not the business of an historical society to study
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 65
and report on present conditions, but it is its duty to collect data that will enable the student, who is to work in the future, to appreciate the life course of the commonwealth. If you ask how in the course of time did a state come to be what it is, you get but stony comfort when you are told that on such a day a law was passed, on such another a governor was chosen. What brought the people here? What hopes and ideas influenced them? What do we find that is typical and characteristic in their methods of life and industry? What are the political affiliations of certain classes of immigrants.? What is their thinking — in other words what are they? This, I say, is preeminently Ameri- can history — the formation of the American people — the making of the actual American. History has to do not alone with public documents but with thought, religion, character and tendency.
But probably the economic transition of Dakota will be of chiefest interest to the men of the next generation; this not because history is becoming more materialistic, but because there is a sounder appreciation of the scope and importance of human living and effort. The problem of the investigator can well be given in the words of Professor Turner, who has done so much for illustrating the story of national development : "On the economic side we have topics like the rise of great industries of the west — the development of the mining, ranching, and forest industries, and their effects upon the social organization that followed them. The historical geography of the areas of these and the various agricultural industries should be studied, and their transition from one economic status to another, with its political accompaniment, should be described. It is unnecessary to do more than call attention to the wealth of material waiting the student of transportation in the west, and to the need of writing the financial history of the newer states and the history of the land tenure in the areas so recently public domain."1
You may sometimes think you have no history, but on these western plains is going on a process of achievement that con- stitutes the core of history. The old proverb may be inverted — not, "blessed is the state that has no annals," but blessed is the country that has a story, for it discloses human action. "Hence it happens," said Emerson, "that the whole interest of history lies in the fortunes of the poor. Knowledge, virtue, power are the victories of man over his necessities, his march to the dominion of the world. Every man ought to have this opportunity to conquer the world for himself. Only such persons interest us, Spartans, Romans, Saracens, English, Americans, who have stood in the jaws of need, and have by their own wit and might extricated themselves and made man victorious."2
'Ann. Rep. Am. Hist. Ass., 1896, I., 285.
2Emerson: Man, the Reformer. A lecture read before the Mechanics' Apprentices' Library Association, Boston, January 25, 1841. Riverside edition, Nature, Addresses and Lectures, vol. i. , p. 229.
Hist.— 5
66 ' REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
In all this work of gathering material and making records regard should be had for the scientific method. In no subject of study is there more need for an adherence to the principles of scientific observation than in the study of social affairs. Much that is done in historical investigation goes for nothing; there is a lamentable and a pathetic loss of labor, because there is so little respect for the ordinary canons of historical investiga- tion. The principles of historical investigation and of historical narration are not mere pieces of scholastic pedantry. Simple as they are in their essentials, mere common sense as they appear to be to the man that knows them, they are not grasped without thought and attention. It has well been said that the purpose of the study of the scientific method is to lead any investigator to distrust his natural and native instincts which are almost sure to lead him astray; and it is probably true in the learning of all arts that the consciously acquired must be superimposed as a corrective upon the intuitional, until the arti- ficial activity has become natural and dominant. It is not neces- sary for the average worker in an historical society to con the precepts of Bernheim ; but there are a few general precepts, which are so evident that one would hesitate to name them were they not so frequently forgotten or unknown.
The workers in an historical society may well be reminded that history is built upon documents, and that the copying or the editing of documents requires critical and painstaking attention. Everyone naturally thinks that of course he can copy with fidel- ity, but, as a matter of fact, exact transcription is a task of extreme difficulty. I have sometimes thought that accurate copy- ists, like proof readers and poets, are born and not made, and sure I am, after considerable experience, that I myself do not belong to the heaven-born cult of naturally accurate transcribers. I think the great majority of historical writers and students, if they examine their work with sufficient critical care, will confess that this particular art is not one of their accomplish- ments. But when we are called upon to copy we must master our natural inclinations and try by dint of hard work to follow the original with slavish exactitude. Any one that thinks this easy does not know. If he can easily copy with absolute accuracy he is either a genius or deficient in imagination. It is doubtless unnecessary to remind my hearers that the days when documents were altered in transcription to suit the inclination of the trans- scriber or the taste of the public are supposed to be passed. To impose on the student of history anything but. the literal repro- duction is unpardonable.1
But I am sure I shall be pardoned for saying what needs to be said over and over again, that all documentary material
'The historical manuscript commission of the American Historical Association has prepared a valuable circular on the method of editing manuscript.
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needs to be authenticated ; the scholar wishes to know who wrote a document and if possible, where it came from. In some cases the history of the document is quite as necessary as the document itself. Such warning, appropriate to a society intending to delve into the recesses of early European history, may appear inappro- priate in America, and especially in western America. But in fact we need to apply to our historical collecting and our his- torical publishing at least some of the well-worn principles which have been chiefly emphasized by European workers.
Members of this historical society may very well apply them- selves to reporting and recording oral statements. Much of the realest history of the west is preserved today in the memory of the actors. May I be pardoned for cautioning you that this history, thus preserved in the memory, is almost sure to be com- pounded with the unhistorical and the truthless? The human mind, by some perverted alchemy, appears to be always at work ruthlessly changing gold into dross, corroding the sharp edges of truth and confounding the fictitious with the real. If we must content ourselves with memories, we ought to have definite information of the circumstances under which the relator speaks ; we ought to know whether he speaks from the unaided memory alone; we ought to know other facts that will enable us to judge of the probability of the narrative. You may well be critical and suspicious jxrarself ; for that the narrator is giving you the exact happenings without embellishment or alteration is quite unlikely. Surely we are not over-demanding when we ask that we be brought as closely as possible to the fact, for at best we cannot get the fact but only somebody's recollection of the fact. We ought to know or be able to calculate the refraction caused by the medium through which the fact passes. Every time a fact passes through a mind it takes a new slant as does a ray of light passing through successive layers of glass.
These simple warnings I hope I may be pardoned for giving. And yet, probably we cannot remind ourselves of them too often. Whether your publications are to be of much real value or not will depend on the certainty with which these elementary, simple and self-evident principles are followed. Let me say too, that there should be no fear of a plentiful use of footnote references to authority in the preparation of the papers that are read or printed. We really have no right to expect our words to be taken as authoritative, if we do not indicate upon what our statements rest. Articles or books prepared for the general reader do not need footnotes, which are often a hindrance to the steady flow of the narrative. But this does not hold true in the case of papers that are supposed to be of scientific value and interest. It is also worth while to say that the motto of an historical society beginning a series should be multum non multa. It is not the quantity but the quality of the published collections that will determine the usefulness of your work.
68 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
There is need in America of co-operation in historical collection and investigation. We have now large and important accumula- tions of material in depositories thousands of miles apart — so widely separated that the task of examining them, even when they are accessible, is expensive and troublesome. Historical societies from Maine to California, and from Wisconsin to Texas are gathering materials. Can there be any mode of making these more useful? Is it possible by some method of co-operation to have a plan for the distribution of materials according to their interest? The library of congress should have, theoretically, the purely national material. It now has, for example, with a num- ber of omissions, the papers of the presidents from Washington to Grant.1 But we can hardly expect the Massachusetts His- torical Society to give up the John Adams and the John Quincy . Adams -papers, or the Pennsylvania Historical Society to sur- render the Buchanan papers. We can only suggest the desira- bility of the accumulation of purely national papers at Washing- ton, and that state and local historical societies should, on the whole, use their efforts to gather and preserve the materials of their respective spheres. I am aware, however, that a rigid ad- herence to this rule is impossible, and that an attempt to live up to it in detail would be a failure. But if we cannot have a theoretically accurate distribution of our collections, there are some things that we can <|o. W'e can reasonably expect ere long opportunity for knowing where documentary material is located, what libraries or societies possess the sources of our history. No one save a comparatively few specialists now know the where- abouts of even the significant collections. How many know that part of Hie Polk papers is in the library of congress, and another part, including the original of the famous diary, is in the library of the Chicago Historical Society — to select a somewhat con- spicuous example? The treasures of the various historical soci- eties can be ascertained even by the trained investigator only by dint of serious effort. Only five years ago almost nobody knew that the papers of Daniel Webster, including a great deal of interesting unpublished material, were snugly housed by the New Hampshire Historical Society. Innumerable illustrations might be given of a condition of affairs that should soon be righted if we really wish to use historical papers and not treat them as we would spinning wheels and old bibles. It is needless to say that the task is a big one and will take many years — many more indeed than necessary, unless the institution has the aid and co- operation of the societies. But surely there should be somewhere a list of these collections, to which investigators may turn for knowledge about the manuscript sources of their country's his- tory.
1 Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, VanBuren, Polk, Johnson.
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The members of an historical society seeking to be most highly useful will naturally remember, that, while their duty is pri- marily to their own locality, their studies cannot have their full- est meaning, if they are dictated by purely local consideration. Their papers and their investigations should properly be local illustrations of the course of American history. And in this connection I cannot refrain from urging attention to the work of the American Historical Association, now after twenty years of life a strong organization with nearly 2,500 members, which cherishes unselfishly the desire to promote historical research and stimulate the interest of local societies. There ought to be an affiliation between the local and the national societies, if not a formal, documentary affiliation, at least an affiliation in spirit ; and you should not allow yourselves working here in the west to be cut off from your communication with the larger organiza- tion or to carry on your work with any sense of loneliness or isolation.
In conclusion, it is needless for me to say that the work you have begun augurs well for success. Your secretary, a trained historical investigator, generously giving his time and energy to the work, is in a position to be of much service. And it appears to me to be especially good that the university and the historical workers in the state are thus connected in a work of real public utility. As I have said before, history and historical enthusiasm should not be shut up in the stacks of the college libraries or in the studies of college professors. The co-operation of business men and scholars interested in the life of the state will bring the most fruitful results. Your greatest work, as the decades go by, will be, not merely to preserve documents though the importance of this is great, or to read papers for your pleasure, but to extend the historical spirit. It was said of that veteran organizer and soldier of fortune, John Smith, that in all his proceedings "he made justice his first guide and experience his second." Let this be said of North Dakota. History is the exper- ience of the state.
THE GROSVENTRE SPELLING OF THE NAME, BIRD
WOMAN.
BY REV. C. L. HALL.
Sakakawea, the Bird Woman, was a captive among the Gros- ventres and had been taken to wife by a Frenchman named Charbonneau, who became the interpreter for Lewis and Clark when they were in their winter camp in 1804-5. She was a Shoshone by birth, but being young she had become like one of her captors. Her Grosventre captors gave her a name, which
70 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
may have been a translation of her Shoshone name, but is more likely to have been entirely different. A stranger coming among the Grosventre tribe or any other tribe of Indians that I know, at once receives a name, such as may suit their fancy. The writer got the name of Ho-was-te which means Good-Voice, be- cause these were the first words of a Dakota hymn that he tried to sing. A friend named Orchard gets the name of Hacit from the Rees, because they think that word sounds like the English name, and it has in Ree the meaning of Branch. So, for some reason or fancy, the Shoshone girl was called The Bird Woman. There is no doubt about this name or the spelling of it. Wash- ington Mathews, a collaborator of the Smithsonian Institution, published in 1873 a short account of the Grosventre people, to- gether with a partial grammar and dictionary of the language.1 This work is highly commended by the great linguist, Max Muller, who made use of it in writing his book on '"The Origin and Growth of Religion." The words for bird and woman are given in place in this dictionary. We thus get for the name The Bird Woman., Tsakaka-wias. The dotted s at the end stands for sh in English, and makes the compound word a proper name. It is equivalent to the definite article the. Anglicizing this a little to suit those using only the English alphabet and unfamiliar with the scientific use of the vowels, and leaving off the initial t sound, which is hard for English tongues, we have the spelling in English, Sakakawea. During the last thirty years I have made numerous additions in manuscript to Mathews' book, and also some corrections, but I have found no occasion to correct the spelling of the words in question.
On examining the reprint of the original Lewis and Clark journals we find that Lewis makes four different attempts to spell this name, and Clark tries to do the same also four different ways. They were evidently aiming at the name we give, and now have in common use among our Grosventre people. But they were not linguists and not accurate students of the language, and had no alphabet suited to the language, but tried to repre- sent the sounds by the use of the English alphabet. Consequently they used c for the k sound, and the hard g also for k, and added h and r without stint to help out. We append herewith these spellings from the journals, and also the spellings of the name of the interpreter Charbonneau, the husband of the Bird Woman. It is an interesting study in orthography, or rather heterography. It must be said for them, however, that the English alphabet is a poor gun to hit an exact representation of sound.
The ; sound is not in the Grosventre language. The hard g is very nearly the same as k to some ears, but is not the correct pronunciation of the Grosventre.
1Matthews, Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians. Dept. of Interior, U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey, Misc. Pub. No. 7, Washington, 1877.
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Elliott Ccraes, the ornithologist and historian, in his edition of Larpenteur's Journal, entitled "Forty Years a Fur Trader on the Missouri," p. 141, note, gives the spelling of the name of Bird Woman as I have given it, and there also we find that in 1898 the first suggestion is made that the heroine be honored with a statue.
The following references are to the Original Journal of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, N. Fv 1904-
I. Variations in the spelling of Charbonneau:
1. Clark's spelling. References: Vol. L, 217, 226, 239, 248,
250, 251, 269, 271, 274, 275, 311 ; Vol. II., 198 ; Vol. III., Ill ; Vol. V., 9, 341, 344 ; Vol. VII., 330. Chabono, Cha- bonee, Chabonoe, Chabonat, Chaboneau, Chabonah, Chaubonie, Charbono, Shabonoe, Shabonah, Shabona, Shabowner, Shabono, Shabownar, Toisant Chabono, Tousent Chabono, Teusant Charbono.
2. Lewis' spelling. References: Vol. I., 257, 284, 301; Vol.
II., 197, 226, 273 ; Vol. V., 48 ; Vol. VII., 331, 359. Char bono, Sharbono, Sarbono, Touasant Charbono, Touisant Charbono, Tauasant Charbono.
II. Variations in the spelling of Sakakawea:
1. Clark's spelling. References: Vol. I., 287; Vol. II., 141,
181; Vol. IV., 333. Sahkahgarwea, Sahcahgagwea, Sar- cargahwea, Sahcahgahweah.
2. Lewis' spelling. References: Vol. II., 140, 283, 371; Vol.
III., 14. Sahcahgah,wea, Sahcahgarweah, Sahcargar- weah, Sahcahgar Wea.
[EDITORIAL NOTE.]
The newly awakened interest in this state on the spelling of the Indian name of the Bird Woman has doubtless arisen from the recent effort of the Woman's Federation of Clubs of the state to have erected at Bismarck a bronze statue of Sakakawea. This laudable enterprise is in a fair way to succeed, and Leonard Crunelle of Chicago is hard at work on his model.
It is a singular thing that the spelling of this Indian name has been so long allowed to go as "Sacajawea," which is Shoshone for Boat Launcher and has, therefore, nothing to do with the name Sakakawea, which is Bird Woman. Naturally it is a mat- ter of state pride to every one in North Dakota that the form of this name should be as nearly as possible like the original. For- tunately the Society has been able to avail itself of the expert knowledge of Rev. Hall, who speaks the language of the tribe among whom Sakakawea lived and from whom she received her name. Mr. Hall's modesty did not allow him to say what may be added here, that he has had thirty years' experience among the Grosventre Indians and is the only living authority on their language at the present time. His opinion, therefore, on such
72 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
matters has far greater weight than that of any or all of the passing travelers who have left accounts of their experiences among the people of this tribe.
THE FRENCH OCCUPATION OF THE NORTHWEST.
BY H. V. ARNOLD.
The permanent occupation of the region of the lower St. Law- rence river dates from the year 1608, when Champlain arrived and succeeded in establishing a settlement at Quebec, which thereafter was continuously maintained. "It was the feeble be- ginning of a rival power which was one day to dispute the right of the English to possess any part of the country." As the occupation of the banks of the St. Lawrence and its tributaries progressed and the population increased with the passing decades of the seventeenth century, adventurers, missionaries and fur traders began vigorously to push their operations and discoveries into the regions of the untrodden west. One after another the great lakes were discovered — Lake Huron first, in July, 1615, and Lake Erie last, in the summer of 1669 — and their form and relative size mapped with approximate correctness. Missions and trading-posts located at favorable points on the upper lakes soon followed upon their discovery.
The French in Canada were actuated by ideals quite different from those of the English colonists of New England. With the exception of the Iroquois, they maintained friendly relations with the Indian tribes with whom they came in contact, journey- ing by canoe routes to their various abodes, and returning free and unmolested. From an early period the authorities in Canada were alert as to the discovery of any mines of precious metals, even copper, that the country might contain, but they found none in the region of the St. Lawrence. The adventurers, however, were not long in developing a source of gain that was fully as profitable as mines, and this was found in the fur trade main- tained with the Indians.
Three principal motives dominated the operations of the French in their venturesome expeditions into the western wilds. These were, first, to obtain permanent possession of the country for the glory of France and the king; second, zeal to convert the Indian tribes to Christianity and win them from barbarism, as exemplified in the self-sacrificing labors of Jesuit missionaries; and third, the profits derived from bartering for furs with the Indians, something that for a long period was never lost sight of. The first of these incentives was inspired by patriotisni ; the second was religious and the third decidedly mercenary. In the case of the leaders there might be added such incentives as the
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 73
love of adventure and the hope of distinction in case any import- ant discoveries were made.
In. 1656, two adventurers named Kadisson and Grosseilliers brought down to Quebec from the great lakes a flotilla of canoes manned b,y Huron Indians and laden with furs. They were un- licensed traders and therefore liable to have their goods seized by the king's officers, confiscated and themselves punished for violation of law. But the occasion fqr trade just then being important for the inhabitants of Quebec, the matter was winked at by the licensed traders and the authorities for. that time only. On a similar visit to Quebec four years later, these traders had their large stock of furs seized and confiscated. In disappoint- ment they left Canada and made their way to Boston, sailing thence to London. It was from information derived from them that led to the organization of the Hudson Bay Fur company in 1669, which was duly chartered by Charles II. in the following year. The company sent an occasional ship to Hudson Bay and established a post there about 1692, yet for more than a century afterward they neglected to occupy the basin of Red river. The French in Canada took advantage of that fact.
The most conspicuous personage of the second quarter of the eighteenth century who was engaged in exploration and fur trading in the region of the northwest, was Pierre Gaultier Varennes, otherwise known as Sieur de la Verendrye. Nearly a century had passed since Jean Nicollet had penetrated the west to the head of Lake Superior, though Duluth had discovered Lake Winnipeg in 1679, and still the region west of the lake was comparatively unknown. In 1730, while Verendrye was in charge of a trading post at Lake Nipigon, he was visited by an Assini- boine chief named Ochagach, and as a result of Verendrye's inquiries in regard to canoe routes to the chief's country, he drew a rough map of the lakes and streams intervening between the head of Lake Superior and the Red river valley. Verendrye took this map to the governor of Canada and it resulted in the explora- tions and trading operations of Verendrye, his sons and nephew, Jeremaye.
In 1732 the first expedition, conducted at Verendrye's expense, reached the Lake of the Woods and built Fort St. Charles near its southern end. In 1734 the Red river valley was entered and Fort Rouge established at the mouth of the Assiniboine, and the building of Fort la Reine in the valley of that stream followed in 1738. A strong incentive to these operations was the endeavor to discover some waterway that led to the Pacific ocean. From the Indians the French heard of the "Shining Mountains," many leagues to the westward.
During the French occupation of the northwest other posts were built at different points — St. Pierre at Rainy lake, Pointe du Bois fort near Red lake, Fort Maurepas near the mouth of
74 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Winnipeg river ; Fort Bourbon on the west shore of Lake Winni- peg, Fort Dauphin on Lake Manitoba, and a few others besides. The maps of that period recognize the English claim only to a strip of country near Hudson Baj7, but all else in the north- western country to the shining mountains is part of "Nouvelle France" or Canada. Red river is "Riviere Rouge ou Mescon- esipi," the Red Lake river being then regarded as the upper portion of the main stream.
Sieur de la Verendrye died December 6, 1799, when about to start .on one of his expeditions. Like other explorers he opened the way for others without deriving any particular benefit from his adventurous toils himself. After the English conquest of Canada, the country was abandoned by the French and only visited occasionally by venturesome traders like Chaboulliez. The number of posts that the French established ; the wide extent of country covered ; their early knowledge of its principal physical features, and the time included from 1732 to 1760, all signify that their advent into this part of the northwest was something more than an exploration, something more than an intrusion into British possessions; aside from the fur trade, while the French remained, theirs was in fact, a virtual occupation of the country, as much so as if taken possession of by forcible means.
THE DATA OF THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE DAKOTAS.
BY HARLAN I. SMITH, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK.
[Prepared at the request of the secretary.] I. THE PRESERVATION OP ANTIQUITIES.
The prehistoric remains of all advancing communities are in great danger of obliteration by the industries accompanying civ- ilization. Agricultural pursuits and the progress of roads are continually destroying more or less rapidly the mounds and earthworks; while village sites which could once have furnished valuable archaeological evidence are cut through or built over until the facts they held in store for the explorer are no longer available.
Unfortunately mounds are not left to be gradually reduced by natural agencies; they are demolished often by men working in the name of science, but searching only for relics to gratify an unrestrained curiosity, not for facts to be given to the world of students. Such excavation seldom proves of scientific value. The results are rarely noted by the excavator or any other. person, and usually only the striking objects are noticed; often even these are soon allowed to become scattered, while the more in- structive and hence more valuable are overlooked or discarded.
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It is evident that such work not only fails to preserve any- thing of the archaeology of a locality, but, in reality, is destruc- tive of every prehistoric monument involved. Thus do nature and man co-operate in destruction, rendering inaccessible the evidence which our primitive remains have in store for the student. It is manifestly of the greatest importance that exami- nation in a scientific way be made of all such remains as soon as possible, and coincident with it all results should be preserved for future study, whether they consist of materials, plans, photo- graphs, or notes. It is from such methods only that we may hope to learn more about the ancients. Now that deeper interest is being manifested in the study, it may be possible to preserve local evidences until surveys and explorations of the localities can be made.
Thousands of dollars are spent every year in the desirable exploration of the ruins of such distant lands as Egypt, Assyria, Peru and Honduras. Our local traces of the past should receive proportionate attention. In eager search for foreign treasure, we often overlook valuable local evidence until it is lost.
Advancement of our appreciation and knowledge of archaeology will necessarily be gradual. The educational value of anthropo- logical investigation is not yet appreciated by a sufficient number of persons in each locality to facilitate securing the funds neces- sary for the work required. Scientists cannot tolerate super- ficial excavation, as it ruins and does not produce results. The work should be taken up in a systematic manner, and carried forward along definite lines. It is clear that the insufficient data at present on file emphasize the necessity of thoroughness in future research.
Many of the suggestions for the preservation of the archaeolog- ical remains in Michigan, which I published in the "Inlander" of the state university, for May, 1896, and which were reprinted in the report of the Museums association for 1899, may apply in a general way to the Dakotas. They have been found to apply to Wisconsin, where for several years active work has been done along the lines suggested.
In the first place, the data already collected should be put into convenient form for use. The same system should be applied also in classifying data as it is obtained from the field. In this way new material may be added to that at hand, or inserted in its proper place among the established files. All this may be accomplished by the use of a card catalog. Every publication, manuscript, map, photograph and specimen may be indexed upon a card for alphabetical insertion in such a catalog. Each subject should be indexed under all the various heads from which it may be approached. It is convenient to name the various remains, and always after to refer to them under the name given.
76
Again, all earthworks should be indexed geographically as well as by name, and a map should be constructed locating each in the same manner. Then in envelopes or boxes, arranged alpha- betically by these names, may be kept all the data referring to each particular locality. As fresh data are secured they can be inserted in the proper place; eventually all this material may be put in form for publication, having been classified geographically as secured.
The names and addresses of individuals interested and willing to assist, or having information of value, may also be inserted in the same card catalog. Each card should have particulars concerning the person named on it, the range of his interests and knowledge, and such other references as might be considered of value for future use. Such individuals should also be indexed by locality, and referred to under the names of subjects upon which they may be able to assist. This being done, whenever an investigation is carried on in a certain region, the explorer can readily refer to all sources of information and aid.
Maps, photographs and photographic negatives, specimens and other similar material may be numbered, and by this means reference may be made to them from the cards and in notes and publications.
Finally, each earthwork, village site, workshop, mine and quarry ought to be surveyed, photographed and explored. In favorable localities this would require years of work but the result would be most satisfactory. Very little has been done in many places. In these the field is open, and the facts can be obtained without the confusion or misleading circumstances which the student has to meet in many other localities.
In the United States this work may be best carried on with state universities or the rooms of historical societies for head- quarters, where materials may be worked up for exhibition and kept accessible to students. A university or public museum can direct the work better than any other institution, besides caring for collections in the best and most impartial way. And it is for the guardians of learning and research to foster such under- takings. Individuals are ready to give privileges for exploration to such an institution, and are often glad of a safe deposit for their records and specimens. An increasing number are coming to realize the importance of placing their collections where they can be of use to many students instead of affording gratification to but one or two.
Valuable data can be secured at a very slight expense by a surface survey, if the parties making such are each headed by a competent director, and made up of students. Students are often willing to devote their time during a summer vacation to such interesting work. Parties could proceed to examine every section in each township, taking the townships in order until a
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 77
county was covered, and so on throughout a state. Such a party should include men well informed in civil engineering and pho- tography as well as geology and some of the kindred sciences.
As the survey proceeds it should take careful observations of all works and village sites, make detailed maps of them, and locate each on a large map.
Photographs should be taken of all features which can be best recorded by that method. Specimens should be collected from the surface and loans and gifts of specimens can be invited from persons interested in such surveys. Everywhere individuals will be found willing to furnish recorded data or oral descrip- tions.
By making the fact known that a scientific institution is ready to receive material and hold it in trust, much evidence may be directed to a safe deposit. The privilege of reserving earthworks for exploration may be obtained, and it should be urged that all discoveries be reported to the officers in charge. All assistance, records and specimens received in the way mentioned should be suitably acknowledged at once and carefully catalogued. This is a very important matter to ensure future assistance from the donors or others who would follow this example if they find it appreciated and also to ensure the usefulness of the specimens which without cataloging are liable to become separated from the data regarding them and become practically useless.
A complete archaeological map should be constructed from the evidence furnished by the surf ace 'survey, and it should be supple- mented by notes, arranged so that they will be subject to ready reference from it. Much may be learned from a surface exami- nation, without excavation, while a complete surface survey is much less expensive than even a little excavation.
Wherever mounds and other noticeably interesting remains are situated in such a vicinity that the land may be reserved as a park or other public property, such a course is to be encouraged. Many mounds have been included in modern cemeteries, and thus have been preserved.
A surface survey being completed, it would be a comparatively easy matter to keep track of the progress of roads and other agencies which necessarily obliterate such evidence, so that it could be secured by exploration as danger approached each anti- quity. It would be well to interest students in the vicinity of interesting remains, so that the}T may give notice when any cause of destruction threatens an antiquity; such may then bev ex- amined before lost. The few liable to immediate destruction could be excavated at a comparatively small expense, while those unmolested and protected by timber, or even small vegetation, could be explored at convenience or left for students in the future.
78 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
II. — METHODS OF COLLECTING ANTIQUITIES.
There are at least three distinct methods of collecting anthro- pological material that have been followed by the museums of this country. I presented a description of these at the Joint Meeting of the American Anthropological Association and Sec- tion H. Anthropology, of the American Association for the Ad- vancement of Science, July 2nd, 1901, which was published in the Museums Journal for October, 1902. They aim chiefly at two totally different results — first the increase,and second the diffusion of anthropological knowledge. Two of these methods may be defined as systematic efforts to produce these results.
The first -method is a systematic attempt to secure material upon which to base original research that will result in the increase of knowledge. This may be called "research collecting."
The second method is an intelligent and aggressive attempt to provide specimens to systematically illustrate known anthropo- logical facts or to diffuse existing knowledge. This may be called "synoptic collecting."
The third method is simply the amassing of a collection of objects which may be found casually, or which may be presented for preservation by persons not a party to any systematic effort or plan of the museum. This may be called the "preservation method."
Research collecting may be best carried on by, the larger museums unless limited, for instance, to provincial areas; and the best results are attained by entrusting the work to indi- viduals who will devote a considerable time to it, and not only amass material for research, but master the existing knowledge of the subject and carry on the original investigations, so that they become authorities on the areas and subjects attacked.
Secrecy regarding the fields applied locally and toward popu- lations having vandalistic tendencies, may be advisable; but for economical reasons it is best to inform the entire profession of the areas and subjects being or about to be investigated. In this way unnecessary duplication of work such as might happen if secrecy were employed, is avoided, and the energy of co-laborers is reserved for some of the many other problems of original research awaiting attention. Such publicity, within the profes- sion, should never cause loss to science, or raise the fear that sister educational institutions or honorable brother investigators will usurp the fields and subjects already being properly worked.
Parties who follow the research method may usually be made up advantageously of people native to the fields of research, and who know the country, its climate, customs, roads, etc. The scientific head may, of course, be an exception to this general rule, as also may be a photographer, cast maker, or other special worker, in cases where the leader is unable to perform such duties.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 79
The leader of such a collecting party should have charge of the unpacking, cataloging, publishing of the results of research, arrangement of the specimens for exhibition as evidences of the newly discovered facts, and labeling of the research collections. The arrangement and labeling may often be facilitated by follow- ing the order and legends of the publication, or at least reference should be made to such reports.
Research collecting parties must secure many specimens of each kind ,and in some cases as many specimens as can be found. This is necessary to eliminate the element of chance or luck in finding evidences, and also to enable the student to determine the average type as well as to note exceptional objects, and for the study of variation. In the case of osteological specimens, this feature is of especial importance.
The publications, and specimens arranged with labels, which latter are needed as evidences of the increment of knowledge, constitute a synoptic collection illustrating known facts. After such a collection is completed for the institution financing it, the great mass of duplicate specimens may serve as a store from which to draw to supply sister educational institutions with synoptic collections for the diffusion of the then new existing knowledge.
Synoptic collecting may be carried on by any museum, and may be either limited to provincial areas and few subjects by small institutions, or unrestricted by large ones. It naturally appeals to a greater number of people than the research method, as it serves to illustrate by actual objects the things shown by pictures in text books and other general publications. The best results are attained by enlisting the services of research col- lectors, who, being authorities, can select the best available speci- mens and avoid the expenditure of funds on other than typical material. If the illustrative specimens can be secured from among the duplicates of a research museum, the expenses of a trip to the field may be saved, thus a considerable sum can be reserved which may be used for securing a more extensive series, or a synoptic collection of some other subject. From the synopsis of the original research collection the method of arrangement may be copied thus saving the useless labor of working it out again; and labels may be quoted, or possibly even secured from the duplicates kept for replenishing soiled labels of the research collection.
In case there are any specimens which cannot be obtained by this method the services of dealers may be enlisted ; but if many specimens are required, a field trip will usually be more economi- cal, especially if an experienced research collector can be secured to do the work on an economical side trip or even on a main trip. In nearly every case the labelling, which should be insisted upon, will give greater satisfaction if done by the research col-
80 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
lector. Such a collector will often be glad to make a synoptic collection while on a research trip, so as to divide the financial burden of the expedition. Intelligent persons native to a region from which specimens are sought may often be engaged to secure them at a reasonable expense, especially if they may do the work supplementary to their regular vocation.
The third method may diffuse or even increase anthropological knowledge, or it may do both; but it may be dismissed by the mere statement that, not being a systematic attack to produce such a result, it proves of any value only by accident. Its only commendable feature is, that occasionally it may be a means of preserving valuable objects that otherwise might be lost to the research and synoptic collections.
It is evident that for economy, efficiency and accuracy in diffus- ing knowledge, the synoptic method of collecting should be re- placed as far as possible by a system of exchange between insti- tutions desiring synoptic collections and those making research collections. In many cases research museums can well afford to present synoptic collections to the smaller museums, which are widely distributed, and thus able to widely diffuse the knowledge gained by the research museum.
The research method of collecting is certainly of the highest type, as it not only advances knowledge but, with exchange, cor- respondence and co-operation between museums, may furnish all the material results produced by the other methods.
III. — BIBLIOGRAPHY OP THE DATA OP THE ARCHAEOLOGY OP THE
DAKOTAS.
The literature regarding the archaeology of the Dakotas is not extensive. The following is a partial list of the same :
Thomas (Cyrus), Catalog of Prehistoric Works East of the Rocky Mountains. Bulletin of the Bureau of Ethnology, Svo Washington 1891. This work refers to the earthworks of North Dakota on pages 159 to 161, and to those of South Dakota on pages 196 to 199. With each item a reference is made to the article or other source of information upon which the knowledge of the prehistoric works was based at that time. A copy of this volume is in the library of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.
Thomas (Cyrus), Report on the Mound Explorations of the Bureau of Ethnology. Twelfth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, royal 8vo., Washington, 1894. This work refers to the earthworks of the Dakotas on pages 35 to 42.
These two papers by Prof. Thomas lead us to most of the information which we have at present regarding the archeology of the Dakotas. A list of all the publications mentioned therein should be made up and arranged alphabetically, together with such others as may be found.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 81
IV. — LIST OP ARCHAEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS FROM THE DAKOTAS.
In the American Museum of Natural History, New York, the collection from the Dakotas is small, occupying not over ten square feet of space. It includes specimens numbered 20/6641, 20/6872, 200/144 and T/22846 to T/ 22961 inclusive.
Among these specimens are two human jawbones; chipped stone points, such as were used for spears ; arrows ; knives, and small scrapers; a grooved stone club-head; hammer; pebbles; a grooved arrow shaft straightener or smoother; bones and teeth of the buffalo; a bone chisel; sharp bone implements, some of which may be sun-dance skewers; a bone bead; a bone whistle or drinking tube ; tips from antlers ; a skin scraper or hoe, made of antler; fragments of pottery, some of which are decorated with incised lines; and charred corn cobs.
A full list of these should be made up from the catalog and published, each item being given as fully as possible like the following example:
20.0 / 144. A number of shell rings which were discovered by Mr. A. C. Farrell in the Turtle mountains about six miles west of Dunseith, Rolette county, North Dakota; presented by Mr. Farrell.
When discovered these shell rings were found in a row around the neck of a skeleton which was the western one of a group of three. The right arm of each skeleton was missing. The skele- tons were all lying with their faces to the west and with their knees d-rawn up to the chests. These graves were found under a mound made of stone slabs placed overlapping each other like shingles on a roof.
The mound was located on the top of a prominent mountain or butte. This mountain had terraced sides.
The skeletons were found below some seven feet of earth, on the natural soil which had not been disturbed below them.
A similar list should be secured and published of all the specimens from the Dakotas in whatever museum or collection they may be. A catalog of those in the Peabody museum at Cambridge, the University of Pennsylvania museum, the United States National museum at Washington, and the Field Colum- bian museum at Chicago would form a comprehensive beginning. When these lists of specimens are published, the students of Dakota archaeology will have at hand a list of all the material at present available for study and will be ready to secure further material by field exploration.
V. — SUMMARY OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE DAKOTAS. In the Dakotas are hundreds of mounds, effigy mounds, em- bankments, an effigy of a man, one of a serpent and one of a turtle outlined with boulders, some other figures similarly outlined, trails of boulders, lines of bones, tepee circles of stone, and pictured rocks.
Hist.-6
82 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Among the best known of these are the mounds and fortifica- tions of the Mandans, north of Bismarck.
NORTH DAKOTA. BARNES COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog, on page 159, states as follows:
"Two mounds near Valley City, with rectangular figure out- lined in stones between them. The mound may be natural.
"Described by Prof. J. E. Todd, American Naturalist, volume 20 (1880), pages 1 to 4. Prof. Todd in the January issue, No. 1, as above cited, states as follows :
"Boulder Mosaics in Dakota. — Such a name seems best to ex- press the character of certain strange works noticed by the writer upon some of the conspicuous hills of southeastern Dakota. The term mosaic, though describing better than any other word their structure, may suggest greater delicacy than they possess, but the qualifying epithet sufficiently corrects it.
"A typical example, and the first to come to the writer's knowl- edge, was found on the summit of Keya Kakop, or Turtle Point, three miles north of Wessington Springs, in Jerauld county. The point is a high promontory-like hill standing out on the western edge of the James River valley, above which it rises nearly 500 feet. It is the northern end of a high ridge of drift constituting a well-washed interlobular portion of the principal moraine. A view of Turtle Point and a portion of the ridge from the northwest is shown in Fig. 1. Upon the highest portion of the point is a low broad mound built of earth, perhaps fifty feet in diameter and three or four feet high. It does not differ materi- ally from many that are found on the summit of bluffs along the James and Missouri. Its chief attraction is the gigantic figure of a turtle upon its southern slope, as is shown in Fig. 2. This figure is formed of boulders, four to six inches in diameter, quite closely and regularly set, so as to describe its outline. The head, legs and tail are extended. Its general appearance, posi- tion and structure are shown in Fig. 3. Visitors to the locality will also notice a rude human figure, sketched with similar ma- terial, on the southwest side of the mound, as shown in Fig. 2, but it is confessedly the work of an early owner of the ground. To one not informed of the fact its recentcy would be apparent from the pebbles comprising it lying on the surface of the ground, while those forming the turtle are half imbedded. That it is not of the same origin as the turtle is further indicated by the representation of the legs and arms by single rows of stones. The locality was first visited by the writer in 1881, and the figures were intact when seen again in 1883. The figure is about fifteen feet in length from tip of tail to front of head. A little pile of stones lies a short distance in front of the head.
"This work, interesting as it is, sinks into insignificance when compared with a similar work upon Paha Wakan, or Medicine
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 83
Hill, near Blunt, in Hughes county. This hill is also a high interlobular portion of the principal moraine, and presents the same general features as Turtle Point, as will be seen in a sketch of it, from the east, in Fig. 6. It rises above the surrounding plain about 200 feet, and nearly 400 feet above the adjoining valley of Medicine creek. Its summit is flat and includes many acres. Granite and limestone boulders abound in profusion. Tipi rings, i. e., circles of boulders which were used in holding- down the covering of the conical tents used by the Dacotahs, are very abundant upon the summit. A few mounds of ordinary size are scattered in no apparent order. Near the northwestern angle of the summit platform is the gigantic figure represented in Fig. 4. Its length, measured roughly along its central line, following the crooks, is 120 paces. The general form, with length, breadth and number and shape of crooks, are as faithfully represented as a hasty sketch could give. The boulders composing it are from six to twelve inches in length, and are laid much less closely than in the turtle. The direction of its northern half is N. 18 degrees W. The presence of the mound at its side seems to be accidental. The head is more carefully represented in Fig. 5, where an attempt is made to express the shape, size and position of the boulders composing it. The eyes are much more expressive than it would at first seem possible to make them with such material. They have literally a, 'stony stare.' They are formed of two oblong boulders nearly a foot in length. The angular head and heavy body suggest the rattlesnake as the designer's model, but there is no clear representation of the rattles. Perhaps that was beyond the artist's inventive power. At c, in Fig. 4, the boulders have evidently been displaced, probably by water or frost action, as that portion is on an inclined surface. This gigantic serpent was in good condition when seen in 1883.
"An examination of similar localities over all southeastern Dakota has failed to discover any other similar representations of animals. Numerous rude sketches of animals on a smaller scale are found near Pipestone, Minn., chipped or pecked on the smooth surface of the red quartzite. Some of the best of these are exhibited in the Minnesota Geological Report, Vol. I. In these the turtle is a favorite figure, but none are as symmetrically represented as is the one on Turtle Point. No serpent is repre- sented among them.
"Similarly made figures, but quite imperfect, were noticed by the writer on Wolf creek, southwest of Bridgewater, Dak.
"But although no more animal figures have been found, a few other similarly constructed works have been noted. Upon Indian Hill, northwest of Valley City, is a rectangular figure between two mounds which may be natural. The sides are remarkably straight and parallel, and the stones, which are four to twelve inches in diameter, are quite regularly laid. The ends are rounded a little. Its form is shown in Fig. 7. It is eighteen
84 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
paces long and three paces wide. The direction of its sides is N. 78 degrees E. A number of the stones composing it had been lately displaced in 1882, when the writer visited it. The holes in which they had lain were fresh and showed their form clearly.
"Upon a broad terrace of Crow creek, a few rods back and east from a remarkably fine- spring which is at the foot of the terrace, and about a mile northwest of the town of Waterburg, is found a somewhat similar figure on a much larger scale ; more- over, it is imcomplete and somewhat irregular. Its outline is shown in Fig. 8. Its eastern side is ninety-two paces in length, and is directly N. 2 degrees E. The north end is curved slightly, but lies nearly at right angles with the left side, which is directed N. 15 degrees E. At a is an opening which may represent a gateway, as an oblique line of stones, sufficient in length to close it, is at one end. Near it, and at various other places, are small circular pits, two to four feet across. No pains was taken to locate them accurately, as it was thought that they had no special connection with the lines of boulders.
"The gap at d was probably caused by some recent removal of the boulders for use in forming some tipi rings not far away. At ft is a circular pit with boulders on its sides and a pile of pebbles in its bottom. At c is a triangular pile of stones about three feet on each side. The southern ends of the sides are not far from the side of a ravine. A more careful examination would probably discover other interesting and perhaps more significant relations.
"According to Mr. T. H. Null, of Waterbury, who has seen it, there is in the southwest quarter of section 28, township 109, range 66, a cross formed of two lines of boulders. One four rods long is crossed at right angles by another one and a half rods long. At the end of the first, which would correspond to the foot of the cross, is a pile of stones.
"Though this completes the list of 'boulder mosaics,' it may not be out of place to speak of a somewhat related work noted by the writer in 1881 in Brown county, a few miles northwest of Westport. On the right bank of Elm river were two quite conspicuous mounds, 270 paces apart, upon two symmetrical knolls. Beginning at the top of the northwestern one, a line of bones extended over the center of the other and 146 paces beyond, where it ended in a small pile of boulders. The bones were mostly the leg bones of buffalo set up in the ground like stakes. That was before the land was in market. Ere this the plow of the white man has probably removed all trace of them. A few years more and the more enduring 'boulder mosaics' will probably help to form the stone wall of some enterprising settler, as careless of the sacred associations attending them as ttye Turk who builds the fragments of ancient temples into his hovel."
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
85
PLATE 1
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Boulder Mosaics in Dakota.
86 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
EXPLANATION OF PLATE I.
Fig. 1. A sketch of Turtle Point from the northwest.
Fig. 2. Plan of mound with figures upon the summit of Turtle
Point, near Wessington Springs, Dak. Fig. 3. Enlarged view of the turtle in Fig. 2. Fig. 4. Ground plan of the great serpent on the summit of
Medicine Hill, near Blunt, Dak. Fig. 5. Enlarged view of the head of the same. Fig. 6. View of Medicine Hill from the east. Fig. 7. Plan of a figure on the summit of Indian Hill, near
Valley City, Dak. Fig. 8. Plan of a figure near Waterbury, Dak.
NOTE. The figures are all drawn in their correct position with reference to the points of the compass.
The data in this article should be divided and posted under the various counties to which it belongs, references being made from one section of the article to the next, both forward and back. And every article subsequently mentioned should be copied and similarly treated.
BROWN COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states as follows:
"A line of bones passing from one mound over another, con- tinuing to a small cluster of stones on the south bank of Elm creek, near the Standing Rock trail, about fifteen miles from the James river. There is another set of mounds in the vicinity orna- mented in a similar way. The latter is probably the series re- ferred to in the preceding item. Tepee circles (of stone) are common along Elm creek. Reported by Prof. J. E. Todd."
"A hundred or more mounds along the Elm, Willow and Maple creeks, in the western part of the county. A mound on the eastern brow of the Coteau de Missouri, about half a mile north of Standing Kock trail. A group of mounds on the west brow of Coteau des Prairies on east half of township 120 north, range 60 west. Reported by Prof. J. E. Todd."
BURLEIGH COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states as follows :
"Mounds and fortifications of the Mandans, north of Bismarck, in the Burnt creek district. Another fortification about four miles north, on Burnt creek. Brief notice in Bismarck Tribune, June 30, 1883."
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA ' 87
CASS COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states as follows:
"Mounds ten miles south of Fargo. Explored by T. H. Lewis. Mentioned in New York Graphic, February 15, 1886."
GRAND FORKS COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states as follows: .
"Two mounds at Grand Forks, one of which has been explored by Prof. Henry Montgomery, Grand Forks. Reported by H. L. Reynolds."
GRIGGS COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states as follows :
"Mounds on the Sheyenne river. Mentioned by C. P. Smith."
LAMOURE COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states as follows :
"Mounds on the bluffs overlooking Grand Rapids. Reported by Prof. J. E. Todd."
MORTON COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states as follows:
"Mounds and hut rings of the Mandans two and one-half miles south of Bismarck, along the Missouri river. Reported by H. L. Reynolds."
PEMBINA COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states as follows:
"Mounds twelve miles south of Pembina. Mounds at Pembina. Brief notice by T. H. Lewis, Amer. Antiq., vol. 8 (1886), p. 370."
RAMSEY COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states as follows:
"Mounds at Devils lake and Stump lake. T. H. Lewis, Amer. Antiq., vol. 8 (1886), p. 371. Brief mention in Fargo Argus, January 18, 1889."
RANSOM COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states as follows:
"Mounds about ten miles southeast of Fort Ransom, on the south side of Sheyenne river. Mounds near old Fort Ransom. Reported by Prof. J. E. Todd."
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
RICH LAND COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states as follows:
"Mounds near the southern line of Richland county. Explored by T. H. Lewis ; many specimens of pottery and stone were found. Mentioned in New York Graphic, February 15, 1886."
"Mound opposite the mouth of Otter Tail creek. Mentioned by T. H. Lewis, Amer. Antiq., vol. 8 (1886), p. 370."
ROLETTE COUNTY.
See specimen, catalog number 20.0-144, in the American Mu- seum of New Hampshire.
STUTSMAN COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states as follows :
"Mounds at the mouth of Beaver creek. Mounds around James- town, the latter probably the same as those mentioned in the preceding item. Reported by Prof. J. E. Todd.
"Three mounds connected by lines of embankment with a line running southeast from the central one, not connecting with any other mound. Contained human and animal bones. Explored, described and figured by Prof. Cyrus Thomas, 6th Ann. Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1872, pp. 656, 657."
WALSH COUNTY.
Thomas' catalog states, as follows :
"Mounds along the Big Salt river, near Keno, accompanied by embankments. Explored by Prof. Henry Montgomery. Reported by H. L. Reynolds.
"It is stated that there are effigy mounds in the "Bad Lands," and that on the Little Missouri near its head waters are nu merous mounds on terraces, mostly conical, but some of them effigies. New York, August 2, 1885."
LOCAL AND STATE HISTORY.
[EDITORIAL NOTE.]
The general purpose of this portion of the volume is to afford an opportunity for those interested in preserving our early rec- ords to contribute freely whatever they may have on hand. The editor does not vouch for all the material in the signed articles, and, beyond keeping the contributions up to a certain standard, nothing is rejected. In this way it is hoped that there will soon be such an increased list of those who seek expression in the pages of this volume that each issue may be better and more representative of all parts of the state. For those who
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 89
have no time to put their material into the form necessary for printing, these pages are still open to them, since the editor will gladly accept and publish any letters, maps, diaries or notes having real historical value.
In printing for the first time the North Dakota census list of what was then Pembina district of Minnesota territory, the purpose is to lay emphasis on the importance of these old records. The valuation lists of Pembina county for 1873 and 1874 are given for the same reason. Such local records, especially those that contain a list of names, are of value in many ways. Not infrequently lists of this kind are the only record of the residence of some old settler whose name has been forgotten. It is ear- nestly desired to impress upon the mind of every official in the state that the office records when no longer of immediate use should not be destroyed, but should be sent to the State His- torical Society for preservation and later use. Our state is undergoing the most astonishing transformations in population, industry, and in social and political life. The recording of these changes is even at the present time a difficult task. How neces- sary it is, then, at this point in our development, that all available materials which 'can throw light on the present as well as on the past be carefully preserved, and especially that all possible information be gathered from those who have taken an active part in the pioneer stages of our history.
The local history of the state is at present an almost unworked field, yet here are some of the most interesting subjects in an endless variety of forms. Every town or village has a history into which has been compressed in ten or twenty years what in other states may cover fifty or even a hundred years. This has led some of us into the error of thinking that our state is too new to have a history. The interesting sketches in the following pages should convince anyone that quite the contrary is the case.
Above all else on this occasion we desire to emphasize the fact that this is a state publication, in which all have an equal interest and in which all have a right to be represented. It should be a matter of state or local pride for each locality in the state to find something in its geology, its archaeology, its politics or its people which is worthy of publication in this volume.
THE ICELANDIC SETTLEMENT OF PEMBINA COUNTY.
BY SVEINBJORN JOHNSON.
I.— CONDITIONS IN ICELAND.
A sketch of the Icelandic settlement in Pembina county would be essentially deficient without a reference to the original home of the people. So much misunderstanding with respect to Ice-
90 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
land and her people exists that a brief sketch like this cannot pretend to throw much light upon a situation that seems so benighted. In January, 1906, a grade teacher in one of the largest cities in the state informed her pupils that Iceland was the home of the barbarous Eskimo, and that the unfortunate inhabitants of this rock-bound island of the midnight sun were strangers alike to the blessings of learning and the refinements of civilization. This paper is not prepared to refute statements of this kind.- It is designed to set forth a few facts concerning the Icelanders in Pembina county, with a brief sketch of the island from which they came.
Iceland lies between (53 degrees 30 minutes and 66 degrees 30 minutes, north latitude.1 On the north it is bounded by the Arctic circle. It is about 187 miles east of Greenland, 608 west of Norway and 557 west of Scotland.2 The area of the island according to Dr. Thoroddsen, is 41,675 square miles, or 1003 Danish square miles, a Danish linear mile being 4.68 English linear miles. Agricultural lands, including pasture lands, is 15,330, mountain pasture is 26,345, cultivated meadows and gar- dens about 109 square miles. Lava tracts cover 4,775 and glaciers about 5,344 square miles.
It is perhaps not generally known that the first people to live, in Iceland Avere from Ireland. As early as 795, according to a history written by the monk Dicuilus, Irishmen who sought to worship in peace and quiet had taken up their abode on the island.3 Furthermore, in the sagas, references are made to these men as having been found there by the Northmen when they discovered the island in 874. It appears that the Christian Celt could not well get along with the pagan Northmen, for many of the former left.
The period of Scandinavian settlement extends from 874 to 930. Some of the settlers came from Norway, Ireland and Scot- land.4 The majority, no doubt, came from Norway, though Celtic traces are found in the names of many of the known pioneers of Iceland. About the settlement of the island, Harold The Fair-haired was subduing and consolidating the petty king- doms and principalities of Norway under his personal rule. Chiefs and vikings, who would not bend under his yoke, left the country and found refuge in Iceland. Thus the island was not settled by the scum of the population of Norway, but by her choicest and most liberty-loving sons.
1Thoroddsen, Lysing Islands, Copenhagen, 1900, page 2.' The Universal Ency- clopedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica disagree with Dr. Thoroddsen with respect to the latitude of Iceland. The former gives the latitude as 63 deg. 24 min. and 66 deg. 33 min.; the latter gives it as 63 deg. 23 min. and 66 deg. 33 min. north.
2In the southern part of the island the shortest days in the year are three hours and the longest twenty. About the summer solstice the sun does not set for at week in the north, and during the winter solstice it is not visible above the horizon for the same length of time.
3Thoroddsen , Lysing Islands. Page 75.
4Bjarnason, Agrip Af Sogu Islands, Reykjavik, 1880, page 3.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 91
During the period of colonization no fixed system of govern- ment prevailed. The government was an aristocratic republic. The problems of state were dealt with by an Althing, composed of a Logretta (the legislative body of the old Icelandic common- wealth) ; five courts, one for each of the four divisions of the island, and one supreme court ; a folk-meeting to which all tax- payers could come and a leader or speaker of the law (Logso- gumadur). Tn addition were the spring or local assemblies, com- posed of the local priests or chiefs (Godar) who were self consti- tuted members of the Logretta. These chiefs also nominated all the judges for the Althing and for the local courts. By the side of these were the communal councils and assemblies.
In 1262 Iceland was annexed to Norway by one comprehensive act of the Althing. Among other things the act provided that the union should be null and void should Norway, in the opinion of "the best men" fail to live up to the terms of the union. The first and only earl was Gissur Thorwaldsson, who died in 1268. Shortly after this a change in the institutions of the state was made. In the place of the speaker of the law, heretofore chosen by the legislative body (Logretta), came two of the king's law- yers. Likewise, the judicial power, previously invested in a separate court, was handed over to the legislative body whose members were now appointed by representatives of the royal power. Thus by transferring the judicial functions to the legis- lative branch a pretext was found for removing the legislative power therefrom completely. This was no doubt one of the first steps that ultimately led to loss of independence, for although the legislative branch could pass laws without consulting the king, yet that Avas but a feeble guaranty of independent action, inasmuch as the members owed their tenure of office to agents of the sovereign.
In 1380, by the treaty of Calmar, Norway, Sweden and Den- mark were united under one king, and Iceland became a part of the union. No change in the government took place until after July 28, 1662, when the oath of fealty had to be taken to Fred- erick III. and his descendants.1 At the end of the seventeenth century new offices were created. A governor, sub-governor and a sheriff (Landfogeti) filled these, while the power to deal with the main problems of the island was left in the hands of the chancellor and revenue department at Copenhagen. The Althing continued to act in a legislative and judicial capacity until 1720. But its power gradually declined, until in 1800 it was super- seded by the superior court of Iceland (Landsyfirjettur). In 1814, when Norway withdrew from the union with Denmark, the relation of Iceland with the former was completely severed. The island is divided into eighteen counties (Syslur). which
'Gudmundsson, Islands Kultur, Copenhagen, 1902, page 28.
92 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
under the supervision of the governor have power to deal with local matters like poor relief, highways, primary education, sani- tation, fishing and other means of obtaining a livelihood. The counties are eighteen in number and are further subdivided into poor law districts (Hreppur, singular), of which there are 189 altogether.1
The constitutional strife between Denmark and Iceland abated somewhat in 1874, when, largely through the efforts of Jon Sigurdsson, the king granted a constitution to the Icelanders on the millennial anniversary of the settlement of the island. But still the Althing had powers of originative legislation only in comparatively unimportant affairs, and that subject to the ap- proval of the governor, who was a Dane and resided in Denmark. The government was still thought illiberal by the Icelanders, and this fact, coupled with others hereafter to be mentioned, was responsible for much of the discontent that led to emigration. Statements made by some of the old settlers in Pembina county with respect to the causes of their coming harmonize with this.2
The climate of Iceland is milder than geographical location leads one to believe. The isotherm for January 30 passes through Helena, Montana; Omaha, Nebraska; Dover, Deleware; touches the southeast coast of Iceland, enters Norway at Hevne and moves along the extreme southeast coast of Sweden. Again, in July the isotherm indicates that the temperature of Nain, Labrador, about 10 degrees further south, is the same as that of Reykjavik, Iceland, 50.
This comparative mildness of the climate is due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. Passing along the southern and southeast coast of Iceland, it modifies a climate that would otherwise be extremely unfavorable to habitation by civilized man. The cli- mate of the northern part of the island is chilled by cold currents from the Arctic ocean. Following the southeast coast of Green- land, these polar streams come within a few miles of that part of Iceland farthest to the northwest.
Normally, then, the extremes of temperature are not respon- sible for the nature of economic and industrial life in Iceland. It seems that the long winters, the fickleness of the weather in spring and the short summers account for the failure of cereal raising on an extensive scale.
Another fact of physical geography has had much effect upon the life of the people. By a reference to any physical map of the world it is seen that the extreme limit of Arctic ice drift is a few miles off the south'coast of the island. From this it appears that the island may in any year be completely surrounded by
'Thoroddsen, Lysing Islands. Page 60. 2See Appendix A.
In 1904 the Icelanders made another gain in that the governor, who must sign
bills before they become laws, will, after this, be an Icelander and reside in Iceland.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 93
Arctic ice.1 It is noticeable, however, that the envelopment of Iceland in Arctic ice has, as the years and centuries have passed, been of less and less frequent occurrence. Though ice drifts along the northern coast have by no means been uncommon, even in late years, yet the consequences have never been so appalling as when, in former centuries, the island was held in a frame of ice. Progress in veterinary science has enabled them to take precau- tions against disease epidemics that are always liable to arise and ravage stock during periods of hard times. Further, by the most strenuous endeavors to economize and to cultivate their meadow lands, the peasants attempt to lay up sufficient quan- tities of hay to tide over the longest and fiercest of winters that may come.
Generally the climate is cold, with long winters and short summers. Frequently, it is said, snow begins to fall late in August and early in September and does not disappear until in May or, in extreme cases, later. In the southern part of the island the climate is milder.
It is evident, then, that grain raising in general would be unstable, if not impossible. Potatoes were, in 1870, practically the only form of cultivated vegetation.2 In gardens at Reyk- javik spinach and a limited variety of edible roots were raised at great trouble and expense, but cereals almost nowhere. Though sporadic attempts at cereal raising have been made in the past, yet it seems that the experiment has never met with sufficient success to encourage the people to place any reliance upon agriculture as an occupation.3 Even granting that nor- mally the climate of Iceland would allow some form of agricul- ture, yet it seems that the contingent possibility of ice envelop- ment precludes all hopes of stability.
Necessarily the chief occupation of the people was and is stock raising. Sheep, cattle and horses, with their. products, were the only marketable goods of the peasant population.4 But even this occupation has been unstable, as can be seen from the ap- pended figures.
YEAR NUMBER SHEEP
1703 279,000
1783 233,000
1784 5 42,000
'In 1233 the island was ice-bound until the middle of October; again, in 1275, Arctic ice drifted almost entirely around the island and, as was to be expected, stock perished in large numbers. In 1648 Iceland was ice-enveloped almost entirely. In some regions grass did not begin to grow until the 20th of June. In 1756, in July and August, two feet of snow covered the ground. In some of the northern counties of the island men and stock died from hunger in considerable numbers. — Eyjulfsson- Um Hardindi; Reykjavik, 1886.
2See Appendix B.
3In 1350 it is said that barley grew in the southern part of the island. Thoroddsen, Lysing Islands, page 67.
*See Appendix C.
5This year fully four-fifths of the sheep on the island perished because of the length and severity of the winter and the consequent lack of hay. This year, also, some 5,000 human beings died from hunger. Eyjulfsson, Um Hardindi, Copenhagen, 1886.
94 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
YEAR NUMBER SHEEP
1853 700,000
1876 415,000
1896 842,000
These figures show that sheep raising is by no means a certain industry. The decrease between 1853 and 1876 was due to a disease that killed the sheep in large numbers. It was also caused by the severity of the winters of 1859, 1866 and 1869, when it seems that stock perished for want of hay. In 1866 drift ice did not melt from the coast until the middle of August. This insta- bility of the stock raising industry is but the natural result of geographical location. When the island becomes partly or totally ice invested the grass naturally cannot grow because of the snow and cold. Then, since the stock cannot graze it must be fed ; but the supply of hay, limited by poverty of soil or small extent of meadow land or by both, is soon exhausted and then the stock must perish. In the years from 1751 to 1757 the population decreased 6,200, all due to the cold that prevailed even in July and August and destroyed practically all vegetation so man and beast alike starved. The following table shows the fluctuation in the population :
YEAR POPULATION
1703 50,444
1801 47,240
1880 72.445
1890 70,929
The decrease in the population between the years 1703 and 1801 is accounted for partly by hard times, but especially by the small- pox epidemic of 1704 or thereabout, which carried off 18,000 individuals.1 The decrease from 1880 to 1890 was due partly to the widespread ravages of measles in 1882 and to emigration to the United States and Canada.2
From what has been said it must not be inferred that life in Iceland was universally wretched and miserable. On the con- trary many prosperous and pleasant homes could be found. Few people, if any, lived in abject destitution, although there were no really wealthy men on the island. There was, however, as there is always in every country, a numerous class of the population upon whom hard times bore with an iron hand. It is self-evident that a people who must depend upon one industry or occupation for almost all the necessaries of life will suffer severely if that occupation fail. Arctic ice, when it clings to the shores of Ice- land, not only prevents the reanimation of nature so essential to the preservation of the stock upon which island life defends,
1Thoroddsen, Lysing Islands, page 80. 2See Appendix A.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 95
but it also seals that greatest of provision chests, the ocean. The importance of geographical location, then, as it affects emi- gration from Iceland cannot very well be ignored.
A reference to the wages of labor should be made as having some bearing upon emigration. As has been said the chief source of a landholder's income was stockraising. In 1870 men received, the writer has been told, from 40 to 60 crowns a year, and women from 16 to 25 (3.76 crowns equal one dollar). After deducting from this what had to be paid in taxes and for the necessaries of life the year's stipend was very materially reduced.1 Aside from fixed taxes were others that depended upon apportionment, ard hence might vary from year to year. Then fees for various licenses were required.2
It is evident, then, that the common laborer, after having met the demands of taxation and provided for necessary clothing, not to mention luxuries of any kind, would accumulate money rather slowly. In other words, it would take him years, even with the utmost economy, to realize the least pretentious hopes of independence. In this connection another consideration enters into account — the land question. Of course new land could not be had by homestead or any other similar means as in this country. Purchase was the only way in which it could be obtained. But owing to the small surplus of income over expen- diture, the time required to save a sufficient amount of money to purchase a home of his own would discourage the ordinary workingman.3 Then when his farm was bought jt would increase in value very slowly on account of the limited returns it could yield. It seems that the most a common' laborer could hope for was to acquire a little stock — a few sheep, some cattle and a horse or two — rent buildings and other necessaries to maintain himself and his chattels, in other words, to enjoy the usufruct of the soil and the benefits of private property by the sufferance of another. It is doubtless true that in every old country, when all the land has passed under ownership, there must either be a large clas^ who rent, since the population increases, while the actual amount of land remains a constant quantity, or there will tend to be a division of farms. The tendency to division in Iceland is less pronounced than in some other countries because the limit of divisibility is sooner reached on account of climatic and other conditions already mentioned.
'To the church, .50 (% of a crown); to the minister, .50; road tax, 1.25 crowns; to fund for poor relief, 1 crown; total fixed taxes paid by laborer, 3.25 crowns; maxi- mum pay per year, 60 crowns; per cent of income paid in taxes, 5.4.
"Marriage licenses cost 33.66 crowns. But these licenses were not required unless individuals desired to avoid the embarrassment of having the bans of marriage pub- lished. A certificate of age, one permitting a man to marry his brother's widow, license to introduce new witnesses and testimony in a lawsuit, deeds for real estate, etc., cost each 33.66 crowns. In the pamphlet here named twenty-three different licenses are enumerated, and they are said to be only the most important ones. The cost ranges from 15 to 127 crowns. Vasakver handa Althidu, Akureyri, 1894, page 30.
3See Appendix C.
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
II. — EMIGRATION.
In February, 1860, Einar Asmnndsson (Fra Nesi) issued a cir- cular letter to be signed by such as might desire to emigrate from Iceland.1 A discussion of this letter by the editor of the periodical, Nordri, called forth a reply from Asmundsson in which he justified his action by pointing to the fact that scab — a disease fatal to sheep in those days — had already appeared among sheep in southern Iceland, and that hard times were likely to follow. But the agitation subsided until in 1863,2 when four men left for Brazil. These settled in the colony of Dana Francisca, not far from Bio Janerio. Little has been heard from them since. A definite organization of any movement to Brazil seems never to have been effected. Asmundsson called a meeting on January 3, 1865, to discuss emigration to Brazil, but little enthusiasm was aroused and comparatively few Icelanders ever emigrated to South America.
The first group of Icelanders to settle in the United States left Iceland in 1871. It was composed of four men, Jon Einarsson, Jon Gislason, Gudmundur Gudmundsson and Arni Gudrnunds- son. These were all young men who, having little hopes of finan- cial independence in the old country, determined to try their fortunes in the land across the ocean. They reached Wisconsin in the summer of 1871. It appears that William Wickman, who had worked for Gudmund Thorgrimsen, had gone to Wisconsin shortly before this time. He corresponded with his former em- ployer, Thorgrimsen, saying that he already had a farm of his own and was prospering. Thorgrimsen, owing to social position as well as personal merit, was a much respected and influential man. The men referred to above were, it appears, encouraged by him to leave Iceland for Wisconsin, with the result that they were the forerunners of the colony established on Washington island, Door county. Though many from this colony subsequently came to North Dakota, and though its population has long since ceased to grow by accretions from Iceland, yet the people still retain many of their racial and national characteristics, though doubtless much modified in the new environment.
Now that a few were gone across the water, letters were inter- changed. These pioneers wrote their friends in the old country describing their situation and giving their opinions as to the merits of this new land.* In this way it came to be known that a large tract of land could be had in the United States and that money wages translated into Icelandic denominations were considerably higher than in Iceland. The next year, 1872, a few more left for Wisconsin, among whom were Kev. H. B. Thorgrim-
'Borgfirdingur, Brasilia Ferdir Thingeyinga, Almanak, O. S. Thorgeirsson, Winni- peg, Manitoba, 1902, page 87.
2This year the winter was fierce and long. In some places stock could not graze until the 20th of June.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 97
sen, now officiating minister at Akra, Pembina county, and Pall Thorlaksson, who figured prominently in the pioneer days of Pembina county.1
While this colony was growing in Wisconsin, another settle- ment was being formed along the west shore of Lake Winnipeg. In 1876 it received a large re-enforcement of immigrants from Iceland.2 The first party of Icelanders to land in Canada came in 1873, among whom was the Hon. B. L. Baldwinsson of Win- nipeg. They landed at Quebec in July of that year, but remained two years in Toronto before beginning the settlement already referred to along the western shore of Lake Winnipeg.3 With the increase in the size of the colony, caused by immigration from Iceland in 1875 and 1876, the people began to feel more keenly the need of religious organization. Hence in 1876 an invitation was sent to the newl}7 ordained pastor of the Wis- consin group, Pall Thorlaksson, to come and serve this colony in a clerical capacity. Rev. Mr. Thorlaksson responded to the call and after this date kept in close touch with them until his death in 1882. Mr. Thorlaksson frequently visited the colony in Wisconsin, which fact did much to -unify these two settlements.
From this colony along Lake Winnipeg came the first Icelandic settlers in Pembina county. The country along the lake was low and heavily timbered. The soil may have been fertile, but at this time other causes forbade progressive agriculture. The heavy timber must first be cleared away. But the colonists, with limited means and no experience, could not be expected to accom- plish much in a year or two, and since there was little market for the timber the immigrants of course could not afford to clear the land nor could they hire the work done. In the absence of ditches and drains the swampy character of the land seemed to indicate that agriculture could not be established on a paying basis for several years to come. To aggravate an already serious condition of affairs the colony suffered from smallpox in the winter of 1876-7. -The settlement was quarantined for 228 days and indescribable suffering and sorrow followed this dreadful disease. Many of the settlers who had faced poverty with a sturdy and hopeful spirit now sank into despair. Such was the condition of affairs that greeted Rev. Mr. Thorlaksson when in the fall of 1877 he returned to the colony after a visit to Wis- consin. It seems that he had, while on his visit, acquainted him-
JSee Appendix E.
2See Appendix A.
3It should be noticed that to reach this prospective place of settlement the colonists had to follow a somewhat circuitous course. They went by water from Quebec to Duluth, Minnesota; thence by rail to what was then called Fisher Landing, now Fisher, Minnesota; then by boat 'down the Red Lake river and then with the Red River of the North to Winnipeg. From there they went down to the present site of Gimii, Manitoba. The location of this colony was selected by two or three Icelanders named by the Canadian government for that purpose. Abundant timber and hopes that fish could be obtained from the lake perhaps influenced them in their choice. This terri- tory along Lake Winnipeg is often called "New Iceland."
Hist. -7
98 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
self with the circumstances of farmers in Minnesota and other states. Further, while going down the Bed river to Winnipeg, the captain of the steamboat urged him to direct his countrymen to Dakota and the Ked river valley as a place of unlimited possi- bilities for an industrious population.1 Though Rev.- Mr. Thor- laksson was perhaps not disposed to encourage the settlers to leave this colony when he left Wisconsin, yet,, when brought face to face with the conditions that actually existed there, he did not hesitate to urge them to leave. Moreover, the prosperity of farmers in Dakota and Minnesota fully convinced him that the representations of the captain were fair. He no doubt saw that since the people of the Lake Winnipeg colony would for some years to come have to depend upon the resources of the water for a living progress would be slow.
Mr. Thorlaksson remained with the colony during the winter of 1877-8. Great discontent developed among the settlers; some had suffered in health on account of the swampy nature of their surroundings. A considerable number finally decided to seek a more promising location for a colony.
On April 22, 1878, the steamboat Lady Ellen left Gimli for Winnipeg. With this boat went Rev. Mr. Thorlaksson and twenty young men who expected to work in Winnipeg. On the 30th Fridjon Fridriksson and Samson Bjarnason left the same place in a sailboat. With these were Johann P. Hallsson and Magnus Stefansson. Their intentions were to overtake Mr. Thor- laksson in Winnipeg and secure him as a leader in the search of more suitable land. It appears that in Winnipeg Stefansson met one Hunter, editor of the Standard, who spoke well of the quali- ties of land in the Red River valley. Much impressed by the editor's account, Stefansson and S. Josua Bjornsson went south from Winnipeg and finally reached Pembina, then a village of a few houses in the extreme northeast corner of the county. From here they went west and southwest to a place five miles from Cavalier, where they selected two quarter sections of land and then returned to Pembina to file on their claims at the same time that Rev. P. Thorlaksson, J. P. Hallsson and Arni Bjornsson arrived there from Winnipeg. Persuaded by the representations of these two pioneers, this latter group continued the journey until they reached a sand ridge from one-half to two miles wide, extending from north to south in western Akra township. It seems they followed the Tongue river up to this point where they were in sight of the Pembina mountains. Between this sand ridge on the east and these mountains on the west lies a depression or a small valley. In this low and wooded place began the first Icelandic settlement in North Dakota. The wood- land was sought in preference to the prairie farther east of the
JF. J. Bergman, Landnam Islendinga i Nordur Dakota, Almanak O. S. Thorgeirs- son, Winnipeg, Manitoba, page 18.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 99
mountains because logs for .houses could be had without the necessity of hauling them from a distance. Further, the settlers had been informed that it was sometimes difficult to get water on these prairies. Wells often had to be drilled, and even then good water might not be struck. The selection of this place has also been explained on the grounds of sentiment. Though the Pembina mountains are but a mockery of the majestic mountain ranges of Iceland, yet they reminded the prospective settlers of the old country, around the memory of which so many pleasant associations clustered.1
The spot for the location of a colony having been selected, Thor- laksson went to Minnesota, Stefansson settled on his land about five miles west of Cavalier and about the same distance east of the land picked out by J. P. Hallsson.2 Hallsson returned to his home near Lake Winnipeg, which he reached May 19, 1878. On the 24th, he and two others started off with their stock on foot, while their families left the next day in the sailboat York, belonging to Samson Bjarnason now of Akra, Pembina county. On the 25th and 26th Selkirk (about forty miles from Gimli) was reached. From Selkirk to Winnipeg they went with the steamboat "Lady Ellen," and from Winnipeg to Pembina village in the "Manitoba." On the 6th of June the colony left Pembina, and at 10 p. m. the same day reached the home of Butler Olson, a Norwegian, .five miles west from Cavalier.3 In this group were among others, Jon Horgdal, Gisli Eigilsson and Jonas Jonsson.
On the 23d of June the first log cabin erected by Icelanders in Pembina county was completed. It is still standing where the postoffice of Hallson is located. It was built 12x14 feet and five feet under the eaves. Nine persons found accommodations in this house. The logs were cut in the immediate neighborhood and then dragged by hand to the place of building.
A few facts concerning the first movement for emigration from Iceland have been mentioned. From this date on agitation con- tinued. Letters from the pioneers, as well as the persuasions of agents sent by the Canadian government to Iceland, every year led the people to dispose of their property and depart for "Amer- ica," as the land on this side of the Atlantic was commonly called.4 But soon opposition to this spirit of adventure devel- oped. Some of the leading men, joined with the press, opposed with all the weight of their influence this emigration fever that eventually, as they thought, would deplete the island of the best
1Many of the details concerning the settlement in Pembina county have been ob- tained from Bergman's "Landnam Islendinga i Nordur Dakota;" Almanak O. S. Thor- geirsson, Winnipeg, Man. These have been supplemented by facts obtained in per- sonal interviews with the old settlers.
2The quarter section picked out by Hallsson lies in section 13, Beaulieu township.
3The memory of Butler Olson's hospitality is cherished is_ a grateful remem- brance by the many Icelanders who in the pioneer days were recipients thereof.
*At this time and long afterwards no distinction between Canada and the United States existed in the minds of ordinary people. All this land was embraced in the comprehensive term America or Western World (Vesturheimur).
100 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
element of the population. On one side were the emigration agents and the letters from settlers already hopeful of the future in their new abode; on the other were the home papers, the official class and prominent citizens attempting to show fallacies in the arguments of agents or misrepresentations in the letters from the colonists.
Doubtless the most effective arguments advanced by agents or by correspondents were the easy conditions of acquiring land and the high wages in this country. When the landless class was told that a large tract of excellent land could be acquired free, they saw in this alone ample inducement for leaving the old country, where to become the owner of a farm was hardly "more than a dream. Moreover, money wages in America at this time translated into Icelandic denominations were many times higher than in Iceland, where the small allowance was further dimin- ished by heavy taxation. These were arguments for emigration that required much laborious reasoning to refute. The free land argument remained for the most part unanswered, but not so with the wage proposition. It was contended that, though wages were nominally higher in America than in Iceland, the cost of living, the cost of all the necessaries of life was high in pro- portion, so that in the last analysis there was little difference. This contention, perhaps, had some solid foundation, for if wages were low in Iceland, the wants were few and comparatively inex- pensive.1
Nevertheless upon the ordinary laborer the wage argument had a telling effect. One dollar and twenty-five cents, the daily pay in America, meant, in Icelandic money, 4.70 crowns. But to earn this sum, according to the annual income of the ordinary laborer, he had to work three or four weeks. It is not surprising that to many this one feature was a glittering attraction.
Agents further showed that the lot of young women was much easier in this country than in Iceland. It was shown that the work on the whole, was more pleasant and the wages much higher. B. L. Baldwinsson, M. P. P., one of the ablest agents the Canadian government ever sent to Iceland, and whom many Icelandic immigrants will always remember as the truest of friends and the most generous of men, showed his countrymen that the reward of industry was tenfold and the penalty of sloth in like proportion.2
'See Appendix C. >
2Mr. Baldwinsson virtually led the party that came in 1873, the first Icelandic colony to settle in Canada and the second in North America. His chief source of information concerning America was "Letters Froth America," written by a Nor- wegian in the United States, and published in' the Norwegian press. These letters were translated into Icelandic by Pall Magnusson and distributed in pampl»let form. This was about 1871 or 1872. These letters influenced many to emigrate. They were written with an impartial spirit of prudence and moderation, and no attempt was made to exaggerate the desirable qualities of this country or to gloss over objectionable ones. Mr. Baldwinsson says: "I had formed a fairly correct idea of this country (Canada) before I left Iceland."
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 101
Aside from the matter of wages and land there were other considerations favoring emigration. From personal interviews with the old settlers, as well as with those who came after the colony was well established in Pembina county, the writer con- cluded that the educational facilities offered in America had their share in influencing people to emigrate. The significance of this becomes all the more apparent when it is remembered that Iceland has more books per capita than any other country in the world. In the absence of common school advantages, the children were, in those days, taught reading and writing and the essentials of arithmetic by the parents at home or by some one engaged expressly for the purpose. Indeed, it was and is not uncommon to find men who have never been inside of a school who read two or three languages besides their own.1 Hence, when Ice- landic parents were told that free schools were open to receive their children as soon as they landed, it had an effect that out- weighed many an argument against emigration.
Some theories advanced by opponents of emigration are both instructive and amusing. The explanation of the discrepancy in wages has already be.en referred to. Some grave dangers were foreseen. It was held that on this side of the Atlantic the money power was synonymous with government and state. It was pointed out that slavery to organized and accumulated wealth might become the lot of the immigrant into this country. Many fabulous and extravagant statements were made, calcu- lated to inspire men with fear and aversion. The press without exception opposed emigration, but no paper was more violent in its opposition than "Thjodolfur." From 1875 to 1889 the agita- tion probably raged most fiercely,2 although those who oppose emigration from Iceland, have never been silenced.3
III. — SETTLEMENT.
As soon as the first settlers had erected shelters for their families, in 1878, they turned their attention to the soil. J. P. Hallsson broke two acres this year and in the fall of 1879 the yield was eighty bushels. Harvesting was done by the cradle. In the summer and fall of 1878 these few settlers co-operated in the matter of haying, building and other occupations. Halls- son bought an ox and a Red river cart, for both of which he paid $75. A little later Jon Horgdal became the owner of the
JMr. Thorwaldsson of Akra, Pembina county, had read of America in English and Danish papers. To possess a reading knowledge of Danish, English and German was not an uncommon accomplishment, even with men who had never gone to school.
2See Appendix A.
3An incident related by one of the old settlers shows the spirit of the opposition as well as the ideas the emigrants entertained with respect to the possibilities or thi-; country. One of the first Icelandic settlers in Pembina county was taking leave of his brother, who had exhausted every effort to dissuade him from leaving. The former said: "I shall come back when I am rich." "No man has ever returned from hell," was the grim reply.
102 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
first yoke of oxen owned by Icelanders in this state. These beasts of burden did service for the neighbors as well as for the owners. For several years, indeed, it was not uncommon for two neighbors to buy one ox each and then to use the two together to work the few cultivated acres on their farms.
The wheat harvested in 1879 was hauled by means of one ox five miles that it might be threshed. Then it was taken to the grist mill at Walhalla, about fifteen miles north of the settlement and ground into flour, a portion of the wheat being reserved for seed. This summer a few more acres were broken and wheat was sown in the spring of 1880.1
During the winter of 1879 the daily fare in this colony was far from being sumptuous. The food was simple, consisting mostly of bread from flour, a little milk,2 and on some important and rare occasions, meat. It sometimes happened that the set- tlers got meat from the Indians in exchange for flour or some other goods, but generally it was a luxury they could not afford.
In the spring of 1879 several settlers arrived from the Lake Winnipeg colony. Rev. Pall Thorlaksson had visited the settle- ment in Pembina county in September, 1878, and found that the colonists were getting along well. Moreover, while on a visit in Minnesota and other parts of Dakota, he had observed that the land seemed of no better quality, hence he decided to urge men to come to Pembina county. The result was that several settled near J. P. Hallsson and the settlers who had come in 18783, in what are now Beaulieu and Akra townships.
This summer the nucleus of another Icelandic community developed in what later came to be Thingwalla township. The first settler was Sveinn Sveinsson from Skagafirdi, Iceland. He built the first three cabins erected in the .vicinity of Mountain postoffice.4
In the spring of 1879 Eev. Mr. Thorlaksson visited the Ice- landic congregation in Shawano county, Wisconsin. When he returned later in the summer, he was accompanied by two young men, Sigurjon Sveinsson and Benidict Johannesson. It seems that these two tarried in Minnesota, where they disposed of their horses in exchange for oxen and cattle, while Mr. Thorlaksson pressed on to the present site of Mountain. In company with Jon Bergman they had left the home of Butler Olson, five miles west of Cavalier in search of land. They went in the direction of Walhalla, north from Olson's home. But the qualities of the
*F. J. Bergman, "Landnam Islendinga i Nordur Dakota," Almanak, O. S. Thor- geirsson, Winnipeg, 1902, page 25 ff.
2Hallsson began farming with three cows, two young cattle and one ox. Many others had still less.
3Among those who settled in this locality this summer were: Palmi Hjalmarsson, H. H. Holm, Bjarni Jonasson, Gudmundur Thordarsson, Arni and his brother Einar Scheving, Pall Johannsson, Bjarni Dalsted and Samson Bjarnason.
4Other settlers in Thingwalla township were Gudmundur Johannesson, Sigurbjorn Hansarson, Jon Jonasson, Sigurdur Jakobsson and Indridi Einarsson.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 103
land were not sufficiently attractive so they went south, whither the pioneers had gone before them. The two men from Wisconsin reached Mountain in July, 1879. Jon Bergman was from the Lake Winnipeg colony, or New Iceland. From Mountain they pressed on as far south as the northernmost branch of the Park river. On the south side of this stream Sveinsson and Johannes- son settled. Nearer the Icelandic colony on the north, Jon Berg- man and others located. These men, then, were the pioneer set- .tlers in Gardar township. The two men, Sigurjon Sveinsson and Benidict Johannesson, were well qualified to encounter the diffi- culties and hardships of pioneer life. Both were young, hardy and ambitious, caring little for the difficulties to be overcome in subduing the wilderness. Their first dwellings were little more than excavations in the earth roofed over with brush and sod. In one corner of Johannesson's house was a stove made of clay, and though it was not ornamental, yet it successfully kept out the cold during an entire winter. From these humble beginnings has grown the Gardar community; which probably has a greater number of fine private residences than any other township in the county.
Before the end of the year 1879, then, four Icelandic com- munities were in formation, one in what later was named Akra township, where Akra postoffice now is, one in Beaulieu township, immediately west of Akra, one in Thingwalla township, where Mountain now stands, and one in Gardar township, where a post- office by the same name was afterwards organized. From this date on each of these communities continued to expand. Immi- grants arrived every year, from the colony at Lake Winnipeg, Wisconsin and directly from Iceland. In 1880 several farmers came from Wisconsin and settled in Gardar township. This com- munity early became the most prosperous of the four. The rea- sons no doubt are found in the fact that the earliest settlers came from Wisconsin, where they had lived five or six years and acquired some experience in agriculture.1 Further, the qualities of the land in this township are probably superior to those in the other named communities. On the other hand, the settlers in the communities of Mountain and Hallson came from the shores of Lake Winnipeg with little or no property and almost without hope. The smallpox epidemic of 1876-7 had broken up families and the property of many was practically confiscated by the Canadian government.2
The early years of settlement were years of hardships and strenuous toil. Many of those who came in the summer of 1879
1 Among those who came from Wisconsin were Hon. E. H. Bergman, Jon Jonsson and the two men mentioned above. See Appendix E.
2The Canadian government lent money to some of the early settlers in New Iceland. These loans were to be paid in ten years, no interest accruing the first four. But when the people began to leave the government simply condemned their property, if they had ever taken a loan. This left many propertyless. See Appendix A.
104 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
were unable to find employment. Some had to live in tents until late in October, when flimsy dwellings were completed. This same summer a destructive prairie fire swept over the Pembina mountains as far east as Cavalier. Some lost all their hay and others their buildings. The prospects of the colonists were never darker than during the winter that followed. In the fall Rev. Pall Thorlaksso'n visited a Norwegian settlement near the Goose river. While he sojourned there as a visitor of the Kev. Mr. Harstad, who had stopped for some time in the Icelandic settle- ment the previous summer, he collected a few bushels of wheat contributed by Norwegian farmers. Then he wrote to his father and Gisli Egilsson who came south with their oxen and hauled the wheat to Fargo, where it was marketed. Rev. Mr. Thor- laksson received the proceeds and in the spring of 1880 devoted the money to the purchase of seed grain for the farmers in the Icelandic settlement.1 This was well enough for the future, but there were present needs too urgent to be disregarded. Several of the colonists were in the state of the most abject destitution. Some had walked the entire distance to Pembina county and had sacrificed their property that they might get there. The conscientious Pall Thorlaksson felt his responsibility in the mat- ter, inasmuch as he had induced many to go from New Iceland. The people looked to him for their temporal as well as their spiritual salvation, and they did not look in vain. It is scarcely conceivable how life could be sustained on the simple fare to which the colonists were reduced. Large quantities of turnips were bought from farmers in other parts of the county. Pall Thorlaksson's brother, Haraldur, obtained about |400 worth of goods from a merchant in Pembina. But early in the winter fire destroyed all the supplies. It was plain that something must be done, since many families were at times without provisions. Early in the spring of this year he went to Northfield, Minnesota, and bought from a Norwegian farmer, H. Thorson, 100 barrels of flour and forty cattle. This was transported free of charge to St. Vincent, whence it was taken to the Icelandic settlement. Notes due in two years were given in payment for these goods. Again in July, 1880, he went to Minnesota and made some fur- ther purchases, for more colonists had come and many were needy. This time he secured eighty-five head of cattle and sixty- five sheep, all of which reached the community in October of that year. These were to be paid for in three years and Rev. Mr. Thorlaksson was held personally accountable. With this supply on hand, Thorlaksson felt confident that the people were not in danger, for the coming winter at least.2
lBergman, "Landnam Islendinga i Nordur Dakota," Almanak, O. S. Tfcorgeirs- son, page^33-4ff.
2Bergman, "Landnam Islendinga i Nordur Dakota," Almanak, O. S. Thorgeirsson, Winnipeg, 1902, page 37-9ff.
H.E.BERGMAN
- STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 105
The expansion of these Icelandic communities continued. In the spring of 1880 a large number of immigrants arrived from New Iceland.1 Several came from Wisconsin and settled in what is now Gardar township. Among those were E. H. Bergman, Jon Jonsson, G. J. Dalmann, Gudmundur Stefansson and his son S. G. Stefansson, now recognized as one of the ablest Ice- landic poets on this side of the Atlantic.
In the summer of 1880 the colonists directed their attention to the soil. Land was cleared of timber where necessary and fields were extended everywhere. During the two previous years the farmers used the old country implements — the scythe and the hand rake — but this year the mower came into use and was con- sidered a remarkable labor-saving machine. Farm machinery was purchased as fast as circumstances allowed. The settlers quickly appreciated the value of the best farm implements avail- able.
The winter of 1880-1 found the colonists hopeful and content; no fear was entertained with respect to the future. In the com- munity where Hallsson settled, and also in Thingwalla, a reaper and a harvester were bought. Similarly, a threshing machine was purchased by the settlers along the Tongue river. This machine was used in all the Icelandic settlements.2 Altogether the people were as prosperous as reasonably could be expected. Over 1,000 acres were under cultivation in the Gardar colony alone. The timber of the land was converted into lumber by three lumber mills in the neighborhood, and this was a great convenience to the people.3
But if the general outlook was fair at this time it was so because of the most strenuous toil and careful economy. During the first years before farming operations were fully under way the men worked as day laborers, while the women stayed at home and looked after the stock, and even did the haying with the assistance of hired help. Until after settlement increased in Pembina county many of the first Icelandic settlers walked to the Grandin farm near. Fargo, where they worked by the day.4 Every effort was and had to be made to reduce expenses to a
'In a pamphlet published in Icelandic by the Canadian government and distributed in Iceland, in which the country was described, the land along the west shore of Lake Winnipeg was called "New Iceland."
2Machinery was expensive in those days. In 1883 a binder — harvester with binding attachment — was owned by two farmers jointly and cost over $300.
sln 1884 there were 270 people in the Gardar settlements. The Icelandic farmers owned twenty-eight working horses, seventy-three oxen, 138 cows, 184 young cattle, 164 sheep, forty-seven hogs and 505 fowl. Of agricultural implements they owned forty-eight plows, thirty-five harrows, thirteen drills, five binders, four harvesters, five mowers, eight hay rakes, one-half interest in a threshing machine (the other half was owned by a Norwegian), thirty-one wagons and thirty sleighs. This property was owned by fifty farmers. F. T. Bergman, "Landnam Islendinga i Nordur Dakota," Al- manak, O. S. Thorgeirsson, Winnipeg, 1902, page 56.
4One woman, Mrs. Gudmundur Thordarsen, now of Hensel, with her boy of 12 got $2 a dav binding bundles after a reaper on this farm. Coming from an Icelandic colony in Nova Scotia, she had gone by water to Duluth and thence to Fargo. Then in October, 1879, after working on the Grandin farm, her family moved to Park township, where they have lived ever since.
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minimum. The women made the wool into clothes for the body, and the men made even some of the farm implements at home. Hand rakes were made in this way and carts and rude wagon wheels were constructed by sawing sections from the ends of large oak trees. This spirit of industry and economy animated every community.
As soon as men were tolerably certain of a living they turned their attention to the organization of their church. Rev. Pall Thorlaksson preached in private houses during the summer of 1880, and on the 24th of September he called a meeting to organize a congregation in the Gardar settlement. Again, on the 30th of November of the same year a congregation was organ- ized in Thingwalla township. In the settlement along the Tongue river there was no church until January 2, 1881. Rev. P. Thor- laksson served these three congregations until his death in 1882. He was succeeded by the Rev. H. B. Thorgrimsen.
In 1882 it appears that the township organization had become regular in Pembina county. The Icelandic settlements lay within three double townships at this time — Thingwalla, Beaulieu and Akra. The officers were Icelanders, as they are today in those townships where Icelanders live. In 1886 Gardar was organized from Thingwalla township. In 1888 Akra was also divided and the new one was named Avon.1 There are also quite a number of Icelanders in Park township immediately south, and in Cava- lier township immediately east of Akra. In 1895 Liberty was organized from Beaulieu township.2 By a reference to the map showing the land holding, the position of these townships can be seen. Three of these may be regarded as wholly Icelandic. In Gardar there are not more than three or four non-Icelandic families, and in Akra less than that. Though the map of Akra township seems to show that considerable areas of land are not held by Icelanders, yet it is not cultivated by others. The blank areas, in many cases, represent land of only second rate quality, upon which loans have been taken and which have then passed into the hands of land companies and non-residents, the original holders having moved away.
The first school district to be organized was number 31, in Akra township, on February 25, 1881, three years after the coming of the first settlers. The last Icelandic district organized was number 77, in Cavalier township, in 1889.3 The school officers are and have always been mostly Icelanders. They, at any rate, have the controlling influence, though perhaps in one or two there may be a clerk or director who is not an Icelander. It is also somewhat usual to find Icelandic teachers teaching
•"In 1905 this name was changed to Advance. 2In 1905 Liberty was changed to LaMoure.
3The other Icelandic districts were organized as follows: Numbers 24 and 26 in 1882; number 38, October 22, 18S1 ; numbers 64 and 69 in 1884 and number 91 in 1895.
110 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
these schools,1 though as a rule nationality has nothing to do with the selection of the teacher. On the whole they seem to patronize the public schools as much as any class of the popula- tion. In the years between 1901 and 1905 there has been a marked fall in {he per cent of attendance in the Icelandic dis- tricts and all over the county. But this, it seems, is not due to any lapse in appreciation, but rather to physical causes. These years will always be remembered as extremely wet during the rainy season. Hence, owing to the lay of the land, which in most of the Icelandic communities is low, and poor roads, the attendance was necessarily spasmodic and irregular during the spring terms.
In localities where for some reason or other school houses could not be built immediately, or where districts had not been organ- ized, school was kept in private houses. The main part of the house was used as a school room while the family had to be content with the accommodations of the leanto or kitchen until school was dismissed.
As said above, Icelanders were pioneers in southwestern Pem- bina county. The postofflce nearest the settlement was Cavalier, then a store and two or three private houses. In 1881 the Ice- landic settler nearest Cavalier was five miles east, and the remotest some twenty-eight or thirty miles southwest thereof. This year the settlers succeeded in having a postoffice created in Beaulieu township, where J. P. Hallsson and the first immigrants had settled. It was named Coulee.2 This year also another postoffice was established in Thingwalla township and named Mountain. In 1882 Gardar postoffice was approved,3 and in 1890 Akra, in Akra township. In 1899 a postoffice four and one-half miles northeast of Hallsson — Swold — was established. A few Icelanders live in that neighborhood. Of these postoffices Icelanders have been postmasters since their creation by the gov- ernment. During the first years mail was carried once a week, but daily service has long been in operation.
During the first years of settlement the nearest market was St. Vincent, Minnesota. This place is situated opposite Pembina on the east bank of the Red river, about fifty-five miles from Gardar. To haul their wheat this distance, over roads that were was not only a slow but a dangerous process. Bobberies not infrequently took place. But in 1881 the Great Northern was built through St. Thomas, Glasston and Hamilton, thereby bring-
1In 1905 the population of Pembina county was 17,878. Of this not o_ver 2,400, or 13 per cent, are Icelanders. This same year there were 155 teachers in the county of whom thirty, or 19 per cent, are of Icelandic extraction. In neither case do these figures include endorsed certificates. »
2This name has now been changed to Hallsson, in honor of the memory of J. P. Hallsson, one of the first immigrants. See Appendix E.
3Gardar was the name of one of the Vikings who discovered Iceland. For some time the island was called Gardars Holmi, the "Islet of Gardar."
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 111
ing the market nearer the settlement.1 The first named became the market place of the Gardar and Mountain settlers, it being about twenty-five or thirty miles away. It was customary for the farmers to leave home with their loads of grain in the evening and then they would reach St. Thomas early the next morning. On the next day they drove home. They doubtless preferred to return with their money in broad daylight, as there was then less danger of encountering highwaymen. Besides this, it was cooler for the draft animals at night. With oxen they made the trip in twenty-four hou'rs. Glasston was the market of the settlers in Akra and Beaulieu townships until the Great Northern was built to Cavalier and subsequently extended to Walhalla.
In going to these distant markets several farmers formed a company. Long trains of wagons drawn by oxen could be seen moving slowly homeward, while the drivers were on the foremost wagon enjoying a conversation on some live topic.2
The first Icelandic store was at Mountain conducted by H. Thorlaksson. In 1882 E. H. and F. J. Bergman began a retail business at Gardar and P. J. Skjold owned a store at Edinburg until 1894, when he rnovcii to Hallson, where he continued in business. At Akra 8. Thorwaldsson has operated a retail store since he settled there in 1881. Changes in ownership have taken place and new enterprises have been made, but there has been a constant and steady growth.
No attempt has been made to trace every step in the growth of the Icelandic colony. Only a few hints with respect to material advancement have been made. The people have endeavored to keep abreast of the times. Every increase in prosperity has been turned to the improvement of their condition. The log cabin has become a curiosity; the sod house and the sod barn have long been in ruins. Telephone lines now connect the four Icelandic postoffices — Akra, Hallson, Mountain and Gardar — one with an- other and with the outside world. Rural telephones are in opera- tion in Gardar and Thingwalla townships. The Edinburg and Gardar Telephone company was organized some years ago and has extended its lines into several country homes.3 The heavy timber that covered most of the Icelandic communities has been largely cleared away. Land, once too wet for agriculture, has, by highway and drainage ditches, been reclaimed, though much
1When the Icelanders were induced to settle near Lake Winnipeg (New Iceland) it was on the distinct assurance that a railroad would soon be extended into the set- tlement. That road has not yet reached Gimli. "Construction has begun just lately. With the same hopes they located in Pembina county in 1878, and in three years these hopes were realized. See Appendix B.
2The instinct of the oxen to • find their way home from the market could always be relied upon. Farmers who had their oxen well trained would start them on the road homeward from town, ride home with a friend or neighbor, perhaps in a buggy, and in course of time the oxen would reach home safely, sometimes long after the owner had arrived.
3The promoter of this company was Hon. E. H. Bergman of Gardar. Mr. Bergman is thoroughly alive to the interests of his countrymen and never loses an opportunity to further their welfare. His business and executive ability rendered him especially fit for this work. See Appendix E.
112 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
in this direction remains yet to be accomplished. The material progress of the people is creditable when the humble beginnings and the character of the land selected are borne in mind,1
IV. — LATER HISTORY.
The Northmen are famous in history for their ability to adjust themselves to new conditions. They settled in France and in a few generations they had lost their nationality. The Normans conquered England and with equal facility adopted the manners of the Saxon. But this was in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Forces that now operate to keep alive racial traits and national sentiments, no matter how distant the offshoot from the original stock, were then unknown. The printing press that now sends papers and magazines, and the postal system that carries letters from one continent to another, were not then in operation. The moment the emigrant left his native shores to settle in another land his country could be to him nothing but a memory, a memory that an active environment would soon obliterate. Moreover, there was lacking another power, stronger, perhaps, than any of these, the power of a living, organized religion. Groups of immi- grants that have arrived in this country during the last century brought with them an organized church and a number of allied customs. These customs connected with religion may have been modified, but ordinarily men are unwilling to countenance move- ments calculated to alter their religious ideas. Variations in habits connected with belief come only by slow degrees of evolu- tion. In view of these facts, then, it is not extraordinary that some old country customs should still survive among the Ice- landers in Pembina county, and that their permanence should for some time be guaranteed.
Before any mention of Icelandic survivals connected with language and religion a reference to some minor customs trace- able directly to the old country should be made. In and about 1870 all articles of dress were home made in Iceland.2 For various reasons this could not be done here. However, as many articles were made at home as the changed conditions allowed. Sheep raising at once became an important industry. From the
'From this colony in Pembina county have gone colonists to become pioneer set- tlers in other parts of this continent. Several years ago an Icelandic settlement was formed in the Mouse river country, in Bottineau and McHenry counties. Many of
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and J. Veum of Akra, and Ben Bjarnason of Hensel. Several Icelanders have tied along the Pacific coast in Washington. It is impossible to state the exacft nui of Icelanders in the United States because the census bureau erroneously classifies tnem as Danes. There are large colonies of them in several states. See Appendix E.
2This condition is now reversed. Almost everything- is bought in the markets in exchange for raw material.
Br PZM &INA COUNTY-IB 96
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STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 113
w< >1 the women made underwear, stockings and mittens.1 The lij- '-espun cloth was seldom or never made. Wages were too high ii material for clothing generally too cheap to justify the expen- diture of time and labor necessary for the manufacture of the cloth.
The Icelandic housewife also made slippers by hand. The material was usualty sheepskin and sometimes that of the hog, though the latter was considered undesirable inasmuch as it lacked pliability and had a tendency to harden. The skin from which these slippers were made was cut into rectangular strips of a certain width and length, and then by appropriate cutting was made to fit the heel and over the toes. Two strings attached to the heel of the slipper held it in place. These are now almost entirely out of use, though sometimes a housewife of a former generation may be seen wearing them while performing her duties in the kitchen. Though not conforming with fashionable taste, they were not wanting in comfort. From the standpoint of con- venience and economy they were on the whole desirable. In the pioneer days many a dealer's bill was reduced by the home manu- facture of this article alone.
Tools and implements connected with farming were frequently home made. Knives fashioned at home were not uncommon. Butcher knives were made from parts of scythes, and these may still be seen in refuse or scrap heaps about the farm. Similarly knives for shaving the wool from sheep pelts were brought directly from Iceland or made at home. But these have passed with the necessity for their use. If a farmer desires to unhair a pelt, he spreads it over the back of a living animal for twelve hours when the wool can easily be pulled out by hand.
Many farmers made their own hand rakes. These were much used in some of the communities where the scythe had to be used exclusively on account of roughness or forest growth. They are now no longer made at home, and hand rakes are but little used! except around the barn and the haystack.2
Sometimes the women made tallow candles. They were made by both the dipping and the mould process. Though these candles were used in the kitchen sometimes, yet they were usually made for the children to enjoy at Christmas.
Some few articles of food are still made as in the old country, though the ordinary menu is American. The favorite drink of
1Homemade stockings and mittens are worn by many to this day. The woolen ware made _ by the Icelandic women finds a ready market even outside the stores on account of its comfort and general wearing qualities. In many homes knitting machines now do the work previously done by hand.
2In the pioneer days the women plied these hand rakes while the men cut with the scythes. The hay thus made was put up in coils or heaps on the small grass plots and in the winding alleys among the bushes of willow and poplar.
Hist.-8
114 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Icelanders seems to be coffee, of which the older people seem to be especially fond.1
Perhaps the most thoroughly Icelandic dish is the "skir" or what, for want of a better name, may be called "curdled milk." It is made by boiling fresh or skimmed milk, to which, after it has stood for some time, is added a quantity of rennet. When the milk cools it curdles and is ready for the table. Eaten with cream and sugar it makes a very cooling and palatable dish in summer. Tn most homes it is now more of a luxury or curiosity than a regular article of diet.
Smoked mutton and tripe, also portions from the brisket, were much relished in Iceland. By the Icelanders in Pembina county this is rarely used except on such occasions as Christmas and New Year's and the sacrifice when the month of Thorri begins.2 The mutton is smoked at home in smoke houses improvised for the purpose. Sometimes a barrel suffices for the superstructure where the meat is suspended, while the fire is built in an exca- vation in the earth. Sometimes a farmer has a permanent struc- ture for this purpose in which case he does the smoking for his neighbors.
Another article of food not common among Americans is a kind of sausage made from the loins of sheep. Quantities of lean and fat mutton are cut into strips and then seasoned with salt and pepper. These strips are then rolled up as tight as possible and a strong string is then wound around the roll. After leaving them in brine for a week or so, these rolls are stored away and used during the winter. After having been handled in this man- ner and thoroughly cooked they are very agreeable to the taste. Like some other food articles mentioned, this one is not used daily, caused perhaps partly by the fact that sheep raising has declined in late years.3
Pancakes are widely used and very well made. Some still make the bannocks, a kind of flat bread made from graham flour, but generally they are forgotten.
A peculiar kind of brown cheese is made from whey. The whey is boiled for eight or ten hours, when the cheese is left in the bottom of the vessel in liquid form. As it cools it solidifies. This
1The custom is almost universal among Icelanders to send out lunch to the working- men at 10 o'clock in the forenoon and 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It consists of some substantial food articles and coffee. See Appendix B.
2This month begins January 23, and ends February 22, or thereabout. The term "Thorri" has survived in Icelandic chronology doubtless since pagan days. At the beginning of this month sacrifices were made to the gods, Thor and others. Icelanders in some parts of Pembina county, as well as in Winnipeg, have in late years begun to observe some day in this month by feasting on food as nearly as possible like that of the old country. At these banquets music and speech making occupy a prominent part on the program. Food articles have sometimes been imported from Iceland by Icelanders in Winnipeg for this occasion.
3Sheep raising has declined, partly because of the difficulty of securing suitable summer pasture for the herds. Formerly large flocks — several thousands — were herded upon the Pembina mountains on unclaimed lands. But these lands have gradually been taken and pasturing thereby stopped. Moreover, farmers find it difficult to protect the sheep from the coyotes so numerous in this part of Pembina county.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 115
cheese is then used as a substitute for butter and is thought agreeable to the taste.
With respect to social intercourse and association, few dis- tinctly Icelandic customs prevail. Programs at public entertain- ments are of much the same nature as one would expect to find at similar gatherings of people of purely American lineage. Music, speech making and the like represent the ordinary pro- gram. The main difference is that speeches are sometimes given in the Icelandic language. In the pioneer days, the old settlers said, little time was taken for amusement. Two or three neigh- bors might meet at the card table or spend the evening in con- versation.1 But with the expansion of the settlement and increased prosperity, entertainments, consisting largely of play- acting, dancing and music, became more frequent. The first two have declined in popularity to a considerable extent, it seems, while the last named has gained and has been supplemented by addresses as referred to above.2
After this reference to a few minor usages that survive wholly or in part, a mention should be made of that one upon the loss or preservation of which largely depends the fate of *all the others, the language. A reading and speaking knowledge of Icelandic is still retained by Icelanders in Pembina county, young as well as old. But to be able to write the language with grammatical and idiomatic precision is justly considered an accomplishment in a young man or woman grown up in this country and educated in its public schools. There are several forces that tend to keep alive a reading and speaking knowledge of the language. The older men, who still retain a vivid recollection of the affairs and take an active interest in the welfare of the old country, sub- scribe for newspapers and magazines published in Iceland. More- over, they keep up an active correspondence with friends and relatives in the old country and are thus in possession of up-to- date information concerning the economic conditions on the island. When any great question is before the Althing it is also discussed by individuals on this side of the Atlantic, not to mention the Icelandic papers which regularly publish news from Iceland.
Closely connected with the influence of papers published in Iceland is that of Icelandic periodicals printed on this side of the Atlantic. No Icelandic paper is published in Pembina county, there being but one issued in the United States, the monthly "Vinland," Minneota, Minnesota. There are about
Doubtless the first public gathering of Icelanders in Pembina county took place on the 4th of July, 1880, in celebration of the great national holiday. The only speaker was Rev. Pall Thorlaksson. From this time on great enthusiasm has been shown in the observance of this day. In 1883 Rev. H. B. Thorgrimsen, who had then Just completed his theological course, delivered an address on the 4th of July entitled "Leifur Eiriksson." He spoke in English.
2Dancing is regarded as an objectionable form of amusement by the Icelandic Lutheran ministers in Pembina county. Probably their hostile attitude has had some- thing to do with the decline of its popularity.
116 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
seven Icelandic papers published in Canada, five of these being in Winnipeg.1 These circulate among the Icelandic settlers to a considerable extent. To four Icelandic papers published, one in the United States and three in Canada, there are 725 sub- scribers in Pembina county. As there are not over 2,500 Ice- landers in Pembina county it is evident that these papers are well patronized.2 But they are read even more liberally than these figures show. Many men buy but one or two papers and then exchange with their neighbors for reading.' Doubtless there is not a single Icelandic home in Pembina county that does not have one or more of these Icelandic papers mentioned, and some read them all.
That this newspaper reading tends to keep alive a reading knowledge of Icelandic is certain, though the ability to write it correctly may be wanting. Speaking knowledge thereof is also encouraged by daily conversation for, though the young people frequently converse in English, yet there are so many whose education was obtained in Iceland that generally discourse is carried on in Icelandic.
Another force tending to the perpetuation of the Icelandic language is public libraries of Icelandic books. In all the Ice- landic communities reading societies (lestrar fjelog) are main- tained, books being added from year to year. In some cases only Icelandic books are purchased; in others, books and maga- zines in English are also added to the collection.
In some of the communities at any rate these libraries are very much used. The most popular books no doubt are the Sagas, poetry and biography. A practice still prevalent is for the family to sit around the fireplace during the long winter nights, the mother perhaps knitting or doing some other work, while the father or some member reads aloud a Saga or a selection from some modern Icelandic poet: Formerly ballads were very popu lar, but now they seem almost forgotten. These ballads (Rimur) usually recited the adventures of some hero the Sagas had im- mortalized. , In Iceland itinerant chanters passed from family to family sometimes reciting even the longest ballads from mem- ory. This custom of chanting ballads survived in this country for some time, but it gradually fell into desuetude. The chanting of the ballads gave great pleasure to the hearers. The rime was exceedingly varied and well adapted to the subject matter, while witticisms on the part of the poet or ballad maker flavored the
'The five Icelandic papers published in Winnipeg are: "Heimir," "Freyja," "Same- iningin" (the organ of the Lutheran church; editor, the Rev. Jon Bjarnason), "Logberg" and "Heimskringla." The last three named have the widest circulation in Pembina county.
2It is impossible to give the exact Icelandic population of Pembina county* Accord- ing to the Blue Book for 1905 the population gf the three Icelandic townships is as follows: Akra, 479; Gardar, 622; Thingwalla, 729; total, 1,830. In Cavalier and Beau- lieu townships there are about 400 Icelanders; in Park, Advance and LaMoure town- ships there are over 100 Icelanders, and in other parts of the county there are about 150, bringing the total up to about 2,500. This, however, is probably a liberal estimate.
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narrative. These ballads are remarkable from the standpoint of poetry. There is not only end rime but also internal rime and alliteration. This is sustained stanza after stanza and canto (Rima) after canto. The immense number of periphrases or poetic locutions (Kjenningar) enabled the poet, who was familiar with the mythology and traditions of the north, from which all these terms are derived, to keep up perfect rime page after page without the repetition of identical words. He might speak of the same individual and yet not repeat words.1 Ice- landers in Pembina county speak of these ballads as an extremely interesting species of literature, but they are now seldom read.
A force more powerful with respect to the preservation of the language than any of these is the church. The church is Lutheran and all its rites are punctually observed. Every child is bap- tized shortly after birth. Again at the age of 14 or 15 they are confirmed. During the six months immediately preceding con- firmation the children periodically rehearse with the minister, who questions and instructs them on points of religion as expressed in a catechism of about 12,000 words, which they must commit to memory. Supplementary to this, psalms are learned and Bible stories (Biblu Sogur) are read! Of course all this is in the Icelandic language. Hence a prerequisite to confirmation is ability to read and speak the Icelandic language. In view of this every child is taught to read the language by the parents. In fact, this is a custom carried directly from Iceland. As no common schools existed on the island until after 1870, all children were taught to read and write at home, or they were sent to some one who had a reputation for tact and learning. The result of this was that not an illiterate person could be found on the island. In any fair account of Iceland this statement Will be found.2 The adherents of the church could not avoid instructing their children in the language if they desired them to grow up as Lutherans; others recognized the importance of this rudi- mentary accomplishment because they valued the boundless wealth of Icelandic literature. For these same reasons the Ice- landers in Pembina county teach their children to read Icelandic. They will no doubt continue to do so until the time comes when all church services are conducted in the English language. When that time comes, if come it must, the fate of the language as well as that of all Icelandic customs will be sealed.
But powerful forces are at work tending to a complete anni- hilation of Icelandic identity. The fact that the settlement lies
'As a single illustration it might be mentioned that there are above a score of different terms and expressions for Thor alone. Similaily there are found in these bal- lads an unlimited number of terms (Kjennigar) for "man," "woman" and all the differ- ent weapons of war.
2"Icelanders have long been famous for their education and learning and it is no exaggeration to say that in no other country is such an amount of information found among classes which occupy a similar position. A child of 10 unable to read is not to be found from one end of the island to another." Encyclopaedia Britannica, Ninth Edition, Vol. xii, page 654.
118 REPOR'T OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
within eight contiguous townships seems favorable to a preserva- tion of a unified system of old country customs. However, in spite of this fact and other supplementary conditions, it appears that at a time more or less remote the majority of strictly Ice- landic characteristics is doomed to disappear. In the past old country customs have been re-enforced and refreshed by the annual influx of immigrants form Iceland, who brought with them the usages of the mother country in all their vigor. But Icelandic immigration into Pembina county has ceased, inasmuch as land can no longer be had without purchase, which the immi- grants cannot afford.
No doubt the agency most destructive of Icelandic customs is the educational system. The common school is the great unifier of the people of this state. Forty different nationalities are represented in North Dakota, yet the heterogeneity one would expect is scarcely more than nominal, for, with the second gen- eration, the English language has become the common property of all. So it is with the Icelanders in Pembina county. The children acquire English in the schools. They get into the habit of using it among themselves until their speaking knowledge thereof becomes as good and better than that of their mother tongue. Moreover, in their correspondence they use English in preference to Icelandic. It is doubtless rare to find young people, grown up and educated in the schools of this country, who attempt to use Icelandic in their correspondence unless the per- sons they correspond with are unable to read any other language. Most young people have a fair conversational command of Ice- landic, yet they are unable to write it idiomatically and without misspelled words. Similarly if the younger people are called upon to make public addresses they prefer to use English, since it is the language of their text books and in which they have been trained. If young Icelanders write articles in the Icelandic papers the style rarely fails to give unmistakable evidence of their American training.1
Similarly the tendency of the higher education is to push Icelandic into the shade. Young men of Icelandic extraction are entering the learned professions. There are now two Ice- landic ministers of the gospel, three doctors and twelve lawyers in North Dakota. The number of Icelandic lawyers is fast increasing. These professional men, with the exception of the ministers, must practice their profession for the most part even now, and more so in the future, in localities that are non-Ice- landic. The result is that their children, growing up in an
*It is doubtless true of the majority of Icelanders who have had their education in the schools of this country that when they compose any extended compositions in their mother tongue they think in English and then translate their thoughts into Ice- landic by the aid of the English-Icelandic dictionary. The dictionary has to be con- sulted on the spelling of Icelandic words. For this reason these compositions often have the flavor of translations.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 119
environment where the influence of Icelandic customs is weak or imperceptible, will lose their identity, and generation after generation will drift farther and farther away from the habits of their Icelandic ancestors. Even now, in towns and cities where the Icelandic element is in a decided minority, children of Icelandic parents naturally speak English in . preference to their mother tongue. The parents may use Icelandic in the home, but the children speak the language of the common school. Hence it seems that those who live in towns and cities will steadily lose their hold on every Icelandic custom, including that of speaking the language. Even in those four contiguous com- munities mentioned above, where conditions are most favorable to the preservation of the language, it seems no more than a question of time when Icelandic will be a dead tongue. Custom after custom disappears or becomes so disguised as no longer to be recognizable as of foreign origin. Icelanders are too few to be able to establish a sectarian school in the state. But sectarian schools established by Scandinavians in the United States necessarily do much to prolong the survival of their nationality. In these schools the mother language is studied and its literature read. Young men are prepared for the min- istry. They are trained in the language they must use in the pulpit.1 They assume their charge with a consciousness of ade- quate preparation.
Should Icelandic be forgotten it will be a great loss to the people. Alike in the vigor and purity of its form, and the wealth and beauty of its literature, it ranks with the greatest languages of classical and modern times. But howsoever the fact may be regretted, yet should the few Icelanders in Pembina county for- ever preserve the language, it would controvert the verdict of history and experience. Assimilation, it seems, must be their fate, or the law of evolution is not inexorable.
No elaborate account of elementary and higher education can be given in this sketch. Statistics seem to show that Icelanders in Pembina county avail themselves of the opportunities for education offered by the state. There is no lukewarm, forced appreciation of the public schools.1 With respect to the higher education the same is true. According to the University Bul- letin,2 733 students have enrolled in the university during the present year. Of these ninety-four or 12 per cent are from
'The scarcity of young men who are willing to enter the ministry has been a source of uneasiness to men prominent in the affairs of the Icelandic church. The majority of young men study law no doubt partly because a legal education can be so conveniently had in North Dakota, in the state university. But with respect to the theological course the case is different. Moreover, students educated in the American schools have, in many cases, so far lost their command of the Icelandic language as to distrust their ability to do justice to a charge where they must always use it. These students can go to no sectarian schools where they are trained in the language they must employ in the practice of their profession.
2Vol. iii, No. 2, 1906.
120 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Pembina county. But of the ninety-four from Pembina county twenty-seven or 28.7 per cent are Icelanders. Inasmuch as only about 13 per cent of the population in this county is Icelandic, no comment on these figures is needed. They have brought with them that love of learning which has been the characteristic of Icelanders for centuries past. Men who came to Pembina county already past middle life have acquired, not only a reading and a speaking knowledge of English, but they also write it with remarkable correctness. This knowledge has been gained by a systematic reading of the English papers, and some have even pursued a course of study at spare moments in their homes.1 Ambition, combined with a natural aptitude for learning, has supplied that which favorable circumstances failed to furnish.
No spirit of clannishness and isolation characterizes the atti- tude of Icelanders in Pembina county. Public men and public problems receive due attention. Besides state and national dailies, there are 200 subscribers to three of the leading county papers.2 Icelanders have held county, state and legislative offices. In 1885, E. H. Bergman, now of Gardar, Pembina county, N. D., was elected county commissioner. He was also a member of the last territorial legislative assembly. Mr. D. J. Laxdal of Cavalier was state land commissioner for several years. Seven different Icelanders have sat in either branch of the state legis- lature. The auditor, Swain Thorwaldsson, and the state's attor- ney, Magnus Brynjolfsson of Pembina county, for the last four years are Icelanders. On the whole, they seem to take an active interest in all county and state affairs, and at the time of the national elections their enthusiasm is as great and their par- tisanship as uncompromising as that of any other class of the population.* Irrespective of nationality they vote for the candi- dates of the party with which they affiliate, or, if there is a great and manifest difference in the qualifications, for what they con- sider the most efficient candidate. Several times have they refused support to candidates of their own nationality, as the poll books show. In the presence of public issues they forget that they are Icelanders, but remember only that they are Ameri- can citizens.
The prevalent idea seems to be that first and last they are Americans. They glory in their family tree, the roots of which lie deep in the soil of Iceland, but that is only equaled by the sacred pride they take in the privilege of calling themselves American citizens. They love to see the little island of the north
1One farmer, Ami Sigurdson, formerly of Ak'ra, but now of Morden, Manitoba, then over 50 years of age, spent his spare time in studying the readers used in the public school of his district' at that time. He read through the first four. By, a sys- tematic study of English in this manner he was soon able to read with appreciation any- thing in English literature.
2In one home visited ten different newspapers and magazines were subscribed for, the majority, of course, being English. To a Norwegian paper published in another state there are forty-one Icelandic subscribers in Pembina county.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 121
enjoy prosperity, but that does not bind them to their duty or diminish their patriotism. x They love the commonwealth of North Dakota because of her opportunities ; 2 they are loyal to the flag because it floats over a free country.
APPENDIX A.
"But more seriously did the discontent of the people operate in another direction. The idea has a number of times appeared in the papers that conditions here could no longer be tolerated by reason of the overbearing and unjust attitude of the Danes, and that the example of our ancestors who left the country be- cause of the oppression of Harold the Fair-Haired should now be followed. This idea has in many places gone out in action, especially in the north, where men have gone in large numbers to America. Many other reasons may operate to cause emigra- tion, but many have unequivocally stated that their reason was the bad government and the possible consequences thereof." Valdimar Briem: "Frjettir Fra Islandi," Reykjavik, 1873, page' 2.
It is possibly not known that the United States government ever did anything to encourage Icelandic immigration into its territory. At one time, however, it was thought likely that Alaska might become a location for an Icelandic colony. Apropos of this the following extract has been translated :
"Three Icelanders went farthest north, Jon Olafsson, Olafur Olafsson and Pall Magnusson. They got as far as Alaska with the idea of ascertaining if a convenient location for Icelanders
'On more than one occasion hayp Icelanders in Pembina county and throughout North America shown their interest in the welfare of their countrymen across the ocean. Annually large sums of money are sent to Iceland to pay the fares of people who desire to emigrate. In one year, not long ago, this sum reached a total of about $20,000. This was of course from Canada and the United States. In 1896, 'after the destructive earth- quakes that disturbed Iceland, large sums of money were sent to the sufferers from Icelanders in America. And now (June, 1906) subscriptions are being taken in Pem- bina county and in all the Icelandic settlements in America for the relief of persons in Iceland who lost relatives in the recent great disasters on the sea. The ocean has been to Iceland both a blessing and a curse. Scores of young and vigorous men an- nually perish because of badly equipped fishing vessels. This year these disasters are especially appalling, and Icelanders on this continent willingly extend a helping hand. See Appendix D.
Icelanders in Pembina county are unwilling it seems to send their children to educational institutions outside the state. Chairs in the Icelandic language and litera- ture have been established at Gustavus Adolphus college, St. Peter, Minnesota, and at Wesley college, Winnipeg, Manitoba, which fact is very much appreciated by the people. However, few from Pembina county go to these places. Icelandic has been taught only one year at St. Peter, but it has since 1901 been offered in- Wesley college, and no Ice- landic student from Pembina county has been a regular attendant during this time. Neither does it seem likely that students will go there in the future, though there are many young men and women who would gladly be more proficient in Icelandic than they are. The hope has been expressed by many that modern Icelandic would some day be recognized in the state university. With the library facilities furnished by the university, through the efforts of the Icelandic Association, it is, in that respect, better equipped for this purpose than any other institution in the country.
122 REPORT* OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
could be found there. The United States government paid their traveling expenses." Briem : "Frjettir Fra Islandi," 1874, page 45.
One or two of these three men did not think that Alaska was an ideal place for a colony, but Jon Olafsson wrote a pamphlet describing the country he had examined, in which he expressed the opinion that Icelanders should settle there.
The Canadian government had a pamphlet describing New Iceland printed in Icelandic and distributed free among the people. "As was to be expected the land was described in glow- ing terms. However, few have gone this year though some preparations are being made. The agitation seems most fruitful of results in the northern counties, though in general agents do not meet with much success." Briem, Frjettir Fra Island, 1875, page 49.
"Emigration this year was greater than ever before. It may be recorded as the chief event of the year. About 1,400 people left, mostly from the northern and eastern counties. The fare to Quebec was 120 crowns for an adult person. The Allan Line Steamship company carried the passengers and accommodations were unusually good. The people intended to go to New Iceland. After stopping some time in Glasgow, the ship left July 20 and
reached Quebec the 31st The government lent money to
those who imperatively needed it. It was to be paid in ten years,
no interest accruing the first four This colony lies only
six miles from the place where a transcontinental railroad is to be construced." Briem, Frjettir Fra Islandi, 1876, pages 39-40.
Very few people emigrated this year. "This fall a paper was established (by Icelanders in New Iceland) to promote the pro- gress of the community and to preserve the nationality of the people. Its name is 'Framfari' (Progress). The printing press was bought in the United States." Briem, Frjettir Fra Islandi, 1877, pages 41, 42.
In 1881 there were in Canada 1,009 Icelanders, mostly in Win- nipeg. Jonas Jonasson, Frjettir Fra Islandi, 1882, page 56.
This year about 500 went to America and more would have gone had the year been better. Jon Steingrimsson, Frjetttir Fra Islandi, 1886, page 56.
The total number of Icelanders gone is now 2,713. Of these 811 were under 10 years, 601 between 20 and 30 years old and 165 over 50 years of age. Jon Steingrimsson, Frjettir Fra Islandi, 1885, page 56.
"This year there has been more emigration than ever before. More than 2,000 have left, especially from the northern counties,
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 123
owing to hard times." Jon Steingrimsson : "Frjettir Fra Islandi," 1887, page 58.
This year 1,160 left Iceland, mostly from the northern and eastern counties. Icelanders (in America) are fast losing their language and their nationality. Jon Steingrimsson : "Frjettir Fra Islandi," 1888, page 46-7.
In 1888 opposition to emigration was very determined. Ben. Grondal wrote a pamphlet about emigration to America, in which he attacked the idea of leaving the country per se, but declared that inasmuch as those who had already gone were mostly law- less and irresponsible men the island was to be congratulated on being rid of them. Jon Olafsson defended the Icelanders in America and at the same time took occasion to make some very pointed remarks with respect to GrondaPs character. Grondal prosecuted Olafsson and secured a verdict of 400 crowns against him. But when Icelanders in America heard of this they started a subscription with the result that 1,100 crowns was sent to Olafsson, which left him a handsome surplus after paying his fine. For this defense, Icelanders here will long remember him. He is one of the ablest newspaper men on the island and few care to become the objects of his sarcastic wit.
APPENDIX B.
Practically all the live stock now found in Iceland is descended from that which the first colonists brought from Norway. The sheep are noted for their long, soft wool.1 A similar type is found in the regions of the Himalayas and in Central Asia.
The small, thick-set ponies of Iceland are also from Norway. These ponies are sold to England and Scotland, where they are used in the mines as well as for driving purposes. Good drivers or riding horses in Iceland sell for from 200 to 300 crowns each. In the olden days they were used in connection with the tourna- ments, the last of which was held in 1623. Their endurance is remarkable.
In 1721 reindeer were brought from Norway. They still live wild in the mountains, occasionally being shot for food.
Potatoes and turnips are the main forms of cultivated vegeta- tion. Potatoes were first planted in 1759 and have since been
1A few years ago, on the initiative of some Icelanders in Canada, a few sheep were imported from Iceland. However, the writer knows of but one Icelander in North Dakota who owns sheep of this variety — Mr. Hannesson, Pembina, Pembina county.
124 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
raised there with more or less success. There is very little forest growth on the island. Rowan trees grow to considerable height. Birch growths are found in a few places, but the trees are stunted. Lately increased attention has been given to tree planting.
Coffee was first imported in 1722. One hundred and ten pounds were sent on trial. Tea had been used before by the gentry, or higher classes, but it never became popular. Tobacco was intro- ducd in the latter part of the seventeenth century. No liquor is manufactured on the island.
APPENDIX C.
To make any comparison between the income and expenditure of common labor in Iceland and this country about 1870 is ex- tremely difficult, the economic life in the one differed so com- pletely from that in the other. In the following table the details of expenditure are omitted as being for this purpose immaterial. Only the net income for the year is given. The figures were ob- tained from men who were common laborers in both countries and then an average was taken.
In America, about 1870, unskilled laborer, f 100 per year ; farm free. In Iceland, about 1870, common laborer, 25 crowns (|6.65) ; farm, 1,000 crowns (265).
From these figures it appears that a laborer in Iceland could not hope to have a farm of his own. On the other hand the same man in America could get his farm free, buy a plow and make a cash payment of from one-third to one-half on a yoke of oxen, after working one year in this country. He could begin farming with fair prospects of independence. The solution of the problem of supplying land to an ever increasing population, which is now facing some of the older European countries, was in Iceland found in emigration.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
125
APPENDIX D.
Vote for governor in the Icelandic townships from 1892 to 1904.
|
TOWNSHIPS |
|||||||||
|
Akra |
Thingwalla |
Gardar |
|||||||
|
Dem. |
Ind. |
Rep. |
Dem. |
Ind. |
Rep. |
Dem. |
Ind. |
Rep. |
|
|
1892 |
71 36 60 39 43 36 27 |
45" |
4 18 58 60 69 60 68 |
84 54 46 27 60 46 42 |
'46' |
18 43 77 93 78 92 85 |
46 23 44 66 56 37 22 |
40 |
50 56 105 72 78 75 86 |
|
1894 |
|||||||||
|
1896 |
|||||||||
|
1898 |
|||||||||
|
1900 |
|||||||||
|
1902 ..'... |
|||||||||
|
1904 |
|||||||||
Vote for president in the Icelandic townships from 1892 to 1904.1
TOWNSHIPS
|
Akra |
Thingwalla |
Gardar |
||||
|
Dem. |
Rep. |
Dem. |
| Rep. |
Dem. |
Rep. |
|
|
1892 |
71 58 43 20 |
1 57 69 75 |
86 47 60 37 |
13 ' 79 83 92 |
57 40 56 20 |
83 111 77 89 |
|
1896 |
||||||
|
1900 . |
||||||
|
1904 . .• .......... |
||||||
Vote on prohibition and the adoption of the constitution, Octo- ber 1, 1889.
TOWNSHIPS
|
Prohibition |
Constitution |
|||
|
Akra2 |
||||
|
Thingwalla |
90 121 1,483 18,552 |
59 13 1,137 17,393 |
57 99 1,762 27,441 |
99 33 830 8,107 |
|
Gardar |
||||
|
Pembina county . . State |
||||
'The figures on this page were obtained from the poll books in the vaults ofi the county auditor at Pembina.
24kra at this time was a double township and hence its vote was not wholly Ice- landic. Subsequently Avon was organized from it.
126 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
APPENDIX E.
REV. PALL THORLAKSSON.
Pall Thorlaksson was born in 1849, in Iceland. His father is the venerable Thorlakur Jonsson. Early showing an eagerness and aptitude for learning, Pall was carefully prepared for the Latin college at Reykjavik, from which he graduated in 1871 after completing the classical course. In 1872 he went to Wisconsin. After studying for three years in the Concordia Theological sem- inary at St. Louis, Missouri, he was ordained. His first charge was in Green Valley, Wisconsin. Between 1875 and 1878 he did missionary work in New Iceland. In 1879 he went to Mountain, Pembina county, where he died April 2, 1882. He had for years been suffering from consumption, which at last brought him to his grave.
His connection with emigration from New Iceland has already been partly given in the sketch and not much can be added here.1 After the first group left in 1878 he did not hesitate to encourage the people to leave. His solicitude for the welfare of his country- men never waned. He saw that New Iceland did not offer such opportunities as other parts of America he had seen. He there- fore did not hesitate to encourage the people to emigrate. But if by doing what he saw to be his duty he won the lasting grati- tude of many, it likewise won him the enmity of a few. When in 1880 he came to Minnesota to secure supplies to relieve the settlers, he found that letters had been written to men in that part of the country calculated to inspire prejudice against him. The author or authors of these letters lived on the other side of the international boundary line. Men in Canada, whose ideas of patriotism overshadowed their spirit of magnanimity, maligned him for his self-sacrifice and devotion to duty. He was held responsible for the exodus from New Iceland, and he was willing to accept the responsibility because he firmly believed it was for the welfare of his people. Time has vindicated him and silenced his detractors.
After coming to Mountain in 1875, he directed all his energies to promote the welfare of the colony. He called meetings in the different settlements in 1880 and organized congregations. These he served until his death. He gave his own note for goods he got and then distributed among the needy settlers. During the winter of 1879-80, when the hardship was so great that many even expressed the wish that they could return to the miseries of
*An unsuccessful attempt was made to obtain data concerning the life of Pafl Thor- laksson from some of his nearest relatives. The few facts given were obtained through the kind efforts of the Rev. H. B. Thorgrimsen of Akra, Pembina county.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 127
New Iceland, it was he who went from house to house encourag- ing the people. In spite of his disease and inclemencies of the weather, he never relaxed his efforts to ameliorate their con- dition. He was personally known to every settler that came before 1882, yet not one of these but spoke of him with feelings of gratitude and affection. His strong convictions won him re- spect; his religious fervor was convincing. Though he had per- haps little patience with men whose ideas of religion differed from his own, yet his magnanimity more than compensated for any lack of toleration.
He lies buried in the cemetery at Mountain, Pembina county. A monument erected by his countrymen marks his grave, but more enduring than the marble column is the memory of his noble work. In the early days of hardship and toil, in the gloom of poverty and sorrow, this generous and unselfish man inspired hope and faith in all who came in contact with him. No eulogy that could be written here could do him justice. He died un- known to any save his countrymen. He worked neither for fame nor glory, but for his people and his God. The fruits of his labor have been reaped by those for whose welfare he was so anxious. Prosperity now prevails where, in his day, were misery and pov- erty. His memory is safely enshrined in the grateful and affec- tionate remembrance of those to whose comforts he ministered in the trials of early days.
STIGUR THORWALDSSON.
America has been called the land of opportunities, and surely she amply rewards industry and judgment. To this the subject of this sketch has been no exception. Born in Sudurmulasysla, Iceland, in 1853, Mr. Thorwaldsson came to this country in 1881. This same year he was married to Miss Thorunn Bjornsson. With a yoke of oxen and a wagon as capital, the young couple settled where Akra postoffice now is. Ten children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Thorwaldsson, eight of whom — four boys and four girls — are living.
Mr. Thorwaldsson, owing to the rapidity with which he gained command of the language and insight into public affairs, early began to participate in local matters. In 1882, when Akra town- ship was organized, he was elected treasurer thereof, which office he has held ever since. Similarly has he in some official capacity been connected with the management of the affairs of his school district (No. 31) since its organization in 1881, at present being its treasurer. He has almost always been a delegate to the repub- lican county convention and often, including this year, to the state convention. He has always been a staunch republican.
128 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
In church affairs he has been more or less active, having several times represented his congregation at the annual conference of the Icelandic Synod which meets during the last week in June.
Shortly after his coming to Akra township he began to deal in merchandise, of course on a very small scale. But the business he has managed since that time has steadily grown, until now his headquarters are among the largest in the Icelandic settlement, and compare favorably with any in the county similarly located.
JOHANNES JONASSON
Was born in Hunavatnssysla, Iceland, in 1851. Shortly after his birth his parents moved to Skagafjardarsysla, where he lived until he went to America at the age of 25. After the age of 11, he spent most of his life on the sea fishing, which fact no doubt did much to develop that hardy spirit which is one of his prom- inent characteristics. In 1876 he arrived in Winnipeg, and in 1880 settled in what became Thingwalla township, Pembina county, where he has lived since.
Mr. Jonasson has been married twice, first in 1880 to Miss S. P. Thorlaksson, who died three years afterwards. In 1886 he married his present wife. He has five children living.
In 1886, when Gardar township was organized, he was elected one of the supervisors, which office he held for six terms, when he refused re-election. He has been assessor of Thingwalla since 1894 and clerk of school district No. 69 since 1885. In politics Mr. Jonasson was a democrat until 1896, when the free silver plank of the party led him to join the republicans, with whom he has remained ever since. He has taken an active interest in all public affairs and takes great pains to keep abreast of the times.
He has always been a faithful worker within the church, having been one of the most active members in organizing a congregation in 1880. He has four times represented his congregation at the conference of the synod.
GUDMUNDUR EINARSSON
Was born in Nordurmulasysla, Iceland, in 1859. He came to Canada in 1878 and in 1882 settled with his father in Park town- ship, Pembina county. It appears that Mr. Einarsson and his father did more than any other two men in that community to perfect the organization of the church. Both worked zealously for the good cause. They will long be remembered as the pillars of the church in the days of her trials. Mr. Einarsson's fidelity has been recognized in that he has been sent to the conference of the synod once at least.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 129
He has always been closely in touch with township affairs ever since its organization, and is now one of the directors of the township. He has also for some time been a member of the school board of his district. He has always been a democrat and frequently has been a delegate to the county conventions.
Mr. Einarsson reads much and is thoroughly familiar with the masterpieces of Icelandic literature.
He was married in 1881 to Miss Malmfridur Jonsson. Three of their children are living. The family home is in the south- eastern corner of the Icelandic settlement around and south of Akra postoffice.
THOMAS HALLDORSSON.
Born in Dalasysla, Iceland, in 1863, Mr. Halldorsson emigrated to the United States in 1882, his parents having gone six years before him. He went to Thingwalla township, where his father then lived, his mother being dead.
In 1889 he married Mrs. Thorvor Eiriksson, widow, with whom he has had eight children, four daughters and four sons.
Mr. Halldorsson has been prominently connected with township and county affairs. He has been assessor, supervisor and is now chairman of the town board. In 1808 he was elected county commissioner and held that office until 1898. He has always been an active and conscientious worker within the church, having represented his congregation ten different times at the annual conference of the synod.
In politics Mr. Halldorsson has alwaj'S been a republican. He has been a delegate to nearly all the republican county conven- tions since 1887.
HON. E. H. BERGMAN.
Eirikur H. Bergman was born in Iceland in 1852, being the oldest of three children. He was 14 when his father died, after which time his mother kept the family together. In 1873 he went to Lyon county, Minnesota, where he remained four years. While there he helped to organize the township of Vesturheim (Western World) and was one of the first supervisors. In 1878 he went to see the country around Big Stone lake, in the present state of South Dakota, and in 1879 came to Pembina county. In 1880 he located in what later became Gardar township, where he has successfully farmed since.
In 1882 our subject began to conduct a retail store, and a little later entered the real estate business, at both of which he met \vith great success. His business honesty and executive ability won the confidence of patrons, and now he is one of the thriving
Hist.- 9
130 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
real estate men of the county. He also has a controlling interest in the business at Rugby conducted by his son.
Mr. Bergman has always been prominent in local affairs. He has been more or less connected with township government since the organization of Gardar from Thingwalla in 1886. It was largely through his efforts that Gardar postoffice was created, and he has been postmaster almost all the time.
Our subject was married in 1878 to Miss Ingibjorg Thorlacius. They have had three children, all of whom are living.
Mr. Bergman enjoys the distinction of being the first Icelander in North America elected to a representative legislative body, having been elected to the territorial assembly in 1888. Previous to this he had served on the board of county commissioners, to which office he was elected in 1885. He has always been a repub- lican, never failing to give hearty support to the platform of his party.
JOHANN P. HALLSSON.
J. P. Hallsson was born in 1823, in Skagafyrdi, Iceland. In 1845 he married and in 1876 settled in New Iceland. There he lived for one and one-half years, when he came to Dakota in 1878.
As previously referred to, our subject and M. Stefansson were really the first men in the Lake Winnipeg colony to take active steps towards emigration. Hallsson's short experience in New Iceland convinced him that the fruits of toil would be few and insignificant, since the people lacked the capital necessary in the preparation of the land before agriculture could become a suc- cessful and remunerative occupation.
The connection of our subject with the first Icelandic settle- ment in Pembina county has been partly given in another chap- ter. His cabin was the first built by Icelanders in the state. It furnished shelter to many settlers who came later. It was fre- quently a meeting place, and in it assembled the men who organ- ized the congregation near the Tongue river in 1881. The post- office created by the government in 1881 was first named Coulee, but two or three years later the name was changed to Hallson, when the office was moved to the home of our subject.1
Hallson's energy and foresight as a farmer were no greater than the avidity with which he supported all undertakings for the general good of his community. Aside from his activity in the organization of the church, his liberality did much to render the church building at Hallson the most handsome structure in the Icelandic settlement. He was respected by all who knew him for his sound sense and his kindness of spirit.
He died in 1899. In his last years his fondest hope had been to see a conference of the synod in his home town, and in 1899
1The few facts here given were obtained from the sketch of J. P. Hallsson by the Rev F J. Bergman that appeared in Thorgeirsson's Almanak, 1902, page S4. The photo- graph of J. P. Hallsson that appears here is also taken from this Almanak by the per- mission of Mr. Thorgeirsson.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 131
arrangements had been made for the conference to meet there and at the same time dedicate the church he had labored so much to have built and furnished. But he died just before the delegates had assembled, as a result of over-exertion in making the arrange- ments preparatory to their coming.
THE FIRST NORWEGIAN SETTLEMENT IN GRIGGS COUNTY, N. DAK.
BY OMON B. HERIGSTAD.
I. — CONDITIONS IN NORWAY CONTRIBUTING TO EMIGRATION TO
AMERICA.
In examining the statistics on immigration into America dur- ing the last fifty years, we discover that during the years 1869 to 1883 there was an exceptionally large number of emigrants coming from Norway. This is especially true of the years 1869 to 1872, and also the years 1880 to 1883.1 It was within these years 1871 and 1881 that, the little bands that made the first settlement in Griggs county migrated to America.
The causes of this extensive emigration from Norway are not to be found in any political or religious conditions then existing. True, there was some political disturbance; the controversies be- tween King Oscar II. and the democratic party concerning the interpretation of the constitution began about that time. But this conflict was not then of such a nature as to have any influ- ence on emigration. There was also an awakening among the people to more liberal religious views; but religious intolerance could hardly have been the cause of any emigration, for a law respecting dissenters, in 1845, gave to all Christian sects the right to establish communities and to practice their own religion. Jews were given the same privilege in 1851; while Universal religious liberty was granted in 1878 with the exception that Lutheranism remained compulsory for office holders.2
There were of course such general causes as the promising prospects in America, the over-population in the old country, the severe requirements for military services, the difficulty of making a living, the impossibility of the so-called poor ever acquiring real wealth or even of becoming well-to-do. Many adventurous and ambitious young men were undoubtedly lured over by the hopes of making a fortune in this country. It is also true that many who were able to make a fair living left their country knowing that their chances of ever becoming wholly independent were very small. And though the little farm would probably
1ln 1869 the emigrants from Norway numbered 16,068. During_ the following year up to 1878 there was a decrease; the year 1879 showed a marked increase. The year 1882 was the high water marke of emigration from Norway. During that year 29,101 Norwegians came to our country.
2Seignobos, Political History of Europe since 1814, N. Y., 1900, p. r>59.
132 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
furnish the old folks with a living, yet it was in many cases necessary for the children as soon as they were of the proper age to leave home and make their own way. Many of these, instead of hiring out for the small wages that were offered them there, bade goodbye to their native land and crossed the ocean to seek a more promising future in America.
But the above mentioned conditions have existed during all the past fifty or sixty years, and they do not explain the enor- mous increase during the years 1869 to 1873 and 1878 to 1883. The forces which brought about this increase are to be found in the financial and commercial situation of the country. A super- ficial survey of the conditions gives us the impression that Nor- way just prior to this time (1869-83) was very prosperous. Seignobos in His history points out that the debt, which had been very heavy in 1815, was paid off by 1850, and that by 1870 the customs duties had increased so much that they were sufficient to cover the general expenses of the state, and that one-fourth of the merchant marine of Europe was owned by this little nation. An.d then he goes on to show that farming was becoming of more importance, and that the number of landholders was increasing and the land was being divided up into small farms. The peasant or farming class increased from 45,000 to 510,500 during the years 1815 to 1835 and has been increasing much since.
Now, according to some of the leading writers in Norway at this time, the greater number of emigrants during the years 1869 to 1883 were from the peasant, land holding classes. A very large number of those who left for America had been com- pelled to leave their farms (gaards) being unable to pay the mortgages on them. A. O. Vinje, an able writer on this subject, makes the statement that in many places the farms were en- tirely deserted, having come into the hands of the bankers through foreclosure of mortgages: none being able or willing to redeem these securities or to rent the land.1 Thus we can see that this period of extensive emigration was at the same time a period of depression, which had been preceded by a period of seeming prosperity. This apparent wave of prosperity, which lasted till 1865 and in some places till 1868, and ended in the financial crisis which drove so many to emigrate, had its begin- ning, according to A. Garborg, in the increase in the value of lumber in foreign countries and in the building of railroads from the coast towns to the forest areas of Norway.2 Thus the forests became at once an important source of national wealth, and this gave to the people of the forest districts a feeling of prosperity which gradually spread and affected the whole country. The
JA. O. Vinjes Skrifter i Utval, Christiana, 1887, iv., 490.
2A large part of the Norwegian timber was shipped to Holland to be used for piles in the erection of dikes. During the years 1833 to 1877 there was great activity in dike building in Holland. During those years the area of Holland increased from 8768 square miles to 12,731 square miles, nearly four thousand square miles being reclaimed from the ocean by the erection of dikes.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 133
building of railroads over the country tended to produce tlie same effect. Many people had the impression that the railroads would make them all rich. Property of every kind was rated at twice its former value; many speculated wildly. Then seemed to come a new condition of affairs; the standard of living was raised considerably. The price of land rose and the farmers consequently considered themselves richer. They began to make extensive improvements; built better houses and barns, and bor- rowed money on their farms to meet these new expenses. With all this the standard of living rose considerably and there came a demand for foreign goods; the small manufacturers began to disappear and the country was supplied from foreign countries. This was responsible for the large customs duties mentioned above. The building of the railroads, which was done by the government, increased the burden of taxation. All this gave the general appearance of prosperity, and everything went well as long as there was lumber left in the forest regions and as long as the farmers could secure loans on their farms. But the coun- try was trying to keep pace with other countries with much greater natural resources than her own, and sooner or later the reaction had to come. In a short time the forests were exhausted, the taxes had grown heavier, expenses greater, while the capacity to pay was less. The average farmer had over-estimated his resources and soon found himself unable to pay the loans that were fast falling due. The mortgages were foreclosed and often left the man without money or home, and his only choice was the poor house or emigration. Hundreds and hundreds of fam- ilies were in this way forced to leave their native land and start anew in this land of promise. That these conditions really existed can be seen from the following letters received from farmers in different parts of the country. The letters were addressed to A. O. Vinje, one of the leading writers on emigra- tion.1 One man writes in 1870 : "You and the others that write about all this emigration to America seem to overlook the fact that it is the taxes and expenses that drive the largest part of the people to leave the country. They are already speaking about leaving farm and debt as soon as they can get the necessary money for the trip from their relatives in America. They them- selves have nothing with which to pay the expense of the trip, for the debt on the farms exceeds the real value of the land, and the taxes of all kinds are increasing from year to year. A farmer from another part of the country writes : "When I bought my farm nine years ago, the taxes and expenses on it amounted to $15, but this year they amounted to $41." A man from a fruit growing district writes: "My father paid all the expenses with the profits of one apple tree, but I have to pay $35 besides."
XA. O. Vinjes Skrifter i Utval, iv., 556.
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Not only the farmers, but the merchants and business men in general who- depended on the prosperity of the farmers, failed in this period of depression. Many a business firm went bank- rupt and dragged down with them in the crash all their bonds- men.
Along about the year 1870 the herring left the western shores of Norway, and thus a very valuable fishery was destroyed. This undoubtedly affected, to a great extent, the financial condition of the country and was one of the factors in producing the depress- ing times mentioned above. Many a small farmer living within reach of the sea, whose earnings on the land were insufficient to keep him and his family, •would spend his winters on the sea fish- ing and thereby earn enough to keep the farm going. When the fisheries died out many such men were forced to emigrate.
Thus far we have examined the general conditions of the whole country. It will probably be well also to examine briefly the conditions of those particular districts which furnished the emi- grants that made this first settlement in Griggs county, or, more accurately, the settlement in Sverdrup and Bald Hill townships in Griggs county. There were two districts that furnished these emigrants; the one was the county1 (amt) in which Stavanger is located, the other was Ringsaker near Christiania. Both were farming districts which depended almost entirely upon the re- turns of the soil . and the small profits derived from the cattle and sheep; so they were affected by the financial crisis that was affecting the whole country. Although some of the emigrants from these counties (amts) were well-to-do in the old country, yet the depressing influence of the increasing taxes and expenses and the general financial depression in the country was, accord- ing to the testimony of the pioneers themselves, the main cause of their departure from the country.
Some of the pioneers of this settlement had been reduced to poverty in Norway by being the bondsmen of some bankrupt merchant or business man. There was a law in the country re- quiring every man starting up in business to procure bondsmen, who, in case he failed, should meet the demands of his creditors. It had come to be considered very unkind for any man to refuse to be the bondsman of his friend, and so the many business men who failed during these depressing years lost not only their own property but pulled down into poverty with them a host of friends who were probably not much affected directly by the crisis. Such was the case to an astonishing extent in these par- ticular districts.
Coming now to the more immediate forces which started these movements, we find that they were not all of the same 'kind.
1The Norwegian "Amt" does not correspond exactly to the county here, but it resembles a county more than any other political division in this country. Norway is divided into twenty amts, and the amt is the largest purely political division of the nation.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 135
The people in general had a fair knowledge of conditions in America. Some of their more adventurous young men had crossed the Atlantic some years earlier, and from them those at home were receiving a good deal of information on the matter. Some of these men, after remaining in America a few years, and learning a little of the English language, went back to the old country, became the agents for some transportation company and induced large groups of people to come over to this country.1 The people also gained much knowledge of America through the pamphlets dis- tributed by the transportation companies. These pamphlets de- scribed in glowing colors America and the wonderful opportuni- ties of this country.
II. — THE COMING OF THE FIRST SETTLERS.
Actuated by the conditions mentioned in a 'previous chapter, a group of emigrants, one of those who made the first settlement in Griggs county, set out from Stavanger April 10, 1881. They had some knowledge of the country; through their agent, who had worked in Chicago and in different parts of Illinois for three years, and through letters from some of their friends who had some years earlier settled in Minnesota. They had also read the pamphlets distributed by the transporting companies. When they started out they had no definite idea as to where they would settle. They bought tickets from the steamship company at Stav- anger to St. Paul. They knew of Dakota with its free and un- occupied land, and their intentions were to push on to the fron- tier and take land. .They were all neighbors, friends and rela- tives and numbered about thirty-five.2 There were six families, some of which numbered as high as seven to ten members. There were also a number of young men. They sailed on the "King Sverre," an English ship of the Wilson company, to Hull. At Hull their baggage was examined for smuggled goods.3 From Hull they took the train to Liverpool, where they remained a few days in an emigrant hotel waiting the arrival of ships from other parts of Europe, whose passengers were to cross the ocean in the same steamer with them. On April 18 they commenced the jour- ney across the ocean on the "Palmyra," a ship of the Cunard line. It had originally been a cattle ship, but had been turned into a passenger boat because of the great demand for transporting ships. The large ship was loaded to its full capacity with emi-
1The large group of emigrants that left Stavanger in the spring of 1881 was led by such an agent, Betuel Hengstad. He came to America in 1872 and after remaining here three years returned to Norway. He became an agent for the Cunard line and received 5 per cent commission on all tickets sold to emigrants under his supervision. On the ship in which this group came across were other groups of emigrants in charge of similar agents.
2For names see Appendix.
3One of the emigrants had a large supply of tobarro (about four pounds) which he had taken with him for his own use. It was taken from him by one of the officers who made the search, on the claim that it was smuggled goods.
-136 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
grants of many nationalities, a large per cent of whom were Norwegians from all parts of the country.
Five days out of harbor the propeller shaft broke, and had it not been for the cool, calm action of the officers a panic would have broken out on the deck. After two hours of signaling the attention of a small cattle steamer was attracted to the distressed ship. For five days the little craft tugged and pulled and finally succeeded in dragging the helpless ship into the harbor of St. Johns, Newfoundland.
For about nine long, dreary days the hundreds of emigrants lived on the ship while it underwent repair. After again setting sail, they finally reached New York May 20th, having spent over a month in crossing the ocean.1 Before leaving the ship they were examined by the inspectors. The examination, according to the testimony of the immigrants, was very brief and seemed of little importance. In New York they exchanged their original tickets for regular train tickets. From New York they took the train to Chicago, where they remained three days. They arrived in St. Paul, the city to which they had bought tickets in the old country, May 18th. The cost of the trip up to this point was about $50 per individual. They had taken advantage of reduced rates caused by a rate war between different railroad companies. The transporting company furnished them with board and lodg- ing during the journey and during their stay in the different cities before they reached New York.
From St. Paul they took the train to Granite Falls, where some of their old acquaintances lived. Here they took out their first papers. At this place they also bought wagons and oxen. For the oxen they paid about $160 a team. With one < I the Minne- sota settlers2 as leader they traveled in covered wagons to Ben- son, Minnesota. The women and children remained in Granite Falls. From Benson they took the train to FaT .,'0, where they again resumed their journey in wagons. They traveled along the Northern Pacific railroad to Valley City ; then turning due north they were guided somewhat by the Sheyenne river, though they did not follow its winding course. During the first part of the travel north they stayed with a stray farmer here and there, but as they advanced they entered a region of utter wilderness, where they traveled for miles and miles without seeing a single human habitation and were therefore compelled to sleep in the wagons. While they were searching for a good place on which to make a settlement the United States surveyors were making the survey of the country and dividing it into sections and quarter sections.
'For some reason or other no report of the ship's arrival at St. Johns had been received in England or Norway, so it had almost been given up for lost. The people in Norway had mourned over their friends on the ship as dead, and were filled with surprise and joy when they received letters from the emigrants, postmarked New York.
2Christ:an Arrstad.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 137
The old Minnesota settler, who led the movement into Dakota, had corresponded with two Scotchmen, a Mr. Fich and a Mr. J. Pitch, who had moved into Griggs county from Minnesota the previous year. These men had recommended the land in Griggs county as being of a very good quality. With the intention of taking land where these two men lived, the pioneers pushed north- ward until they reached section 22, range 58, town 115, in what is now Sverdrup township. Here they pitched camp June 12th,
1881. They lived in their wagons until they had erected huts on the lands they picked out as their homesteads or tree claims. The only signs of human habitation in the township then were the huts of four Scotchmen and a few covered wagons of immi- grants, who had arrived from Minnesota a few weeks earlier.
These settlers from Minnesota form a distinct movement into the county that first year. They came from Fillmore county, Minnesota, and were nearly all of them neighbors and friends in that county. They had come from Norway along in 1870 to 73 and most of them from the same district in Norway, namely, Ringsaker, near Christiania.1 During the first part of their stay in Minnesota they had been fairly prosperous as farmers, but the chinch bug had during the latter years of their stay done great damage to their crops, so many of them left their farms with judgments against their land.
These two distinct movements, the one direct from Norway and the other from Minnesota, made the first real settlement in Griggs county in Sverdrup and Bald Hill townships of that county. This has formed a distinct Norwegian community ever since.
The land in the county did not get into market before in April,
1882, and could of course not be filed on till then, so the settlers kept their lands by "squatting" on them. If two settlers selected the same piece of land for homestead the one who first moved on to it to live got the land. Those who took land along the river built log cabins, while those farther out on the prairies generally erected sod huts or dug-out cellar houses.
They had brought with them a few breaking plows from Minne- sota. There were about one team of oxen and a plow for every two farmers. Each man broke about seven acres that first sum- mer. During the remainder of the summer they gathered hay and built dwellings and stables. In the fall many of the settlers went out working in the harvest fields and with the threshing machines in the country around Valley City.
The women and children, who had been left in Minnesota when the pioneers pushed into the frontier, arrived in the settlement along in July and in October.
The impressions of the first few months of pioneer life in the settlement upon one of the men in the colony are set forth in
names see Appendix.
138 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
some of his letters written to a friend in Norway. The letters were published in a Norwegian paper (Bibel-Budet) in December, 1881. They were published under the title "From a Pioneer in Dakota" (Fra en Nybygger i Dakota). The first one is dated October 8, 1881.
"Dear Brother E. :
"The time has come when I can no longer refrain from greet- ing you with a few words. Although the hundreds and thousands of miles between us make it impossible for us to meet and talk to each other as in days gone by, yet it is well that by letters we may learn of each other's doings. It appears strange when I take my pen and sit down to greet my friends and brothers in the Fatherland in this way; strange sensations surge through my mind and my thoughts wander back among you all; it is as if I were sitting among you in your own homes surrounded by your families. Not only Avhen I am writing do these thoughts and feelings occupy my mind, but often while performing my daily tasks, while alone in the woods, while driving my team of oxen, while working in niy cellar-house or while wandering over the wide prairies, etc., do my thoughts wander back to you and I often feel as though it is only a bad dream that we are so far apart.
"On the whole, however, I can say that I am getting along fairly well. I hope that through other of my letters you have heard of my work here in building my cellar house, of the oxen, and the location of the settlement. And lastly let me say, God be praised, I have been feeling well up to the present. In eight days I expect my family to arrive; I have had to be without their company the whole summer and it has been lonely at times.
"I am not certain whether you are one of those who asked for advice concerning America. On the whole it seems to be a good deal easier to make a living; but there are many hardships con- nected with the life of a pioneer, especially at first. I should like to see you and others come over, ye.t consider the matter twice before you leave the Fatherland and the place where your cradle stood. It is not a small matter."1
The second letter was dated October 16, 1881. "Dear Brother E.:
"I have just received your letter, thanks. Nothing gives me greater joy than to receive letters from friends and brothers in the dear Fatherland. It warms the heart to realize that we are remembered by you. God bless you all. We are still getting
*Many of the pioneers were opposed to giving such advice to friends in the old coun- try. They claimed that for those who were laboring under pecuniary difficulties in the old country, America was the only place; and that such persons should not "consider the matter twice" before coming.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 139
along well ; we do however wish that the winter was past, we are a little fearful of the cold, and there is but little money among us with which to purchase the needed provisions for the winter, as during the winter months it will be rather risky to undertake with oxen the long journey over the prairies of thirty miles to the nearest market. We are praying for a mild winter in our log and sod cabins, where some of us will have to put up with the bare earth as walls and floor. A pioneer life has many trials and difficulties which are not so easily overcome; if these were better known in dear old Norway it would probably act as a damper on the craze for America. We have no crop this fall, as we came here so late this spring, but must buy all our provisions until next fall, so it will be rather difficult to get through this first year."
Their first winter in Dakota was a period of hardship and sufferings. In the first place, as was mentioned in the above letters, their dwellings were very cold. Many of the huts were without wooden floors and in some cases even the walls were bare earth. Having raised no crop that fall they had not much with which to buy provisions for the winter. Then again they were compelled to store up all their supplies for the winter dur- ing the last part of the fall, for the nearest market was Valley City, thirty miles away. And to undertake a journey of thirty miles over a wild, trackless prairie with a team of oxen while the fierce winter of Dakota was raging over the plains would be almost utter madness. With a team of oxen twenty miles was considered a very good day's journey. Therefore in making a trip to market one had to spend two nights on the prairies. In going towards market there was the chance of striking some iso- lated dwelling before darkness fell; but as there was no fixed road, there was a great chance of having to spend a night in the wagon. On the journey back from market, one night's stay in the wagon was almost inevitable.
The main occupation of the settlers that first winter was the hauling home of timber from the woods along the Sheyenne river and chopping it up into fuel for the next summer. They also made some furniture for their huts. In many of the little homes they had only trunks for chairs during the first few months Some made their brooms from tall grass cut in sloughs, and stuffed the pillows with the down gotten from cattails, of which there was an abundance in those early times. Many of the settlers cleaned their seed wheat that winter by spreading it out over the table and picking the weed seeds out with their fingers.
They were sociable and spent much time visiting each other. They had their religious services in the humble little homes. In fact the first services in the settlement, conducted by a minister sent out by the Home Missionary society, was held in a little sod hut which shortlv afterwards was turned into a stable.
140 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Towards spring they began to run out of food supplies; the one whose supplies were first consumed borrowed from his neigh- bors, until in the early part of the spring all their provisions were exhausted and they were compelled to set out for market to pro- cure something to eat. Below is an account of this trip to market as told by one of the party : "In the spring of 1882, just as the ice was beginning to break up, we set out, five of us, for Valley City with a team of oxen. On the first day we reached Sibley Crossing, which is about fifteen miles south of the settlement. Here we stayed over night with a Norwegian by the name of Anderson. The Sheyenne river was so swollen that his house was standing in water and the first floor was flooded. But we were comfortable up-stairs. The next day we left the oxen and were taken across the river in a boat by Anderson, and then con- tinued our journey with a team of horses (Anderson had his barn on that side of the river). But, as the roads were very bad, we had to walk a large part of the way, often wading through little swollen streams full of floating ice, which was rather cold. We reached our destination by evening. On the third day we had to carry the flour sacks and other provisions which we had bought about one hundred rods and then over a railroad bridge. We could not get the team into town because of the flood. Getting back to Sibley Crossing we again crossed the river in the boat carrying the provisions with us. On the fourth day we set out from Anderson's hospitable place and reached home in safety, to our own and our families' great joy."
In the following summer a few more families came to the settlement from the old country, also some from Minnesota.
During this summer (1882) the Great Northern railroad branch from Casselton, what is now known as the Hope branch, was built, and the little station which is now the town of Hope be- came their market that fall.
There were three harvesting machines in the settlement in the fall of 1882, which had all been brought from Minnesota. One was a harvester, the other was a wire binder and the third was a reaper. With these three machines all the grain was cut that fall. The grain was threshed by E. C. Cooper, an early pioneer who had considerable land in the township north of the settle- ment.
In the summer of 1883 a branch of the Northern Pacific railroad was built from Sanborn to the present city of Cooperstown.1 In this summer a market was opened in Cooperstown for the buying of buffalo bones. This market was kept open for four years. At first the bones were sold at $10 a ton; but the price gradually rose, so that when the market closed the price \vas $20
'Cooperstown was named after Hon. R. C. Cooper, one of the earliest pioneers of Griggs county, on whose land- the city was built. It was largely through his influence that the railroad came into the county as early as it did.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 141
a ton. Many tons were gathered up, hauled to town and sold during those four years. Every farmer sold more or less of this novel article. In several places in the settlement there were very large supplies of bones. One man found fourteen buffalo heads on his homestead and in most cases the whole skeleton was found with the head, and besides that he picked up many loads of scattered bones ; and yet this was by no means in the most thickly covered district.
III. — OLD COUNTRY CUSTOMS IN THE SETTLEMENT.
Though the old country customs brought over by the early set- tlers have been gradually dying out, many of them are still in existence. While the greater part of these customs will pass away with the old pioneers who brought them over, yet there are some which have been so firmly planted in the minds of the growing generation that they will survive the old settlers for many years to come.
Of the things that will longest survive, the use of the Norwegian language is the most important. Though the younger generation uses the. English language to a large extent in their conversa- tions and correspondence with each other, the mother tongue is nearly always used in the home. The little child first learns to prattle in Norwegian ; his English he generally gets when he begins to attend school. A large per cent of the children are taught to read and write Norwegian. About ninety-five per cent of the children in the settlement over twelve years, can read and write that language to some extent. This common use of the language is due in a large degree to the active interest that has been taken in parochial schools. Ever since the first year of the settlement the district has had from two to eight weeks of such school each summer. Then there is a public library in which at least ninety per cent of the books- are printed in Norwegian. These books are very much read during the long winter months. The numerous papers printed in that language, which the settlers take, also help materially to perpetuate the use of the language in the settlement.1 Nearly all the religious services are con- ducted in Norwegian. One other factor which tends to per- petuate the use of this language in the homes is the steady influx of immigrants from the old country. These newcomers hire out among the different families and of course use the native language.
Another survival of the old country which promises to stay long with the people is the preparation of Norwegian dishes.2 No family would think of allowing the Christmas, New Year's or Easter holiday to pass without preparing an abundant supply
'At least .fifteen different periodicals printed in Norwegian are taken in the settle- ment. About one-half of these are newspapers; the others religious papers and magazines. 2See Appendix.
142 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
of these old country dishes. Even those who use little or no such food ordinarily will prepare some for these holidays. They are as popular with the young native born population as with the old pioneers themselves; and that is the reason why they will not quickly pass out of use.
One interesting custom which has now almost entirely passed away, but which a few years ago was very largely in vogue, was that of issuing special invitations to funerals the same as to weddings. The invited friends assembled in the forenoon, bringing with them cakes, sandwiches, etc., with which a sump- tuous dinner was prepared.1
There was also the interesting custom of observing two holi- days in succession. Besides Christmas, for instance, there would be the second day of Christmas. The settlers are now gradually adopting the American plan of allowing but one day of rest for each occasion. They had many holidays which are not generally recognized as such in this country; as for instance Good Friday. Maundy Thursday, and Prayer Day on the fourth Friday after Easter. This last named holiday corresponds to our Thanks- giving day.
It is still a habit among the settlers to eat a lunch, consisting of coffee, sandwiches and cake in the middle of the afternoon, especially in summer when the days are long. Some also add a lunch in the forenoon. This habit of eating five meals a day was acquired in the old country, and the settlers still maintain it.
The old Norwegian song book "Landstads Salmebog" is still used by many of the settlers at their religious services. Many of these old religious hymns are very dear to the pioneer; they are the songs that were sung at the church services in their childhood years in Norway. No service now would seem quite complete to them unless some of these songs were sung.
One of the most interesting old country survivals was that of wooden windmills. Many such windmills were erected during the first few years of the settlement's existence. They were utilized mostly in turning the grindstone; some few were also made to do the churning. They were very crude in structure and did not remain long in use. They were, according to the testimony of those who made them, modeled on the old Norwegian windmills which in the old country were used very extensively for turning the threshing machines. The old country windmills were simple affairs; the wings were fastened to a long shaft which extended from one end of the barn into the center of the building, where it was connected with the machinery. The draw- back for this form of windmill was that the wind would have
'This cus'om of br-nging' food and eating a meal before the funeral senvices was practiced in the old country because of the fact that the parishes were often so large that those living farthest from the place where the funeral services were to be held, were compelled to start out early in the morning (always traveling on foot) in order to reach their destination in time. To them a meal was very welcome after the long walk.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 143
to blow from a certain direction to be utilized. By fastening the wings to the shaft on the top of a high framework a number of feet from the barn, this defect was eliminated. Those wind- mills in the settlement were of this improved form. The wings were made of thin boards fastened to poles which ran through the shaft. The wings were placed at an angle of forty-five degrees to the shaft. Iron rods were driven into the ends of the shaft and fastened in wood at the top of a wooden frame six or seven feet high. The frame was placed on some elevated place and it could be pulled about on the ground to suit the direction of the wind. If the shaft was pointing north and south, a north or a south wind would turn the mill.1
A great many spinning wheels were brought over by the immi- grants and were for many years extensively used in the settle- ment. During the long winter evenings the women would be employed in carding, spinning and knitting. Often the men would do the carding of the wool. For many years practi- cally' all the stockings and mittens used in the settlement were home-made. Although nearly all the spinning wheels have now been stowed away as a relic of early times, there are still a few in operation. Knitting is still a very popular employment with some of the women, and a large part of the winter socks are still home-made.
It is only a very few years since the making of tallow candles was entirely done away with among the settlers. This was an- other old country practice and was very commonly resorted to in earlier days.2 Whenever cattle were killed, all the fatty parts which could not be used for food were melted and poured into several vessels half full of hot water. A number of cotton threads from six to eight inches in length were fastened to a small stick long enough to extend across the edge of the vessel used. If a large number of candles were to be made, several such sticks would be dipped quickly into the fluid and then hung up till the tallow on the strings had hardened. This process was continued till the candles had acquired the desired thickness. By employing several sets of strings at the same time, several dozen candles could be made by one person in a few hours.3
Of musical instruments the early settlers did not have very many. Their favorite ones were the violin, the mouth organ and the accordion. The accordion was a popular instrument in early days; every family had one and at least half of the men could play it fairly well. While the mouth organ has lost some of its
JThe last of these windmills in the settlement was destroyed by fire. On a very stormy night the rope which held the brake either broke or was worked loose by the strong wind, and the wood in which the iron ends of the shaft turned caught fire "from the friction and in the morning this relic of olden days was a pile of ashes.
2No candles were made the first two years because no one could afford to butcher any of their cattle and consequently had no tallow with which to manufacture them.
sln the old country candles were often made in molds, but in the settlement this method was not employed.
144 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
former importance, and the accordion has gradually gone out of use, the violin still retains its popularity, and its importance is growing in the settlement.1
The pioneers brought with them a deep religious nature. Only a few months after their arrival in the country they organized a congregation and began work along religious lines. This work has been kept up ever since with unabated interest. The puritan traits that marked the early pioneers still prevail to a consider- able extent among the settlers.
They also brought with them the spirit of frugality. Necessity in the old country had taught them to be economical and this spirit of frugality and economy still remains. They were pos- sessed also of a spirit of generosity and neighborly kindness. During their first winter in Dakota, when supplies were scarce, they shared the last morsel with each other, so that when they were compelled to set out very early in the spring for provisions, they were all equally in need of supplies. During the early years of the settlement, and in fact during all the years of its existence, the people have been in the habit of helping the neighbor who is visited by misfortune. When any one lost a cow or a horse or when he had the greater misfortune of losing his house by fire, the neighbors always stood ready to give him a helping hand. In many cases a list would be passed around and each one would subscribe a little to make good his loss. Along this same line was the practice which in the old country was called "Dogna;" it corresponds to what might be called a "working bee." If a man got behind with his work for some reason, or if he had some special work that had to be done which it was diffiicult for him to perform alone, he would call on his friends to help him, and on an appointed day they would all gather at his place and do the work. This work was always done gratuitously. Though this custom was never commonly practiced in the settlement, yet even in late years it has been resorted to more than once.
But that which will longest remain with the settlers is their nationality. Though they become good Americans, they will never cease to love and admire that rocky little country of the north, that land of mountains and fjords and waterfalls, which was the native land of their fathers. They always take a deep interest in the affairs of the fatherland, and are always anxious for its prosperity and welfare. They are kept in touch with the spirit of Norwegian patriotism by meeting and conversing with people coming over from the old country and by a reading of Norwegian literature.
'The violins that they had were not the regular Norwegian or "Hardanger" violins, but the ordinary four stringed violin. The "Hardanger" violin, which is a purely Nor- wegian instrument, has four resonant strings which are placed beneath the regular strings and pass through the bridge.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
145
YVINDSAIUU.
IV.— AMERICANIZATION AND GROWTH OP SETTLEMENT.
In the previous chapter we saw how the settlers in some respects still retain the distinct characteristics of their nation- ality. Some of the forces which tend to perpetuate these charac- teristics were mentioned. It will be the purpose of this chapter to briefly discuss the extent to which the settlers have entered into the things pertaining to this country and to this government ; to mention some of the forces which tend to Americanize the settlers and to gradually eliminate the old ideas brought from Norway.
Among the first things to come before their attention was the need of gaining some acquaintance with the English language. Those of the settlers who had lived for some years in Minnesota had, of course, some knowledge of the- language; but to those coming directly from the old country it was entirely unknown except what little they might have learned of it on the trip across the ocean. They very early began to come in contact with people of other nationalities; they soon began to have business intercourse with people who could not talk Norwegian, and thus they began to learn a little of the language. A few years after their arrival some of the settlers established an evening school, where those who were interested could get instruction in the
Hist.-10
146
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
English language. Two of the young men who had enjoyed the privilege of attending a common school in Minnesota acted as instructors. Much interest was taken in this school especially by the younger men. But that which has had most influence in bringing the language into the settlement is the common school. Through the children who attended the schools the older people gained a better knowledge of the language. At the present time much literature written in the English language is read in the settlement. Nearly every family takes one or more papers or magazines printed in that language. Every one of the old pio- neers can understand English to some extent, and many of them can read, write and speak it very intelligently. The English language is not yet generally used in the home; but the younger people use it occasionally in their conversations and correspon- dence with each other, although they seldom speak to the older people in that language. As the old pioneers pass away and the young native born generation step in to take their places the English language will undoubtedly be more extensively used in the homes, but the time when it shall have entirely eliminated the mother tongue is yet far distant.
The settlers have always taken much interest in the common school. As early as 1883 the first common school was established. They have furnished many of their own teachers. Some of those who were children when they came and some who were born in the settlement have become teachers. The settlement has had some of the largest and best attended schools in the county.1
TABLE NO. I.
|
Township |
No. of Schools |
Number of Pupils enrolled. |
Per cent of Att'nd'nce |
|||
|
Males |
Females |
Total |
||||
|
1898 1898 1897 1897 1901 1901 1901 1901 1905 1905 1905 1905 |
Sverdrup |
4 3 1 3 4 3 1 4 1 4 3 4 |
15 11 10 13 24 14 14 13 11 13 9 16 |
19 13 14 13 7 13 10 15 9 15 12 16 |
34 24 24 24 31 27 24 28 20 28 21 32 |
83 85 80 92 93 94 83 97 89 87 80 92 |
|
Sverdrup . »i |
||||||
|
Bald Hill |
||||||
|
Bald Hill . ... .. .. |
||||||
|
Sverdrup . .;. ... . . |
||||||
|
Sverdrup . . ... ... . |
||||||
|
Bald Hill |
||||||
|
Bald Hill |
||||||
|
Bald Hill |
||||||
|
Bald Hill |
||||||
|
Sverdrup |
||||||
|
Sverdrup |
||||||
'See table No. 1.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
147
The settlers have appreciated the value of an education, and a large per cent of the young people have enjoyed one or more 3Tear's work at some advanced school or college.1
Coming from a country where democratic self-government existed to some extent, the pioneers had some knowledge of local self-government. Although the hard struggle to win a living from the land prevented them from spending as much time and energy as they wished in studying the civil government and politics of the country, yet from the first they took a deep interest in things pertaining to the government. As early as 1882, one year after their coming, they cast their first vote for state and county officers. That same fall one of their number2 was elected as county surveyor. In November, 1883, the members of the organ-
TABLE NO. II.-
-SUMMARY OF VOTE FOR GOVERNOR IN THE TWO TOWNSHIPS.
|
Republican |
Democrat |
Prohibition |
||
|
1900 |
Sverdrup . ... .1 |
19 |
1G |
11 |
|
1900 |
Bald Hill t .:. . |
17 |
28 |
4 |
|
1902 |
Sverdrup |
22 |
21 |
1 |
|
1902 |
Bald Hill . |
17 |
22 |
2 |
|
1904 |
Sverdrup |
16 |
9 |
24 |
|
1904 |
Bald Hill |
19 |
18 |
12 |
ized congregation passed a resolution to respect the president's proclamation for a Thanksgiving day. In 1880 they organized Sverdrup township and elected three of their own number as supervisors.3 Two years later Bald Hill township was organized. In 1889 one of the Norwegians now living in Sverdrup township was elected to the first legislature of North Dakota.4 The pioneers have from time to time filled many county offices and have fur- nished many of the influential political leaders of the county. They have from early years taken a deep interest in national politics and every one of them have affiliated themselves with one or another of the political parties.
A few horses were brought into the settlement the first year by some of the Minnesota people, otherwise oxen were used. In 1886 some horses were introduced, but oxen were used in
^his appreciation of education properly belongs with the old country ideas. Norway enjoys the distinction of having one of the smallest percentages of illiteracy of any country in the civilized world.
2Martin Ueland.
3Sverdrup township was named after Johan Sverdrup who was prime minister or Norway when they left the old country.
^Christ Bolkan.
148
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TABLE NO. III. — ASSESSED VALUATION OF PROPERTY.
|
Personal |
Real Estate |
Total |
||
|
Bald Hill |
1895 |
29 768 |
86 404 |
116 172 |
|
Bald Hill |
1905 |
81 419 |
109 008 |
190 472 |
|
Sverdrup ....... |
1895 |
19 895 |
85 262 |
105 157 |
|
Sverdrup |
1905 |
27 168 |
110 588 |
137 756 |
The great increase in personal property in Bald Hill during these ten years is partially due to the change in the method of taxing railroad and telegraph lines. The Northern Pacific railroad crosses Bald Hill.
different parts of the settlement till 1895 or 1896. A few buggies were used in the settlement from 1886 to 1895, but they did not get into common use before 1898 or 1900.
Of the original pioneer huts and log houses a few are still standing; most of these are used for granaries or wood sheds. Two of the original log houses have been remodeled and enlarged and are still used for dwellings ; all the others have been replaced by more modern buildings. The settlers have always been inter- ested in trees, and many beautiful 'groves now dot the settlement. They have during the last three years secured a rural mail delivery route and rural telephone lines.
As a rule the Norwegians in this settlement have not very large farms; but what they have they cultivate thoroughly. Taking the two townships together, we have the following figures :
1888-1890—
Number of Norwegian land holders, 56. Number of acres held, 10,127. Average size of farm; 180 acres.
1904—
Number of Norwegian land holders, 84. Number of acres held, 24,600. Average size of farm, 293 acres.
During these twenty-five years the pioneers have had many hardships and disappointments to contend with. There have been periods of drouth when their crops were very poor, and when many in the county were compelled to leave. The settlers were able to struggle through it because of their early training in being frugal and economical. But with all their hardships and disappointments they have struggled bravely up from poverty and are all well-to-do. Some of the old pioneers have rented out their farms and retired to a quiet life, and others hav^ gone into business in neighboring towns, but the largest part of them are still living on their farms. All of the pioneers that came in 1881 are living.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
149
Vie Yd feu Nor we en
HilL /fi9a
: ':
ilv of La»\dl VvolAcrs ISOH
J~ltilcL J-/ill S vercL rue*
w,
»Weo LC
150
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Though the settlers still retain some of the characteristics of their former nationality, yet they have in most respects become thoroughly American. While they cherish a fond remembrance of their native country, they admire and love the land of their adop- tion. They are not ashamed of being Norwegians, and at the same time they are proud of being Americans.
APPENDIX.
CENSUS OF 1890.
|
County |
Total population |
Total foreign born population |
Norwegian foreign born population |
Per cent of foreign born Norwegian to total population |
Per cent of Norwegian to total foreign born population |
|
Barnes |
7 045 |
2 798 |
1 150 |
16.3 |
41.1 |
|
Benson ' |
2 460 |
974 |
462 |
18.7 |
47.4 |
|
Billings |
170 |
56 |
7 |
4.1 |
12.5 |
|
Bottineau |
2 893 |
1 721 |
348 |
11.3 |
20.2 |
|
Bowman |
6 |
||||
|
Buford |
803 |
291 |
17 |
2.1 |
5.8 |
|
Burleigh |
4 247 |
3 177 |
107 |
2.5 |
9.1 |
|
Cass |
19 613 |
7 740 |
2 428 |
12.3 |
31.3 |
|
Cavalier ....... |
6 471 |
4 052 |
680 |
10.5 |
16.7 |
|
Church |
74 |
20 |
3 |
4. |
15. |
|
Dickey |
5 573 |
1 716 |
450 |
8.07 |
26.2 |
|
Dunn |
159 |
711 |
1 *> |
.6 |
1.2 |
|
Eddy |
1 377 |
r>i>r, |
146 |
10.6 |
27.8 |
|
Emmons |
1 971 |
802 |
* 47 |
2.3 |
5.8 |
|
Flannery i... |
72 |
23 |
6 |
8.3 |
26. |
|
Foster |
1 210 |
494 |
101 |
8.3 |
20.4 |
|
Garfleld |
33 |
5 |
|||
|
Grand Forks . . . Griggs |
18,3." 2 817 |
7,971 1 338 |
3,518 822 |
19.1 29.1 |
44.1 61.4 |
|
Hettinger |
81 |
13 |
|||
|
Kidder |
1 311 |
249 |
24 |
1.9 |
9.6 |
|
La Moure |
3 187 |
1 235 |
337 |
10.5 |
27.2 |
|
Logan |
597 |
382 |
16 |
2 |
4.1 |
|
McHenry |
1 584 |
673 |
389 |
24.5 |
57.8 |
|
Mclntosh |
3 248 |
2 221 |
74 |
2.3 |
3.3 |
|
McKenzie |
3 |
||||
|
McLean ..'.... |
860 |
365 |
'.4 |
8.6 |
20.2 |
|
Mercer |
428 |
264 |
1 |
2 |
.3 |
|
Morton |
4 728 |
1,919 |
252 |
5.3 |
13.1 |
|
Mountraville . . . Nelson |
122 4 293 |
62 1 890 |
21 1 098 |
17.2 25.5 |
32.9 58.6 |
|
Oliver |
464 |
162 |
15 |
3.2 |
9.3 |
|
Pembina |
14 334 |
9 144 |
390 |
2.7 |
4.2 |
|
Pierce |
905 |
461 |
289 |
31.9 |
62.6 |
|
Ramsey |
4 418 |
1 844 |
676 |
15.3 |
36.6 |
|
Ransom |
5 393 |
2 031 |
947 |
17.5 |
46.6 |
|
Renville |
96 |
66 |
5 |
.5 |
7.5 |
|
Richland |
10 751 |
4,062 |
1,837 |
17. |
45.2 |
|
Rolette |
2 427 |
1 397 |
182 |
7.5 |
13. |
|
Sargent |
5 076 |
1,791 |
732 |
14.4 |
40.8 |
|
Sheridan |
5 |
1 |
|||
|
Stark |
2 304 |
916 |
113 |
' 4.9 |
12.3 |
|
Steele . |
3.777 |
1.567 |
1,118 |
29.6 |
71.3 |
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
151
|
County |
Total population |
Total foreign born population |
Norwegian foreign born population |
Per cent of foreign born Norwegian to total population |
Par cent of Norwegian to total foreign born population |
|
Stevens |
16 |
8 |
|||
|
Stutsman |
5 206 |
1 621 |
-121 |
2.2 |
7 4 |
|
Towner |
1 450 |
570 |
169 |
11 6 |
29 6 |
|
Traill |
10 217 |
4 701 |
3 572 |
35 0 |
70 0 |
|
Wallace |
24 |
3 |
|||
|
Walsh |
16 587 |
8 559 |
2 523 |
15 2 |
29 4 |
|
Ward |
1 681 |
698 |
382 |
22 7 |
54 7 |
|
Wells |
1 212 |
570 |
81 |
6.6 |
14.2 |
|
Williams |
109 |
42 |
22 |
20 I |
5 |
|
Unorganized .... |
511 |
192 |
19 |
3.7 |
9.8 |
CENSUS OF 1900.
|
Barnes |
13 159 |
4,357 |
1 ,630 |
12 4 |
37 4 |
|
Benson |
8,320 |
2,132 |
1,045 |
12.5 |
49.0 |
|
Billings |
975 |
253 |
24 |
2.4 |
9.4 |
|
Bottineau |
7,532 |
3,246 |
908 |
12.0 |
27.5 |
|
Burleigh |
6,081 |
1,494 |
116 |
1.9 |
7.7 |
|
Cass |
28,625 |
9,025 |
2,548 |
8.9 |
28.2 |
|
Cavalier |
12,580 |
6,153 |
782 |
6.2 |
12.7 |
|
Dickey |
6,061 |
1,808 |
307 |
5.0 |
16.9 |
|
Eddy |
3,330 |
901 |
259 |
7. 7 |
28.7 |
|
Emmons ....'.. |
4,349 |
2,005 |
80 |
1.8 |
4.0 |
|
Foster |
3,770 |
779 |
180 |
4.7 |
23.1 |
|
Grand Forks . . Griggs |
24,459 4,744 |
8,483 1,784 |
3,308 1,031 |
13.5 21 7 |
39.0 58.3 |
|
Kidder |
1,754 |
550 |
26 |
1.4 |
4.7 |
|
La Moure |
6,048 |
2,203 |
402 |
6.6 |
18.2 |
|
Logan |
1 62."> |
859 |
28 |
1.7 |
3.2 |
|
McHenry |
5,253 |
1,849 |
541 |
10.3 |
29.2 |
|
Mclntosh |
4,818 |
2,302 |
43 |
.9 |
1.4 |
|
McLean |
4,791 |
1,770 |
99 |
2.9 |
5.6 |
|
Mercer |
1,778 |
834 |
40 |
2.2 |
4.8 |
|
Morton |
8,069 |
3,381 |
285 |
3.5 |
8.4 |
|
Nelson |
7,316 |
2,483 |
1,462 |
20.0 |
58.9 |
|
Oliver |
990 |
368 |
29 |
2.9 |
7.8 |
|
Pembina ..:... |
17,8o9 |
9,027 |
328 |
1.8 |
3.6 |
|
Pierce |
4,765 |
1,798 |
590 |
12.3 |
32.8 |
|
Ramsey |
9,198 |
2,866 |
i,<>26 |
11.1 |
35.8 |
|
Ransom |
6,919 |
2,097 |
1,026 |
14.8 |
48.9 |
|
Richland |
17,387 |
5,318 |
z-,174 |
12.5 |
40.8 |
|
Rolette |
7,995 |
2,165 |
262 |
3.2 |
12.1 |
|
Sargent |
6,039 |
1,754 |
668 |
11.0 |
38.1 |
|
Stark |
7,621 |
3,381 |
136 |
1.7 |
4.0 |
|
Steele |
5,888 |
1,857 |
1,297 |
22.0 |
70.0 |
|
Stutsman |
9,143 |
2,754 |
186 |
2.0 |
7.8 |
|
Towner |
6,491 |
1,544 |
318 |
4.9 |
20.6 |
|
Traill |
13,107 |
4,797 |
3,472 |
26.4 |
70.2 |
|
Walsh |
20,288 |
8,047 |
2,269 |
11.2 |
28.2 |
|
Ward |
7,961 |
2,445 |
606 |
7.6 |
24.8 |
|
Wells |
8,310 |
3,195 |
627 |
7.5. |
19.6 |
|
Williams |
1,530 |
416 |
47 |
3.0 |
11.3 |
|
Standing Rock x Reservation |
2,208 |
111 |
1 |
.04 |
.9 |
152 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
NAMES OF THOSE WHO CAME FROM NORWAY TO THE SETTLEMENT IN THE SPRING OF 1881.
Ola Westley with wife and eight children.
Valdemar Klubben with wife and two children.
Sven Loge with wife and one child.
Sven Lunde with wife and five children.
Betuel Herigstad with wife and one child.
Knut Haaland, single.
Ola Stokka with wife and two children.
Andrew Vatne, single.
Sven Lima, single.
Carl Herigstad, single.
Lars Herigstad, single, stopped in Minnesota.
Miss A. Ogland, single, stopped in Minnesota.
Tobias Time, single, stopped in Minnesota.
NAMES OF THE SETTLERS WHO CAME INTO THE SETTLEMENT FROM
MINNESOTA.
Frithof Greenland with family.
Mathias Fjelstad with family.
Edward Stai with family.
Simon Ouren with family.
Christ Lea with famliy.
Helge Larson (Yellow Medicine county) with family.
Halvor Busrack with family.
Laurits Stai with family.
Martin Ueland (from Minneapolis), single.
LIST OF SOME OF THE MORE COMMON NORWEGIAN DISHES.
Lofsa. — Boiled'and mashed potatoes with Hour. Kolled out to a thin sheet and baked slowly on top of stove, the surface being kept moist with clear water while baking.
Flad Broed. — Mashed potatoes and graham flour. Made like the one above and baked crisp on a very hot stove.
Kringla — Bread sponge thickened with flour, rolled out into long sticks and twisted into the shape of a B, boiled in water and baked in very hot oven.
Sand Bakkelse. — An equal amount of sugar, butter and flour, mixed and baked crisp.
Poorman's cake, Fattigmandsbakkelse. — Eggs, flour, cream and sugar mixed, cut into fancy shapes and fried in lard.
Gome. — Fresh milk heated to boiling point, curdled with sour milk and boiled until it has assumed a brownish color.
Groena Groed. — Sweet milk and rice, boiled to mush and served warm with sugar, cinnamon and cream. A supper dish on Christ- mas eve. .
Komla. — Eaw grated potatoes and flour, mixed and made into balls and boiled in meat broth.
Floede Groed. — Milk, cream and flour, boiled to a mush.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 153
Sylta. — Meat of hog's head boiled tender, chopped fine, spiced with salt, pepper, ginger, allspice and cloves and pressed into a solid cake.
Kolla Poelsa. — Sliced meat seasoned with salt, pepper and onions and wrapped up like a sausage. After being soaked in brine it is boiled.
HISTORY OF THE DANISH SETTLEMENT IN HILL TOWN- SHIP, CASS COUNTY, NORTH DAKOTA.
BY WALDEMAR C. WESTERGAARD.
I. — CONDITIONS IN DENMARK PRIOR TO EMIGRATION. The settlement of which this paper shall treat is composed mainly of natives of the peninsula of Jutland, Denmark, and of the duchy of Schleswig and their descendants. The greater num- ber of the strictly Danish part of the population came from the peninsula of Thy in the northwestern part of Jutland, the main peninsula of Denmark. They were all of peasant stock, belonging to the class of independent "small farmers" ("Husmaend" and "Gaardmaend"). They came chiefly from the little country vil- lages of Hassing and Soenderhaa which lie within two or three Danish miles of the seaport Thisted on the North Sea.1 They were all self supporting and were either artisans, petty trades- men, or householders with a few acres of land. In the late sev- enties, when the first emigration of importance took place, there was no increased severity in the military restrictions nor any political or financial crisis that might lead to emigration. The emigration was rather due to several causes, of which military service was only one. The increasing population and the conse- quent scarcity of land made it well-nigh impossible for a poor man to build a home or acquire a farm of even a few acres. A man with land enough to support two or three cows and a horse was considered, and still is, fairly well-to-do and independent. The reports from America, sent by persons already there and telling of the good prospects for people who were willing to work, finally overcame their love for their native soil and their family attachments.2 The newspapers naturally deplored the steady emigration of Denmark's younger blood and tried to discourage it in every possible way, but the letters and promises of friends and the occasional alluring reports that would creep in were trusted further than the papers. Immigration agents had not invaded this section of Denmark at that time, so the newspapers could, and did, say, without much danger of denial that the new world was full of suffering and crime ; that no one was ever safe from being robbed, and that thousands of laborers wandered about without either work or prospects of it.3
*A Danish mile contains 24,000 Danish feet. Adding 3 per cent to the number of Danish feet will give the approximate number of English feet. 2The United States is always referred to there as America. 3This statement is vouched for by Andrew Jensen of Buffalo, N. D. , and others.
154 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The Schleswig part of the population came from the vicinity of Flensborg in the northern section of the duchy. They, too, belonged to the peasant class, but the military requirement placed on them by Germany, which had acquired the province from Denmark by war in 1864, was undoubtedly the chief cause of their emigration.1 Germany demanded three years of military service of all her young men, while the usual requirement while under Denmark was but from eleven to eighteen months. Though it was no doubt excellent training for many, the time spent in the "king's service" (kongens tjeneste) was generally considered practically wasted. When they had this idea it only required the prospect of good wages and homes of their own to make many embark for America.
The wages in Jutland and Schleswig for common laborers were of course small. Poor boys of ten or twelve, whose parents were unable to give them work or support at home during the summer, were often required to herd geese, sheep or cattle in the summer months for mere board and clothes, and rather meagre quantities of each. For farm laborers the wages would vary from about 60 kroner for the beginner to 150 and sometimes 250 kroner per year for the older experienced men ; that is to say, from $15 to |60 a year. Skilled laborers, such as carpenters and black- smiths, had to serve as apprentices four years on no pay, depend- ing on what they could earn at extra jobs on Sundays and during odd hours for spending money and clothes. The experienced car- penter would earn from iy2 to 2 kroner for his work, or from 35 to 60 cents a day.2
II. — EARLY BEGINNINGS OF THE DANISH SETTLEMENT IN HILL TOWNSHIP, CASS COUNTY.
The first pioneers were Christen and Peter Westergaard, who represented the immigrants from Jutland. The former was the person who was chiefly responsible for the location of the settle- ment. Christen Westergaard, with a party of other Danes, among whom was the woman who later became his wife, came from Denmark in the spring of 1872 on the Allan line steamer Hibernia. After a two weeks' trip on the ocean, the party landed at Portland, Maine, from where a number of them went to
"For this information I am indebted to Andrew Jensen of Buffalo, N. D.
2The immigrants usually insist that $1 here will go no further in meeting expenses than a krone in Denmark. The following examples will show that while this is hardly true, yet the cost of living is far lower there than here. The figures are taken from about 1880. Room and board at hotels, corresponding to our $1 and $2 houses, could be secured at from 80 cents to $1.40 (3 to 5 kroner) a day; room and board for day laborers, 28 cents to 38 cents (1 to 1% kroner) a day. Flour cost about 2 cents per Ib. ; eggs from 8 to 23 cents a dozen; hogs for export, from 9 to 10 cents per Ib. ; shoes, $2 to $3.75 a pair; butter, 25 to 30 cents a Ib. Land of the best quality has brought in Thy over $200 per acre (1,000 kroner for one Aoende land). A farm of three or four acres of good land, equipped with, say a couple of cows and a horse, could witfi good management support a small family in fair comfort. Horses for the export trade brought $130 to $225; cows for the dairy sold regularly for $35 to $60. It will thus be readily seen that with the prevailing wages it would be very difficult for a man, even if he oaved the greater part of his earnings, to secure a farm in any reasonable time.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 155
Chicago by rail via Montreal, the land trip taking six days more. Mr. Westergaard spent the first few months after his arrival at Waukegan, Illinois, where he made a living at gardening, receiv- ing $25 per month. On July 22 of that year Christen Westergaard and Marie Andersen were married at Chicago, where they made preparations to stay for some years at least. While there they became acquainted with a former Norwegian revolutionist by the name of Marcus Thrane,1 who, acting for an organization known as "The Scandinavian Society for Reform" (Den Skandi- naviske Fremskridts Forening) , began in 1869 the publication of a radical paper called "The Light of Day" (Dagslyset). About 1873 Mr. Westergaard was engaged by this organization as type- setter and printer for the paper, and as the society did not take an active enough interest in the support of the paper, its entire management passed by default into his hands, M. Thrane con- tinuing as editor. In the month of December, 1876, the former moved with his family to Becker, Sherburne county, Minnesota. Here, with the assistance of his wife, Mr. Westergaard continued the publication of the paper until February, 1878, when through lack of support it was discontinued.
Mr. Humel, one of the subscribers and a man of considerable means, who had interests in Fargo and the Red river valley, wrote him in the spring of 1878 that he had located in the Red river valley and would give him financial assistance if he wished to settle there. Mr. WTestergaard responded by starting for Fargo with his brother Peter, who had just arrived from Den- mark, taking an outfit consisting of a wagon he had secured for $15, a few head of cattle, some miscellaneous household goods and $20 (all borrowed) in cash.2 They left Becker, Minn., on May 22, 1878, in a covered prairie schooner drawn by two oxen, which they had borrowed for the trip from another Dane, who was likewise bound for the Red river valley.3 Their route took them by Morris, Minn., then a hamlet of but a few straggling houses, over many streams, swift and swollen by the spring freshets, through Glyndon, Clay county, and to Fargo, where they crossed the Red river on a rude bridge. At Fargo they
"Marcus Thrane, journalist and radical agitator, was born near Kristiania, Norway, in 1817 and died in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in 1890. He was educated at the Kristiania university, visited France, and after his return took an active part in the revolution of 1848. He became editor during this period of a labor organ called "Arbeiderforen- ingens Rlad," and was arrested and kept in prison for seven years. He came to the United States in 1864, settled in Chicago, where he edited at various times several papers, among them "The Light of Day" (Dagslyset). His fierce attacks on the Norwegian Lutheran church and his "Wisconsin Bible" (Wisconsin Bibelen) aroused much con- troversy and brought him considerable notoriety. The above book was written in biblical style, and was first published in "Dagslyset." His radical views, especially on religious questions, made him unpopular with a large part of the Norwegian population of the country. He was married in 1840 to Josephine Buch, who died in 1863. They had five children, with one of whom, Dr. A. Thrane of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, he spent the closing days of his life.
2The cattle consisted of two cows and four calves, three of which later did service as oxen. Two of the calves were secured in Becker by five days of hard work at grubbing trees. The usual wages for this sort of work was $1 a day or less.
3Christian Larsen (deceased) of Sheldon, N. D.
156 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
inquired further about their future location from Register of Deeds Hanson, a Dane to whom Humel had directed them, and from Mr. Harwood, Humel's partner in the Bank of Fargo.1 They arrived at "Third Siding"2 on June 9, 1878. On the whole journey they had found no roads and few bridges, and the heavy rains made driving difficult. After preempting land on the Maple river some five miles south of the railroad, they began to make a dugout for the accommodation of their families and relatives, who were soon to follow.3 They were the first settlers for miles around, there being not so much as a shanty in sight. The nearest neighbors were Halvor Olson and the Wilcox family north of the railroad near Third Siding, while south and west there were no settlers for many miles. The first house of the township, which they erected, was rather a makeshift affair, some thirty feet long and six feet wide, and dug down about five feet in the earth, the roof covered with railroad ties, willows, hay, dirt and sod. About seven weeks later came Mrs. Christen Westergaard and the two children, Kirstine Andersen, a sister of Mrs. C. Westergaard, and Mrs. Maren K. Andersen, now deceased, mother of the two women.
During this first summer the two brothers, Peter and Christen, went to the Sheyenne river valley near Fargo to shock grain, it being the only way then available to earn a little ready money. The women put up hay during the absence of their husbands, cutting it with a scythe and raking it by hand. A mower was a luxury which could not be even borrowed, much less bought, at that time. There were of course no roads, and to mark the way to the railroad pieces of cloth were hung on willow branches, sticks set into the ground and piles of sod four or five feet high placed at more or less regular intervals along the path of travel. The arrival of the first of the women from Sherburne county, Minnesota, occurred about July 28, 1878, and the ox team used on that occasion traversed the trail directly from the village, which afterward became the first regular road, and part of which continued to be used for some twenty years.
For several seasons following their arrival there was especial danger from prairie fires. The dry, thick grass would burn like tinder when set afire and fanned by a little wind. The fires would usually come from a westward direction, the northwest being the prevailing strongest wind. Frequently the flames would leap the narrow stream and thus become a serious danger to the buildings and hay stacks. Wet grain sacks were the favorite weapons for fighting fire. Furrows turned over for fire-
1See Appendix B.
2Later New Buffalo, and now Buffalo. Mail was sent through the postoffice* at Wheatland.
3The township in which they located became known as Hill township, and it is township 139, in range 55; thus it is in the extreme west edge of the county and just south of the Northern Pacific railroad.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 157
breaks were often made, all hands assisting in the common cause on the approach of the fire. When seen at a distance the fire would often appear to extend for twenty miles forming a huge flaming crescent and filling the air with smoke. The settlement was burned over several times, only the parts protected by the firebreaks escaping the flames. More than once when the men were away had the women been compelled to leave the children on bare spots while they fought the flames. After these fires the prairies would show great numbers of whitened buffalo bones, many loads of which were gathered by outsiders, who shipped them east, where they were used mainly for fertilizing purposes. Few, if any, of the settlers made use of the bones in any such way.
The first barns were built of sod, and gave good shelter to the stock during the first hard winters. They were roofed with rude rafters and slabs covered with straw and fine dirt. Before there were any wells dug, the water for the use of the cattle was secured by allowing snow to melt in the barn, and catching the water in tubs as it dripped from slanting boards on which the snow had been placed. The only conspicuous natural landmark. of the early days was a hill some forty or forty-five feet in height, located on section 10, in Hill township. The settlers then called it "Vis Hoei" (Signal Hill) because of its service in giving the settlers their bearings in those first years.
Andrew Jensen, Jens Schmidt and Christen Christensen were the first settlers representing the Schleswig part of the popula- tion. They came in February, 1879, and lived in a shanty near the siding (then known as New Buffalo), until spring — the horses in .one end, the men in the other. During that winter and the winter following there was an unusual number of blizzards and the trains were blockaded much of the time, often not getting through more than once or twice a week. These men all took homesteads near or on the creek, thus forming with those already there the nucleus of the settlement. Andrew Jensen and those with him had been induced to go to North Dakota by another man from Schleswig by the name of Thomas Nissen, a wealthy man who had been to Fargo in 1878 to look over the country with a view to investments. Mr. Jensen had almost decided to move to Nebraska, but he changed his plans after receiving a letter from Nissen, in which he stated that though the people were so poor that you couldn't get five cents out of their pockets by standing them on their heads, the land was fine and could be secured without trouble near the railroad.1 Mr. Nissen was at St. Anscar, Mitchell county, at this time. A few months after the arrival of the first of the SchJeswig people, Mrs. Jensen came, bringing with her a child, the first of the family. The largest
*The Northern Pacific main line, which was at that time nearly completed.
158 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
single party of immigrants coming direct from Schleswig arrived in 1881 and consisted of eight persons.1
Among the blizzard experiences of the pioneer days was one which occurred during the winter of 1879-80, in which Mr. Jensen and Mrs. Maren K. Andersen figured. It was on February 17, 1880, that he was taking her home from H. B. Strand's in Buffalo. The day had been fine and they had left town about eleven o'clock in the evening after the moon had set. They started on a bee- line for home, but the storm began before they had been long on the way, and by the time they had reached the Maple river, about a mile and a half north of Mr. Jensen's place and only a mile from C. Westergaard's, they could go no farther. The horses were unhitched and in the meantime the people lost their bearings. The sleigh was turned over to shelter Mrs. Andersen, while Mr. Jensen trotted the horses around the sleigh to keep them and himself from freezing. The robe in which he had tucked her was torn away by the wind and blown into a hollow a quarter of a mile away. In order to save her hands from freezing he had to stop occasionally and rub them briskly. She was seized with a violent shivering lit which probably helped to save her from freezing, as she came out of her experience unscathed, while he came out of the night's adventure with both feet partially frozen. A little before five o'clock in the morning the storm had calmed enough for them to see Christen Wester- gaard's house scarcely a mile away.
There were still some signs of Indians in the earl}' years. During one of the first springs a party of three Indians, consisting of a buck, a squaw and a lad of about twelve, went through the settlement, stopping to hunt musk rats and other game. They seemed to have come from the east, as they came over Christen Westergaard's tree claim and pitched their tent in the middle of his pasture. They were the only party of the year and could not speak English. The buck carried a bark canoe, the squaw carried the clothing and cooking utensils, while the lad took the gun. They shot and skinned muskrats as they found them and used the meat for food. Mr. Westergaard saw the squaw tighten the leaks in the boat with a sort of melted gum or pitch which she applied by means of a burning stick. Mr. Schmidt went out with them in their canoe.
Besides the numerous buffalo bones already mentioned, the buffalo left behind other evidences of their presence. Great wal- lows around large rocks in the prairie soil may still be occa- sionally seen. Among signs of early times are the last vestiges of the Fort Totten trail, which though not then used, extended in a slightly northwesterly direction passing the site of the first
'Thomas Jensen and wife, Mrs. Kjaersten Schmidt, Peter Anderson, Marie Schmidt (Paul), Nicolena Schmidt (Miller), Mette Katrine Schmidt (Andersen), and Peter Chrisensen. (The names in parentheses are those of men they married.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 159
school house of district No. 81 on the northeast corner of section 14. It does not cross the river in the township.1 On section 2, southeast quarter, about a mile from the trail may still be seen the signs of old rifle pits.2 They had been dug in the east edge of a rather large slough and one tier of them was arranged in the sha-pe of a wide V. Near these excavations many pounds of rifle bullets were found by the Jespersen boys in the early eighties, as well as remains of cooking utensils and, not far away, Indian pipes of red pipestone. Though the buffalo herds had passed away, a single buffalo, said to have come from the Mouse river valley, was shot and killed by Mr. D. J. Lowry in June, 1882, two miles northeast of Tower City, in Cass county. Buffalo jerked beef was sold at the shops and occasionally used by the settlers. Buffalo beef was used by the sheriff of Cass county to feed his prisoners about 1879 and 1880.3 Fish from Devils lake, where they had been caught by the Indians, were occa- sionally used during the early eighties. They were shipped by rail and sold for about G cents a pound. Occasional antelope were to be seen in the vicinity, their curiosity occasionally taking them to within a few rods of the settlers' dwellings. Great flocks of ducks and geese were very frequently seen, the latter often appearing, as they settled on the prairie, like a veritable sea of whiteness.4 The profusion of wild game made hunting easy, and was of especial help to the settlers during the first years when money and provisions were scarce.
III. — DANISH SURVIVALS.
The people of the settlement have taken up the English lan- guage quite readily. The children of the settlers rarely speak to each other in anything but English, though they have almost invariably learned the Danish language first. When they speak to their parents, however, they more frequently use Danish. A comparatively small percentage of the children are abje to read and write the Danish language, though Danish or Norwegian newspapers are kept in almost every home.5 Among the first settlers there are more English than Danish books read. The Danish books are chiefly owned in private, the district school library of the settlement of over 400 volumes only containing three or four Scandinavian books.6
In the matter of buildings they have been guided more by necessity than by Danish ideas. The first house was built, or
'This trail extended from Fort Abercrombie to Fort Totten at Devils Lake.
2They are in the pasture belonging to Peter Jaspersen.
'Andrew Jensen is authority for this statement.
4Andrew Jensen's account.
5Among the papers kept have been "Den Dinske Pioneer." "Skandinaven," "Decorah Posten," "Normanden," "Nye Normanden," "Politiken," "Fram," "Kvindens Magasin."
"This library has been secured altogether through entertainments, socials and simi- lar means, but there seems to have been a prejudice or fear that it was illegal to invest in Danish books.
160 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
at least made ready for habitation, in 1878. It was a dugout, as described in the last chapter, made of the materials which were nearest at hand, such as sod and railroad ties. The natural clay served as the first floor. An addition was later built on top of the ground, and this soon constituted the living rooms. Sun dried brick five inches wide, three and a fourth inches thick and ten inches long, were used for the walls of the addition, which when finished were about two feet thick. They were white- washed on the inside and protected on the outside by a layer of dropsiding fastened to a light framework of two by fours. A slant roof was improvised at first, but this was soon replaced by a shingle, low pitched roof. The windows were made up of many small rectangular panes, while the floor was made of wide pine boards. In Denmark the peasant dwellings were made of large sized sun dried brick, with a floor, usually of clay and sprinkled with sand, and a thatched roof with eaves hanging far over the walls for protection. Another house built about 1881 had a thin wall of sun dried brick, built in between upright two by fours about two feet apart, covered on the outside with dropsiding and boarded up on the inside, making apparantly a regular frame building.
Among the implements and articles of use brought over or made here in imitation of the ones used in Denmark were spinning wheels and wool carders, wooden footstools, carpenters' tools and benches, windmills, fishing nets with wooden needles to make and repair them, clothing of various kinds, etc. Though they brought considerable home woven material, such as bedding and shawls, with them, they brought no looms along. Three or four spinning wheels, all run with foot treadles, are still to be found in the settlement, though now they are not much used. In the early days spinning was quite industriously pursued during the winter months, the older women, often the grandmothers, doing the spinning, the men and older children doing the carding. To spin two pounds of yarn was considered a very good day's work.
Wooden windmills of the Dutch type "never attained much vogue there. Four mills of that general pattern were the only windmills in use, however, in the early years of the settlement. A Niels Jensen of Lucca, N. D., who had been a millwright in Denmark, built and operated for a number of years a more pre- tentious mill than any of the above, with detachable canvas fans, but with steel burrs for grinding.
Among the customs taken with them from Denmark was of course the "old country" dance, both square and round. The former are far more complicated than our old quadrilles. Thf whole dance is gone through without "calling" and with a speed that would be a surprise and a revelation to American observers. The round dances, too, were much swifter in motion and de-
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 161
manded far greater powers 'of endurance than our waltzes and polkas. Several couples would frequently vie with each other to see which could remain longest on the floor. During the long winter evenings cardplaying has been a favorite amusement. Six or eight persons, young and old, would often gather about a table and, with matches as counters, play the game of "Three- Cards" (Tre-kort), with a "miss" or substitute hand in the middle of the table for the first Avho in his turn was willing to stake on it. The more sedate would oftener gather, four at a table, for a game of "Sevendsel" or whist. In the latter game they combined the trump and "grand" ideas, rarely playing the "nole" and "grand" game. "Sevendsel" is a typical Danish game in which the nine highest cards are used, and trumps are announced by the highest bidder as in "pedro." The younger folks would find great amusement in a game of "Sort Pe'er" (Black Peter), or the still simpler game of "Naesvis Tasse."
Birthdays have frequently been celebrated by gatherings for jollification, the Sunday nearest the birthday being usually chosen for the gathering on account of the week-days being taken up with work. Sometimes the birth days of some of the well known older people or relatives in Denmark would be celebrated here on a Sunday. On such occasions letters would be sent "home" (to Denmark), reminding the people there that they were being remembered in the new world. At these Sunday gatherings Danish songs were often sung, patriotic, sentimental and songs of nature, while invariably reminiscences were freely narrated and stories true and fabulous were told and retold, to the pleasure of the older and delight of the younger generation. Some of their songs are already familiar to English speaking people, having been translated by Longfellow, Bayard Taylor and others; but many have never been rendered into English.1
Flat bottomed pleasure boats about twelve to sixteen feet in length have been built by the Jutlanders for use in the Maple river and some of the larger sloughs. They were built to hold five or six people, and long, somewhat unwieldy oars were fastened to the boat on either side of the rower's seat. These were the boats with which the people who had known the treacherous storms of the North sea (Vesterhavet) and who had so often sailed and rowed on its tributaries, were content to navigate the sloughs and creeks of North Dakota. Here, too, they found a chance to fish, not to the extent that some of them had been accustomed on Hassing sea, but enough to be highly appreciated in a section of the country where fish are few and
ever defend); "Mit moders maal er deiligt," (My mother tongue is beautiful); "En ungbirk stander ved f jorden," by Jorgen Moe, (A young birch stands by the fjord) ; "Zegeoner drengens klage" (The gypsy's lament) ; "Frem, bondemand, frem," (Forward, peasant, forward).
Hist.-ll
162 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
their visits far between. Home-made fish nets built around various sized hoops have been used to catch the pickerel, suckers and pike that would sometimes come up the stream in con- siderable numbers in the spring.
Though no machinery or implements for field use were brought over from Denmark, some of the implements used there have been partly reproduced here. During the first year the grass for hay was cut with a scythe, and at various times flails have been used for threshing such things as peas and timothy. Long hand rakes with wooden handles and teeth, made after the old country pat- tern, have been used to smooth the sides of hay stacks. Besides the clothes they wore when they came, some brought over wooden shoes, others woolen feather beds, hand woven, some of which are still in use after nearly thirty years of constant wear.
In much of the cooking one may still see the old country dishes.1 Brown bread, or coarse bread as it is called in Danish, is widely used. It is made chiefly from home ground whole wheat baked in large firm loaves. A kind of sausage (rulle poelse) is made from the thin meat taken from the ribs, and rolled, spiced, boiled and pressed. This forms a palatable dish much in vogue for sandwiches. Among the delicacies peculiar to these people are "kringler," a sort of rich, twisted pretzel common with the Jutlanders, and "bekkenoedder," a crisp cookie which is a favorite among the Schleswig people ; and thick sour milk and a product made from it, crumbly in appearance and similar to our "Dutch cheese." Smoked sausages, meats and hams, usually prepared at home, have always been popular. A kind of sausage known as "gryn poels," in which barley, cracked and boiled, is a prominent ingredient, and which is covered either with the usual sausage skin or white cloth made to order, has been frequently made. To smoke meat a place is usually improvised in the side of a hill or river bank by excavation, and this is covered with boards or sheet iron and usually with earth on top, four or five feet square and five or six feet high. A more pretentious one was made five or six years ago of stone and mortar with a pitched roof, shingled and arranged to hold the meat underneath. This smoke-house is about six feet each way and is much like the better ones in Denmark.2 A fire is built in this form of smoke-house, while in the others the fire is some- times made in a separate place and the smoke let to it through stovepipes.
Not so many religious customs and observances have been transmitted to this country in this community as in many others. Though they have organized no church, there is a healthy religious sentiment prevailing in the community. There has at no time been a Danish Sunday school, the children and the older people
JSee appendix.
2It is on the farm of Jacob Westergaard, southeast quarter section
15.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
163
having largely attended the English church services and Sunday schools that have been held in the district school house. Prac- tically all the settlers brought Danish psalm books, bibles and religious literature with them from Denmark. Among the inter- esting volumes still extant is a bible' published in 1824 and dis- tributed by the wife of King Frederick VII., each parish of the kingdom receiving a copy. The inscription on the fly leaf is, translated : "Presented to Anders Mortensen, Jestrup Mark, by the Stistrup Legacy."1 It is bound in leather and printed in large type on thin straw paper. The immigrant, now as then, brings with him almost invariably several psalm books and testa- ments, and one or two books of Danish national songs. Few if any song books with music have been brought over, as few had any technical musical knowledge. Many of the settlers still remember numerous legends and some folk songs, but none, I think, of the latter except those that have been published and may be secured in printed form. While they have held no exercises or ceremonies in connection with religious holidays, such as Good Friday, Green Thursday and the other days of Holy Week, those days are rarely passed without comment on their significance or a mention of the 'old country ceremony.
JIn Danish: "Foraeret til Anders Mortensen, Jestrup Mark, af de Stistrupske Legat." A. Mortensen was the husband of Mrs. Maren K. Andersen, of the first group of settlers, '78.
164 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
IV. — PROGRESS AND CHANGES SINCE 1884.
Though the state religion in Denmark is Lutheran, there is hardly a member of the settlement who now professes the old faith. Most of them are professed Christians, the Baptists, Pres- byterians, Adventists and Unitarians being among the sects that have been represented, though none are active members of any church body. The people have been quite tolerant of each other's religious beliefs. No sectarian or religious squabble ever dis- turbed the peace of the community. All the immigrants have gone through their period of severe discipline in the catechism of the Danish Lutheran church and in Bible history, and many on their arrival express freely their dislike for the compulsory relig- ious study that took so large a part of the limited time they were able to put in at school. Those who have been thus affected have never been in any haste to join any new church organization in this country. Attempts have been made by Lutheran preachers to organize a church, but without result. A preacher from the vicinity of Fargo, by the name of Nielson, tried to arouse interest in the project in the early '90s, but an old style sermon on the future torment that probably awaited some of the sinners before him postponed all thought of a local Scandinavian church, until a Rev. Mr. Larsen came up from a neighboring county to see what he could do to minister to the spiritual needs of the com- munity. The sermons delivered by these good men were well attended and provoked considerable discussion. It is probable that the expense of building a church did not appeal favorably to them, who had so lately emerged from the pioneer struggles and were loath to assume new financial responsibilities. Mr. Norman, now pastor of the Nazareth church (Unitarian) in Minneapolis, preached in the district school house about 1890, before he had finished his theological studies at Harvard.1 He made a very favorable impression and later preached the funeral sermon of one of the first settlers.2 Kristoffer Jansen never preached in the settle- ment, but several went to Valley City to hear him preach when he was there for the last time some sixteen or eighteen years ago. His book of sermons (K. Jansen's Predikener) is in the possession of at least four or five families, and is highly prized by them.
For over ten years practically all the preaching that has been done in the neighborhood has been done by English speaking pastors from the neighboring towns of Buffalo and Tower City. In all seven pastors have made regular visits to the district school house on the Sundays during the summers. They are: Mr. Tibbets, Mr. Lemon, Mr. Williams and Mr. Hall, all Baptists
1This church was founded by Kristoffer Jansen, a Norwegian writer and preacher of some note, now in Norway.
2Peter Westergaard, who died on January 4, 1896.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
165
(one summer each) ; Mr. Mooney, Episcopal (one summer) ; Mr. Blue, Presbyterian (one summer) ; and Mr. Hibbard, Presby- terian (two summers). Nearly all of the above have also preached both in Buffalo and Tower City, making the settlement by a fourteen mile drive between the morning and evening ser- vices.
Through the efforts of Mrs. C. L. Bliss of Hawes township, and Mr. and Mrs. P. R. Martin, late of Hill, a Baptist Sunday school has been successfully maintained for ten or twelve years. The attendance has been mainly from the settlement, or perhaps more properly school district No. 81. This has frequently been at- tended by almost as many of the older people as of the younger. Especially during the last few years has the teaching force been made up in part of Danes or by persons of Danish descent.
The people of the settlement have always taken an active in- terest in politics, both local and national, and there has usually been a sufficiently decided division of opinion, especially during presidential campaigns, to make things interesting. The party divisions have been mainly the republican and democratic. The subjoined table will show that in the four presidential elections that have been held since the state was admitted, Hill township, in which this settlement is located, has gone republican twice and democratic twice. Only four other votes have been cast, in those four election, two for the social-democratic presidential electors and two for the prohibition.
PRESIDENTIAL VOTE OF HILL TOWNSHIP SINCE STATEHOOD.
|
Total vote |
Danish vote |
Republican |
Democrat |
Scattering |
|
|
1892 |
36 |
11 |
18 |
14 |
|
|
1896 |
43 |
18 |
19 |
24 |
|
|
1900 |
42 |
17 |
17 |
21 |
1 |
|
1904 |
30 |
13 |
27 |
3 |
3 |
It will be noted that the vote in 1904 is lower than in any of the preceding years. This may be ascribed to the dissatisfaction of the democrats of the township with the nomination of Parker as the democratic candidate, a number not attending the polls and others casting their ballots for the republican electors. While the prohibition ticket has had very little support in the township and settlement, the cause of prohibition has always had the sym- pathy of a majority of the voters. Resubmission has never even been seriously discussed. In the congressional elections of 1894 and 1898, the only ones whose records were available, the honors were equally divided, the democratic-independents receiving the majority in the former (17 to 13 republican), the republicans in the latter (15 to 12 democratic). There has been, especially
166 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
among the democrats of the settlement, a decided sentiment in favor of government ownership of certain public utilities, such as the railroads and telegraph lines. The voters have never al- lowed party politics to play a part in township affairs and have always been very independent in their support of county and state officers. No county or state office has been sought or re- ceived by the Danes of the township, though 'one of them has been a democratic candidate for the legislature,1 while at least one other has served on the republican central committee of Cass county.2
It is a rather peculiar fact that the democrats of the settle- ment are found chiefly among the Jutland part of the people and those who came directly from Denmark, while the republicans belong chiefly to those who lived for a time in Iowa or other states before settling in North Dakota. The Jutland people be- longed while in Denmark almost uniformly to the Left (Venstre) party, whose stronghold has always been in Jutland. The Right (Hoeiere) or ministerial party has its chief strength in Copen- hagen. The Schleswig people of the settlement cannot be said to have belonged to either of the above-mentioned parties, as the division there was chiefly on the basis of sympathy with Ger- many or Denmark. It is curious to note that ever since Schles- wig has had a delegate in the Reichstag at Berlin, she has sent a protestor to represent her.
Woman's suffrage, while limited, has, as the table shows, re- ceived its chief support in the township from the Danish women, at least three-fourths of the total female vote cast having been cast by the Danes. While the women have usually taken part freely in the school elections, none have, ever held office as direc- tors in the district.3
The township was organized, and the first set of officers elected, in 1884. In the twenty-two years since organization forty-five per cent of the township supervisors, seventy-seven per cent of the other township officers, or sixty-one per cent of the total number of officers of the township have been Danes. During but two years4 since the date mentioned have the Danes not been repre- sented on the board of supervisors, while they have been repre- sented by two of the three members for eight years during that period. Dividing the time since 1884 into equal periods we find that before 1895 the Danes held thirty-nine per cent of the township offices, while after 1895 they have held eighty-three per cent of the total number of offices.5
While the Danes of the settlement have not displayed the migratory tendencies of their Yankee neighbors many of them
1C. Westergaard. 2Andrew Jensen.
3Mrs. C. Westergaard was at one time clerk of the district school board. "1885 and 1886.
5In the first township election forty-three voters were registered, and nine of them were Danes. One of these has died; the rest are still (1906) living in the township.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
167
TownsKip, Gass Courxtu.-llOb.
riQi •1
Thanes.
168 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
have availed themselves of various opportunities for travel.1 A few have visited Denmark, and many have taken brief trips to neighboring states. During the summer of 1898 and 1899 at least ten Danes left the settlement for the Alaskan gold fields at Dawson and Nome. The party was made up of two of the first settlers, two sons of the first settlers, and several who had lately come from Denmark and were working in the neighborhood.2 Three of them are there at the present writing, though but one of the entire group is admitted to have made a success of placer mining at Nome.
The school district, No. 81, includes nearly the whole of the settlement and about half of the township, being thus larger by far than any of the nearby districts. The school was opened in 1884 with Mrs. Haynes as teacher at a salary of $35 a month, and for a short term. During most of the period since, especially after 1890, first grade teachers have chiefly been employed, the salary being now $60 a month. The maximum attendance is 46,3 and the average since 1890 has been about 35. About eighty-five per cent of the total enrollment since that time have been the children of Danish parents. Some twenty-five pupils have gone out from district No. 81 to attend high schools, normal schools, colleges and universities. Of these, eleven have, to the present date, received degrees or diplomas at state normal schools, col- leges and universities. Eight normal diplomas and six bache- lor's degrees are held by these eleven. From six to twelve stu- dents are away attending some higher school every winter. A "lyceuin" or debating society was conducted in the district school house in the early 90's with great success. That feature has not been cultivated to any great extent in late years.
The industrial development of the settlement has been marked by steady growth and progress. Land has steadily increased in value from the nominal price for which relinquishments could be secured in the early '80s to about $15 an acre for improved land, with buildings, in 1895; while at this writing farms equipped with good buildings are considered worth from $30 to $40 an acre according to location. In the matter of machinery and im- proved buildings they have fully kept pace with the times. Many of the farms are fenced in part or in whole, nearly all have wind- mills for pumping water for stock, and in some cases for grind- ing feed, while three threshing machines, two run by steam and one by gasoline, are owned in the community. In the last twelve years there have been built as many good-sized modern residences in the settlement, an average of one each year. Most of the farms
1The "migratory tendency" is illustrated by the fact that out of the thirty-four voters not Danes, who took part in the first township election, only three are still residftig in the township, Messrs. Bullamore, Frost and Klinger.
2A. Jensen and Jens Schmidt.
3This enrollment was reached the following years: 1893-4, Anna T. Redmond, teacher; 1894-5, J. G. Redmond, teacher; 1899-'00, J. R. Meagher, teacher.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 169
are equipped with large two-story barns provided with capacious hay mows in the second story.
There are three artesian wells in the community, all located in the basin of thfc Maple river. None of these wells are more than fifty feet deep, yet they flow summer and winter at the rate of about a barrel in from three and a half to five minutes. The first artesian well in the settlement, in fact the first one of the kind in that part of the country, was drilled in the fall of 1888 on the farm of Jacob Westergaard. The season had been an exception- ally dry one, the water in the creek being nearly all dried up, and the artesian well was the result of an effort to get water for the cattle in the pasture. After three-fourths of a day's work by two men with an augur a flow of fifteen gallons a minute was secured, the water rising by its own force to a little over five feet above the surface. The first rural telephone line in the com- munity, the first, in fact, in that section of the country, was built in the summer of 1898. It connected the farms of Christen and Jacob Westergaard and was later extended to include five other farms. The lines and instruments belonged to those who used them in each case. Two years ago the Northwestern telephone people built a line in and through the settlement which took in the majority of the Danish families. This line is operated from Buffalo and extends through the village and into the farming communities north of the town. Nearly all the farmers of the settlement own one or more shares of stock in the Farmers' Ele- vator company which has recently been organized at Buffalo with the intention of doing grain business beginning with the fall of 1906.
Aside from development within, the settlement has had con- siderable influence on other settlements, indirectly starting some, and adding to others. The Danes near Harvey, Wells county, nearly all came from this settlement. Most of them had come to the settlement direct from Denmark, and had remained there until they had earned enough to take up land and begin farming in a new locality. In a few cases the sons of the settlers have gone out and taken up land for settlement, and in but three or four cases have families who have owned and lived on farms in the community sold out and removed to other places. Ward county and the province of Alberta are among the other places that have received additions from this settlement.1
APPENDIX A.- DENMARK FORTY YEARS AGO.
BY CHRISTIAN WESTERGAARD.
We came from a country where waterfalls were few, steam power little known, the wind being therefore the main power for grinding. The country was dotted with large windmills erected
'See Appendix C.
170 .REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
on elevated ground at distances of, say, ten or fifteen miles be- tween. To these mills the peasants- came with their sacks of rye or barley, occasionally carrying two, three or four bushels on their backs (when they had no horses or cows). White flour was scarcely used by them except at Christmas.
When we landed on these prairies in '78 we used "middlings" for bread, and when out of middlings we often used the coffee mill. This was slow work, and we brothers each made a mill, each on a different plan, and connected them to the coffee mills. But the wind was unsteady and time meant money. Although these primitive mills were improved and used for many years, they became mills of the past when there was money with which to buy flour in new towns at a reasonable distance.
The reasons for my leaving Denmark were, first, to evade mili- tary service, and next the common desire to become independent. A certain poor boy had then come back from America, and was just visiting his aged parents who then lived in a miserable old hut hardly fit for pigs. He appeared well dressed, had lots of money, and spoke well of America. I remember that at the age of sixteen I got 16 "daler" for the year from May 1, 1863, to May 1, 1864, for continued hard labor each day beginning at four or five in the morning and often going on toward ten in the even- ing. I would get five meals a day — raw eels, onions, black bread and cooked milk (skimmed on both sides) were much in use for the breakfast at about six o'clock. Home made ale or beer was always in readiness on the table, standing in a large vessel of earthenware. A small glass tumbler full of brandy (sometimes made of diseased potatoes) was served to each person with his meal. It was customary in the country to take a midday nap (middagssoevn) from dinner to half past one. When any stranger or neighbor appeared (except a beggar) he was greeted with a "Welcome!" (valkommen) and a "sit down," and was then treated to cakes, ale and brandy and (if a man) asked to fill his pipe. A box of smoking tobacco generally had a place on the table. A good-sized pipefull of tobacco could fill the kind we are used to seeing eight times. It was considered stylish among the well-to-do to have half a dozen pipes from a foot to five feet long hanging in rotation on the wall. Some are as old as many generations. The strong odor of one would knock you down.
It was customary for the schoolmaster to send out a team once each year to get milk from the farmers of his district for a cheese. Wooden shoes were the everyday wear. Their churches were located in the graveyard, and each was surrounded or fenced in with a wall of rocks. The churches, now used by the Luther- ans, were all built by the Catholic forefathers. They were made of rocks, smoothed on the outside. Near the altar, in the wall, may still be seen a funnel-like hole a little larger than a man's head. The hole was there for the sinners, who, standing at the
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 171
outside, confessed their sins to the priest inside. This hole is not now in use.
Brandy, in Denmark, was considered a sure cure for colds, or almost any other ailment. The common people, and some of the uncommon people, believed that in brandy there is strength. If you were cold, brandy would warm your body and stimulate your soul. At a feast or any social gathering you were nobody if you didn't drink brandy, and the more you drank the better every- body liked it. At the time grandmother was 20 years old (about 1838) everybody was in possession of apparatus for distilling their own brandy. Women drank with men and invited each other to come over and test their product. Ale was often left until it became three years old (when it was called "gammeloel") when it produced intoxication. An ordinary family and the visitors would drink as high as ten gallons a week of this home- made brandy. Also with coffee did the custom of excessive treat- ing work much harm. Cups as large -as three of ours filled with strong black liquid were the invariable expression of hospitality, and to appreciate that hospitality one was expected to drink it all and call for more, no matter how many such cups had been forced down before during the same day. The stomach that was not big enough to hold any quantity of brandy, ale, coffee, five meals a day and sometimes two at night, was no good. People in Denmark did not eat to live, but more often lived to eat — and drink. Swearing was all too common. The struggle of the church to keep it down has not been very successful. Dancing was over- done, often keeping up for thirty-six hours or until everybody was exhausted and "done up" and the musician ready for sleep ; small wonder, for the Julegilder or Christmas parties were kept up every evening for a month or more.
Were the people lazy ? Not a bit ! As for industry, Denmark is hard to beat. Turf was taken from the boggy soil of their nu- merous swamps and made into peat for fuel. The materials were worked into a mud with a fork, and after removing his wooden shoes and folding up his trousers, the laborer, with a wheelbarrow on the brink of the pit and a shovel in his hands, would work him- self down while he worked the stuff up. The water soaking through and into the material in a pit five feet or more in depth was none too warm for his feet and bare legs. The peat was dried on higher ground where it was spread, smoothed with water and a wooden shovel, which was next used to cut it into squares eight by ten inches in size. This work of cutting was done by a girl. Three persons were necessary for the whole work.
The welcome storks reared their broods in nests on the barns, and the lapwings (viben) built their nests in the fields. If those birds were here we foreign-born Danes would exclaim "How fa- miliar! how homelike! how beautiful!"
172 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
APPENDIX B. — LETTERS FROM J. F. HUMEL TO C. WESTERGAARD,
While the latter was in Becker, Sherburne county, Minn. (Translated from the Danish.)
LYLE, Minn., Jan. 13, 1878. Friend Westergaard:
Yesterday I came home from a journey to Fargo, D. T., and I enjoyed very much to see your letter. I went by rail past Becker but did not have time to stop. I was out on the platform and spoke a few words with a Swede. I was in Fargo Oct. 1st and there bought a quantity of land on speculation about forty miles from Fargo. I then formed and opened in company with the above named the "Bank of Fargo" the 1st of January, 1878. I send you a copy of "Fargo Times" in which you will see more about this.
I shall refer you to Skandinaven No. 2 for Jan. 8, '78, in which I have just read an article from Goose river (D. T.) stating that Marcus Trane was there and had "not so small a flock of free- thinkers.".... The land in your settlement is poor. I should advise you to move from there up to Goose river, where Trane and several of our friends are. There is a fine settlement, and now while it is spring is a good opportunity for you to get a good farm by using your Homestead and Pre-emption rights. I am sure that many will assist you in this, and since I shall have to remain in ,Fargo, I shall also promise you assistance. In that way I know you can get a permanent holding in four or five years. r In the meantime we shall keep in mind the plans to start, at the proper time, a business and political paper, "The North Star," in Fargo. That is all my fantasy. . . .
Friendly greetings and a happy New Year is wished by your friend.
LYLE, Minn., Feb. 8, 1878. Good Friend Westergaard:
Your long and interesting letter of the 3d is received. . . . My advice to you is this, good friend! You ought not to make yourself a martyr, but rather for some years try in an honest way to increase your capital. You owe your first duty to your family. With regard to your moving to the Bed River valley, I am quite in the same opinion as Mr. Trane. You can as well earn your daily bread from the first up there as where you are, and more so, and the sooner the better, as there are now many good opportunities to take Homesteads near towns. You can take 160 acres for tree-planting and 80 acres for Homestead. All the, land around where Mr. Trane lives is good rich land. It will in a short time make the settlers very rich people. On the contrary, where
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 173
you now are the settlers rather become poorer after the land has been worked for a few years. Think how many large and fine cities and thickly populated settlements always spring up where there is good land. All agree that the Bed River valley land is as good as is anywhere to be found. There may be floods, it is true, in some places, but a person need not settle in a place that is likely to be subject to floods. I think you need have no fears of coming to Goose river f I should rather advise you to go there to be among Trane's friends) , since so much land will never again be available. There you may in the course of time secure and become owner of very valuable property — but never where you now are. Pardon my unqualified expression of my thoughts. I shall move with my family the first of April, if we are all well. My wife is quite sickly, so God only knows how it will go with her. Friendly greetings to you and family from your friend.
LTLE. Minn.. Feb. 26, 1878. Good Friend Westergaard:
Write to Mr. Trane immediately, as I know you will, then you will soon get a reply and his decision. As I have said, my wish and best advice is to stop in the neighborhood of Fargo. The register of deeds, Mr. Hansen. is Danish; you will find him at the court house. He will give you much information, and soon you will find more Danes. I with my family expect to move the first of April. Mrs. Humel is improving, and I hope all will be well.
Sincerely.
LYLE, Minn., March 15, '78. Good Friend C. Westcrgaard:
Your letter of the 10th inst. is at hand. It pleases me to see the writing from your wife and her thoughts and ideas of the future, of the trip, and how it will be on the prairie, etc. It is a good thing to think ahead. It is usually the case that the women look on the worst side, and that they prefer to stay at one place, etc. It usually goes better than one imagines, and I am sure it will be so with you at this time. If I had not had good faith in the best for you, I should rather have had you remain where you are.
With regard to your settling near Fargo, you can choose where you will ; if you find it better to go to Mr. Thrane. it might be the better course, since there are more of your friends and acquain- tances there. I shall help you just the same there. I have later heard that right by Caledonia is excellent prairie to be procured for Homestead and Tree claim. As I said, don't go too far for timber. You cannot take tree claims less than six miles from the timber. Find yourself good prairie and take all you can for Homestead and tree planting; I shall help you to get a good warm
174 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
house, team, etc. Under any ordinary circumstances I am con- vinced you will do well, and pay me back in time. I shall not hurry you.
If you would have to sell your cattle very cheaply, would it not be better to let them remain until some one followed; for in- stance, the person you wrote about who has twenty or twenty-five cattle could also take yours along. Cattle are useful there.
The Red river is now open and steamboats are going on it. Today twelve persons left from here on the train for Fargo ; most them were bound for Grand Forks. Some of them had taken their land there last harvest. There are many more here who are go- ing, and in the papers I see it is full of landseekers there, so it will probably be wisest in you to start immediately.
Regards to your wife. I have just [read] her [letter] over again. I am convinced that you will also gain many good friends in the new place. I have never been in need of them in new places, and the better known the better.
Do not sell your cows (Marie) when they are so good, take
them with you if you can. You think that we should come to
Fargo before you, but I am sorry to say it doesn't seem so now.
. . . Will hope with God's help all will be of the best. . . . Let
me hear from you when you are ready to start on the trip.
LYLE, Minn., March 21, 1878. Good Friend C. Westergaard:
Your letter of the 20th is received. I see you are studying hard on where you shall go from Fargo to settle. That is indeed an important matter. I am not much acquainted nor have I the facts in hand, but when you come to Fargo and get further in- structions from Mr. Harwood (my partner) he will tell you the truth regarding floods and where it is best to settle. I think he will recommend that you go either southwest from Fargo, or else northwest. About sixteen miles from Fargo is a large Nor- wegian settlement, postoffice "N.ormand." It is excellent land and there are no floods. With regard to floods it is far from being as the reports have it, but that can of course be investigated. . . . Greetings to wife and child and yourself. A happy journey is wished.
LYLE, March 29, 1878. Friend Westergaard:
Your letter of the 24th at hand. I am glad to hear that you are all well and are preparing for the journey; that you await your mother1 and others, and that your brother2 has arrived. You need have no fears that you will not get land enough; there is
1Mrs. Maren K. Anderson. 2Peter Westergaard.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 175
room for thousands and still more thousands. You cannot im- agine the conditions before you get there. I think now that you have heard all the unfavorable things that can be said about the land there. It is well as you say to have these in mind, but why are there so many now journeying thither? ... If you go with teams then you ought to stop in Detroit, county seat of Becker, or else in Lake Park. Twelve miles north from there on south branch of the Wild Kice river is the finest prairie I ever saw in my life. You might take a look around there,, and later go on farther. . . .
I could not wish you anything better than that it should go well with your journey, and your farming.
Friendly greetings to you and your wife. My regards to your brother and wish him and all good fortune.
Extract from a letter by Henry Jacobson, dated Mountain Home, Idaho, April 24, 1906 :
As I came to Ward county in the early days and corresponded with about fifteen hundred persons in regard to conditions in Ward county 1 know pretty well a great number of parties who went there. The Soo Railroad company requested me to answer homeseekers. This is the reason I received and answered such a great number of letters.
In the summer and fall of 1896 the government survey was finished in Ward and Williams counties, and the railroad made special efforts to settle the country. The Soo Railroad immigra- tion agent, Nelson Lawson, was born in Denmark, and without doubt has made special efforts to secure settlers of Danish de- scent. He corresponded with and also visited Danish settlements in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota, from which three states he secured a great number of Danish farmers, Minnesota being the state that furnished the largest number.
If I am not mistaken. Ward county has at present over three hundred Danish families, the majority of whom are occupied in agriculture. Denmark is pre-eminently an agricultural state, and the Danes are naturally lovers of nature. They are highly edu- cated in agriculture and dairying from their native country if mature of age when arriving in this country, and consequently follow agriculture as their main occupation.
One township north of Kenmare is called "Town of Denmark." Three Danish churches have been built, north, northeast and east of Kenmare. Also a Danish high school three miles north of Ken- mare. The Danish language is used in certain hours, but the Danes are not clannish ; they are sensible enough to educate their children in the English language.
Williams county is also this year receiving a great number of Danes, but as to the exact number I am unable to state.
176 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
APPENDIX C. — BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF FIRST SETTLERS.
Mrs. Christen Westergaard was born in Hoerdum, Thy, Den- Thy in the north part of Jutland February 11, 1848. While yet very young he was taken to the home of a relative where he was brought up. He was put to work as soon as he became old enough, or at about ten years of age, at herding cattle, tending sheep and at the innumerable things they are able there to find for the small boy to do. After he had been confirmed, in his sixteenth year he began apprenticeship as a gardener. During the four years preceding his departure for the United States he worked as gardener for Pastor Leth in Visby. His subsequent life after leaving for this country in 1872 has been touched upon at various points in the course of the foregoing narrative.
Mrs. Christen Westergaard was born in Hordum, Thy, Den- mark, on April 9, 1842. She was the daughter of Anders and Maren Katrine Mortensen and had the maiden name of Marie Andersen. Her father was a tailor, and she learned the trade from him, going with him from house to house, as tailors then did. For sixteen years, from the age of 14 until she was 30, she plied the trade of tailoring and dressmaking. During three weeks or more every autumn she worked in the harvest fields. On July 22, 1872, in the thirty-first year of her age and just after her arrival in Chicago, she was married to Christen Westergaard, and she went with him to Becker, Minn., in 1877. She arrived in Dakota territory in July, 1878, a few months after her husband. Of the three children that have been born to them two are living. Of these the older, a son, was born in Chicago, and the younger, a daughter, in Sherburne county, Minnesota.
Mrs. Jacob Westergaard, youngest daughter of Mrs. M. K. Andersen, was born in Hoerdum, Thy, Denmark, on July 28, 1854. Besides her common school education she had some private in- struction, after which she was examined and admitted to teach in the Baptist private schools. She taught in this capacity in the district called Vendsyssel in the extreme north of Denmark for three years, resigning her position but a few months before leav- ing for America in the early summer of 1878. These schools were supported by the Baptists, who thus had the double burden of supporting the state Lutheran schools besides their own. Their pupils, before they could be confirmed, were required to pass the examination conducted by the state authorities, usually the parish ministers. After her arrival in Dakota in July, 1878. she, with the others who took land or intended to, declared her intention to become a naturalized citizen and filed on a quarter section of land in Hill township. Shortly after she went to Fargo, D. T., where she acted as domestic in the home of the senior Mr. Harwood of the Bank of Fargo. In 1881 she was married to Jacob Westergaard, who had arrived in 1879. Two children were born to them.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 177
Peter Westergaard was born in Hassing, Thy, Denmark, in 1857. He was the youngest son of Christian and Anna Maria Westergaard. He early became interested in America and de- cided, on getting the news regarding free land from his brother, Christen, in '77 and '78, to embark with the large party that was going in the spring of the latter year, and try his fortune in the wilderness. He was in his twenty-first year, the youngest of the party. At Becker, Minnesota, his sister, Anna, left the party to go to Minden, Nebraska, where another sister, Mariana, lived, while Peter, with his brother, Christen, started out in the manner mentioned in the foregoing paper for the Ked River valley. In 1880 he married Karen Christensen, who had arrived with the party that came the previous year. He used both his homestead and his timber claim rights and settled on the Maple river. He died January 24, 1896, leaving a wife and five children.
John Paul, or John Paulson, as he was called in Denmark, is a native of the city of Kalendborg, on the island of Traland, Denmark, having been born there July 14, 1851.
He was the son of a blacksmith, who later became a machine agent as well. He helped his father. in the blacksmith shop as a boy. When John was but fourteen years of age his father died. His uncle now took charge of the store and the shop. At the age of fifteen John decided to go to this American land of promise to try his fortune. Buying his passage on board a steamer, he landed in New York May 5, 1866. Thence he made his way to Chicago, and soon afterward to Green Bay, Wisconsin. In the meantime he had accumulated a sum of f 1,400 in money. With this he bought a quarter section of land, which he later sold (1879), and made his way to Buffalo, North Dakota, arriving; there in June, 1879. Here he used his homestead right and lived a bachelor farmer until 1882 (Dec. 9), when he married Katrina Marie Schmidt, a native of Brede, Schleswig. He has five sons and one daughter. In 1901 he received a paralytic stroke, which invalided him. He still lives on his farm in Buffalo.
Mrs. Maren Katrine Andersen, also one of the '78 arrivals, was born in Hoerdum, in Thy, Jutland, December 20, 1818. Her father was a blacksmith, and she was the only child of his first mar- riage. After her mother's death, when the daughter was eighteen years old, she had two successive stepmothers, her memories of whom were not the most pleasant. She married Anders Morten- son, a tailor. They reared five children, three daughters and two sons. The daughters, Mrs. C. Westergaard, Mrs. Jacob Wester- gaard, and Mrs. Peter Jespersen, all lived in the settlement of which this paper treats. The younger son, Nicolai Andersen, resides in Sherburne county, Minnesota, while the older son, in fact the oldest child in the family, remained in Denmark, where he is now living. After her husband's death she assumed the surname of Andersen, her children all having taken that name
Hist.— 12
178 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
before from their father's Christian name, as was then the cus- tom. In the party with which she came over were, besides a number of acquaintances, her youngest daughter, Kirstine, later Mrs. Jacob Westergaard, and her son Nicolai. She lived with her daughters in the settlement from her arrival, ending her days at the home of Mr. C. Westergaard. She died early in the winter of 1906 in the eighty-eighth year of her age. She had been a woman of remarkable vitality, spinning yarn and knitting stock- ings after she had passed her eightieth year. She was generous in disposition, always willing to assist those who needed it.
Jens Schmidt also came from Luegumkloster, having been born there September 21, 1855. He learned the carpenter trade before he left for America. He, with Mr. Jensen, came over on the Allan line, the trip across occupying fully two weeks. This was in the early spring of 1874, and from then until he left for Dakota with Christensen and Jensen in 1879 he put in his time at farm labor and carpentering, chiefly in Franklin county, Iowa. As nearly all did who were able to, he filed on a homestead and timber claim. On December 28, 1883, he was married to Augusta Johnson, a Swedish girl whose brother, Jonas Johnson, settled in the town- ship in 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt are the parents of five chil- dren, of whom four, a daughter and three sons, are living. Mr. Schmidt was a member of the party of goldseekers led by Andrew Jensen which went to the Nome, Alaska, goldfields in the summer of 1899, with the result noted elsewhere in this paper.
Christen Christensen was born at Luegumkloster, Schleswig, November 25, 1848. When but six months old his father died. A few years later his mother married Thomas Jensen, who was a widower, and who had one son, Andrew, the subject of another sketch. His father had been a banker. Influenced by letters from Jensen he left for America in 1872, arriving on May 1. He made a visit to Denmark three years later, remaining there from December to April. After his arrival in Dakota from Iowa he filed on both a "tree claim" and a homestead. He disposed of the former and in 1887 bought eighty acres lying nearer his home- stead. He was married not long after his arrival to Caroline Schmidt, a cousin of Jens Schmidt, who came with a party of several "Schleswigers" about 1881. They have had three chil- dren, a daughter and two sons.
Mrs. Sven Hansen, whose maiden name was Karen (or Carrie) "Christensen, was born in Jutland, Denmark, near Hoerdum, De- cember 11, 1856. Like all the settlers who were brought up in Denmark she had a common school education and was examined and confirmed by the state (Lutheran) church authorities at the usual age of fourteen. From that time on she labored at dress- making and domestic work until she left for America in* 1879. She left Denmark on May 20, 1879, on the American line steamer Illinois with a fairly large party of emigrants and arrived at her
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 179
destination June 12. Shortly after her arrival, December 31, 1879, she was married to Peter Westergaard, who had already located in Hill township, as mentioned elsewhere in this paper. After her husband's death in 1896 she with her nearly grown sons managed the farm until 1899, when she married Sven Hansen. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hansen.
Andrew Jensen, one of the first group of Schleswig people to arrive in the settlement, was born November 7, 1850, in Luegum- kloster, a small village in northern Schleswig. His youth was spent on his father's farm until he had just passed his eighteenth year, when, as he was fast becoming eligible for the three years' service in the German army, he left for the new world, arriving in New York on the Cunard line on May 1, 1869. He proceeded directly to Iowa and for nine years he worked at railroad and farm jobs at Cedar Falls, Dubuque and in Mitchell county. In
1873, before he left Iowa, he paid a visit to his old Schleswig home, bringing with him on his return his future brother-in-law, Jens Schmidt. Ingeborg (Annie) Schmidt came to Dubuque in
1874, and on March 20, 1876, was married in Mason City, Iowa, to Mr. Jensen. His arrival in Dakota has been mentioned else- where. In 1898, he was seized with gold fever, started for Alaska by the McKenzie river route with three Americans, and after a difficult trip landed at Dawson. Dissatisfied with the prospect he went down the Yukon. While at St. Michael's island the news of the Nome gold discovery reached him, when he, with all who were able to get away, started for the new Eldorado with all pos- sible haste. He was among the early arrivals and staked out a number of claims on Anvil and other creeks. During the three summers following he narrowly missed getting a large fortune several times, and in fact succeeded in securing enough of the elusive metal to make a modest competence.
Mrs. Andrew Jensen (Ingeborg Schmidt) was born in Brede, near Luegumkloster. Her father was a carpenter. Several events of her life have been mentioned in this narrative. With her two small children she came to Dakota in the spring of 1879, a few months later than her husband. She is the mother of ten children, of whom seven, three sons and four daughters, are living, grew older he was set to herding cattle, helping with turf making and family, and a sister, Annie W., for America, on the White river valley and to the settlement which had already been started on the Maple river in Hill township, where he took a homestead, living.
Jacob Westergaard was born in Hassing, Jutland, May 25, 1852. His father had a small farm or "gaard" of about 30 acres, and with soil that was none too rich. There was a family of eight, consequently the children had to "work out" as soon as they -were able to earn a living. In the case of the subject of this sketch that was at the age of eleven, when he was hired out to a
180 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
neighbor to herd his sheep and geese during the summer. As he grew older he was set to herding cattle, helping with turf making and at various odd jobs which the ingenuity of his employer could devise; for employers of boys were usually scrupulously careful that the boys should not get an idle moment during the day. After his confirmation he served as a carpenter's appren- tice, learning the trade in four years. In 1879 on May 20 he left with a large party of emigrants including a brother, Jens W. and Familis, and a sister, Annie W., for America, on the White Star line. With his brother he proceeded directly to the Eed River valley and to the settlement which had already been started on the Maple riven in Hill township, where he took a homestead, and two years later was married to Kirstine Andersen who had arrived the year before. They are the parents of three sons, all living.
FOREIGN IMMIGRATION INTO NORTH DAKOTA.
BY JESSE A. TANNER.
The study of the peopling of the northwest presents a twofold aspect, as this region was settled from two different sources. One of these was the people of Europe who sought relief from the hard conditions in the old world, and were attracted to the north- west by the liberal provisions of the homestead act of 1862. The other is the migration of people from the older states to this region, attracted hither, like the foreigners, by the free lands and the hope of bettering their condition. The movement of the first class will be considered in a group of states lying mostly west of the Mississippi, namely, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. North Dakota is also included in this group as she has been vitally affected by this movement, not only by receiving a liberal share of the foreigners, but many of them sojourning for a time in the states mentioned have moved on and found homes on her fertile prairies.
Four of the leading peoples of northern Europe, Germans, Nor- wegians, Swedes and Danes, have been important elements in this movement. From table 1 it is seen that the foreign born population of this group of states in 1860 was 26 per cent of the total population of the group, and these four nationalities made up nearly one-half of this amount. After this date the ratio of the foreign born to the total population decreased until it was about 19.7 per cent in 1900, but the three Scandinavian peoples and the Germans made up nearly as great a part of the total population as in 1860. Between 1880 and 1890 the foreign born gained 0.7 per cent on the total population, while these nation- alities made a gain of 2.2 per cent, reaching the highest point, 14.8 per cent. In the next decade, when the foreign born de-
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
181
creased 3.5 per cent, the decrease for the four nationalities was but 2.3. At this time the Scandinavians and Germans, like the entire foreign born population, reached their lowest proportion, being 12.5 per cent of the total.
From table 2 we see that of these four nationalities the Ger- mans have always led, making up the greatest percentage of the total population, 10.6 per cent in I860, and being more than three times as numerous as the Scandinavians. Since this their num-
TABLE 1.
Showing the Percentage of the Four Nationalities, Norwegians, Ger- mans, Swedes, and Danes, to Total and to Foreign Born Population of Group of States in the Northwest.
|
Year |
Percentage of Foreign born to Total Population of Group |
Percentage of the Four Nationalities to Total Population of Group |
Percentage of the four Nationalities to Foreign Born Popula- tion of Group |
|
I860 |
26.2 |
13.07 |
49 9 |
|
1870 |
25.5 |
13.9 |
54.5 |
|
1880 |
22.5 |
12.6 |
56.0 |
|
1890 |
23.2 |
14.8 |
63.8 |
|
1900 |
19.7 |
12.5 |
63.45 |
TABLE 2.
Percentage of Each of the Four Nationalities to Total Population of Group.
|
Year |
Germans |
Norwegians |
Swedes |
Danes |
|
I860 |
10.6 |
2.04 |
.31 |
0 12 |
|
1870 |
9.2 |
3.0 |
1.3 |
0 4 |
|
1880 |
7.0 |
2.8 |
1.7 |
0 5 |
|
1890 |
8.2 |
3.1 |
2.6 |
0.9 |
|
1900 |
6.6 |
2.6 |
2.5 |
0.8 |
bers have steadily declined, except for a slight increase in 1900. The Norwegians come next with 2.04 per cent of the total, and they alternately increase and decrease with surprising regu- larity during the four decades, and in 1900 hold nearly the same rank as in 1860. The Swedes begin in 1860 with .31 per cent, jump to 1.3 in 1870, reach 2.6 in 1890, and then fall to 2.5 in 1900. The Danes come last; beginning with .12 per cent in 1860, they increase to 0.9 in 1890, and then drop to 0.8 in the next ten years.1
'Many of the people classed as Russians are of German descent and should be designated as German Russians. The federal census returns them as Russians, and as it is impossible to get the exact numbers of each nationality for these dates, the discus- sion of them is omitted.
182
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
It would be interesting to trace these four nationalities in every state of the group, but we shall confine ourselves for the present to Minnesota, as she is most closely associated with North Dakota. By comparing tables 1 and 3 it is seen that the ratio of the foreign born to the entire population is greater in Minnesota than in the group of states, never being less than 19.8 per cent, while that of the group is a little over 26 per cent. It will be further noticed that the four nationalities form a larger part of the population of Minnesota than they do of the group; the percentage in the former is 17.3 in 1860, while that of the group is a little over 13. This difference is greatest in 1890, being then nearly 11 per cent.
In Minnesota, as in the group, the Germans lead throughout the entire period under discussion. They formed 10.6 per cent
TABLE 3.
Percentage of the Four Nationalities to the Total and to Foreign Born Population of Minnesota.
|
Year |
Percentage of Foreign Born of State to Total Population of State |
Percentage of the Four Nationalities to Total Population of State |
Percentage of the Four Nationalities to Foreign Born Population |
|
I860 |
34.1 |
17.30 |
50.7 |
|
1870 |
36.5 |
22.73 |
62.2 |
|
1880 |
34.2 |
22.34 |
65.3 |
|
1890 |
35.9 |
25.28 |
74.1 |
|
1900 |
29.8 |
19.45 |
65.2 |
of the population in 1860 and 6.6 per cent in 1900. It may be noted that they held exactly these ratios to the population of the group at both these periods. The Norwegians come next with 4.8 per cent, and retain second place until 1890; after that date this position is held by the Swedes. The Danes hold a lower place in 1860 in Minnesota than they do in the group, but in 1900 their rank is higher in the former.
TABLE 4. Percentage of Each Nationality to Total Population of Minnesota.
|
Year |
Germans |
Norwegians |
Swedes |
Danes |
|
I860 |
10.6 |
4.8 |
1.8 |
0.10 |
|
1870 |
9.4 |
8.1 |
4.8 |
0.43 |
|
1880 |
8.5 |
8.07 |
5.0 |
7.70 |
|
1890 |
8.9 |
7.7 |
7.6 |
1.08 |
|
1900 |
6.6 |
5.9 |
6.02 |
0.93 |
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
183
TABLE 5.
Showing the Relative Positions of the Germans, Norwegians, Swedes and Danes in Iowa, Wisconsin, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Dakota Territory at Different Periods. The nationalities are arranged in the order of their rank, the highest at the left.
|
Year |
Iowa |
Wisconsin |
||||||
|
I860 |
Ger Ger Ger Ger Ger |
Nor. Nor. Nor. Swede Swede |
Swede Swede Swede Nor. Nor. |
Dane Dane Dane Dane Dane |
Ger. Ger. Ger. Ger. Ger. |
Nor. Nor. Nor. Nor. Nor. |
Dane Dane Dane Swede Swede |
Swede Swede Swede Dane Dane |
|
1870 |
||||||||
|
1880 |
||||||||
|
1890 |
||||||||
|
1900 |
||||||||
|
Year |
Kansas |
Nebraska |
||||||
|
1»60... |
Ger Ger Ger Ger Ger |
Nor. Swede Swede Swede Swede |
Swede Nor. Dane Dane Dane |
Dane Dane Nor. Nor. Nor. |
Ger Ger Ger Ger Ger |
Dane Swede Swede Swede Swede |
Nor. Dane Dane Dane Dane |
Swede Nor. Nor. Nor' Nor. |
|
1870 |
||||||||
|
1880 |
||||||||
|
1890 |
||||||||
|
1900 |
||||||||
|
Year |
South Dakota |
North Dakofa |
||||||
|
1S60 |
||||||||
|
1870 . . . |
||||||||
|
1880 .. .. |
||||||||
|
1890 |
Nor. Nor. |
Ger. Ger. |
Swede Swede |
Dane Dane |
Nor. Nor. |
Ger. Ger. |
Swede Swede |
Dane Dane |
|
1900 |
||||||||
|
Year |
Dakota Territory |
|||
|
I860 |
Nor. |
Ger. |
||
|
1870 |
Nor. Nor. |
Ger. Ger. |
Swede Swede |
Dane Dane |
|
1880 .' |
||||
|
1890 |
||||
|
1900 |
||||
The percentages have not been worked out for the other states, but a comparison of the numbers of the nationalities at the sev- eral periods shows that Germans are always in the lead, except in the Dakotas. The relative positions of the nationalities are shown in table 5.
IMMIGRATION INTO NORTH DAKOTA PROPER.
It has already been pointed out that North Dakota received a part of her population directly from Europe, and a part from the older states, as did the other states of the northwest, and also that she received from the latter some of their foreigners. But she received another element of her population which must be considered. Long before the Europeans began to find homes in Dakota, the French and the P^nglish Canadians crossed what
184 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
is now the international boundary and settled in the northern part of the state.1 These people have been an important part of our population in Pembina, Cavalier, Towner and Rolette counties, and their descendants still form a distinctive element in some of the towns of these counties. A census of 1850 and one of 1861 for the region immediately west of the Red river, in what is now North Dakota, shows that these people, most of whom were then living near Pembina, made up the greater part of the population.
The ea'rlier census of 1850 shows that there were 1,123 people in Pembina district, of Minnesota territory, and 64.5 per cent of these were born in Canada. An analysis of this census shows that 38.6 per cent were over twenty years of age, and 90.8. per cent of these were illiterate. Two hundred and seventy-two of the males were over fifteen years of age, and 79 per cent of them were buffalo hunters; 65.6 per cent of the 215 hunters were born in Canada. Out of the total number of hunters, but six were able to read and write. Of the remaining males over fif- teen whose occupation is given, six were voyageurs and five were Indian traders.2 There were also five carpenters, four lumber- men, three farmers, three laborers, two blacksmiths, two Roman Catholic clergymen, two ministers, one cooper, one physician and one teacher.
The census of 1861 is for the Red river district, embracing that part of the state now included in Pembina, Cavalier and Walsh counties, and was taken to settle a disputed election for delegate. The returns are not so complete as in 1850, and give only the name, age, sex and color of the inhabitants. The list contains 600 names, many of them the same as those of the former census. There were but few whites in the district at this time, fifty-one males and twenty-six females. The remaining 523 are of mixed blood, the half-breeds of the census of 1850.
Owing to the lack of census returns for 1870 and 1880, the discussion of the foreign born population for those periods is omitted. From the census of 1890 it is seen that the foreign born population of the state was 44.6 per cent of the total. The leading nationalities represented were Norwegian, Canadian (both English and French), German Swede, Russian,3 English, Irish and Dane, and ranked in numbers as shown in table 6.
'Canada has later made another contribution to our population, the Icelanders who settled first in Canada and then crossed over into this state. The first of them came in 1878; they numbered about 1,700 in 1000. The most of them are in Pembina and Cavalier counties.
Because Iceland belongs to Denmark, the Federal census returns the Icelanders as Danes, but they differ in both language and customs from the Danes found in other parts of the state, and should be listed separately.
2The names of these Indian traders are: Charles Shibbons, Charles Grant, Norman W. Kittson, Antoine Gingras and Jas. Robert. All of these, except the last, were born in Canada.
3See note, page 181.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
185
TABLE 6.
Showing the Percentage of the Eight Leading Nationalities to the Total Population of North Dakota in 1890 and in 1900.
|
1890 |
1900 |
|||
|
Nationality |
Bank |
Percentage of Total Population of State- |
Rank |
Percentage of Total Population of State |
|
Norwegian . . . Canadian .... German |
1 2 3 |
14.10 12.6 4 93 |
1 2 4 |
9.46 8.8 3 62 |
|
Swede |
4 |
3 05 |
5 |
2 6 |
|
Russian1 |
5 |
2 13 |
3 |
4 7 |
|
English |
6 |
1 8 |
7 |
0 91 |
|
Irish |
7 |
1 62 |
8 |
0 83 |
|
Dane |
8 |
1 56 |
6 |
1 24 |
The census of 1900 shows a decrease of the foreign born popu- lation from 44.6 per cent to 35.4, the Norwegians and the Can- adians still holding first and second place respectively. The Germans have fallen from third to fourth place;2 and the Swedes from fourth to fifth. The Danes, the fewest in numbers of the eight nationalities, have risen above both the English and the Irish.3
In regard to the location of these nationalities, the map for 1890, No. 1, shows that the Norwegians led in the eastern part of the state, holding all the Ked river counties except Walsh, Pembina and Cavalier.4 West of Grand Forks county their un- broken territory extends beyond the middle of the state, with the exception of Williams. South of the Missouri, all the counties held by them are contiguous, and their number, twenty-two, in that county is so small that it is scarcely worth considering.
The Canadians occupy the entire northern tier of counties except Buford. In addition to these counties they also lead in Walsh, Church, Foster, Garfield, Kidder, Stevens, Towner and Wallace. Their territory, although more broken than that of the Norwegians, is nearly all in one group.
The Germans, the tMFJTfir rank, are most numerous south and west of the Missouri river, where they hold Oliver, Morton, Stark and Hettinger counties. They also lead in Stutsman and Wells, which separate the two Canadian counties, Kidder and Foster.
The Swedes, although ranking fourth in numbers, lead in but two counties, McLean and Burleigh. The latter, with Kidder, divides the two German groups.
1See note, page 181.'
2This does not, of course, include the German Russians mentioned on page 181.
3It is interesting to note that there is an actual decrease in the numbers of the foreign born of the English and the Irish, the former from 3309 in 1890 to 2909 in 1900; the latter from 2967 to 2670.
4When a nationality is designated as being the leading one, it ^means that they are a plurality of the foreign born in that county.
186 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The Irish are the last on the list of those that lead in any county. They hold Buford in the extreme northwestern part of the state.1
While the map shows the counties in which the several nation- alities lead in the foreign born population, it needs to be sup- plemented by tables to show fully where the leading nationali- ties are located, for there are often other nationalities in the county almost as numerous as the dominant one. In fact, in the majority of cases, the one which leads in the foreign born popu- lation of a county is not a majority of all the foreign born. Thus table 7 shows that of the seven leading Norwegian counties in Traill and Nelson only are the Norwegians the majority of the foreign born population. This table shows further that the leading nationality of one county may be relatively more nu- merous in another cotmty where it does not lead. Walsh county, for instance, have more Norwegians than Cass county, although these people are only second in numbers in the former county. This apparent contradiction may be due to one of two causes; either the total population of the county may be greater, or the percentage of the foreign born to the total population may be larger.
/ Table 8 shows the seven principal counties in which the largest numbers of Canadians are found. No comment on this table is necessary except, perhaps, to call attention to the fact that the Canadians hold but second place in Grand Forks and Cass counties.
Table 9 shows that the Germans are more numerous in Cass than in any other, and here they occupy third place. Morton county, the only one in this group in which they lead, holds third place in. this list.
It is evident from table 10 that there are no great numbers of Swedes in any county. Cass leads in the number of Swedes, and they are the dominant nationality in Burleigh county, form- ing there 17.1 per cent of the foreign born population, but the county only hold fourth place in its actual number of Swedes.
1The whole number of Irish in the county is small, being but seventy-five out of a total population of 803.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
187
TABLE 7.
The Seven Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born Norwegian Population in 1890.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Norwegians to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Norwegians to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Born Norwegian Population of rftato |
Rank of For- eign Boin Norwegians with Other Nationalities of County |
|
Traill |
35.0 |
76.0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Grand Forks . V^alsh |
19.1 15.2 |
44.1 29.3 |
2 3 |
1 2 |
|
Cass |
12.3 |
31.3 |
4 |
1 |
|
Richland |
17.9 |
45.2 |
5 |
1 |
|
Barnes |
16.3 |
41.1 |
6 |
1 |
|
Nelson |
25.5 |
62.1 |
7 |
1 |
TABLE 8.
The Seven Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born Canadian Popu- lation in 1890.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Canadians to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Canadians to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Born Canadian Population of State |
Rank of For- eign Born Can- adians with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Pembina |
38.1 |
59.7 |
1 |
1 |
|
Walsh |
20.3 |
39.6 |
2 |
1 |
|
Grand Forks.. Cavalier ...... |
14.4 38.0 |
33.2 60.5 |
3 4 |
2 1 |
|
Cass .... |
9 4 |
23 9 |
.5 |
2 |
|
Bottineau Rolette |
36.4 22.6 |
61.2 46.5 |
6 7 |
1 1 |
TABLE 9.
The Four Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born German Popu- lation in 1890.
|
County |
Percentage if Foreign Born Germans to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Germans to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Bom German Population of Stale |
Rank of For- eign Born Ger- mane with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Cass |
6.8 |
17.3 |
1 |
3 |
|
Richland |
11.5 |
29.2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Morton |
19.2 |
47.0 |
3 |
1 |
|
Walsh |
3.6 |
7.1 |
4 |
3 |
188
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TABLE 10.
The Five Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born Swedish Popu- lation in 1890.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Swedes to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Swedes to Foreign Born Population of County |
Bank of County in For- eign Born Swedish Population of State |
Rank of For- eign Born Swedes with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Cass |
4.2 |
12.0 |
1 |
4 |
|
Grand Forks . Walsh |
2.1 2.0 |
5.0 4.0 |
2 3 |
4 4 |
|
Burleigh |
7.5 |
27.1 |
4 |
1 |
|
Barnes . ...'..' |
4.3 |
11.0 |
5 |
4 |
TABLE 11.
The Five Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born Russian Popu- lation in 1890.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Russians to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Russians to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Born Russian Population of State |
Hank of For- eign Born Russians with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Mclntosh |
63.2 |
92.4 |
1 |
1 |
|
Logan |
55.6 |
87.0 |
2 |
1 |
|
Dickey |
4.9 |
16.0 |
3 |
3 |
|
Emmons |
13.1 |
32.3 |
4 |
1 |
|
Mercer |
51.4 |
83.3 |
5 |
1 |
From table 12 it is seen that the English do not lead in any county. They are most numerous in Pembina county, but hold second place in Rolette county. The Irish lead in Buford county, where seventy-five of them make up 9.3 per cent of the total population. They, like the English, are most numerous in Pem- bina county, where they come next below the Danes.
The Danes, as shown in table 6, are the last of the list of the eight leading nationalities. They hold second place in Pem- bina county, ranking in numbers next below the Canadians. As has been already explained, the Icelanders make up the bulk of the population listed as Dane.
The map for 1900, No. 2, shows that there has been a shifting of the population since 1890. The Norwegians have gained Foster county and have lost Dickey, LaMoure and Pierce co*un- ties. The Canadians have lost Foster and Kidder counties, while the Austrians have wrested Billings county from the Canadians
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
189
and the Irish who held it in common in 1890.1 The Germans do not lead in any county now. The boundaries of the counties in the western part of the state have been changed somewhat, be- tween 1890 and 1900. Ward, which is held by Norwegians, now embraces what was Kenville and Mountraille counties in ad- dition to old Ward county. Billings has been extended to in- clude what was Bowman and McKenzie counties, while Stark includes Hettinger, Dunn and Wallace counties. Old Williams county has been incorporated with Mercer, and the new Wil- liams of 1900 is made up of Buford and Flannery counties.
TABLE 12.
The Four Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born English Popu- lation in 1890.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born English to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born English to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Born English Population of State |
Rank of For- eign Born English with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Pembina |
2.8 |
4.5 |
1 |
4 |
|
Rolette |
16.7 |
29.0 |
2 |
2 |
|
Cass |
1.8 |
4.7 |
3 |
5 |
|
Grand Forks . |
1.4 |
3.2 |
4 |
6 |
TABLE 13.
The Four Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born Irish Popula- tion in 1890.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Irish to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Irish to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For eigii Born Irish Population of State |
Rank of For- eign Born Irish with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Pembina |
3.3 |
5.2 |
1 |
3 |
|
Grand Forks . Walsh |
2.0 1.7 |
4.5 3 3 |
2 3 |
4 6 |
|
Cass |
1.2 |
3 2 |
4 |
Q |
^he number of Austrians is small, sixty-one, but the whole number of foreign born in the county is only 253.
190
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TABLE 14.
The Three Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born Danish Popu- lation in 1890.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Danes to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Danes to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Born Danish Population of State |
Rank of For- eign Born Danes with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of Connty |
|
Pembina |
11.3 |
17.8 |
1 |
2 |
|
Walsh |
0.9 |
1.7 |
2 |
9 |
|
Cass |
0.7 |
1.6 |
3 |
8 |
TABLE 15.
The Seven Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born Norwegian Population in 1900.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Norwegians to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Norwegians to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Born Norwegian Population of State |
Rank of For- eign Born Nor- wegians with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Traill |
26.4 |
70.2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Grand Forks. . . Cass .......... |
13.5 8.9 |
39.0 28.2 |
2 3 |
1 1 |
|
Walsh |
11.2 |
28.2 |
4 |
2 |
|
Richland |
12.5 |
40.8 |
5 |
1 |
|
Barnes |
12.4 |
37.1 |
6 |
1 |
|
Nelson |
20.0 |
58.9 |
7 |
1 |
TABLE 16.
The Seven Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born Canadian Population in 1900.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Canadians to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Canadians to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Born Canadian Population of State |
Rank of For- eign Born Can- adians with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Pembina |
30.4 |
60.2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Cavalier ....>.. |
28.5 |
58.4 |
2 |
1 |
|
Grand Forks. . . Walsh |
12.2 14.5 |
35.2 36.7 |
3 4 |
2 1 |
|
Cass |
7.7 • |
24.0 |
5 |
2 |
|
Bottineau Rolette |
21.3 18.5 |
49.6 68.7 |
6 7 |
' 1 1 |
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
191
TABLE 17.
The Five Counties Having the Laregst Foreign Born Russian Popu- lation in 1900.
|
Counly |
Percentage of Foreign Born Russians to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Russians to Foreign Born Populaiion of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Born Russian Population of State |
Rank of For- eign Born Russians with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Mclntosh |
45.0 |
95.5 |
1 |
] |
|
Stark |
20.9 |
41.1 |
2 |
1 |
|
Emmons |
35.8 |
72.9 |
3 |
1 |
|
Wells |
15.1 |
39.0 |
4 |
1 |
|
Morton |
14.4 |
34.5 |
5 |
1 |
As in the census of 1890, it is necessary to have recourse to tables to explain what the map does not show. It will be seen, by comparing tables 7 and 15, that the foreign born Norwegians make up a smaller per cent of the population in 1900, both of the total and of foreign born, than in 1890. It will also be noticed that Walsh and Cass counties have exchanged places.
From table 16 we can see that there have been some important changes in the Canadian field.1 The proportion of the foreign born Canadians to the total population is shown to have de- creased for all the counties in the table, while the proportion of the foreign born Canadians to the total foreign born population has increased in Grand Forks, Cass, Bottineau and Rolette coun- ties. Walsh county has given second place to Cavalier county, and has taken the latter's place as fourth in rank.
The Germans, although obliged to give up their leadership, still hold a high rank in the population of four of the important counties. Walsh county has dropped out of the list, her place being taken by Barnes county.
It will be noticed in table 19 that it has been necessary to increase the number of counties from five to seven in order to show the rank of Burleigh county (the only county in which the foreign born Swedes lead) among the counties which have a number of foreign born Swedes in their population. Since the Swedes have maintained their place well in Burleigh county during the preceding ten years, while the foreign born popula- tion of the county has increased nearly 27 per cent and the total population more than 43 per cent, it is reasonable to infer that there has been a heavy Swedish immigration during the decade.
The Danes, as is shown in table 20, have risen in rank above the English and the Irish. Walsh county has been dropped from
*It is difficult to draw any conclusion from this table as the data are somewhat uncer- tain. The census of 1890 returned all wno were horn in Canada as Canadians, while in 1900 they were classified as English Canadians~an^~Tfench Canadians. In every case the two have been added together and called Canadians.
192
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
the list and Ward county, which contained but six Danes in 1890, now holds second place.1
Table 21 also shows that the Irish have been pushed to the bottom of the list. As explained before, this is due, not only to the greater increase in numbers of immigrants of other nationali- ties, but also to an actual decrease in their own numbers. Grand Forks now leads with 2 per cent of her total population and 4.5 of her foreign born.2
TABLE 18.
The Four Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born German Popu- lation in 1900.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Germans to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Germans to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Born German Population of State |
Rank of For- eign Born Germans with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Richland .... |
8.8 |
28.8 |
1 |
2 |
|
Cass . . |
5.2 |
16.7 |
2 |
3 |
|
Morton |
11.4 |
27.2 |
3 |
2 |
|
Barnes |
5.4 |
15.4 |
4 |
2 |
TABLE 19.
The Seven Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born Swedish Popu- lation in 1900.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Swedes to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Swedes to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Born Swedish Population of State |
Rank of For- eign Born Swedes with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Cass |
4.4 |
13.9 |
1 |
4 |
|
Barnes |
4 6 |
14 0 |
2 |
4 |
|
Grand Forks... Sargent |
2.1 8.3 |
6.3 28.8 |
3 4 |
3 2 |
|
Walsh |
2.1 |
5.4 |
5 |
3 |
|
Richland |
2.2 |
7.1 |
6 |
3 |
|
Burleigh |
6.2 |
25.5 |
7 |
1 |
•'These people, like those in Cass county, are the true Danes.
2There were no returns made for the English by ^counties in 1900, although they were more numerous in the state than the Irish, and it is impossible to make any comparisons.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
193
Hist.-13
194
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
195
TABLE 20.
The Three Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born Danish Popu- lation in 1900.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Danes to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Danes to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Born Danish Population of State |
Rank of For- eign Born Danes with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Pembina |
8.5 |
17.5 |
3 |
2 |
|
Ward |
6.08 |
19.8 |
9 |
2 |
|
Cass |
0.71 |
'> '> |
3 |
7 |
TABLE 21.
The Four Counties Having the Largest Foreign Born Irish Popula- tion in 1900.
|
County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Irish to Total Population of County |
Percentage of Foreign Born Irish to Foreign Born Population of County |
Rank of County in For- eign Born Irish Population of State |
Rank of For- eign Born Irish with Other Foreign Born Nationali- ties of County |
|
Grand Forks... Pembina |
1.2 1.5 |
3.G 3.0 |
1 2 |
5 o |
|
Cass |
0.9 |
2.8 |
3 |
5 |
|
Walsh |
1.07 |
2.8 |
4 |
8 |
TABLE 22.
Nationalities Having Foreign Born iii State Arranged in Order of Rank, the Highest at the Left. Counties Arranged According to Their Rank in Foreign Born Population, the Highest at the Top. The Num- bers in the Left Hand Column Under the Name of the Nationality Show the Rank of the County in the Foreign Born of that Nationality; the Column at the Right Shows the Rank of the Nationality in the County.
|
County |
Norwegian |
Canadian |
Russian |
|||
|
Rank of County |
Rank of Nationality in County |
Kank of County |
Rank of Nationality in County |
Rank of County |
Rank of Nationality in County |
|
|
Pembina .. . |
1 5 3 4 2 |
1 2 2 1 1 |
2 5 |
1 1 |
||
|
Cass |
3 2 4 |
1 1 2 |
||||
|
Grand F'ks Walsh |
||||||
|
Cavalier ... |
||||||
|
Richland . . Traill Barnes Stark |
5 1 ' 6 |
1 1 1 |
||||
|
Morton , |
196
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
|
County |
German |
Swede |
Dane |
|||
|
Rank of County |
Rank of Nationality in County |
Rank of County |
Rank of Nationality in County |
Bank of County |
Rank of Nationality in County |
|
|
Pembina |
1 3 |
o 7 |
||||
|
Cass |
2 |
3 |
1 5 |
4 3 |
||
|
Grand F'ks Walsh . . . |
||||||
|
.Cavalier . ; |
||||||
|
Richland '. ' |
1 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
||
|
Traill ... . |
||||||
|
Barnes . . . |
4 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
||
|
Stark .... |
||||||
|
Morton . . |
3 |
2 |
|
County |
Irish |
County |
Irish |
||
|
Rank of County |
Rank of Nationality in County |
Rank of County |
Rank of Nationality in County |
||
|
Pembina .... Cass |
2 3 1 4 |
6 5 5 8 |
Richland . . . Traill |
||
|
Grand Forks Walsh |
Barnes |
||||
|
Stark |
|||||
|
Cavalier .... |
Morton |
||||
The last of the tables, 22, is a summary of the other tables for 1900. It gives the rank of the leading nationalities in the several counties, and also the relative position of each county in regard to the numbers of the foreign born of the different nation- alities. The number opposite the name of the county in the right hand column under the nationality gives the rank of the nation- ality in the county. The number in the left hand column gives the rank of the county in that nationality. This table is, of course, very incomplete; it should be extended to include every county and every nationality in the state.
The state census taken in North Dakota in 1905 is very incom- plete, giving only the total population and the numbers of foreign born without specifying the nationality to which they belong. From-these meagre data tables have been compiled for two coun- ties, Cass and Grand Forks, showing by townships the percentage of the population which is foreign born. In no township in Grand Forks county is the foreign born population one-half the total. In Union township where the percentage is highest it is slightly less than 49. But two other townships as is shown on map III., Bentru and Larimore, have a foreign born population of more than 40 per cent. Table 23 shows that Everest township of Cass county has the largest percentage of any township in the county.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
197
Three other townships, Bell, Harmony and Durbin, have over 40 per cent foreign born, but in most townships the percentage of foreign born ranges from 25 to 40.
TABLE 23.
Grand Forks County. Showing Percentage of Foreign Born Popu- lation by Townships.
|
Township |
Per Cent Foreign Born |
Total Population |
Township |
Per Cent Foreign Born |
Total Population |
|
Agnes .... Allendale. . |
16.7 26.2 |
305 297 |
Levant .... Lind |
32.1 28.9 |
134 408 |
|
Americus . Arvilla . . . Avon |
21.9 27.8 23.6 |
416 341 287 |
Logan . . . . Loretta . . . Meckinock |
32.4 26.8 30.5 |
253 425 432 |
|
Bentru . . . . Blooming. . Brenna . . . Chester . . . Mkmount Elm Grove Fairfield . . Falconer . . Ferry ..... |
44.3 . 31.6 36.0 26.1 36.1 28.4 34.3 24.2 36.1 |
293 386 283 410 284 218 163 118 587 |
Michigan . Moraine . . Niagara Northwood Oakville . . Pleasant View . . . Plymouth . Rye |
23.3 32.7 37.6 29.6 24.6 39.1 27.7 27.2 |
283 208 377 537 211 317 292 121 |
|
Gilby ' |
30.9 |
624 |
Strabane |
31.0 |
297 |
|
Grace |
39.0 |
297 |
Turtle |
||
|
Grand F'ks Hegton . . . Inkster . . . |
21.3 34.3 19.3 |
571 166 212 |
River . . Union .... Walle |
29.1 45.8 22.5 |
257 481 759 |
|
Johnston Lakeville . Larimore . |
33.5 26.8 40.1 |
304 276 209 |
Washingt'n Wheatfield |
35.3 36.9 |
421 168 |
TABLE 24.
|
Cass County. Showing Percentage of Foreign Born Population by Townships. |
|||||
|
Township |
Per Cent Foreign Born |
Total Population |
Township 1 |
Per Cent Foreign Born |
Total Population |
|
Amenia . . . Arthur . . . Addison . . Ayr |
25.1 * * * 28.9 41.9 * 29.2 26.9 37.1 9.6 25.6 36.0 |
370 324 349 304 368 247 290 185 253 269 176 411 161 |
Hill |
00.0 * 13.0 32.6 27.8 18.8 26.8 * 24.5 * 18.9 * 12.0 |
285 394 254 381 191 349 246 339 289 927 188 643 316 |
|
Howes Hunter . . . Kinyon . . . Lake |
|||||
|
Barnes Bell .. |
|||||
|
Leonard . . Mapleton . Maple River Noble |
|||||
|
Berlin Buffalo . . . Casselton . Clifton .... Cornwell . . Davenport Dows |
|||||
|
Norman . . Page Pleasant . . Pontiac . . . |
|||||
*Not ascertained.
198
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
|
Township |
Per Cent Foreign Boru |
Total Population |
Township |
Per Cent Foreign Born |
Total Population |
|
Durbin ...• Eldred Empire . . . Erie |
40.5 12.9 * 27.1 46.0 * 34.0 30.2 15.8 41.3 * 31.2 |
137 364 271 371 204 316 335 235 272 179 408 250 |
Raymond . Reed |
38.5 29.5 25.2 15.0 26.8 32.0 * 00.0 * 26.2 * 31.6 |
273 394 198 194 250 812 168 457 500 275 502 262 |
|
Rich |
|||||
|
Rochester . Rush River Stanley . . . Tower .... Walberg . . Warner . . . Watson . . . Wheatland Wiser .... |
|||||
|
Everest . . . Fargo .... Gardner . . Gill |
|||||
|
Gunkel . . . Harmony . Harwood Highland . |
|||||
|
*Not ascertained. |
A different basis has been iised in compiling the table and constructing the map for Traill county.1 The land owners only have been considered, and table 25 and map V. show that the great majority of these were Norwegian. The majority of the landholders in seventeen out of the twenty-five congressional townships are of this nationality and they constitute a plurality in three other townships.
TABLE 25.
, Nationality of Landholders of Traill County, Percentage for Each Township.
|
Township |
Norwegian |
American |
German |
Canadian |
<D T3 O C£ CC |
id X °E M |
Scotch |
Bohemian |
a> a ai ft |
|
Belmont |
90+ |
||||||||
|
Blanchard Rloomfield |
3H.1 57.4 |
30.1 23 0 |
3.1 5 8 |
6.3 4.6 |
8.0 1.1 |
1.6 |
|||
|
Bohnsack (E) |
7 5 |
37 5 |
37 5 |
5 0 |
3 7 |
||||
|
Bohnsack ( W) Buxton (E) |
9.0 41.1 |
31.9 13 7 |
13.7 14.4 |
9.1 4.8 |
-8"2 |
4.5 |
0.7 |
||
|
Buxton(W) |
86.6 |
5.3 |
9.8 |
1.0 |
2.6 |
||||
|
Caledonia (M) |
90+ |
||||||||
|
Caledonia (N ) ! . |
90+ |
||||||||
|
Caledonia (S) |
90+ |
||||||||
|
Eldorado . |
50.0 |
9.1 |
31.6 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
||||
|
Elm River* Ervin |
63.6 |
15.3 |
1.0 |
4.7 |
7.0 |
||||
|
Galesburg |
95.0 |
||||||||
|
Garfleld |
95 0 |
||||||||
|
Hillsboro |
25.0 |
38.3 42 0 |
33.3 2 9 |
3.3 43 5 |
4 3 |
1 4 |
|||
|
Mayville (N) |
73 3 |
11 6 |
|||||||
|
Mayville (S) |
83.7 |
4.3 |
2.5 |
1.0 |
|||||
|
55 0 |
16.2 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
||||||
|
Norman |
95.0 |
||||||||
|
Roseville (N) |
95.0 |
||||||||
|
Roseville (S) |
95 0 |
||||||||
|
Wold |
69.1 |
16.0 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
3 f |
||||
*Exact numbers not ascertained.
1The author is indebted to Mr. F. L. Goodman, of Hillsboro, for much of the in- formation used in the map and table of Traill county.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 199
THE GKKMAN RUSSIANS IX NORTH DAKOTA.
It will be noticed on the map, II., which shows the loca- tion of the foreign born of the leading nationalities in 1000, that there is a large territory for which no complete statistics are given. According to the federal census of 1900 the nationality which had the greatest number of foreign born in these counties was Russian. In this census the Russians and the German Rus- sians are confused, but from my own knowledge, and from re- ports from all parts of the state, it is evident that the German Russians far surpass the true Russians in numbers. Bearing this fact in mind, a glance at the map cannot fail to show that the former people are an important element in our population. A few facts concerning their history and their customs would not be out of place here.
In the latter part of the eighteenth century, about 1785, the Russian government encouraged German farmers to come to Russia and settle among their own farmers to teach them how to cultivate the land. As an inducement to come and live in Russia', the Germans wove given what in America, would be called a homestead of about 160 acres and were not required to culti- vate the land. They were settled upon large tracts of land in southern Russia, the Crimea, the present government of. Cherson and along the Caspian sea.
Each of their towns was also given some land as property of the town organization. The towns, which were organized accord- ing to the free cities, "Frei Reichsstaedte," of Germany, were al- lowed tp make their own municipal laws. Some financial aid was also received from the Russian government. That govern- ment, however, did everything in its power to prevent their re- turning to Germany.
These German colonists were from different parts of Germany, but they formed from the beginning strong corporations; each of these had a common religion, and came mostly from southern Germany. There were large Catholic colonies from Baden, Wur- temberg, Pfalz and Alsace, and Lutheran and Herenhunter col- onies from Saxony.
The colonies prospered, for the German farmers were more industrious and economical than the Russians. Some of them became very wealthy, and later bought the lands of a great num- ber of the impoverished Russian nobles. Then came the cry: "Russia for the Russians," and laws were enacted that made it difficult for the German Russians to buy land. This is the chief reason why they emigrate, and it is generally those who have no land who leave their homes in Russia. The Russian government does not favor their emigration to the United States, but tries
Note. — For the information in this section I am largely indebted to Rev. Vincent Wehrle, Abbot of St. Mary's Abbey, Richardton, North Dakota.
200 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
to get them to go to Siberia. It does not, however, offer them such large inducements as formerly.
It has been impossible to learn when the first impulse was given to immigration into the United States. The first immigration into North Dakota was in 1889 when a number of the German Russians settled in Mclntosh and Eminons counties, but it is certain that many of them had gone to Kansas and Texas before any came to North Dakota.
These people are generally very poor when they come to this country. The rich do not need to emigrate. They build mud houses as they did in southern Russia, because they are not able to have better ones. In building these houses they usually make the mud, which is mixed with straw, into bricks which are al- lowed to dry in the sun. Those who are near the railroads often build their houses of old ties, setting the ties upright in the ground to form a wall and filling the cracks between them with mud.1
Some of the German Russians do not send their children to school, complaining that the teachers fail to understand them and neglect them. They are generally anxious to have parochial schools, because they consider that our public schools are insuf- ficient, excluding, as they do, all religious teaching.
While some of their practices certainly tend to keep.the German Russians foreigners, they are, in the districts where they are least numerous, gradually becoming Americanized. They take out their citizen papers as soon as possible, and take an active interest in politics, often holding district offices, and in Emmons county some of them hold countv offices.
LEAVES FROM NORTHWESTERN HISTORY. -
BY LINDA W. SLAUGHTER.
CHAPTER I.
The section of country commonly known as the "Louisiana Purchase" and now included in the states of North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, Oregon and the Indian Territory, belonged to France until 1767, when it was ceded to Spain ; but in 1800 it was receded to France, and was sold by France to the United States for the aggregate sum of |27,000,000 in the year 1803, by the Emperor Napoleon I., during the term of office of President Jefferson.
1A few years ago there were so many of these houses, both built of mud and those built of ties, in some of the villages of our state, that they gave the village a decidedly foreign aspect. This was true of Richardton between 1895-1900, and it is still true of the part of Dickinson south of the railroad.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 201
The first European visitors to the territory of the present state of North Dakota were French missionaries of the Roman Cath- olic church. Father Le Caron, a priest of the order of St. Fran- cis, was probably the first to come. Visits to the Indians in the Red River valley were made by priests of his order in 1630.
Previous to that time the headquarters of the Catholic mis- sions for the French possessions in northwest America had been established at Quebec, from which place there were sent out mis- sionaries to the various Indian tribes in New France, as the Canadian provinces were then called, and the boundary line be- tween New France and the United States being then not well defined, those missionary tours often extended into the region now known as North Dakota. These pioneers of the cross were priests of the Franciscan order. In 1632 the order of St. Francis was succeeded by the order of Loyola, and thenceforth the Jesuits, or members of the order of the Society of Jesus, were the leaders in the work of evangelization in the new country.
In 1634 the first mission houses of the Jesuits were built by Rev. Fathers Brebeuf, Daniels and Lallemand on the shores of Lake Iroquois and on the St. Lawrence river.
From Quebec the mission stations were extended and schools were established at Montreal and Ottawa. At St. Boniface, Manitoba, a cathedral, convent and college were in 1864 con- ducted by the society of Oblates of St. Mary Immaculate, from whence were sent out zealous missionaries to the Indian tribes in the Saskatchewan, Athabasca and McKenzie river districts and the Red River valley in what is now North Dakota.
In 1641 Father Yagues and Father Raymbault, Jesuit priests, came to the headquarters of the Ojibways (Chippewa) Indians at the present site of Sault Ste. Marie, and traversed the country preaching to many Indians. Father Raymbault died in 1642 as the result of the hardships and exposure he had endured in his wandering life.
In 1660 the Jesuits at Quebec sent out new missionaries, among them the Rev. Father Rene Menard, who unfortunately perished. Father Claude Allouez was his successor in 1665. He founded a mission at La Pointe on Lake Superior, where he taught the Indians until relieved by Father Marquette in 1669.
With Father Claude Doblan, Marquette established the mission of St. Mary's in what is now the state of Michigan.
In 1671 there was held at St. Mary's mission a grand convoca- tion of the Indian tribes of the region, at which were representa- tives of the Indians of the valley of the Red River of the North in what is now the state of North Dakota.
A treaty of peace was made and accepted by all the tribes present — Hurons, Ojibways, Crees, Miamis and Kickapoos from the region of the Mississippi river and Lake Superior and Sioux from the Red River of the North. All acknowledged the su-
202, REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
premacy of the French government, and adopted the Catholic Church as their mother.
In 1673 Marquette set forth on his mission which led to the discovery of the Mississippi river. On the Fox river his heart was gladdened by the sight of a beautiful cross, planted in an Indian village by some early missionary, before which lay Offer- ings of furs, feathers, bows and arrows, which were the offerings of the poor people to God.
In 1G78 Father La Salle, or to call him by his proper title, acquired after his retirement from the Society of Jesus, "Chev alier" La Salle, began his explorations. Father Louis Hennepin was sent by La Salle to explore the headwaters of the Mississippi, and for some years he ministered to the nomadic tribes of this region. On April 11, 1780, he was on his way up the Mississippi river, and was taken prisoner by the Sioux; while in captivity lie discovered and named the Falls of St. Anthony. In that same year he was rescued by Du Luth and they continued their jour- ney, being of mutual assistance to each other. They planted Catholic civilization and missions along the shores of the great lakes, and their explorations led to broader Christian work in the great northwest a hundred years before the explorations of Lewis and Clark led to the establishment of trading posts and the final extension of railroads.
It is shown by French and Canadian history that in 1734 Pierre Gaultier Yarennes, Sieur de la Verendrye, of Trois Rivieres, Canada, was the first explorer of the Red River valley. In com- pany with Father De Gonar, a Jesuit priest from Lake Pepin, he visited the valley and established his two sons and his nephew in business as fur traders to buy skins of the Indians.
Father Messaiger, a Jesuit who had previously located a mis- sion on Lake Superior, accompanied them, and at Rainy Lake they founded the mission of Fort St. Pierre. In 1732 this party established a mission called Fort St. Charles on the southwestern shore of the Lake of the Woods. About fifteen miles from Win- nipeg on the Assiniboine river they established another post and fort for trading, protection and mission headquarters. This post, called Mausepas, was held to protect their rights as the first discoverers and white occupants of all that region, including, as they believed, the state of North Dakota. Here they prepared for another expedition to the Red River valley, and while a num- ber of them were hunting on an island in the Lake of the WToods they were attacked by the Sioux and killed, the island being since then known as Massacre island. Among the killed were Father Ouneau and one of the sons of Yerendrye. In 1738 the survivors built a post and mission house on the Assiniboiue river which they named Fort La Reine ; this fort became headquarters for all the trade then carried on with the Indians. Later, this party in their explorations, ascending the Assiniboine river as far as the
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 203
mouth of the Mouse river, and following up the Mouse river, crossed the international boundary line and explored the Turtle mountains and afterwards journeyed as far west as the land of the Mandans on the Missouri river. This was in 1741. During the same year another expedition led by Verendrye himself left the Lake of the Woods and following the trail of the first party reached the Missouri river, pushed on to the Yellowstone river and finally reached the Rocky mountains, which they partially ex- plored, and made arrangements for future trade with the Indian tribes in that region, afterward returning by the same route to their station at Lake of the Woods.
Verendrye died on Dec. 6, 1749, when about to start on a new expedition. In the meantime the great fur trading companies, which had established their business along the boundary line between New France and the United States, had built up im- mense trading posts, which formed centers of trade and civiliza- tion for all. the country on both sides of the line. Wherever these trading posts were to be found there also was to be found a de- voted missionary of the Catholic faith, faithfully caring for the souls of the benighted aborigines of the prairies, counting his life as naught if thereby he might lead souls to the sanctifying waters of religion. Through many succeeding years this system of evangelization was carried on by these faithful servants of the church.
In 1780 there were French traders and Catholic priests located at Pembina on the American side of the line, and that is beyond doubt the date of /the first settlement on the soil of North Dakota.
Following the explorations of Lewis and Clarke, in 1803 and 1804 John Jacob Astor established trading posts along the north- ern Hne of the Missouri river, and the Catholic fathers still held the advance grounds they had already gained and pressed for ward with renewed zeal and devotion. Priests of the order of Jesuits, Oblates of 'St. Mary the Immaculate and of St. Francis vied with each other in their efforts to ameliorate the condition of humanity in these remote regions. Churches, schools and hospitals sprang up along their track, and the light of the cross already shone faintly in the darkness of the heathen land.
In the year 1810 a S.cotch Protestant gentleman, Thomas Doug- las, better known as Lord Selkirk, who owned about 40 per cent of the Hudson Bay company's stock, obtained a grant of the lands along the Red river which the company claimed, and im- mediately set about establishing a colony there. The Northwest company immediately set up a claim to the lands in question, from which cause much trouble resulted to the colonists. Lord Selkirk built a fort at Pembina in 1812 which was destroyed in 1814 by the Northwest company, and the colony, then comprising some 200 persons, were scattered.
204 REPORT OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Lord Selkirk, who had been in Scotland, returned to America in the autumn of 1815, and the colonists were induced to return. Fresh trouble ensued and the colony was destroyed a second time by the Northwest company, and the colonists carried as pris- oners to Fort William. In August, 1816, Lord Selkirk arrived with troops and captured Fort William and in January, 1817, taking advantage of a furious storm, he surprised and captured Fort Douglas and re-established his colony.
Fort Douglas, as rebuilt, remained until 1823, when it was torn down on acount of the official survey having shown it to be on the American side of the international boundary line, and was rebuilt on the Canadian side. Here they had trouble with the Northwest Trading company, and were driven from their new homes. In 1816 Lord Selkirk restored them by force to their lands. After his death they became dispersed and a number settled in Minnesota.
Notwithstanding these discouragements, the ecclesiastical authorities in British America continued to send priests into that region to minister to the Indians and Catholic half-breeds.
From the establishment of the Hudson Bay company in that region Catholic priests had been sent from Quebec to minister to the French and Canadian employes of the trading posts and their half-breed descendants, who were nearly all of the Catholic faith. These people wished for a resident priest and Lord Sel kirk at that time sent the following letter to the Bishop of Quebec :
MONTREAL, April 16th, 1816. To His Grace, Mgr. Plessis, Bishop of Quebec : '
Monseigneur: I have been informed by Mr. Miles McDonnell, former governor of the Red River, that in a conversation which he had with Your Grace last autumn he has suggested to you to send a missionary into this country to give the helps of religion to a large number of Canadians, who are established there, and who live after the manner of the savages, with the Indian women whom they have married. I am convinced that an intelligent ecclasiastic would do an incalculable good among those people, in whom the religious sentiment is not extinct. With the great- est satisfaction I would co-operate with you for the success of such a work ; and if Your Grace wishes to choose a suitable per- son for the undertaking I do not hesitate to assure him of my consideration and to offer him all the help Your Grace may judge necessary. I have heard that Your Grace intended to send this spring two ecclesiastics to Lake Superior and to Rainy Lake to meet the voyaguers who are in the service of the Northwest com- pany, when they return from the interior. Since all those people are in great need of spiritual help, I am happy to learn this news; nevertheless, if you permit me to express an opinion, I
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 205
think that a missionary residing at the Red River would better realize your pious design; for from that place he could easily visit during the winter the trading posts on Rainy Lake and on Lake Superior at the time when the people are assembled in great numbers.
Meanwhile, if Your Grace does not find this arrangement prac- ticable at present, I believe that an ecclesiastic who would be ready to leave Montreal at the opening of navigation to go to Rainy Lake could do a great deal of good. Mr. McDonnell must put himself en route in his canoe immediately after the ice melts, so that he may arrive at the Red River towards the end of May or the beginning of June. He would be very happy to have with him the company of a missionary who might sojourn some weeks with the Canadians of the Red River before the return of the voyageurs of the northwest to Rainy Lake and Lake Superior. I have the honor to be, etc., etc.,
SELKIRK.
In 1816, in response to the request of Lord Selkirk, Bishop Plessis of Quebec had sent Father Tabeau, the parish priest of Boucherville, Canada, to visit the Red river and report on the advisability of establishing a permanent mission in that locality. Father Tabeau was unable to reach the Red river owing to the unsettled condition of the country, and in his report to the bishop in March, 1818, he reported against the founding of a permanent mission and advised a continuance of the former policy of sending a priest once each year to visit the trading posts. But the people there were in earnest in their desire for a resident priest in the settlement, and in obedience to their wishes Lord Selkirk sent his friend Samuel Gale to Bishop Plessis at Quebec and shortly afterward a formal petition from the Red River Catholics was presented to the bishop. The reply of the bishop sent to Mr. Gale was as follows:
QUEBEC, Feb. 11, 1818.
Sir : I have received from M. de Lotbiniere the request that you have had the kindness to transmit to me in behalf of the inhabi- tants on the Red River. No one is more convinced than I of the incalculable benefits that can result from the establishment of a permanent mission in that place, abandoned up to the present to all the disorders that ignorartce and irreligion beget. I have, therefore, decided to second with all my might a project so praise- worthy, and in which you have taken so active a part. Among my clergy there will be found priests who will consecrate them- selves to this good work, with no other motive than that of pro- curing the glory of God and the salvation of those poor peoples.
206 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Permit me to thank yon for the encouragement 3^ou give to this enterprise, and to subscribe myself, etc., etc.,
J. OCTAVE (PLESSIS),
Bishop of Quebec.
In February , 1818, Bishop Plessis chose as his missionaries for the Red River, Rev. Joseph Norbert Provencher, pastor of Kam- ouraska in the diocese of Quebec, and Rev. Joseph Severe Dii- moulin. Having appointed his missionaries Bishop Plessis wrote as follows to Lord Selkirk :
"My Lord : Nothing could better meet my views than the re- quest brought to me last January by Mr. Gale in behalf of the inhabitants of the Red River. I am filled with consolation at the thought of the establishment of a Catholic mission which may become of incalculable importance to the vast territory surround- ing it. The protection of Your Lordship, the interest taken by the governor-in-chief, the zeal of the most reputable citizens of Mont- real, the subscriptions already received, all those things con- vince me that Divine Providence favors the enterprise. On my part, I could not see with indifference so large a number of souls, redeemed at the price of the blood of Jesus Christ, lost every day for the lack of having1 some one to form their faith and direct their morals.
"The two priests whom I send there with a catechist will esteem themselves very happy if the Father of Mercies deign to accept their success and give some blessings to their labors." ,
The catechist referred to was Mr. William Edge, who had charge of the schools founded at Pembina by Father Dumoulin. He was the first school teacher in North Dakota.
To sustain this mission Lord Selkirk executed two contracts, by one of which he gave twenty-five acres of land to the church and the other conveyed to the mission a tract of land four miles in length and four miles in width, which contracts were signed by Lord Selkirk, J. O. Plessis, bishop of Quebec, Severe Dumoulin, priest, S. J. Beaujeau, priest, and H. Honey.
Father Provencher was given the powers of a vicar general and received the following letter of instructions entitled "Instructions Given by Mgr. J. O. Plessis to MM. J. N. Provencher and J. N. S. Dumoulin, Missionary Priests for the Territories of the North- west:
"1. The missionaries must consider the first object of 'their mission to be to withdraw from barbarism and from the disor- ders consequent thereon the savage nations spread over the vast country.
"2. The second object (of this mission) is to give their atten- tion to the bad Christians who have adopted the customs of the savages, and who live in licentiousness and in forgetfulness of their duties.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 207
"3. Persuaded that the preaching of the Gospel is the most assured means of obtaining these happy results they shall neglect no occasion to inculcate the Gospel's principles and maxims, whether in their private conversations or in their public instruc- tions.
"4. To make themselves at once useful to the natives of the country to which they have been sent they shall apply themselves from the moment of their arrival to the study of the savage languages, and shall endeavor to reduce those langueges to regu- lar principles so as to be able to publish a grammar after some years of residence.
- "5. They shall prepare for baptism with all possible haste the infidel women who are living in concubinage with Christians in order to change those irregular unions into legitimate marriages.
"6. They shall devote themselves with particular care to the Christian education of the children, and to this end they shall establish schools and catechism classes in all the settlements they shall have occasion to visit.
"1. In all places remarkable either by their position, or by the transit of the voyageurs, or by the gatherings of the savages, they shall take care to plant high crosses, as it were to take pos- session of those places in the name of the Oatholic religion.
"8. They shall often repeat to the people to whom they are sent how severely this religion enjoins peace, meekness, and obedience to the laws of both state and church.
"9. They shall make known to them the advantages they possess in living under the government of His British Majesty, teaching them b\ word and example the respect and fidelity they owe to their sovereign, accustoming them to offer to God fervent prayers for the prosperity of His Most Gracious Majesty, of his august family, and of his empire.
"10.' They shall maintain a perfect equilibrium between the reciprocal claims of the two companies — the Northwest and the Hudson's Bay — remembering that they are sent solely for the spiritual welfare of the people from whose civilization the advan- tage of both companies must result.
"11. They shall fix their abode near Fort Douglas on the Red river, shall build there a church, a dwelling and a school ; they shall derive their support as far as possible from the lands given to them. Although this river as well as Lake Winnipeg, into which it empties, is in the territory claimed by the Hudson's Bay company, they shall not be the less zealous for the salvation of the clerks, employes and voyageurs in the service of the North west company, taking care to go whithersoever the care of souls shall call them.
"12. They shall give us frequent and regular, information of all that can interest, retard or favor the purposes of the mission. If, notwithstanding the most impartial conduct, they find them-
208 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
selves hampered in the exercise of their functions, they shall not abandon^ their mission before having received our orders.
"J. O. PLESSIS, "Bishop of Quebec."
On July 15, 1818, Father Provencher and Father Dumoulin arrived at the mouth of the Red River in the present county of Pembina, at the first settlement made upon North Dakota soil. They established a mission under the authority of the bishop of Quebec at the trading post of that place, and were soon followed by others of that region. On July 20, 1818, Father Provencher reported as follows to Bishop Plessis :
"We are at our destination. We arrived here at 5 o'clock p. m. the 16th of July. We were very well received by Mr. McDonnell, governor of the place, who seems to be a good man and who is a Catholic. It is said that he is to leave here this fall. I shall be sorry. My last letter was dated from Rainy Lake, whence we de- parted July 6th. Thence we descended Rainy Lake river, passed Lake of the Woods and entered Winnipeg river at the point where Mr. Keveney was killed. I saw his bones which were covered only with wood.
"From Lake of the Woods we fell into the Winnipeg river, re- markable for its windings, its rapids, its falls, its portages. It brought us to the lake of the same name. There we found a fort of the Northwest company. We remained there three-fourths of a day and baptized sixteen children.
"At the mouth of the Winnipeg river we met the canoes from Athabasca, with about 150 men. I had wished to meet them at Rainy Lake, but they reached there only fifteen days after our departure. We have announced to them our visit for next year.
"We have been very well received everywhere. From Winnipeg river to Fort Douglas we have traversed eighteen leagues of lake and have ascended the Red River eight leagues.
"This country is really beautiful. The river is sufficiently wide. It is bordered with oakes, elms, ivy, poplars, etc. Behind this border of timber are boundless prairies. The soil appears to be excellent. Wood for building is rare, at least good wood. We must set about building. A chapel is a pressing need, because there is no fit place for the people to assemble.
"The site for the church is beautiful. It is situated facing the forts of the Northwest and Hudson's Bay companies, from eight to ten acres distant from each, and about fifteen acres from Fort Douglas. At present there are no savages here. Every one seems pleased with our arrival, and all appear to be desirous to profit by our instructions."
At a later period Father Provencher, speaking of the agricul- tural conditions in the Red River valley in 1818, said :
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"The cultivated fields were not much larger than garden beds. The settlers planted as much to raise seed as to enjoy the fruits of their labor; for it was very expensive to import grain into the country. But the little they raised in their garden-bed farms in 1818 was destroyed by a disaster which led to the establishing of the Catholic church in this country."
Three weeks after the arrival of the missionaries a great dis- aster fell upon the country, a swarm of grasshoppers descended upon the land and devoured all trace of vegetation.
Father Provencher established himself at Fort Douglas, where he named his mission St. Boniface. In August of that year a number of colonists sent by Lord Selkirk arrived at Fort Douglas, but owing to the ravages of the grasshoppers were unable to remain there for fear of the impending famine and they went up the river to where some Canadians and half-breeds and a few Irishmen had already established a settlement, and which also was the headquarters of the hunters who supplied the trading posts and settlements with meat and furs. Both the Hudson's Bay and Northwest Fur companies built forts at Pembina and the Catholic emploj^es asked for a priest. Father Durnoulin was sent there by Father Provencher, in September, 1818, to pass the winter there. Thus was established the first permanent Catholic mission in the state of North Dakota. There were then some 300 persons at Pembina and about fifty at St. Boniface.
Father Provencher wrote at that time to his bishop : "That post (Pembina) is for the present very important. From there I, with all the colony, receive all my provisions. I shall continue to build there."
Again in the month of July, 1819, Father Provencher writes: "My chapel at St. Boniface is almost squared. It will be 80x35 feet. At Pembina we have shop (une boutique) 24x18, a presby- tery 40x27, and we have hauled the timber for a chapel 60x30. What I learn from Your Grace about the lines which place Pem- bina on American territory disquiets me a little and disarranges my plans. Nevertheless I shall continue to build there, for Father Dumoulin must pass next winter there."
In the spring of 1819 Father Dumoulin went to give a mission to the voyageurs from Athabasca who gathered at the lake every year.
In August of that year a second visitation of grasshoppers occurred, the eggs deposited by them the previous year having hatched out, and even the bark on the trees was destroyed. The people at St. Boniface were compelled to move to Pembina, where, with Father Provencher, they spent the winters of 1819 and 1820. Father Provencher wrote to the bishop : "Every one is busy look- ing for food. The families are abandoning St. Boniface to go to Pembina that they may be nearer to the hunting grounds. We are put to great expense for food. Having nothing but meat to
Hist.— 14
210 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
eat, we require much of it, and we lose a great part of our time in carting this meat from the prairie. And so the work lags."
In June, 1819, Father Provencher wrote to the bishop: "See to it that the missionary and the catechist who come here next spring know English so that they may.be useful to the Catholics who speak only that language, and that they may also gain from the Protestants more honor for religion and its ministers. It is moreover necessary that those who come here be men whom one can place anywhere; for here it is necessary to fuse the functions of Martha and Mary. One must direct the spiritual and the temporal. If they are men who know nothing of building or of directing others in such matters they are of no use. The first one who offers is not fit to work here. We require grave and serious men, and men above all suspicion. In a word, we need men of judgment and ability, but at the same time full of zeal and piety. I consider Father Dumoulin a good missionary."
The schools at Pembina and St. Boniface had met with great success. At St. Boniface Father Provencher taught a class in Latin and most of the children at Pembina knew how to read and knew by heart the letter of the catechism. In May, 1819, Father Provencher returned to St. Boniface. In July Father Dumoulin went to Hudson's Bay to give a mission to the Catho- lics of that region.
On July 26th the scourge of grasshoppers again devastated all vegetation and brought suffering and discouragement to every one in the country. On August 17th Father Pierre Destrois- maisons, accompanied by a catechist, Mr. Sauve, arrived from Quebec, and on August 16th Father Provencher left for Quebec to present his report of the missions to his bishop.
The death of Lord Selkirk on April 8, 1820, led to a consolida- tion of the Hudson's Bay and Northwest companies in June, 1821 . His lordship's legal executor, his brother-in-law, Mr. Halkett, visited Pembina in 1822 and went to Hudson's Bay just before the return of Bishop Provencher to the colony. Mr. Halkett left a letter for the bishop in which he severely reproved the mission- aries for having founded the mision at Pembina, claiming it was against the wishes of Lord Selkirk and injured St. Boniface. Bishop Provencher sent his reply to this letter to Hudson's Bay by carrier on August 10th, as follows :
"The Bishop of Quebec gave me an intimation about your intentions about Pembina before my departure from Quebec.
"I see clearly that the reasons you have for abandoning that post are good, but the execution is not so easy as you think. Perhaps one may accomplish it by degrees.
"The emigration (from Pembina) is absolutely impossible this year, because no one is anxious to come and establish himself at St. Boniface to die here inevitably of hunger. Far from St. Boni- face being able to support the emigrants from Pembina, it will
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 211
be necessary for a part of the inhabitants of St. Boniface to go to Pembina again this winter to find whereon to live. We cannot leave that place this autumn. At the earliest we may abandon it next spring. From now to that time we shall try to make the people of that locality understand the necessity of moving from American territory.
When we established ourselves there we could not foresee that a treaty between England and the United States would place Pembina on the American side. The late Lord Selkirk, in asking for Catholic priests, meant, no doubt, that it was for the instruc- tion of all the Catholics of the place, and above all the Canadian half-breeds. Now the greater part of the Catholics and all the half-breeds were at Pembina and absolutely could not leave that place, to come to St. Boniface, where they could not have lived. It was necessary to go to them there. The agents of the colony approved the plan at the time openly. We must suppose that they were sufficiently instructed as to Lord Selkirk's intentions to put us en rapport with them. We have made heavy expendi- tures at Pembina, because we were given to understand that Pembina would be maintained as well as St. Boniface. For four years no one has said a word against this arrangement, and this is what has drawn so many people to that point who, if they leave Pembina today, will be more destitute than when arriving in the country.
"I agree that it would have been better to have built at St. Boniface than at Pembina; but it was impossible for us to do so for lack of provisons which it was very difficult to secure at St. Boniface.
"Rest assured that I will do all in my power to make the colony prosper. For that I have in my hands only the arms of religion, which, indeed, are most strong. I will make the best possible use of them."
Mr. Halkett replied to this letter threatening to complain to the authorities in England if his orders were not at once obeyed.
Keating, who was the geologist and historiographer of the U. S. commission under Major Long in 1823, which determined the boundary line, writes of Pembina : "The Hudson's Bay company had a fort here until the spring of 1823, when observations, made by their own astronomers, led them to suspect that it was south of the boundary line, and they therefore abandoned it, removing all that could be sent down the river with advantage. The Catholic clergyman who had been supported at this place was at the same time removed to Fort Douglas, and a large and neat chapel built by the settlers for their accommodation is now fast going to decay. The settlement consists of about 350 souls, resid- ing in sixty log houses or cabins." Keating also states that the people "appeared well satisfied that tb". whole of the settlement of Pembina, with the exception of a single log house standing
212 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
near the left bank of the river, would be included in the territory of the United States."
Beltrami, the explorer, writing from Pembina August 10, 1823, says: "The only people now remaining (in Pembina) are the Bois-brules, who have taken possession of the huts which the settlers abandoned. Two Catholic priests had also established themselves here, but as neither the government nor the company gave them any means of subsistence they went away, and the church, constructed like all the other buildings, of trunks of trees, is already falling into ruin. * * Lower down, at Fort
Douglas, there is still a bishop, Monsieur Provencais. His merit and virtues are the theme of general praise. I was told that he does not mingle politics with religion, that his zeal is not the offspring of ambition, that his piety is pure, his heart simple and generous. He does not give ostentations bounties at the expense of his creditors; he is hospitable to strangers; and dissimulation never sullies his mind or his holy and paternal ministry. Yes- terday * * * the boundary which separates the territories of the two nations was formally laid down in the name of the government and the president of the United States."
July 2, 1825, the council of the Hudson's Bay company, meet- ing at York Factory, gave expression to their appreciation of the work of the Catholic missionaries as follows :
"WHEREAS, Great benefit being experienced from the benevolent and indefatigable exertions of the Catholic missionaries at Red River in welfare of the moral and religious instructions of its numerous followers, and it being observed with much satisfaction that the influence of the mission under the direction of the Right Reverend Bishop of Juliopolis has been uniformly directed to the best interests of the settlement and of the country at large, it is
"Resolved, That in order to mark our approbation of such laud- able and disinterested conduct on the part of said mission, it be recommended to the honorable committee that a sum of fifty pounds per annum be given towards it support."
The succeeding years brought heavy trials to the missionaries and settlers in the Red River valley. In 1825 occurred a great flood from the overflow of the river, which covered all the low lands, working great damage. In October of that year there was a heavy snow storm and the winter was severe. About May 1st the ice on the river broke up and the river rose to a great height — over forty feet above the usual level — and flooded the entire country, destroying nearly everything around Fort Boniface. Many of Lord Selkirk's colonists now left the country in dis- couragement.
In 1830 the Jesuit, Father De Smet, preached to and converted a number of Mandan Indians on the Missouri river.
, STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 213
In 1830 Bishop Provencher went to Canada to raise funds ta build a cathedral and school building at St. Boniface, and on his return in 1831 was accompanied by Father George Anthony Belcourt. Father Belcourt was born at Bois du Febyre, Canada, on April 23, 1803; educated at Nicolet seminary and ordained priest on March 10, 1827, and returned to Canada in 1859.
In 1846 Father Belcourt settled on the banks of the Pembina river, and in 1848 built a chapel and convent in which there were at one time eleven nuns. Of this convent Mother Gladicia was sister superior. In this year the United States furnished him a portable saw and grist mill, by means of which he rendered valuable aid in building up the town of St. Joseph, as Walhalla was then called.
In 1848 Father Belcourt erected a small chapel north of the present city of Pembina, and thereafter divided his time between the two parishes. The inhabitants- of the country at that time were mostly French Canadians and Indians who spoke the French language. The Indians were chiefly Ojibways and Crees, and were peaceably disposed towards the whites. A post office was established in St. Joseph in 1845 with Father Belcourt as post- master.
In 1852 there occurred a terrible flood along the Eed Kiver from which the missions suffered greatly.
CHAPTER II.
In 1853 the work of evangelization among the Chippewas of the Turtle Mountain region was being carried on by zealous mission aries, aind a large cross was planted by Father Belcourt on the St. Paul butte, one of the highest peaks of the mountains, to serve as a rallying place for the Indians of that region. At that time he wrote a dictionary and grammar of the OjiMvay language which was published after his death by Father Lacombe.
In 1854 Father Belcourt visited Washington City to lay before the government the complaints and requests of the half-breeds and Indians under his charge, which, by request of the Indian commission, was placed in writing in the following patriotic letter, which describes vividly the condition of affairs at his missions of St. Joseph and Pembina:
WASHINGTON, D. C., November 20, 1854.
Honorable Sir : According to your suggestion, I will forthwith submit to you the requests, compaints, etc., that are the object of this long journey to the seat of the government.
Two years ago a petition signed by over one hundred chiefs and great men of war had been addressed to the president of the United States, but having received no answer whatever they have
214 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
been inclined to believe that their request had not reached the president's cabinet. In consequence of hearing of my intention to come to Canada, a deputation of them came and besought me to come so far and represent viva voce, to whomsoever it would become convenient, their griefs and demands, which are these:
First — The ground on each side of the Red River of Minnesota, being now very poor in furs, and the aforesaid wishing that their relatives, the half-breeds, could be firmly settled among them at Pembina, they earnestly desire that their lands may be purchased by the government ; that the said half-breeds might have a feudal right on each side of their lots, and that this treaty may be made as soon as possible—the sooner the better.
Second — They complain against the Hudson's Bay company and the British subjects, who come two or three times each year over the line, being four or five weeks at each time, hunting about on the Indians' hunting ground, to the great detriment of the Indians, particularly in the fall. When the Indians have made a choice of winter quarters, from the appearance of the buffaloes being abundant, then the British half-breeds would come, hunt, load their carts, and set to flight all the buffaloes, leaving behind them our Indians in starvation and despair.
Third — Now, for my part, I will complain, in the name of phil- anthrophy, of this mean and inhuman traffic in intoxicating liquors of the Hudson's Bay company. Our laws in regard to liquors not to be introduced on the Indian lands are well observed on the part of our traders among the Pembina Indians, but the importation of rectified spirits by the Hudson's Bay company this year is one-third of their whole importation. This rum is to be sold by their emissaries to our Indians whenever they find them over the line, by this way of conduct impovishing and demoraliz- ing our Indians, frustrating our traders of the produce of our country, and rendering useless the philanthropic laws that the wisdom of our government has promulgated for the welfare of our Indians. Nothing but an agreement between the two govern- ments could put a stop to that ever-cursed branch of commerce. For the sake of humanity, my dear sir, do use your credit to shut that door of misery and hell.
Fourth — Moreover, as commissioned from the half-breeds of Pembina county, numbering over two thousand, I have to humbly represent that being American citizens and so recognized in our territory, we invoke the protection of the government against the encroachments of the Hudson's Bay company and British sub- jects on our territory. We earnestly appeal to that part of the constitution that gives to every citizen the privilege of being pro- tected against the encroachments or insults of the strong..
I have to remark, also, that this is the third year that we are greatly annoyed by the Sisseton Sioux coming when our settle- ment becomes weak by the absence of hunters. The first year
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 215
they killed an American and wounded another man ; this year they took away more than thirty horses and killed an American woman from the window of her very house. All this is done by night and when hidden from our sight. Ten men of this kind, that we can never see, can cause as much uneasiness as ten hundred of them that we could face. The consequence is that every one, suspicioning every bush of containing an enemy, would not dare to go far, nor to take care of the fields, and so, their corn and potatoes being neglected, their crops are reduced to one-half of what thej* might have produced.
This can not fail to discourage our settlers, who till now have trusted, and yet are trusting, on a prompt and efficacious protec tion. Thousands of half-breeds were decided to emigrate from Selkirk settlement to our side of the line, who are detained bv this uneasy state of things. As soon as the government takes an official step to protect our rights, they at once will all come over the line and make the oath of allegiance, for they all dislike the Hudson's Bay company's dealings.
Fifth — I must communicate to you also a decision of a meeting of the half-breeds and Indians of Pembina county, had a few days before my departure for Washington, in which it was resolved that the next summer after the first hunting trip, that a party of war, of about five thousand men, shall go up the Missouri a little below Fort Mandan, and there separating in two corps on each side of the river, will come down the Missouri and put to death all living beings they will find in their way. This butchery I anxiously desire to stop by coming here. Could I dare to submit to you a plan that would be effectuated by our government, I would say that a company of dragoons or artillery permanently fixed at Pembina with an authorization to the officer .in charge, if necessary, to make a militia of the half-breeds to whom munitions of war and arms could be furnished in time of service, would settle all difficulties; and it is probable that this necessity of arming them would never happen, for I am certain that as soon as our glorious flag, with its lovely colors, will gaily float at the top of our fine Pembina mountain, away far will vanish our mournful thoughts, and jovial ones succeed them. A glance at it occasionally will revive us all; no Indian or British will dare insult us any more ; and thence we will soon become so strong that, far from it, every one of them will be glad to be let alone. I then earnestly beseech you to 'operate this. Why could not our government keep troops there on the boundaries as well as the British government does? Pembina is the only door of the immense basin of the Hudson's Bay, the entrance of which by sea can hardly be operated once a year, and even then this cannot be relied upon. As soon as our government has put a foot here, and given a leave of transit for the goods of England to pass free through the states, then the road will be made easy, and
REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
people will emigrate by thousands from all parts in our extremely healthy climate and fertile land.
Sixth — I will at last represent to you, my dear sir, since I have an opportunity that I probably never will again, that six years ago I founded three schools at Pembina — one French, one English and one in the Indian language — poor as I am. I had a great deal of privations to impose on myself in order to face these expenses. Last year, for the first time (for which I have to express to you my sincere gratitude), I have received five hundred dollars. Could I expect the continuation of the same assistance from our government? If it were not presumptuous on my part I would ask you if I could humbly beg some further assistance for building a house for instruction, the old one being too small. I have consecrated my life and soul to the welfare of these poor people, and knowing how kind our government is and how fatherly disposed towards them, it makes me free to address you candidly.
Would to God that this long and expensive voyage be useful to them and to our government's rights and honor.
With a due respect, your humble servant,
G. A. BELCOURT, V. G.
P. S. — Your express request could alone embolden me to write in English ; . excuse, then, my improper expressions, and do mercifully correct them.
Please honor me with a word of answer, whatever it may be, when discussions are over.
G. A. B. Hon. G. W. Many penny,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Father Belcourt's career after leaving Pembina is given as follows :
"Bishop McDonald of Charlottetown made application to Que- bec in 1859 for a French priest. Father Belcourt, who had just returned from the west, accepted the call and took charge of the Acadian parish of Kustico on the 10th of December, 1859. He remained in Rustico until September, 1869, when he was trans- ferred to a parish on the Magdalen islands, P. Q., which islands form part of this diocese. He labored in this new field for about three years, when he retired from the ministry and went to live in Shediao, New Brunswick, where he died about 1874.
Father George Anthony Belcourt has the unique distinction of having amassed a fortune during his ministry. After his retire- ment he founded and built the Farmers bank of Rustico. It was built of Island sandstone according to his own design, and stands an imposing monument to his fame.
The Treaty of Paris entered into between France and England in February, 1763, by which France relinquished to England her
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 217
title to the country of New France, did not seriously interfere with the work of the French missionary priests among the nomadic Indian tribes of the northwest, they holding devption to the principles of the church higher than the claims of nation- ality.
The work of evangelization went on among the tribes in the districts of Athabasca, Saskatchewan and McKenzie River dis- tricts, the tribes from the present region of North Dakota often visiting these districts and sharing with the native Indians and resident half-breeds the instructions of the priests. But new instructions were thereafter issued by the ecclesiastic authorities at Quebec to the officiating priests.
Instead of, as before, inculcating loyality to the French gov- ernment among the people, both red and white, of New France, now newly christened British Columbia, the duty of teaching submission to the King of England was enjoined upon them.
When Fathers Provencher and Dumoulin set forth to join Selkirk's colony of Scotchmen, then erroneously believed to be located on Canadian soil, they bore instructions in a letter dated February, 1818, from Bishop Plessis of Quebec, as follows : "They shall fix their abode near Fort Douglas (St. Boniface, Can.) and shall build there a church, dwelling and school. They shall derive their support as far as possible from the lands given them." "They shall make known to the people the advantages they possess in living under the government of his British majesty, teaching them by word and example the respect and fidelity they owe to their sovereign, accustoming them to offer to God frequent prayers for the prosperity of his most gracious majesty, of his august family, and of his empire."
This mission, founded in May, 1818, prospered until the official government survey of the international boundary line between the United States and Canada by Major Long in 1823, definitely fixed the location of the Scottish colony in the region now known as North Dakota, but then forming part of the "Territory of Mississippe." This led to the destruction of the Catholic mission at that point, as no title could be obtained to lands on the United States side of the boundary line ; and the colony, being composed exclusively of British subjects, moved to the Canadian side of the line, where a new allotment of land was made to the colonists, including the priests.
Father Dumoulin, wh.o had been a faithful priest, bearing patiently the many hardships that fell to the lot of the pioneer priest, was ordained in 1817 and after the failure of the mission at Fort Douglas went to the trading post at Fort Daer (Pembina) and under the direction of Father Provencher, then in charge of the mission at St. Boniface, established a mission there in September, 1818, where he remained until August, 1823, when he was recalled by the bishop of Canada, where he died in 1853.
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Father Destroismaisons, who aided Father Dumoulin at the Pem- bina mission, was ordained a priest in 1819 and came to the Red River in Canada in 1820. After Father Dumoulin's departure in 1823 he visited the mission regularly until 1827 when he, too, returned to Canada, never having labored in the Indian missions, although learned in the Indian language. Meanwhile Father Provencher remained in charge at St. Boniface, where he became archbishop of Juliopolis in 1821, a post which he filled most ably and gave loyal service to the cause of missions. He was greatly interested in the missions at Pembina, and bore with meekness the rebukes, ecclesiastical and governmental, that he received in consequence of having established his mission on American soil, which necessitated its removal, the Hudson's Bay company having peremptorily ordered its removal to the Canadian side; and so unhappily ended the first efforts to plant permanent missions on the American side of the international boundary line between the British possessions and the United States.
Upon the breaking up of the mission at Pembina by order of the Hudson's Bay company, who owned the lands in Canada and upon whom it was incumbent to see that none of their colonists tres- passed upon American territory, a number of the people then removed to the Canadian side of the boundary line and estab- lished the mission of St. Francis Xavier.
Although the ecclesiastical authority of the bishops of St. Boni- face did not extend beyond the bounds of British America, yet there were many priests in its jurisdiction and also in the diocese of Quebec and elsewhere in the provinces of Canada who con- stantly extended their labors across the international boundary line into the region that is now North Dakota, moved with pity for the poor, ignorant heathen Indians who never before had heard of the blessed word of God. The roving bands of Sioux having their habitation in North Dakota region used also to visit in return the camps of the friendly half-breeds in Canada and with them listen with the trusting faith of children to the instruc- tions of the missionaries. Priests were also sent from the mission headquarters at St. Boniface to accompany the Red River Valley Indians on their annual hunts, and on these occasions the solemn ritual of the mass was celebrated at sunrise every morning. On these occasions the entire tribe journeyed together and, while the able-bodied warriors went far from camp to find game to provide meat for their families, the priests remained in camp to instruct the children in the catechism and teach the women, boys and old men the principles of their religion.
In 1842 Father Ravoux began a mission at Lake Traverse. Previous to that time in 1833 Father Thibault and Father Poire had ministered to Indians south of the boundary line. Later Father Mayrand joined this band of devoted missionaries and in 1841 came Father Parveau who was unfortunatelv drowned in
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 219
1844 in Lake Manitoba. Father Borassa came to St. Boniface in 1844. In June, 1845, Father Pierre Aubert, a priest of the order of the Oblates of St. Mary Immaculate, came to St. Boniface and achieved distinction as a zealous friend to the savages. With him came also Father Alexander Antonio Tache, a member of the same religious order, Juliopolis at St. Boniface, and the large number of missionary priests then in the country.
With the coming of Ihese two zealous priests who were ordained at St. Boniface on October 12, 1845, the missions of North Dakota may be said to have been fully initiated. Bishop Tache was for many years vicar general of the American bishops, Grace, Leiden- bush and Marty, whose jurisdiction in this district began in 1852. He is the author of a valuable historical work entitled "Vingt Annees de Missions dans le Nord Oust de L. Amerique," in which all the faithful missionaries in the mission fields under his jurisdiction received honorable mention.
In 1847 Father Henri Farand, a member of the Oblates, was ordained, entered the work and accompanied the hunters south of the line on their annual trips and labored assidiously for that time in that arduous work.
Bishop Tache in his "Vingt Annees" says : "A considerable number of the population of the Red River go twice a year onto the immense plains south and west of this colony (that is, in North Dakota) to hunt bison. The hunters, who always number several hundreds, bring with them their whole families and live during four months of the summer in large camps. The numerous dangers inherent to the chase, and the more numerous and more regretable dangers of camp life, make the presence of a priest indispensable in those expeditions, during which one can always exercise a ministry both active and fruitful. There are many children who can receive religious instruction only then. The hunters ask for a priest to accompany them and their request is always granted when possible. This is what we call in this country "going to the prairies."
In 1848 a lay Catholic brother twice accompanied the Indians to the prairies on their hunting trips. In 1849 Father Tiscat and Father Maisonneuve went out with the hunting expedition, and in this year, by direction of Bishop Provencher, Father Bel- court took up his residence at the Pembina mission.
Father LaFlache in 1850 celebrated mass at Wild Rice with the hunting parties who made that place a rendezvous.
In November, 1864, Father Farand was made friar-apostolic of Athabasca, McKenzie, Can., and remained there. He died Sep- tember 26, 1900. Father Tache, as a reward for unselfish services, was made coadjutor bishop and finally became archbishop of St. Boniface, where had already been established a cathedral, college and convent. From this point thereafter priests were regularly
220 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
sent to minister to the half-breed hunters who dwelt across the boundary line in the Turtle mountains, in the Red River valley and Devils Lake region, at Lake Traverse and the Big Stone river, some going as far south as Fort Randall and west to the Missouri river.
The Indians originally claiming the part of the territory of Dakota were the tribes of the Teton Sioux. Their hunting grounds ranged from the boundary lines on the north to Fort Randall on the south and from the Red River valley to the Rocky mountains on the west. They also claimed ownership of the Black Hills. Even in those early days the question of juris- diction over the United States Indians was a disturbing element. The Hudson's Bay company, who owned the land on the Canadian side of the boundary line, and who claimed to act as conservators for the British government while cherishing and supporting Catholic missions on their own side of the line by yearly con- tributions of money and provisions, protested against the inter- ference by the priests of Canada with the Indians south of the line, and within the jurisdiction of the United States government, fearing that it might lead to international complications for which the company would receive censure. This question also caused not a little concern among the Catholic ecclesiastic au- thorities of Canada.
In 1859 Father Mestre of St. Boniface attended the Chippewa half-breeds on their bison hunt and succeeded in making a treaty of peace between them and the American Sioux.
Father Goiffon succeeded Father Belcourt as pastor of Pembina and St. Joseph in March, 1859, and had as occasional assistants Father Simonet, Father Oram, Father Andre and Father Thibault of St. Boniface. Father Goiffon, while journeying near the site of the present town of Neche, was overtaken by a snowstorm in November, 1861, and lay exposed on the prairie for five days subsisting upon the raw flesh of his horse which had succumbed to the fury of the storm. His escape seemed miraculous, as he survived after the loss of both feet and one leg, after which he returned to St. Paul.
In 1851 the diocese of St. Paul had acquired jurisdiction over the missions on the Dakota side of the Canadian line and there- after they were taken in charge by the priests of the society of the Oblates of St. Mary the Immaculate. Father Andre was installed pastor of Pembina and St. Joseph's missions, and sought diligently to effect a peace between the Sioux and the Chippewas.
In 1862 Father Andre, at the head of 300 Chippewa half-breeds, carried valuable information to General Sibley at Camp Atkinson respecting the movements of the hostile Sioux who were seeking reinforcements from the tribes west of the Missouri river.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 221
Father Andre was employed by the United States government in 1862 to visit the chiefs of the hostile Sioux in order to reconcile them to the government, but his mission although faithfully exe- cuted proved a complete failure.
In his "Vingt Annees," or history of the northwest missions, Bishop Tache narrates the same episode as follows : "During the hunt on the prairie the half-breeds of St. Joseph who accom- panied Father Andre met an American army under command of General Sibley, who were pursuing the Sioux to punish them for the horrible massacre of 1862. Our half-breeds, drawn up in line with their missionary at their head, advanced to the camp of the brave sons of the union. Arrived at the tent of the general, at the very foot of the starry banner, .Father Andre, mounted on his mettlesome charger and surrounded by his incomparable half- breed cavaliers, delivered to the general and to the American flag a veritable 'discourse en selle,' a chef-d'oeuvre of militarv elo- quence. He won the heart of the general and his staff. In the month of December the humble missionary of St. Joseph received his diploma as military agent from the United States government for the pacification of the Sioux. The good father, astounded by the unexpected fruits of his eloquence, came to St. Boniface to exhibit his parchments and to receive instructions for his new and important mission. A few days later, in the middle of the winter, he traveled over the immense plains south of St. Boniface in search of the Sioux chiefs to whom he wished to render the great service of saving them from destruction by reconciling them with their offended government." The United States recompensed Father Andre liberally for his services. If his efforts at pacifica- tion failed of complete success the fault was none of his, and the government re'cognized this fact. ' Father Andre's mission of peace took place in 1862.
However, it should be added to this that General Sibley gra- ciously received his picturesque visitors, but informed them that as they were the subjects of a foreign p'ower they could not be allowed to hunt and destroy the buffalo on American soil, and he accordingly ordered them to return to their own side of the line, an order which they promised to faithfully obey.
In 1858, upon the admission into the union of the state of Minnesota, the region lying west of the Red River valley was known locally as Pembina; this tract included all of the Red River valley on the Dakota side, including Grand Forks, Walsh, Richland, Cass and Barnes counties and other lands between the Red river and the Dakota or James river. West of the Dakota river to the Missouri the country was called "Buffalo," a name bestowed by Lewis and Clark during the expedition up the Mis- souri river in 1803.
The meaning of the word "Pembina" has long been differently construed among students of Indian ethnology. Its origin has
222 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
been variously attributed to the French, Latin, Chippewa and Sioux languages. There is little doubt that the name is a cor- ruption of the Indian name of the "high bush" cranberries so common along the streams of that region and used by the Indian women in the manufacturing of "pemmican," the Indian bread, which is made by mixing the berries with buffalo meat and fat. But in reality "Pembina" is an Indian word the meaning of which is "sanctified bread," and was given by the Sioux to desig- nate the region between the Red and Dakota rivers within whose /'imits, at designated places, the Holy Eucharist was administered to the assembled multitudes on occasions of hunting expeditions or of business conventions of the tribes. Thus the name itself perpetuates the memory of the good deeds of the brave priests who were the first to administer the blessed sacrament in the wilderness.
In regard to the meaning of the word Pembina, about which there has been some dispute, Mr. C. G. Wright says the Indian name is Ah-ne-be-me-nan, meaning "high bush cranberry." It is a compound word, "Ah neeh" is "the bush," and "me-nun" is the general term for "berry." In composition the vowel in-nun is changed to "me-nan."
I am informed that Pembina is the French term of "high bush cranberry."
The following statement by Mr. Wright fails to modify the somewhat objectionable term applied to. our largest and most beautiful lakes, ife says, "Do you know the name in Indian of Devils lake? Maneto is the general word for spirit — not for the spirit of man. Much-e signifies evil disposed or badness. Sat-gy-e-gun is the name of 'lake.' Much-e-man-e-to is the name of devil, and niuch-e-rnan-e-to sah-gy-e-gun is the full Indian name of Devils lake."
In regard as to how the Red River received its name, Rev. E. G. Wright of Oberlin, who came to Red Lake with Mr. Barnard in 1843 and was a missionary for forty years among the Chippewa Indians of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, states that the Indians informed him that under the water was another world, and that long ago there was a desperate battle there and a great many of the people and animals were killed, their blood causing the water to turn red. Others of the Indians on the Red River banks attributed its name to the bloody battles fought between the Sioux and Chippewas in canoes on the river, the blood of the slain coloring the water.
It is claimed by Professor Keating that the Indians gave the name with reference to the red berry bush that grew so luxur- iantly in that region, and was called "Aanepeminsissa" by the Chippewas.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 223
NeilFs History of Minnesota also states that Pembina county derived its name from the same berry — the high bush cranberry — extensively used by the Indians for food.
In 1871 at Fort Rice, I, with my husband, Dr. Slaughter, were members of a class of army officers and ladies in the history of the Indian language. Other members were Gen. T. L. Crittenden, commandant of the post, and his wife; Lieut. Horatio Potter, post adjutant, and son of Bishop Potter of New York. Our instructor was Dr. C. E. Goddard, who had long served as post surgeon at Fort Stevenson and was well versed in the Indian tongues. Our text book was the dictionary of the Indian lan- guage written by Kev. Dr. D. L. Riggs and published in 1853 by the United States government. This was the first Indian dic- tionary ever written in the west. Dr. Riggs was the first Protestant missionary to come to the territory, and he occupies the same position relatively in the history of the Protestant missions as Father Genin does in the history of the Catholic missions in North Dakota.
Mr. Fred Girard, who had long lived among the Indians, was the interpreter at Fort Stevenson, and was often consulted in difficult words, while "Isiah," an intelligent colored man with a Sioux wife, and who was afterward killed with General Ouster, was interpreter at Fort Rice and gave valuable information as to the meaning of certain words.
At this time we learned that the two words "Pemmican" and "Pembina" were derivatives of the same root, and that both had reference to the berry bushes of the Red River valley, the "Yir- bunim Exycoccos" of the botanist.
A form of "Pemmican" that was considered a great delicacy, was prepared by the Indian women by melting the fat of the buffalo and mixing in it shreds of buffalo meat, pounded soft, and quantities of the wild cranberries. This was poured into buffalo paunches and kept until it became cold and hard.
In the absence of bread, the priests who came from Minnesota and Canada before the establishment of missions on this side of the line, to accompany the half-breeds and natives on their annual hunts, used this species of pemmican as a substance for bread in the administration of the sacrament of holy communion while out on the prairies.
The Indian language does not possess the wealth of expressions found in the English language, by reason of its numerous quali- fying words, and it is easy to see how, in time, the Indians with their restricted ideas should designate the rite itself by the word which in their own minds was associated with "berry pemmican," or bread blessed by the priest, and in time use the same word to denote the place where the rite was administered, viz : the coun- ties in North Dakota lying west of the Red River of the North.
224 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
CHAPTER III.
Among the devoted missionaries who had extended their labors from the headquarters at St. Boniface into the Pembina region, was Father Jean Baptiste Marie Genin. He was born near Lyons, France, in 1837, and educated for the priesthood at Mar- seilles and Paris. He was brought to America in 1860 by Bishop Guiges as an instructor in the Ottawa seminary, where for three years he taught rhetoric and philosophy, but his soul was filled with pity for the ignorant Indians of the plains and he was soon at work as a missionary among the wild tribes and half-breeds in the Athabasca, McKenzie river district, and in that of the Northwest mission in Canada in regions that were then unex- plored. He began his traveling missionary labors in 1864, and passed over the country with different tribes from the Great Lakes almost to Kamchatka, teaching and baptizing the Indians while exploring and making reports to his superiors in Canada. On his return he selected as his special field of labor, northern Dakota and northern Minnesota, and traversed the country with the tribes of the Teton Sioux, who were indigenous to the region, enduring all the hardships and poverty, inseparable from their roving mode of life. During the summer and the hunting season they usually went south as far as Fort Randall, occasionally making trips to the Black Hills, which they claimed as their own, and returning to spend the winters in the sheltered timbered places along the Missouri and Red River of the North, with their headquarters near Grand Forks.
The Roman Catholic missions of North Dakota may be said to have been formally opened May, 1865, when Bishop Farand, vicar apostolic of Athabasca-McKenzie district in British North America, left St. Paul on May 3, 1865, en route to his mission and accompanied by Father Genin, member of the Society of the Oblates of Mary the Immaculate, and two other priests journey- ing in Red river carts, arrived at Fort Abercrombie on their way northward, and commenced a three days' mission to the United States soldiers and some Indian scouts and half-breeds in the vicinity.
Father Genin's services were highly appreciated by his eccle- siastical superiors in Canada, who soon solved the vexing ques- tion of jurisdiction over the United States Indians by Canadian prelates, by obtaining for him from the holy father at Rome a commission as missionary apostolic of the Roman Catholic church to the Indians of northwest America, a work in which he con- tinued for many years with marked devotion and success, until the exodus of the hostile Indians from the territory of Dakota, after which he labored as a missionary among the early settlers of the territory, closing his life of unparalleled devotion and self- sacrifice as a parish priest at Bathgate, N. D.. on January 18, 1900.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 225
During his long stay with the Indians, living as they did in privation and want, 'he received for his support the sum of 250 francs annually, or 10 pounds English money, which was paid by the "College de propaganda Fide" of Kome.
During the winter of 1865 Father Genin established the mission of St. Michaels (now Fort Totten) and founded the lodge of sorrow at Devils Lake. In 1867 at Fort Abercrombie Father Genin met the Ked river buffalo hunters to the number of 600, returning from their hunt along the Sheyenne river with both dead and dying people on their carts and seeking help after a most fierce encounter with the Sioux of the Cut Head tribe, who claimed the hunting ground. Their battle had been so fierce that the women had to burn the arrows shot by the Sioux to melt the lead to make bullets to keep their husbands able to defend themselves with their double-barrelled shotguns. One revengeful woman made bullets of wood of arrows, her dead child, killed by an arrow, still bound to her back. Some of the unfortunate half-breeds were left with but one eye, the other having been put out with arrows, and yet they had kept on the fight and effectually protected the retreat of their people. When they reached Fort Abercrombie, May 13, 1867, Father Genin had just arrived on his way back to visit the northern mission of the McKenzie River district in British America. Bishops Grandin and Tache, whom he had met at Sank Center, Minn., having secured his promise to stop for some days at Fort Abercrombie to minister to the Catholic soldiers and to instruct and baptize some Indians in the vicinity of the fort. His first attention was given to the dying half-breeds, then to the burial of the dead, and finally to the instruction of all then before him. After several days of such work, during which he gladly acknowledged the courteous atten- tion the officers and soldiers of the military post bestowed upon him, he received the sad tidings that some horses and men the bishops had ordered to meet him at the fort to escort him north- ward to his former mission would not reach him, the horses having been stolen and the men affrighted, having gone back abandoning everything the bishops had appointed for the journey. It was then that, to make himself useful and not to lose his time as a missionary, that Father Genin persuaded two Indians, who were able to speak French as well as the Sioux language, to loan him some horses and to accompany him to the great Sioux camps at Lake Traverse and Big Stone. He reached these camps June 24, 1867, and found there some 1,100 warriors assembled, their wives and children with them.
Father Genin had his mission flag, a white banner with a large red cross in the center, carried before him by an Indian on horseback, and followed closely.
At the apparition of this flag and the small accompanying party, an immense shout resounded through the hills around the
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226 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
lake, and all the Indians moved together to meet the "Black Gown," only two men kept away. The priest was welcomed and had to shake hands with and say something to every one, both old and young. This ceremony, which commenced about 1 o'clock p. m., only concluded at 7 o'clock, when the chiefs had supper served to the priest in a tent near the head of the Minnesota river. The two men mentioned above, who had ^tayed away and not presented themselves before the priest to shake hands with him, were Chief Omahakattle (Omaha killer) and his first soldier. They were the head men of the Yanktonaise Sioux, who some few weeks before had fought with the half-breed buffalo hunters, and whose fierce bands had withdrawn from .the affray, as from many other battles, with hands red with blood.
After supper these two giant-like men appeared and sat in silence before the priest and some twenty chiefs of the Sioux nation. This absolute silence lasted, as usual in such meetings, until every one present had smoked out of the great calumet of peace. This calumet was carried this time by Canta Tanka, the Great Heart, Omahakattle's first soldier and companion. After having filled this pipe with tobacco and killikinck he stood, raised his pipe toward heaven in order to make the Great Spirit smoke first, and thus obtain his supreme protection, then he passed the pipe down toward the earth, silently offering it to the evil spirit to avoid his jealousy. After this his pipe was lit and presented to the "Black Gown" and after him in succession to each of the chiefs present, the last ones to take it being Omaha- kattle and his companion. Every one having now smoked out of the same great pipe of peace, without moving from his firm seat on mother earth, and with his -eyes steadily cast down before him, Omahakattle begged permission to address the priest and said: • "Cina Papa, Black Gown, I am now old, my hair is white, it is a long time since my forefathers told me of a messenger of the Great Spirit, wearing a black gown; I have always desired to see him and have asked the favor from the Great Spirit. At last he has come. But I cannot even now raise up my eyes to look at him, I feel ashamed, I am covered with shame, for it was my people who shed the blood of so many victims, and who also fought with those people (the half-breeds) whom we hear you have adopted and given to the Great Spirit. My soldiers were not led by me to battle but acted against me, but I feel the blood of the innocent on the hands of my people cries also against me and mine. Black Gown, I am covered with shame, and yet I wish to ask you a favor, the favor of having you stay with us. You will instruct our young men and children. The religion of the Great Spirit which we will follow will prevent these children from growing up savages like ourselves. Black Gown, you will pity our children, and so long as my heart bea*ts no hand shall ever be raised against you or yours. You shall be our father and we will be your children."
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Thus spoke the Great Omahakattle, the slayer of the Omahas Thus spoke his companion, Canta Tanka, the Great Heart.
Three weeks were spent in teaching catechism, almost night and day, when at last four tribes presented themselves for bap- tism, the first who desired to become Catholics. There were ninety-nine altogether. The ceremony of baptism began at 7 o'clock a. m. and ended with the mass at 2 p. m., it being necessary that each one of the four chiefs, Sweet Corn, Burning Ground, Red Iron and Iron Heart, explain satisfactorily after the priest every article to their respective people. Thus was founded the Mission of the Sacred Heart. Then came the petitions of the representatives of several thousand Sioux of all tribes asking the priest to stay in their midst. The priest's mission flag was adopted by the Indians as the nation's flag. It happened also that at the same time the Teton tribes of the Sioux were electing and setting at their head as supreme ruler of the Indian army forces, the great warrior, Tantanka Yatanka (Sitting Bull), who now adopted Father Genin for his brother, while Black Moon, the uncle of Sitting Bull and supreme chief of all the Sioux, adopted the priest for his nephew.
The key of the country was then placed in the hands of the Black Gown, who lost no time in writing his ecclesiastic supe- riors, forwarding the petitions of these children of the wilderness. In due course of time their reply came, directing Father Genin to stay with these Indians and continue among them the mis- sionary work already started.
This reply was duly communicated to Father Genin by Bishop Tache who had carried it over from Europe. Then it was that the priest established his headquarters near the entrance of the Wild Rice river into the Red River at a deep point of timber, where the Sioux and Chippewa had their war path, and where the United States mail carriers not infrequently were stopped and their mail plundered and burnt by marauders.
From time immemorial the tAvo nations, the Sioux and the Chippewas, were deadly enemies, and it was on this path that they often met to fight to death for the glory of carrying away some scalps.
There was also war between two of the Sioux tribes, the Sisse- tonwans, who were driven out of Minnesota in 1862, found refuge in the lands of the Titonwans, but disputes in regard to the hunting lands arose, and the Titonwans attacked and nearly decimated and drove from the Cass county region the Sisseton- wans, who found an asylum with the- Wahpetonwans, who occu- pied the lands in what are now Richland and neighboring coun- ties.
There, also, since the outbreak in 1862 it was very unsafe for any white man to show himself. At this time both sides of the Red River near that spot offered marks of bloody encounters.
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On the Minnesota side, there were yet to be seen three graves of people who were mercilessly murdered ; while on the Dakota side where the Milwaukee railroad crosses the Wild Rice river there were thirteen graves marking the spot where Sioux and Chip- pewas had fought, and thirteen braves had their breasts cut open with knives, the enemy drinking their blood, yet warm, in the hollow of their hands, furious yells succeeding the awful action.
There the mission cross was, raised by the half-breeds and Indians at Father Genin's bidding, while a log building on the Minnesota side was erected by the priest to serve the triple pur- poses of church, priest's house and post office. The postmaster was the priest himself, he being appointed by the Washington authorities at the request of Governor Ramsey of Minnesota. From there Father Genin visited sixty-three Indian camps in Dakota Territory in the fall and winter of 1867 and 1868, bap- tizing a very large number of people. Another and better church was afterward built on the Dakota side of the river.
In 1861 the missions on the American side of the Canadian boundary line passed under the jurisdiction of Bishop Grace of the division of St. Paul, Minn.
Thereafter from 1861 until April, 1877, the Oblate fathers were in charge of the Red River missions, Father Genin carrying a free lance as missionary apostolic of his holiness, the pope, and receiving his orders direct from Rome. During the winters of 1867 and 1868 Father Genin celebrated mass at the junction of the Red River with the Red Lake river, a place then already called Grand Forks, which had long been a favorite winter resort for the Indians and where they usually stored their winter supplies, collected on the hunting trips during the summer. Father Genin named the mission here St. Michael's, and a church was built several years after.
The Oblates of St. Mary the Immaculate was a religious order organized in France, where they are numerous, but rare in the United States. They were the servants of servants. Their ambi- tion was to serve the lowliest. They were the friends of the criminals and the outcast. They ministered to the poorest and most distressed. They shrank not from the vilest of God's crea- tures and counted life of but little cost if given for humanity's sake. Hence Father Genin's choice of a missionary field in the wilds of northwest America.
The Hudson's Bay company established trading posts on the international boundary line between Canada and the United States, to which supplies were brought by ships to Hudson's Bay and carried overland by the employes of the company, many of whom were half-breeds.
On the advent of the Northwest Fur company, a line tff Red River carts running to St. Paul was established, and lastly navi- gation of the Red River, by the whites, by means of flat boats,
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 229
above Fort Abercrombie was begun. Each of these methods marked the beginning of an era of greater progress in the develop- ment of the new country. The solitary Indian and his canoe soon vanished from the beautiful river of the north. There was little of the nomenclature in those days to indicate the various localities of the state. Aside from "Pembina" to which all the tribes from far and near, were in the habit of resorting to receive the sacraments, the middle part of the state extending from the Pembina region to the Riviere au Jacques or James river (whose proper name is the Dakota river), was called "Du Coteau des Prairies," while the western portion bordering on the Missouri river was called "Plateau du Coteau du Missouri;" these terms being used by the Indians to designate their different hunting grounds, and were in use before Mcollet and Fremont drew their maps of the country in 1839.
Fishing, hunting and trapping formed the occupations of the men, while bead work and dressing and embroidering deer skins to be made into garments were the industries of the women, in addition to the domestic labor, providing the fuel and pre- paring the pemmican. Porcupine quills were used in their em- broidery, and much of their work had artistic merit.
Buffalo, deer and antelope were numerous at that time. The Indians dressed warmly in furs and fine painted robes. In their sheltered camps along the timbered banks of the Red, James, Sheyenne and Missouri rivers, they passed their winters in com- fort. It was not until the advent of the trading posts, where their fine robes could be purchased for a trifle, and the increasing scarcity of the fur-bearing animals on the plains forced him to adopt the red blanket of the trader as a robe, were they reduced to eat the flesh of dogs and gophers instead of the wholesome pem- mican and buffalo steak.
The coming to the region of the Hudson's Bay company as the harbinger of the hordes of white men who would follow, was the beginning of doom to the Indians of the northwest. Their glory has departed. We who have succeeded to their inheritance in this beautiful state of North Dakota, not as lawful heirs but as the beneficiaries of conquest, should sorrowfully remember their fate. Amid the dark shadows of their desperate struggle to pre- serve for their unhappy children the lands of their ancestors, there ever shines the memory of the heroic Catholic missionary, who devoted his life, his learning and his great talents to their service ; seeking to lead them to immortal life, through the knowl- edge of the true God and to instil into their pagan minds the undying truths of .religion. Think of the sacrifice! The giving up of the world and its pleasures; the sacrifice of home, friends and fortune; the immolation of worldly ambition; the casting off of racial ties and the entire dedication of himself, his intellect and his affections to the service of a filthy, ignorant race of
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pagans! All for the sake of the crucified Christ. Who can contemplate snch a sight of heroic self-abnegation without feeling his pulses thrill with faith that there exists a spark of divinity in the nature of man.
At the period upon which Father Genin assumed the duties of apostolic missionary to the Indians of that region, the bitterness of feeling engendered by the warfare in Dakota, following the Minnesota massacre, was still at its height. The Indians driven across the river near the present site of Bismarck in 1863 by General Sibley, recrossed the river after the departure of the Sibley forces and passed down to the buffalo country in the James River valley. They were pursued and overtaken by Gen- eral Sully September 3d and defeated with terrible loss to the Indians of both life and food supplies at the battle of White Stone, in what is now Dickey county, six miles north of the South Dakota line. Maddened by their losses on this occasion, they next year attacked the forces of General Sully on his second expedition, in September, 1864, that left Sioux City on June 4, having marched overland to that place from Fort Snelling, Min- nesota, and reached the site of Fort Rice, where they laid out and began to build that post.
On July 19 they left that post, being required to guard some emigrant trains on the way to Yellowstone, and went west some 112 miles, where they made a fortified camp on the Heart river July 24 and started westward again July 26. July 28 they were attacked by Sioux Indians, some 5,000 strong, who were repulsed after a bloody battle. A number of the Indians were killed, the others fighting desperately hand to hand with the soldiers, in attempting to carry off the dead; twenty-seven being killed by saber cuts alone. This battle occurred on the field of Tah-kah-o-kuty, or "place where we killed the deer," now known as the Killdeer Mountains. This battle became memorable among the Sioux and aroused intense excitement among all the Dakota tribes. Accompanying the troops was an entomologist from the Smithsonian Institution sent by the government to pursue his scientific researches along the route. While making a previous camp, the entomologist, whose name has not been preserved, but who was known among the soldiers as "the Bug Man," attended by two scouts, dismouted under some trees and were immediately fired upon by some hidden foes and the entomologist was killed, scalped and his body mutilated. The scouts fled to camp with the report. The advance guard immediately pursued the flying Indians and killed two of them. Returning to camp they were met by a courier from General Sully with orders if they succeeded in killing any Indians to cut off their heads and bring them into camp, and they went back to where the bodies had fallen and obeyed the order. The heads of the two Indians were impaled on stakes at the camp and left there bj7 the troops, General Sully
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saying that he wished to make the Indians angry so that they would give him battle at once instead of harrassing the troops on the march. It had the desired effect; the Indians attacked the troops furiously and were defeated.
An Indian's respect for, and superstition in regard to the dead of his own people are proverbial. When the maddened Indians, furious through defeat, gathered around that ghastly spectacle in the soldiers' deserted camp, each warrior vowed amid savage yells and wild contortions that in revenge he would sever double the number of heads from the shoulders of white people, wherever found.
Soon were their swift-riding couriers hastening away on fleet horses, to the east and to the north, to tell to all the tribes of the Sioux the news of the desecration of the dead bodies of their brethren. From that wild camp in the Killdeer mountains the Indian horsemen sped, and from the camps in the north and in the east, wherever the tale was told, there arose a horrid cry for vengeance on the whites.
Father Genin, then in a lied River camp, had reason to believe when the courier arrived on that September night in 1864, that his own head must fall. But by daybreak he succeeded in allay- ing the excitement and in persuading the warriors in the camp from setting out on the war path against Sully's troops.
The reader may doubt that such savage acts were ever done by white men, but it should be remembered that history has been written by the whites and not by the Indians. The atrocious acts of the Indians have been duly chronicled, but there were cruel deeds perpetrated by the white men upon the persons of the Indians that have never been recorded.
Oh ! if the Indian could but write his own history Avhat a story we should have! What a tale of wrong and outrage! A story of a people stoned and robbed! Of a nation stripped of its inheritance, driven from its home, westward and still farther west, by murderous weapons; killed like reptiles, and their shat- tered remnants penned like slaves in government reservations !
Yet while fighting for all that man holds dear, his own home and children, and lands, his bloody deeds have caused such hor- ror and inspired such hatred that there are none to pity or to help him, or to bewail his melancholy fate.
The above incident is true. Brave army officers, who partici- pated in the battle of Killdeer, justified the act under the plea of military strategy, that "all was fair in war," and that it had goaded the Indians into a pitched battle in which they were defeated at the outset of the trip, instead of following their usual tactics of skulking about the trail of the expedition watching for opportunities to stampede the teams, and to murder the strag- glers.
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It is related here to show the extreme danger incurred by this intrepid priest in his long residence and journey ings among these untaught people of the "Great American Desert," who had never heard of the gospel of Jesus that counsels love and forgiveness.
In the spring of 1869 hostilities between the Chippewas and the Sioux were re-opened and several murders were committed by the Chippewas of Leech lake. Seeing that it would not avail to invite settlers into the Red Eiver valley unless the savage incursions were stopped, Father Genin invited a convention to take place at Fort Abercrombie in August, 1870. The Indians were faithful to the call; 1,800 select braves appeared as repre- sentatives of their respective nations, 900 Sioux and 900 Chip- pewas. The convention lasted three days, closing, happily, on the day of the Assumption, August 15, by a treaty of peace signed by all the principal chiefs in the presence of the commanding officer of the fort and a great assemblage of officers, soldiers and citizens.
From that day forward, no more of these war parties were seen in our valley and no more barbarities were heard of. The protec- tion of the cross was very evident in the country.
This new treaty, entered into voluntarily among themselves by the Sioux and the Chippewas at the invitation of the priest, put an end to all those horrors of which we had a sickening display in the Minnesota massacre in 1862.
At the same time and place there was also enacted another law through the intervention of Father Genin, which entitles him to the name of "Father of Prohibition" in North Dakota. The great evil among the Indians at that time was the sale of intox;- cating liquor, a legalized traffic, by the fur traders and post traders at the military posts. Sitting Bull never did things by halves, and when importuned by Father Genin to forbid the sale to his people, he decreed the pain of death against any person, red, white or black, who should be found guilty of selling or giving spirituous liquors of any kind to any of his people. The same penalty was decreed against any of his tribe who might have bought or received spirituous liquors, and would refuse to reveal the name of the party from whom he received it. This law, proclaimed and approved at the nation's council in June, 1867, was the first prohibition law in North Dakota, and was rigidly enforced.
In that manner the most effective kind of prohibition was public action.
The "Black Gown" had at once a fair field for his zeal, and the wVites an efficacious protection for the settlements which promptly began to open, in which good work he continued until in the place of the buffalo and Indian tepees there grew up the beautiful state of North Dakota, showing forth as the true gran-
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ary of the universe, with numerous and handsome cities, and Catholic parishes forming a new and great diocese.
In 1877 Father Genin contributed a series of articles to The New York Freeman's Journal, written from various points in his mission field in North Dakota and northern Montana, from which I shall now quote liberally as containing matters of his- tory valuable to the people of this state.
From New York Freeman's Journal, January 27, 1877: "Should we arrogate to ourselves superior privileges because we have a white skin? Because providence has been unto us more benign than unto others, should we treat them contumeliously ? Should we not rather after that amiable perfection which consists in doing as we would be done unto, and as God bestows on us superior gifts, consider ourselves bound to make superior exertion in diffusing happiness?
"Our people have seen the Indian despised; they have been taught to consider him inferior to themselves. They have unfor- tunately mistaken his situation for his nature and have become dead to the wrong done him. Many, many times have I been asked, Is there any feeling in the Indian's heart? I will state to you one or two facts and you shall judge.
"At the time of one of my visits to the Sioux at Big Stone lake in Dakota, near the headwaters of the Minnesota river, in 1867 ^ I baptised one morning before mass thirty-five 'young Indians. They were ranging from 5 and 6 to 12 and 13 years of age. The tribe was very poor, for the buffalo were very scarce and they had failed to provide sufficient food. I was poor myself, very poor, and my provisions were all gone. After mass, I was sur- prised to see all my young Catholic Indians disappear. I asked the chief, 'Sweet Corn' (Wasuitsiapa), my faithful friend, where have all the children gone? 'They will soon be back,' he said. I was hardly through with my thanksgiving, when the young crowd returned, each holding and presenting to me from two to five muskrat skins. 'What is that for, my children?' I said. They answered, 'Father, we are very poor and have only got muskrat meat to eat; we think you would not like it very well, white people never do. You have not much yourself. You will exchange these furs for pork at the trader's store. That will do you better.' Was there any feeling in those young Indians' hearts?
"In 1872, while the Dakota division of the Northern Pacific railroad was being graded, I happened one day in July to be in company with Mr. Kennedy of the grading contractors near the Pipestem, a little stream tributary to the Dakota (James) river, when a tall Indian came to meet us. He took me by the hand and held it so tightly that I thought he would break my fingers; he kept looking at the heavens for many minutes and speaking to the Great Spirit, thanking him that at last he had my hand in his, then he said to me. 'I come from Sitting Bull's
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camp. I am a Teton. I come to ask you one question in the name of our people. Do you love the whites so much better than you do us? or do you suppose that we love you less than they do?' 'Why?' I asked. 'Because,' he replied, 'you spend nearly all your time with them and we cannot see you at all, although we desire you very much.' In my estimation there was a great deal of feeling in that expression.
''The Journal is doing a good work. Mr. McMasters is raising a list of good people, who will help the poor Indians with their prayers and other means. Truly, if Jesus Christ, our Lord, is willing to promise a recompense for a glass of cold water given in his adorable name, your subscribers and yourself will obtain a rich reward for helping the cause of the most despised of all mankind, among whom also Jesus Christ numbers many faithful followers. May the readers of your columns bring before the proper authorities in congress the cause of the poor Indians and save them from oppression and the country from bloodshed and depredation."
"Yours respectfully,
"B. M. GENIN, "Missionary Apostolic."
CHAPTER IV.
The issue of the New York Freeman's Journal of April, 1877, contained the following letter from Father Genin :
"Devils Lake Indian Agency, Fort Totten, D. T., April 19, 1877: Since I wrote you last I have moved westward about 500 miles, about half way through my mission. I arrived here from Bis- marck last Friday evening. I have not visited this place since July, 1873, when on my return from the Yellowstone I blessed and located the cornerstone of what is now the Convent of the Gray Nuns, who have charge of the industrial school of our young Sisseton, Wahpeton and Butthead Sioux of 'this agency.
"The first object that rejoiced my sight was the beautiful cross which I planted on that bluff of .the Heart, nine years ago the 4th of last March. The Heart is an elevation of land in the perfect shape of a heart, situated in the middle of a splendid bay on the south shore of Devils lake. It is many hundred feet above the level of the sea, and the highest and prettiest of bluffs on the Dakota prairies. It was called by old people the 'devil's heart,' probably because of being so close to the shore of Devils lake. The appellation of Devils lake is due to a legend stating that a huge monster lived on one of the islands of this lake, and had devoured several persons ; no one ever dared to go ill to the middle island, on account of that being supposed to be the abode of the monster.
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"March 4, 1868, surrounded by 500 Catholic half-breeds and about 900 Sioux, I sang high mass at the Silver spring on the lake shore, about three miles north of the Heart. I distributed forty-five first communions, blessed the waters of the lake and changed its name to St. Michael's lake. For that ceremony we went in procession upon the lake after mass singing Indian Catholic hymns. Our procession was headed by the banner of St. Mary Immaculate, the cross, and a bell which was rung con- tinually.
"After our return from the lake to the place where mass had been celebrated, we stopped near the Silver springs, and the large cross, some thirty feet high, made of good white oak, was solemnly blessed, after which we started again to take the cross to the Heart where it now stands. The crowd listened reverently to the first sermon ever preached on the 'devil's heart,' and then all united in prayers at the foot of the cross. Since then the bluff is called the Sacred Heart.
"The Gray Nuns of Montreal being called upon by Kt. Kev. Bishop Grace, came to this agency in October, 1874, and took charge of the school; while a devoted French-Canadian priest, Rev. Father Bounin, who came with them, gave his attention to the Indians and whites of this mission.
"If the cross rejoiced my sight, standing where I had planted it in the name of God, my heart was no less rejoiced to see what fruits had grown here, at the foot, and under the protection of the cross, from seed that I had planted more than twelve years before. I found the school house full of young Indians whom I had seen before filthy and wild, but now truly neat, affectionate, and having made wonderful progress in reading and writing, both in English and Sioux, in arithmetic, in manual labor, etc. Soon their neat but poor chapel filled at my arrival. Led by the good sisters they came in two by two and sang our beautiful Catholic hymns with as perfect accord as any choir of musicians can do. How consoling was this to the heart of the traveling missionary !
"On one occasion in 1876 the children of this mission wrote a letter in English to the honorable commissioner of Indian affairs.
"The Catholic half-breeds have all moved westward from here since 1868 along with many of the Teton Sioux, leaving at this place only the reservation Indians and employes of the agency. The Indians have made such progress that one might fancy himself among a different people.
"It may not be out of place to state here how the priest was received in those by-gone times, by the Indian and half-breed camps on the wild prairies of the west. I say it may not be out of place, for it may have the good effect of opening the eyes of those who think everything good bound in a white skin, and who,
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because they hear or read of some Indian depredations, despise all Indians and stand ready to start out expeditions to kill them at any time.
"This inhuman feeling is shared even by some who call them- selves ministers of God, strange to say, and they who hold in their hands the blessings and favors of the Most High, led by prejudice, have only a smile of pity for those whose better impulse is for bringing before the eyes of the child of our deserts, the light of saving faith.
"As soon as it became known in an Indian or half-breed camp that the priest was willing to visit them, two or more of the best men were sent to meet him, two, three, four, five, even ten days' travel. Accompanying him, they would prepare his meals, make his bed, carefully stretching buffalo robes in the most sheltered place, on the snow in winter, on the prairie in the sum- mer, watch over him by night, etc.
"On his arrival at the camp he would meet the good people standing in two rows on each side of his passage, with the children in front of them as if protected by the innocence of the latter, they would dare to face the minister of Christ. All would fall on their knees, and the young men fire their guns, whilst the priest was giving them his blessing.
"In the winter of 1868 I visited sixty-three camps in Dakota, always meeting with the same display of piety and devotion of my people.
"Arrived at the camp, the people gathered around him, the priest had no need of great eloquence to persuade them to make their confessions; but if he had the patience and strength, he would not have moved from his seat before he would have heard every one in the camp. Even as some white people are anxious to wait, the half-breeds and Indians are anxious to go ahead and bp the first to be heard. It matters not if they have a long distance to walk in the snow, slush or mud.
"I was with my Chippewas of Lake Superior in February last, at Bayfield, Lapointe, Bad Eiver, etc., etc. The little church happening to be crowded, some poor women who had walked four miles fasting, with children on their arms, and who had not been able to arrive before morning mass, were seen waiting until 11 and 12 o'clock, then confess, receive holy communion, and walk four miles back to their homes before they could taste food. I would like to know where there could be found a more earnest proof of sincerity in the practice of our faith.
"On the nineteenth of the same month, returning from Bad Eiver and being on my way to Lapointe, I happened to break through the ice, and sleigh, horse, priest, driver and all went down. We succeeded in saving our own lives, but after three- quarters of an hour's effort, we were obliged to abandon our horse, the only possession of a poor Indian family who had
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cheerfully offered its services to take me to my destination. My altar fixtures, vestments, etc., were rescued although wet, but my altar bread-iron went to the bottom. As soon as the Indians heard of this they came in a hurry, but the men were anticipated by a strong, powerful, middle-aged woman, who, bearing an ax, hastened to the neighboring island, cut down whole trees, and made a large fire to dry the priest's clothes; soon after which I left with a new team, but the Indians would not leave the spot until by means of poles tied together they succeeded in finding and taking out the altar bread-iron. They worked a long time, and in cold weather, too, but kept their word not to take any rest until the altar bread-iron was found, and they brought it to me across the bay to Lapointe, a distance of eighteen miles, on foot. Their object in this was to save from the water an article consecrated to the service of the church. They risked their own lives for it; no matter, they would not, they could not rest until they had it all right.
"I know of very few white people who would have done as much. For three or four weeks I was engaged in the work of those missions. The churches or chapels are from eighteen to twenty miles apart, and the poor Indians and half-breeds there subsist mostly on fish, which they get in that season through holes made in the ice. It is precarious work. If the fish are not caught, all of them, children included, may fast for whole days. Nevertheless the attendance at mass every morning was very large in every place and in fact men, women and children found it a pleasure to come ten, twelve, fifteen miles on foot on the ice to be present at the mystical immolation of the Divine Lamb in the morning sacrifice. It is plainly to be seen that the Indians are far from being without feeling — and that the priest who devote.s his life to their spiritual instruction loses not his time.
"At the time the accident above related happened to me, had I been able to write, I would have appealed to the charity of your subscribers to help me buy another pony for that poor Indian family, who suffered the loss of the one I was using then, and who were left destitute by its loss, but I was too ill as a result of the accident. Subsequently Rt. Rev. Bishop Heiss sent flOO for me to distribute according to the need, and I bought them another horse.
"Rt. Rev. Bishop Heiss is not rich himself, besides having lots of Indian missions in great poverty. The Indian missions of Bayfield, Lapointe and Bad River number 1,800 Catholic Indians They are under a Protestant agent, although they have petitioned for years the government and the Catholic Indian Bureau for a Catholic agent. Nobody thinks of them. Nobody seems to take any interest in any matter relating to them. They feel very bad that all their appeals should be in vain. They have a church
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that they built themselves, while the Methodists have some built by the government, where they have about half a dozen followers.
"These poor people are now trying to catch a surplus of fish, to sell and make funds to buy a bell and some vestments for their altar.
"There, as well as here, with the sisters who teach the young Sioux, there is complete povert'y even in things belonging to the altar. No assistance is extended to these poor people in their most praiseAvorthy and courageous efforts. Would it be pos- sible for you, my dear sir, to set apart a small share of the alms offered by subscribers, to your Indian fund for these two beautiful missions? I would be thankful for an answer to this question when I return from my trip to the west — about July 25. In two or three days I leave here for Sitting Bull's camp in company with one of Sitting Bull's relatives, who comes along to carry my mission flag. We will visit all the camps of the hostile Sioux, all the half-breed camps, and Assinaboines. I do not anticipate being able to write again until I reach Fort Benton. I remain "Yours truly in Jesus Christ,
"J. B. M. GENIN, Priest, "Missionary Apostolic.
"P. S.: I send herewith samples of the work done by young Sioux girls of this agency. I also send samples of Sioux scapu- lars, which I find preferable to place on the Indians' shoulders in place of medals, which they sometimes lose too easily.
"As they become catechumens and leave off their armlets, col- lars of bear's teeth, etc., they put on that scapular of which they are very proud. You will remark that the inscriptions on the scapular are 'Jesu cante ad me Yuzan,' which means 'Jesus, incline towards me thy heart,' and 'Mari, ni cinxi maya,' 'Mary, adopt me for thy child.' Thus they carry on them constantly the prayer whose accomplishment brings them to the regenerat- ing waters of baptism. Perhaps some of your acquaintances could continue the good work by getting some more made. Our supply is about exhausted. J. B. M. G."
The treaty of 1869 with the Sioux by the United States govern- ment, commonly known as the Sherman treaty, after describing the limits of the land reserved provided: "And the United States now solemnly agrees that no person or persons shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon or reside in the territory described in this article," and, further, "The United States here- by agrees and stipulates that the country north of the North Platte river and east of the Big Horn mountains shall be held and considered to be unceded Indian territory, and also stipulates and agrees that no white persons shall be permitted to settle upon or occupy any portion of the same, without the consent of the Indians first had and obtained to pass through the same, and
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that the road leading to them and by them to the territory of Montana shall be closed."
The violating of this treaty by the surveying expeditions of the Northern Pacific railroad, under escort of the United States troops, caused much excitement among the Indians, especially among the Teton Sioux who claimed ownership of the Black Hills.
In June, 1867, at the great Sioux camps at Lake Traverse and Big Stone, at the convention which elected Sitting Bull war chieftain of the Tetons, a law was adopted by all tribes of the Sioux subject to the rule of the supreme chief of the nation, Black Moon, "That any Indian who would show the gold fields in the Black Hills to white men should die, and the whites thus made aware of the presence of gold there should also die, for fear the country would be nken from them."
The records of those early days of Indian missions are few and incomplete. The traveling missionaries had few facilities for making or preserving written reports, and as is usually the case in new countries, the value of early records was not appreciated, and some valuable documents were destroyed in the destruction of the monastery in St. Boniface in 1860. The mission at Fort Totten also suffered the loss of some of its buildings in 1883. But the good works of the early missionaries live in the memory of the pioneers of this state. Especially do those of Father Genin, whose authority as missionary apostolic was derived from the holy father, the pope, and whose reports were made likewise to Rome. Fortunately Father Genin's personal notes of his mis- sionary work in Dakota have been preserved.
Hon. G. J. Keeney, a pioneer of Cass county and the first school teacher of Fargo, wrote thus of Father Genin's work in Dakota :
"The first church service I attended in North Dakota was at the Holy Cross mission. I was looking for the signs of a possible railroad survey early in the summer of 1872 and when near the mouth of the Wild Kir e river, looming up before us was a large cross. I was not much given to church thoughts in those days, but I stood still and took off my hat to that cross. Going down into the bend of the river I saw Father Genin making hay with some Indians and half-breed assistants. He was in priestly garb, but was doing good work with the fork. Father Genin saw us when we were yet far off, and came to meet us. We spent a most delightful day with him and were amazed with the amount of work this lone priest was doing in the wilderness. He had under his charge all the Indians and half-breeds from Grand Forks to the head of Big Stone lake. They were entirely under his influ- ence and were governed by his advice, which was always for good, and during those earlier years I never knew one of his people to commit a theft or in any way molest the settlers. In 1872 I traveled for over eighty miles in a northerly direction
240 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
from Fort Renard, and in traveling that distance saw no sign of civilization. Imagine our surprise when, in driving up out of a ravine, we saw looming up before us on a high butte a gigantic cross ; it must have been forty feet high, and as it outlined against the blue sky it was calculated to make a vivid and lasting im- pression on the mind of anyone seeing it. I asked Father Geniri afterward why he had placed.it there. 'For the good it might do,' was the reply. 'Were you not the better for seeing it?' In fact, as I afterward learned, it was a gathering place for Father Genin's people who were scattered about in that vast stretch of country, where once each year he went to baptize the infants and receive into the church those of proper age and to advise and counsel with all who came. His word was the only restrain- ing influence they recognized, and his word was always for peace and quiet."
CHAPTER V.
The location of military forts in the region of North Dakota and the concentration of many of the Indians upon the agency reservations adjacent thereto, wrought a complete change in the condition of the inhabitants. The buffalo, their main dependence for food, was disappearing, and the hostiles migrated westward. The location of the United States soldiers in the new military stations of Fort Buford, at the site of old Fort Union, Fort Stevenson, Fort Eice and Fort Totten and the reinforcement of old Fort Abercrombie, as a result of the Sioux massacre, led to the exodus of the great body of hostiles, while at the Indian agencies at Fort Totten, Fort Berthold and Standing Rock, now Fort Yates, were gathered thousands of the red men who professed a desire for peace. Fort Pembina was erected in 1870 by the United States government. Under the shelter of the United States army the Catholic fathers founded their missions, and although receiv- ing no aid from the United States government, which favored and aided Protestant missions, alone they labored for the conversion of the Indians to their faith, performing many acts of heroism.
At Fort Rice in 1871 I saw a priest who, having arrived with his horse and buggy on a steamboat from Sioux City three days after the departure of the Stanley expedition to the Yellowstone and, nothing daunted by the dangers from hostiles, set forth alone in his little buggy and overtook the command in safety, the angry Sioux whom he met on the way respecting his cross and sacred vestments. I grieve to say that I have forgotten the name of this intrepid priest, but his example is proof of the divine courage that animated the breasts of the noble pioneers of the church in those early days in Dakota territory.
My acquaintance with Father Genin began thirty-two years ago, when I came to the Merchants hotel in St. Paul with my
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 241
husband, the late Major Slaughter, U. S. A., who was under orders from Washington to report at the military headquarters of the department of Dakota, prior to leaving for his post of duty at Fort Rice, D. T., some thirty miles south of the present site of Bismarck. The country west of the Bed River being unsettled, the route was then by stream down the Mississippi river to Dubuque, Iowa; thence by rail to Sioux City," Iowa, and thence up the Missouri river by steamer to Fort Rice. It being early in the season we remained some time in St. Paul waiting for the river to open at Sioux City.
Dr. Slaughter was devoted to antiquarian pursuits and was then interested in the study of ancient Free Masonry. We heard much at army headquarters of Father Genin, the learned and pious priest, who had lived many years among the Indians as a missionary and had made a study of their mystic rites and cere- monies and who had made wonderful discoveries in regard to the ethnology of the American Indians. It was said that as a result of his discoveries the relators were convinced that many of the sacred rites secretly practiced by the Indian tribes were nearly identical with some obsolete ceremonials once forming part of the rites of ancient Masonry, giving ground for belief that all had a common origin at the building of King Solomon's temple. It was said that some tribes had preserved a wTell denned tra- dition of the building of the tower of Babel and other biblical stories, thus showing that at some remote period of antiquity they .must have had association with the ancestors of the white man. Dr. Slaughter was greatly interested and wrote to Father Genin at Duluth, and with his reply from the woody mountain country in Montana there was formed a friendship that never faltered until the death of the former in 1896, a friendship that was cemented still closer when we met Father Genin in Dakota and found that he too was a skilled surgeon and physician, having acquired these sciences in his native land of France that he might be more useful as a missionary among savage tribes. .
July 2, 1864, congress passed a law giving the right of way across Dakota territory to the Northern Pacific railroad. In July, 1869, a Northern Pacific exploring party, consisting of some forty-five prominent Americans, arrived at Father Genin's mission of Holy Cross, and were amazed at the vast amount of work that he had done. Of this party were Jay Cooke, Gregory Smith, governor of Vermont, ex-Governor Marshall of Minnesota, etc., etc. While Governor Smith addressed Father Genin, Jay Cooke made up a purse for him from the offerings of all present. The acting president of the railroad, Mr. Smith, assured Father Genin that his good work would not be forgotten when the railroad should be put in operation. The promise was faithfully kept. Not only was Father Genin remembered with a free pass for ten years, but a number of new settlers and some twenty-
Hist.-16
242 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
seven carloads of lumber were passed free from the Northern Pacific Junction in Minnesota all along the line of railroad operated by this company.
Surveying parties of the Northern Pacific railroad arrived at Fort Rice in 1871 and 1872 and went northwestward as far as the Yellowstone river, under command of Generals Whistler and Stanley. In June; 1872, Fort Abraham Lincoln was established on the west side of the Missouri opposite the point then selected as the crossing of the river by the projected railroad by a board of army officers of which our relative, General Crittenden, post commandant of Fort Kice, was president, and my husband, Major Slaughter, post surgeon at Kice, was recorder. Camp Green, a temporary post, had been established in May, 1872, at the mouth of the Heart river. Tn August, 1872, Camp Hancock was estabr lished at the present site of Bismarck, also Camp Seward at Jamestown. The object of all these forts was the protection of the engineers of the railroad and the settlers expecting to locate along its line against the Indians, of whom roaming parties in- tent on mischief still traversed the country.
The site of Bismarck with the great meadows adjoining had been a favorite summer resort of the Sioux, and Father Genin had frequently celebrated mass on this spot with the Teton tribes of the Red River, who here met in council the Uncpapa Sioux of the Fort Rice region and the other tribes west of the river who were engaged in fighting the Crows in the northwest.
Upon the completion of the Northern Pacific Father Genin made good use of his pass. In 1872 the Indians, save those gathered into the agencies or military post reservations, had left the territory of Dakota, and the faithful priest turned his atten- tion to the religious needs of the new settlers.
In 1872 and 1873 he built the first Catholic church and priest's house in Moorhead, Minn., and the Catholic church, now the cathedral, at Duluth, Minn. In 1874-75 he was engaged in build- ing the first Catholic church in Bismarck, D. T. Father Genin named the Moorhead church the St. Joseph's and the Bismarck church the Immaculate Conception, but the name was afterwards changed to St. Mary's. It was "while engaged in building the church in Bismarck that we knew Father Genin most intimately. He encountered many difficulties while constructing the building, not the least of which was the unskilled labor which he was com- pelled to employ to assist him in his work, which he not only per- sonally superintended but labored side by side with his workmen. On one occasion he sustained a severe fall from the walls of the building, which injured him greatly and caused him severe suffer- ing, but it did not prevent him from laboring as before.
One great cause of annoyance was that when the building was raised and enclosed it swayed to one side, and when, with great effort, it was restored to its proper equilibrium, it would sway
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 243
correspondingly to the other side, yet he kept faithfully at work trying patiently to remedy the difficulty, but without avail. Finally an old settler of Bismarck, Saul Sunderland by name, a sort of universal genius, came to the rescue and righted the structure so that it stood firmly on its base. There were no bounds to the gratitude and happiness of Father Genin when that good work was accomplished. On the day when the church was dedicated the countenance of Father Genin, always mild and serene, now, as he led the procession, glowed with an ex- pression of such divine feeling and ineffable happiness that all who beheld it were deeply impressed.
Father Genin was at all times a man most prepossessing in appearance. His complexion was unusually fair, and with rose tints in the cheeks and lips, with brown hair, long blond whiskers and clear smiling eyes, he was wholesome to look upon. But in the expression of his countenance lay the charm that won all hearts to instinctive recognition of the gentleness and loyalty of the soul within. From the time of our first meeting with Father Genin at Fort Rice, my husband and I had been puzzled by his familiar resemblance to some other person whom we knew, or thought we had seen, but whose name and identity we could not recall. We spoke often of this illusive resemblance, but neither could solve the mystery. It was our custom at that time to walk each pleasant evening from the Bismarck post office, opposite Camp Hancock, past lower Main street where the new church was being constructed, toward the river, and we never failed to call and see Father Genin at his work, for he kept at work until sundown. On one occasion as we returned from our walk we found him, clad in his priestly garb', for he never laid aside his robes during his labors, his small plump hands holding a plane as he wrought at a carpenter's bench. Hearing our ap- proach he turned toward us, his face radiant with pleasant greet- ing and lighted up with the glow of the setting sun. Then we both remembered who it was that he resembled, and moved by the same thought we turned simultaneously toward each other, each one murmuring "St. John, the beloved disciple."
We had in our possession a beautiful painting of "The Last Supper" showing the divinely beautiful face of St. John as he leaned on Jesus' breast, and now like a flash the discernment had come to us both at once that this was the face to which the countenance of this humble, hard working, unassuming priest bore so great a resemblance.
A memorable event in the history of Bismarck was the ride on a handcar by Father Genin in 1875 to save the life of a poor negro named George Washington McNear, who had been sen- tenced to be hanged. A Swede settler named John Peterson, who had filed on a homestead several miles above Bismarck near the river, was found dead on his claim, having been killed by a shot-
244 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
gun fired close to his face while engaged in chopping a log of wood near his cabin. Suspicion rested upon some neighboring claim-holders who had been disputing with him the ownership of part of the claim upon which he was living, but nothing could be proven against them. The commissioners of Burleigh county then offered $500 reward for the conviction of the murderer. While the coroner's inquest was in progress, Sheriff Charles McCarthy and U. S. Deputy Marshal Charles F. Miller went up the river in a sleigh to serve summons on some witnesses, and on their return drove into an air hole in the river and were "drowned. The successor of Sheriff McCarthy being found incompetent, another man was appointed sheriff by the commissioners of Bur- leigh county.
The negro, then in jail, was now accused. He was a half- witted cook on a steamboat then lying in the ice at the Bismarck landing. He was induced to confess to the crime of having shot Peterson by being taken from the jail to the cellar of John W. Proctor's house, where he was frightened by a number of men in the room above who pretended to be searching for the negro in order to hang him. Being promised safety on condition of con fessing he agreed to do so, and Rev. I. C. Sloan, pastor of the Presbyterian church, was sent for to witness his confession. On this testimony he was condemned to death. Much feeling was aroused in Bismarck by this action, and the negro's employers and other steamboat men gave him a good character.
There was no motive for the crime, and the people felt that a confession obtained under duress and fright was not sufficient evidence to warrant a death penalty.
A petition to the governor of the territory was drawn up by Dr. Slaughter and signed by nearly everyone in Bismarck, who called at the Bismarck post office, asking commutation of the sentence.
But, unfortunately, the trains on the Northern Pacific railroad had ceased running, and there was no way to forward the petition tb the governor at Yankton. Father Geiiin intsantly volunteered to take the petition to Fargo on a handcar, and he did so, tele- graphing its contents to the territorial capital and receiving back from the governor an immediate commutation of the death sen- tence to life imprisonment. The .negro was subsequently par- doned and set free. In 1899 Father Genin wrote me the follow- ing letter :
"Church of St. Anthony, "Bathgate, N. D., August 10, 1899. "Mrs. Linda W. Slaughter: • t
"Dear Mrs. Slaughter : Will y*u be so kind as to procure for me a, copy of "My Kide on a Handcar'" from Bismarck to Fargo, on
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 245
the evening of the day on which was to take place the hanging of the negro, George Washington McNear, an execution that was prevented by your kind exertion. The Tribune published an article on the event of the day, and my ride to Fargo on a hand- car. By procuring me a copy, you would greatly oblige, "Your humble servant,
"J. B. M. GENIN, M. A."
In reply to my letter informing him that the copies of the Tribune of that date had been destroyed by fire, he rejoined :
"Church of St. Anthony, "Bath gate, N. D., Aug 23, 1899.
"Dear Mrs. Slaughter: I might make you wait too long for the description you desire of my "Sail on a Handcar" on the N. P. railroad on the occasion of the intended execution of the poor negro, accused wrongfully as you and I believed. I am gaining some strength but very slowly. I thought of giving you a tracer. The son of ex-Governor Rusk of Wisconsin was with me, and was the one who had an interview in St. Paul by the Pioneer, and also the Press people, who published a long article on the sub- ject. Most probably the Rusk family have preserved it. The Du- luth Tribune reproduced it from the Bismarck Tribune.
"I fear I will trouble you too much, but I wish you would ask of the 'New York Herald' folks to let you have a copy of the front page of the Herald of July 2, 1879. You will find in it two columns of interesting matter about Sitting Bull and myself.
"Please write to me soon — my best wishes to you.
"J. B. M. GENIN, M. A."
After his completion of his work of church building along the line of the Northern Pacific railroad in 1876, Father Genin was occupied with the Indian missions in northern Minnesota and Dakota, especially those along the St. Louis river, the inter- national boundary line, and in the Turtle mountains, having his headquarters alternately at Duluth and in the camps of the hos- tile Sioux Indians under Sitting Bull in northern Montana.
In 1877 the Catholic missions of western Dakota passed under the control of the good Bishop Seidenbush of the diocese of St. Cloud, Minn. The new priests sent into the territory this year to attend to the missions at the Indian agencies along the Mis- .souri river belonged to the order of St. Benedict and came from the Benedictine monastary of St. Mienrad's, Indiana. Among these was Bishop Martin Martz, formerly abbot of St. Mienrad's, who labored faithfully in the southern part of the territory and spent one winter at Standing Rock, now Fort Yates. Father Somereisen was stationed at Fort Buford. The excellent Father L'Hiver, now of Dunseith, as the faithful pastor of the Yankton agency and afterwards in the Grand Forks district, accom-
246 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
plished work both among the whites and Indians that commends him to the grateful remembrance of the people of both North and South Dakota. The amiable and learned Father Jerome Hunt, now of Fort Totten agency, likewise labored at Standing Eock agency. His Bible stories and newspaper printed in the Sioux language entitle him to enduring fame.
Father Malo, now pastor of Elbowoods, N. D., was a Canadian priest who came to the United States and assisted in organizing the Catholic Indian Bureau in Washington, D. C. In 1879 he was sent to Yankton, D. T., and worked there among the Indians for three years. Coming to North Dakota in 1882 with a colony of settlers, and establishing St. John's mission in 1884, he located there permanently. Father Tomasin and Father LaFlock were also familiar names in those days, and many others that I cannot now recall, all good men and true and an honor to the priesthood.
Father Genin was idolized by the Indians and half-breeds of the northwest as no other man has ever been. Whenever he ap- proached a Catholic camp in the hostile region with his mission- ary flag carried by an orphan Indian boy whom he had adopted, all the warriors in the camp would rush forth to meet him and falling upon one knee would fire volley after volley of salutes from their guns into the air.
This noisy manner of greeting a priest excited suspicion in the minds of some army officers at military posts who were already jealous of Father Genin's influence with the hostiles, and one of them reported to Washington in 1879 his suspicion that Father Genin was supplying the Indians with guns and ammunition.
This was unkind in the representative of a government that had long been supplying the agency Indians guns and mutnitions of war which surely found their way into the hostile camps. For a time spies were employed and paid to watch Father Genin's movements until his friends discovered it and the charge was triumphantly disproved, and the army officer who had rashly made the charge had reason to regret his action before his death.
In 1878 Father Genin found other difficulties besides hunger and fatigue and winter cold and summer heat to contend with. No earthly system of religion is so perfect that all of its votaries are exempt from jealousies. There were those who felt that Father Genin's work eclipsed their own, and complaints were made that in administering to the Indians of Dakota he had trespassed on bounds that had been assigned by the new bishop to new arrivals in the mission fields of North Dakota. Uncon- scious of any wrong, he pursued his old course among his red brethren, and thereby offended some who claimed superior juris- diction in the territory.
It must be remembered that Father Genin was a member legally of the Teton tribe of the Sioux nation, having been legally adopt- ed into the family of Black Moon, the high chief of the nation.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 247
as a nephew, and by Sitting Bull, the head warrior of th.e Sioux nation, as his brother. The ceremony of adoption was performed with all the mystic rites common to such occasions, which in- cluded the letting of blood, at the nation's annual council held at Lake Traverse in June, 1867. He was also invested with the office of prophet or spiritual director of the nation, and there- after his advice was sought on all occasions of importance. It is needless to say that his counsel was always for peace and for- bearance, and such was his influence for good with these leaders of the Sioux that neither Black Moon nor Sitting Bull ever fought with the white men until compelled to fight General Ouster in the battle of the Little Big Horn. Even had he not carried authority from the pope, the supreme head of the church, at Rome, he was the chosen minister and spiritual teacher of the Sioux nation, elected in solemn council of all the tribes, and in his position as a connecting link between the whites and the Indians was animated constantly with the desire to promote peace and harmony between the two classes. No system -of re- ligion is so perfect that human weaknesses are not sometimes manifest among the devotees. Father Genin's high position, the trust and confidence in him shown by his ecclesiastic superiors at home and abroad, the loving deference and veneration every- where manifested for him by the Indians, half-breeds and white settlers, aroused the envy of unworthy men, and with the short- sightedness that sometimes affects people who believe themselves Christians, instead of joining him to aid in his good work, they lent themselves to his destruction, and made complaints that he had trespassed on mission fields not allotted to him.
I will close this subject with an editorial from the New York Freeman's Journal of Sept. 21, 1878 :
"Father Genin has been a missionary among the Sioux for many years. He has learned their language and won the affection of the most pagan of them. He is a priest respected and author- ized by the holy bishop in charge of his district. Whether or not, in his zeal for souls, he has overstepped the limits of his jurisdiction, it is not for our competency to say. There is some- thing about it that singularly reminds us of the great Irish Saint "Columbanus," in his dreay pilgrimage in what was afterwards France. As reproduced by Baluzins and others, Saint Colum- banus' letters to the pope are not models of polite writing as re- garded his contemporary prelates.
"In one of his letters to the holy father, the pope, the Saint Columbanus excused himself for language that was certainly a little rough by saying that in the land where he was born (Ire- land) it was the custom of everyone- to speak his mind freely! And St. Columbanus certainly took liberties among the Franks that later canon law would have ruled him irregular in uttering.
"Father Jean Baptiste Mary Genin has certainly had a strange
248 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
and romantic life among the wild Sioux Indians. Whether in his zeal he has trespassed on territories and with people outside the jurisdiction of his own bishop is not for us to decide. Nor, if such trespass on wild and untrodden lands was a grave fault or a venial one, or no fault at all! We have had a good many letters about Father Genin, and everyone speaks of his sincerity, none doubting the exactness of his judgment. A holy priest that we think is in the beatific vision said to us in his life time, 'If St. Philip Neri were in America now no bishop would let him say mass.'
"That was thirty years ago. Now, we know St. Philip Neri could say mass — or do anything else he pleased — and no one would object if no trouble came of it! We have no correspondent, and have met no one of the many we have met that knows Father Genin — that does not say that he is an honest and true mission- ary. He has his own convictions and follows them; he has the approval of his own bishop; that is enough for a missionary priest. Leaving questions of jurisdiction over untrodden deserts to the proper authorities, we find Father Genin enduring hard- ships and bestowing benefits worthy of an apostolic missionary."
On Jan. 12, 1S78, the following editorial appeared in the New York Freeman's Journal : "It is a strange life assuredly. A life of exceeding privation and of perpetual peril. Father Jean Baptiste INI. Genin is leading a wonderful life of self-sacrifice. From what Yankees, after Indian tradition, named Devils Lake, and Father Genin christened "Lake of the Sacred Heart," Father Genin sent through us to the holy father for the golden jubilee of the holy father's episcopal consecration, a box made up of all his poor Indians could contribute. Our generous and self-sacri- ficing Roman correspondent, under date of Rome, July 31, 1878, wrote as follows : 'The box of Indian curiosities sent as an offer- ing to the holy father on the occasion of his episcopal jubilee by the Catholic Indians of the Sioux tribe, Tetons, Conpees and Sis- setons of Dakota territory, arrived safely and was presented through the instrumentality of his eminence, Cardinal Franchi. to his holiness, who expressed his gratification at this touching mark of respect and affection from his Indian children, and was pleased to present the entire collection to the Borgian museum of Urban College of the Propaganda, where a special case has been prepared for the safe custody of the articles, consisting of painted robes, cushions, purses, pouches, cinctures of bead work, moccasins, models of pipes, bundles of arrows used in war and in hunting, a calumet or pipe of peace, a war weapon, and a pair of red yarn stockings knitted by three young Indian girls, each stocking holding a small purse worked in beads containing six dollars in American half dollars and other silver coins of v'arious values. Tlie several articles were duly ticketed by the careful hand of the zealous missionary, Father Genin.'
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 249
"Once more: A lady devoted to good works who interprets, we think, too literally, the counsel that the left hand shall not know what the right hand does — one that we do not know even to have seen — committed to us a box of vestments for two poor Indian missions in the northwest, in Minnesota and Dakota, for which Father Genin appealed through our columns. By the sug- gestion of Mr. Hall, connected with the United States Express company, the box was sent to the address of Father Genin at Duluth free of expense, so that the $3 paid and refunded to us were included in the small remittance we sent him and for which we received the receipt from one authorized by him.
"We sent also to Father Genin to Dultuh a complimentary letter from Cardinal Franchi, thanking him on the part of our holy father the pope, for the Indian presents Father Genin had forwarded. And after all this, dear Father Genin from the forks of the Milk river in Montana territory, nearly a thousand miles west of Pembina on the Red River of the North, the remotest point in Minnesota, asks us privately to let him know 'How it fared with the little box I sent to the holy father.'
"This grand Catholic missionary coming from abroad and hav- ing more hope for the future possibilities of the northwest, though we, whose grandfathers are buried here, are so busy with the ex- asperated fighting Indians and working so hard to reconcile them to the United States government, that he has not received at his headquarters in Duluth documents, etc., that will be grateful to him naturally and rightly.
"Blood connections of Father Genin played an important part in the revolutionary crisis in this country and his devotion to the United States is so great that it stirs up the blood in us 'to the manor born.' Father Genin is enthusiastic in his attachment to - the United States government, and he has a more just apprecia- tion of the true solution of the Indian question than all the figure- head generals from Tecumseh Sherman down."
A later issue of the Journal contained the following letter from Father Genin :
"Duluth, Lake Superior, Sept. 5, 1878. "Editor New York Freeman's Journal:
"Dear Sir : I have received two weeks ago, here in Duluth, the 'Trousseau de Missionaire,' or portative chapel, you and your good Roman correspondent had the kindness of transmitting to me free of charge.
"It is a most precious souvenir of our late holy father Pius IX and of his eminence Cardinal Franchi, to me, a poor missionary
"It arrived intact and contains all the articles used by the priest at the altar and in the ministration of the sacraments.
250 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
"Both the givers are now dead, but their memory shall always live in the heart of the one they thus kindly favored.
"Owing to sickness I have not yet given you an account of my travels through the Indian lands of the west, since I wrote you from the forks of Milk river in December last. I will do so now.
"I have already stated that traveling through the plains or the mountains on my mission tours made no difference with my good Catholic half-breeds and also our Indians. They would always have the altar ready in the morning. At the sound of the large sea shell used as a bugle Jby my little orphan companion, the whole camp would gather around us; young and old, old men and women, as well as the very young ; boys and girls would not have been able to sleep while the holy sacrifice was offered up. They would attend, mothers with babes in their arms, all would be present.
Very often the rising of the sun on that assembly would take place at the elevation of the host, and seem as if rising with us in adoration of the Son of Justice, Jesus Christ, in the most adorable sacrament of his love. Nearly every day the mass thus celebrated was high mass, for our Catholic half-breeds know and sing beautifully the Gregorian masses, and love to do so. On Christmas eve they prepared a beautiful altar at which was celebrated the first midnight mass on the Milk river. During that night none of the children of the desert could sleep. Those who were baptized and were of age prepared for holy communion. But all would attend and were in the first part of the night ex- ercising themselves in the chant of pious hymns.
"On New Years day I had just finished my morning prayers preparatory to mass when there appeared a crowd of many hundreds, headed by three musicians playing marches on the fiddle. Pretty soon a loud firing of rifles announced the arrival of my hunters, and all and every one were before me. One of the head men made an address, concluding by asking the priest's blessing at the beginning of the new year. After they had re- ceived it they began firing and playing again until the call was sounded for mass. All this took place near the Nez Perces' battle- field. Seven days later I arrived in a Sioux camp among Sitting Bull's relations, who, also, bending their knees to the ground, fired volleys of salutation. I was there about twenty-five days teaching the catechism and preparing them for the sacraments. This was not Sitting Bull's own camp ; he had a camp of so-called wild Sioux, just arrived from across the Missouri and pursued in their flight, although at a respectable distance, by General Miles and his troops.
"There were in the camps some of Sitting Bull's nearest rela- tions, his aunt, the wife of Black Moon, his sister and brother-in- law and his first cousins.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 251
"Sitting Bull's sister, a strong and healthy young woman, brought me in her arms for baptism her first-born little son. If the baby grows to be a man, which he seems very apt to do. for he enjoys strong health, he may be another enemy of Uncle Sam, especially if his mother ever tells him how he was brought into the world. In their flight, pursued by the troops, men and women were on horseback, when, one evening, making a little halt, though not descending from their horses, a thing for which they might have repented long and sorely, Winona, at the end of her seventh month only, was taken sick and brought forth her first child, now the healthy babe in her arms before me. Incred- ible as it may seem to be, both mother and child were perfectly well, and in the evening song of the camp, the voice of Winona could be daily heard above all others, thanking God who per- mitted her to escape the soldiers' bayonets and gave her a beau- tiful son.
The half-breeds and the Sioux's noisy maner of saluting a Cath- olic priest, and the priest's perfect liberty and safety in his move- ments among the hostile Indians, excited grave suspicion — I might say, serious jealousy — in military and other circles, and three spies were employed to watch me and were paid at the rate of $100 for so doing. The checks for the payment of their im- portant work were issued at Fort Keogh, on the Yellowstone. Think of this, $100 each for three spies to watch a priest teaching catechism to some poor Indians! $100 to watch a priest and not one cent to bury the poor soldiers left on the Nez Perces' battle- ground, at the Bear's Paw, last fall. There is something for people to think upon. A few miles from the camp where I was watched by the three spies, whom my Indians would have killed in no time if I had let them, just a few miles off was the Nez Perces' battle-ground, upon which all fall and all winter the bodies of those soldiers and devoted citizens who fell in the fight lay without burial, mixed up pellmell with the corpses of the Indians and the dead horses. A horrible sight !
"And the gallant military commander at Fort Keogh had not one cent to protect them from the teeth of voracious wolves and other beasts, but felt in duty bound to expend money in watching a Catholic priest."
CHAPTER VI.
Fifty years ago Walhalla was the central emporium of an ex- tensive fur trade with the Indian tribes of the surrounding re- gions as far west as the headwaters of the Missouri river. It lies near the boundary line of North Dakota on the western rim of the Red River valley. It is built on the site of an old trading post and once flourishing village. But the ruins of this ancient vil- lage now mark a spot made sacred in the eyes of all friends of
252 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
missions as where in 1849 three devoted missionaries endured martyrdom at the hands of the savage people they had come to save.
In 1849 occurred the first attempt to plant Protestant missions in the region of North Dakota. James Tanner, a half -breed; whose father had been stolen from his Kentucky home when a child, and who was a member of the Baptist church and had served as interpreter for the Baptist missionaries in Minnesota, visited his brother at the Catholic mission at Pembina. He be- came deeply interested in the spiritual condition of the Indians in that region, and visited Washington and other cities in the east to awaken public interest in founding Protestant missions for their benefit. He returned in 1852 in company with a young man named Elija Terry, to open a mission among the Chippewas and half-breeds of that section, under the auspices of the Baptist Missionary society.
On June 28, 1852, Terry was killed by the Indians and his re- mains were interred in the Catholic graveyard, by permission of Father Belcourt, resident priest of the half-breed Catholic mis- sion of that place.
June 1, 1852, a small band of missionaries arrived at St. Jo- seph. This was composed of Kevs. Alonzo Barnard and David B. Spencer, their wives and children, and an old gentleman named Smith from Ohio.
They traveled in carts from the vicinity of Cass and Red lakes, Minnesota, where they had labored as missionaries among the Chippewas for ten years under the American board of missions. They removed to St. Joseph at the earnest request of Governor Alexander Ramsey and others of Minnesota, who were familiar with their labors and interested in the needs of the Pembina natives. Mrs. Barnard's health gave way and she soon died. In 1854 Mrs. Spencer was murdered b}7 the hostile Sioux who were infesting the Pembina region, and who fired through the window of her home where she stood with her babe in her arms, and which was covered with its mother's blood. Despite these unfor- tunate happenings, there are now a large number of Protestant churches in Pembina county. Verily the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.
Elijah Terry was born Feb. 22, 1828, near Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio. He was the son of Robert and Elizabeth Terry of St. Paul. Benjamin, a younger brother, was killed by the In- dians at the battle of Birch Coluee, Minn., Sept. 2, 1852. The following account of the murder of Elijah was given by his part- ner, Tanner:
"On Monday, the 28th of June, at breakfast, Brother Terry said to me : 'Will it not be best for you to take one of the boys ancl go to town (about two miles) and grind the broadax and for me and the Frenchman to. go to the woods and score timber?' I said that
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I thought that would be the best plan, and soon after arose from the table, took my ax and started to town. He, with the French- man whom we had working for us, started in the opposite direc- tion, for the timber, about a mile.
"When I got near town a half-breed came running after me and called out that our comrades were killed. I instantly went back home, where I found the Frenchman badly wounded under the chin. He told me 'Our comrade is killed.' After enquiring for my wife and children and finding them hid in the grass, I, with some armed half-breeds who had just arrived, went in search of Brother Terry, and following the path about half a mile found him lying on his face, with his left hand under his fore- head and his right hand also near his head, with two arrows sunk deep in his back and a third one lying near on the ground, a bullet hole in his left arm about three inches from the shoulder, a gash behind his left ear, a piece of scalp about seven inches long and four inches wide taken off and two marks as if they were made by the blade of a hatchet on his back but not cut through the skin.
"We pulled the arrows out and upon turning him over found that they had gone entirely through, coming out of the left breast nearly opposite the heart. We wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in the cart we had with us. Two or three of us per-, formed this while the rest stood guard. We then took the body to my house and laid it upon boards, washed off the blood and stripped it and wrapped it in clean clothes.
"We then proceeded to town and laid the body in the house of Mr. Kittson. I then went and got some boards and got a man to make a coffin. Mr. Bellecourt, the Catholic priest, of whom I got the boards for the coffin, gave me a place in the Catholic grave- yard lor a grave."
The Frenchman added the following details: "My comrade was walking before me singing a hymn, and as we were walking thus together we were fired on by a party of Sioux that was con- cealed in the leaves on our right. I saw my comrade turn to me saying, <O, my God,' and he fell on his face and the Sioux rushed upon him with scalping knife and war club like so many hungry wolves upon a sheep. Some of them pursued after me, but seeing Mrs. Tanner and the children running about the house and hear- ing me as I called for help, they thought there must be men there and were afraid and so turned and fled."
The venerable Mr. Barnard, then eighty years of age, who is still living at Benzonia, Mich., was present, accompanied by his daughter. Standing upon the grave of his martyred wife and Mrs. Spencer, with tremulous voice and moistened eyes, he gave to the assembled multitude a history of their early missionary toil in the abodes of savagery. It was a thrilling story, the inter- est being greatly enhanced by the surroundings. The half-breed
254 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
women who prepared Mrs. Spencer's body for burial and washed the babe after his baptism in his mother's blood were present. The same half-breed who dug Mrs. Spencer's grave in 1854 dug the new grave in 1888.
On June 21, 1888, a monument to the memory of the two mar- tyred mothers, who had slept so long in their humble graves, was unveiled at the new Presbyterian cemetery overlooking Walhalla and where the bodies of the three martyrs had been re-interred. The stone was erected by the Ladies' Synodical Missionary So ciety of North Dakota.
The Indians of the northwest did not at first take kindly to the Protestant teachings. They were born pagans, without definite ideas of the future life, but with great respect for all that was "waken" or mysterious. Their first knowledge of a definite plan of redemption, was derived from the Jesuit priests, who preceded the fur traders as pioneers of the country. The ceremony of the mass appealed strongly to the mysticism of their untaught natures, that were to be reached only through outward and visible signs. The black robe of the priest became sacred to them, as the symbol of religion, and the cross was holy in their eyes as representative of all that was good and mysterious. Thus they became readily converts to Catholicy, and listened eagerly to the counsels of the good priests, who were ever kind and gentle and never deceived them as the traders and other white men with whom they had come in contact, had done.
The advent of religious teachers who did not wear a black robe, who used no mystic ceremonies to appeal to their love of the spectacular, and who rejected the sacred symbol of the cross, inspired the Catholic Indians with distrust, and in their darkened minds, not yet fully grasping the meaning of their religion, they reasoned that they were false teachers and deserved to die.
On June 21, 1888, as stated before, a monument to two martyred mothers who had slept so, long in their humble graves, was unveiled in the Presbyterian cemetery overlooking Walhalla, where the bodies of the three missionaries were reinterred, and which commemorates a perilous period in the church history of North Dakota and perpetuates the names of the "Martyrs of St. Joseph."
During the ten years of continuous service, 1867 to 1877, spent by Father Genin as missionary apostolic of Dakota Territory, his previous service from 1864 to 1867 having been as missionary priest under the orders of the bishops of St. Boniface and St. Paul, there occurred wonderful changes in the condition of the people of the territory. The building of the Northern Pacific railroad to the Missouri river revolutionized the country, and thriving settlements of white people had sprung up all ove» the state. The pioneer period came to an end with the centennial year.
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By a strange paradox, at the battle of the Little Big Horn the victors were the vanquished. The triumph of Sitting Bull on that now historic ground sealed the doom of the Sioux nation and of that great warrior himself. Thereafter there was peace in Dakota.
The days of danger had passed when Father Marty, working under the orders of Bishop O'Connor of the diocese of Nebraska; arrived at Standing Rock to open an Indian school at that agency, under the protection of the military, and from there to extend the work to other points on the Missouri river. Great success resulted from these schools to educate the Indians and train them in industrial pursuits, and the Catholic soldiers at the various military forts on the river had now the benefit of regular visits from the priests. To the fathers of the order of St. Benedict is due much credit for their excellent work at this formative period of our state, although they came coo late to be classed among the actual pioneers of the territory, who, in the actual dawn of civilization, endured untold hardships and dangers and constantly imperiled their lives to lay the foundation of the church in desert wilds, and to teach the rudimentary principles of religion to the savages who were then the sole occupants of the lands that now constitute the state of North Dakota.
We are taught in the Bible that the laborers in the Lord's vineyard who come at the eleventh hour, are entitled to receive the same recompense as those who came at daybreak and bore the burden and the heat of the day. According to this Biblical theory, all the heroic workers in these early mission fields will receive an equal heavenly recompense. But the grateful people of North Dakota who profited so greatly from the labors of Father Genin to promote peace and conciliation among the Indians will deem it just that he shall receive the full mede of earthly honors he has so nobly won ; and without detracting in the least from the laurels so worthily won by others who were earlier or later in the mission fields of the territory, posterity will voice the verdict thus : "Other sons of the state and of the church have done righteously but thou excellest them all !"
While engaged in the commendable work of instituting schools at the Indian agencies of Dakota, Father Marty visited Sitting Bull and his hostile braves across the line in Canada. But Sitting Bull was sullen and claimed to be a subject of the "Great Mother," Queen Victoria. Because Father Marty came in com- pany with Howard, General Miles' Indian scout and guide, he was suspicious and denounced him as a spy for the military authorities. The young braves of the band then planned to kill both the priest and the scout, but their lives were saved by two Catholic half-breeds who hurried them out of the camp.
Father Marty was made bishop of Sioux Falls, where he resided as a reward of his efficient work in the territory. He afterwards went to St. Cloud, Minn., where he died September 19, 1896.
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Sitting Bull's real name was Sitting Buffalo. He received his nickname from the soldiers of the Seventh cavalry, and it was perpetuated by the newspaper reporters who described the battle of the Little Big Horn.
During the migratory period of the Sioux tribes when accom- panied by Father Genin, Standing Eock, now Fort Yates, on the Missouri river, was a favorite summer resort for the Indians of the Bed River valley.
To this place also came many bands of the Sioux tribes inhab- iting the country south and west, to receive religious instruction from the priest. Here also was maintained a permanent winter camp, where were stored the food supplies of dry buffalo meat and other products of the spring, summer and autumn months.
The name of Standing Eock was given to the place because of there having been found there a large rock standing erect, which the Sioux believed to be the petrified body of one of their women who had been frozen to death near that place. They believe this place, like the shores of Devils lake, to be "Wauken," that is, haunted by the spirits of the dead.
Many of the aged women of the tribe claimed to possess the gift of communing with these spirits, but unlike modern spiritual- ists, they performed their mysterious rites in secret, a practice that they kept up until, as they said, the coming of the white people had^ frightened their good spirits away and only wicked ghosts remained, who told lies and made prophecies which were never fulfilled.
The Cannon Ball was also a pleasant summer resort, as was Fort Totten, Turtle mountain and Fort Berthold. Constant communication was kept up between the various bands and tribes of the migratory Indians. Eunners on swift ponies, which were trained for the business, constantly carried news from one camp to another, and annua»l visits from one camp to another were customary. Once each year there was held a grand pow-wow or convention, at which all the tribes were represented by dele- gates, where laws were made, difficulties were settled, and various dances, including the favorite sun dance, were indulged in and at which gatherings also the young men and maidens were made- acquainted that they might marry; the custom of intermarriages between members of different tribes being prevalent in the Sioux nation. To all of these assemblages, with the tribe of his adop- tion, went Father Genin, improving every opportunity to instruct the multitude in their own language, which he spoke fluently, and to teach them the habits of the white man in cooking and living, and to inculcate respect for the sacrament of baptism and marriage.
Father Genin had adopted as his own son a little orphanaboy whose father and mother had both been killed in battle. This boy he carefully taught. When old enough, it was his duty
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to call the congregation together by blowing in a large seashell kept by Father Genin for that purpose. When strong enough, he became Father Genin's flag bearer and assistant at mass, ajid was regarded with much veneration by all the tribes. Thus, by fully identifying himself with his tribe and nation, Father Genin obtained an ascendancy over the minds and hearts of .his people that no one else could ever have gained. His word was law throughout the nation until circumstances compelled them to separate, they moving their headquarters to Montana, because of the inroads of the white men, and he remaining in North Dakota to devote his energies and kindly offices to the welfare of the white settlers.
In 1876 Father Genin contributed the following letter to the New York Freeman's Journal :
"Bismarck, D. T., September 8, 1876. "Editor Freeman's Journal:
"Dear Sir: In the Boston Pilot's issue of the 5th of August last, I read an article under the following heading: The Indian that Was Struck by a Soldier.' It says : 'Sitting Bull lived for several years at Fort Rice on the Missouri river and was known as a 'blanket Indian, etc.' One day a soldier struck Sitting Bull a blow. That was the blow in whose train has followed a long list of heroic deeds and which has shaped the Indian policy of the United States, and to which the death of General Ouster may be immediately traced. That blow aroused the spirit of a great soul which until then had been dormant. He at once flew to the desert where he organized a band from the disaffected of all tribes and made unrelenting war upon the whites, and from that period, about ten years ago, to the present, he has been the terror of the country, from the falls of the Missouri to Fort Randall and from the borders of Montana to Devils lake.'
"Permit me, Mr. Editor, to deny the above as well as all other such stories circulated through hundreds of papers about Sitting Bull and the Sioux, especially since the beginning of the sum- mer's expedition.
"Such tales are well calculated to mislead a public already too easy to be led into error in regard to the Indians and their affairs because of the awful representations continually and from a long time back, made of such people and things by parties inter- ested in misrepresenting the Indians, to excite hatred against them and perhaps also, to make some money through it.
"Sitting Bull, to my knowledge, and I have been a missionary to the Sioux for the last ten years, has been a quiet, sober, kind man, but courageous and always ready to lay down his life for his tribe and family. He never was a 'blanket Indian,' having too much natural pride to become one, and let me say it, the tribes of Teton Sioux are too well off materially to have recourse to blankets. . The buffalo robe is the blanket of any rich Indian,
Hist.-17
258 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
the same as the fur coat is the winter coat of any rich white man having to travel and live in a cold country.
"I will not deny that it is possible that Sitting Bull may have been to Fort Rice on a visit and may have there received a blow, although it is highly improbable. Sitting Bull is not a chief, although the newspapers persist in representing him to be one. His position is that of first soldier to his uncle, the high chief Black Moon, heriditary chief of the Sioux nation. Sitting Bull was commander in chief of the Teton Sioux warriors and is eligible to the position of chief, but has not now attained that honor. His place was at the headquarters of the nation, whether in Dakota or in the Yellowstone country. The Teton Sioux, whose forces he commanded as head warrior, were a wild people, who kept aloof from the white people after the discontinuance of the fur trading posts and rarely, if ever, visited the military forts and Indian agencies.
"There is not a single Indian who remembers that incident related in The Pilot or believes that it happened. I am not trying to defend Sitting Bull, nor do I want to make others appear guilty for the satisfaction it might give to some, and the dissatis- faction it would necessarily give to others. As a priest I like all men, and although a missionary to the Sioux, I am not blind so that I cannot see their defects, and I am no enemy to the people of the United States. Amicans, Plato, Amiens, Socrates, Magis, Arnica, Veritas. Whatever may be the possibility of Sitting Bull receiving a blow, it is very sure that that is not what has shaped the Indian policy of the United States, for it could not have done so, Sitting Bull never having made war on the whites before now.
"Now as to what caused the death of General Ouster, as well as that of his command, it is also very sure it was not the blow possibly received by Sitting Bull. The Tetons, long aware of the existence of gold in the country of the Black Hills, and seeing the country already coveted by white men and it being their last place of abode, made a law, 'that any Indian who would show the gold fields to white men should die,' and the whites thus made aware of the presence of gold should also die for fear the country should be taken from them. Another law was also made at the same time, viz : 'That no firewater should be made use of in certain boundaries, and any trader introducing the same should be killed.' Sitting Bull approved these laws and the chief, upon his representation, also sanctioned the same and they strictly kept them, and the gold fields remained nearly unap- proachable. Last year's commission appointed for the purpose of purchasing that country from those Indians, met with their willingness to sell the same, but failed in its work, inas- much as the Indians asked for a large sum of money and for spiritual teachers who should be exclusively Catholic
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priests. Having thus failed, the gentlemen of the commis- sion returned and certainly their report did not give satis- faction to those eastern parties, who had, .after the govern- ment mineral survey of this region, chosen claims in the Yellowstone or Teton gold regions. They have influence and what was to them the life of a few soldiers or a million Indians? The country being successfully freed from the latter they would at once make fortunes. Therefore the army of a civilized and great nation must march out and destroy the last Indian in his wilderness, man, woman or child, whether justly and with provo- cation or unjustly and without any act on the part of the Indians calling for such action. To aid this, the most fearful stories of Indian barbarities were also at once circulated all through the land, and the Indians have no newspapers to contradict the most infamous stories. If a miner happened to kill and rob his fellow miner or some other man for his money, the Indians got the credit for the 'heroic deed' at once. The troops went out, there- fore, and surrounded the Indians in the hills at the time they were busily engaged in their usual ceremonies of the sun dance, generally held only in time of peace, with their women and children with them.
"No white man can tell why thus a fearful expedition is sent out against them, even the officers of the same cannot say exactly why, and some declare there was no reason for doing it, nothing to justify it, and that the government is seriously compromised by means of it.
"If some violated treaty can be pointed out, or some of those 'heroic deeds' mentioned in The Pilot, really proven, we would understand it- But no ! not one single case can be brought forth and I, who have lived in this part of the country for years, defy anybody to prove that they ever saw Sitting Bull do any mischief to anybody — man, woman or beast.
"Being surrounded by troops all of a sudden, to be destroyed to the last, I ask every human being, would we have not answered the charge in the best way we could ?
"The Teton Indians are too brave and love their families too much to allow the same to be butchered — even by the soldiers of the United States — and not to fight for them until death. Let no man call this a massacre, it is a piece of mere warfare. At the same time we can but weep for the poor soldiers who thus fell, and for the poor widows and orphans, some of them left in desolation. All this the government has to answer for; not the red man. Indeed, there is accumulated more blood and tears than the speculators who caused this are worth.
"Very respectfully,
"J. B. M. GENIN, "Missionary Apostolic."
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CHAPTER YII.
The Superior (Wis.) Times of April 28th published the follow- ing from Father Genin, O. M. I. :
"Camp near the Turtle Mountains, D. T., April 20, 1877. "Editor of Superior Times:
"Dear Sir: A great part of the hostile Sioux, after a talk they had some time ago with Spotted Tail, concluded to surrender on such terms as he offered them, no doubt in the name of the government. When the}' went to the military camp they found out Spotted Tail had deceived them in this: that they were required to surrender all their arms and ponies, while Spotted Tail had assured them they would only have to surrender their arms, taken from the officers and soldiers in the Custer fight last June. Therefore, quite a large number took to the war path again and have now gone northwestward again to meet their old leaders. I have an intimation that I will meet quite a crowd of them on the way. I leave here in a day or two with one of Sitting Bull's relations, White Hawk, who leads me to Sitting Bull's camp, bearing my mission flag ahead of me.
"If I have any news of interest I shall send same by way of Fort Benton.
"Yours trulv,
J. B. M. GENIN, M. A."
The following article was published in the New York Freeman's Journal :
"The Indians of the Northwest — a Stirring and Startling Letter.
Bismarck, N. D., December 20, 1876.
"Editor of Freeman's Journal:
"Dear Sir: It is to be lamented that men have proved so undeserving of the most signal blessings heaven has bestowed, by misdirecting their application : That spirit, useful as a medi- cine, should be employed to metamorphose men into brutes; that power, instead of diffusing happiness arid improving on nature, should be exercised in oppressing mankind ; that religion, instead of inspiring universal charity, creating general fondness for mer- itorious virtue, and teaching men forgiveness and peace, should be made an instrument of knavery, and whet the sword of contention, disuniting mankind; that the discovery of the compass, while it approximated remote lands, interchang- ing the productions and increasing the knowledge of the world, was made the conductor of the innocent Africans to misery7 too shocking to describe, and guided the fearful tempest of Spanish lust against the Indians of the south, on whom was practiced unexampled cruelty, instead of Christian benevolence.
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Notwithstanding the science and wealth it has scattered over the world, it is difficult to determine the benefit or injury it has done mankind; scarce a coast was visited but to gratify cupidity, practice cruelty and arrogate dominion.
"Thus was saying at Mount Pleasant, in Ohio, on the 18th day of May, 1818, before the semi-annual meeting of the Union Humane society, my kinsman and namesake, Thomas Hedges Genin. Apparently, Mr. Editor, that fire of cupidity, that prac- tice of cruelty and arrogance of power have not exhausted, and the poor, helpless Indian of our plains and forests, although we are not Spaniards, have yet this very summer seen the same fearful tempest spoken of by Mr. Genin, directed against them. I quote again from the discourse of my relative: 'In seventeen years after the discovery and settlement of Hispanolia, it was found that the natives were reduced from the number of 1,000,000 to 14,000, owing to the intolerable burdens imposed on them by their unfeeling masters. But even that age of oppression and burdens for a moment listened to the voice of human pity and justice denouncing them. The ecclesiastics that went, sent as instructors into the island, early remonstrated against the max- ims of the planters respecting the Indians, condemning the re- partimentos or distributions by which they were given up as slaves to individuals, as contrary to natural justice and the pre- cepts of Christianity. Montesino, one of their number, inveighed against it vehemently in the great church of St. Domingo, to the chagrin of his hearers. The chief of the colony complained to his superiors in Spain, and they, instead of condemning, applauded his doctrine, as well they might. The Dominicans refused the sacraments to such of their countrymen as held the Indians in bondage, so decisive was the stand of the Catholic church against iniquity so vile.
" 'Application was now made to Ferdinand for his decision. The slaveholder, perhaps, believed that he better understood the prin- ciples of justice than the whole body of the church, when his interest and theirs were united. He appointed a committee of his privy council, assisted by some of the most eminent civilians and divines in Spain, to hear the deputies from Hispanolia in support of their respective opinions. This committee, more dread- ing the displeasure of heaven than the frowns of their monarch, reported in favor of the Indians. They were declared to be a free people, entitled to all the natural rights of man. Neverthe- less, the oppression continued. As this decision admitted the prin- ciples upon which the remonstrance of the clergy was founded, they renewed their efforts to obtain relief for the Indians with additional zeal. But at length Ferdinand issued a decree, stating among other things, that the servitude of the Indians was war- ranted by the laws of God and man ; that unless they were subject to the immediate control of the Spaniards they could not be
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instructed in the Christian faith. That the king and council were willing to take the propriety of the measure upon their own consciences, therefore, all religious orders for the future should cease their invectives against the practice. Thus, after admitting the right of the Indians to freedom, audacious power fixes upon them perpetual chains; and the justice of the deed is accommo- dated with the conscience of a king and his counselors. A wretched standard of right!
" 'You have noted the oppression of the weak, the voice of the Catholic church raised to stop it, and commanding in the person of her priests, to all over whom she had control, under the pain of being refused the sacraments, to cease the traffic. The most eminent members of society in Catholic Spain assembled together and, recognizing the principles of the clergy in such action, and reporting to the king in favor of the Indians — whom they de- clared to be a free people, entitled to all the natural rights of man. You also noted that, nevertheless, oppression did not cease, but that the king, influenced by material interests and the wel- fare of his counselors, i. e., those who were engaged in the slavery business, in other words, the oppressors of the Indians, issued a decree/ says Mr. Genin, 'declaring that the servitude of the Indians was warranted by the laws of God and man, etc., and going so far as to affirm that the Indians could never be civilized unless they were subjected to Spaniards.
" 'Let us now leave off the word 'enslaving the Indians,' and put in its stead 'civilizing the Indians' (which is only a humbug, as it was meant by the government of Spain, and now by the government of this country as well).
" 'In fact no treaty is made for the cession of Indian lands unless for some purely material reasons and not at all in view of civilizing the Indians, but only to have a hold on them, to seize their most valuable lands and send the Indians a little west, out of reach of civilizing influences. By the change of the expression, 'enslaving' for this one of 'civilizing,' the change of the word 'king' for those of 'U. S. Indian agent,' 'commissioner of Indian affairs,' 'generals of the U. S. army,' etc. we may well apply all that Mr. Genin said of the Indians in Hispanola and their oppressors to our Indians and the managers of their affairs throughout the whole extent of the United States.
There are some little differences, however: First, the Indians of Hispanola had some help to the preservation of their natural rights in the presence of the ministers of the Catholic church; for the ecclesiastics, ever watchful, early remonstrated, but, for fear of this and that our government would have to meeet Cath- olic priests, they distributed the Indians, even such as were recognized as Catholics, to Methodist, Quaker and Episcopalian managers, carefully leaving to the Catholic clergy just as few as possible. The Indians may call on their Great Father, they may
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bring forward their wish for Catholic priests, as in the case of the Sioux bands at the Red Cloud agency, etc. Their right, which nature gives them, which the government and the honest men of the country recognize them to have, to choose for spiritual interpreters whomsoever they please. This natural right will be publicly recognized and proclaimed, but the subsequent decree of some of the many 'kings' called Indian agents, etc., to whom they are subjected, commands that they shall be Quakers, Meth- odists, Episcopalians, etc., and such they must be under penalty of their noncoinpliance causing the troops to destroy them at once, to the last man. Thus oppression continues on a meaner scale now even than with the Spanish speculators of Hispanola.
"Second, the slaves of Hispanola, distributed to individuals, were made to work, but had their lives protected. Here with us it is different. The taking of them and the turning of them over to individuals as slaves would be a sweet thing compared to what is taking place. The most solemn treaties, guaranteeing their rights, are disregarded. Adventurers discover some of the precious metals; some speculators find some valuable timber; without any more preamble they establish their own forces upon the ground and go to work. The mere apparition of an Indian who comes to see them in their operations is represented as vio- lating the right of white people, as intending barbarities, and the army must march at once and work out the destruction of the last redskin!
"See articles 11 and 16 of the treaty of 1869 with the Sioux Indians, commonly called the Sherman treaty. After describing the limits of land reserved, article 11 reads: 'And the United States solemnly agrees that no person or persons shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this article.' And article 16: 'The United States hereby agrees and stipulates that the country north of the North Platte river and east of the summits of the Big Horn mountains shall be held and considered to be unceded Indian territory, and also stipulates and agrees that no white person or persons shall be permitted to settle upon or occupy any portion of the same; or without the consent of the Indians, first had and obtained, to pass through the same; and that the road leading to them and by them to the territory of Montana shall be closed.'
"Now the Indians are not exactly accused of having come out of that country to commit depredations and barbarities upon white people ! No ! But the acts of which they are accused were done in that very territory, reserved to them under the Sherman treaty! This, therefore, was somewhat like Adam finding out his own nakedness. If white people did not first violate this treaty, they could not have been molested in Indian territory. The government officials know that well. Nevertheless the troops have been out all summer for the purpose of destroying those
264 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Indians who have been first molested themselves by those who offered them the protection o'f a solemn treaty. It is wrong, very wrong. But here again the 'king' and 'council' are willing to 'take the propriety of the measure upon their own consciences !' Easy consciences! Provided their owners can see gold ahead, their consciences will rest at peace, and so much more so, as more Indians will fall murdered, notwithstanding1 the solemn pledges of a great nation to protect them according to their treaty ! The oppression continues. The treaty of 1869, in article 12, reads: 'No treaty for the cession of any portion or part, shall be of any validity or force against the said Indians, unless executed and signed by at least three-fourths of all the adult male Indians occupying or interested in the same.'
"While the Indian expedition was yet on the field, a peace commission was sent to Red Cloud agency, accompanied by a bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church, to have the few Indians then gathered around them sign a treaty for the cession of the lands then declared unable to be ceded by the treaty of 18G9.
"How could the three-fourths of the male Indians interested be present without notice, and at the season of the year of their annual 'going to the prairies?' What kind of business was that intended in the new treaty thus to be signed? It is pronounced beforehand null and void. Why did not the ecclesiastic there present remonstrate? He was not one of the kind found in Hispanola. The men who selected him to be present at this treaty would not have liked very well one of the sort of the Hispanola ecclesiastics. I was riding a few days ago in the cars of the Northern Pacific railroad in company with Bishop Wliipple, the clergyman referred to, and he himself related to me an incident of that meeting of his with the Red Cloud agency. 'One of the Indians, an old man,' he said, 'approached and asked me: 'Did I profess religion? and was my tongue straight or crooked?' It will be remembered that the Sioux Indians only last year publicly unanimously declared their desire that their clergymen should be exclusively Catholic priests. They were bent on that kind of clergymen, who remonstrate, who refuse their aid in treaties made in violation of the rights of their people and solely to satisfy speculation. The 'peace' meeting did not sign the so-called treaty after much talk, but it must not he forgotten that some covered their eyes with their blankets while holding the pen to sign, as if to show in that manner their want of confidence- in the commissioners, and declare already then and there the nullity of such an act.
"After this at least we had a right to expect that hostilities on the part of the whites would cease. It was not so. , The military could not return without something to show their prowess. What did they do? They took the squaws' ponies from
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the peaceable Indians of the Catholic agency at Standing Rock. Three thousand ponies were taken from the poor squaws, who are thus left to suffer and die in misery, having to haul their fuel from great distances in the rigor of a North Dakota winter, half clothed and half starved. It had been better to give the% death at once! But what surpasses all this, an officer of the army makes at the same time an affidavit to prove to the Indian department that there are only 400 Indians at Standing Rock. The consequences: that the department will issue rations and goods for only such a number of Indians. The result will be starvation and death, for it is well proven that there are no less than 7,800 Indians belonging to the Standing Rock agency. Thus the innocent perished for the guilty. Yet the army officers are the protectors, some wish to be given by congress to the Indians, against their dishonest agents. When nothing else can be brought to excuse the actions of our government and our army, in regard to our Indians, some say as the Spaniards did of old, that the Indian is inferior in nature, filthy in habits, lazy and unworthy to rank with mankind. That they are dirty, red- skinned devils, etc. Now we have taken from them their lands and country and driven away their herds of buffalo upon which they depended for subsistence. Would not a true Christian spirit prompt us to assist them to rise above the plane of ignorance and misery, and not attempt to destroy their lives, or push them still deeper in the slough of degradation?
"J.-B. M. GENIN, "Missionary Apostolic."
Fort Peck, on Poplar river, was early an important Indian rendezvous and crossing of the Missouri river, as also was Elbo- woods. At this latter point was long stationed Rev. Father Francis Craft, whose services as a devoted missionary of the cross to the Indians and settlers of that region are held in kindly memory in McLean and neighboring counties. The good results of his work are still very evident there. On the breaking out of the Spanish- American war. Father Craft, true to the instincts of his sacred profession — that led him ever to points of exposure and danger when humanity could be served — went to Cuba as chaplain in the United States army, accompanied by several Indian sisters, who aided him in the hospitals during the fever striken period. Here he remained in strenuous labors for the spiritual and material welfare of the United States soldiers, until he was himself stricken down by the fever, when he was taken to his mother's home at Port Jervis, New York.
The name of Francis Craft, who is a lineal descendant of a revolutionary war hero, is one that North Dakota will long de- light to honor as one whose life in this state was spent in doing good to his fellowmen, among whom he classed as brothers the outcast Indians of the plains.
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One of the most influential of the Dakota chiefs under the high chief, Black Moon, was Iron Horn, one of the six brothers who, like Sitting Bull under Father Genin's influence, refrained from depredations on the white men while he lived among them. One of these brothers was Rain-in-the-face, and all had gone to the agency at Standing Rock when Sitting Bull went with the headquarters of the Teton army to the Yellowstone country in Montana.
It was Rain-in-the-face with his band who killed Dr. Hont- singer and Mr. Halorin, two civilians on the expedition to the Yellowstone in 1873, and so set in motion the train of events that culminated in the battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. Another famous Dakota warrior was called "The GauL" who had gone to Cheyenne at the time of the exodus of the hostiles from the state. The Gaul and his band were the murderers of Lieut. Eban Crosby, a one-armed officer of the 17th infantry on the Yellowstone expedition near Fort Rice in 1872. He also fought conspicuously in the Little Big Horn battle.
Among the pioneer missionaries of Dakota Territory who yet remain to bless this state by their unselfish labors, is the Rev. Father L'Hiver of Dunseith, whose missionary life began in the extreme north of Maine on the upper St. John river. In April,
1877, he came to the city of Yankton, then the capital of the territory, and under the jurisdiction of Bishop Grace with Bishop Ireland as coadjutor, both residing in St. Paul, began his twenty- five years of loyal service. There was then no priest west of him in Dakota, none north ; east was Father Bonher in Jefferson, six or seven miles west of Sioux City. Father L'Hiver radiated from Yankton north and west, ministering to the white settlers. The Indian reservations on the Missouri river were under the care of Father Martin Marty, who was living then at Fort Abra- ham Lincoln. It was Father Marty's custom while recruiting for the western mission fields in the east, to send to Father L'Hiver the priests he had engaged in the state for the service of the reservations, to receive instructions from him in their new and strange duties among the Indians.
Father L'Hiver left Yankton in 1878 and was appointed to Grand Forks by Bishop Seidenbush of St. Cloud, Minn., there being then but few Catholics there. There were then no missions either north or west of Grand Forks. Father L'Hiver was besides in charge of northern Minnesota, Crookston, etc. In October,
1878, he built the first church in Grand Forks for the fifteen Catholic families then living there. In 1882 he built the present church under the direction of Bishop Marty. In 1884 Father L'Hiver visited France where he remained six months. Upon his return to this country Father Marty, who was then vicar apostolic of Dakota Territory, sent him to Larimore, where he remained until October, 1884, when he went to Dunseith, where
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he has remained ever since, laboring amid difficulties with zeal and efficiency, in his Master's cause, and serving without salary on account of the few people and unsettled condition of that new country. Such men as he are leading lives of heroes, and the world should show them honor and tender consideration while they are yet among us.
Upon learning of the death of Bishop Marty, the good Father L'Hiver of Dunseith wrote the following tribute to his memory, which illustrates most touchingly the filial affection and respect with which a good bishop is regarded by his priests :
"Bishop Martin Marty is dead. A good and great man is gone. May his soul rest in peace. On the morning of September 19, 1896, his angelic spirit took its flight to a better world, and the dawn of the eternal day, for which of late he so often sighed, came to release his martyred soul and to plunge in deep sorrow the many friends who revered and loved him.
"On the following morning in a secluded corner of the formerly wild Turtle Mountain district, a few sincere friends who knew him well, assembled te assist at the expiatory sacrifice of the mass which we had the consolation of offering for him. To be permitted to frequently renew the offering of the holy sacrifice for his precious soul is a privilege we ask from the good and kind God.
"We knew Bishop Marty well during many, many years past, even as the Abott of the Benedictine monastery, Saint Meinrad's, over twenty years ago. We knew him when he spent the winter at Fort Yates on the Missouri, while we were pastor of the Yankton district. We knew him as Indian missionary of the fierce Sioux, as a warm friend and adviser of the old (now gone) Sitting Bull, whose language the bishop spoke fluently. We knew him well as missionary .apostolic of the territory of Dakota, which was rough and wild enough at that time.
"In 1879 while residing at Grand Forks having charge of souls in the vast district surrounding, we passed under his paternal jurisdiction which continued until 1889.
"His great humility, modesty and forgetfulness of self gave a charm to his character which attracted the admiration of all who knew him. We are almost tempted to say that in his person he solved the divine problem of unity of the serpentine prudence with the simplicity of the dove. He enjoyed the full confidence of everyone with whom he had to deal in any kind of business. The government at Washington gladly availed itself of his ser- vices on different occasions.
"In his administration as apostolic missionary at Yankton, and as bishop of Sioux Falls, he supplied his vast diocese with many priests, co-laborers. Some of these still live and continue the good work.
268 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Bishop Marty, when apostolic missionary of Dakota territory, resided in Yankton and made that city his headquarters. From this point he radiated ceaselessly in all directions, often under the most adverse circumstances and financial difficulties.
Moved intuitively by a lasting and imperative sentiment of gratitude, admiration and veneration, mingled with love for the good, kind and paternal bishop, we cannot help giving publicity to what we feel and know of the zealous pontiff, the good and just man. He realized in his simple, \inassuming and unpretentious ways the grand ideal of a true bishop, described so strikingly by the inimitable and outspoken Apostle Paul in repeated lessons to Timothy and Titus, his devoted and beloved associate's.
He acomplished a vast amount of good, notwithstanding in- numerable difficulties occasioned by the scarcity and unsettled condition of his priests, and the long journeys he was obliged to make when there were no railroads. We recall vividly his trip to the Black Hills of wild and rough memory. What discomfort and suffering he must have endured, especially on account of his frail nature and delicate health.
As bishop of Sioux Falls he worked day and night, but then things had undergone a great transformation. Amelioration of every kind came as if by enchantment — division of the territory, permanent settlers crowding into villages and cities, railroads everywhere.
North Dakota now became a diocese. In the early days North Dakota formed part of Minnesota, where Catholic missions were already established under the diocese of St. Paul. Every summer and fall priests were sent to accompany the Indians on their hunting trips to the Red River valley, to which many tribes resorted to shoot buffalo, deer, elk and antelope, with which the prairies then abounded. These brave men suffered greatly on these excursions, but bore the worst of the hardships and depre- dations uncomplainingly, and with silent fortitude.
The first dictionary of the Indian language to be written in the west was by Rev. D. D. Riggs, a Protestant missionary to the Indians who occupied the same position relatively to the history of Protestant missions in South Dakota that Father Genin does to the Catholic missions of North Dakota. This book was published by the United States government in 1853. Dr. Riggs excelled as an author, and wrote several valuable works on the Indians.
Father Genin was loved and respected by the early settlers of this territory no less than by the Indians. Major John H. Burke of Sheldon, a well known writer and one of the pioneers of the state, writes of him thus :
"Father Genin was a Catholic priest who spent his life ainong the Indians of North Dakota, teaching them all they ever knew of religion and morality. He Avas loved and venerated by those wild
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savages, and prevented, by his great influence over them, many raids and depredations upon the helpless early settlers. I knew him well thirty years ago. Speaking of his life of privations, reference was made to the hardships he endured while traveling on one occasion with the Indians near Winnipeg. 'Why.' he said, 'I was so hungry that I ate meat on Friday, and,' he added, 'it was dog meat at that.' We have seen Father Genin going about among the treacherous Indians and scarcely less savage frontiers- men with no weapon but his crucifix, no money but his beads, no food but what the grateful Indians were willing to spare from their scanty supply, and no thought but to do good to others."
Major Burke further says : "The history of those early mis- sions will be of much interest, as showing the dangers and priva- tions endured by the early missionaries in their efforts to do the will of their Master. Men who cared nothing for the 'filthy lucre,' but endured every hardship for the good of their fellowmen and the glory of the Lord. Men who endured the heat, hunger and thirst of the summer plains and the bewildering snows and paralyzing frosts of the blizzard-swept prairies, men who would struggle to their necks in snowdrifts or swim the ice-clogged rivers to carry, without money and without price, to the sinner in his extremity the consolation of their holy religion."
After the battle of the Little Big Horn the military post of Fort Yates was established at Standing Rock, to keep in check the Indians then gathered at that agency. In 1880, in response to the prayer of the Indians, Rev. Father Stephen, the priest of the Catholic mission of the agency, was appointed Indian agent by the United States government. There arose a bitter quarrel between the commanding officer of the fort and the agent from conflicting authority, and the former set on foot an investigation charging fraud in the issues of food to the Indians. Father Stephen was a good man, but his business inexperience and unsus- picious nature was taken advantage of by some of his employes. It was discovered that the weights by which the weighing of cattle issued as beef to the Indians was conducted had been tam- pered with. Large holes had been drilled into them and the apertures filled in with melted lead. By this means the weight of cattle sold to the government was greatly increased, and the profits of the beef contractors were correspondingly large. Gov- ernment detectives were then set at work to find out where this fraudulent work had been done. Several suspected parties were called before the United States grand jury, but nothing could be elicited as to the parties to the cheat. It fell to my lot unwit- tingly to discover the secret. The work had been done in a black- smith shop in Bismarck, and the weights then carried to Fort Yates by an employe of the agency. This employe was sum- moned as a witness before the United States grand jury, and suddenly disappeared. I was then the teacher of the primary
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school at Bismarck. The little 8-year-old daughter of this em- ploye was a favorite pupil, loving, loquatious and confiding, always staying by my side at recess to talk to me instead of play- ing with her mates.
One day she came to school in tears. When questioned as to the cause, she said her mother had been crying too, that her papa had started to the Black Hills the night before, and could not come back, because he knew that a certain blacksmith (men- tioning his name) had fixed the bored weights at Fort Yates, and he had gane away so that he would not have to tell on him ; thus illustrating the proverb, "Little pitchers have big ears." I thought little of the matter, as I had no interest in the case. But it chanced that the commanding officer at Fort Yates, Gen. W. P. Garlin, came to the city on business connected with the "bored weights" case. He was a friend of ours and called upon us that same evening. In conversation with my husband, he ex- pressed his great disappointment because the detective had failed to find out who fixed the false weights. Sympathizing with his disappointment and without the slightest reflection I spoke at once and said: "Why, I know who did it," and then repeated what my little pupil had told me so ingeniously that morning. Nothing was further from my disposition than to be an informer, but speaking to an old friend, with whom we had often exchanged confidences. I did not at once realize what I had done. It was a serious affair. The wife of the blacksmith, whom I shall call Mr. O., because that was not his name, was my friend. I grew faint when I reflected what sorrow my hasty words would bring to her family. The law firm of Sweet & Stoyell were attorneys for the contractors in the case. I at once sought Colonel Sweet. "Colonel," I said, "is not a lawyer bound to his clients, as a doc- tor is to his patients, not to betray their secrets ?" "Certainly," he answered. "The secrets of our clients are kept inviolate."
"Then, colonel," I said, "please consider me your client and advise me. My secret is that the husband of a friend of mine has been detected in a crime against the government and will soon be arrested. Will it be wrong for me to go and tell his wife about it?" "Certainly," he said, "that would be assisting a crim- inal to escape justice." "If that is the case," said I, "I won't tell Mrs. O. that her husband has been found out as guilty in the 'bored weight' case at Standing Rock." Colonel Sweet nearly fell out of his chair, and soon after I saw him in earnest conver- sation with Mr. O., who was looking very pale and agitated. That night he disapeared and his wife afterward joined him in Canada. I have never yet been able to decide in my own mind whether my actions in that case were right or wrong, but somehow I never felt very guilty. The enmity then existing, between the two, dis- tinguished representatives of the church and the army at Fort Yates and Standing Rock was deep and lasting. But in Wash-
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ington City in 1886 I had the pleasure of seeing them clasp hands in a reconciliation that was honorable to both and gratifying to their many mutual friends.
In 1876 Bishop Marty came to Bismarck and made a house to house canvass for funds to build a sisters' school of St. Mary's Academy, which was completed under the fostering care of Rev. Father Chrysostrom Foffa, the good pastor of St. Mary's church. In 1877 the bishop was present and spoke to the people, at an entertainment given in a large tent on Main street by the ladies of the large Catholic congregation of Bismarck, to raise funds for the purpose. He had then just returned from a visit to Sitting Bull. I was at that time superintendent of the public schools for Burleigh county, and was engaged in raising funds for maps and globes for the public schools of the city, and for that purpose had arranged a course of lectures by prominent gentlemen of the city and others, among them being: Col. Wm. Thompson, TJ..S. A., retired; Rev. J. R. Jackson, chaplain U. S. A. at Fort Lincoln; Col. G. W. Sweet, Dr. B. F. Slaughter and Rev. N. A. Carey. The last named was a young minister, then temporarily supplying the pulpit in the Presbyterian church.
I was greatly interested in the building of St. Mary's academy, having a high opinion of the sisters' schools, and believing that the founding of such an institution in Bismarck would be of great benefit to our town. I contributed several articles to the Bis- marck Tribune, earnestly commending the school and asking the people of Bismarck to give it patronage and financial support. This gave great offense to Rev. Mr. Carey. He took a copy of the Tribune containing one of my articles into the pulpit and read it to the congregation, seriously censuring me as a Protestant for recommending a Catholic institution, and as a public school officer for extending help to a sectarian school, and one at vari- ance with the public school system. He counseled all Protestants to remove their children from the sisters' school, and advised them not to vote for me again for superintendent. This ser- mon made a great sensation in Bismarck. I was detained from church that day, on account of my baby being ill with scar- let fever, and Mr. Carey, learning that I felt aggrieved at his action, brought the sermon to my house afterward and read it to me. Still his arguments and earnestness failed to convince either my husband or myself that I had been guilty either of an unlawful or unchristian act, although regretting that I had in- curred the ill will of the Presbyterian congregation.
There are lights and shadows in all pictures. At this time T received a kind and appreciative letter from the venerable and Right Rev. Bishop Seidenbush of St. Cloud, Minn., breathing so sweet a spirit of liberality and charity for the enemies of his church that I was comforted. Then Rev. Father Genin wrote me kind words of cheer and commendation from his post of
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danger among the hostile Sioux on the Canadian border, so al- though sundry newspapers thereafter printed slurs on account of this letter against me I was not unhappy.
At the county election held Nov. 7, 1876, at which I was again a candidate for re-election as county superintendent of schools, the most bitter campaign ever waged in Burleigh county was carried on against me. The issue was my friendship for Catholic schools. I took no part in the canvass, leaving my cause in the hands of the people. No political lines were drawn in my case, and the result showed that I had not trusted in vain to the good people of our county, for I was elected by a larger majority than any other county candidate at that election, having received 413 votes. At the county election in 1879, the same process was re- peated but on a larger scale, there being many more people in the county. The Presbyterians again opposed me on the old charge. The women of the city, although they then had not the right of suffrage, took a warm interest in my success, and I was gratified to see that the mothers of the children who were my pupils in the primary school of the city, the plain wives of honest working men, the good women who kept the homes of the worthy citizens, all had a warm place in their hearts for me and were actively at work in my behalf. On the Sunday before the election the new Presbyterian minister preached a sermon on the public schools, counseling his hearers to combine against me at the polls and also attacking me as teacher of the primary department of the city schools of Bismarck, on the grounds that I was a partisan of Catholic institutions and in favor of sectarian schools. This ser- mon was reported by Miss Nellie Brightman, a brilliant young lady journalist who happened to be the guest of Rev. and Mrs. J. M. Bull at the Methodist parsonage. Rev. Mr. Carey's effort was mild in comparison. When I read Miss Brightman's notes I gave up all hopes of election, as the saloonkeepers of Bismarck were opposing me because I had organized a ladies' temperance society, and they knew that if I were elected I would advocate that the proceeds from the liquor licenses, that then went to the support of the city officers, should be applied to the city schools. I took no part in the canvass, devoting myself strictly to my duties as teacher of the primary school. The minister of the Presbyterian church worked against me and stood all day at the polls on election day, side by side with the saloon keepers, sparing no effort to defeat "me. After all, I received 962 votes and was elected. Thus again was my position toward Catholic schools sustained by the fair and impartial people of Burleigh county.
CHAPTER VIII.
i
At the period of the Custer battle Sitting Bull, the great war- rior of the Teton tribes of the Sioux nation, was comparatively
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unknown to the white people. The fact that there was another Indian of the same name — who was well known as being the head soldier of the friendly Dakotans at the Red Cloud agency— tended to increase the mystification of inquirers as to his identity.
Sitting Bull, the victorious leader of the hosts of the savage Sioux at the Little Big Horn, was the nephew of Black Moon, the supreme chief of the Teton Sioux, and was elected to the position of head chief of the Indian army at the convention of the Sioux nation held on the plains of North Dakota at their summer camps in June, 1867, near Lake Traverse and Big Stone.
An important law was at this time adopted and promulgated by the assembly as follows: "That any Indian who would show the gold fields in the Black Hills, or reveal their existence to white men, must die, and the whites thus made aware of the presence of gold in the Black Hills should also die, for fear the country should be taken from them."
The Tetons, long aware of the existence of gold in their coun- try and holding it as their last place of abode, enacted this law in solmen council ; Sitting Bull approved it and all the people strict- ly kept it, so the existence of gold in the Black Hills remained long unknown. Who shall say that the enactment of this law by the Sioux nation on the plains of northern Dakota, in 1867, was not in a measure connected with the destruction of General Ouster and his men on the Little Big Horn in 1876? Sitting Bull and his band then ranged over the country in the summers, from the falls of the Missouri to Fort Randall and the Black Hills, and from the northern border of Montana to Devils Lake and Lake Traverse, and once made their winter's camp at the Grand Forks junction of the Red River with the Red Lake river.
It was at this grand convention of the Sioux nation that Father Genin, the devoted missionary of the Roman Catholic church, was adopted by the assembled tribes as the nephew of Black Moon and the brother of Sitting Bull, under the name of Black Gown — whose interest thereafter in the interest of peace and reconciliation led to the retirement from the region of North Da- kota of Sitting Bull with his hordes to the Woody Mountain region in the northwest, and the consequent settlement of the territory of Dakota by the whites.
During the year of the Custer battle, 1876, Father Genin was engaged in building the chain of Catholic churches along the line of the Northern Pacific railroad from Bismarck to Duluth. In the following year he set forth from his mission headquarters in Dakota to go to Sitting Bull's camp in the Woody Mountain region, filled with the hope that through his influence Sitting Bull and all his hostile troops could be brought to surrender to the United States authorities.
The balance of this narrative will be told in Father Genin's own language:
Hist.— 18
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"Forks of the Milk River, M. T.. Dec. 13, 1877.
"Owing to the high waters in rivers, and especially to the treacherous machinations of one white man, I came near being killed by some worthless Indians whom he had hired to do so. I escaped safe, as one old Indian, one of Sitting Bull's party, anxious to clear himself of the suspicion of belonging to the same party, came to me and told me the whole story. Turning around the bluffs, cuts and ravines, I went back to Fort Totten after twelve days' travel.
"Therefore, I could not reach the Woody Mountains and Sitting Bull's camp until August, on the tenth of that month. Sitting Bull then said that the Canadian authorities had promised him protection and plenty of everything, and they would like to see how they would do. His chiefs, Black Moon, Four Horns, Iron Dog, Lone Dog, Little Knife, etc., were of. the same opinion. I found out the untruth of the statement that they had no ammu- nition. The fact is that they did not show it to everybody, but a double team would have been wanted to haul all the cartridges, powder and lead in their possession. It is true that they used to kill buffalo with arrows, but only for saving cartridges longer. I saw that they had a quantity of Winchester rifles, of United States army needle guns, and even a kind of gun I had never seen before, the spoils of the Custer battle. They looked very much like the Remington, have a telescope of wonderful efficiencey, and charged at times the common long needle cartridge and at other times a cartridge which explodes after reaching the object shot at. They refill the cartridges themselves, the needle gun cartridges by inserting in the bottom of the shell a common percussion cap, filling around it with tallow, then placing the powder and the bullet. They also fill the Henry cartridges rim fire. It is strange but -true. They sink in the water matches till the phosphorus becomes like paste. They take that substance, place it in the bottom of the shell, then dry it in the sun, after which they put in the powder and bullet. In that way they lose no shell, but refill them all after shooting. My half-breeds and Sitting Bull's Indians are often hunting together, but so far as I know the half-breeds have never yet furnished them any cartridges, as some people have thought and said.
"Wandering through the prairies we had mass every morning and prayers every evening attended by all. The Indians were very attentive and respectful in every circumstance. I would have come west in vain if I had not remained until winter, for winter is the only season in which buffalo robes are good and available for any purpose, and the hunters had already traded away all the robes of the past winter when I reached them. But winter is severe in this part of the country, and the great* point for buffalo hunters is to choose a timbered region close to the
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buffalo, to spend the winter in log huts instead of tents and tepees.
"The forks of the Milk river were mentioned as being a good place to spend the present winter. There never was a stationary priest among these hunters, only when a few years ago Rev. Father Lestanee of Fort Garry consented to spend part of his time in winter among them, or lately when the people would go up to Sun river to Fort Shaw to get one of the Jesuit fathers for a short visit of three or four weeks.
"No less than 150 families from Dakota, belonging to the St. Cloud diocese, gathered around me for the winter. They built here a small log chapel forty feet by twenty-two, with an addition east for my room. Like all other winter camps it will be aban- doned in the spring, but the boards of the chapel floor, made with a pit saw, have already their destination. They will be used to build a flatboat, which two half-breeds will take down the Milk and Missouri rivers to Bismarck, where they will land the priest and the collection. These people are doing all they can to make me succeed. If they do not give me enough to fill the need, it will be because they are not able to, and then other charitable hands east, I trust, will finish the work. I concede it is a singu- lar enterprise, but as I stated above, one decided upon on. ac- count of necessity, and one which I may accomplish, although doing the work of missionary at the same time.
"As wTe were just preparing to enter our winter quarters, one very dark night, our camp was suddenly filled with Nez Perces Indians. Among them was White Bird,, a Nez Ferces chief. Nearly all except him were badly wounded. We had heard the cannon fire two days previous, but did not know anything about the Nez Perces' war. The fight could not have been over fifteen miles from us. I began at once the work usually performed in hospitals. How could a priest refuse his attention to suffering humanity? The good half-breeds fed those poor Indians, whilst I washed and wrapped their wounds. The Gros Ventres Indians treated differently those they happened to reach. They killed them and were praised by the people of the Unitd States, whilst the action of the half-breeds and mine evoked a serious suspicion in army quarters. However, the cloud soon vanished, and the officers understood that we could not reason, at such a juncture, upon the merits or demerits of that so unexpected war. A thing occurred one morning worthy of note : As we had been taken by surprise by the arrival among us of those Indians, a neighboring cam]) was equally astonished very early after daybreak. An- other band of the same nation, many of them women, came into their midst weeping arid yelling terribly. In running away from the soldiers' reach, they had placed their small children on the backs of horses, and thus ran all night, only to find in the morn- ing that the children were missing. The desolation of the mothers
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was great. To go back was to find sure death. Ah ! but the feel- ing of the mother's heart was greater than the fear of death, and the men had to use tomahawks and whips to drive the women ahead toward Sitting Bull's camp. So great was the fear of the Indians of being hanged that we saw one pass on horseback with only one hand. He himself had cut off the other and both his feet, to free himself from his chains. On the battle field they had fought like lions, to the concession of all our soldiers. Their battle ground, situated between two ravines, formed a triangle with underground passages of communication, very deep, and outside breastworks of an admirable order and solidity of con- struction. The women under that shelter had constructed a cis- tern about fourteen feet square and two feet deep. Only a little water was flowing in one of the ravines, but they managed to have plenty all the time for all purposes, and they could have held the fight long and hard only for the want of wood in that cold weather, causing suffering among the poor little children. After so many difficulties encountered, you might think, now everything will be peaceable, yet it is not so. The Nez Perces who went to Sitting Bull's camp are now for the second time on the old battle field near Bear's Paw mountain and have Sitting Bull and some of his Indians with them. They go after some supplies of ammu- nition, sugar, tobacco, etc., which they had concealed there after the war. Of course another excitement may be expected daily. I regret sincerely that the Canadian officers of police petted Sit- ting Bull so much, instead of reinforcing our work by advising him to surrender, and put an end to all trouble. Since the com- mission met at Cypress Hills Sitting Bull has received a rein- forcement of some 192 Minneconjou Sioux. He is not the same man that he has been. Like any other Indian, seeing all the talk he gave rise to, he feels proud and is less able to understand sound reason.
"The Gros Ventres and Assinaboines who live along the Milk river were quite glad to see me, the Gros Ventres especially. They have had no priest visit them since Father DeSmet used to pass by. Their attention and respect during mass and the in- structions was remarkable.
"Bulls Lodge, one of the first chiefs, one day after mass placed his right arm on my shoulders and repeatedly said : 'Father, have pity on us; have pity on me and my people. Procure us the the blessings of God.'
"I think the Gros Ventres would be very good if Christianized. They are about the most trustworthy and mild tribe I have ever visited. But who will come to their help? Apparently no priest ever pays any atention to them, and the Assinaboines are about in the same fire.
Yours respectfully,
"J. B. M. GENIN, "Missionary Apostolic."
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"In the Judith Basin and mountains I found a band of horse thieves, all white men. I myself had one of rny horses stolen from nie. I believe that it is well known that they are there, and when they can succeed in hiding away a drove of horses all the cry is, 'Indians have done it.' Why don't they watch these and expend something in bringing them to justice? It seems much more in- terestirig to see what the priest is doing. Indeed, McMasters, although they say that the time has gone by when people in the United States believed priests had horns and tails on and cloven feet, I hardly believe it when I see that the presence of the priest here can so easily arouse suspicion among educated people who ought to know them better.
"When I was made aware of the above mentioned curious spy work I was on my way to the Cypress Hills, where Sitting Bull through his scouts had already learned everything. 'Father,' he said, 'you are now in truth my brother, for I see the American sol- diers are as afraid of you as they are of me.' Two Nez Perces were with us in the lodge at the time, one of Sitting Bull's head soldiers and two of my Catholic half-breeds. Sitting Bull filled up the large red stone pipe of peace three times and presented it to God and then to me. We smoked it together, preparatory to the talk, for this is the ceremonial proceeded with in silence when speeches upon important matters have to be made. Sitting Bull, whose mind seems always in perfect recollection, although with a very pleasant countenance, thanked God that I was again with him, and began telling me the history of the sufferings of his people for four or five past years. This led him to repeat over how General Custer was caught and died at the battle of the Rosebud."
Sitting Bull's story of the Custer battle as given at this time was published in the Fargo Forum of Dec. 14, 1901.
"We knew the soldiers were coming upon us weeks before the fight," said Sitting Bull, "yet we did not want to fight if we could do otherwise. In our camp on the Little Big Horn there were the tribes of the Tetons as follows : The Uncpapas, who had many lodges. The Santees with many warriors, whose lodges were pitched next to the Uncpapas. Next came the lodges of the Ogalala — not so many. The Brule (Sisphi) Sioux came next in the order of their tepees. The Minneconjou lodges were next The Sans Arc lodges were pitched next. The Blackfeet lodges came next. The Cheyenne camp came next. There were some Arikaree Indians in the camp with some of the Sioux tribes and some of the Two Kettle tribe also, these being visitors and with- out lodges of their own.
"We did not go out there to fight. We took along our women and children, and went to meet all the tribes of this region, to make laws and treaties and to visit each other, and to make our young men and maidens acquainted with each other, so they
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could marry, as our fathers have done for many generations. So, when we found the white soldiers were following us, we marched back into the hills a long way, still being pursued by the army in direct violation of the treaty of 1868, which article first pledges the honor of the United States to keep peace. We resolved to camp and wait the will of God, at the same time praying to God to save us from the hands of our enemies, now near, and coming without provocation to complete our exter- mination.
"For three days our scouts watched Ouster marching toward our camp. I therefore sent all our women and children into places of safety through the low lands. We expected the soldiers would charge through the village, as they did at the battle of Washita in 1868, when Chief Black Kettle was killed and the women and children were trampled to death under the hoofs of their war horses. The Teton Indians are too brave and love their families too well to let them be butchered even by the soldiers of the United States, and not fight for them until death.
"So I sent my young men to light fires inside and outside the deserted tepees, placing conveniently at the door of each of the front tepees sticks dressed like men, and to put up stakes in the front streets of the village to which were tied pieces of blankets, so that when the fires were burning fiercely, and stirring the air. the pieces of cloth and old rags waved to and fro in the breeze, and gave the appearance of a densely populated village. Then I marched behind The front row of hills with all my braves, and awaited the opening of the soldiers' fire upon our camp. Every- thing worked as I had planned. True to their intentions, the United States soldiers killed my flag men whom I had sent to meet them and demand peace, and proceeding furiously forward opened fire upon my empty camp of old tepees and rag mankins. I then fell upon them from the rear, with all my forces, before they had time to recover from the shock of their furious charge, and their surprise at finding the village deserted. My men de- stroyed the last of them in a very short time. Now they accuse me of slaying them. Yet what did I do? Nothing. God saved our lives because we had called upon him. They should then accuse God, for truly it was he who saved us by permitting them to die.
"It was very hard," he added, "to place any faith in the word of Americans. Ever since I know them my experience with them has proved that they continually cheat the Indians, over-reaching upon their lands with big promises, never fulfilled, and at last finding some pretext to kill them."
In reply to inquiries as to the first attack on General Reno, Sitting Bull said : "Those soldiers were not brave. When thev saw our warriors they ran away as fast as they could, and hid in the hollows of the hills. I was not in that part of the battle-
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 279
field ; I sat on my horse on a hill and sent my young men to direct the movements of the head warriors. All my warriors were brave and knew no fear. The soldiers who were all killed were brave men too, but they had no chance to fight or run away, they were surrounded too closely by our many warriors. As they stood there waiting to be killed, they were seen to look far away to the hills in all directions, and we knew they were looking for the hidden soldiers in the hollows of the hills to come and help them.
"But our warriors first killed the soldiers who were holding the horses and rode them while charging close up and firing at the survivors. Let no man call this a massacre. It was a piece .of mere warfare. We did not go out of our own country to kill them, they came to kill us and got killed themselves. God so ordered it."
In answer to a statement by Father Genin that it was reported that Sitting Bull himself killed General Ouster, he said excitedly: "It is a lie. I did not kill the Yellow Hair. He was a fool and rode to his death." He said further that he did not personally see General Custer1 during the battle; that his people searched for the body of the long-haired white chief after the battle, but that no soldier with long hair was found.
On this point Father Genin himself says : "Our friend Colonel Keogh's body and that of another Catholic soldier were the only ones treated with respect by the Indians, who stripped the dead of their clothing on the battle field. The Teton Indians are nearly all pagans yet, not that they do not desire to become Catholics; they often asked me to go and live permanently with them, and instruct them and their children, but I had already too much on hand, and could only pray for them, besides seeing them at long intervals.
''Pagans though they may be. and used to savage practices, still they have learned to respect the cross wherever they find it, and finding on Colonel Keogh's neck a chain and cross they did ,not cut up his body, but covered up his face respectfully and left him his cross and went by. A scapular found on the body of another man was the cause of similar treatment. I believe these to be the only two persons on that battle field whose bodies were not muti- lated more or less."2
Sitting 'Bull further said that when all of General Custer's men had been killed his warriors rushed to surround the soldiers on the hill with Reno, and that they would soon have killed them too but a false alarm was raised that some soldiers had escaped and were attacking the women and children, and the whole In-
'This is probably true, as it is said that Custer had his hair cut when starting on this expedition, and as their clothing had all been removed there was no way to distinguish the officers from the soldiers. Sitting Bull denied that any respect was shown to the body of General Custer, as it was not recognized.
2It is said that the body of Mark Kellogg, the civilian correspondent of the Bismarck Tribune and New York Herald, was found untouched at some distance from the battlefield, where it had probably been overlooked by the Indians.
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dian army surged in that direction. Then when the mistake was found out, and his command surged again to the hill where Reno's men were concealed, he gave the order that .there should be no more fighting. "We have killed enough," he said. "Let the rest go back and take care of the women and children, and tell the people how the Indians can fight." Whereat his warriors were sorrowful and wanted to kill all Reno's men, and then go to give battle to the "walking soldiers" (Terry's infantry) when they should leave the steamboat, but they obeyed his orders, al- though greatly disappointed.
There were many tribes engaged in the battle, and when they left many of them rode war horses of the Seventh cavalry. Cus^ ter's horse was given to Sitting Bull as a present, after the battle by the young chief who had captured it.
Sitting Bull said in conclusion: "My brother, Black Gown, when you go back to my lands in Dakota, the white people will ask you what Sitting Bull says, and what he means to do. Please tell them I want none of their gold or silver, none of their goods, .but that I desire to come back and live upon iny lands; for there is plenty of game and grass, and we can live well if they will only let us alone. As to my going to war again they need not be troubled, for I "ever fight except when I cannot avoid it." Speaking of religion, he said : "I assure you I say my prayers every night and morning the best way I know, and I never do anything without prayer. I desire to be baptized in the Catholic religion, I and all my children and my people. We would only want to have you with us."
Sitting Bull continued: "The priest who came to see me last spring (this was the Right Rev. Abbott Marty), I treated very roughly because I took him to be a disguised Yankee coming to deceive me, and the young men wanted his life. These two men (naming my tAvo half-breeds with me in the lodge) saved him and Howard." (Howard is one of General Miles' scouts, Indian guides). He was with Abbot Marty when he visited Sitting Bull. They narrowly escaped death on account of the suspicion aroused among the Indians on the subject of their visit. The two Catholic half-breeds above mentioned are Antoine Onellette and Andie Larrivee. They are the only persons who could induce Sitting Bull to meet the Terry commission last fall. I have heard that the reporter of the New York Herald had given all the praise to Major Walsh of the Canadian mounted police, as one who alone had tamed the Lion of the West. The fact is, however, he could do nothing with Sitting Bull when not accompanied by the two men above mentioned. When the commission was about to meet, Major Walsh sent first Cailon Morin, his interpreter, to Sitting Bull. Cailon Morin after five calls, could accomplish nothing Louis Le Eville, another interpreter, sent after Morin, could do no more than he. Then Major Walsh had to take with him the
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two above named Catholic men, and yet upon reaching Fort Walsh Sitting Bull insisted upon having everyone get out of the post that he might, as it were, inspect them before he entered. The commission, as you know, accomplished nothing.
Previous to the arrival at Benton of General Terry, I wrote to the military authorities, stating that if they thought 'proper I would help on that occasion. I received no answer. Later, in February and again in April, after I had received assurance, and had all the moral certainty possible, that I could succeed fully in the undertaking of bringing back into submission to the United States government all the hostiles, I wrote to Major Ilges, commanding Fort Benton, M. T., to ask of the government authorities to recognize my action and remunerate, not myself, but the half-breed men I would employ. Sitting Bull had then 1,579 lodges with him, averaging four and a half warriors to the lodge, and was to meet shortly in a sort of congress, or grand pow-wow, with the Blackfeet, Pigans, Bloods, Crees, Assina- boines, etc., to conclude agreements to stand by each other in case they would have to fight again with the whites. I thought a communication of this kind was serious enough to be acknowl- edged and my proposition approved, for thus all possibility of an outbreak would have been avoided. Sitting Bull was then willing to go by what I would say, and I only needed proper authority to treat with him. Bloodshed and war expenses would soon have ended. But I was obliged to leave the mountains without a word of answer, and late in July I received the fol- lowing communication :
"Headquarters, Fort Benton, M. T., May 14, 1878. "Rev, J. B. M. Genin, Missionary.
"SiR : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated Woody Mountain, April 28, 1878. Your two com- munications of prior date were duly received by me and for- warded to higher authority. I am instructed to say to you that you must hereafter abstain from meddling with any of our Indians on this side of the line, and that your offer to bring — through your own instrumentality the hostile Indians into sub- mission— is respectfully declined. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant.
"GuiDO ILGES, "Major Seventh Infantry, Commanding."
"Thus I was answered. Of course it is easy to understand that it would have been hard for the military to leave to a Catholic priest the glory of such an action, when the legions had failed. But they must accept the consequences, there having been blood- shed of brave soldiers and innocent citizens. Their blood is upon the hands of the leaders. Thus it was also at the time of the Custer fight. What necessity was there for the fathers of
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families leaving their bones on that battlefield? If their orphans and widows weep, have wept, and will weep, do they owe it to necessity? No! Suppose the United States had then given the money expended in that expedition, say to the Northern Pacific Railroad company to open the country, after a just settlement with the Indians, or to the missionaries .those Indians were and are yet asking for. The orphans would not have wept with their desolate mothers, the treasury might own a few dollars more; at any rate the country would be far ahead of what it is.
"But what will perhaps surprise you more : When I arrived at Bismarck on the last day of May, on my return from the west, a reporter of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, having interviewed me, wrote an account of that interview. Upon the news reaching Chicago, the proprietors of the Chicago Tribune informed the authorities at Washington that they would take upon themselves all the expenses to be incurred in bringing in Sitting Bull and back to the reservation if they were only allowed to go back with me for the purpose. They did this without letting me know, and I was informed of it only very lately. A telegram from those Chicago parties to the St. Paul Pioneer Press is on file at the telegraph office there, showing that they were refused.
"There is now a great rumor that the Indian bureau is to be turned over to the war department and the scheme numbers many earnest and sincere supporters, because it is generally believed that military discipline will not allow such frauds as have been committed by Indian agents. The Indians are afraid it will come to pass, although they hate the stealing of the past; indeed, my experience in places where I met the military in charge does not permit me to agree with those who desire the change. I have often been asked by military people to tell the Indians to put up petitions asking for the change, and invariably refused, for it would have been against my conscience to do it. The actual state of things permits the Indian if not pleased to complain of their agent to the military commander j but suppose the soldier is alone in charge, with full powers, of course, then he may be as unjust and arbitrary as he may please. He may satisfy his greed, his fancy, his bigotry, his lust, perhaps, and who will dare to complain? And if he did dare to complain, who would hear the complaint and apply the redress? I believe in freeing Indian agencies from the actual slavish allotment to which the Indians are subjected, although under the gov- ernment of a free country, and by means of which like so many cattle, they are indiscriminately and absolutely given away to this or that sect or denomination.
"I believe in leaving the Indians the liberty to. choose their spiritual teachers, and that that should be the only object of the bill.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA' 283
"As to the military being the sole and exclusive managers, that will never do. Among army officers there are liberal-minded men, generous and noble souls, just, honest and fair in every way, but they are of the same bone and flesh as the agents, and, placed in the same circumstances, they will act in the same manner. But I must leave this matter to those better able to judge, and to whom Divine Providence has intrusted the care of such things directly.
"Having visited all the camps at Cypress Hills, having taught and baptized many of my Sioux, I was preparing to return to Milk river, when Sitting Bull and his people manifested the desire of offering to me, each one, a buffalo robe, like the half- breeds had done. It would have been a nice thing for me, and would at once have furnished me with from 9,000 to 10,000 robes, but for fear this would have been misinterpreted by the Ameri- cans, and besides did not want the other Indians to get the impression that I came among them from greed, I declined accepting anything but a few painted robes and some tomahawks and arrows used in the Ouster fight. I knew this would shorten much my collection, and perhaps leave me in need, but thought I would give my enemies as little chance as possible.
"Arriving at Milk river, I found my half-breeds ready to load the offerings I had received from them and haul them gratis as far as the Woody Mountain, thus completing their act of charity. Now I had been provided with horses and a wagon in place of the wooden cart of the previous summer, and I could go ahead with my team to pay a vist to the Woody Mountain people, the others having appointed Palm Sunday to meet me at the Woody mountains for the holy week and for their Easter dtities. How little we suspected what was going to happen to us ! The weather, which until then had been beautiful and warm, suddenly changed into the most furious snow storm. I arrived on the Woody mountains on the last of March so chilled and sick that death seemed the next thing to expect. My hunters reached me there only on the 3d of May. On their way some had died. One small camp of thirty families had lost sixty-nine horses, frozen to death in a snow storm which lasted twelve days. All had been much afflicted, but they were still hauling the robes they had in care for me. Good people, they wept with joy when they met me. I was then very weak myself. I had suffered much but I had the good fortune to meet with Capt. Edmund Frechette and Sergt. R. McDonnel, of the Canadian mounted forces of the northwest. They took care of me and saved my life. I had also the pleasure of meeting there Trader McLean, of the Hud- son's Bay company, whom I had known fourteen years ago below Great Slave lake in the artic regions and whom I had not seen since. McLean, although a Protestant, showed himself a good and sincere friend.
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"After my hunters arrived, and all were around again for mass every morning, things were more cheerful. However, the effects of the storms were marked on many of our poor people. One old woman who had suffered much already there, came to the end of her earthly career. I had known her for a good many years, and always found her an exemplary Christian mother. Though her end was approaching and her suffering seemed to be intense, not a word of complaint ever came from her mouth, but with a smile on her countenance she would say: "It is hard to die! Oh, Jesus, take me; oh, Jesus, I give Thee my soul ! Oh, Jesus, I love Thee. Forgive me my sins," and she expired pressing the crucifix to her heart.
"Thus have I seen many of our Indians and half-breeds die. When they suffer much they want others to sing sacred hymns, or pray with them, and often do they expire singing, but almost always without regard of anything earthly and with a perfect assurance of going to God in heaven. Yours sincerely in Jesus Christ.
"J. B. M. GENIN, "Catholic Missionary to the Sioux."
CHAPTER IX.
From the New York Freeman's Journal of December 27, 1879 : "Father Genin seeking aid in Ireland. We find in several of our .Irish exchanges the following notice of the Rev. Father Genin, M. A.:
"Notwithstanding the very hard times, I trust you will allow an insertion in your paper in favor of a missionary nearly thirty years among the Indians, of North America, more especially among the Sioux tribes and Chippewas of the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers. When no white man dared to approach the then wild and savage Sioux, I happened to be thrown provi- dentially into their country, and while every one expected me to be cut to pieces, they only welcomed the arrival of the "Black Gown." The calumet of peace was ceremoniously prepared by the high chief of the Snakes^ who presented it to the great spirit and to me, asking me to stay to instruct them and their children. Many have been the occasions and temptations offered them to deviate from the promise they then made to me, but their fidelity has been remarkable. Indeed, not less than 300 have died, rather than to give up the faith. In order to stay with them, I had for many years to live as they do in privation and want, receiving for all support, from the Society for the Propagation of Faith, only 250 francs annually, or £10 English money. On that I should have found my subsistence, clothing, means to build churches, caring of orphans, etc., which of course
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 285
was simply impossible. I had, therefore, to go into debt, and our bishop, too poor to help me, gave me a mortgage on one of our principal churches. This mortgage, unless paid, will be the cause of our church being taken from us and turned to profane uses. We have besides, a large number of orphan children, wholly helpless, some of them having lost both father and mother in the recent wars; and while the poor in civilized countries are being visited and cared for by charitable institutions and generous people, ours, roaming through the prairie wilderness, have no one to appeal to in their distress. Many who are calling for the priest to help them at least to die well cannot have him, for he is. powerless, having no means to go to them on the prairies. The field is too vast for one poor mortal's efforts to reach but a few. On account of all this his grace the archbishop of Dublin has been so kind as to head a list of subscriptions for our relief, by a handsome check, and gave me leave to appeal to the generous public in any manner which might be likely to bring us the much needed help. I trust, dear sir, you will kindly convey my appeal to the public through your columns. Mr. Peter Paul McSwiney, 37 Upper Mount street, Dublin, will receive all contributions which may be offered. I have the honor to be your obedient servant in Jesus Christ.
"J. B. M. GENIN, "Missionary."
Was there ever an appeal for charity to Irish hearts made in vain? With the money obtained from this source, Father Genin was enabled to send some little orphan Indian girls to St. Boni- face to be educated by the Sisters of Charity at the convent.
At various times during the service as missionary to the Sioux, during the years intervening between 1869 and 1879, Father Genin's good offices were in demand as intervener between the United States government and the dissatisfied bands of the Sioux claiming lands in the territory. The first lands in the limits of the territory to be ceded by the Sioux being the strip of country between the Big Sioux and Missouri rivers, now in South Dakota and lying southwest of the Big Stone lake, was surrendered to the government and opened to settlement. All the chiefs of the lower Yauktonaise Sioux tribe did not par- ticipate in the treaty, and for many years afterward numbers of them roamed about the country both in North and South Dakota.
In 1869 one band of the tribe under Mag-a-do-ba (Drifting Goose) and his brother lived, and followed the buffalo, on the Dakota or James river, where they also planted a little corn. Members of this band intermarried with and became closely related to the Sissetons. Their chief camp, where they spent the summers, was called "The Earth Lodges." At the beginning •of the winter they would separate into small parties and go
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to the agencies on the east of the James and to Devils lake at Fort Totten, returning in the spring to their summer camp. After nearly twenty years of this precarious life, during which they had been led into frequent depredations upon the white settlers who had located between Fort Wadsworth and the Sis- seton agency at Lake Traverse, Father Genin finally secured their consent to locate upon a reservation of their own, and in June, 1879, by executive order of President Hayes, three town- ships of land were set apart as a reservation for Mag-a-do-ba's disaffected band, and no further depredations were made upon the settlers.
After the arrest of Louis Kiel in 1884 and 1885, Father Genin went to Canada and visited Kiel in prison, to bear to him the blessing of Archbishop Tache, who was Kiel's uncle. He also took pains after Kiel's death to set at rest certain slanders concerning him in the interest of truth and justice, and out of respect to the archbishop, on which point a St. Paul newspaper stated :
''Father Genin produced a copy of the Boston Pilot containing an article on the subject under consideration, and said that while some of the points given were true, some of them he knew to be absolutely false. Among the statements made by the paper was one that Kiel had studied for the priesthood but was refused ordination. Father Genin said he knows this was not so, as he himself carried a letter from Kiel to Bishop Tache in May, 1865, shortly after Kiel left the seminary, and went to his home near Fort Garry, Winnipeg, saying he was sorry to have caused his lordship so much trouble but he could not conscientiously take the holy orders. His reason for doing this was, he said, because he did not feel that he could carry out the principles necessary, and he thought the sphere in which he could do the most good was to stay and try to serve his people."
The bishop was very sorry on receiving the news, knowing that Kiel was a man of extraordinary intelligence and firmness of character. The same newspaper article speaks of Kiel's meet- ing General O'Neil and offering to join the invaders at the time of the threatened raid of the Fenians if a sufficient force to overthrow the Canadian government could be brought into the province. Father Genin says the reason why T. B. O'Donahue and Kiel fell out was because O'Donahue was in favor of the Fenian raid and Kiel was not. The paper also says the half- breeds did not at first oppose the change of affairs which came when the lands on which they were living were purchased by the Canadian government in 1868. This was not so; they were bitter against it from the first, and their determination to enforce their claim and make the Canadian government recognize their rights was the cause of the war.
Father Genin was greatly beloved by the Chippewas of the Turtle Mountain region. His voice was ever raised in pleading
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for the poor Indians, and in 1897 the following appeared in the Duluth Journal :
"The Journal has received letters from Father J. B. M. Genin, pastor of the Church of St. Anthony at Bathgate, X. D., relative to the Turtle Mountain Indian trouble. Father Genin is a well- known character in the northwest, having been continuously for thirty years or more a missionary and priest among the Sioux and Chippewas of the Dakotas and Minnesota. He is very closely identified with the redskins and should know whereof he speaks. The letter is as follows:
"'Bathgate, N. D., May 6. ''"To the Editor of the Journal:
" 'I have read with interest your article on second column of page eight of the Journal of May 5, beginning thus : 'Greed of Deputies,' 'The Underlying Cause of the Indian Trouble,' 'Men Arrested for the Fees,' etc.
" 'Your informant is corroborated by a letter to me, herein enclosed, by Little Shell, Red Thunder and Henry Portras, the two first Indian chiefs, and the third the half-breed chief of the poor Turtle Mountain sufferers.
" 'I pledge you my word as a priest who has known these poor people for over thirty years, that your informant is right, and there can always be found degraded white men who surround and follow the Indians even as the wolves used to follow the buffalo herds in our old times, to make them their prey. For this particular case I can say that I know well personally Little Shell and Red Thunder, both honorable men, and Henry Portras, a true and faithful Christian man whose life has been one of heroic deeds of charity in behalf, not merely of his own people but of all white men as well. The pitiable condition of those poor people is the cause of the suffering of their children, exposed in winter to perish of hunger, if something were not attempted by their parents to procure the necessary means to get provisions. It is asserted in some other parts of the Journal that the Riel rebellion forces were joining them to help them commit depreda- tions. It is not true. I know besides of my own personal knowl- edge, that all the Indians and half-breeds now at Turtle mountain have a perfect tribal and native right there. It is not the fault of these poor people if the sparring political factions of congress have retarded their treaties and settlements with the government of the United States, from putting an end to disputes that have lasted so long, about their rights, which are truly established by official documents of our government.
" 'The condition of these people is truly beyond all endurance. I can and will, if necessary, furnish you proofs of all I say.
" 'Yours respectful Iv,
" 'J. B. M'. GENIN, M. A.'
288 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
"The letter to which Father Genin refers is given below, trans- lated literally from the excellent French used by the chief who wrote it :
" 'St. John, April 29, 1888. "'Father Genin, Bathgate, N. D.
" 'DEAR FATHER GENIN : We want to speak to you of the trouble we are having in the mountains. There are some whites who have made us false offers in order to take our lands so as to have the timber cut from it, without our permission. The mar- shals have come to arrest some of our people, and we do not wish to have them take them, and we have quite decided not to allow them to be taken alive, as we love our children too much to permit them to die of hunger; and I believe that you will not forget to answer our prayers for aid, and arrange to answer these matters here as soon as possible. I assure you that we have quite decided to have justice, whether it be by force of arms or a more peaceful way. We have had much trouble caused by two or three whites who are against us. They do everything possible to cause us evil. With respects to all our friends, and from all your friends in the mountains. We are yours very devotedly,
"<LE PETITE COGUILLA (Little Shell), " 'TONNERRE KOUGE (Red Thunder), " 'HENRI POITRAS.
" 'P. S. — Please give us an answer, and with your good counsel we are certain that you will help. Thanking you in advance for your good favor.' ':
CHAPTER X.
It is chronicled in the Duluth papers of a later date, in May 14, that Red Thunder was the only Indian in the whole Turtle Mountain outbreak who refused to surrender. It is recorded that it took six strong and active deputy marshals to put the handcuffs on his wrists. He is 88 years old — on the verge of the grave — and walks bent nearly double from age and infirmity. He is a Cree Indian, was born in the Pembina mountains and has spent all his life there and in the Turtle mountains. His bearing under arrest was lofty, and when invited, while a prisoner in the Ramsey county jail, to go for a walk with the sheriff for exercise, replied with dignity that he would not leave the jail as a prisoner, but would walk out only as a free man. The article concludes with these words : "He is suffering from pleurisy, and his spirit is broken. It is quite questionable if he ever leaves the Ramsey county jail alive." .
At a later date the following letter appeared in the Duluth Journal :
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 289
DIED OF STARVATION.
"Over 150 in the Turtle Mountains Starved in 1888. — No Im- provement Since Then. — Little Wonder, then, They Disregarded a Boundary Line, Says Father Genin. "To the Editor of the Journal:
"It is now too late that I may have time to look for the official report I had to make in June, 1888, about the deplorable state of affairs and the intolerable suffering of the Turtle Mountain Indians, and send it to you.
"Yet, reading in your columns the statements of a United States marshal to the effect that he had to pay out of his own pocket funds to the amount of $1,000 for arresting alive, or without killing outright, nine persons — two Indians and seven half-breeds — destitute and starved almost unto* death, and that, too. with such a terrific posse of assistants as he mentions he had spread about, cautioning them carefully, like old Granny McDonald used to caution her grandchildren, not to go too near the fire, for it was hot and their flesh tender. I cannot refrain from stating that the actual condition of the Turtle Mountain Indian people is about the same today as it was in the spring of 1888. •
"In the winter of 1887 to 1888 there were counted 151 persons, big and small, who died there of starvation. I buried a number of them myself, taking three, the mother and two grown children, out of one single family. The Sisters of Mercy, who support there a large number of orphans and destitute boys and girls, deprived their house of all they could in ord^er to help me to carry pork, flour, sugar, tea, bread, etc., to all those we could reach. There were lots of young mothers who, after giving birth to their children, had to wait patiently for a meal until their husbands would return home from the hunt with a gopher or two, nothing else being found.
"I state facts, remember. I do not put up stories.
"You will ask : Why did not the lazy creatures provide them- selves with provisions by cultivating the land? Why did not they?
"In the first place they had no seed of any kind; and where the United States government was made to believe so many bushels of wheat, corn and potatoes had been distributed. If you had been there you might have found that so many things never reached the unfortunate; or, if any at all was obtained, it was only by a few favorites, while the others were rebuked and sent to do for themselves. One of the pleas was that so many Indians did not belong to that reservation, but had come from Manitoba and the north- west. It is no wonder that the starving people would not consider the magical cage line, called the international boundary, but would look for fish, game, etc., even if they had to cross that
Hist.-19
290 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
great line. I have seen in some instances, and have handled my- self, hoes and other handmade .wooden instruments of agri- culture the natives were using so they could plant something, being refused assistance at the agency. I will cite one instance especially, that of old Joseph Vallet, over 80 years of age, who, unable to get as much as a hoe at the agency, made himself one of oak wood, with which, before my eyes, he planted a garden with his children, having procured some garden seed from a humane disposed storekeeper in the neighborhood, thus showing his earnest desire to work to help himself, if there was any way to do so.
"Are the people better today? No, no. Why, then, did not our heroic marshal go forth with his mighty posse to distribute that $1,000 of hjs to the poor, suffering creatures, who, alas! were trying to save their starving children from the jaws of death. The marshal's action would be blessed today, and he would appear a much greater and nobler citizen of a Christian country.
"The lands of the Turtle mountains are yet unceded, and while the poor Indians are so long waiting for the good pleasure of our government officials to settle the affairs of the cession of their property, is it a wonder that they would try to keep themselves by cutting and selling some of the timber?
"We believe it to be a true maxim that necessity has no law. In this, their extremity, the Indians had hardly a chance to hesitate; and who will blame them?
"We read now the report that the marshal's life was in danger ; that Red Thunder was hot. Should not Eed Thunder be at least as hot as our marshal? It is good enough for the marshal that Thunder was alone and that there was no lightning. I do hope the marshal and his men will see to it that the children of their captives are not let die of hunger, while the law will take its course and a faithful investigation justify the marshal's victims.
"J. B. M. GENIN, M. A.
"Bathgate, N. D., May 11."
In 1884 Father Genin was invited to Kdrne by Cardinal Nina, secretary of state to Pope Leo XIII., who received him with every token of confidence and esteem. The holy father mani- fested the deepest interest in the well-being of his Catholic Indian children in the wilds of northwest America, and personally expressed to Father Genin his appreciation of the devotion and self-sacrifice that had marked his career as a missionary. Thus, besides the approval of his own conscience, Father Genin gained the highest honor in the gift of the church, namely, the personal approval and the special blessing of the venerable head of the church, bestowed personally in the palace of the holy Eeo in Rome.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 291
Happy in experience and refreshed in soul, he returned to America to resume his labors, and was again invited to the mission field of Dakota, which invitation he accepted and was again busied with various missions until the spring of 1889, when he was called to the missions of Cavalier and St. Thomas and finally became pastor of St. Anthony's church of Bathgate where he labored faithfully until his death. He died rejoicing in the faith, and his remains were laid to rest in consecrated ground, with the blessing of the ancient church upon which his heroic life reflects so great honor.
Requiescat in pace.
On his deathbed Father Genin wrote the following letter:
"Church of St. Anthony, Bathgate, N. D., Aug. 17, 1899. "My Dear Mrs. Slaughter:
"Your very kind letter of the 14th inst. was received in my bed yesterday morning, where I lay without strength, though not suffering. My sickness is due to severe prostration during the ceremonies of the blessing of a seven-foot artistic statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in my church of St. Thomas, this county, some time ago. The fasting, the preaching, the singing of the mass, etc., in an excessive heat, put my poor, sinful frame down low.
"I had got better, however, and I thought I could stand more work, so I went to spend three days at my mission of Cavalier, and I got struck down again. Your letter had such an effect upon me that I wept, and got up feeling better. What a beauti- ful and noble soul God has given you! and how I would enjoy seeing you once more. You may be sure I never forget you and youd noble deeds in Bismarck. I would have corresponded with you oftener, only I felt too insignificant to take up your time. However, as you are so kind in your expressions toward me, I will say this,' your writings which I have regularly read, have always brought me very pleasant recollections of you, and as they continually add to the evidence of a pure and brilliant talent, one cannot but form the most estimable appreciation of your quality of mind and heart; hence, as I also have a great work, an interesting work, in preparation and I am crushed down with infirmities, my desire would be to obtain your kind help to put it together when you get done with the rebuilding of the one that was regretfully lost in the Tribune fire.
"I cannot today write you the incidents of my "sail on the handcar" to save the life of that poor negro. I am not well enough ; I will as soon as possible. My work I intend to have published has reference to my travels and work for the past thirty-nine years in the northwest. There I trace the origin of our Indians back to the pyramids of Mexico, Yucatan, etc., and touch upon the great catastrophe which caused America to be so long unknown. I feel I am too weak for such a task. As
292 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
an English writer, when once you would grasp my subject your enthusiasm would carry you as on wings of fire through all the particulars, which the world will accept as it is truly a marvelous revelation.
"The title of the book or books will be 'The Sun and the Cross.'
"Accept my sincere thanks for your good wishes, and be assured of their perfect reciprocation. You will forgive my bad writing in this and the preceding letter, as I feel weak.
"Your humble friend,
"J. B. M. GENIN, M. A.
"Mrs. Linda W. Slaughter, Bismarck, N. D."
After the death of Father Genin, his manuscripts and papers, according to his last wishes, were sent to me. Among them were some valuable treatises on the ethnology of the American Indians, the result of his personal observations, which I sent to the ethno- logical bureau of the government in the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, and received from them a letter of thanks, stating that the "Pere Genin manuscripts are valuable additions to the archives of this bureau."
Others of his papers having historical value I shall present to the North Dakota Historical .Society.
But the manuscript of the book itself, "The Sun and the Cross," were never sent. The work on whose preparation he had spent so many years of earnest thought and exhaustive research, into which he had poured the wealth of his cultured mind, the fer- vency of his religious nature, and the strength of his grand intellect, has mysteriously disappeared, and until this day there has been found only the slightest clue to lead to its discovery. Thus is the world robbed of a very valuable history of the growth of human religions on this globe — dating from the fall of man — that was ever written. Thus is a great and good man robbed of the fame due the author of such a work.
As for myself, while I live it will be to me a cause of distress that I am unable to keep my word to the old friend who honored me with the belief that I would satisfactorily complete for the public the great literary effort of his lifetime. But his work as a pioneer still stands unrivaled. History cannot ignore it, and posterity will not forget it. As for the long-suffering priest who has gone to his reward, humilty was his distinguishing trait. He sought not earthly honors but a heavenly crown. His works alone do sufficiently praise him. But this state, which was the scene of his labors and his sufferings, owes a duty to his memory which I cannot believe that she will neglect to fulfill.
Father Genin's claim to fame and to the gratitude of posterity does not rest upon the fact that he was a priest of the Catholic church. It is the church that is honored by his ministry and should glory in the fame of his achievements.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 293
A CALENDAR OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF THE FRENCH AND INDIANS OF EARLY DACOTAH.
BY ALFRED C. FARRELL.
All feel the magic of such sentences as, Voyageurs! Fur Brigades ! . Seigneurs of New France ! Courier du-bois ! The great land and times of romance. Certain it is that very many of our greatest literary successes have been founded on the great Ameri- can fur trade. It was the only Homeric age in America — when men risked life simply for glory. And how odd to find that of all the fur locations, the traders' and trappers' paradise lay between Red River country and Turtle mountains and Souris river and Swan river to the north. Space is too limited here to give more than a brief glossary of events that led up to the occupation of our vicinity by the great trapper bands.
To attempt a history of the fur trade without a mention of the Ojibwa and Cree ' Indians would be impossible. For, as their camps lay right in the line of the best fur lands from the Great Lakes west, the Anglo-Saxon has had more to do with the Algon- quin tribes than any other Indians of North America. The result of intermarrying being the Bois Brule or Metis of the northwest, a race in themselves. As the Turtle Mountain country was the choice fur spot, so it has been the most dreadful in the northwest. From 1805 to 1816 a desperate and continuous battle was waged between the X Y Fur company, the Northwest Fur company and the Hudson's Bay company for the monopoly. The companies used every means : bribery, treachery and whiskey. Bands of men and Indians were constantly running riot in that land. Beginning with the Hudson's Bay company's attack on the Northwest com- pany's post on Souris river in 1800 to the bloody affair of Seven Oaks at Lord Selkirk's Hudson's Bay colony on Red River in 1816. The Hudson's Bay company's records for 1840 show that their hunting outfits from the Hudson's Bay Pembina post alone cost |118,000. When one recalls that the company got ten for one some idea can be gotten of what a hunter's paradise there must have been in northern Dakota.
About 1500 — The Ojibwa Indians had their westermost village or mede lodge and winter headquarters up to and east of Michi- millimacinac. On account of some quarrel they split up and became about 1,500: (1) Ottawas, (2) Ojibwas and (3) Potto- matimies. They do not remember the ancient name they had. About 1,500 Ojibwas were as far west as La Pointe, on the south- west shore of Lake Superior.
1541 — Jasques Cartier built French fort near site of Quebec; after a year the colony returned to France.
1608 — Champlain established a trading post at Quebec.
1612 — Dutch traders on Hudson river.
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1615 — Champlain led Canadian Indians and western Ojibwas against Iroquois and Dutch in New York and New England.
1650 — First white traders see Ojibwas, southwest shore of Lake Superior.
1650— Ojibwas begin to go to Quebec. They first got their arms and tire water.
1660- — Ojibwas, now having guns, began to move out to Mis- sissippi valley via Chippewa river of Wisconsin, to drive Sioux south and -vest of Mississippi river.
1661 — Radisson and Grosellier did some exploration of Lake Superior, noting Ojibwa fur lands.
1667— Hudson's Bay company formed.
1668 — Grosellier, for the Hudson's Bay company, established first English post on Hudson's Bay (the first post on this bay) about 160 miles north from nearest French post.
1671— Sieur de St. Lusson made treaty for French with Ojib- was at St. Marie; the first treaty of this tribe with the whites.
1671 — In the train of Sieur de St. Lusson, the envoy of the French king, was a Monsieur Cadeau. His son, John Baptiste Cadot, became a great trader and married Anastasia, an Ojibwa woman. They had two sons, John Baptiste Cadot, Jr., and Michel. They were the ancestors of the Cadots of the northwest.
1695 — Chingcabee, Ojibwa chief, went to Quebec and asked Count Frontenac for help against the Sac and Fox Indians.
1700 — First French fur post in the northwest built at Pigeon river.
1713 — Treaty of Utrecht; French released all on Hudson Bay to Great Britain.
1731 — Verendrye's French fort at Rainy lake.
1738 — First fort where Winnipeg now stands.
1738 — Verendrye's expedition to the ancient Mandan villages on Missouri river via Turtle mountains and Souris river, left from Fort Rouge (Winnipeg).
1750 — Last battle with Iroquois by Ojibwas on Lake Superior.
1754 — French and Indian war. End of French rule in America,
1755 — Ojibwas fought with French against New England and at Ticonderoga with Sieur de La Come.
1760 — Grand Portage the first post in Minnesota.
1760 — J. B. Cadot, Sr., kept most of the Ojibwas out of Pon- tiac's conspiracy.
1763— Northwest Far-Trade company formed.
1763 — Pontiac conspiracy; some few Ojibwas in this affair.
1764— Ojibwas at Niagara had treaty and "grand council" with Sir William Johnson. Chief Wabasson represented western Ojib- was.
1767 — Northwest company post in Pembina Mountain country; Peter Grant, factor
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 295
1776 — Ojibwas had camps on old Sioux hunting grounds, Mile. Lac, Sandy lake and Leech lake, having driven Sioux out.
1780 — Ojibwas and Crees take smallpox from Gros Ventre camp. Two thousand died on Nebo river, North Dakota.
1787 — Now began prairie life for fur men. The Red River cart was invented.
1794 — Hudson's Bay company's Brandon house established.
1794 — Northwest Fur company established forts on Assina- boine and Souris rivers.
1795 — David Thompson, Northwest Fur-Trade company, makes a surveying expedition via Turtle mountains and Souris river.
1796 — Ojibwas take Red lake and drive Sioux out.
1796 — j. B. Cadot, Jr., had his own fur post at Grand Forks on Red river.
1800 — The noted Alexander Henry, Jr., member of the North- west Fur company, at Pembina from 1800 to 1805.
1800 — Spain ceded Louisiana back to France.
1800 — Ojibwas about to go to war with United States over the "line" question. J. B. Cadot, Jr., quieted them at the request of Sir Alex. Mackenzie of the Northwest company.
1800 — Sir Alex. Mackenzie moved fur depot of Northwest Fur company from Grand Portage in United States to Fort William in Canada. Indians did not understand the "line" question.
1800-1805 — Turtle Mountain Fur company, X Y Fur company, Northwest Fur company and Hudson's Bay company all compete for Indian trade. Bad money, whiskey, quarrels, murder.
1802 — Pequis, Robe Noir and Grand Oreille refused to attack Hudson's Bay company at request of Northwest Fur company's agents.
1805 — X Y and Northwest Fur companies unite.
1805 — Lewis and Clark on the Columbia river.
1805 — Zebulon Pike at headquarters of Mississippi river. Ojib-' was first see "Long Knives" (Americans).
1809 — Astor American Fur company tried to drive and put out of business Rollette and Fraser but they defeated Astor and he had to buy their posts.
1812 — Selkirk colony Red river, established; they were Scotch Highlanders.
1812 — Mr. Askin, a British agent for Northwest Fur company, tried to get Ojibwas to attack the United States in war of 181.2, but Keekeeshun, the head chief, refused.
1815 — The Ojibwa chiefs met the Sioux chiefs, with Interpreter La Roque for Sioux and Cadot for Ojibwas, and made first peace between Sioux and Ojibwas.
1816 — Battle of Seven Oaks, Red River. Governor Semple of colony (Hudson's Bay company) killed.
1816 — Congress excluded all foreign traders and trappers for fur from the United States.
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1821 — The Hudson's Bay company and Northwest Fur company unite.
1839 — Delegation of Ojibwas visit Queen Victoria in London.
1840 — Up to this time Sioux and Ojibwas were still fighting in and about what is now North Dakota.
A hunt, 1840, from Pembina River post, costing £23,600 or |118,000 :
1,200 carts £ 1,800
620 horsemen 1,800
650 women 1,400
360 boys and girls 400
403 boxers and runners 6,000
655 horses 5,200
586 draught oxen 3,500
Guns, ammunition, tents, etc 3,500
Total £ 23,600
1846 — England by treaty allowed the United States Oregon, which is now (1) Washington, (2) Oregon and (3) Idaho. And it was agreed that the United States line was to be latitude 49 degrees.
1848 — Mexico ceded United States New Mexico, Utah and Cfxl- ifornia.
1852 — Big Sioux fight. Chief Assaince (Little Shell) seeing his son's scalp in a Sioux's hand, killed the Sioux warrior and cut off his head. At this fight Ta-bush-aw, a Chippewa warrior who had a virago wife, stood and fought all the Sioux single- handed till killed; probably a suicide to escape his ugly wife, the Chippewas said.
1870— Bed Eiver trail, Fort Garry to St. Paul, 200 miles west side river then east side to St. Paul.
We wonder at the daring of these old voyageurs. The feudal state of the fur land is at an end. Its council chambers are silent and desolate; the banquet halls no longer echo to the old world ditty. The lords of the lakes and forest, with their wild energy, have passed away. The French explorers are a reminiscence of two centuries ago. The Astorians are no more. No longer does the French Canadian voyageur make the rivers ring with his chausous. The pomp of these emperors of the fur trade has resolved itself into the forms of modern commercial life. And North Dakota land, as it was then a factor, is even now one of the potent factors of the new northwest, the backbone of the America of today.
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HISTORY OF GLEN ULLIN.
BY E. R. STEINBRUECK.
It was on a fair day, May 8, 1883, when a car of the L. S. & M. S. Railway company landed finally on a temporarily laid sidetrack of the Northern Pacific main line, in an open country, the Curlew valley, about fifty-four miles west of Mandan. There was the car shoved backward onto that sidetrack and away puffed the passenger train towards its far western destination.
Soon the doors opened and every inmate, except a couple of Mrs. Schneider's twins, jumped out onto the prairie to take in the view of the country and where a thriving town was to be. Most of the newcomers were from Ohio, and from the city of Cleveland at that. There was John Cannell, Daniel Kneale, Dr. Sid. O. Morgan, D. L. Foust, P. B. Wickham, E. T. Green, a certain Brady, Spindle, Shaw and daughter, who shot the first duck, S. P. Barnes, S. J. Schneider with family, Hugo, his brother, and E. R. Steinbrueck and family. Glad to get out of the close car and to breathe the fine Dakota air, and anxious to see the lay of the land, the new settlers strayed in all directions, and every hilltop was alive with people. Land in plenty, but not a house, not a shack, not a fencepost to be seen. We had to stay in the car and make the best of it till a freight train, a few days later arrived with utensils, stock and tents. Even our most necessary baggage had been delayed on the road, till one of the next passenger trains brought it along and dumped the trunks and valises to right and left on the prairie.
The first town of Glen Ullin was a canvas town, and no streets or boulevards surveyed. Everybody pitched his tent where he found it most convenient.
A few days later another freight car arrived, with great yelp- ing. It was Dr..G. A. Stark, who imported not only a team of horses, but also a pack of hounds. And there was a strenuous voice to be heard among the quadrupeds as well as among the bipeds of his kit and kin every day. This is historic and ought not to be forgotten. Further arrived settlers from Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa, besides the majority from Ohio. In every one of these four states had been established an agency to enlist colonists for Glen Ullin. A. E. Bovay was trustee for the Northern Pacific Railway company and Isaac Richardson was the Ohio agent at Cleveland, Ohio. Each member had to pay $20 for a certificate and was then entitled to two town lots and all the concessions as well as to the aid of the agent in getting located. After finding obtainable land among the vast abundance of land spread in view, that is, after having become acquainted with the manner of survey, finding the corner posts of the govern- ment sections, everybody chose his homestead and on a certain
298 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
day all went en masse to the Bismarck land office to file. Many, discouraged, had left and had flown back to their old nest.
Gradually lumber arrived. S. P. Barnes started a lumber yard and so had E. R. Steinbrueck two cars of lumber at his disposal, but whatever lumber went out of his pile went nights. The Northern Pacific Railway companv commenced to build a freight and passenger depot, and even the window frames took the land fever and traveled over night into the country. It was a glorious time. Everything was free to go or to come. Chickens, horses, cows ran loose and no poundmaster elected. In fact nobody cared. But cold it was. The water froze nights in the pails in the tents. After a little some buildings were erected. Sid O. Morgan, our first postmaster, put up a shack for his post, office with additional sleeping capacity. M. S. Barrett and Dan Spindle started general stores and E. R. Steinbrueck turned out as first sign painter to properly advertise the growing business. There was no butcher shop, no saloon, no well, and the water so far obtained was from the passing engines. Whenever a train stopped at Glen Ullin you saw the waterpails running from every direction. The water of Glen Ullin was very bad, too much alkali, and it is not much better at present. Small blame if the townspeople look for some other beverage of a healthier quality. G. O. White, from Virginia, furnished the meat. Nearly every day he shot at least one antelope, seldom a deer, though there were plenty in the surrounding country.
The first three winters E. R. Steinbrueck went east as aide of Isaac Richardson, the agent, who was not able to speak German, or fill the wants of enquiring people of that nationality desirous of joining the happy chorus at Glen Ullin. Steinbrueck had to go, who had his correspondence from Glen Ullin eve'ry other week in the German paper, "Die Stimme der Wahrheit," and who made the easterners' mouth water for the wealth of the west.
While New Salem had an anti-Catholic union with A. V. Schallern as secretary, everybody was welcome in the Glen Ullin colony, and Steinbrueck was the first German and his the first Catholic family to join; S. J. Schneider and family, second, came out on Steinbrueck's advice. In the fall of 1883, third, Jacob Grewer and family found their way to Glen Ullin through Steinbrueck's correspondence in the paper. Next spring more of the same color settled at Glen Ullin and took homesteads, as John Mainzer, Gregor Feser, Phillip Wunsch, Adolph Dahl- hausen, J. Bohr and others. The Catholics are a funny set of people, they want a church. So E. R. Steinbrueck collected money from the east by 25-cent contributions. He offered three acres of land of his five, granted to him for his services to the colony. Bishop M. Marty at Yankton, D. T., gave permission for the erection of a church. Not only was $400 collected by Steinbrueck, but all the vestments and necessaries for the holy
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 299
service. And in this way the Eoman Catholic church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Glen Ullin was founded. Soon the Wehris, Simon Nagel, the Kattenbrocks, N. Claussen, the Tavis', Nic Simons, the Messrs. Pete Herman, Kokkeler, Benz, Poeppel, Peter Hess, the Geek brothers and more Catholic Germans too numerous to count came to Glen Ullin, all through Steinbrueck, who never asked or received the credit. Glen Ullin, grown to nearly the best town on the Northern Pacific railway main line, second to New Salem only, which was started on a larger scale from the beginning, is now a flourishing town, with even more business than Mandan, and is a Roman Catholic stronghold, with a beautiful church.
The firm of Barnes & Nelson (J. T. Nelson who was N. P. section foreman at Kurtz in 1883) is doing a tremendous busi- ness. The Tavis brothers, who bought Eugene Denzel's store and trade, the largest store building in town, are having their just share of the trade, and the present large roller mill is of their creation.
In the first years Glen Ullin had a small grist mill, owned by the Geek brothers, who bought it in Mandan from Schuhmacher. Soon the boiler was too small, next the running gear had to be enlarged, and finally an entirely larger mill was in demand.
Many of the old pioneers are dead, many have changed their homes, but more have stayed, after the first seven lean cows, when we had no drop of rain from the 1st of June until next spring, and for which Steinbrueck had to stand the blame. All are doing well now and bless the hour of their arrival at Glen Ullin.
Whoever passes Glen Ullin now, observing the fine costly resi- dences, the large stores, the numerous warehouses, does not think of the hardships, the trials, the sufferings of the old pioneers, who turned the first sod and paved the road to prosperity for the ones to come later, finding a well-organized cummunity fur- nished with all the necessaries to make life easy.
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH DAKOTA.
BY COL. C. A. LOUNSBERRY.
The life of the individual, if he be an active, progressive citizen, especially if connected with public affairs, is in a measure the history of his locality, and in preparing to record the history of this state, and that I understand to be the great purpose of this society, it is desirable that we obtain the recollections of the old settlers while their memories fail not, and while there are others yet living who may correct them if they be in error.
As early as 1868 I had become interested in North Dakota. T was engaged in the publication of a newspaper at Fairmount,
300 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Minn. I had a bright young friend, a printer, who was then em- ployed at Winnebago City, Minn., and we agreed that as soon as the Northern Pacific should reach the Missouri river we would go to that point and establish a newspaper.
Oscar Wall, my Winnebago City friend, became impatient and went to Audubon, Minn., and with his brother, P. P. Wall, en- gaged now in the newspaper business at Bisbee, established the Audubon Journal. I remained at Fairmont until 1870 and then at Wells until the spring of 1872, when I leased my paper and went to work on the Minneapolis Tribune, in order that I might be footloose when the time came to go to the Missouri river crossing. I watched the work of the graders with a great deal of anxiety during the summer of 1872, as I had watched .the development of the Northern Pacific region during the two pre- ceding years, and remember the great disappointment I felt when the graders were compelled to quit work early in October 1872, by reason of a violent blizzard which prevented them reach- ing the Missouri that year. I noted with interest the effect of the blizzard of January, 1873, which was so destructive to life in Kandiyohi county, Minn., and was not surprised at the great piles of snow I found in the Red Kiver valley when I first reached Glyndon April 2, 1873, spending a day with friends there and coming on to Fargo April 3, 1873.
The purpose of my visit at that time was to find when and how I could get through to the Missouri river with my printing plant, which I intended to move from Wells, Minn.
I returned in May and went out on a construction train, stopping several hours at Valley City, then called Wahpeton, changed later to Worthington because the Wahpeton post office had already been established at what is now the county seat of Richland county, and still later to its present name. As I re member it there were but two buildings at Valley City. One was occupied by McFadden and one by Flood.
The next and only settlement west until Bismarck was reached was Jamestown, where D. M. Kelliher, A. W. Kelly, Thomas Harris, the old gentleman Goodrich and a few others resided. The military post of. Fort Seward was there and Capt. John H. Patterson was in command. From Jamestown we went west to the end of the track on a handcar, and from near Steele drove into Bismarck by team with T. P. Davis.
Bismarck was the metropolis of Northern Dakota then and was larger than all other towns. There were two large supply houses there at that time, each doing a little banking business in a small way, and in all some sixty buildings, principally logs covered with earth. A large proportion of the buildings were used for gambling purposes, for liquor selling, or for immoral purposes. J. S. Mann, who owned the Lyndale farm on which much of Minneapolis is built and who erected the original of the
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Henry Hector house, the first building in Fargo, was a settler at Bismarck then, as were Dr. and Mrs. Slaughter, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. M. Pye, John P. and Mrs. Dunn, John Bowen, T. P. and Mrs. Davis, R. R. and Mrs. Phoebe Marsh, John W. Mitchell, Denny Hannafin, E. A. Williams, John J. Jackman, and many who have gone to the great beyond and others who have gone west.
The population of the town may have been 200. There was a military post of two companies of the Seventeenth U. S. infantry, called Camp Hancock, at Bismarck. And there were several companies of the Sixth U. S. infantry on the hill at Fort A. Lincoln, west of the Missouri, and that summer the cavalry post was built, and was garrisoned by the Seventh cavalry after the return of the expedition which went from Fort Rice early in the season.
There, were military posts garrisoned then at Forts Buford. Stevenson, Abraham Lincoln, Rice, Seward, Ransom, Abercrom- bie, Pembina, Totten and Wadsworth. I am not entirely certain about Wadsworth and Ransom, but it is my recollection these posts were abandoned later. The country west of the Missouri river was recognized as Indian country, and when I visited the present site of Mandan that summer I was accompanied by a military escort and a band of Indian scouts.
A few weeks later when the Northern Pacific engineers were starting in on their work west of the river they were attacked by Indians and the troops from Fort Abraham Lincoln met the attack with the result that seven Indian dead were left on the battle field. We could hear the racket and see the smoke of the battle from Bismarck.
Some time during that summer Rev. D. C. Lyon, of St. Paul, and Rev. I. O. Sloan, of Minnesota, went to Bismarck for the purpose of organizing a Presbyterian church, the first Proestant church organized or established in North Dakota. I think this was in June and the ministers came on one of the first trains. Wishing to stand with the better element for the development of the new country in which I had cast my lot, I became a mem- ber of that first organization. There were but four of us. John W. Fisher, formerly of Duluth, Henry F. Douglas, a son of Rev. John Douglas of Winona, myself and one other whose name I do not now recall were the four. We built the church, receiving aid from all classes. W. H. White, now of Fargo, was present at that church organization.
The saloon and gambling houses were all night and every day in the week concerns at Bismarck then, but by a preconcerted movement every saloon and every place of business was closed that day during the church hour, though after it was all over George Gibbs filled up with the stuff that exhilerates and his frequent shouts of "Hurrah for God" could be heard all over the town.
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There was no cultivated land between Fargo and Bismarck. Though there were two or three small garden patches at Bis- marck. Oscar Ward settled on Apple «reek that spring about live miles east of Bismarck and had some sod crops. I broke ten acres on my homestead, which fell within the corporate limits of Bismarck, and planted it to beans. I had an elegant crop prospect but a black cloud settled down on the patch one day and the grasshoppers forming it left only holes where the bean stalks had stood. They drifted onto the track in such immense numbers that year as to grease the track when crushed, and stop the trains. I remember a similar effect one morning at Glyndon in the early days from an army of frogs.
When I returned from Bismarck that fall there was a dugout at or near what is now Sterling. Vincent was at Lake Eggleston, a box-car used for a hotel at Jamestown had been supplanted by Goodrich who had opened a hotel, and Kelliher was feeding people at the section house; and Jamestown had become quite a thriving town, ambitious for the land office and certain to become the capital of the northern part of a divided Dakota. Their boasting to me on ~my way home led to the immediate intro- 'duction and passage of the bill creating the Bismarck land dis- trict and the removal of the land office from Pembina to Fargo.
The Bismarck Tribune was established by me July 11, 1873. Chas. Lombard, of Faribault, Minn., was the printer who got it out. . Morris Russel of Brainerd, Mr. Chambers of Glyndon, and their good wives were up to assist at the borning. A. C. Jordan, a brother of J. J. Jordan of the Morning Call, after wards became connected with the Tribune and remained till the chilly blasts of autumn when he returned to Minneapolis. The road was closed that winter. The last train out was a hand- car run with sails carrying out a party of deputy U. S. sur- veyors. I left by prairie schooner early in December and paid $75 for the team to take me to Jamestown. Mrs. Lounsberry, who remained in Minneapolis that summer, had notified me of her purpose to clip a coupon from our marriage bond, but Fred Hoskins Lounsberry was a lively kid, wide awake to the affairs of the world, thinking, perhaps, that life was one huge joke, before I succeeded in reaching Fargo even. I borrowed a team at Jamestown from the quartermaster, on the basis of carrying the United States mail, for I had brought the mail from Bis- marck, and finally reached my destination, - but could not get back till spring.
N. H. Knappen had charge of the Tribune that winter, which I edited, except as to local matters, by telegraph. The local matters must have been the most entertaining for Knappen got into numerous scraps during the winter and once received a fusilade of bullets through the shop that made it decidedly un- comfortable. Language was quite apt to be printed as it is
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spoken in those days,, and when Knappen announced his retire- ment he invited his friends to come and see him and bade his enemies go to h — 1, announcing that he would surrender to Col. Lounsberry but no son of a cur carrying a gun could silence him.
In the summer of 1874 one Henry established a vegetable garden on Heart river near where Mandan now is. He was killed in his home by Indians. I think it was in 1875 that John Wright, herding cattle for N. P. Clark, was killed about six miles north of Bismarck, and from 1876 on there were frequent scraps with Indians in connection with the opening of the Black Hills. I was at Fort A. Lincoln one Sunday when the Indians came in and run off the mule herd on Custer flats. Boots and saddles was sounded and we could see the chase of cavalry for many miles. The herd and the cavalry came back and they brought an empty saddle and the pony the Indian had ridden, but left the Indian to find his own way to the happy hunting ground.
A few claims had been taken around Fargo prior to 1873 by John Haggart and others and a few about Pembina by Chas. Cavalier, Hon. N. E. Nelson, Joe Rolette, Judson LaMoure and others, but practically all of North Dakota until 1873 was vacant. Indeed the Indian title had not been extinguished at the time of which I speak to the lands about Fargo, though they had been surveyed in 1867, anticipating such extinguishment, and settlement was allowed upon them. Chas. Bottineau, Antoine Gingras and a few of the part-bloods in Pembina county, and some of the early Selkirk settlers, had grown some crops in Pembina county, and gardens had been raised about the military posts but in the main there had been no farming developments in North Dakota until 1873. The era of large farming operations did not commence in North Dakota until 1874, when ground was , broken for the Dalrymple farm.
The first entry of public land in North Dakota was a home- stead made by Joseph Rolette in Vermillion, now South Dakota, there being no land office in North Dakota until December 19, 1870, when Rolette commuted his homestead entry and N. E, Nelson filed the first homestead of the North Dakota series, being the second filed in the state. Chas. Cavalier proved up on his pre-emption claim at the same time and received the first certificate for the entry of public land. He was the first settler in the state, having settled at Pembina in 1851. Hon. Judson LaMoure filed his homestead December 19, 1870.
The first transfer of land was made by Joseph Rolette to Frank Colombo, but the first warranty deed of land given after title was obtained and he had a right to sell was by Joseph Rolette to James J. Hill, being five acres for warehouse purposes on the Rolette homestead, which had been occupied by Capt- Henry for purposes of trade as early as 1800. The post office
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was established at Pembina in 1842 and N. W. Kittson was post- master. Pembina was in Iowa then. In 1805 North Dakota became a part of Louisiana; in 1812 a part of Mississippi; in 1834 a part of Michigan; in 1836 of Wisconsin; 1838 that part lying east of the Missouri fell to Iowa and that west of the river became a part of Mandan territory. In 1849 that east of the Missouri became a part of Minnesota. In 1854 that part west of the Missouri became a part of Nebraska. In 1858 that part east of the Missouri became unorganized and so remained until the territory of Dakota was created in 1861. The territory was sold by Spain to Napoleon and by Napoleon to the United States but the Spanish remained in control until the formal transfer to the United States, when the Spanish flag was first hauled down and the French thrown to the breeze to be succeeded the same day by the stars and stripes.
Though Chas. Bottineau had about 100 acres in crop in Pem- bina county in the early days and there were other considerable tracts under cultivation in that part of the state, the real agri- cultural development of the state commenced in 1873, when ninety-nine persons had ground broken in Cass county. Those who had twenty acres or more were: John Burke, 40; John Bye, 33; Christian Bye, 43; A. Cossette, 24; John Erickson, 30; Frederick Fagmont, 34; W. H. Fuller, 35; George W. Glover. 30 ; Thomas McKenzie, 50 ; A. F. Pinkham, 50 ; John Eustad, 23 ; G. H. Sanborn, 30; Charles Savageau, 30; and N. Whitman, 30.
In 1874 the number of acres plowed increased to 3,813 and in 1875 to 21,018. In 1874 those having more than sixty acres were : J. B. Chapin, 300; Samuel Deso, 80; John Dunlop, 420; Oliver Dalrymple, 1,282; Dipquick & Qualla, 65; Gotleib Fromke, 75; D. E. Fuller, 120; Hanson & Rustad, 70; Edwin Morris, 500; N. B. Pinkham, 95; Lars and John Simonson, 220; Clement Smith, 426; and Newton Whitman, 200. Newton Whitman grew the first wheat in Cass county in 1873 and the only wheat that year excepting about three acres where the park in front of the Northern Pacific depot is now situated. Whitman had thirty acres of wheat and the yield 4 was fourteen bushels per acre. John Haggart was developing his farm, on which he settled in 1871, and Andrew McHench was farming a considerable tract. They and S. G. Roberts, Jacob Lowell and Gordon J. Keeney were also developing their claims settled on in 1871.
In this connection I desire to file an illustrated article from my pen published in the Northwest Magazine of .March, 1886, written then of the first ten years development in the Red river valley, and I also desire to file and make a part of this article, duly credited to the author, an article recently prepared for The Record by Hon. J. B. Power, giving the history of the Dalrymple farm, which Mr. Dalrymple pronounces correct in every particu- lar. It is published in The Record for June, 1904, together with
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an interview with James Holes, who was the first to engage in farming as a profession in North Dakota, excepting possibly some of the small homesteaders who may have remained in possession of their farms settled about the same time. But to him is clearly due the credit of being the first farmer of North Dakota.
When work commenced on the construction of the Northern Pacific railroad west from its junction with the St. Paul & Duluth railroad, twenty-three miles west from Duluth, the work of city building commenced in the then unsettled northwest. The junc- tion flourished for. a time, and actually became a city of no mean proportions, and then the foundation for a city was laid at Thompson. Men of a speculative turn gathered from every direc- tion and engaged in business of every character. But the pio- neers here became the pioneers at other points. They led on to the crossing of the Mississippi river, where Brainerd sprang up amid the dense growth of pines, and in a few months became a city of 3,500 people. When the road was extended west from Brainerd at the Otter Tail, at Oak lake, at the Buffalo, and at the Red river, other cities were built that in their way became famous. The city to be built at the crossing of the Red river was looked upon as of great importance, for, being at the head of navigation on that stream, and in the center of a rich agri- cultural district, it was regarded certain to become a great city. A company had been organized to make the most of city building along the line of the road. Tradition says that enough of the officers of the road were interested in the company to make it possible for its members to gain correct information as to the proposed crossings of all important streams. The land, however^ was unsurveyed, and it became necessary to gain title through actual settlers, unless it should so happen that the ground desired should prove to be an odd section, when it became the property of the railroad company under its grant, and could readily be transferred in that case to the townsite company. An army of followers flocked here and there along the projected line of the road, and some passed in ahead. They located at every available crossing of the streams, and when men said, lo! here, or lo! there, the coming great city is to be built, there the crowd gath- ered and commenced to lay the foundation. The townsite com- pany had its agents everywhere to locate or mislead in order to enable them to locate the tracts desired. Everybody was suspicious of everybody, and, of course, everybody was watching everybody. Determining to cross the river near the point where Fargo now is, a settlement was made by the townsite company at Elm river in the fall of 1870, and in the spring of 1871 another at Oakport, four miles above Moorhead on the east bank of the Red River. Still none was satisfied that either of these was the point finally to be selected for the crossing.
Hist.-20
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One bright day in June, 1871, a person calling himself Farmer Brown, accompanied by three Scandinavian "settlers," located on the townsite of Fargo and commenced making improvements. Farmer Brown wore brown, well-worn overalls, a sunburnt face, a hickory shirt and an old hat. He sat with grace and ease on the handles of his plow while being quizzed by Jacob Lowell, Jr., who, since early in April, had been making a trip every day from the mouth of the Sheyenne to the Wild Rice, on the lookout for just such a party as this. "Brown ! Brown !" soli- quized Lowell, "seems to me I have heard that name before. Farmer Brown ! a fellow by that name used to run a monte game down at Oak lake. Besides this fellow is too sleek for a farmer." So Lowell departed and gave the alarm to Henry S. Back and Henry McHench, who were patrolling the river in concert with him, Back from the Sheyenne to Georgetown and McHench from Georgetown to Elm river. Says he, "I believe that Farmer Brown knows a great deal more about locating townsites than he does about mowing wheat, and I am going to locate right there." It was then July 1st and on the 2d Jacob Lowell, JTr. settled on his claim and became the first bona fide settler at Fargo. Back followed his example on the same day and McHench the day after. By that time it was generally known that Farmer Brown was no other than G. G. Beardsley, the well- known surveyor who had been employed to make script locations for the townsite company. The three accompanying him were hired to hold the land until the script could be secured. The land proved to be covered by an old Indian title, and, when that was cancelled, the claims of actual settlers tpok precedence. The lands, however, did not become subject to entry until September, 3873. In the meantime the prosperous little city of Moorhead had been built up on the east bank of the river, but most of the old settlers held the fort on the west bank of the river, confident that their reward would come by and by.
With the view of hiding the proposed crossing of the river settlement was encouraged in the fall of 1870 at Elm river and in the spring of 1871 at Oakport. These were the winter and spring camps on the Bed river, and at both points men were hired by the townsite companies to hold claims for them, and at both points the early settlers of Fargo were located. WThen the location at Fargo was finally made both of these camps were deserted — moved up in the night to Fargo. One who had been out late the night before found himself, next morning, alone in the deserted city of Oakport. Everybody was gone and he knew not which way to follow, so he went to Elm river to find that also deserted, and then came to Fargo to find that he was one day too late to be classified as an old settler. Jacob Lowell, Jr., Jacob Lowell, Sr., Capt. George Egbert, George Sanborn, A. McHench, N. K. Hubbard, and H. S. Back were among the
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Elm river settlers of 1870, who afterward became prominent factors in the upbuilding of Fargo. The same is true of J. B. Chapin, J. E. Haggart, G. J. Keeney, Harry Fuller, and N. Whitman, who were of the Oakport party. Although Lowell came to Fargo in April, 1871, he did not stake his claim until July. Harry Fuller staked his June 15th, some days before the Farmer Brown settlement. Newton Whitman staked his claim about June 15th.
Until December, 1870, North Dakota was a part of the Vermil- lion land district, and, so far as the records show, there had been but one entry of public land in North Dakota up to that time. That was the homestead entry of Joseph Rolette, Sr. He commuted his entry December 19, 1870, and it was the first cash entry of public land in North Dakota. On the same day Charles Cavalier made his first pre-emption filing in North Dakota, alleging settlement November 7, 1870. Hon. Judson LaMoure made the second, alleging settlement October 28, 1870. John Hancock, Wm. R. Goodfellow, Joe Rolette, Jr., Wm. H. Moorhead, Francis Colombe and John Bagley followed in the order named, with others, in all seventeen. Colombe and Bagley alleged settlement as early as September 10th. Eleven other fil- ings were made during the remainder of the mon,th, making in all twenty-eight up to the 1st of January, 1871. Seventeen filings were made during the following month, and others scattered along through the year, increasing the total number of pre- emption filings in North Dakota up to January 1, 1872, when the railroad track was laid to the crossing of the Red river, to 105. Fifty-five homestead entries and six Sioux script had also been made. Nelson E. Nelson made the first homestead entry in the Pembina office, Charles Bottineau the second, Peter Hay- den, John McMahon and Joshua Park following on the same day. In 1874 the Bismarck land district was created, and the Pembina office was removed to Fargo. Up to that time, August 1, 1874, the total entries of public land in North Dakota, includ- ing conflicting entries, were as follows : Pre-emption filings, 589 ; homestead filings, 154; Indian and half-breed script locations, 21. A. McHench made the first timber culture entry, Capt. George Egbert the second. Nelson E. Nelson made the first final proof under the homestead act. Ludwig Theirgart made the second. French Berquist made the first final proof of land in Cass county. The first lands were surveyed in Cass county dur- ing the summer of 1871, by Joseph W. Blending. He subdivided eighteen townships along the river from Wahpeton to George- town. The plats were returned to the general land office in Washington December 29, 1871, but were not filed in the United^ States land office at Pembina until July 25, 1873, and no entry of public land in Cass county was therefore made until Sep- tember, 1873. Chester W. Clark made the first entry of land in
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the Fargo office September 1, 1874; Leigh Beardsley the second. John Erickson the third, and Jacob Lowell, Jr., the fourth. S. G. Roberts entered his land October 14th; A. McHench his October 22d and James Hales his November 7, 1874.
The first settler in Cass county was Martin Schow, who still lives upon the land originally occupied by him near Quincy. Jacob Lowell, Jr., is the second oldest settler in the county, and the oldest in Fargo. He located at Elm river in 1870, and in Fargo in April, 1871. Ole Lee came in April, 1871, and settled upon what is now South Park addition to Fargo. When filings were made upon the land in and about Fargo settlement was alleged as follows: Jacob Lowell, Jr., July 2, 1871; Charles Eoberts, July 8, 1871 ; Harry Fuller, June 15, 1871 ; Jacob Lowell, Sr., July 5th; A. McHench, July 3d; James Holes, July 26th; John E. Haggart, August 8th ; A. J. Harwood, August 22d ; Brad Stevens, October 31st ; Pat Devitt, November 25th ; A. H. Moore, August 19th.
Charles Roberts is the father of the first child born in Cass county. The only ladies in Fargo up to August, 1871, were Mrs. George Egbert, Mrs. A. McHench, Mrs. Andrew Holes and Mrs. C. A. Roberts. Mrs. A. H. Moore came August 19th. The Charles Roberts claim is now practically in the heart of the city. Lowell's joins the city. Fuller's is Fuller & Eddy's addi- tion. Sanborn's is one mile out. Gordon J. Keeney reached Fargo July 5, 1871, and in March, 1872, located his claim, which extended from North Pacific avenue to Sixth street, north of the Manitoba depot, and from Broadway to the river. Kenney and Devitt afterward made a joint entry of this land. Thus in 1871 the foundation of the city was laid, but not until the 18th of October, 1873, was the city platted. The survey was made by Joseph E. Turner, and the plat of Forgo was the first instrument filed for record in the office of the register of deeds of Cass county, January 2, 1874. The next instrument was a .warranty deed from John McDonough to Patrick Bond, June 25, 1874*
Cass county was organized in the fall of 1873. Jacob Lowell, Sr., Newton Whitman and W. H. Leverett were the first county commissioners. J. H. Pashley was appointed sheriff. Terrencc Martin, register of deeds and ex-officio county clerk. H. S. Back, judge of probate and ex-officio county treasurer. J. L. Lowell, Jr., county attorney, and A. McHench, county superin- tendent of schools.
The post office was established in September, 1871, as Centralia, and Gordon J. Keeney was appointed postmaster. The name was changed to Fargo in 1873, and the point never became widely known as Centralia.
The Northern Pacific railroad was completed to the bridge at the crossing of the Red river January 1, 1872, and was
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extended west that year about to Steele, and completed to the Missouri river at Bismarck June 5, 1873, but no station was established at Fargo until 1874.
The first house built in Fargo was the house now occupied by Frank Tanner. It was built by J. S. Mann, and afterward occupied by A. H. Moore as a hotel. E. Sweet & Co. built a small office before this which is now owned by Lowell.
The Headquarters hotel was commenced in 1871, completed in 1872, and opened by J. B. Chapin April 1, 1873. The writer accepted the hospitalities of the squatter governor in this house April 3, 1873, and that day determined to locate in North Dakota, which he did a month later. The old Headquarters hotel burned in October, 1874, and was rebuilt by N. K. Hubbard and E. S. Tyler within sixty days of the time of the fire. The writer came over the plains from Bismarck to attend the opening in December, 1874, meeting then, as he had before, nearly all the old settlers of Fargo, all of whom were invited to the feast. We were all neighbors in North Dakota in those days. Every- body knew everybody, whether he lived at Fargo, Jamestown, Bismarck, Pembina or Grand Forks. Trains did not run west of Fargo in winter. The writer paid seventy-five dollars in December, 1873, for a team to take him from Bismarck to James- town, and then drove a span of mules from Jamestown to Fargo. Six days were required for the trip. After reaching Fargo two days more were required to reach St. Paul by rail, a stop over night being made at Brainerd, and then proceeding by way of Duluth next day. This state of affairs continued until 1876.
In December, 1874, the tax rolls of Cass county showed but 240 personal-tax payers in Cass county. The total valuation was |81,235. There were but seventeen names on the real estate outside of the city limits, viz : P. P. Makin, Peter Dalstrom, R. C. Enderson, W. G. LeDuc, James Holes, John Kinnan, Char- lemagne Tower, John E. Haggart, E. A. Grant, D. P. Harris, P. Goodman, B. A. Berg & Co., Nels Olson, Tolger A. Woo, John Erickson, N. Whitman and W. G. Goodrich; and but twenty-five on the real estate rolls within the city limits, viz : C. E. Peterson, Terrence Martin, Northern Pacific Railroad Company, A Plummer, Francis Pinkham, John H. Hanson, P. W. Ken- nedy, B. A. Berg & Co., J. B. Chapin, C. S. Foster, Chas. Cotter, Bernard Griffin, L. R. Beardsley, E. S. Tyler, A. McHench, D. A. Sanders, J. Lowell, Jr., E. A. Grant, Oscar Smith, George Egbert, A. J. Durham, A. A. Hall, John Cummings, John E. Haggart and John Burns. The total value of the real property within the city limits was |23,490. In 1885 the valuation of Fargo city property had increased to |3,825,950, the value of Cass county farm lands to $7,000,130, and the personal propertv to |3,014,990. The total valuation in 1885 was $14,055,180. No computation of facts will better show the progress made in the
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development of the country during the past eleven years. This, it should be remembered, does not include the homestead lands, which are not taxable until patents are issued. The personal tax payers, numbering 240 in 1874, had increased to 2,883 in 1885.
HISTORY OF METHODISM IN NORTH DAKOTA.
BY WILLIAM H. WHITE.
The history of the first Methodist Episcopal church of Fargo is, largely, the history of early Methodism, in that part of the great northwest north of the forty-seventh parallel of latitude and west of the Red River of the North. Long before the Indian title to the lands in the Red river valley was extinguished, the pioneer Methodist preacher to'ok up his work of laying the foundation of our great church in this country.
In the omniscient mind of the Master nothing is left to chance.
As we witness the unfolding of His plans, we realize how for generations unborn His loving thoughtfulness provides.
In the early history of Methodism in the little town of Adiz, Ohio, over seventy years ago, our sainted Bishop Simpson grew up with, and by his pure life was the means of the conversion of, a young man by the name of Gurley. While subsequently associated with him in Allegheny College, he was instrumental, through divine direction, in young Gurley's entrance into the ministry, who, later, became the father of Methodism in this portion of the northwest.
Rev. James Gurley, better known by the affectionate title of Father Gurley, took up his residence at Brainerd, Minnesota, as a missionary of the Methodist church, in the fall of 1871, his mission extending from Duluth, on Lake Superior, to the entire then inhabited portions of northern Minnesota, and what is now known as North Dakota.
The beginnings of Methodism in northern Dakota, under the direction of Father Gurley (like that movement under the direc- tion of Wesley), had its origin in the prayer and exhortation meetings held in the shanties of the pioneers. Through the years of 1871 and 1872 no church organization was effected in all of northern Minnesota and Dakota, except at Duluth and Brainerd. Fargo being but one of the many appointments upon a circuit of 150 miles, could claim only a portion of Father Gurley's time, and great were the sacrifices he made to reach it. He, however, laid the foundations of the church in this state, strong and deep, and upon this foundation, since 1872, Methodism has been building.
No official local organization was effected in northern Dakota during the year 1873, but Methodism assumed more permanency
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and a nucleus was definitely formed at Fargo, of which the legal existence of our church was the outgrowth in 1874.
During 1873 northern Dakota was joined to the Northwest Iowa conference and was known as the Northern Pacific Mission. The Kev. John Webb was regularly appointed by that conference as general missionary west of the Red river, Rev. Gurley retaining the work in northern Minnesota. Mr. Webb's residence was at Fargo and his circuit comprised the district in which now are situated the towns of Jamestown, Caledonia, Grand Forks and Abercrombie, but no churches were officially organized at any of these points at this date.
Church services during 1873 were regularly held at Fargo in what was known as Pinkham's Hall, located on the corner of .Front and Fifth streets. Rev. Mr. Webb officiated when in Fargo, his place being supplied during his absence by Father Gurley or by services conducted by some of the laity.
While no official membership existed, the church affairs were generally looked after by Mr. and Mrs. Alonzo Plummer, Miss Emma Plummer and William H. White. A Sunday school of about twenty scholars was formed with Wm. H. White as super- intendent and with Mrs. Plummer and Miss Plummer as teachers. These informal organizations existed in Fargo throughout this year, Rev. Mr. Webb fostering them and giving them the larger portion of his time in connection with his duties at other points on his circuit.
A church building was talked of and some funds raised but nothing further done except to select and solicit from the rail- road company a donation of two of the lots upon which our present church stands.
Early in the year 1874 energetic steps were taken toward collecting money and laying plans for the erection of the first Methodist church in North Dakota.
Through the kindness of the Northern Pacific Railroad com- pany in giving free rates for freight on building material, and the generosity of merchants and business men generally, irrespec- tive of denomination, a subscription sufficient for the commence- ment of a small church was raised and active operations toward its erection were begun early in the spring.
The church building (the dimensions of which were about thirty by fifty feet) was completed and ready for occupancy by the^lst of July.
On the 20th of July the legal existence of the First Methodist church and Sunday school of Fargo may be said to have begun, although for nearly a year prior to this date an organized Sunday school and services under the auspices of the Methodist church had been held with such regularity as the opportunities and circumstances of the time would permit.
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The meeting was held in the church building, the Rev. H. J. Christ of Brainerd, Minnesota, presiding. Those present were Kev. John Webb, missionary to the Northern Pacific mission, James Douglas of Moorhead, Minnesota, Alonzo Plummer, Mrs. Alonzo Plummer, Miss Emma Plummer and Win. H. White. A board of trustees was elected consisting of N. K. Hubbard, Geo. I. Foster, Alonzo Plummer, secretary, and Wm. H. White, president.
There was no board of stewards formed at this time, as the membership consisted of but one person (Wm. H. White). The former was continued as Sunday school superintendent. The school at that time consisting of about twenty members. After determining the cost of the- new building to be $1,200, upon which had been paid about $800, a canvass of subscriptions show- ing a deficit of $200, and after devising plans for the support of Rev. Mr. Webb as missionary, the meeting adjourned.
While the church was started practically without a member- ship, according to the church records, its membership comprised the entire town as far as sympathy, interest and aid was con cerned, and the interest manifested by the congregation insured success from the beginning; and for several years after it was the church home for all denominations until, with the incoming of new people, these organizations were of themselves sufficiently strong to build their own houses of worship. The first loss of this nature occurred December 30, 1877, when the Presbyterians, who had worshipped with us, went off to form a society of their own denomination. These were followed September 22, 1878, by the Baptists, who had erected for themselves a church build- ing. Later, November 2, 1881, the Congregationalists likewise erected their own church edifice. These repeated drains upon our working membership were felt but those of our own, with renewed energy and added zeal taking up the work, no serious drawbacks attended these repeated withdrawals. In the fall of the year mentioned (1874) our church was dedicated. At this time a subscription was taken sufficiently ample to free it from debt. During this year Missionary Webb had also formed a nucleus for a church at Grand Forks fostered by the Fargo church by donations of books, etc. In the fall of 187-1 the North- western Iowa conference returned the Rev. John Webb to the Northern Pacific mission, with headquarters at Fargo, and, as an assistant, the Rev. Mr. Curl was appointed, with headquarters at Grand Forks.
During the spring and summer of 1875 the Fargo charge was one of a circuit as in former years, the Rev. Mr. Webb giving most of his time to this part of the work but also laying, such foundations throughout the territory as were afterwards devel- oped, largely through the instrumentality of the Fargo church.
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In the fall of 1875 the Northwestern Iowa conference estab- lished a district of northern Dakota, calling it the Northern Pacific district. Rev. Mr. Webb was appointed presiding elder and Kev. J. T. Walker pastor at Fargo. This was the first appointment made directly to Fargo. On account of ill health Mr. Walker was unable to take the appointment and the Rev. J. B. Starkey was transferred from Onawa, Iowa, and appointed to Fargo in Mr. Walker's place. Brother Starkey arrived in Fargo on November 13th.
On Sunday, November 14th, he preached his first sermon in Fargo, being the first sermon preached by a regularly appointed pastor at Fargo.
The congregation numbered twenty-three people. The member- ship at this date, according to records now in Rev. Starkey's possession, consisted of five persons, namely : Miss Alvira Pink- ham (now Mrs. Geo. Cooper), Mrs. E. A. Grant, Mrs. Geo. I. Foster, Mrs. E. A. Atkinson and Wm. H. White. The Sunday school at this date was re-organized under the Sunday School Union with the same officers and teachers. The first prayer meeting held by the new pastor was in the church on the evening of November 18th, four persons being present. Revival meetings were planned by Rev. Starkey shortly after his arrival and continued for two weeks. While no additions were made to the church, the influence for good on the town was marked, and the church as an institution was strengthened thereby.
During the spring and summer of 1876 Rev. Mr. Starkey, in connection with his pastoral work, was very energetic in his efforts to advance the cause of temperance in the town, lecturing and organizing a temperance band which had a marked influence on its temperance principles.
In the fall of 1876 North Dakota was placed in the Sioux City district, with Rev. T. M. Williams presiding elder. He visited Fargo but once during the conference year, having to travel by the way of St. Paul, N. P. Junction and Brainerd, a distance of 600 miles, to reach the district. Rev. Mr. Starkey acted in the double capacity of pastor at Fargo and presiding elder, rendering faithful service in enlarging the plans started by the Rev. Mr. Webb throughout North Dakota, and in addition to his faithful service at Fargo he completed a church at Grand Forks.
Mr. Starkey's pastorate in Fargo terminated in the fall of 1878.
As a pastor he was a man of influence in Fargo, not only in the church but throughout the town and at adjacent points. His untiring efforts and fervent zeal placed the church upon a permanent foundation with opportunities for rapid advancement under subsequent leadership.
On September 28, 1878, at a meeting held at Cherokee, Iowa, by a joint commission from the Northwest Iowa conference
314 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
and the Minnesota conference, it was decided to attach to the Minnesota conference all the territory north of the forty-sixth parallel of latitude, and the presiding bishops of each conference, concurring in this decision, completed the transfer, thus making North Dakota and Fargo charge at this date in the Minnesota conference, and designated as the Red River district. Later, in the fall of 1878, the Minnesota conference appointed the Rev. Mr. Starkey presiding elder of this district. Rev. Mr. Barnett, a transfer from Kentucky, as pastor at Fargo. Rev. Mr. Barnett failing to meet the appointment, Presiding Elder Starkey appointed the Rev. H. B. Crandall, from Alexandria, to Fargo. Mr. Crandall served this charge as pastor during the conference year of 1878 and 1879, enlarging the membership of the church, organizing its societies and rendering efficient service during his pastorate.
On October 6, 1879, Rev. C. F. Bradley was transferred from Duluth to serve the Fargo charge, Rev. Mr, Starkey being re- appointed presiding elder. Mr. Bradley's pastorate was of only a year's duration, but it was a year crowded with improved opportunities and rapid strides in the development and extension of the interests of the church, and through the Fargo church to the entire district. During this year Mrs. S. M. Stiles of Hart- ford, Connecticut, solicited in eastern cities and shipped to the Fargo church nearly a ton of Sunday school books and church literature, which in turn, through" the wise management of Rev. Mr. Bradley and officers of the Sunday school, were reshipped to the various new towns springing up about Fargo, and were incentives to the beginnings of new Sunday schools, which have developed into what are now our neighboring Methodist churches.
The gift also formed the basis of our present Sunday school library. Mr. Bradley's pastorate was also characterized by an unprecendented religious growth in the church. The member- ship numbered about 100.
A literary society of unusual interest was formed. The class meeting was well attended and every department of the church showed the favorable results of sympathetic interest and effort between pastor and people. His ripe scholarship, judgment and dignified Christian bearing drew many outside of any church relationship and, by enlarging our congregations, benefited those who came and contributed to the material interests of the church. From these conditions our church soon proved inadequate to our needs, necessitating action with reference to a new church building. Late in the summer of 1880 Mr. Bradley received a call to a professorship in Hamline University which he accepted, after a vacation, at the end of the conference year; the church being supplied by Rev. G. N. Stowers of the Wisconsin conference. On October 11, 1880, Rev. C. N. Stowers was regularly appointed to the Fargo charge and served as its pastor until the summer
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 315
of 1881 at which time he was obliged to resign on account of ill health occasioned by overwork, and the Rev. . S. B. Warner was transferred from the Upper Iowa conference to finish the year. The fall of 1880 and the winter of 1881 under the pas- torate of Brother Stowers were busy seasons for Methodism in Fargo. The little church which had accommodated the society for six years became entirely inadequate to the needs of the growing congregation, and it was sold to the Catholics. It was not without great regret that the members saw the building which had so long been their church home, mounted on rollers and slowly moved from the location upon which it had been of so much influence. In its place was erected a building better adapted to the convenience and comfort of the growing society, at a cost of f 5,000. Subscriptions had been taken but the funds realized were insufficient to free it from debt, and most heroically did the membership at repeated times respond to the call for financial aid and, for the reason that we prize those things which cost the greatest struggle to acquire, the new church soon began to be recognized and appreciated as the church home in the same sense as was the little old church which had been so deeply seated in the affections- of the people. By Christmas, 1880, the new church was finished, and pastor and people devoutly returned thanks for the divine aid which had enabled them to construct, for His worship, a building so commodious. At this time was placed in the tower the first bell that proclaimed prot- estant Christianity to the people of North Dakota, and, being the first member of any protestant church in North Dakota, Wm. H. White was called upon to first send its tones vibrating through the air.
About this 'time the membership numbered 125 and the Sunday school 150.
On September 29, 1881, the Minnesota conference convened and was entertained at Fargo, its sessions being held in the Fargo church. At this time the Kev. J. B. Starkey, who since November 30, 1875, had served the people so faithfully, closed his relations with the district to take work in another field. Largely through his self sacrificing and energetic labors the Fargo membership had grown from five to 125, and the district from two churches to over two dozen churches, nearly all of which owe their start and success to him.
At this conference (September 29, 1881) the Kev. S. B. Warner was appointed pastor and Rev. G. R. Hair presiding elder of the Fargo district.
On December 31, 1881, Wm. H. White resigned the superin- tendency of the Sunday school, after a service of eight years dating from its beginning. He was succeeded by T. S. Quincy who served until September 1, 1882, and who was in turn followed by Smith Stimmel, who acted in the capacity of superintendent until May 1, 1883.
316 REPORT OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The church under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Warner, during the conference year of 1881 and 1882, rapidly increased in mem- bers. Being at a period of great influx of people to Fargo, tlje interests of the church were stimulated by the acquisition of new members, and under the careful and painstaking super- vision of Rev. Mr. Warner the spiritual, social and financial interests of the church received a great impetus. The pastorate of Rev. Mr. Warner closed October 4, 1882, and that of Rev. M. S. Kaufman began, continuing through a period of three years from October 4, 1882, to September 24, 1885. This period of church history is one of great importance. Fargo was at the height of business prosperity and the center of activity for the surrounding country. Many operating large farms in the country, and carrying on other lines of industry, resided at Fargo and made this their church home. During Rev. Mr. Kauf- man's ministry the Foreign Missionary and Ladies' Aid societies developed unusual activity and interest. Special revival services were held each year, those of one winter being protracted through eleven consecutive weeks, resulting in many conversions and valu- able accessions to the church. Much of the prosperity and growth during this period are due to the earnest and faithful work of Brother Kaufman, with those who so nobly seconded his efforts. During this period the general conference, which met in Philadelphia May, 1884, divided the Minnesota conference and established the North Dakota Mission conference, also passing an enabling act for the Mission conference to become an annual conference when deemed advisable. The first session of the Mission conference was held at the Fargo church October 2, 1884. Bishop Fowler presided. At the second session of the North Dakota Mission conference, held at Wahpeton September 24, 1885, the Rev. S. W. Ingham, of the Upper Iowa conference, was appointed to Fargo, serving three years. The Rev. H. B. Bilbie, of the Minnesota conference, was appointed presiding elder of the district at the same time, serving the same period.
At the third session of the North Dakota Mission conference, held at Grand Forks October 14, 1886, Bishop Harris presiding, a motion was made by the Rev. D. C. Plannette that an organiza- tion of an independent conference be effected, to be called the North Dakota Conference. This motion was carried by a vote of twenty-nine to two, thus accomplishing the final work of Methodist conference building in North Dakota.
Fargo was again the seat of the conference which convened October 19, 1887, being the first session of the North Dakota Annual conference. This gives the Fargo charge the honor of not only holding the first Methodist service in North Dakota, but the "first Mission conference and the first annual conference as well.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 317
During the pastorate of Kev. Mr. Ingham the superintendency of the Sunday school was held by Wm. Mitchell, who succeeded Smith Stimmell on May 1, 1883, holding the office until May 1, 1888, when he was succeeded in office by W. P. McKinstry.
On October 11, 1888, Kev. G. S. White of the Central New York conference was appointed to Fargo by Bishop Hurst, D. C. Plannette being returned as presiding elder. Rev. G. S. White's pastorate was characterized by renewed activity on the part of the church along various lines of work.
He formed among the younger membership the Young People's Christian League, having in view the maintenance of a Sunday evening devotional meeting conducted by young people. This later became the Epworth League of our church. A Friday evening class meeting was also organized for the older members. Through the energetic efforts of Brother White a directory was prepared with photographs of all the churches, their location, names of pastors, times of meeting, etc., and placed in the various hotels, the post office and other places for the benefit of strangers.
During this pastorate the missionary work was taken up with added zeal and renewed effort and the introduction of pyramid mite boxes materially increased the funds of the society. Amounts were raised by the Ladies' Aid society and expended for parsonage furniture and plans were also begun for the erec- tion of a parsonage, being carried into effect the following year. The pastorate of Eev. G. S. White was followed by that of Rev. D. W. Knight, a transfer from the East Ohio conference.
The history of the church under Rev. Mr. Knight's ministry, covering a period of two years, may best be told in his own words, as taken from the following letter. "My pastorate of First M. E. church, Fargo, began December 22, 1889, and closed November 1, 1891. Was transferred from the East Ohio to the North Dakota conference by Bishop Hurst and appointed to the First M. E. church by Bishop Mallalieu about the 25th of November, 1889. Rev. D. C. Plannette was presiding elder; Rev. G. S. White was my predecessor. We arrived in Fargo December 21, 1889, and sabbath morning, the 22d, first met in worship that royal people. Our acquaintance grew rapidly, and I soon found I had a choice people in the city numbering about 125. An active Epworth League and a wide awake sabbath school greeted the pastor.
"Christmas festivities and receptions opened the doors in many of the best homes of the city for .new friends and friendships that warm our hearts whenever thoughts revert to Fargo and pastorate there.
"The winter of 1889 and 1890 was taken up with visitation and some revival efforts, which we have reason to believe were not wholly in vain.
318 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
"With the opening spring came the enterprise of building a parsonage, in which enterprise, I had been informed, I was expected to lead.
"The work was undertaken and, everything favoring, the 1st of November, 1890, we moved into our new home, a gem of modest beauty, one of the cosiest and most attractive for the cost in the city. It cost $2,000. Church repairs and improvements of property added made a total of nearly $2,500, which was all paid by the good people and no debt remaiijed when Dr. May began his pastorate in November, 1891.
"Soliciting money for church enterprise is often accompanied by unpleasant greeting from the solicited, but I must say I had the fewest while soliciting. On the other hand, I had most pleasant experiences and especially from non-members. When asked to help in the enterprise they would say, "I will help you; for you have a noble people, men and women, in your church who occupy the first place among us and are worthy." My heart often warmed and glowed when I heard my own thus commended and honored.
"With this standing it is no marvel that First church raised nearly $8,000 for all purposes in the two years. The membership varied with losses and gains; losses by death and removal.
"Mrs. Thos. Hanson and Mr, Bamford and others died. Many came in by letter and without, yet the gain, above all losses left some advance in the membership. Benevolences increased steadily, fellowship grew and the spiritual life magnified, until there was a most happy state of soul in the church. For all this I take no especial credit. The church was on the verge of growth and development. I entered at an opportune time and went with the tides that bore on to prosperity. To God be all the praise, for under my successor's pastorate for five years the tides widened and deepened, until the First church has taken first rank in the great northwest.
"Blessings divine on Fargo and the First M. E. church."
This letter shows for itself the sweet and unselfish spirit of our brother knight, who is deserving of much more credit for the favorable -conditions he notes than he accords to himself.
FAKGO IN THE TIMBER.
BY G. F. KEENEY.
Fargo in the Timber is of interest to every one in this state from the fact that next to Pembina it was the first nucleus of white settlers in North Dakota. Aside from the numerous mili- tary posts, which at that time numbered upwards of a dozen in what is now the state of North Dakota, Fargo in the Timber was a settlement of about 600 people on what is now called "The
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 319
Point," where the Northern Pacific and Front street bridges now cross the Red River of the North. These people were mostly what were called in those days "The End of the Track Gang." People who were always pushing just ahead of the track construc- tion on the line of the Northern Pacific railroad, so that when it became noised abroad that Oak Lake would be the end of the road during the winter of 1871 and 1872, these people pulled out for the Red River of the North, and finding lots in Moorhead had a certain cash value, they crossed the river and settled in the timber on the Dakota side. Here they put up their tents, log huts, and constructed underground habitations along the banks of the river, and settled down to a winter of contentment and ease. Most of them had money, earned during the summer months., and those who had not engaged in some line of business in a small way, saloon business by preference. Gambling houses were num- erous, and two dance halls where the violin could be heard on any night in the week were opened. Of course, there were some who had simply settled down here for the winter with their fam- ilies, expecting to continue working along the line on some con- struction work during the summer of 1872. The Point was at this time covered with a heavy growth of elm and oak timber, with a dense growth of underbrush. There was but one trail leading from the ferry at the foot of what is now Front street to General Rosser's headquarters, chief engineer of the Northern Pacific, who with a corps of engineers wintered in tents near where is now the Davis block. This large settlement of General Rosser's engineer corps was called Fargo on the Prairie, and be- tween the aristocracy of this Fargo and the denizens of Fargo in the Timber there was not the best of good will existing, and the people of the latter place were always alert to take advantage of the members of General Rosser's camp. So one day just be- fore Christmas when it was noised abroad that a four-horse wagon had gone east to get a supply of potatoes for Rosser's camp it was decided at a meeting held in the afternoon that Fargo in the Timber should get the benefit of the potatoes. Just after dusk the team pulled across the river and started to ascend the bank on the Dakota side. The drivers were well muffled up, cold from their long drive, and did not notice that several men were quietly working at the rod holding in place the end-board of the wagon in which the potatoes had been packed, loosely surrounded by sacks and straw to keep them from freezing. As the wagon ascended the steep bank the end-board was raised, revolvers were fired off, and such a hubbub was raised generally that the team ran away and the potatoes were strung along the trail and picked up by men, women and children who were on hand to reap the harvest. The mess of which I was one succeeded in getting nine good sized potates for our Christmas dinner.
On another occasion a wagon had been sent down to Alexan- dria to purchase supplies of any kind for the use of the camp of
320 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Fargo on the Prairie. This wagon crossed the river after dark loaded with chickens and turkeys, and was absolutely stripped of its contents on its way through Fargo in the Timber, the half- frozen driver sitting entirely unconscious of what was going on until he reached the headquarters stable on the ground now occupied by the deLendrecie block.
General Rosser had been a general in the Confederate army, and when he established his engineer corps headquarters at this point he organized it along the line of an army camp. There were some thirty or forty tents devoted to various purposes, and here General Rosser as well as a number of his subordinates had their wives, and in some cases their children, with them. But life was quiet and monotonous at the engineer headquarters as compared with the life led by denizens of Fargo in the Timber. There fights were frequent occurrences, and not always between the male members of the settlement, and practical jokes of a decidedly rough nature were of daily occurrence. For instance, Tom Mad- den, who was afterwards shot on the Sheyenne, thought it a good joke to buy a load of wood in Moorhead, and after the two young men now residents of North Dakota had hauled it over the river, to pull his revolver and order them back across the river without paying them for the wood. Jack O'Neil was another denizen of this place, and I well remember the Sunday afternoon when Kate undertook to do Jack up. You could follow his trail by his blood down the river, and up the bluff on the Moorhead side. Jack was afterwards killed by General Ouster's troops in his tent at Bismarck, after Jack had killed three of the soldiers. Along in February, 1872, it began to be rumored that the Sioux were coming in from the west, so that when a company of troops marched through the settlement and went into quarters at Gen- eral Rosser's it was supposed they were here for the protection of the settlement. But by daylight the next morning Fargo in the Timber had a rude awakening, sharp orders were heard, the tramp of many feet, and as the inhabitants of tent, log hut or dug-out stepped to the door, he found himself confronted by a soldier and arrested. A large tent was taken possession of, and used as a guard house, where most of the men and some women in the settlement were rounded up, and after some fifteen or twenty for whom warrants had been issued had been identified, the balance were ordered over the river never to return. It seems that "Fargo in the Timber'' was on what was then part of the Wahpeton and Sisseton Sioux Indian reservation, and was also claimed by the Puget Sound Land company for townsite pur- poses, and in order to clear these lands of squatters the land company had called in the assistance of the United States govern- ment, claiming that many of these squatters were engaged in selling liquor to the Indians, and on this plea obtaining an "order for clearing the land of settlers. This was a death blow to Fargo
JOHN M. COCHRANE.
HENRY SUTTLE
v
JOHN E. HAGGART.
J. V. BROWER.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 321
in the Timber. An order was obtained from Washington through Governor Austin, of Minnesota, allowing the actual bona fide settlers to remain in possession of their claims pending the nego- tiation of a treaty with the Indians for cession of the lands, but the liquor business of Fargo in the Timber was doomed. Many of its leading citizens had been deported to Pembina, a few stayed on until the late spring of 1872, when the high water drove the last lingering settler from Fargo in the Timber to the high lands of the prairie.
Hist— 21
Part III
NECROLOGY OP MEMBERS. BIOGRAPHY OP OLD SETTLERS,
GAZETTEER OP OLD SETTLERS, TRAP- PERS, ETC., EARLIER THAN 1862.
BIOGRAPHY
The biographical portion of this volume is divided into two parts. The first part is devoted to sketches of early settlers of the state and territory and short notes of such traders, hunters, travelers and early pioneers as could be gathered from the ma- terials available. The longer sketches, unless the author is given, are taken from notes made by the secretary from personal inter- views with the individuals whose experiences are given in the succeeding pages. .
In the second part will be found sketches of deceased members of the Historical Society. The aim here is to publish as complete a sketch as possible in every case so that whatever is to be found elsewhere, in many places, may appear in these pages in full de- tail as the authorized statement of facts by those best able to give them.
NECROLOGY OF MEMBERS
JOHN M. COCHRANE. By Guy C. H. Corliss.
John M. Cochrane, the subject of this sketch, was born at Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on the 8th of March, 1859. His father was Rev. James Cochrane, a Presbyte- rian minister, and a native of Ireland. He was for a time a tutor in Queen's College, Belfast, Ireland. He came to America in 1850 and took a course in theology in Princeton college. For a time he taught in the Erie academy of Erie, Pennsylvania. On April 19th, 1854, Mr. Cochrane married Catherine A. McDowell, a native of Pennsylvania, and the daughter of a well known phy- sician of that state. In 1861 they moved to Canton, Illinois, and in 1865 they continued their westward migration, taking up their residence at Faribault, Minnesota. The last change of their home occurred in 1873, when they moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where they continued to reside until the death of Mrs. Cochrane in 1895. The Reverend Mr. Cochrane still lives there with his daughter, Mrs. W. A. McDowell, at a ripe old age. Father and daughter are now the sole survivors of the family,
326 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Judge Cochrane, the subject of this sketch having died July 20th, 1904, at his home in the crty of Grand Forks, North Dakota.
As a boy, Mr. Cochrane posessed a remarkable memory and gave early indications of his future brilliancy. He was fourteen when his parents moved to Minneapolis. From this age until he was seventeen, in 1876, he attended the public schools of that city. In 1876 he entered the state university, where he received instruction up to 1879, when he went to Ann Arbor and entered the law school of the University of Michigan. He graduated in 1881, and was the same year admitted to the bar in the state of Minnesota. He first opened an office at Le Sueur, Minn. Here, however, he remained only a short time. He moved from there to Madelia, Minn., where he formed a partnership with Frank James, which continued until March, 1883. He then sought a more promising . field at Grand Forks, then Dakota territory, reaching that city, destined to be his home for the rest of his life, in the middle of March, 1883. He was at first associated with the law firm of Bangs & Woodruff. Later he formed a partner- ship with Mr. Bangs, which lasted till the fall of 1884, when he was elected probate judge of Grand Forks county for the term of two years. He was re-elected in 1886, but resigned in 1887 to accept an appointment as state's attorney for Grand Forks coun- ty to fill a vacancy. He was re-elected to that office in 1888 for a full term of two years. His vigorous prosecution of public offenders, especially those who were openly violating the liquor and gambling laws of the state, marks an epoch in the history of criminal prosecutions in the territory of Dakota. Nothing be- fore like it had ever been witnessed in the West. From the expi- ration of his term as state's attorney, down to his election to the supreme bench in 1902, Mr. Cochrane threw all the energies of his mind into the practice of his profession.
While one of the most prominent figures in the political strug- gles of the Territory, he never sought office for himself. Never- theless, he served on the board of the State University as one of the regents, and was appointed by the first governor of the state, Governor Miller, to the office of trustee of the Normal school at Mayville. He was permanent chairman of the first republican convention of the state, which was held at Fargo in the summer of 1889. His counsel was widely sought by others touching the political affairs of the state, and no great convention was re- garded as complete without his magnetic presence. It was like Shakespeare's great tragedy with Hamlet left out. In debate and in that tempestuous eloquence that sweeps all before it, he stood alone in every political gathering he ever attended. His name soon became a household word throughout the common- wealth. His practice rapidly increased, both in the number and in the importance of his cases, and he drew his clients from every corner of the state. The subjects he was called upon to deal with
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 327
embraced the widest possible range; but it was in the criminal branch of the law that he found the field most congenial to his nature. At the time of his death he stood pre-eminent in this class of litigation, whether he was engaged upon the prosecution or upon the defense. His knowledge of medical jurisprudence far exceeded that of any other lawyer in the state, if not in the northwest. He was never more at home than when the exigencies of his case took him into the field where he was called upon to deal with medical experts. His cross-examinations of such ex- perts are among the greatest exhibitions of his strength and gen- ius as a lawyer. A notable instance is his cross-examination of such experts in the case of William Barry, whom he prosecuted for murder at Langdon in Cavalier county in the summer of 1901. Here he crossed swords with eminent alienists who testi- fied for the defense that Barry was insane at the time he com- mitted the homicide. The result of his cross-examination was a brilliant victory, both during the progres of the examination itself and in the result, the jury finding the prisoner guilty of murder in the first degree. It was, however, in the argument of causes to juries that the brilliancy of mind was shown in a re- markable degree. In this sphere he stood alone in the state.
In 1889 he formed a partnership with Charles J. Fisk, who for ten years past has been judge of the district court of the First judicial district of this state.
In 1894 he and Frank B. Feetham established the firm of Cochrane & Feetham, which lasted till August 15th, 1898, when this partnership was dissolved and a new one formed with Judge Corliss, who had just resigned from the supreme bench for that purpose. This partnership lasted till January 1st, 1903, when Judge Cochrane took his seat on the supreme bench, to which he was elected at the general election the preceding November by the unanimous vote of all parties in the state, no candidate hav- ing been nominated against him.
In no sense was Judge Cochrane a candidate for the position He took no part in the canvass, his attitude being merely that he would accept the office if the people desired him to accept it. Their decision in this respect was indicated in the most unmis- takable manner.
When Judge Cochrane entered upon his judicial duties he was far from being a well man. The disease that was destined to take his life had fastened itself upon him beyond the power of the physician to control. No one knew better than himself that he was a doomed man. And yet, in the face of such a fate advancing upon him, he took up the burden of his judicial work with the same conscientious fidelity that characterized him in every re- lation of life. Less than two years of judicial work was vouch- safed to him.( But even during this short time he demonstrated that he was a! many-sided man and that he would make a strong
328 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
judge, just as he had exhibited great qualities as a trial lawyer, and in the political field and as a man. In fact, he was so big that his largeness loomed up wherever he was placed and what- ever he was called upon to do. Nature made him a great orator, and his eloquence was exhibited in many different departments of life, — before juries, in political conventions, upon the stump, and on commemorative occasions. His familiarity with the lit- erature of the Bible, and especially with that of the Old Testa- ment, was often quoted by his friends, and he drew largely from this source in embellishing and enforcing his public utterances. One secret of his power as an orator was his extraordinary per- sonal magnetism, and this was the outward expression and influ- ence of a heart as big as his brain. A more unselfish, impulsive and generous man could not be found. He was never in the slightest degree a self-seeker. In political struggles he was ever fighting the battles of others or entering the list as the cham- pion of a public principle or cause dear to his heart. One of these great principles for which he contended, at tremendous sacrifice of time and money and political standing with party leaders, was that of a non-partisan judiciary. On this subject he asked himself a single question, — "Who is the best lawyer for the place?" That man, when he had found him, had his zealous and fearless support. As a result of his efforts, democratic law- yers have been twice nominated by republican conventions for the district bench in the First judicial district of this state, Judge Templeton once, and Judge Fisk once; and it is almost entirely through his commanding influence and his persistent ef- forts that this district, though republican, has had a democratic lawyer on its bench ever since the beginning of statehood in 1889, or for a period of seventeen years. It is likewise true that the personnel of the supreme bench was what it was during the first and second terms of its three first judges, chiefly because he made it his business to see that the hand of politics was kept aloof from that bench, and all through his life down to his death he kept watch over that tribunal and secured it from the calamity of having its members selected for political reasons without reference to ability, learning and character. It was altogether fitting that one who had so long and courageously striven for a clean and capable judiciary should himself be rewarded with a seat upon the highest court of the state.
Judge Cochrane was an extensive reader, not only along legal lines but also in many fields of knowledge. The consequence was that he was at all times one of the best informed men in the northwest. His miscellaneous library was the largest one in the state, and this was likewise true of his strictly legal library, into which he put upwards of $20,000. His law library still remains intact in the city where he won his fame and died, it having been purchased by the state for the use of the college of law conriected
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 329
with the State University. The greater part of his miscellaneous /library was presented by his widow to the State University.
Although he was a man of commanding talents, wide learning and overshadowing reputation, he was one of the simplest of men. He was entirely without personal vanity and never re- sorted to the devices by which smaller men push themselves into public notice. His sympathies embraced every statio'n and con- dition of life, and the consequence was that his friends were a legion.
For nine years he was court reporter of the supreme court of the state, and with characteristic conscientiousness and pride in his work he went through a vast amount of drudgery in car- rying out his ideas as to what should be done to bring the pub- lished reports of the state up to a high standard.
He was associated with the college of law at Grand Forks as an instructor, in criminal law for a number of years, and laid aside the work only because failing health rendered it impossible for him to discharge the duties of instructor in addition to the other duties resting upon him. Throughout his entire connection with the school and after he had severed such connection, he was the sympathetic friend and wise adviser of the young men seek- ing legal education therein, giving them much of his time and aiding them quietly with his money.
He was at one time urged to become a candidate for United States senator, and in a half-hearted way gave his consent. But, as might have been expected from the nature and past record of the man, he was soon found advocating the candidacy of others and throwing cold water upon his own. There seems to be no doubt that if he had at any time avowed himself as a candidate for that position, and made a determined contest for the position, he would have been elected senator with practically no opposi- tion.
In 1884 he married Miss Frances Merrill, a native of Indiana. All of his married life was spent in Grand Forks. Their devo- tion to each other was very deep and tender. They had no chil- dren, and as a consequence all the energies of Mrs. Cochrane's affectionate nature were forced into a single channel; and she made it her life study to minister to him at all times so as to make smooth and pleasant his pathway to the end that all his great powers might be husbanded for use instead of being ham- pered and impaired by vexations and annoyances. Mr. Cochrane always felt, and often said, that her ministrations were a large factor in whatever success he had achieved.
HENRY SUTTLE.
Henry Suttle was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, Feb- ruary 14, 1840, and died in Bismarck, N. D., December 18, 1905. Both his parents were born in Ireland, his mother's maiden name
330 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
being Sarah Hanna. His father was a Methodist clergyman and died in 1849, his mother dying some years later.
Mr. Suttle came west in the early 60's, and from Kansas City, Missouri, he passed up the Missouri to Ft. Pierre and Ft. Rice, finally reaching the place where Bismarck now stands in 1869. He was one of the first settlers in this part of the state and the trees he set out on his claim were among the first of the kind in North Dakota. On March 1, 1875, he filed on the seventh home- stead entered in the western land district of the upper Missouri country, comprising that part of the present state west of Stuts- man county.
For many years he had a wood yard on Sibley Island where he sold wood to passing steamers and to commandants of the U. S. army post, old Ft. Lincoln. He knew all the steamboat captains of that time and knew intimately the details of this very interest- ing period of our state history. On the 8th of March, 1877, he married Eliza M. Lee at her home in Brighton, Ontario. After his return to Bismarck soon after this he engaged in farming on his homestead. During the boom times of 1883 he bought a lot in Bismarck and erected a house where he lived until his death.
BENJAMIN STILLMAN KUSSELL. • By Joseph Carhart.
Mr. Benjamin Stillman Russell died at his home in Jamestown, North Dakota, on Sunday, September 16, 1906.
The History of the Great Northwest and its Men of Progress, published by the Minneapolis Journal in 1901, contains the fol- lowing sketch of Mr. Russell.
"Among the men of New England lineage who have exerted a powerful influence in moulding the institutions of the great northwest, Benjamin S. Russell stands almost without a peer. Coming to the territory of Dakota in 1879, ten years before it was a state; controlling a large body of land; having a wide experience in a multiplicity of affairs ; well informed in history ; thoroughly imbued with religious and educational instincts; gen erous almost to a fault, and abounding in energy, he could not fail to be an animating force in any inchoate community. Mr. Russell's ancestors were very early emigrants to New England from Great Britain. The first settler of the family was William Russell, who landed at Quinebaug, now New Haven, Conn., Aug. 23, 1638. His son, Noadiah, was a minister of the Congregational church. In his house the first steps were taken toward founding Yale college, and the first gift toward the institution was his donation of books. Both he and his son, William Russell, were pastors of what is now the First Congregational church of Mid- dletown. Conn., the father serving fifty-five years and the son twenty-five. Benjamin's father, Hamlin Russell, was a farmer, born in Connecticut in 1781, and moved to Erie county, Pennsyl-
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 331
vania in 1802. He settled on a farm on which he lived until he died in 1852. It is now in possession of his grandson. He was a man of great influence in his day. He served as quartermaster to the troops during the building of Commodore Perry's fleet on Lake Erie, during the war of 1812. His wife, Benjamin's mother, was Sarah Norcross, of Scotch-Irish descent. She was married to Hamlin Eussell in 1810 and died in 1831. She was a woman of strong character, an excellent wife and mother, and left an abiding influence on her children.
Benjamin S. Russell wras born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, in 1822. His early education was obtained in a primitive school organized by the neighborhood before the Pennsylvania "Com- mon school law" was passed. The books were few and there were no paraphernalia common to modern schools. But that the in- structions were thorough and efficient is evident 'from the schol- arship and literary ability shown by Mr. Eussell, who completed his course when only fourteen years of age, and has had no other scholastic training. In 1836 he left home, went to Philadelphia and secured employment in a wholesale hardware store. The "hard times" following the panic of 1837 cut short his term of office after four years. He then obtained employment as a clerk in various occupations until 1843, when he secured a position as teller and bookkeeper in a Harrisburg bank, holding this place until September, 1850, when he moved to Towanda, Pa., and formed a partnership for a bank of his own. When the war broke out in 1861, although prevented from enlisting by crippled arms, Mr. Russell took an active part in every movement for the support of the government. He was appointed a fiscal agent for the government under Salmon P. Chase, the secretary of the treasury, and sold the securities issued to support the bonds, selling many hundreds of thousands of dollars worth where gov- ernment securities had never before been bought. Failing health compelled him to make a change. In 1868 he sold out his busi- ness and moved to Philadelphia, taking a general agency of a life insurance company with the banking house of E. W. Clark and Co., where he remained until 1871, when he removed to Duluth, Minn., as a partner of a branch house of that firm and a director of the Lake Superior and Mississippi— now St. Paul and Duluth — railroad. The business was continued with success until the great panic of 1873 shook the financial world. Mr. Russell strug- gled with his affairs for two years longer, then succumbed with the rest.
In 1873 Mr. Russell was appointed one of the commissioners, by Governor Austin of Minnesota, under an act of the legislature to settle the controversy existing between the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota concerning the entrance of the bay of Superior, the jurisdiction of which had been in dispute and litigation in the United States court for five years, at a cost of more than one
332 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
hundred thousand dollars to the city of Duluth, one of the parties to the controversy. The commission met at Washington. There were nine men present at the meeting, including the commis- sioners: Governor Washburn, Timothy O. Howe, Senator Phile- tus Sawyer — then member of the lower house and on the com- mittee of commerce having in charge the rivers and harbors — Jerry Kusk, member of congress, Senators Alexander Ramsey and William Windom and the commissioners. Sidney Luce, mayor of Duluth, Ex-mayor Joshua B. Culver and B. S. Russell. This array of noted men indicates the importance of the subject under consideration, and the public interest in the results of the deliberations of the conference. Of the nine men present only two survive — Governor Ramsey and Mr. Russell. The commis- sion was successful in devising a plan of settlement. It was, to stop all controversy over the entrances by making them all equally available for commercial purposes. This could be done by an appropriation from the government to improve them. The modest sum of one hundred thousand dollars was asked for this purpose, and it was granted. Governor Washburn then predicted that the harbor of Duluth would be "the best on the lakes." This has come to pass through the munificence of the general govern- ment, which has already expended two million of dollars in im- proving the harber, and has appropriated two millions2 more for contracts extending over five years. It is justly a matter of pride to Mr. Russell that he was identified with this magnificent enterprise and contributed to bring about the result.
The reverse at Duluth would have overwhelmed most men of Mr. Russell's years. But he, buoyant by nature, and with courage undaunted, again resumed his business activities. After skir- mishing some time in Philadelphia, he secured control of a large body of land in Dakota — now the state of North Dakota — and in 1879 went there to dispose of it. He settled first at Spiritwood. He sold the land within two years and removed to Jamestown, where he now resides. Mr. Russell in politics was a Whig until 1854, a supporter of David Wilmot, of "Wilmot Proviso" fame, and one of the promoters of the republican party. "He voted for John C. Fremont in 1856, and has voted for every republican presidential nominee since. He has never sought office nor ac- cepted a nomination when offered, but he has chosen to be identi- fied with the educational institutions of the state, and with the advancement of religious interests. He is a trustee of the normal schools of North Dakota, and a member of the board of manage- ment of the school at Mayville. He is an active Episcopalian and the beautiful, noble church at Jamestown is one of the evidences of his zeal. Mr. Russell was married to Mary Gaskill at Phila-
1Governor Ramsey died April 22, 1903, and Mr. Russell was for three and a third years the sole survivor of this group of notable men.
2Mr. Russell lived to see the improvements made by the expenditure of the additional two millions.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 333
delphia in 1847. She died in 1891. Five children survive her, four sons and one daughter, and four preceded their mother to the grave. The sons are all well settled in busienss. The daugh ter was married to Samuel Bucknell, in 1882, and resides at East St. Louis.
Notwithstanding his business activity, Mr. Russell has found time to cultivate his mental powers. He has a remarkable mem- ory and has made good use of it. He is a man of scholarly attain- ments and among his friends is regarded as an authority in his- tory, sacred and profane, ancient and modern. The impress of his forceful character will be retained in that growing state for generations to come, and men will bless the day when the panic of 1873 sent him to live among them."
At the time the above sketch was published Mr. Russell's event- ful career was practically closed. About that time he gave up active business and devoted himself to the interests of his church and to education, especially to the State Normal School at May- ville, to whose welfare he was ardently devoted. He attended a meeting of the board of management of that institution on August 14th and took an active part in the discussions of the board relat- ing to the improvement of the institution. While he showed the physical infirmities of age his mind was clear and his views com- manded the respect of his associates.
In the fall of 1903 Mr. Russell was an elector on the republican ticket and his associates selected him to be the bearer of the elec- toral vote of this state to the electoral callege at Washington which declared the election of President Roosevelt. A lifetime republican and an enthusiastic admirer of President Roosevelt, he greatly appreciated the honor of representing in the electoral college a state in the union whose every county gave a majority for the candidate of his choice.
In 1906 his oldest son, Hamlin Russell, died at Newark, New Jersey. This bereavement was a severe shock to Mr. Russell and did much to hasten his own death.
On September 1st he was confined to his bed. On the following day he became fully aware that the release from bodily infi'rmi- ties, to which he had looked forward with calm an serene antici- pation, was approaching. He announced to his son, Mr. Edward G. Russell, his belief that "this is the end of earth," and expressed the hope that he would not become violent and cause his friends trouble. He had his wish. He soon fell into a semi-conscious, painless condition and so remained until the end, which ap- proached so gently that the affectionate watchers at his bedside hardly knew when it came. On Tuesday, September 18th, an impressive funeral service was conducted by Bishop Mann, as- sisted by Rector Burleson and several visiting clergymen, in the beautiful church which Mr. Russell's zeal and liberality were largely instrumental in erecting. Immediately following the
334 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
; I
service at Jamestown, the remains, accompanied by his son, Mr. Edward G. Russell and wife, were taken to Towanda, Pa., and buried beside the grave of his wife, who died about fifteen years ago, in a plot of ground which the deceased himself selected early in the fifties as his last resting place.
JOHN E. HAGGART. By Frank A. Ball.
Born on a farm in St. Lawrence county, New York, April 19th, 1846, a son of John and Mable (Northrup) Haggart, the early boyhood of John E. Haggart was spent in a manner similar to that of most boys raised on a farm in those days. Living at home and attending the country schools until about seventeen years of age, in 1863 he entered the employ of the government in coast construction work, and spent a year and a half with the army of the Potomac, after which he returned to the home of his parents where he stayed until 1867, when he came west, starting on his trip across the plains from Leavenworth, Kansas. The following winter he spent in Colorado and New Mexico, going from there to what is now Wyoming, where he conducted a lumber yard for the Union Pacific railroad until 1870. In 1871 he landed in the territory of Dakota and took up a claim on the Sheyenne river about six miles west of the present city of Fargo, which claim he owned until his death, having added to it until for many years he had been operating a farm of two thousand acres.
In 1875 he was married to Miss Betsy J. Hertsgaard and to them were born nine children — Gilbert W., Mable E., Maggie I., John C., Estella M., Alexander M., George E., William H. R., and Daniel.
Mr. Haggart was the first man to be made a Mason in what is now the state of North Dakota, being initiated into the order in 1873, since which time he has been made a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight Templar, a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a member of the A. A. O. of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
A life-long republican, Mr. Haggart held many offices of honor and trust. He was elected the first sheriff of Cass county in 1874, which office he held with conspicuous ability for twelve years. In 1889 he was elected to the state senate, of which body he was a prominent and influential member until 1898 when he resigned to accept an appointment as United States marshal for the state of North Dakota, which office he held to the time of his death.
During his long residence in the state John E. Haggart was called upon to fill many other public positions, particularly dur- ing the formative period in the history of the state just after its admission into the union, to all of which he brought the same sterling qualities of honest ability ^that characterized his private life and made him a man honored and trusted by his friends and business associates.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 335
No sketch of the life of John E. Haggart would be complete without mention of the Agricultural College. Himself a farmer, he early saw the benefits of such an institution to the state, and of all the men in the senate who took a deep interest in the Agri- cultural College there was not one who felt more closely asso- ciated with the institution than he did. ' As senator from the third judicial district he wielded an influence that secured its location at Fargo, and from that time on, during his long service in the senate, he bent every energy to the up-building of an insti- tution which he himself had fathered and which he lived to see become the benefit to the agricultural interests of the state that he had prophesied it would.
A man of the strictest integrity and honesty, and of unusual ability, John E. Haggart was, withal, a man of so kindly and gen- erous a disposition that to meet him was to know him and to know him was to love him.
Dying suddenly in the early morning of Sept. 22, 1905, John E. Haggart passed from a busy life of care to that rest so long . and so well earned, leaving behind a multitude of friends heart broken and sorrowing at what seemed, in that first hot grief, his untimely taking.
J. Y. BROWER. By Josiah B. Cheney, St. Paul, Minn.
Jacob Vradenberg Brower was born January 21, 1844, on a farm in the town of York, county of Washtenaw, Michigan, and died June 1, 1905, in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. He was the fourth son of Abraham Duryea, and Mary (Stevens) Browei*.
The ancestors of the Brower family in America emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam (now New York City) about the year 1642; they were people of some note in that colony soon after that date. The name was then spelled Brouwer, as shown in the old Dutch Kecord of that period.
The parents of J. V. Brower moved from New York state to Michigan, and engaged in farming. In the spring of 1860, the family came to Minnesota, and settled on a farm on Long Prairie, in what is now Todd county. This was their first place of resi- dence in Minnesota.
The school education of young Brower began and ended in the district schools of his native town. He was an apt and industri- ous student, and made good use of the meager facilities afforded in a district school of that period. After coming to Minnesota, he continued his pursuit of knowledge under the supervision of his father, who was highly educated, and hence competent to give his son a firm foundation upon which to build the thorough edu- cation which his published works show that he possessed. His education was of a practical and useful character; he was an able and accurate land surveyor, a topographer, geographer, and
336 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
archaeologist. He was conscientious and painstaking in all he undertook to perform. He was not self-opinionated to an extent that detracted from the value of his work. He endeavored to find the facts, rather than to find seeming arguments in support of a pre-conceived opinion of his own. At the age of seventeen years he was a school teacher, after having passed a thorough ex- amination.
On the 16th of October, 1862, Mr. Brower, then in his 19th year, enlisted in Company "D" of the First Regiment of Mounted Ran- gers, Minnesota Volunteers, a regiment authorized by the war department, to assist in quelling the Sioux outbreak of that year. In that service he participated with his company in the battles of Big Mound, July 24 ; Dead Buffalo lake, July 26 ; Stony lake, July 28, and Apple creek, (the Battle of the Missouri), July 29, 1863. He was mustered out of the service with his company, November 4, 1863.
Soon after his muster-out of the army, he went to St. Louis, Mo., and entered government service as a civilian, and was sent to Duval's Bluff, Arkansas, to work on some government build- ings being erected at that place.
While working at Duval's Bluff, he enlisted in the United States navy, as a seaman, and was assigned to the ironclad steamer "Exchange," which was one of the "Mosquito Fleet," so called. This steamer was in service on White river and the lower Mississippi, until August, 1865, when it went out of com- mission, and the force was discharged. Upon his discharge from the navy, he returned to his home in Minnesota.
In 1867, he was married to Armina E. Shava. (She died De- cember 22, 1904.) They left two children: Ripley B., Minne- sota state senator, and Miss Josephine V., of the faculty of the State Normal school at Saint Cloud, Minnesota.
The estimation in which Mr. Brower was held by his fellow- citizens is evidenced by the responsible public positions held by him. His first official position was that of auditor of Todd county, at its organization, January 1, 1867, when he was not quite 23 years old. This office he held for several years. In 1872 he was elected a representative in the Minnesota legislature from the 41st district, composed of the following counties: Otter Tail, Wilkin, Wadena, Todd, Beltrami, "Polk, Clay, Becker, Traverse, and Pembina — a very large district. He was also register of the United States land office, at Saint Cloud, for several years, and later was receiver of the same. He moved his family to Saint Cloud in 1873, and that city has been the home of the family since then.
In 1881, an adventurer, in search of material upon which to construct a work of fiction, hired a small party of men and pro- ceeded to Lake Itasca, and after spending a few hours of daylight, left. In 1887 his book was published. In it he claimed to have
fJBBi
F. F. GERARD.
i o-ix«_^-tj
THOS. E. COOPER.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 337
discovered Elk lake, and that it was the source of the Mississippi river. His book was so full of absurdities and plagiarisms that the Minnesota Historical society took notice of it, and appointed, a committee to investigate the man's claim of discovery. The. committee, after thoroughly investigating said claim, made its report to the society repudiating the man and his pretended dis- coveries. The report was adopted February 8, 1887.
In October, 1888, Mr. Brower, with two other gentlemen, made a trip to Lake Itasca for the purpose of seeing for themselves how much ground there was for the claim of original discovery. Early in 1889, Mr. Brower asked the Minnesota Historical so- . ciety for authority to definitely examine and survey the source of the Mississippi river. His request was granted, and a commis- sion, with the seal of the society attached, was given to him. The resolution authorizing the issuance of the commission, ex- pressly stipulated that the society assumed no financial obliga- tion in the matter, and that he was to make his report to the society; he wanting simply some official authority to give the result of his survey an official recognition. Volume VII of the society's "Collections," is his report. It contains elaborate hy- drographical and typographical maps and charts, besides numer- ous photographic half-tones ; and proves, conclusively, the falsity of the adventure's claim to anything.
Mr. Brewer's exhaustive report on the sources of the Mississippi river, made it evident that the Itasca basin would make an ideal state park ; and also that, unless some legal steps were soon taken to put an end to the lumbering operations about the source of the river, the volume of water would inevitably soon be ruin- ously decreased. By his earnest work, cordially endorsed by the Minnesota Historical Society, and a few influential friends of the proposition, the legislature, by legal enactment, created the Itas- ca stat" park. For this happy result, Mr. Jacob V. Brower is entitled 'to most of the credit. Without his personal and persist- ent hard work, it would not have been accomplished. Very prop-( erly he was appointed its first commissioner.
About 1860, Mr. Brower became interested in archaeology, and as opportunity offered, he collected specimens, especially imple- ments and utensils made and used by the prehistoric races of people who once inhabited this continent in large numbers, and also those used by the present tribes of Indians before white men came here. His personal researches in this line extended over the entire northwest, from Wisconsin to the Rocky mountains, and as far south as Missouri. His collections also includeed human; bones and crania from the prehistoric mounds and earthworks.
His entire collection, the result of many years of energetic work, and of great historical value, was entirely destroyed by fire on the night of December 19th, 1890. This was not only a great loss to him, but also to all engaged in this line of work, as
Hist-22
338 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
well. On the morning following the fire, he came to me, and, hold- ing out his empty hands, said : "Chaney, these are all I have left of more than 30 years of hard work!" But, not discouraged by this great misfortune, he immediately set about repairing his loss, so far as possible, by making another collection. In that fire he lost, not only his archaeological specimens, but also nearly all of his private papers, and a large amount of historical mat- ter designed for publication.
The specimens for his new collection, as they accumulated, were stored in the vaults of the Historical Society, where they were perfectly safe, even if the building should be destroj'ed by fire. 'On the removal of the state executive officers to the new capitol, lie secured from the governor the use of the rooms formerly occu- pied t»y the state auditor, in the old capitol, and had them nicely fitted up with new show cases and drawers; and everything was, in readiness to begin getting the specimens in shape and place for the public to examine, as soon as he returned from that trip which proved to be his last one. His health was failing rapidly, .and he knew that he had no long lease of life, and had no time to 'lose, if he completed his work. He told me that he wanted to live about two years longer, that he might finish his archaeological "history of Minnesota, specifically, and the Northwest in general. He was failing so rapidly that it was noticeable day by day; and when, the day before he left for that final exploration, he informed me that he could not hold his pen five minutes at a time, it was evident enough that he had about reached the end of his labor, whether or not his task was completed, and we ad- vised him to postpone that trip, and go to some quiet place and take a rest from all labor; but he said he must go. When I bade him goodbye that day, I felt that it was the last time I would ,«ee him alive, and therefore, when I learned of his death a few •days later, I was not much surprised. His demise was a great loss, not alone to his personal friends, but the scientific world in the lines of his work, and he wrought in several, departments •of science, and was an expert in all of them — geography, topog- raphy, ethnology, and archaeology. His command of technical (language in all of these departments was remarkable. His accu- iracy in surveying and charting the Itasca basin was amply veri- fied by the United States topographical engineers, who, in 1900, surveyed and triangulated the same for the government, equipped with a full set of instruments for such work ; the result of their survey showing no essential variation from his survey of several ;years before, with less facilities.
To J. V. Brower the geographical world is indebted for the •discovery -of the utmost visible source of the Mississippi river ; also to the precise location of Quivira, the goal of Coronado's long and (disastrous march from Mexico, in 1541.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 339
Mr. Brower was a prolific and lucid writer in several lines of study; he did not, knowingly, write fiction; he searched indus- triously for facts, in whatever field of research he was engaged; and, having found them, he impartially recorded them.
Among his most elaborate publications are the following :
Survey of the Itasca Basin. — This is his report to the Minnesota Historical Society — vol. VII of its Collections.
The Missouri River, and Its Utmost Source.
Quivira — Explorations in the basin of the Mississippi. Vol I.
Harahey — Explorations in the Basin of the Mississippi. Vol. 2.
Mille Lac — Explorations in the Basin of the Mississippi. Vol. 3.
Kathio — Explorations in the Basin of the Mississippi. Vol. 4.
Kakabikansing — Explorations in the Basin of the Mississippi. Vol. 5.
Minnesota — Explorations in the Basin of the Mississippi. Vol. 6.
Kansas — Explorations in the basin of the Mississippi. Vol. 7.
Itasca State Park — An Illustrated History of the Park. This is Vol. XI of the Minnesota Historical Society's Collections.
Mandan — Explorations in the Basin of the Mississippi. Vol. 8.' This is his last publication, and was barely out of press at the time of his death, and is still in the hands of his printer, unbound.
All of the above-mentioned books are not only very valuable historical works, but are very interesting reading as well, and are also profusely illustrated with half-tone cuts.
Having exhausted the space assigned for this sketch, I will say, in closing, that I regret my inability to do anything like justice to the memory of my friend Jacob Vradenberg Brower, whose companionship I so much enjoyed upon our exploration trips, and all other occasions when we were together.
BIOGRAPHY OF OLD SETTLERS.
FRANCOIS JEANNOTTE.
Francois Jeannotte was born in 1806 on the Mouse river, eight miles west of the present city of Bottineau, at a place called by the Indians Edge of the Woods. His mother was a Chippewa of the Turtle Mountain band and her Indian name was Assiwe- notok. His father was a French Canadian named Jutras Jean- notte, from Montreal, and had been many years in the country west of the Red river both in Canada and the United States. He had many adventures with the war parties of tribes hostile to the Chippewas. On one occasion many years before his mar- riage to Assiwenotok he was descending the Qu'Appelle river with a load of furs, accompanied by his first wife and his son, when they were attacked by a party of Grosventres. His son was killed and his wife was scalped and left for dead. He himself
340 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
fell into the water, badly wounded, and as he struggled to save himself from drowning a Grosventre warrior attacked him with his flint-lock musket clubbed. Jeannotte was able to pull himself out of the water by clinging to the musket, and then wrenching it from the Grosventre, he killed him with it.
Francois at the age of seven lived on Beaver creek, a tributary of the Assiniboine, and here his twin sister was waylaid by a party of Grosventres and left lying where she was afterwards found later, still alive but scalped and having fourteen wounds. At this time the Grosventre Indians had a village at the junction of the South Antlers and the Mouse river, and the two sons of the war chief were White Cow Buffalo Robe and Four Bears. In 1818 he accompanied his mother to the Pembina river (his father having returned to Montreal), and during the next two winters they staid at the Big Salt and the Little Salt rivers, as the Hud- son Bay Co. had a trading post near by with "Arrelles" as post trader and Burke as clerk. At this time also there were two trading posts at the mouth of the Pembina river, one established by the North-West Fur Co. in charge of McDonald with Grant as clerk and the other operated by the Hudson Bay Co. at about the same spot where Kittson's fort was afterwards built. He remem- bers distinctly the Selkirk settlement with the mixture of Swiss, German, Italian and Orkney Island men, and the Seven Oaks massacre. In 1820 he and his mother returned to the Mouse river and wintered at the big bend of that river. During the winter of 1820-21 'it was reported that a Chippewa war party that went to the foothills of the Rockies found a few miles south- east of the present city of Minot an "American" trading post established by traders from the Little Missouri and in charge of "Gravelle" with the half breed Keplin (Kiplin) as interpreter.
In 1822 he met a traveling civil engineer from Europe at the junction of the South Antlers and the Mouse in company with two halfbreeds, Jack Spence and Jack Anderson. At this time the Grosventres had abandoned the place for a good many years, but there were plenty of evidences of their occupation still to be seen there. The Grosventres had quarreled about the ownership of some horses that had fallen into their hands and their ancient enemies, the Chippewas, the Assiniboine^ and the Crees, had grad- ually driven them southward till they reached the shelter of the Missouri river.
Francois was twenty-seven years old at the time of the great star shower of 1833 and remembered it very well. He resided on the Turtle Mountain reservation for a number of vears and died in 1905.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 341
BASIL CLEMENT.
Basil Clement * was born at St. Louis January 7, 1824. His father was Charles Clement from Paris, France, and his mother was of mixed French and Spanish descent, her father's name be- ing Kose.
Clement left St. Louis at the age of sixteen, in 1840, and ar- rived at Ft. Pierre, S. D., on the steamer Trapper June 5. Dur- ing the winter of 1840-1 he worked for the American Fur Com- pany at the mouth of Grand river, S. D. ; "Arcrow" was post trader and Bruce Osborn his clerk. In June the next year he returned to St. Louis and came up the same fall with James Bruguire on the steamboat General Brooks. The winter of 1841-2 he spent on the Cheyenne at the post of the American Fur Com- pany under a half breed named Campbell. In the fall of 1843 he made a brief trip to St. Louis, returning on the steamboat Prairie Bird in company with Honore Picotte and Mike McGillivray, reaching Ft. Pierre December 25, During the winter of 1843-4 he acted as camp trader for the American Fur Company at Swan Lake, S. D. He made his visits to the Indians on foot, carrying his supplies on pack horses and bringing in the robes and furs by the same conveyance. The next fall he was with Jim Bridger, the famous hunter, in the Wind River mountains on a beaver hunt. Finding no beaver they descended the Yellowstone to its mouth and camped for the winter (1844-5) between the American Fur Company post, Ft. Union, in charge of Win. Laidlaw and the opposition post, Ft. William, in charge of WTm. Cotton. Larpen- teur speaks of this visit by Jim Bridger and adds several details omitted by Clement.2 In the winter of 1845-6 we find Clement on the Cheyenne again working, this time for Joseph Jewett, a Frenchman employed as post trader by the American Fur Com- pany. The following winter he held the position as camp trader at the mouth of Thunder creek on the Moreau river under Charles Galpin. Again on the Cheyenne for the American Fur Company under Frederick Le Beau (whom he calls Le Boo) he spent the winter of 1847-8 with the Ogalala Sioux as camp trader. Dur- ing this winter Le Beau died and his clerk took charge of the post. In the summer of 1848 Clement made a trip to St. Louis and on his return he brought with him Paul Narcelle. The fol- lowing fall he and Narcelle made a trip to the Black Hills coun- try and wintered there, trapping beaver and hunting buffalo. During the winter of 1849-50 Clement wintered on the Moreau where he had charge of a trading post for the American Fur Com- pany. The next winter he spent in the employ of the same com- pany, having charge of a trading post he built on the Cheyenne
'The U. S. Government has changed this name to Claymore and it appears on all res- ervation records in this form.
2Coues, Larpenteur's "Forty Years a Fur Trader on the Upper Missouri," N.'Y. , 1898, I., 211.
342 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
below where Le Beau had located previously. His intimate ac- quaintance with the Sioux tongue made his services valuable to the American Fur Company, especially as he spent his time large- ly with these Indians and was trusted by them. In the spring of 1851 Clement and Narcelle went to St. Louis, descending the river from Ft. Pierre in a dugout as far as St. Joseph, Missouri, and from there taking the steamboat Cataract.
They returned the following summer on the steamboat St. Mary and Clement hired out to General Harney at Ft. Pierre as guide. Harney's orders were to remove all traders into the vicinity of the fort, as the Indians were hostile and a massacre of the whites wras feared. For the next few years the Indian troubles contin- ued and very little trading was done though Bear's Rib, a promi- nent Sioux chief, with a number of his followers made peace and moved up near Ft. Pierre to protect the whites from the hostiles.1 It was during this period of inaction that we find Clement at Ft. Clark about 1853 acting as Sioux interpreter for Andrew Daw- son through the months of April and May, returning to Ft. Pierre in June.
In the summer of 1856 Clement steered an American Fur Com- pany mackinaw boat, (that had- come down from Ft. Benton) from Ft. Pierre to St. Mary, fourteen miles below Council Bluffs.
In 1863 Clement acted as guide for Gen. Sully and was present at the battle of White Stone Butte2 which took place in Septem- ber, where 22 soldiers were killed and 150 Indians taken prisoner. These prisoners were afterward taken down the Missouri river to Ft. Sully and set free. In 1864 Clement and Frank Laframbois were serving as guides under Gen. Sully. On this expedition the troops built Ft. Rice, N. I)., on the Missouri river, and at this point the Holmes wagon train bound for Mbntana sought the pro- tection of the army. Under the advice of Gen. Sully the gold seekers, (among whom was T. E. Cooper, now of Graf ton) kept with the army on its march northward. After a conflict with the Indians at Turtle Mountain, near the Heart river, they reached the Yellowstone river and were ferried across by the steamboat Alone, not only over the Yellowstone but also over the Missouri river, the cavalry swimming their horses. The gold seekers here wished to hire Clement to guide them to Ft. Benton, but Gen. Sully would not release him from his service. The army pro- ceeded down the Missouri river to Ft. Berthold where a company of soldiers was left to defend the place. At Douglas creek the command camped and Gen. Sully sent Clement forward with a message to Col. Dill at Ft. Rice informing him that a wagon train was penned up by the Indians a little north of the Heart river, sixty ,or seventy miles up from its mouth. Accompanying Clem-
bear's Rib was afterward shot by one of his own tribe, Mouse, on account of the chief's friendship for the whites.
2The present Whitestone battlefield, a state reserve, in Dickey county, T. 131 N. , R. W.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 343
ent were three Indians, Yellow Hawk, White Crane, and Standing Cloud and a French half breed, Louis Freniere. Col. Dill sent Clement and his party back with a message asking Gen. Sully to send him help in relieving the beseiged wagon train. Gen. Sully then sent Clement alone with a peremptory order to Col. Dill to move out at once and relieve the besieged wagon train. Clement accompanied Col. Dill on this relieving expedition. They found the wagons, several hundred in number, drawn up in a circle on the prairie, and their cattle dying for lack of water. Captain Jas. L. Fisk was in charge of the wagon train and he had followed Gen. Sully's track in hopes of overtaking him, but the Sioux had surrounded them and would have cut off the whole party but for the help Gen. Sully, (hearing of their plight) had been able to order up from Ft. Rice. The following year Clement acted as guide for Gen. Sully on his expedition to Devils Lake, during which he ordered the half breed hunters back from their annual buffalo hunt in this section. In 1868 was held the meeting of the United States peace commissioners at Ft. Rice, at which Gen- erals Harney, Stanley and Terry were present with a large body of troops, the interpreters being Frank La Frambois, Louis Aagard, Nicholas Jeanisse and Clement. Father De Smet and Chas. Galpin accompanied by his wife, went up the Missouri and the Yellowstone rivers to O'Fallon creek in Montana, and at a meeting of the hostile Sioux persuaded them to attend the con- ference at Ft. Rice. The year 1869 Clement spent at his home on the little bend of the Missouri river, at the mouth of the Chey- enne river. From 1870 to 1872 he was interpreter at Ft. Randall, S. D. In the summer of 1873 Clement accompanied General Whistler and a surveying party under Brig. Gen. Rosser to the Yellowstone river, acting as guide to the party. In 1874 he again acted as guide for General Stanley's command which set out from Ft. Rice to meet Col. Baker at Powder river in Montana, but the expedition was driven back by the Indians. In 1875 we find Clement again as guide of the expedition under General Stanley and Gen. Atkinson bound for the Muscle Shell river, Montana. In 1876 he was hay contractor at Ft. Sully, S. D., and the next year he located on his ranch at Little B.end at the mouth of the Cheyenne river, on the Cheyenne agency, S. D., where he has since resided. Mr. Clement made one trip to Washington, D. C., July 4, 1870, as interpreter with Paul Narcelle. They accompanied the Indian agent Geo. M. Randall, at Ft. Pierre and nineteen Sioux chiefs, among whom Four Bears and Charger were the principal speakers. Mr. Clement has taken such an important part in the entire history of the Dakotas that this sketch will be of interest to all who have had to do with our pioneer period. His intimate acquaintance with both whites and Indians for some sixty years of our territorial and state history give a special value to his recollections of the early days.
344 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
FREDERIC F. GERARD.
Frederic F. Gerard was born in St. Louis, Nov. 14, 1829. His father was Francois Gerard and came from Canada. His mother was born in French Village, 111. His grandparents came front Bordeaux, France. A grand uncle, Frederic Trotier, was with General Harrison in the Indian campaign against Tecumseh, and fought at the battle of Tippecanoe; later he took up land six miles from St. Louis at French Village, 111.
F. F. Gerard was educated at Xavier college where he stayed four years. On September 28, 1848, he made his first trip up the Missouri river in company with Honore Picotte, with whom his uncle, John B. Gerard was on intimate terms. He hired out as clerk to the American Fur Company at Fort Pierre, S. D., at a salary of $100 r.er year. He was known by the Indians at this post as Swift Buffalo. In the spring of 1840 he went to Fort Clark at a salary of $500. The American Fur Co.'s post was built here in 1831. A smaller post was built by Primeaux between this and the old Mandan village up the river, at this time occupied by the Arikara. Here he learned to speak the Arikara tongue, and usually spent his winters in their winter camp a few miles down the river in the timber. Black Bear was head chief of the Arikara at this time, and Old Star was second chief. After their death White Shield became head chief and Son of the Star was second chief. In the winter of 1850-51, Gerard killed a large buffalo bull in the sacred lodge of the Arikara, in the village near Ft. Clark. The buffalo had apparently sought shelter in this lodge and was killed on the low platform at the back of the lodge where the chiefs sat during the ceremonial dances of the tribe. In 1855 Gerard acomnanied a hunting expedition led by Basil Clement to the southwest of Ft. Clark toward the head waters of the Platte, where they hoped to buy .meat of the Sioux. They took with them five Red river carts and seven men to bring back the winter's sup- ply of buffalo meat for the fort. The expedition reached the cholera camp on the Platte and the Sioux were found scattered in small bands in all directions, so that no meat could be ob- tained. On this expedition Gerard acquired the name from the Sioux of "Strikes the Bear," on account of his adventure with a grizzly bear, in which he had a narrow escape from death.
In 1855, in company with Honore Picotte he went to Fort Ber- thold. The American Fur Company had a trading .post above the village, and Chas. Primeaux had a trading post below the village. In 1855 Primeaux sold his plant to the firm of Hawley & Hubbell, the members of which were A. J. Smith, Frank Bates, Hawley, and A. J. Hubbell of St. Paul. Two years later this firm failed and abandoned their trading post which was occupied by the American Fur Company. From 1857 to 1869 Gerard had t-harge of the post receiving $1,200 a year.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 345
On December 25, 1803, Fort Berthold was attacked by 600 Yankton Sioux belonging to Two Bear's band. The Sioux had come up the Missouri river to attack the Grosventres, Arikara and Mandans who had gone into winter camp on the L'eau Qui Monte creek (Lucky Mountain). This camp had been recently strengthened by the arrival of a large number of Assiniboines who were camped in their tents near by. When the Sioux discov- ered the arrival of these allies they hesitated to attack the com- bined force, and just then a heavy fall of snow drove them to seek shelter near Fort Berthold. The next morning they decided to take the fort, believing it would be an easy task in the absence of the three tribes. The attack was kept up from 9 till 4, and w^as pushed with a recklessness quite foreign to the usual Indian methods. Repeatedly a number of Indians dashed upon the block house and thrust lighted torches in at the loopholes in a vain effort to set the place on fire. They set fire to a number of the out buildings, and part of the Indian village was consumed. From inside the fort and stockade Gerard and the seventeen other whites who were with him maintained a murderous fire upon their assailants, killing about forty of them and wounding some hun- dred, many of whom later died on their retreat. Sometime in the afternoon the Indians at L'eau Qui Monte creek discovered by the smoke from the burning buildings what was going on, and they descended in full force upon their foes, driving them back and pursuing them for nearly 20 miles down the river. The re- treating Sioux were so hotly pressed that many of the desperately wounded who were being carried off on travois were abandoned to the fury of their pursuers. After the fight the whites with Gerard were so fearful of another attack that they abandoned the fort and sought refuge with the three tribes at their winter camp. For ten days Gerard held the place alone, and made ready in case of emergency to blow the fort up with gunpowder should the Sioux return to the attack. At the end of this time the Indians broke cam]) and returned in a body to defend their one trading post from possible destruction, and they remained in the vicinity for the rest of the winter. Among the whites who were with Gerard in this fight were Pierre Garreau, Chas. Mal- nouri, Alfred McCamley and Z. Jeaneau. The Arikara gave Ge- rard, on this occasion, the name of "Seven Yanktons" in honor of his well attested prowess in thus beating off the attack of their old enemies the Yankton Sioux. On several occasions, years later, different members of this band who had attacked the fort visited Gerard and attempted to take his life in revenge for the loss he had inflicted on their tribe, but he was never caught off his guard and their attempts were always fruitless.
In the fall of 1865 a mackinaw boat from the Montana gold mining camps came down the Missouri river and stopped at Fort Berthold. On board were seventeen men, one woman and two
346 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
children. The traders showed Gerard where the bulk of their gold (amounting to $100,000) was concealed. The boat had a false bottom and beneath this was a small space filled with sacks of gold. The men carried also in their belt^ gold dust amounting to about $4,000. The miners had heard that the Sioux had com- mitted massacres in Dakota and Minnesota, and wished to ascer- tain whether the river were safe for them. Gerard advised them to stay .a week at Fort Berthold until the Sioux, whom he had heard were crossing the Missouri to the west, should be out of the way. Through some misunderstanding or possibly from false reports the miners decided to push on at all hazards. Gerard then warned them to proceed with the greatest caution, traveling only at night, camping- always on the west side of the river, and covering their boat with brush during the day. Above all else he warned them not to build a fire or fire off a gun until they were far below the mouth of Heart river. In spite of these warnings, however, the occupants of the boat used none of the usual pre- cautions necessary in a hostile Indian country. At the old ford just north of the Heart river the boat was discovered by the Sioux and every person on board was killed except one little girl who died in captivity a few weeks later. The bags and belts con- taining the gold dust were cut open and their contents scattered on the sand. Gerard afterward bought two coffee pots full of this gold dust mixed with sand which had been gathered up by some Arikara, who later visited the scene of the massacre. An independent trader at Fort Berthold, Jos. McEllery, also bought some of this gold dust
Mr. Gerard was the doctor of last resort for the Indians at Fort Berthold. The American Fur Company supplied him the necessary medical books and supplies, and he came to be looked upon as a skillful physician and surgeon, fully able to meet any of the emergencies arising in the primitive community about him. In 1866 he vaccinated three hundred Indian children after per- suading the chief, Son of the Star, that the operation was a nec- essary one. He was fortunate also, in being able to cure the son of Yellow Bear, chief of the Arikara, and later chief in his fath- er's place. The epidemic of smallpox in 186fi was brought to Fort Berthold by some squaws who were hired to accompany a steam- boat from Fort Clark to Fort Union. On the return trip they contracted the disease and it spread among the Missouri river tribes with terrible effect.
In 1869 the American Fur Co., or as it was then called the Chas. P. Choteau Co., sold out to the A. J. Smith Co. (later Dur- fee & Peck) and all but the post at Ft. Benton pasesd into the hands of the new firm. At this latter place A. J. Baker still man- aged the affairs of the old company.
At the same time Gerard became an independent fur trader, establishing stores at Ft. Berthold and Ft. Stevenson. In the
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 347
fall of 1870 he abandoned his posts at these places, and moved his entire stock to Ft. Buford. On Jan. 7, 1871, the government order that drove Chas. P. Larpenteur out of the trade * also com- pelled Gerard to leave Ft. Buford, and the regular licensed trader representing Durfee & Peck remained in full possession.
It was during this transfer of his goods up the Missouri river that Gerard and his guide discovered, near Ft. Buford, a deserted camp of the Assiniboines. It was after a heavy fall of snow, and from the bluff above the river they noticed that in this camp of about twenty tepees in the bottom near the river no fires were burning, and that no trails led through the snow out to the tim- ber or up to the hills. They descended the hill and discovered that every one in the camp had died of small pox, even the dogs had perished. Some of the dead had been placed in trees, after the usual burial custom, but so suddenly had they been attacked by the disease that most of them lay dead in the tepees or outside in the snow. The next spring the Indians set fire to the timber and thus destroyed every vestige of the ill fated camp.
Gerard's last fur trading venture ended in complete disaster. In the spring of 1872 he took his remaining stock of goods to Ft. Benton, in order to trade with the Blackfeet Indians in British America. While his wagon train was crossing from Old Man creek to Belly creek (a tributary of the Bow and of the Saskatch- ewan) on the Canadian side, a Blackfoot war party captured his train and killed five men.
On July 6, 1872, Gerard was hired as government interpreter he located a ranch on the site of the present city of Mandan. In 1873 he was fortunate enough to save the Northern Pacific rail- way surveying party under Brigadier General Rosser (ex-Con- federate officer) from being cut off by a Sioux war party, some fifty in number, that lay in ambush on the trail along which Kosser's p'arty were moving. When later it was ascertained that Gerard's ranch was on the Northern Pacific land grant, the com- at old Ft. Lincoln, a position he held till 1882. At this time also pany, in consideration for his services in saving Roser's party, gave him forty acres of land south of the present city of Man- dan. This land he later platted, and when he removed to Minne- apolis, he sold it for f 5,000. ,
On May 17, 1876, Gerard accompanied the Custer expedition to the Little Big Horn, and was bunk mate of Charley Reynolds of Kentucky, "Lonesome Charley," as he was called. Gerard re- lates that Reynolds told him of the strong presentiment he had of his approaching death, and that Reynolds gave away all his personal belongings to his friends in the party. He left with Gerard his Kentucky address in order that his friends there might be notified in case he was killed. He even tried to get Gen.
'Coues, Larpenteur's "Forty Years a Fur Trader on the Upper Missouri," N. Y. 1898, Vol. II., 393, note.
348 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Terry to release him from his position, so certain was he that he was going to his death.
Gerard's experiences during the battle of the Little Big Horn are already a matter of history. The exact details of the part he played under Gen. Reno came out in the trial of the general in Chicago in 1879. The Chicago Tribune of this year contains an interview which gives in greater detail than is possible here, what took place in Gen. Reno's division from the time it was ordered by Custer to pursue the retreating Sioux until it was relieved by Gen. Terry. Gerard with three others was cut off by the Sioux during Reno's retreat, and did not regain the command until eleven p. m. of the following day, June 26. The other members of the party were Lieut. De Rudio, a French officer, of the 7th cavalry, Sergeant O'Neill and William Jackson, a half breed Blackfoot scout. The party remained within sight of Reno's camp all day, and they heard also the firing in the direction of Custer's division, — the regular volleys of the soldiers and the scattering fire of the Indians. At about three in the afternoon this fire slackened, and then ceased except an occasional shot which told them plainly enough the fate of that portion of the army. After night fell they tried to regain Reno's command, but the Indians were so numerous that it was found to be impossible. After several hairbreadth escapes the party became separated, and Gerard with Jackson rode to the cover of some willows and lay there all day, hearing the attack on Reno's division continue till nearly dark. The coming of Gen. Terry and the consequent retreat of the Indians released them from their hazardous posi- tion.
In 1879 Gerard iriarried Ella S. Waddell of Kansas City. In 1883 he opened a store in Mandan, and his history becomes iden- tified with the growth of that city. He was one of the first coun- ty commissioners of Morton county. In 1890 he sold out in Man- dan and removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he is now employed as one of the advertising agents for the Pillsbury mills.
Louis SEARS.
Louis Seaifs was born in Montreal, Canada, Sept. 18, 1831. He came to Lockport, New York, in 1851, via Kingston, and from Lockport to Hamilton in 1852. The same year he went from Hamilton to St. Louis, taking the stage to Niagara Falls, the steamer Buffalo to Toledo, thence by rail to Chicago, and canal to La Salle. During the winter of 1853 he was at Vandalia, 111. In 1854 he went to St. Louis and was hired by Charles P. Cho- teau, of the American Fur Co. to go to Fort Benton, Montana as boatpuller. On this trip there were two boats with eight or nine men in each, and Jas. Kipp had charge of the boats. The pilot was a mulatto named "Pelosche," who spoke French. Andrev Dawson was in charge at Fort Benton when Sears arrived there.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 349
In the spring of 1855 he returned to St. Louis with the mackinaw boats which the company sent back loaded with buffalo robes. Later in the year' he returned up the Missouri to Fort Union, this time for the opposition company of Primeaux, Jos. Picotte & Booise. Honore Picotte, the uncle of Joseph, furnished the cap- ital for this enterprise. McKenzie was post trader at Fort Union and for the American Fur Co. Edward Lambert was head car- penter there. Sears soon gave up his job and left the post in company with Mitchelle. They reached Fort Berthold in Sep- tember, after a voyage of nine days in a buffalo boat, and later in a wooden canoe, which they stole from two French trappers, Carifelle and Vitepoche. At Ft. Berthold Sears hired out to the opposition company in charge of John McBride. F. F. Gerard was at that time head of the American Fur Co. post. During the spring of this year a son of Joseph Picotte was just recovering from the small pox on the steam boat that came up the river to trade for the opposition company. The Indians all along the river caught the small pox from him, the Sioux, the Rees at Fort Clark, the Grosventres at Fort Berthold, and the Assiniboines at Fort Union. During the winter of 1855-6 Sears carried goods on a pack horse to the opposition trading post at the Grosventre winter camp at the mouth of the Little Missouri, in charge of Charles Malnouri. Sears recalls that an English nobleman, Sir George Gore, wintered in the vicinity of the trading post. The Sioux had stolen all his horses and plundered his wagons leaving him without supplies. McBride helped him through the wrinter by furnishing him the necessary outfit and supplies. During this winter Louis Lepage, a Creole, died at Fort Berthold. Sears speaks of the very large number of dogs at Fort Berthold, which was made necessary by the lack of horses there, occasioned by the Sioux raids among the Grosventres. A stranger entering their village was liable to be attacked by a score of fierce curs. The usual precaution taken by traders was to wrap up in an Indian robe or blanket, and thus attired like one of the tribe they could pass the dogs without difficulty. In the spring of 1856 he went down to Fort Clark with Mitchelle as an employe of the opposi- tion company. The Indians at this place disliked this company very much because they had brought the small pox to them, and very little trading could be carried on with them. In 1857 he re- turned to St. Louis and later near Denver, Colorado, he spent four years hunting. In 1862 he joined an emigrant wagon train of 100 wagons bound for Oregon. He remained in Oregon and Washington fourteen years, leaving Oregon in 1876. He next located at the Crow agency at the mouth of the Yellowstone, in 1877. In 1882 he was established at Pine Ridge agency, S. D., moving to Poplar Creek, Montana, in 1891. In 1903 he moved to Elbowoods, N. D., where he now resides.
350 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
ENOS STUTSMAN. By George W. Kingsbury, Yankton, S. D.
Enos Stutsman was one of the earliest pioneers of the Terri- tory of Dakota, having settled at Yankton in the fall of 1858. This was three years before the treaty of cession between the Yankton Indians and the Federal government was ratified by the senate, and the Indians then occupied the soil and had their principal village at the place afterward called Yankton. As Mr. Stutsman occupied a prominent and influential position in all the efforts made to procure the organization of Dakota Territory, which embraced the present state of North Dakota, as well as its sister state on the south, he became an historical character in the Territory before his removal to Pembina.
Enos Stutsman was of German ancestry. His great grand- father was a native of that part of Europe, and emigrated in 1728 to this country, settling in Pennsylvania. His name was Jacob Stutsman, and he was accompanied by a cousin of the same name. From these cousins the Stutsman families of North Amer- ica sprang, and have been quite prominent in civic as well as military affairs of the several states. They were among the Rev- olutionary soldiers, were in the second war with Great Britain, also in the Mexican war, and in the great Rebellion of 1861 ; the Confederate as well as the Union cause was sustained by soldiers of this old German stock.
Nicholas Stutsman, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Pennsylvania, and emigrated with his parents to Ohio in 1779, settling at a point near which the city of Dayton was built. In 1825 the father removed to Fayette county, Indiana, where Enos was born Feb. 14, 1826. Ten years later, his father again removed to Coles county, Illinois, and settled a near neighbor to the father of President Lincoln. Enos now began to acquire an education, but under1 many disadvantages. Had he been an in- different pupil he would have had poor success, but he was eager to learn, and a great reader. When 17 years of age he began teaching school and continued in that occupation until he was 21 years old. His career as a teacher was a successful one, and gave him a wide acquaintance, substantial popularity, the af- fection of his pupils and the confidence of the people. He now entered the political field, and in 1847 was elected recorder of Coles county, and two years later clerk of the court. During his incumbency of these offices he had studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1851.
In the year 1855 Mr. Stutsman removed to Des Moines, Iowa, where he opened a land and exchange office, and a year later re- moved to Sioux City, then the outer limits of civilization in the Northwest. He practiced law in Sioux City, took an. active part in politics on the Democratic side, for he had been reared a Jack-
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 351
sonian, and dealt largely in real estate with varying fortunes. Two years later found him a member of an organization known as the Yankton Land and Town Company, as its secretary, and in the fall of 1858 he removed to Yankton for the purpose of super- vising the laying out of the town, and the affairs of the company generally. Because of difficulties subsequently arising, affecting the title to the townsite, which at this time was Indian land, the townsite company, after surveying and platting the site, did little more than give permits to build, after the treaty was ratified, with an agreement to make a deed whenever the company could lawfully do so. The company, however, was never able to do this, for after a prolonged litigation, the land was awarded to different individuals and the company dissolved. Mr. Stutsman continued his residence in Yankton and took up a pre-emption claim adjoining the townsite. He also attended to his law busi- ness, and for two or three years was the only resident lawyer. The organic act was passed in March, 1861, and the federal offi- cers arrived at Yankton in June of that year, and began the work of constructing the territorial government. A legislature was called to meet in March, 1862, and Stutsman was elected from Yankton district to the territorial council, and during the ses- sion was mainly instrumental in procuring the passage of the law locating the capital of the territory at Yankton. He was chairman of the judiciary committee, and one of the most indus- trious members of the body, performing the principal part of the labor of framing the codes and the general laws passed at this first session. At the second session of the Legislative Assembly he was elected president of the council, and discharged his duties in such an able and impartial manner as to add to the esteem and confidence of his fellow members which he enjoyed in a marked degree.
Up to about this time Mr. Stutsman had been a democrat, affil- iating with what was called the Douglas wing, or popular sov- ereignty faction, of that party. The Civil war was on, and while nominally a democrat he was an outspoken and uncompromising Union man without qualification, (as all of the Douglas school of democrats were) which gave him the confidence and support of the republicans as well as the Douglas democrats, and he was elected to a second term in the council, in 1863, on a ticket named by a convention called by the republican and Union organization, and thereafter acted with that party. Mr. Stutsman was a good politician. He understood that some men in politics were fond of the "loaves and fishes" in the shape of honors; for himself he preferred power and influence, and was willing that others should have the temporary honors, if in return he could be permitted to dictate the policy. He was usually "the power behind the throne." This will explain why he was not a candidate for president of the council after the second session. Yankton county was stronger
352 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
and more secure in retaining the capital and securing other leg- islative and political favors by supporting ambitious gentlemen from outside counties in such positions. Mr. Stutsman was again elected to the same office in 1865, and served at the first session ; but having in the early spring of 1866, accepted an appointment from the general government as treasury agent, he was obliged to resign his office as councilman, which he did, and entered upon his new duties, visiting first the upper Missouri county in quest of smugglers.
In June of the same year he left Yankton for Pembina in his capacity as treasury agent, Pembina being the seat of a custom house and the only one in the territory, reaching that noint after a very tedious journey, on the 22d of July, 1866. It is doubtful whether he had entertained any thought of removing to that re- mote corner of Dakota, before this trip — at least his most inti- mate Yankton friends were not apprized of such intention. He seems to have been captivated by the country, its invigorating cli- mate and fertile acres, and more than all by its wide awake and congenial people; and he in return appears to have been taken at once into their confidence, for in the fall of 1867 he was elected a member of the territorial house of representatives, and when that body convened at Yankton, December 2d, following, Mr. Stutsman was chosen speaker, defeating a very popular member, Mr. Jolley, of Clay county, by a vote of 12 to 10. This honor came to him unsolicited, and until very close to the organization, un- expected. It is proper to mention that he discharged the diffi- cult duties of the office in such a manner as to win the applause of his friends and the respect and confidence of his opponents. He was again elected to the house from Pembina in 1868, and served in that body as chairman of the committee on railroads, and a member of the committee' on judiciary, elections and en- rollment. This session closed the annual sessions of the legisla- tive assembly. Thereafter they were held biennially, and Mr. Stutsman returned to Pembina where he engaged in law practice, and also built a fine hotel building there which he rented. He was again elected a member of the territorial council in 1872 from the Pembina district, and served during the session of 1872-73, and was taken quite ill near the close of the session which confined him to his bed for a number of months. With the termination of this session his legislative labors ended. Mr. Stutsman was a bachelor. Nature had seen fit to usher him into the world poorly equipped physically. He was born without legs, and had but one small well shaped foot where the right leg be- longed. Otherwise he was well formed, apparently much better developed than the majority of men. His body was as large as that of the ordinary men whose weight would be 200 pounds; his arms were splendidly developed and possessed "unusual strength. He was compelled to use crutches — he could neither
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 353
walk nor stand unsupported without them, but he could help him- self in any ordinary situation with them. Because of his in- firmity he claimed no exemption from personal chastisement.
It is claimed that nature is fond of compensations, and what the good dame had denied to Mr. Stutsman physically she had made up in other favors. No doubt his physical inability to pur- sue the great majority of avocations, taken in connection with his genial and obliging disposition, won him the good will of the people; but had he been less competent, less a leader, less able, he could not have attained the position among his fellows which he occupied and maintained.
Mr. Stutsman was fond of the sunshine, and his disposition and temperament were in fellowship with this fondness. He was a most companionable gentleman, genial, generous, never giving offense, and the life of the social circle. Among the pioneers of the Missouri slope, it was said that Stutsman could, in cases of political emergency, muster the most numerous personal clan of any leader in the territory. He was an honorable man, and in all his connection with business, or with public affairs, and these occupied a large portion of his life work, he acquitted him- self with credit, with fidelity to his trust, and preserved a name untainted.
Mr. Stutsman died at Pembina Jan. 24, 1874, and was buried in Sioux City, Iowa, the 10th of February.
The following notice appeared in the St. Paul Dailv Press of Feb. 4, 1874.
DEATH OF COL. STUTSMAN.
The sad intelligence reaches us from Pembina of the death a few days ago, at the residence of Charles Cavileer of that place, of Col. Enos Stutzman, a leading citizen of Dakota, well known in St. Paul where he has been a frequent visitor.
Col. Stutzman for several years held the office of receiver of the land office at Pembina, and has represented that district in the Dakota legislature for several years. Though he called Pem- bina, where he resided for eight or ten years, his home, he has divided his time between Pembina and Yankton. He was a gen- tleman of considerable property, consisting largely of real estate, in northern and southern Dakota. He left the bulk of his prop- erty to a niece in Arkansas and a banker in Sioux City.
He was a gentleman of excellent abilities and took a prominent position in the politics of the territory, where he wielded con- siderable influence. He was a victim of a curious congenital! malformation which colored his life with a peculiar cynicism.. He possessed a splendid and powerful physique of perfect sym- metry, except that he was born almost without legs, or with legs not more than a foot long. His strength enabled him to overcome to a great extent this disadvantage and he would swing himself into a carriage in which he generally rode, with sur-
Hist.-23
354 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
prising agility. He was a genial companion and highly es- teemed by his friends. His death will be felt by the people of Dakota as a personal loss.
THOS. E. COOPER.
Thos. E. Cooper was born in England May 29, 1822. His mother was of Scotch descent, his father was an Englishman, and held for some years the position of revenue collector in the city of Dublin. In 1829 the family moved to Stanstead county, Que- bec. They resided in the town of Stanstead many years, and here both his parents are buried. In 1852 Cooper came west by lake steamer to Milwaukee. He followed the first railroad to its terminus at Jefferson, Wisconsin, and worked a farm there for two years. In 1854 he bought a farm a few rods south from where the city of Tomah now stands. During the years of 1856-7 lie held the position of superintendent of schools for the town- ships of Adrian, Greenfield, and Tomah, in Monroe county. In 1858 Mr. Cooper came west again and the next year bought a farm six miles south of Rochester, Minn. At this time the Colo- rado gold fever was at its height and Mr. Cooper with several others started for the Pikes Peak gold fields. They turned back, however, at Council Bluffs, not liking the prospect either at this place or at Omaha, a rising young town across the river. In 1860 he sold his Wisconsin farm and -located at Pine Island, Minn. As chairman of the board of supervisors of Pine Island tow^nship he drew up the resolutions adopted at a mass meeting of citizens that was called to meet when the news of the firing on Fort Sumter was received. In 1863 after all the single men of his township had enlisted, he was asked by a merchant, Mr. Thom- son, to fill a draft of 22 men. At a meeting held in the school house it was decided to raise f 2,000 on a joint note signed by the men who were drafted, and then to buy substitutes to fill the draft. This difficult task Mr. Cooper accomplished to the satis- faction of all. He raised the money in Red Wing, where he had friends, and bought the 22 substitutes in St. Paul, paying as high as $300 for some of them. The unexpended balance he turned over to the township treasurer, Sylvester Dickey. On May 2, 1864, Mr. Cooper joined a wagon train of 122 wagons bound for the Montana gold fields. A little below Fort Rice in the present state of North Dakota, they found Gen. Sully's army in pursuit of the hostile Sioux. They were transferred to the western side of the Missouri and then by his advice they accompanied his army till they had crossed both Yellowstone and Missouri rivers and were in the vicinity of old Fort Union. Gen. Sully then returned with his army, while the wagon train, after the leader had tried to hire a Frenchman to act as guide, kept on up to Fort^Benton, in spite of the gloomy predictions of the white trader at Fort Union. At Fort Benton the wagon train broke up into small par- ties, and on September 24, 1864, Mr. Cooper's party camped on
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 355
the spot where the city of Helena, Mont., now stands, the oxen being picketed on the site of the present railway station. In June of the next year Mr. Cooper returned on a Missouri river steamboat to St. Louis, and thence by rail to his home. During the winter of 1865-6 he organized a quartz mining company, of which later Gen. F. S. Hubbard was the chief stockholder. Dur ing the same winter he went to New York city to arrange for sale of stock and to purchase a mining outfit. The following spring he returned to Montana on the steamboat Marion, paying $300 for his passage from St. Louis to Fort Benton. In 1867, owing to the failure of Gen. Hubbard, the quartz mining com- pany in which Mr. Cooper had taken such an active part, did not develop the mining property which they had purchased, and was later dissolved. In 1870 Mr. Cooper was made a member of the county committee to meet at La Crosse, Wis., and confer with the officials of the railroad which was to pass through Pine Island. During his residence in Minnesota he was a correspond- ent of the St. Paul Pioneer and the Red Wing Argus. The files of these papers contain many letters written by Mr. Cooper, re- counting his Montana experiences. In December, 1878, Mr Cooper removed to Dakota territory, and with characteristic en- ergy at once took the same active part in its development which he had shown during his residence in the adjoining states. He was one of the first settlers of the present city of Grafton, Walsh county, naming the city from his wife's home town in northern New Hampshire. The first hotel in Grafton was one put up by Mr. Cooper in 1881, the Cooper House. As chairman of the town board he carried the first election returns of Walsh county to Pembina, walking the entire distance with the ballot box carried over -his shoulder. He later held the office of post master of Grafton, 1879-81. He has four children, all living, one son in Minnesota, and the others in this state, a daughter at Hope and a son and daughter at Grafton. Like most of the early settlers in this state Mr. Cooper has retired from active participation in the affairs of the state and county, but he is still in perfect health, and takes a lively interest in every effort to preserve the records of the pioneer days of the northwest.
GAZETTEER OF PIONEERS AND OTHERS IN NORTH DA- KOTA PREVIOUS TO 1862.
[EDITORIAL NOTE.]
The gazetteer of old settlers and others in North Dakota pre- vious to 1862 is intended as a mere suggestion to those who can supply more names and further details that the Historical So- ciety is anxious to publish all such material which may be con-
356 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
tributed. It is not pretended that the names of those given in the following list comprise all who visited the soil of North Dakota before 1862. The list will be revised from time to time and when republished later it should be more than doubled by additions sent to us by those familiar with some phase of pioneer history hitherto overlooked. Some of these brief sketches, too, are worthy of being expanded into a complete biography and it is hoped such will be the result for many of them. AAGARD, Louis
When a mere boy he came to the upper Missouri country, about 1844, and stayed at Ft. Pierre the larger part of the time. He clerked at Ft. Clark during the winter of 1846-7, under Joseph des Autel, for the American Fur Company. In 1868, he was employed as interpreter by the U. S. Peace Commissioners at Ft. Rice. Later, he clerked for Chas. Galpin at Ft. Rice and Oak Creek, and had a wood yard below Standing Rock Agency. In 1870 he moved to Ft. Yates, where he died.
Basil Clement. ARCHAMBAULT, Louis
Worked at Ft. Clark for the American Fur Company.
Basil Clement. BEAUPRE, JOSEPH
Came to Ft. Pierre in 1850, and to Ft. Clark in 1851, with Peter Beauchamp. He worked mainly for the American Fur Company, and died in their employ at Ft. Union.
Basil Clement. BEAUPRE, JOSEPH
A Frenchman from St. Cloud, Minn., who succeeded Nor- man W. Kittson as customs house officer at Pembina. He was a Mason and U. S. government contractor for wood and supplies at Ft. Pembina. BEAUCHAMP, PETER
Beaver hunter, trader and Arikara interpreter at Ft» Berthold for the American Fur Company. He was at Ft. Berthold in 1848, and died there about 1870.
F. F. Gerard.
He came to the upper Missouri country before 1840, and stayed for many years at the Arikara village near Ft» Clark, trapping beaver and hunting buffalo.
Basil Clement. BELCOURT, FATHER G. A.
Roman Catholic Missionary at Pembina in 1849, and at St. Joseph in 1856-61. Antoine Girard.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 357
"I will add that Mr. Belcourt is a Catholic Missionary who has resided in that country for eighteen years, has learned the Indian languages spoken on that frontier, has traveled over the most of it and is perhaps better acquaint- ed with the people of that region and their peculiarities, than any other man in the country. I found him a polite, educated gentleman, with a self-sacrificing devotion to his high and holy calling, that cannot but excite admiratioi? in a professor of Christianity, and respect from the unbe- liever and heathen. His wish for assistance in the publi- cation of his dictionary of the Chippewa language is worthy of the favorable consideration of a liberal govern- ment, which is striving in such profitless and numerous ways to ameliorate the condition of these unfortunate people."
Major Woods' Report of His Expedition to Pem-
Mna Settlements, 31st Congress, 1st Session, E&-
Doc. 51.
BELLEHUMEUR, SIMON
Trapper and trader on the Eed River in 1804.
Early Western Travels, Cleveland, Ohio, 190^, XXIV., 12, note.
BERGER,
American Fur Company interpreter at Ft. Union when Maximilian visited it in 1833, formerly an employe of thft Hudson Bay Company.
Early Western Travels, XXIII., 23, note. A Canadian Frenchman from St. Louis. F. F. Gerard.
BlSSONETTE,
Trader in charge of a venture of the Northwest Fur Com- pany to trade with the Mandans. Accompanied Gen. Atkinson's expedition in 1825.
Early Western Travels, XXIII., 227. Came from Cahokia, Illinois, and died on the Rosebud Agency, South Dakota, Aug. 20th, 1900, at a very ad- vanced age.
Basil Clement.
BOLLER, HENRY A.
Member of opposition fur company with Larpenteur, Jef- ferson Smith and Robert Lemon in 1860. He was at Ft. Berthold in 1860, and at Ft. Union in 1861.
Coues, Larpenteur's Forty Tears a Fur Trader on the Upper Missouri, New York, 1898, II., 311-322,
358 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
BOTTINEAU, CHARLES
Son of Pierre Bottineau, in partnership with Charles Grant at St. Joseph. Hunter for Alexander Henry at Pembina in 1803.
Cones' Journal of Alexander Henry and David Thompson, N. Y., 1897, I., 226.
BRAZEAIL, JOHN
Negro employed by the American Fur Company at Ft.
Union and Ft. Berthold. Died at Ft. Stevenson about
1868.
Larpenteur, I., 117, note ~by Washington Matthews. BRIDGER, JAMES
Beaver hunter, one of a party of hunters who wintered at
Ft. Union 1844-5.
Larpenteur, II., 21 Iff. BUCKMAN, JOSEPH Y.
In 1861, he was appointed postmaster at St. Joseph and he
was also elected to the territorial legislature. He died in
1862.
Record, May 1896, No. XI., 4. BUNCH, GEORGE
Clerk of Hudson Bay Company with Hugh Henney at Ft. Mandan in 1894.
Original Journals of Lewis and Clark Expedition,
New York, 1904, I, 238. CAMERON, JOHN
A Scotch farmer living ten miles south of Pembina in 1856 ; he returned later to Winnipeg.
Antoine Girard. CAMERON, JOHN.
In charge of an expedition sent by Alexander Henry to Grandes Fourches (Grand Forks), Sept. 1, 1801, and later in charge of a post there. Sent by Henry to build a fort on the Turtle river, Sept. 20th, 1802. Died in 1804.
Henry's Journal, I., 186, 189, note, 197 and
204. CAMPBELL, EGBERT.
He was born in 1804, in Ireland, and came to St. Louis in 1824. He was in partnership with Wm. Sublette, in op- position to the American Fur Company, 1833-4. Maxi- milian met him at Ft. William, opposite the mouth of the Yellowstone river, Oct. 30th, 1833. He died at St. Louis in 1879.
Early Western Travels, XXIII., 193, note.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 359
The St. Louis merchant who supplied the opposition fur traders with goods.
F. F. Gerard. CARSON,, ALEXANDER
A hunter on the upper Missouri, who wintered with the Arikara in 1809-10. He was met by Bradbury May 22, 1810, and joined his party on their trip up the river.
Early Western Travels,, V., 93 and 178, and note. CAVILEER, CHARLES
He was born in Springfield, Ohio, March 6, 1818, and came to Pembina, August 16th, 1851. He was assistant post mas- ter 1851-3, at Pembina, and in 1853 was in partnership with Forbes & Kittson in the Indian trade. In 1854, he moved to St. Joseph and started a trading post there, and in 1857 moved to St. Boniface, Manitoba. He returned to Pembina in 1863, and died there July 27th, 1902.
Record 1895, August and December; 1896, May. E. K. Cavileer.
CHABOILLEZ, C. J. B.
He built a trading post for the North West Fur Co. on the south side of the Pembina river, near its mouth, in 1797. This post was called Ft. Paubna, and was abandoned by 1.800. He was agent for the North West Fur Company on the Red and Assiniboine rivers in 1796-1805, and was in charge of a post on the latter river in 1804. He died at Terrebonne, 1809.
Henry's Journal, I., 60 and note, and 80 and note. CHABOILLEZ, CHAS.
In 1806, he visited the Mandan and Grosventre villages on the Missouri river, with Alexander Henry, who had per- suaded him to join him on the expedition at Ft. Assinboine, British Columbia. He died at Terrebonne in 1812.
Henry's Journal, I., 61, note. CHARBONNEAU, TOUSSAINT.
He was employed by the North West Fur Company along the Red and Assiniboine rivers, and wintered at Pine Fort, British America, on the Assiniboine river in 1793-4.
Henry's Journal, I., 50, note.
He was a French trader and interpreter at the middle vil- lage of the Grosventres on the Knife river, where Max- imilian found him in 1833, and where he had lived 37 years.
Early Western Travels, XXII., 345.
360 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Interpreter of Lewis and Clark on their expedition, April 7, 1805 to August 31, 1806.
Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedi- tion.
CHARDON, FRANCOIS A.
He was a clerk for the American Fur Company at Fort Union at the time Maximilian visited it in 1833. He was located at Fort Clark in 1837, at the time of the small pox scourge. He built Fort Jackson for McKenzie in 1833, and was placed in charge of the post.
Early Western Travels, XXIII., 188, note. Also
XXIV., 29 and note.
In charge of Fort McKenzie in 1842 when he massacred some Blackfeet Indians there. On April 1st, 1848, he was found by Palliser in charge of Fort Berthold. He died there the same year.
Larpenteur, I., 137, note. CHARDON, FRANK
Son of Francois A. Chardon. He ran away from home when young and joined a circus, as one of the performers, the strong man. He was at Ft. Berthold in 1862-3, as clerk and trader for Chas. Primeaux, and wras,one of the 17 men who held Fort Berthold against the attacks of the Sioux< December 25th, 1863. He had moved into the fort for pro- tection as three of his wood choppers had been killed by the Sioux.
F. F. Gerard. He died in 1889 on the Oak Creek Agency, S. D.
Basil Clement. CHOTEAU, CHARLES P.
Son of Pierre Choteau, Jr., principal member of the Amer- ican Fur Company. In 1842, the name of this company was changed to the Pierre Choteau, Jr., Co., and in 1854, the name was changed to the Chas. P. Choteau Company.
CHOTEAU^ PIERRE, JR.
The agent for American Fur Co. who accompanied Catlin from St. Louis to Fort Union in 1832.
Catlin, North American Indians, Edinburgh, 1903,
I., 15.
Born in France. His brothers were Menard, Edward and Paul. He was one of the wealthiest traders on the Mis- souri, worth about |18,000,000. F. F. Gerard.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 361
COLTER, JOHN
Member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, who left the party to trap on the upper Missouri river with Joseph Dickson and Forrest Hancock.
Original Journals, V., 344 and note.
Met by Bradbury in 1810, on the Missouri river, to whom he related his adventures among the Indians.
Early Western Travels, V., 44 and 4$ and note. Cox, ORIN
Born in Ohio 1818. Farmer in Pembina district, Minne- sota territory, 1850. Family of three, wife, Lucy, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Harriet. See Census 1850, page 384. CRAWFORD, L.
Clerk of American Fur Co. at Fort Clark at time of Cat- lin's visit, 1832.
Catlin, I., 200.
CULBERTSON, ALEXANDER
In charge of the American Fur Co. post at St. Peters, Min- nesota territory, and some time previous to 1840 trans- ferred to the Missouri river.
Basil Clement.
In charge at Fort Union 1842-4 for the American Fur Com- pany. He had been in the service of the company since 1832 and became a partner in the company in 1843.
Larpenteur, I., 162 /f.
He left the Missouri country about 1868 for Peoria, 111., with his wife and two sons, Joseph and John. In two years he was back again on the Missouri river and died at Fort Benton in the early '70's.
F. F. Gerard. CYR, JOSEPH
Hunter for Alexander Henry at Pembina during the win- ter of 1803-04.
Henry's Journal, I., 195 and note. DAY, JOHN
One of the hunters employed in Bradbury's expedition.
Early Western Travels, V., 181 and note. DAW SON, ANDREW
He was born in Scotland. He was placed in charge at Fort Clark for the American Fur Company, from 1849, until the year after the cholera at that post. He was in charge
362 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
at Fort Benton from about 1856 to 1870, when he returned to Scotland with his son, leaving his daughter, Maggie, at Fort Berthold.
F. F. Gerard. DEASE, JOHN
Scotch halfbreed from Winnipeg. Trader at St. Joseph, and died there about 1866.
Antoine Girard. DES AUTEL, JOSEPH
In charge at Fort Clark for the American Fur Company, when Larpenteur visited it in the spring of 1847 and clerk at Fort McKenzie in 1842 under Chardon.
Larpenteur, I., 211, and note; II., 246. A nephew of James Kipp, and clerk at Fort Clark under Andrew Dawson. He died at Fort Pierre in 1849.
F. F. Gerard. DE SMET, FATHER PETER JOHN
The noted Belgian Jesuit priest who visited at Fort Union in 1842 on his way back from the Columbia mission field where he spent the larger part of his life. He passed through Fort Berthold in 1863, and was persuaded by the Indians to say mass to break the drouth of that season.
F. F. Gerard. DICKSON,, JOSEPH
An Illinois trapper on the Missouri and Yellowstone where he had arrived in the summer of 1804. He was met by Clark August llth, 1806, on his return trip. At the five villages on the Knife river he and his companion per- suaded Colter to leave Lewis and Clark and join them.
Original Journals, ~V., 329 and 344> DOUGHERTY, -
A clerk of opposition fur company of Sublette & Campbell at the winter village of the Knife river Grosventres, and visited by Maximilian in 1833.
Early Western Travels, XXIII., 218. He was met in the winter of 1842-3 by James Bridger and Basil Clement west of the Missouri river.
DUFORD, J.
In the employ of the X. Y. Fur Co., at Pembina in 1803-4, and employed by the North West Fur Co., after the coali- tion of 1804 ; accidentally killed by an Indian at Rembina, Nov. 1, 1805.
Henry's Journal, I., 187, note.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 363
DUPRE, FREDERICK
He came with Paul Narcelle in 1838 from Longueil, Can- ada, and was in the employ of the American Fur Co. as camp trader on the Missouri river. In 1878 he started a cattle ranch on the Cheyenne where he died in 1895.
Basil Clement. FISHER, JOSEPH
Born in Vermont, 1820, and was a teacher in the Pembina district, Minnesota Territory, 1850, probably at Eed Lake.
See Census 1850, page 384. GALPIN, CHAS. E.
Indian trader at Fort Berthold, 1865, and at Fort Rice in 1868. He died at Grand Kiver in 1870.
Larpenteur II., 343, note Tzy Washington Hatheu's. He was born in Pennsylvania and was a member of the firm that ran in opposition to Hawlev & Hubbell at Fort Ber- thold in 1865.
F. F. Gerard. GARREAU, ANTOINE
A French trader in the employ of Sublette & Campbell and who was met by Maximilian in the winter village of the Mandans in 1833.
Early Western Travels, XXIV., 35.
He was met by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805 as a resident among the Arikara and Mandans.
Original Journals, Lewis and Clark, I., 272. He came originally from Canada. His first wife was a half breed Arikara, named Josette; his children by this mar- riage were Josette, mother of Maggie Dawson and wife of Andrew Dawson ; another daughter, who died at Ft. Clark, and a son who lived among the Arikara, as one of their number, and was killed by an Arikara, Bears' Ears, leader of the band of "Strong Hearts," whose duty was that of camp police. Bears' Ears fled to the Sioux after the mur- der and was afterward employed as U. S. government scout at old Ft. Lincoln. Garreau's second wife was a full blood Mandan, and her son was Pierre Garreau, a full blood Indian.
F. F. Gerard. GARREAU, PIERRE
Son of Antoine Garreau and trader at Fort Clark and Fort Berthold among the Indians.
Early Western Travels, XXIV., 35, note.
364 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Interpreter at Fort Berthold for the traders and for the United States army.
Larpenteur, I., 125 and note.
Worked for the Pierre Choteau, Jr. Co. as an interpreter. He was the step-son of Antoine Garreau, being a full blood Mandan Indian. He died in his hut at Fort Berthold in 1870, from the effects of smoke. His hut caught fire in the night and he was suffocated before he could unbar the door.
F. F. Gerard.
GEROUX, LUCIEN
He was born near Montreal, Canada, about 1834. In 1856 he came from St. Paul to Pembina with Antoine Girard and Wm. Moorhead. He was a clerk for the Hudson Bay Company a number of years. He built a hotel later at Pem- bina, and died at St. Joseph (Walhalla). Antoine Girard.
GINGRAS ANTOINE
Born in Canada, 1821. Indian fur trader at Pembina, 1850. See Census 1850, .page 384.
Came from Lake Superior to St. Joseph and died at Man- itoba.
Antoine Girard.
GIRARD, ANTOINE x
He was born near Montreal, Canada, at Longueil in 1836. He came west to Chicago by steamboat, and by rail to Ga- lena over the new road, and up the Mississippi river on the War Eagle, arriving at Pembina August 20th, 1856. For several years he worked for the Hudson Bay Company, un- der the chief factor, Kennedy, carrying goods to the Chip- pewas. In 1861, he was employed on the first Ked River steamboat, the Anson Northrup, and during the winter carried goods for the Hudson Bay Co. to Roseau Lake, Min- nesota. During the Sioux outbreak of 1862, he was em- ployed as guide for parties traveling between Pembina and St. Paul, and was never attacked by the Sioux, owing to the Canadian flag, which he always carried, nailed to his Red River cart. In 1866, he moved to Grand Forks, and the following year while hunting he saw the last large herd of buffalo in the region about Pembina; after this year, the hunters had to seek the buffalo much further west. In 1871-2, he kept a stage station at Acton on the Winnipeg,
iFor picture of Antoine Girard see illustration.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 365
Breckinridge and Moorhead stage line. In 1891, he estab- lished a ferry a few miles above Acton, where he now re- sides.
Antoine Oirard.
GLASS, HUGH
Beaver hunter and trader from Pennsylvania, killed by Arikara in 1833. He served in the Arikara campaign of 1823.
Early Western Travels, XXIII., 294, and note.
GOUDREAU, JOSEPH
He was born in Montreal, Canada, and came to St. Louis early in the 40's. He was a blacksmith at Ft. Pierre for a number of years, and later, in the employ of the Ameri- can Fur Company, he went 'as far north as Ft. Clark. He died in 1886 at Vanderbilt, S. D. H. H. M. Smee.
GOUZZEON, ANDRE
An Indian trader for the North West Fur Comany, who deserted the company while on a trip to the five villages on the Knife river. He was killed by the Sioux in 1801, during a buffalo hunt with a band of Mandans. Henry's Journal, I., 370.
GRANT, CHARLES
Born on Red River, Canada, 1824. Indian trader, Pembina district, Minnesota territory, 1850.
See Census 1850, page 884.
Partner of Chas. Bottineau at St. Joseph and left for Man- itoba about 1867.
Antoine Girard. GRANT, PETER
He was born in 1764 and died at Lachine in 1848. He was clerk for the North West Fur Co. in 1784, and became a partner in the firm in 1791. He spent most of his later life in charge of the Red River department. His trading post was on. the east side of the Red River, just opposite the mouth of the Pembina river, and was built soon after 1790, and was the first establishment for the North West Fur Co. on the Red River.
Henry's Journal, I., 80 and note. GRAVILINES, JOSEPH
A trader among the Arikara, and French interpreter of the Lewis and Clark expedition. He returned down river with a party from Fort Mandan in November, 1804.
Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedi- tion, I., 184, and note, and 218.
366 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
GUIJON, JOSEPH
Came to the Missouri country at the time when the Amer- ican Fur Co. first established a trading post at Fort Ber- thold.
F. F. Gerard.
HALSEY, WM.
Clerk for the American Fur Co. at Ft. Pierre, and visited the company's posts as far north as Ft. Clark. He died at Libertie, Missouri, in 1841. Basil Clement.
HANCOCK, FORREST
A trapper on the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers, where he had gone in the summer of 1804. He was met by Clark, Aug. llth, 1806, on his return trip.
Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedi-
tion,, V., 329, and note, and 344- HARVEY, ALEXANDER
He was born in St. Louis, and was a member of the Max- imilian party in 1832-4. He served as clerk for the Amer- ican Fur Co. in 1845, and was an independent fur trader at Ft. Yates, in 1896.
Early Western Travels, XXII., 339, note. He was with the American Fur Co., at Fort McKeuzie, Mont., from the founding of the post. He participated in the massacre of the Blackfeet Indians at Fort McKenzie in 1842. He formed an opposition fur company with Chas. Primeaux, Jos. Picotte and Booise, clerk. The firm was bought out later by the American Fur Co.
Larpenteur, I., Ill, note, and 218-27.
He worked for F. F. Girard at Fort Berthold for two years as carpenter, clerk, etc., and for two years he was an inde- pendent trader.
F. F. Gerard. HENDERSON, G.
Trader in the employ of the Hudson Bay Co., and visited Camp Mandan, Dec. 1, 1804.
Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedi-
HENNEY, (also HENEY) HUGH
Hudson Bay Co. trader, and visited Fort Mandan, Dec. 16, 1804.
Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedi-
tion, I., 237-8, and note. •
Trader for the Hudson Bay Co. at Pembina in 1807. Henry's Journal, I., 4%4> and note.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 367
HENRY, ALEXANDER, JR
He was a fur trader for the North West Fur Co., and con- solidated companies from 1792 to 1814. Sixteen years of this time was spent among the Salteurs (a branch of the Chippewas) which brought him into the Ked Kiver Valley and led to the founding of posts at Grandes Fourches, (Grand Forks) on the Park and on the Pembina rivers; and on the Ked Lake river, a tributary of the Bed Biver east of Grandes Fourches. It was during this time also that he made his famous trip to the Mandan country on the Missouri river.
From 1808-11 he was in charge of posts on the north Sas- katchewan in British America, exploring the country thor- oughly and reaching the Bocky Mountains on one of his western trips.
In 1813, he visited the Columbia valley, in what is 'now the states of Oregon and Washington. Here he was drowned in the Columbia river, May 22, 1814.
C ones' Journals of Alexander Henry and David
Thompson. HOBACK, JOHN
Kentucky hunter, met by Bradbury May 26, 1810, who per- suaded him to join his expedition up the Missouri river.
Early Western Travels, V., 98, and note. HODGKISS, WILLIAM D.
In charge for the American Fur Co. at Fort Clark, 1856-9, and at Fort Union, 1863. He died in 1864.
F. F. Gerard.
He was born in New York and came to the upper Missouri country before 1840.
Basil Clement. ISIDORE, —
A Spaniard employed at Fort Berthold by the Pierre Cho- teau Jr. Co., under agent Morgan. He was shot by an In- dian while carrying1 dispatches to Fort Buford, about 1857.
F. F. Gerard.
ISIDORO, -
A Spaniard at Ft. McKenzie in the employ of the American Fur Co., who was killed by Alexander Harvey at Fort Union in 1841.
Larpenteur, I., 169. JESSAUME, RENE
French interpreter on the Lewis and. Clark Expedition who was hired in 1804.
Original Journals of the Leivis and Clark Expedi- tion, I., 209, and note.
368 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Interpreter for Manuel Lisa at the trading post of the Mis- souri Fur Co., and met by Bradbury in 1811.
Early Western Travels, ~V., 156 and note. He was one of a party of traders who visited the Mandans and Grosventres for the North West Fur Co. in 1795 ; and in 1797 he acompanied David Thompson on a similar trip He was found by Alexander Henry in 1806 at the principal Mandan village and he claimed at that time to have been in this region for fifteen years. At the time of Henry's visit Jessaume had just returned from a trip to Washing- ton, D. C., where he had accompanied Lewis and Clark, as interpreter for the Mandan chief, Sheheke.
Henry's Journal, I., 301, note, and 333.
JONES, BENJAMIN
A hunter on the upper Missouri river, who wintered with the Arikara. He was met by Bradbury May 22, 1811, and joined his party on a trip up the river.
Early Western Travels, V., 93 and note, and 118.
KIPP, JAMES
He was born in Canada 1788, and was a hunter and trap- per on the Red Kiver as early as 1808. In 1818, he went to the upper Missouri country. He built a fort at the mouth of the White Earth river in 1825, for the Columbia Fur Co., which was afterwards transferred to the Amer- ican Fur Co. in 1827. Maximilian found him at Fort Clark as clerk in 1833. He was transferred to Fort McKenzie in 1835, and was in charge at. Fort Alexander on the Yellow- stone in 1843, and at Fort Union in 1845. He retired from active service in 1865.
Early Western Travels, XXII., 345 and note;
XXIII., 214 and note.
Catlin found him at the five villages on the Knife river where he had been eight years. Catlin, I., 121.
KITTSON, NORMAN W.
He was born in Canada in 1814, and died in 1888. He was sent to Pembina from St. Paul in 1843, to take charge of the American Fur Co. interests. The company's headquar- ters were at St. Peters, under charge of Gen. Sibley. Kitt- son, during the same year, founded the Bed River Trans- portation Co. in connection with Joseph Rolette. He was an Indian trader at Pembina in 1850, and at Turtle Moun- tain in 1853. He was chosen a member of the Minnesota, territorial legislature for the years 1851-55. Minnesota Historical Society.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 369
LA BARGE, JOHN
A member of the opposition fur company of La Barge, Harkness & Co., operating on the upper Missouri river in 1862. He was captain of the steamboat Shreveport on the Missouri river at same time. He died in 1885. Larpenteur, II., 338.
LABROCHE, —
He was a trapper and hunter at Ft. Clark who came to the upper Missouri country before 1840. Basil Clement.
LACOMBE, FATHER ANDRE
Born in Canada in 1826; a Roman Catholic clergyman in the Pembina district, Minnesota territory, in 1850.
See Census 1850, page 384.
Still engaged in active service at Pincher Creek, Alberta, Canada.
LA FRAMBOIS, FRANK
In 1859-61 he was in charge at Ft. La Barge, an independ- ent trading post built in 1859 by Joseph La Barge a few miles above new Ft. Pierre. He acted as one of the guides with Gen. Sully on his expedition in 1864 from Ft. Rice to the mouth of the Yellowstone. During the Ft. Rice peace negotiations of 1868 he was the principal interpreter. Basil Clement.
LAFRANCE, J. BAPTISTE
French interpreter of the North West Fur Co. trading expedition that remained in the vicinity of Fort Mandan during the winter of 1804-5.
Original Journals of -the Lewis and Clark Expedi- tion, I., 227 and note.
A free trader who visited the Mandans in 1793. He accom- panied Larocque on his trips to the Mandans in 1804 and in 1805. When Alexander Henry visited the Five Villages in 1806 he found him at the chief Mandan village where he had been since May 8th of that year.
Henry's Journal, I.. 302, note. LAIDLAW, WILLIAM
In charge of Fort Pierre for the American Fur company when Maximilian visited the post in 1833. He was the American Fur company agent at Fort Union in 1845.
Early Western Travels, XXII., 316 and note.
Hist.-24
370 REPORT OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
He was in charge of Fort Union, 1844-5, while Larpenteur worked there.
Larpenteur, I., 211 ft. He died near Libertie, Missouri.
Basil Clement.
LAJAE, ANTOINE
He was employed at Fort Clark as clerk under Andrew Dawson and was shot by an Arikara, Ked Bird, while on his way down the river with dispatches to the nearest post, 100 miles distant.
F. F. Gerard.
LAMRERT, EDWARD
He was born in Canada in 1794, and died in 1894. He was a French trader and interpreter at Fort Peck in 1845, and carpenter at Fort Buford in 1855-6. His sons were Ed- ward and Louis.
LAMBOUT, DANIEL
Partner in American Fur company, in charge at Fort Clark during the winter of 1832-3, when the post was visited by Maximilian.
Early Western Travels, XX., 324, note; XXIII., 229.
LANGLOIS, MICHEL
Clerk and Indian trader for Alexander Henry at Pembina, 1801-3.
Henry's Journal, I., 221, 227.
LA PLANTED Louis, SR.
In the employ of the American Fur company at Fort Pierre, and at Fort Clark in 1856. He died on the Yank- ton agency.
LAROCQUE, F. A.
He was clerk in the employ of the North West Fur Com- pany at Fort Assiniboine on the Assiniboine river in 1804 and during the summer of 1806 he had charge of the post. He led the expedition to the Mandan and Grosventre vil- lages for the North West Company, meeting Lewis and Clark, Nov. 27, 1804. The following February he returned to his post, and led another expedition in June, 1805, in search of the Eocky Mountain divide. Failing in this search he returned in November, passing through the Man- dan villages on his way back to Fort Assiniboine. He died at Montreal.
Henry's Journal, I., 298, note, and 301, and note.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 371
LA VERENDRYB
The French trader and explorer who visted the Mandans on the Missouri river in 1738, being the first white man to leave a record of his visit to this region. His son in 1742 pushed his explorations to the foot of the Rockies, and again visited the Mandan villages on the Missouri. In 1736 his eldest son was killed by the Sioux and the entire party accompanying him, including Father Auneau, also perished. Laverendrye died in 1749.
Brymner, Report on Canadian Archives, 1889, Ot- tawa, 1890.
LARPENTEUR, CHARLES
He was a fur trader in the employ of the American Fur Company, and in opposition. He was a resident at Fort Union and Fort Buford 1833 to 1871. He was driven from Fort Buford by a United States government order of January 7, 1871. He died November 15, 1872, at his home on the Little Sioux, Iowa.
Larpenteur, II., 298, note; and 393, note.
LEMAE, JOSEPH
He was the Customs House officer at Pembina in 1860, suc- ceeding McFetridge, and trader at St. Joseph in partner- ship with Wm. Moorhead. He died there in 1868. Antoine Girard.
LEMON, ROBERT
Partner of Larpenteur in 1860, selling out to LaBarge, Harkness & Co., 1862.
Larpenteur, II., 338-40.
LE PAGE, BAPTISTE
A Canadian Frenchman hired at Fort Mandan by Lewis and Clark. He had been among the Cheyennes the pre- vious summer and had left them by way of the Little Mis- souri river.
Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedi- tion, I., 216; VII., 358.
LEPAGE, Louis •
A Creole at Fort Berthold, who died during the winter of 1855-6.
Louis Sears.
LEWIS, REUBEN
He was the only brother of Meriwether Lewis, and was born in Virginia in 1777. He became a partner in the Mis-
372 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
souri Fur company in 1809. He was in charge of the post built by Manuel Lisa just above the winter village of the Grosventres on the east side of the Missouri river, and which was visited by Bradbury in 1811. He returned to St. Louis in 1812, and died there in 1844.
Early Western Travels, V., 153, note; XXIII., 217, and note.
LEWIS, DR. WILLIAM
Born in New York city, 1803, physician in Pembina dis- trict, Minnesota territory, 1850. Family of four, wife, Lucy, and three children, Daniel, Fredric and Louise.
See Census 1850, page 384. "LISA, MANUEL
He was a Spanish trader on the Missouri river, who was born in New Orleans in 1772, and died in 1820. He organ- ized the Missouri Fur Company in 1806; the fort above the mouth of the Knife river, which he built for the com- pany, was visited by Bradbury in 1811.
Early Western Travels, V., 96 and note, and 153; VL, 132.
MCBRIDE, JOHN
Independent fur trader at Fort Berthold in partnership with Jefferson Smith in 1855.
Basil Clement and Louis Sears. MCCRACKEN, HUGH
North West Fur Company trader met by Lewis and Clark at the five villages on the Missouri river in 1804.
Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedi- tion, I., 206.
An Irishman in the employ of the North West Fur Com- pany at Fort Assiniboine, and formerly a soldier in the artillery. Guide of Alexander Henry from Fort Assini- boine to the Mandan villages in 1806. In 1797 he accom- panied David Thompson to the Knife river villages of the Mandans and Grosventres.
Henry's Journal, I., 301, note and 304 and 332. MCELLERY, JAMES
He came originally from St. Louis, and worked for the American Fur Company, and its successors at Fort Pierre and Fort Berthold. In 1864-6 he was an independent fur trader at Fort Berthold. He bought some of the gold dust, amounting to about $1,200, from the Indians, which they brought up the river from where the Montana miners' boat was sunk.
F. F. Gerard.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 373
MCFETRIDGE, JAMES
Customs house officer at Pembina in 1856. Antoine Girard.
MCGILLIVRAY, MICHAEL
He came to Fort Pierre, December 25, 1844, and was em- ployed there for a number of years for the American Fur Company. He was also in charge for the same company at Fort Berthold for two years and was succeeded by James Kipp. He died at Fort Yates. Basil Clement.
MCKENZIE, CHAS.
A member of the party .of fur traders from North West Fur Company who staid in vicinity of Fort Mandan during the winter of 1804-5.
Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedi- tion,, I., 221, and note.
In the service of the North West Fur Company as early as 1803, and as a clerk of this company he accompanied F. A. Larocque to the Mandan villages on the Missouri in 1804, and was also a member of his expedition westward in search of the Rocky Mountains the following year. In 1806, Alexander Henry found him at the chief village of the Grosventres on the Missouri 'river. In 1821, he joined the Hudson Bay company, and remained in their service until 1846. He died in 1854.
Henry's Journal, I, 301, note, and 345 and note.
MCKENZIE, KENNETH
He was in the employ of the North West Fur Company up to 1821, and organized the Columbia Fur Company with Joseph Renville in 1821. He was a partner in the Ameri- can Fur Company in 1827, and built Fort Union at the mouth of the Yellowstone for them. He accompanied Max- imilian up the Missouri river in 1833.
Early Western Travels, XXI., 45, note; XXII., 330; XXIV., 12 ft.
MACKINTOSH, -
Visited the Mandans December 25, 1773.
Matthews, The Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians, Washington, 1877, page 28.
MALNOURI, CHARLES
He was born in French Village, 111, and was a trader on the upper Missouri, and a resident at Fort Berthold as
374 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
early as 1860. He was one of seventeen white men who held Fort Berthold against the Sioux, December 25, 1863. He died at Elbowoods, June 7, 1904. F. F. Gerard.
MAXIMILIAN, ALEXANDER PHILIP
He was born in 1782 in Germany. He served in the Na- poleonic wars, and later visited Brazil on a scientific ex- pedition in 1815-17. He visited the United States in 1832- 34, and made a study of the Indians along the Missouri river, availing himself of the courtesy of the American Fur Co. to meet the various Indian tribes with which this company traded, and to study them at first hand. The account of his trip and the results of his investigation appear in the Early Western Travels, Vols. XXII., XXIII. and XXIV., edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites of Madison, Wisconsin, and published by Arthur H. Clark Co., Cleve- land, Ohio.
MAY,
A beaver hunter at Fort Union, March, 1833. Met by Maxmilian on May 21, 1833, on the Missouri river near Chamberlain, S. D.
Early Western Travels, XXII., 300.
He is charged with bringing the smallpox to the Indians of the five Knife River village in 1837.
Basil Clement.
MENARD, PIERRE
He was born in Quebec in 1767. In 1808 he was associated with Manuel Lisa in the Missouri River trade. He died at Kaskaskia, Illinois, in 1814.
Henry's Journal, I., 811, note.
MITCHELL, COL. DAVID D.
Built Ft. Clark in 1832 for the American Fur Co.
Early Western Travels, XXII., 314, note;XXIII.,
In charge of Ft. Union in 1838. Larpenteur, I., 150.
MlTCHELLE, •
He was an employe at Fort Benton and died there early in the 70's. He frequently visited Fort Berthold, where he was well known, and also at Fort Union. He claimed that he had formerly been a pirate under Lafitte.in the Gulf of Mexico. He was long remembered on the upper Missouri for his remarkable profanity, and for his habit
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 375
of drinking tobacco water, when whiskey was not avail- able. He was so much crippled as to be hardly able to walk, and his arms and body were covered with scars and tat- tooed designs.
F. F. Gerard.
MONTREILLE, JOSEPH
Halfbreed mail carrier employed by Kittson, 1856. Antoine Girard.
MOORHEAD, WILLIAM H.
He was born at Freeport, Pa., Sept. 20th, 1833, and died at Pembina, July 3rd, 1897. He came to St. Paul in 1852, and arrived at Pembina, Aug. 20, 1856, with the Bed Eiver carts, bringing supplies from St. Paul. With him came Antoine Girard and Lucien Geroux. He was in partner- ship at St. Joseph with Joseph Lemae, and after the lat- ter's death he returned to Pembina.
MORRISON, DONALD G.
Born in Canada in 1827. Clerk in the Pembina district, Minnesota territory, 1850.
See Census 1850, page 384. NARCELLE, PAUL
He came from Longueil, Canada, in 1838, and was for many years at Fort Pierre in the employ of the American Fur Company. He accompanied Basil Clement on many of his expeditions up and down the Missouri river. In 1887, he moved to a ranch at the mouth of the Cheyenne river, S. D., where he died in 1889. He was totally blind for eight years.
Basil Clement. NORTHRUP, GEORGE W.
He was born in 1856 ; was a well known trapper and scout in the Northwest. He located on a claim near the Shey- enne river, N. D., in 1858. He was a guide for the hunt- ing party of Sir Francis Sykes in 1861, in the region be- tween the Missouri and the Red rivers. He was killed by Indians in 1863 while serving under Gen. Sibley.
Record, 1891-1898, page 143. PALLISER, .
English tourist in the Missouri valley. F. F. Gerard met him at Fort Berthold, while he was stationed at Fort Clark.
376 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PANGMAN, BOSTONNAIS
Clerk of the North West Fur Co., in charge of the Pmebina post in 1806.
Henry's Journal, I., 269, note.
PA'TINEAUDE (PACKENEAU), CHAS.
He was a Canadian Frenchman, who came up the Missouri river in the early 40's and was the Grosventre interpreter for the American Fur Co., at Fort Berthold. He was one of the seventeen men who held Fort Berthold against the Sioux December 25th, 1863. He died about 1872.
F. F. Gerard.
During the winter of 1855 he was located near the mouth of the Little Missouri at the winter camp of the Gros- ventres, in charge of a trading post for the American Fur Co.
Louis Sears.
PEASE, DAVID
He was born in Pennsylvania and was an Indian trader and partner in the firm of Hawley & Hubbell at Fort Berthold about 1864. He was afterwards Indian agent on the Crow agency.
F. F. Gerard.
When Gen. Sully marched past Fort Berthold he arrested Pease and took him to Fort Pierre for trial on a charge of selling liquor to the Indians.
Basil Clement.
PlCOTTE, HONORE
He was born near Montreal in 1775 and died at St. Louis in 1860. He came to the United States in the early 20's and married the daughter of the famous chief, Two Lance. He was agent for the American Fur Co., at Fort Pierre, S. D., and was in charge of most of the Missouri river trade. His children are Charles Picotte, Mrs. L. Van Solen, and Mrs. William Harmon, deceased.
Mrs. L. Van Solen.
He was in charge of a trading post for the American Fur Co. at the mouth of White river, 150 miles below the Yellowstone, in 1827-28.
Larpcnteur, L, 108.
PICOTTE, JOSEPH
He was a nephew of Honore Picotte and a member of the opposition fur company of Primeaux, Picotte & Booise. The goods were supplied to them by Eobert Campbell and
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 377
Honore Picotte. In 1837 a steamboat bringing their goods up the river had a case of smallpox on board. A squaw is said to have stolen a blanket which had been used by the smallpox patient and thus communicated the disease to the Indians of the Five Villages. Between 1848 and 1856 this company had a trading post, Fort Primeaux, between Fort Clark and the Mandan village on the hill, in charge of their agent, Hamilton.
F. F. Gerard.
He came from Wolf River, Canada, and died on the Yank- ton Agency in 1868.
Basil Clement. PILCHER, MAJOR JOSHUA
He was born in Virgina and came to St. Louis during the war of 1812. He was an original stockholder of the Mis- souri Fur Co., and succeeded Manuel Lisa as president. He built Fort Vande.rburgh, 11 miles above the mouth of the Knife river, for the Missouri Fur Co., about 1822. He died in 1847.
Early Western Travels, XIV., 269, note; XXIII., 219; XXI I., 364, and note.
PRIMEAUX, CHAS.
He was born at St. Louis in 1811. Hje began as clerk for the American Fur Co., but in 1845-6 he formed an inde- pendent fur company with Alexander Harvey, Joseph Pi- cotte and Booise as partners. The firm was known as Harvey, Primeaux & Co. Their post, Fort Prinleaux, be- tween Fort Clark and the chief Mandan village, was named in his honor.
Larpentcur, I., 227, and note.
Primeaux came up from St. Louis in 1831 and held the position of clerk in the employ of the American Fur Co. at Fort Union after it was established. His brother was killed at the mouth of Apple Creek in 1832. He was for a number of years interpreter at Standing Rock Agency and died at Fort Yates in 1897.
Record, 1897, page S7. RENVILLE, FRANCOIS
A halfbreed at Pembina employed by Kittson as mail car rier in 1856.
Antoine Girard.
378 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
RENVILLE, JOSEPH
He was born in 1779, and died in 1846. He was a half- breed interpreter and fur trader in the Red River valley and adjoining region. He took part in the war of 1812 on the British side. Later he was interpreter for the United States expedition under Major S. H. Long.
REZNER, JACOB
Kentucky hunter met by Bradbury on the Missouri river May 26, 1811, and was persuaded to join his expedition.
Early Western Travels, V., 98, and note. ROBERT, JOSEPH
Born 1824, Indian trader from St. Louis, in Pembina dis- trict, Minnesota territory, in 1850.
See Census 1850, page 384. Trader at Pembina before 1856.
Antoine Girard. ROBINSON, EDWARD
Kentucky hunter and Indian fighter and born in- 1744. Met by Bradbury May 26, 1810, and persuaded to join his ex- pedition up the Missouri river.
Early Western Travels, V., 98, and note. ROBINSON, JOHN
A hunter encountered by Basil Clement and 'James Bridger while on their annual hunt in the Wind River mountains. His sister was the mother of Frank and Jesse James, the Missouri outlaws.
Basil Clement.
ROLETTE, I. C.
Came to Fort Pierre from Canada in 1840, and later re- turned to that country.
Basil Clement.
Clerk for the American Fur Co. at Fort Pierre in 1848, and in charge for the same company at Fort Berthold in 1864.
ROLETTE, JOSEPH
He was born at Prairie du Chien, Wis., in 1800, and died at Pembina, N. D., in 1871. As early as 1840, he .was em- ployed by the American Fur Co., at Pembina. In 1843, he assisted Kittson in establishing a line of Red River
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA , 379
carts connecting Pembina with St. Paul, to compete with the Hudson Bay Co. He was a member of the Minnesota territorial assembly 1853-5, and of the council 1855-7.
Minnesota Historical Society.
In 1847, he attacked the Hudson Bay Co. post at Pem- bina, drove the traders away, and burned their buildings.
Record, July 1897.
SANDOVAL, ISIDORE
Spanish hunter and trapper. Interpreter for the Ameri- can Fur Co. on the upper Missouri.
Early Western Travels, XXIII., 132, and note.
SANFORD, MAJOR JOHN F. A.
He was born in St. Louis, Mo. He married a daughter of Pierre Choteau, Jr., and later became a member of the American Fur Co. and its successors.
Basil Clement.
U. S. sub-agent of the Indians at Fort Clark. He was met by Maximilian in 1833. He lived a number of years among the Mandans.
Early Western Travels, XXII., 235, note, and 351.
SARPEE, JEAN PIERRE
Agent of Pierre Choteau, Jr., in the upper Missouri coun- try, and later a partner in the American Fur Co. His brother, Pierre, was an independent fur trader farther down on the Missouri river. Basil Clement.
SHIBONS, CHARLES
Born on the Red Kiver in Canada, 1810. Indian trader in Pembina district, Minnesota territory, 1850. See Census 1850, page 384.
SMITH, JEFFERSON
Hunter and trader on the Missouri river. In partnership with Larpenteur and Robert Campbell in opposition to the American Fur Co. The Grosventres called him Big Bull. Larpenteur, II., 309, note.
Seen at Fort Berthold in 1869, where he left a Grosventre family consisting of one boy and two girls.
F. F. Gerard.
SMITH, JOHN
Born in Ohio, and came to St. Joseph in 1855.
380 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
SUBLETTED WILLIAM
Partner of Robert Campbell in the independent fur trade
on the upper Missouri river. Was visited by Maximilian
in 1833 at Fort William, on the present site of Fort Buford,
Early Western Travels, XXIII., 198 and note, and
217.
THOMPSON, DAVID
He was born in 1770, and died in 1857. He was the sur- veyor and geographer for the North-West Fur. Co. He visit- ed the Mandans on the Missouri river in 1787, and explored a portion of the Red River in the present state of North Dakota in 1798.
TlLTON,
Employed by the American Fur Co. at Fort Clark when it was visited by Maximilian in 1833.
Early Western Travels, XXIII., 227.
WILKE, JEAN BAPTISTE
He was born in 1801 and died in 1886. He came to St. Jo- seph about 1847, and always claimed to have been the first town officer in what is now Walhalla. His house was the usual stopping place for Indians passing through the town. A fatal affray took place at his home in 1861 between the Sioux and the Chippewas, at which several Indians were killed, among them the brother of the Chip- pewa chief, Red Bear.
WILSON, PETER
United States agent to the Mandans. He came up the Mis- souri river with Gen. Atkinson's expedition in 1825. Early Western Travels, XXIII., 228.
WRIGHT, REV. S. G.
He was born in New York city in 1817, and was mission- ary in the Pembina district, Red Lake, Minnesota territory, in 1850. His family consisted of his wife, Emily F., and- three children, Charles, Charlotte and Ann. See Census 1850, page 384.
Part IV.
A SKETCH OF SYKESTON.
BY RICHARD SYKES.
In 1881 I purchased from the Northern Pacific Railroad com- pany about 25,000 acres in what was then known as Gingras county, Territory of Dakota. Shortly after the purchase the name of the county, which then included townships 145 to 150. ranges 67 to 73, was changed to Wells in honor of a member of the territorial legislature, namely, the Hon. E. P. Wells, at that time and still a banker at Jamestown, and now head of the firm of Wells & Dickey Co. of Minneapolis and Jamestown.
Shortly after my purchase the Carrington and Casey Land Co. made a large purchase of lands in what was then known as Foster county. This purchase was in townships 145 and 146, ranges 65 and 66.
In the spring of 1882 I began to break up part of my purchase. At that time there were no branches of the Northern Pacific rail- road north of the main line, consequently I made Jamestown my headquarters, from which my provisions were hauled to my ranch on section 21, township 146, range 68. During 1882 and 1883, by the use of oxen, I broke up three thousand acres in township 146, ranges 68, 69 and 70, and I may add that several of the early settlers in Wells and Foster counties were those who helped to turn over the prairie sod for me. Some of them have managed to become wealthy, and others have succeeded fairly well, others have sought fresh fields and pastures new. I may mention amongst others numerous members of the Lloyd family, the Van Meters, Mrs. Frank Harper, James O'Neill and son Thomas. Peter Zink, Griffith Lewis, Dan Chambers, Robert Griffith, John Middleton, Moses Martin, John Marchand, Geo. Yokell, Will Reed, Seymour and Walter Lee, Thomas Harding and his large family, Richard Wikey, his three sons and a daughter (now Mrs. Heron), the Matthews family, Joseph Sheard and his brothers. Henry, John and Allen. Moreover H. 13. Chess and wife, D. J. Davis, the St. Jacque brothers. Plin Woodward, Zeph Varnum, G. S. Perrott, now professor at the University of North Dakota, R. Price, Robert Schultz and A. G. Covell were amongst those whom I recollect as early settlers in or about Sykeston. Also a large colony of Sanfords, attracted by my improvements, selected Wells county for their home. In 1882 and 1883 I had a partner, Mr. Walter J. Hughes, who assisted me as farm manager, but in 1881 when I made my purchase there was only one settler in the
384 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
whole of what is now Wells county and the western half of Foster county. This was John Potter, better known as Jack Potter, who had a homestead on section 24, township 145, range 68, amongst the oak trees on the Hawk's Nest.
When in 1883 the Northern Pacific built the Jamestown & Northern branch they followed what was then known as the Sykes and Hughes trail as far as section 19, township 146, range 66, on which the town of Carrington was built.
Now I am going to give you some historical news which may be interesting. I have already mentioned that the eastern boundary of Wells county in 1882 included range 64. The Carrington and Casey Land company, owning section 19, township 146, range 66, through which the survey of the Jamestown & Northern branch ran, were naturally wistful for a townsite, more especially be- cause it was understood that from that point the extension would run both north and west. Accordingly, during my absence the Carrington and Casey Land company pursuaded the legislature of the territory, which then sat at Yankton, to pass an act extend- ing the limits of Foster county for twelve miles westward, thus taking twelve townships from W'ells county. On my return to the territory I retained the late John Nickeus, himself a land owner in Wells county, with a view to recovering for Wells county half of what she had lost. In this I succeeded, though at a con- siderable expense, and in spite of the opposition of the Carring- ton interest, thus winning back the six eastern townships in range 68 which are still a part of our county.
Some of the buildings erected at Sykeston in 1883 still remain notably the Monarch elevator, Wikey's store and the old red barn on the borders of the lake at the top of Main street. A bull buffalo was shot on the west side of township 146, range 68, and expired on section 13, township 146, range 69, the townsite of Sykeston. Possibly in commemoration of this event the town of Sykeston might have been called Buffalo had the name not al- ready been appropriated. I am informed that Ewen Grant aimed the bullet which decided the buffalo's fate.
UNITED STATES CENSUS OF 1850.
FOR PEMBINA DISTRICT; MINNESOTA TERRITORY.
The census list appearing in the following pages was found by the secretary jn the Minnesota archives at St. Paul, and, as far as can be ascertained, has never before been printed. Pembina district includes the entire Red River valley in the United States and the Red Lake region. The exact boundaries of the district cannot be ascertained. During the years 1850, 1860 and 1870
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 385
it was customary for the states and territories to retain dupli- cate copies of the United States census returns when the originals were forwarded to Washington, and it is this duplicate copy which is printed below.
Special pains have been taken to give the names as they are spelled in the census returns, but, where possible, the spelling is corrected in the footnotes. For these corrections I am indebted to Hon. Judson LaMoure and E. K. Cavileer of Pembina. The order of the names has been changed and the alphabetical ar- rangement has been followed for convenience of reference.
The importance of such a document as this is obvious. It has besides, the additional interest of being the first official list of the population of an important section of the future state of North Dakota. Another feature of interest lies in the fact that with it we are able to correct the published report of the United States census for 1850. In this census, page 993, the total poulation of Pembina district is set down as 1,131, but the true total as seen from this list is 1,116. In the duplicate list at St. Paul the total is 1,135 names. In preparing the following list for publication several families were found to be counted twice; these family names are: Filcon 7, Cart (already listed as Charette) 6, and George 6, a total of 19 names.
The only official record we have of the conditions in this sec- tion appears in the report of the Secretary of War relative to an exploring expedition to the Pembina settlement made under com- mand of Brevet Captain Pope and Major Wood. The expedition started from Ft. Snelling, Minn. Terr., June 6, 1849, reached Pembina Aug. 1, and returned on Sept. 18, the same year. Maj. Wood's report shows that the white and half breed population numbered 177 families, 511 males and 515 females, living at Pem- bina, a total of 1,026. They had also 600 carts, 300 oxen, 300 work horses, 150 horses for the chase, 1,500 head of horned cattle, a few hogs and no sheep. [31st Congress, 1st Sess. Ex. Doc. 42 and 51.]
The secretary will be glad to publish any additional informa- tion concerning the persons whose names appear in this census list, and all those who may possess such information are cor- dially invited to co-operate with the society in getting it pub- lished.
U. S. CENSUS, 1850, PEMBINA DISTRICT, MINNESOTA TERRITORY.
The following gives the name, age, sex, occupation and birthplace: Illiterates of twenty years of age and upwards are indicated thus *
'Agau, Aisena; IP" male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Agau, Ann;* 27; female: Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Agau, Antoine;* 56; male; hunter; Red River British.
Agau, Charles;* 29; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
1Auger. Hist— 25
386 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Agau, Charles; 10; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Agau, Charlotte;* 58; female; Red River British.
Agau, lomp; 19; male; hunter; Pembina, .Minnesota territory.
Agau, Josette; 8; female; Pebmina, Minnesota territory.
Agau, Marie; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Agau, Mary Ann; 13; female; Red River British.
Agau, Mayese; 14; male; Red River British.
Agau, Pauttuer; 6; female; Red River British.
Agau, Rose; 6; female; Red River British.
Agnualier, Domenick;* 20; male; hunter; Red River British.
Agnualier, Louise;* 60; female; Red River British.
Atkins, Archibald; 9; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Atkins, Margaret;* 31; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Ayotte, Baptiste; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Ayotte, Francois;* 27; male; hunter; Red River British.
Ayotte, Francois; 7; male; Red River British.
Ayotte, Joseph; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Ayotte, Louis; 5; male; Red River British.
Ayotte, Louise;* 25; female; Red River British.
Azure, Alex; 2; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Azure, Antoine;* 25; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Azure, Antoine; 3; male; Red River British.
Azure, Caroline; 5; female; Red River Canada.
Azure, Cecile;* 21; female; Red River Canada.
Azure, Gabriel;* 26; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Azure, Gabriel; 7; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Azure, Genevieve; 2; female; Red River Canada.
Azure, Isabella; 8; female; Red River British.
Azure, Joseph;* 40; male; hunter; Red River British.
Azure, Joseph; 10; male; Red River British.
Azure, Josette;* 32; female; Red River British.
Azure, Josette; 20; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Azure, Marguritte;* 50; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Azure, Marie;* 27; female; Red River Canada.
Azure, Mary; 6; female; Red River Canada.
Azure, Pierre;* 32; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Azure, Pierre; 3; male; Red River Canada.
Azure, Rosile; 3; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Baptiste, Catherine;* 20; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Baptiste, Henry;* 24; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Barnard, Alonzo; 33; male; missionary; Vermont.
Barnard, Emma; 2; female.
Barnard, Hina E.; 5; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Barnard, Pelse; 30; female; Vermont.
Batoch, Antoine; 10; male; Red River British.
Batoch, Baptiste;* 25; male; hunter; Red River British.
Batoch, Baptiste;* 60; male; hunter; Red River British.
Batoch, Baptiste; 11; male; Red River British.
Batoch, Caroline; 1 month; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Batoch, Henry; 12; male; Red River British.
Batoch, Heria; 9; male; Red River British.
Batoch, Julie;* 25; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Batoch, Louis; 17; male; Red River British.
Batoch, Louis;* 49; male; hunter; Red River British.
Batoch, Marguritte;* 40; female; Red River British.
Batoch, Marguritte;* 22; female; Red River British.
Batoch, Mary;* 49; female; Red River British.
Batoch, Mary Ann; 13; female; Red River British.
Batoch, Mary Ann; 5; female; Red River British.
Batoch, Roselie; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
387
Batoch, Sarah; 7; female; Red River British.
Batoch, Sophia;* 80; female; Red River British.
JBatoin, Curtis; 9; male; Red River Canada.
Batoin, Francois; 14; male; Red River Canada.
Batoin, Francois;* 37; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Batoin, Josette;* 37; female; Red River Canada.
Batoin, Marguritta; 5; female; Red River Canada.
Batoin, Mary; 12; female; Red River Canada.
Beaupre, Charles; 7; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Beaupre, Jacque; 18; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Beaupre, Joseph;* 24; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Beaupre, Joseph;* 71; male; cooper; British Canada.
Beaupre, Joseph; 2; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Beaupre, Josette;* G9; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory,
Beaupre, Marguerite; 11; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. 4
Beaupre, Marie; 16; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Beaupre, Paul; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
2Beautinau, Amable;* 22; male; hunter; Red River British.
Beautinau, Angelie; 10; female; Red River British.
Beautinau, Helenor; 4; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Beautinau, Isabella; 13; female; Red River British.
Beautinau, Josette; 15; female; Red River British.
Beautinau, Josette; 42; female; Red River British.
Beautinau, Marguritte; 14; female; Red River British.
Beautinau, Marguritte; 9; female; Red River British.
Beautinau, Mary; 6; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Beautinau, Mitchel ;* 44; male; hunter; Red River British.
Beautinau, Philemon; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
3Belancher, Abraham;* 30; male; hunter; Red River British.
Belancher, Abraham; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Belancher, Eliza; 7; female; Red River British.
Belancher, Isabella; 3; female; Red River British.
Belancher, Mary Ann;* 27; female; Red River British.
Belancher, «Mary Ann; 8; female; Red River British.
Belgarde, Alexis;* 28; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Belgarde, Alexis; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Belgarde, Baptiste; 8; male; Red River Canada.
Belgarde, Charles;* 47; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Belgarde, Mary; 3; female; Red River Canada.
Belgarde, Susan;* 27; female; Red River Canada.
Belgarde, Susanna;* 27; female; Red River Canada.
Bellgard, Alexis;* 50; male; carpenter; Canadian British.
Bellgard, Curtis; 13; male; Red River British.
Bellgard, Jean;* 43; male; hunter; Red River British.
Bellgard, Joseph; 11; male; Red River British.
Bellgard, Joseph; 15; male; Red River British.
Bellgard, Louis; 19; male; hunter; Red River British.
Bellgard, Louise; 17; female; Red River British.
Bellgard, Marguritte;* 28; female; Red River British.
Bellgard, Marguritte; 6; female; Red River British.
Bellgard, Marguritte;* 53; female; Red River British.
Bellgard, Sophia; 10; female; Red River British.
Bellgard, Theodore;* 23; male; hunter; Red River British.
Benard, Josette; 2; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Benard, Louise;* 29; female; Red River Canada.
Benard, Louise; 9; female; Red River Canada.
Benard, Philemon; 4; male; Red River Canada.
lBaton.
2Bottineau.
3Belangier.
388 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Benard, Pierre;* 28; male; hunter and carpenter; Red River Canada.
Benard, Sarah; 7; female; Red River Canada.
Bend, Baptiste; 11; male; Red River Canada.
Bend, Eliza; 4; female; Red River Canada.
Bend, Genevieve; 15; female; Red River Canada.
Bend, Josette; 13; female; Red River Canada.
Bend, Julie;* 40; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Bend, Narcisse; 18; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Berger, Indigne;* 37; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Berger, Isidore; 4; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Berger, Isaie; 6; male; Red River Canada.
Berger, J. Baptiste; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Berger, Narcisse;* 20; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Berger, Pierre; 9; male; Red River Canada.
Berger, Pierre;* 34; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Belcourt, Gustus A.; 27; male; Roman Catholic clergyman; Lower Canada British.
Bogan, Baptiste; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Bogan, Francois;* 25; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Bogan, Jasavin; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Bogan, Marie;* 20; female; Red River Canada.
Botneau, Baptiste;* 46; male; hunter; Red River British.
Botneau, Baptiste; 10; male; Red River British.
Botneau, Isadore;* 22; male; Red River British.
Botneau, Mary Ann; 5; female; Red River British.
Botneau, Philista;* 32; female; Red River British.
Botneau, Philista; 14; female; Red River British.
Botneau, Therese; 15; female; Red River British.
Brantneau, Angelie;* 26; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Brantneau, Angelie; 9; female; Pembina, Minnesota' territory.
Brantneau, Charles; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Brantneau, John; 4; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Brantneau, Joseph;* 30; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota ter- ritory.
Brantneau, Joseph; 7; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Brantneau, Josette;* 70; female; Red River Canada.
Brantneau, Josette; 14; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Brantneau, Mary; 16; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Brantneau, Rossion; 5; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Bushman, Baptiste; 15; male; Red River British.
Bushman, Besherman;* 46; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota ter- ritory.
Bushman, Caroline; 9; female; Red River British.
Bushman, Cecilia; 7; female; Red River British.
Bushman, Isabella; 17; female; Red River British.
Bushman, Mary;* 40; female; Red River British.
Bushman, Phillipe; 2; male; Red River British.
Cadotte, Joseph;* 37; male; hunter; Red River British.
Cadotte, Joseph; 16; male; hunter; Red River British.
Cadotte, Josette; 4; male; Red River British.
Cadotte, Julie; 3 months; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Cadotte, Louise;* 26; female; Red River British.
Cadotte, Pierre; 6; male; Red River British.
Caplette, Antoine; 8; male; Red River Canada.
Caplette, Isabella;* 28; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Caplette, Julie; 2; female; Red River Canada.
Caplette, Louis;* 36; male; hunter; Red River Canada. ,
Caplette, Marguritta; 6; female; Red River Canada.
1Bottineau. *
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 389
Cardinal, Adellaide; 11; female; Red River British.
Cardinal, Geneve; 17; female; Red River British.
Cardinal, Jean Baptiste;* 63; male; laborer; Canada British.
Cardinal, Jean Baptiste; 5; male; Red River British.
Cardinal, John; 12; male; Red River British.
Cardinal, Jonette;* 45; female; Minnesota territory.
Cardinal, Josette; 8; female; Red River British.
Cardinal, Pierre; 19; male; laborer; Red River British.
'Cart, Marianne;* 50; female; Red River British.
Champaigne, Abraham; 2; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Champaigne, Angelle; 5; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Champaigne, Juley; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Champaigne, Manvil;* 27; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota terri- tory.
Champaigne, Mary;* 26; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Champaigne, Mary; 7; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Charette, Alex; 10; male; Red River Canada.
Charette, Angelie; 29; female; Red River Canada.
Charette, Baptiste;* 40; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Charette, J. Baptiste; 7; male; Red River Canada.
Charette, Marguritte; 5; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Charette, Marianne; 2; female; Red River Canada.
Charette, Mayese; 5; male; Red River Canada.
Clou tier, Antoine;* 21; male; laborer; Red River Canada.
Clou tier, Francois; 11; male; Red River Canada.
Cloutier, Helena;* 20; female; Red River Canada.
Cloutier, J. Baptiste;* 50; male; lumberman; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Cloutier, Josette;* 49; female; Red River Canada.
Cloutier, Marguritta; 14; female; Red River Canada.
Collins, Antoine;* 22; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Collins, Baptiste; 19; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Collins, Elizabeth;* 40; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Collins, J. Baptiste;* 56; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Collins, Louise; 17; female; Red River Canada.
Collins, Marguritte; 12; female; Red River Canada.
Collins, Maxime; 6; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Collins, Pupille; 8; female; Red River Canada.
Collins, Susanna;* 25; female; Red River Canada.
Colombe, Francois;* 29; male; voyageur; Red River British.
Colombe, Josette;* 25; female; Red River British.
Colombe, Roselia; 7; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
2Comuin, Augustus;* 25; male; lumberman; Pembina, Minnesota ter- ritory.
Comuin, Angelia; 18; female; Red River British.
Comuin, Baptiste; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Cook, Alexander;* 36; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Cook, Alexis; 3; male; Red River Canada.
Cook, Beligne; 6; male; Red River Canada.
Cook, Joseph; 12; male; Red River Canada.
Cook, Josette;* 25; female; Red River Canada.
Cook, Louise; 10; female; Red River Canada.
Cook, Marguritta; 16; female; Red River Canada.
3Couter, Louis ; 18; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Couter, Elizabeth; 3; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Couter, Harriet; 5; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
'Charette.
2Comin.
"Coutre.
390 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
»
Couter, Lucy; 30; female; Ohio. Couter, Orin; 32; male; farmer; Ohio.
Couter, Thomas; 1; male; Red Lake, Minnesota territory. Daup, Gabriel; 6; male; Red River Canada. Daup, Harriet; 14; female; Red River Canada. Daup, Isabella;* 20; female; Red River Canada. Daup, Louis; 11; male; Red River Canada. Daup, Michel;* 47; male; hunter; Red River Canada. Daup, Pierre; 18; male; hunter; Red River Canada. Davis, Baptiste;* 28; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Davis, Baptiste; 4; male; Red River British. Davis, Baptiste; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Davis, Baptiste; 18; male; hunter; Red River British. Davis, Catherine; 17; female; Red River British. Davis, Catherine; 8; female; Red River British. Davis, David;* 77; male; laborer; Upper Canada. Davis, Helene; 12; female; Red River British. Davis, Jerome; 3; male; Red River British. Davis, Josette; 6; female; Red River British. Davis, Josette;* 60; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Davis, Julie;* 25; female; Red River British. Davis, Julie; 10; female; Red River British. Davis, Marie;* 20; female; Red River British. Davis, Marie;* 20; female; Red River British. Davis, William; 6; male; Red River British. Davis, William;* 27; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Davis, William;* 26; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Davis, William; 6; male.
Decotain, Augustin; 1; male; Red River Canada. Decotain, Josette;* 28; female; Red River Canada. Decotain, Margaritte; 9; female; Red River Canada. Decotain, Pierre; 11; male; Red River Canada. Decotain, Pierre;* 37; male; carpenter; Red River Canada. Decautrea, Baptiste; 5; male; Red River Canada. Decautrea, Gloria; 3; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Decautrea, Joseph;* 47; male; carpenter; Red River Canada. Decautrea, Joseph; 18; male; hunter; Red River Canada. Decautrea, Kayese; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Decautrea; Madeline; 7; female; Red River Canada. Decautrea, Margaret; 15; female; Red River Canada. Decautrea, Marie; 10; female; Red River Canada. Decautrea, Marie;* 40; female; Red River Canada. Default, Lucy; 17; female; Red River British. Default, Manville; 6; male; Red. River British. Default, Mary; 1; female; Red River British. Default, Thomas; 10; male; Red River British. iDefou, Bazil; 14; male; Red River British. Defou, Isabella;* 36; female; Red River British. Defou, Joseph; 8; male; Red River British. Defou, Josette; 12; female; Red River British. Defou, Louis; 19; male; hunter; Red River British. Defou, Louis;* 46; male; hunter; Red River British. Dejarlais, Antoine;* 25; male; hunter; Red River Canada. Dejarlais, Antoine;* 54; male; hunter; Canada British. Dejarlais, Francois; 19; male; hunter; Red River Canada. Dejarlais, Susanna;* 58; female; Red River Canada. Dejarlais, Susanna;* 28; female; Red River Canada. Delain, Antoine; 10; male; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
'Default.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 391
Delain, Francois;* 40; male; voyageur; Red Lake, Minnesota terri- tory.
Delain, Joseph; 12; male; Leech Lake, Minnesota territory.
Delain, Latina (?);* 38; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Delorme, Anne; 9; female; Red River British.
Delorme, Bazil;* 47; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. ' Delorme, Elizabeth; 7; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Delorme, Isabella;* 32; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Delorme, Isabella; 14; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Delorme, Joseph; 24; male; hunter; Red Lake British.
Delorme, Joseph; 13; male; Red River British.
Delorme, Joseph;* 35; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Delorme, Louis; 3 months; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Delorme, Marguritte;* 43; female; Red River British.
Delorme, Sarah; 5; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Delorme, William; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Demon (e)y, Francois;* 50; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota ter- ritory.
Demon (e)y, Francois; 14; male; Red River British.
Demon(e)y, Hevia (or Heria); 6; male; Pembina, Minnesota terri- tory.
Demon (e)y, Marguritte;* 50; female; Red River British.
Demon(e)y, Marie; 12; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Demon(e)y, Politte; 4; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Demon(e)y, Sophia; 2; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Deshair, Azure; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Deshair, Francois;* 26; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Deshair, Francois; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Deshair, Marie;* 22; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Deshair, Philemon; 5; male;' Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Deshau, Elinor; 7; female; Red River Canada.
Deshau, Genevieve; 3 months; female; Red River Canada.
Deshaiu, Joseph; 5; male; Red River Canada.
Deshau, Josetta;* 25; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Deshau, Pierre;* 31; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Dofflnias, Alexis; 10; male; Red River British.
Doffinias, Baptiste;* 22; male; hunter; Red River British.
Doffinias, Caroline; 5; female; Red River British.
Doffinias, Catherine; 10; female; Red River British.
Doffinias, Deleicde; 15; female; Red River British.
Doffinias, Francise;* 34; female; Red River British.
Doffinias, Francois; 5; male; Red River British.
Doffinias, Francois;* 36; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota terri- tory.
Doffinias, Lesanion; 4; male; Red River British.
Doffinias, Mary; 7; female; Red River British.
Doffinias, Mitchel ;* 78; male; farmer; Upper Canada British.
Doffinias, Pierre; 2; male; Red River British.
Doffinias, Susana; 12; female; Red River British.
sFilcon, David; 7; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Filcon, Elie; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Filcon, Francois;* 32; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Filcon, Francois; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Filcon, Freguire;* 27; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Filcon, Yeotte; 5; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Fisher, Ann; 30; female; Vermont.
Fisher, Joseph J.; 30; male; teacher; Vermont.
1Duchoin. "Falcon.
392 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
iFion, Catherin; 14; female; Red River Canada.
Fion, Cuthbert;* 22; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Fion, Francois;* 60; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Fion, Isabella; 3; female; Red River Canada.
Fion, Ithvanias(?) ; 12; male; Red River Canada.
Fion, Magdaline;* 40; female; Red River Canada.
Fion, Magdaline; 8; female; Red River Canada.
Fion, Mary; 6; female; Red River Canada.
Fion, Moyese; 10; male; Red River Canada.
Fion, Paul; 16; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Fion, Ropitie; 20; female; Red River Canada.
Fournier, Angelie;* 50; female; Red River British.
Fournier, Charlotte; 10; female; Red River British.
Fournier, Eliza; 6; female; Red River British.
Fournier, Francois;* 54; male; hunter; Red River British.
Fournier, Francois;* 20; male; hunter; Red River British.
Fournier, Julie; 14; female; Red River British.
Fournier, Marie;* 23 female; Red River British.
Fournier, Michel; 8; male; Red River British.
Fournier, Rosalie; 12; female; Red River. British.
Frederick, Joseph;* 28; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Frederick, Louis; 4; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Frederick, Marguritte; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Frederick, Marianne;* 22; female; Red River Canada.
Frederick, Marianne; 9; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Frederick, Paul; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gagnon, Adelaide; 15; female; Red River British.
Gagnon, Angelie; 13; female; Red River British.
Gagnon, Ann; 5; female; Red River British.
Gagnon, Indique; 7; female; Red River British.
Gagnon, Joseph; 9; male; Red River British.
Gagnon, Joseph; 36; male; hunter; Red River British.
Gagnon, Magdelaine; 11; female; Red River British.
Gagnon, Marie;* 35; female; Red River British.
Gamo, Mary; 14; female; Red River British.
Gardipin, Agustus; 4; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gardipin, Alen;* 25; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gardipin, Baptiste; 15; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gardipin, Caroline; 10; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gardipin, Francois;* 26; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota terri- tory.
Gardipin, Francois; 11; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gardipin, Joseph; 8; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gardipin, Josette; 6; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gardipin, Josette;* 50; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gardipin, Louis, 11; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gardipin, Mary Ann; 8; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gardipin, Phillipe; 13; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gardipin, Sarah; 2; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
George, Angelie; 6; female; Red River Canada.
George, Louis; 2; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
George, Marie; 30; female; Red River Canada.
George, Pierre; 8; male; Red River Canada.
George, Pierre;* 50; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
George, Susanna; 18; female; Red River Canada.
sGernon, Angelie;* 50; female; Lapointe, Wisconsin.
Gernon, Ann; 9; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
1Foin. 2Gernan.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 393
Gernon, Joseph;* 60; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gernon, Marguritte;* 30; female; Peinbina, Minnesota territory.
Geroux, Clemens; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Geroux, Indigne; 25; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Geroux, Joseph;* 25; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
iGingrais, Angelie; 6; female; Red River British.
Gingrais, Antoine; 29; male; Indian trader; Red River British.
Gingrais, Antoine; 2; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gingrais, Francois; 7; male; Red River British.
Gingrais, Gustus; 5; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gingrais, Margeritta;* 54; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gingrais, Margeritta; 17; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gingrais, Marie; 11; female; Red River British.
Gingrais, Schilesque;* 28; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gingrais, William S. ; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Gladan, Isabella; 26; female; Red River British.
Gladan, Philistie; 7; female; Red River British.
sGodon, Catherine; 7; female; Red River Canada.
Godon, David; 1; male; Red River Canada.
Godon, Gilbert; 4; male; Red River Canada.
Godon, Isabella;* 30; female; Red River Canada.
Godon, Joseph; 12; male; Red River Canada.
Godon, Louis; 14; male; Red River Canada.
Godon, Louis;* 30; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Godon, Marguritta; 10; female; Red River Canada.
Grandbois, Adelaide; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Grandbois, Ambroise; 6; male; Red River Canada.
Grandbois, Angelie; 14; female; Red River Canada.
Grandbois, Cicilia; 7; female; Red River Canada.
Grandbois, Emily;* 22; female; Red River Canada.
Grandbois, Genevieve;* 35; female; Red River Canada.
Grandbois, Isidore; 11; male; Red River Canada.
Grandbois, Legette; 5; female; Red River Canada.
Grandbois, Louis; 5; male; Red River Canada.
Grandbois, Marguritta;* 50; femalo; Red River Canada.
Grandbois, Michel;* 33; male; lumberman; Red River Canada.
Grandbois, Pierre;* 20; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Grandbois, Sophia; 15; female; Red River Canada.
Grant, Charles; 26; male; Indian trader; Red River Canada.
Grant, Epiozein; * , 26; female; Red River Canada.
Grant, Moyeste; 5; male; Red River Canada.
Grant, Odil; 2; male; Red River Canada.
Hagnaut, Joseph;* 23; male; hunter; Red River British.
Hagnaut, Marguritta;* 20; female; Red River British.
Henni, Daniel; 4; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Henni, Marie;* 25; female; Red River British.
Henni, Mitchel;* 30; male; hunter; Red River British.
Henni, Mitchel; 6; male; Red River British.
Henni, Susanna; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Henrie, Andrie;* 20; male; hunter; Red River British.
Henri, Isabella; 6; female; Red River British.
Henrie, Marguritte;* 56; female; Red River British.
Henrie, Marguritte;* 28; female; Red River British.
Henrie, Marie; 4; female; Red River British.
Henrie, Mitchel;* 54; male; hunter; Red River British.
Henry, Alexis;* 37; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota ' territory.
Henry, Alexis; 13; male; Red River British.
1Gingras. 2Godoin.
394 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Henry, Angelie; 7; "female; Red River British.
Henry, Mackel; 5; male; Red River British.
Henry, Marguritta; 9; female; Red River British.
Henry, Mary;* 31; female; Red River British.
Henry, Mary; 15; female; Red River British.
Henry, Morace; 2; male; Red River British.
Henry, Pierre; 12; male; Red River British.
Hermon, Baptiste; 3 months; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Hermon, Edward;* 45; male; hunter; Red River British.
Hermon, Francois; 17; male; Red River British.
Hermon, Magdalene; 7; female; Red River British.
Hermon, Marguritte;* 24; female; Red River British.
Houl, Antoine;* 50; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Houl, Antoine; 12; male; Red River British.
Houl, Catherine;* 40; female; Red River British.
Houl, Catherine; 8; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Houl, Charles; 18; male; hunter; Red River British.
Houl, Charles;* 52; male; hunter; Red River British.
Houl, Gabriel; 6; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Houl, Gabriel; 2; male; Pembbina, Minnesota territory.
Houl, Helen; 14; female; Red River British.
Houl, Julie;* 40; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Houl, Lapulla; 5; male; Red River British.
Houl, Louis; 11; male; Red River British.
Jannis, Pierre;* 25; male; hunter; Red River British.
Jacotre, Francois; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jacotre, Isabella; 3; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jacotre, Joseph;* 40; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jacotre, Joseph;* 29; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jacotre, Louise; 16; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jacotre, Marguritte; 13; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jacotre, Mary Ann;* 40; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jacotre, Philimon; 4; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jacotre, Rosalie; 5; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jerome, Andrew;* 22; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Jerome, Daniel; 9; male; Red River Canada.
Jerome, David; 13; male; Red River Canada.
Jerome, Elie; 8; male; Red River Canada.
Jerome, Eliza; 7; female; Red River Canada.
Jerome, Elizabeth;* 41; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jerome, Jerome; 15; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Jerome, Joseph; 19; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jerome, Josette; 2; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jerome, Louis; male; hunter; Red River, Canada.
Jerome, Marie; 16; female; Red River Canada.
Jerome, Martin;* 50; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Jerome, Rose; 5; female; Red River Canada.
Jordain, Allen; 2; male; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Jordain, Angelic; 4; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Jordain, Angelic;* 55; female; Red River British.
Jordain, Bazil; 10; male; Red River, Minnesota territory.
Jordain, Francois; 8; male; Red River, Minnesota territory.
Jordain, Isabella; 1; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Jordain, Joseph;* 26; male; voyageur; Red River British.
Jordain, Josette; 6; female; Red River, Minnesota territory.
Jordain, Josette;* 30; female; Red River British.
Jordain, Josette;* 22; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Jordain, Margaret; 20; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Jordain, Marguritte; 2; female; Red River, Minnesota territory.
Jordain, Peter;* 31; male; voyageur; Red River British.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 395
Jordain, Russelia; 15; female; Red River British.
Jordain, Susanna;* 21; female; Red River British.
Jordain, Susanna; 5; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory. iJoudrain, Charlotte;* 33; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
"Jourdani, Alexis;* 24; male; voyageur; Pembina, Minnesota ter- ritory.
Jourdani, Angelic;* 22; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jorette, Francois;* 75; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Jorette, Josette;* 70; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Kittson, Eliza; 18; female; Red River Canada.
Kittson, Henry; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Kittson, Norman W.; 35; male; Indian trader; Canada.
Klayne, Besherman; 5; male; Red River British.
3Klayne, Elenor; 1 month; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Klayne, Eliza; 3; female; Red River British.
Klayne, Francois;* 31; male; hunter; Red River British.
Klayne, Francois; 2; male; Red River British.
Klayne, George; 20; male; laborer; Red River Canada.
Klayne, George;* 25; male; hunter; Red River British.
Klayne, Henry; 12; male; Red River British.
Klayne, Instani;* 26; female; Red River British.
Klayne, Magdalane; 32; female; Red River British.
Klayne, Mary; 9; female; Red River British.
Klayne, Mitchel; 10; male; Red River British.
Klayne, Mitchel;* 31; male; hunter; Red River British.
Klayne, William; 7; male; Red River British.
Klayne, William; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Lacatain, Francoise; 8; female; Red River British.
Lacatain, Isabella; 7; female; Red River British.
Lacatain, Isabella* 28; female; Red River British.
Lacatain, Louis;* 30; male; hunter; Red River British.
Lacatain, Louis; 10; male; Red River British.
Lacatain, Norbert; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Lacatain, Sophia; 4; female; Red River British.
Lacombe, Andre; 24; male; Roman Catholic clergyman; Lower Canada British.
Lafin, Sophia; 26; female; Lower Canada British.
4LaPierre, Antoine;* 37; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota terri- tory.
LaPierre, Catherine;* 29; female; Red River British.
LaPierre, Catherine; 14; female; Red River British.
LaPierre, Isabella; 7; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
LaPierre, John; 5; male; Red River British.
LaPierre, Mayese; 2 months; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
LaPierre, Pierre; 9; male; Red River British.
LaBournier, Baptiste;* 35; male; hunter; Red River British.
LaBournier, Baptiste; 18.; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota terri- tory.
Lafournier, Gabriel; 16; male; hunter; Red River British.
Lafournier, Genevie; 2; female; Red River British.
Lafournier, Gilbert; 11; male; Red River British.
Lafournier, Isaac; 8; male; Red River British.
Lafournier, Joseph; 13; male; Red River British.
Lafournier, Marguritte* 31; female; Red River British.
Lafournier, Marguritte; 6; female; Red River British.
Laframbois, Angell; 2 months; female; Red River British.
'Jordain. 2Jondeaux. 3Klyne. *Lapienne.
396 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Laframbois, Daniel; 9; male; Red River British. Laframbois, Joseph;* 24; male; hunter; Red River British. Laframbois, Joseph; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Laframbois, Josette;* 50; female; Red River British. Laframbois, Julie; 3; female; Red River British. Laframbois, Louis;* 26; male; hunter; Red River British. Laframbois, Mary;* 20; female; Red River British. Laframbois, Mary; 4; female; Red River British. Laframbois, Mary Ann; 18; female; Red River British. Lambert, Antoine;* 30; male; hunter; Red River Canada. Lambert, Charles; 4; male; Red River Canada. Lambert, Francois; 27; male; hunter* Pembina, Minnesota territory. Lambert, Isabella;* 29; female; Red River Canada. Lambert, Joseph; 1; male; Red River Canada. Lambert, Josette;* 26; female; Red River Canada. Lambert, Legare; 4; male; Red River Canada. Lambert, Sarah; 6; female; Red River Canada. Landrie, Ann; 9; female; Red River British. Landrie, Isabella;* 40; female; Red River British. Landrie, Liza; 15; female; Red River British. Landrie, Louis;* 44; male; hunter; Red River British. Landrie, Louise; 17; female; Red River British. Landrie, Mary; 12; female; Red River British. Landrie, Mayese; 6; male; Red River British.
Landy, Francois;* 22; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Landy, Julie;* 22; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Landy, Therese; 17; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Langer, Alexis; 16; male; hunter; Red River British. Langer, Antonie; 18; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Langer, Edward; 10; male; Red River British. Langer, Edward;* 26; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Langer, Frezine; 34; female; Red River British. Langer, John;* 23; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Langer, Joseph; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Langer, Josette; 12; female; Red River British. Langer, Marguritte; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Langer, Marguritte:* 22; female; Red River British. Langer, Marguritte;* 50; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Langer, Marie;* 25; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Laquette, Francois;* 50; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota terri- tory.
Laquette, Helene;* 20; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Laquette, Isabella;* 45; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Laoudun, Baptiste; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Laoundun, Catherin; 5; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Laoundun, Catherin; 30; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Laoudun, Eliza; 3; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Laoudun, Isavia; 7; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Laoudun, Peter;* 31; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. LaRock, Alexis; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. LaRock, Antoine;* 44; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. LaRock, Antoine; 19; male; hunter; Red River British. LaRocke, Antoine;* 36; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. LaRock, Baptiste; 2; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. LaRock, Francoise;* 36; female; Red River British. LaRock, Josette;* 22; female; Red River British. LaRocke, Marguritte; 14; female; Red River British. LaRock, Mary;* 32; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory v
^aRocque.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 397
LaRock, Mary; 10; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
LaRocque, Pierre; 9; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Larptainte, Oliver;* 20; male; hunter; Red River British.
'Lasert, Catherine; 6; female; Red River Canada.
Lasert, Josette;* 24; female; Red River Canada.
Lasert, Josette; 1; female; Red River Canada.
Lasert, Louis;* 36; male; blacksmith; Red River Canada.
Lasert, Louis; 3; male; Red River Canada.
Lasert, Marie; 4; female; Red River Canada.
Laurente, Marie; 17; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laurente, Paul;* 22; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laverdue, Angelie;* 60; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laverdue, Angelie; 8; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laverdue, Eliza; 4; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laverdue, Joseph; 14; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laverdue, Josette;* 32; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laverdue, Leon; 6; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laverdue, Louis;* 36; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laverdue, Louise; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laverdue, Mary; 13; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laverdue, Mary Anne; 7; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laverdue, Pierre; 11; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Laverdue, Therese;* 40; female; Red River Canada.
Lawrence, Baptiste; 9; male; Red River Canada.
Lawrence, Genevieve; 4; female; Red River Canada.
Lawrence, J. Baptiste;* 65; male; hunter; Lower Canada.
Lawrence, Margaritte;* 50; female;' Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Lawrence, Marie; 13; female; Red River Canada.
Lawrence, Thomas; 7; male; Red River Canada.
2Lebirty, Alexander; 8; male; Red River British.
Lebirty, Antonie;* 40; male; hunter; Red River British.
Lebirty, Antonie; 12; male; Red River British.
Lebirty, Cecelia; 10; female; Red River British.
Lebirty, Loiuise; 6; female; Red River British.
Lebirty, Marguritte;* 28; female; Red River British.
Lebirty, Pierre; 4; male; Red River British.
Letondre, Antonie; 3; male; Red River British.
Letondre, Christine;* 24; female; Red River British.
Letondre, Joseph;* 50; male; hunter; Red River British.
Letondre, Philemon; 14; male; Red River British.
Lewis, Daniel W. ; 3; male; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Lewis, Frederick; 1; male; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Lewis, Louisoin; 5; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Lewis, Lucy; 39; female; Ohio.
Lewis, William, Dr.; 47; male; physician; New York City.
Lonais, Alen; 17; female; Red River British.
Lonais, Baptiste;* 78; male; Canada British.
Lonais, Francois; 12; male; Red River British.
Lonais, Francois; 2; male; Red River British.
Lonais, Joseph;* 29; male; hunter; Red River British.
Lonais, Joseph; 6; male; Red River British.
Lonais, Josette;* 29; female; Red River British.
Lonais, Josette;* 22; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Lonais, Marguritte;* 60; female; Red River British.
Lonais, Marguritte; 18; female; Red River British.
Lonais, Norbert;* 26; male; hunter; Red River British.
Lonais, Norbert; 3 months; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
2Lebertie.
398 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Lonais, Oliver; 1; male; Red River British. Longard, Amiette; 12; female; Red River Canada. Longard, Francois;* 45; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Longard, Francois;* 22; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota terri- tory.
Longard, Joseph; 5; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Longard, Louise; 3; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Longard, Magdaline;* 25; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Longard, Marguritte; 8; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. McKay, Christine; 4; female; Red River Canada. McKay, Juliette;* 24; female; Red River Canada. McKay, William;* 28; male; hunter; Red River Canada. Mainter, Alexander; 11; male; Red River British. Mainter, Antonie; 8; male; Red River British. Mainter, Finias; 5; female; Red River British. Mainter, Gabriel;* 20; male; hunter; Red River British. Mainter, Isabella;* 31; female; Red River British. Mainter, Isabella; 15; female; Red River British. Mainter, Joseph; 17; male; Red River British. Mainter, Josette; 13; female; Red River British. Mainter, Louis; 1; male; Red River British. Mainter, Sarah; 6; female; Red River British. Mainter, Solomon;* 38; male; hunter; Red River British. iMarou, Baptiste;* 32; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Marou, Josette; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Marou, Marguritte; 9; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Marou, Mary; 2; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Marou, Mary;* 20; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. 2Martell, Angelie;, 13; female; Red River Canada. Martell, Eliza;* 42; female; Red River Canada. Martell, Joseph; 12; male; Red River Canada. Martell, Louis; 19; male; hunter; Red River Canada. Martell, Marguritta; 7; female; Red River Canada. Martell, Mary; 14; female; Red River- Canada. Martell, Moyse; 9; male; Red River Canada. Martell, Philemon; 6; male; Red River Canada. Martell, Susan; 16; female; Red River Canada. Martelo, Angelie; 14; female; Red River Canada. Martelo, Baptiste; 4; male; Red River Canada. Martelo, Clouisin(?); 1; female; Red River Canada. Martelo, J. Baptiste;* 40; male; hunter; Red River Canada. Martelo, Josette;* 30; female; Red River Canada. Martelo, Languette; 9; male; Red River Canada. Martelo, Mary; 12; female; Red River Canada. Masson, Francois;* 40; male; carpenter; Red Lake, Minnesota. Masson, Therese;* 40; female; Red Ri^er Canada. • Masson, Therese; 10; female; Red River Canada. Matawin, Angelie;* 27; female; Canada Red River. Matawin, Charles; 10; male; Canada Red River. Matawin, J. Baptiste;* 25; male" hunter; Canada Red River. Matawin, Joseph, R. ;* 64; male; blacksmith; Minnesota territory. Matawin, Margaret;* 61; female; Minnesota territory. Matawin, Margaret; 3; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Matawin, Marie;* 32; female; Minnesota territory. Matawin, Mary;*. 23; female; Minnesota territory. Matawin, Mitchel; 8; male; Canada Red River. Matawin, Pierre;* 25; male; laborer; Minnesota territory. •
'Moreau. "Martelle.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 399
Meyotte, Francois;* 76; male; hunter; Red River British. Meyotte, Joseph;* 28; male; hunter; Red River British. Meyotte, Marguritte; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Meyotte, Mary;* 60; female; Red River British. Meyotte, Mary;* 40; female; Red River British. Meyotte, Mary;* 20; female; Red River British. Mitchel, Antoine;* 26; male; hunter; Red River British. Mitchel, Eliza;* 23; female; Red River British. Mitchel, Eliza; 2; female; Red River British.
iMonisette, Arsineau;* 25; male; lumberman; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Monisette, Arsineau; 5; male; Red River British.
Monisette, Catherine; 17; female; Red River British.
Monisette, Eliza; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Monisette, Frezine; 2; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Monisette, Isabella;* 21; female; Pembina, Minesota territory.
Monisette, Jacque; 7; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Monisette, Jacque;* 57; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Monisette, Joseph; 5; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Monisette, Julie;* 21; female; Red River British.
Monisette, Louis;* 23; male; hunter; Red River British.
Monisette, Madalane; 11; female; Red River British.
Monisette, Marguritte; 13; female; Red River British.
Monisette, Mary; 9; female; Red River British.
Monisette, Mary Ann;* 48; female; Red River British.
Monisette, Mary Ann; 15; female; Red River British.
2Montoir, Abraham; 19; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Montoir, Bonhomme;* 75; male; hunter; Red River, Canada.
Montoir, Isabella; 3; female; Red River, Canada.
Montoir, Magdaline;* 26; female; Red River, Canada.
Montoir, Magdaline; 5; female; Red River, Canada.
Montoir, Magdaline; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Montoir, Pascal;* 28; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Montoir, Sophia; 17; female; Red River, Canada.
3Montreau, Alexis;* 21; male; hunter; Red River British.
Montreau, Elenor; 8; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Montreau, Frances; 6; female; Pembina, Minnesota.
Montreau, Francis; 10; male; Pembina, Minnesota.
Montreau, Isabella;* 33; female; Red River British.
Montreau, Isabella;* 25; Pembina, Minnesota.
Montreau, John; 18; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota.
Montreau, Joseph;* 26; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota.
Montreau, Joseph;* 42; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota.
Montreau, Madalane; 12; female; Pembina, Minnesota.
Montreau, Marguiritte; 16; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
4Morrin, Bazil; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
8Morrin, Bazil; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Morrin, Francois;* 30; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Morrin, Harie;* 22; male; hunter; Pembina, Minesota territory.
Morrin, I. Savia; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Morrin, John; 12; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Morrin, Marie;* 20; female; Red River British.
Morrin, Mary;* 30; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Morrin, Mary; 6; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Morrison, Donald G.; 23; male; clerk; Canada.
Nedeau, Benjamin; 9; male; Red River Canada.
1Monette. 2Montreille. 8Montreille. *Morin.
400 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Nedeau, Charlotte; 3; female; Red River Canada.
Nedeau, Jos.;* 43; male; voyageur; Red River Canada.
Nedeau, Jos.; 18; male; Red River Canada.
Nedeau, Madeline; 7; female; Red River Canada.
Nedeau, Marie; 14; female; Red River Canada.
Nedeau, Pierre; 12; male; Red River Canada.
Nedeau, Susanna;* 42; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Notier, Baptiste; 16; male; hunter; Red River British.
Notier, Francois; 5; male; Red River British.
Notier, Joseph; 11; male; Red River British.
Notier, Joseph; 46; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Notier, Josette; 12; female; Red River British.
Notier, Louise; 38; female; Red River British.
Notier, Louise; 75; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Notier, Marguritte; 2; female; Red River British.
Notier, Mary; 6; female; Red River British.
Paeon, Alexis;* 26; male; hunter; Red River British.
Paeon, Bazil; 2; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Paeon, Eliza; 4; female; Red River British.
Paeon, Marguritte;* 21; female; Red River British.
Paeon, Paul; 6; male; Red River British.
Pappin, Agate; 6; male; Red River British.
Pappin, Antonie;* 28; male; hunter; Red River Britsh.
Pappin, Antonie; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Pappin, Antonie;* 30; male; blacksmith; Red River British.
Pappin, David; 4; male; Red River British.
Pappin, David; 5; male; Red River British.
Pappin, Elijah(?); 9; male; Red River British.
Pappin, Elizabeth; 8; female; Red River British.
Pappin, Elizabeth; 11; female; Red River British.
Pappin, Joseph; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Pappin, Magdalane; 2; female; Red River British.
Pappin, Marguritte;* 28; female; Red River British.
Pappin, Marguritte; 11; female; Red River British.
Pappin, Marguritte; 30; female; Red River British.
Pappin, Marguritte; 13; female; Red River British.
Pappin, Melina; 7; female; Red River British.
sParente, Francois;* 25; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parente, Josette;* 21; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parente, Mary; 3 months; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
s Parnton, Abrham; 2; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parnton, Alexander; 9; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parnton, Angelie;* 37; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parnton, Annaias; 4; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parnton, Baptiste; 17; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parnton, Eliza; 7; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parnton, Gabriel; 13; male; Red River British.
Parnton, Joseph;* 45; male; hunter; Red River British.
Parnton, Joseph;* 21; male; hunter; Red River British.
Parnton, Justice; 15; male; hunter; Red River British.
Parnton, Rosilie; 11; female; Red River British.
^Pematon, Daniel; 11; male; Red River British.
Pematon, Louise; 7; female; Red River British.
Pematon, Marguritte; 6; female; Red River British.
Pematon, Mary; 4; female; Red River British.
Pematon, Pierre; 9; male; Red River British.
1Papin. 2Paranteau. 3Paranteau. *Parenteau.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 401
Pematon, Pierre;* 30; male; hunter; Red River British.
Parisen, Angelie; 13; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parisen, Francois;* 21; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parisen, Javotte; 18; female; Red River Canada.
Parisen, Louverture;* 46; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Parisen, Madeline;* 25; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parisen, Marguritte;* 40; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Parisen, Marguritte; 11; female; Red River Canada.
Parisen, Marie; 7; female; Red River Canada.
Parisen, Norbert; 6; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parisen, Philemon; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
i Parrison, Antonie;* 24; male; hunter; Red River British.
Parrison, Baptiste;* 22; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parrison, Catherine;* 44; female; Red River British.
Parison, Charlotte;* 20; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parrison, Edward; 12; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parrison, Eliza; 2; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parrison, Genevie; 16; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parrison, lodigne; 10; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parrison, Isabella; 14; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parrison, Madeline; 18; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Parrison, Marguritte;* 22; female; Red River British.
Parrison, Norbert; 13; male; Red River British.
speron, Francois;* 56; male; hunter; Red River British.
Peron, Gilbert; 8; male; Red River British.
Perori, John;* 67; male; hunter; Red River British.
Patien, Azure;* 50; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Patien, J. Baptiste; 12; male; Red River Canada.
Patien, Magdaline; 6; female; Red River Canada.
Patien, Mary;* 45; female; Red River Canada.
Patton, Catherine; 3; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Patton, Joseph; 7; male; Red River Canada.
Patton, Josette;* 33; female, Red River Canada.
Patton, Josette; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota.
Patton, Paul; 5; male; Red River Canada.
Patton, Pierre;* 32; male; hunter; Pembina, Minn.
Pellier, Francois; 18; male; farmer; New York City.
Peltier, Agate;* 50; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Peltier, Alexander; 5; male; Red River Canada.
Peltier, Angelie;* 23; female; Red River Canada.
Peltier, Benj.; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota.
Peltier, Benj.;* 21; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Peltier, Charlotte; 18; female; Red River Canada.
Peltier, Indigne; 9; female; Red River Canada.
Peltier, John; 15; male; Red River Canada.
Peltier, Jos.; 12; male; Red River Canada.
Peltier, Magdaline; 6; female; Pembina, Minnesota.
Peltier, Marguritta; 6; female; Red River Canada.
Peltier, Pierre;* 26; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Peltier, Pierre; 3; male; Red River Canada.
speriesen, Agustus;* 49; male; hunter; Red River British.
Periesen, Alexander; 13; male; Red River British.
Periesen, Alexis; 15; male; Red River British.
Periesen, Antoine; 6; male; Red River British.
Periesen, Baptiste;* 40; male; hunter; Red River British.
Periesen, Baptiste; 18; male; hunter; Red River British.
Periesen, Cuthbert; 1 month; male; Red River British.
1Pariseau.
2Perron.
sPerisen.
Hist— 26
402 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Periesen, Eliza; 11; female; Red River British. Periesen, Francois; 8; male; Red River British. Periesen, Joseph; 10; male; Red River British. Periesen, Louise; 4; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Periesen, Marie;* 38; female; Red River British. Peirsen, Mary;* 28; female; Red River British. Periesen, Mary Ann; 2; female; Red River British. Periesen, Norbert; 4; male; Red River British. Periesen, Paul; 8; male; Red River British. Periesen, Pierre; 12; male; Red River British. iPetteri, Alphonse; 10; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Petteri, Ann; 6; female; Red River British.
Petteri, Antoine;* 26; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Petteri, Astaise; 8; male; Red River British.
Petteri, Charles;* 52; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Petteri, Charles;* 28; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Petteri, Cuthbert; 4; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Petteri, Decotin; 6; male; Red River British. ' Petteri, Edward; 12; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Petteri, Joseph;* 21; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Petteri, Joseph; 17; male; hunter; Red River British. Petteri, Josette; 8; female; Red River British. Petteri, Marie;* 24; female; Red River British. Petteri, Norbert; 3; male; Red River British. Petteri, Pierre; 19; male; hunter; Red River British. Petteri, Susanna;* 47; female; Red River British. Petteri, Susanna; 2; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Petteri, Therese; 15; female; Red River British. Phillipe, Baptiste;* 50; male; hunter; Prairie du Chien, Wis. Plaite, Josette;* 40; female; Red River British. Plaite, Manuel;* 60; male; hunter; Red River British. 2Plouffe, Antoine;* 44; male; hunter; Red RiVer British. Plouffe, Archange;* 35; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Plouffe, Baptiste; 6; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Plouffe, Castrerine; 16; female; Red River British. Plouffe, Gabriel; 13; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Plouffe, Henrie; 6 months; male; Pembina, Minnesota teritory. Plouffe, Magdalane; 11; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Plouffe, Pierre; 4; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Pognin, Antoine; 15; male; Red River Canada.
Pognin, Baptiste;* 45; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Pognin, Genevieve;* 35; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Pognin, Marie; 18; female; Red River Canada. Pomerainte, Angelie; 7; female; Red River British. Pomerainte, Baptiste;* 60; male; hunter; Upper Canada. Pomerainte, Isabella; 9; female; Red River British. Pomerainte, Jerome;* 40; male; Red River British. Pomerainte, J. Baptiste;* 20; male; hunter; Red River British. Pomerainte, Louis; 13; male; Red River British. Pomerainte, Marguritte;* 22; female; Red River British. Pomerainte, Mayese; 18; male; hunter; Red River British. Pomerainte, Phil.; 1 month; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Pomerainte, Susanna; 16; female; Red River British. Pomerainte, William; 7; male; Red River British. Prainton, Francois;* 25; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota terri- tory.
Prainton, Josette;* 24; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory. Prainton, Mary; 1 month; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
lPertier.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 403
Rashnold, Alexis;* 21; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Rashnold, Antoine;* 25; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota terri- tory.
Rashnold, Antoine, 2; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Rashnold, Baptiste; 2; male; Red River, Canada.
Rashnold, Catherine;* 23; female; Red River Canada.
Rashnold, Charlotte; 1: female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Renville, Adelaide; 3; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Renville, Adelaide;* 25; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Renville, Baptiste; 2; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Renville, Francois;* 35; male; voyageur; Pembina, Minnesota terri- tory.
Renville, Francois; 13; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Renville, Francois; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Renville, Frequih;* 21; female; Red River Canada.
Renville, Genevieve; 5; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Renville, Joseph;* 37; male; laborer; Red River Canada.
Renville, Joseph; 2; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Renville, Madeline;* 30; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Renville, Marguritte; 9; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Renville, Marguritte;* 33; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Renville, Marie; 17; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Richard, Angelie; 6; female.
Richard, Francois; 6; male; Red River Canada.
Richard, Joseph;* 37; male; hunter; Red River British.
Richard, Marguritte;* 37; female; Red River British.
Richard, Marguritte; 8; female; Red River British.
Richard, Mitchel: 11; male; Red River British.
Richard, Rueffle; 1 month; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Robert, Emily; 3; female; Red River Canada.
Robert, Jos.;* 26; male; Indian trader; St. Louis, Mo.
Rolette, Angelie; 20; female; Red River British.
Rolette, Joseph; 28; male; clerk; Wisconsin.
Rolette, Joseph; 3; male; Red River British.
Rolette, Virginia; 1; female; Red River British.
St. Pierre, Angelie; 5; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
St. Pierre, Francois;* 49; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota terri- tory.
St. Pierre, Francois; 14; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
St. Pierre, Isabella; 3; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
St. Pierre, Louis;* 20; male; hunter; Red River British.
St. Pierre, Mary; 15; female. ' St. Pierre, Mary;* 37; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
St. Pierre, Mary; 6; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Shibons, Alexis; 13; male; Lapointe, Wis.
Shibons, Charles; 9; male; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Shibons, Charles; 40; male; Indian trader; Red River Canada.
Shibons, Josette; 31; female; Missouri River.
Shibons, Mary; 7; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Shibons, Nancy; 1; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Shibons, Rose; 11; female; Lapointe, Wis.
Smith j Baptiste; 19; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Smith, Emily;* 25; female; Red River Canada.
Smith, Jos.; 17; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Smith, Louis;* 35; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
' Smith, Marguritta; 11; female; Red River Canada.
Smith, Richard; 10; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Smith, Ropitie; 14; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
'Rasinold.
404 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Sooigard, Alexis; 4; male; Red River Canada.
Sougard, Louise;* 35; female; Red River Canada.
Sougard, Pierre;* 49; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Sougard, Pierre; 19; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Sougard, Norbert; 2; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Steele, Hart; 9; male; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Swain, Alex; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Swain, John;* 32; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Swain, John; 15; male; Red River Canada.
Swain, Mary;* 30; female; Red River Canada.
Swain, Therese; 2; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Swain, Thomas; 5; male; Red River Canada.
Swain, Wm.; 12; male; Red River Canada.
Trotter, Andie;* 66; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Trotter, Antoine; 14; male; Red River British.
Trotter, Charles; 10; male; Red River British.
Trotter, Joseph;* 22; male; hunter; Red River British.
Trotter, Marguritte;* 51; female; Red River British.
Trotter, Mitchel; 19; male; hunter; Red River British.
Trottier, Baptiste;* 26; male; Red River Canada.
Trottier, Catherine;* 20; female; Red River Canada.
Trottier, Joseph;* 60; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Trottier, Marguritta;* 22; female; Red River Canada.
Trottier, Marie;* 60; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Valier, Abraham; 1; male; Red River British.
Valier, Alexis; 6; male; Red River British.
Valier, Antoine; 2; male; Red River British.
Valier, Baptiste; 12; male; Red River British.
Valier, Baptiste;* 40; male; hunter; Red River British.
Valier, Jos.;* 26; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Valier, Julienne; 2; female; Red River Canada.
Valier, Leagas; 8; male; Red River British.
Valier, Louise; 13; female; Red River British.
Valier, Magdaline;* 23; female; Red River Canada.
Valier, Marie;* 31; female; Red River British.
Valier, Mary; 4; female; Red River British.
Valier, Moyese; 5; male; Red River Canada.
tallies, Francois; 3; male; Red River Bcitish.
Vallies, Joseph;* 36; male; hunter; Red River British.
Vallies, Louise;* 30; female; Red River British.
Vallies, Louisanta; 17; female; Red River British.
Vallies, Marguritte; 13; female; Red River British.
Vallies, Marie; 15; female; Red River British.
Vallies, Philemon; 1; male; Red River British.
Vallies, Rosalie; 9; female; Red River British. '
Vandall, Ann; 12; female; Red River British.
Vandall, Antoine;* 25; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Vandall, Antoine;* 69; male; hunter; Lower Canada.
Vandall, Baptiste; 6; male; Red River British.
Vandall, Catherine; 4; female; Red River British.
Vandall, Clonie; 8; female; Red River British.
Vandall, Eliza; 1; female; Red River British.
Vandall, Francois; 1; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Vandall, Gustavis; 24; male; hunter; Red River British.
Vandall, Isabella; 19; female; Red River Canada.
Vandall, John; 3; male; Red River British.
Vandall, Joseph;* 30; male; hunter; Red River British.
Vandall, Julie;* 30; female; Red River British.
Walle.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 405
Vandall, Louise;* 28; female; Red River British.
Vandall, Marguritte; 6; female; Red River British.
Vandall, Marguritte; 16; female; Red River British.
Vandall, Mary;* 40; female; Red River British.
Vandall, Mary; 18; female; Red River British.
Vandall, Mary Ann; 8; female; Red River British.
Vandall, Pierre;* 36; male; hunter; Red River British.
Vandall, Pierre; 14; male; Red River British.
Vandall, Pierre; 2; male; Red River Canada.
Vandall, Rosalie; 10; female; Red River British.
Vieul, Joseph;* 50; male; hunter; Percbina, Minnesota territory.
Vieul, Mary;* 37; female; Red River British.
Vivian, Antoine; 3; male; Red River British.
Vivian, Francois;* 31; male; hunter; Red River British.
Vivian, Jousette; 10; female; Red River British.
Vivian, Leville; 8; male; Red River British.
Vivian, Louis; 12; male; Red River British.
Vivian, Mary; 14; female; Red River British.
Vivian, Sarah;* 33; female; Red River British.
Wells, Bazil; 3; male; Red River Canada.
Wells, Donald; 9; male; Red River Canada.
Wells, Edward;* 38; male; hunter; Red River Canada.
Wells, Edward; 13; male; Red River Canada.
Wells, Isabella;* 31; female; Red River Canada.
Wells, John; 1; male; Red River Canada.
Wilkie, Amable;* 42; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Wilkie, Antoine; 3; male; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Wilkie, Augustus;* 21; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Wilkie, Baptiste;* 47; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Wilkie, Baptiste;* 24; male; hunter; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Wilkie, Catherine; 16; female; Red River British.
Wilkie, Cecilen; 7; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Wilkie, Elizabeth; 11; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Wilkie, Madalane; 13; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Wilkie, Marguritte; 5; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Wilkie, Marie; 1; female; Pembina, Minnesota territory.
Wilkie, Marie; 16; female; Red River British.
Wright, Ann; 1; female; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Wright, Charles G. ; 1; male; Red Lake, Minnesota territory.
Wright, Emily F.; 28; female; New York City.
Wright, S. G., Rev.; 33; male; missionary; New York City.
Total number of names, 1,116.
PEMBINA COUNTY
PERSONAL PROPERTY VALUATION, 1873.
From the records in the Court House at Pembina.
NAME. VALUE.
Akers, John $ 31
Allard, George 188
Bakie, John 63
Beck, (John) (Mexican)
Belhumeur, Antoine 200
Berry, A. T 31
406 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
NAME. VALUE.
Biggerstaff, Hugh $ 294
Bottineau, Chas \ 4,462
Bpyhy, John 337
Bruce, Antoine 137
Brunson, Chas
Bushaw, David 608
Camp, William H 250
Caplet, Antoine 288
Cavalier, Chas 1,088
Charette, Baptiste 245
Clover, Thos 125
Colombe, Francis 263
Dacota, Peter 40
Daniels, Jos ' 125
Dauphenais, P 155
Dease, John 3,952
Dease, Michael 582
Delorme, Joseph, Jr 963
Delorme, Joseph, Sr . . . 244
Dessett, Peter 101
Dickson, John
Donnelly, J. J 206
Duffy, J. A. E 125
Duffy, Chas
Dumas, Cyrille 359
Eck, Henry 50
Emmerling, Geo. 1,730
Ethier, N 922
Ewing, Joseph 169
Foin, John B. . . . 94
Francis, Chas 625
Fry, Samuel 75
Gerard, Antoine : 350
Geroux, Lucien 2,081
Gingras, Antoine, Sr 13,675
Gladne, Michael 97
Goodfellow, W. E 381
Grandbois, Louis 194
Grant, Cuthbert 647
Harmon, Edward 444
Hoffman, Nicholas 147
Hogan, John 531
Hoyden, Peter (Selkirker) 250
Hoyden, Baptiste
Hunt, Francis
Kemmel, Nicholas
Kelley (Pat) (John) 125
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 407
NAME. VALUE.
Laflock, Pierre $ 325
LaMoure, Judson 725
Larocque, Baptiste 358
LaRose, Francis 1,032
LaSarte, Peter 434
Laugie, John 62
L'Equier, M 131
L'Equier, Elixie 106
L'Equier, Exie 238
Lennon, John 394
L'Etourneau, John 113
Marcellin, Antoine 524
Martineau, Andrew . 2,026
McCumber, Aaron 741
McKenney, Geo 189
McKenney, Henry 912
McKenney, John 1,856
Monet, Michael 196
Myrick, Nathan 2,875
Nelson, Nelson E. .... 1,025
Obust, Lorenzo 1,082
Oleson, Daniel 211
Otten, John 473
Parenteau, Pierre 188
Peterson, Olaf 300
Peterson, Heber C „. . 581
Phelix 73
Pothau, Baptiste 131
Potter, Geo. F 812
Reed, Geo. W 412
Renville, Madame 631
Renville, Baptiste 206
Richat, Michael 338
Richat, Peter 281
Rivet, John 188
Richat, Joseph 341
Robinson, John F 706
Rolette, Angelie 656
Rolette, Joseph 219
Smith, Joseph 113
St. Amour, P 385
St. Arneau, Alex 150
Stiles, Albert W 1,050
Stutsman, Enos 244
Thomas, Joseph 156
Tifault, Thomas 304
Titrault, Joseph 459
408 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
NAME. VALUE.
Van, Peter $ 306
Vaughn, Thomas 375
Vaughn, H. R 213
Wendle, Frank 1,375
Wendt, Emil 331
Wilkie, Augustin 113
PERSONAL PROPERTY VALUATION, 1874.
Akers, John f 125
Allard, George 240
Bakie, John 120
Belgarde, Augustin .' 50
Biggerstaff, Hugh 750
Bottineau, Chas 2,975
Bouchamp, David 568
Bouchamp, David, Jr
Bouvette, Bell 50
Bouvette, Francis 150
Brown, James
Bruce, Joseph 100
Bruce, Antoine 125
Bruce, Fred 55
Camp, W. H. (Stage Company) 1,200
Camp, W. H 100
Caplette, Louis 135
Caplette, Sarah 220
Caplette, Baptiste 130
Cavalier, Charles 655
Charette, Baptiste 275
Cheffo, Thomas 365
Clover, Thomas 150
Cocque, Alexis 200
Colby, James
Colombe, Frank 275
Daniels, Joseph 150
Dauphinais, Paul 185
Dease, Michael 570
Dease, John 3,845
Delorme, Joseph 573
Delorme, Wilhau 200
Delorme, Urbain, Jr. 183
Delouer, Joseph 485
Delvine 300
Dickson, G. A
Ducept, Pierre 400
Ducept, Michael 370
Duffy, Joseph
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 409
NAME. VALUE.
Duffy, Charles I
Dumas, Cyrille . 260
Emmerling, George 1,965
Ethier, Nerie 1,050
Ewing, Robert 45
Fadden, John 350
Francis, Charles 500
Fray, Samuel 200
Gagnon, Joseph 433
Gerard, Antoine , . . 800
Geroux, Simeon 420
Geroux, Lucien 2,560
Gervine, David 2,560
Gervine, Martin 325
Gervine, Ehe 285
Gidley, Mrs
Gingras, Antoine, Sr 6,545
Gingras, Antoine, Jr 370
Gingras, Norman 315
Goenon, Joseph 245
Goodfellow, W. R 350
Gosselm, Paul 210
Grant, Cuthbert 575
Grant, Charles 2,710
Grandbois, Louison 268
Gladu, Michael 393
Gumble (Gemble) , Nicholas 150
Hall, John 60
Hoffman, Neck 235
Hogan, Paul 435
Hogan, John 210
Hoy, John (John Foin) 125
Hoydon, Peter 58
Keplen, Paul 183
Jones, James
LaMoure, Judson 730
Langer, Alexis ."...: 200
Langer, John 75
Langer, L 100
Larent, Paul 990
Larocque, Collis 249
Larocque, Joseph 470
Larocque, Andre 50
Larocque, Pierre 365
Larocque, Baptiste 235
LaRose, Frank 940
Lasarte, Pierre 430
410 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
NAME. VALUE.
-Latraille, Felix $ 190
Latrull, Felix , . 125
Lennon, John 100
L'Equier, Xavier 350
L'Equier, Michael 133
Letrault, Joseph 458
Lucier, Adelia ' 355
Lussier, Amable 470
Lyons, John 50
McCumber, A. W 875
Mager, John Jr , . .
Mager, John Sr
Martineau, Andre 1,310
Martrel, M 175
Meehan, Michael 175
Monette, Antoine . ' 268
Monette, Michael 410
Moorhead, W. H 200
Myrick, Nathan 3,000
Nelson, N. E 565
Nelson, Andrew 100
Olson, Daniel 200
Paraut, Joseph 150
Paranteau, Pierre 195
Paranteau, Abraham 125
Paresien, Ignatius 150
Peterson, Albert 450
Peterson, Olaf 240
Potter, G. F 1,005
Renville, Baptiste 325
Renville, Hilaire 110
Renville, Margaret 410
Richard, Joseph 670
Ritchotte, Pierre 210
, Rivette, J. B 160
Rolette, Angelie 478
Rolette, Jerome
St. Ameau, Alex 83
St. Amour, Peter 695
Stiles, A. W 200
St. Onge, Joseph 100
Stranger, James 270
Thomas, Louisen 484
Thomas, Joseph 170
Valle, Baptiste .393
Van, Peter 258
Vaughn, Thomas
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 411
NAME. VALUE.
Vaughn, H. R ' r. . $ 580
Ward, W. F
Wendt, Emil , 300
White, C. H
Wilke, Augustine 270
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ABERCROMBlE STATE PARK.
BY H. J. HAGEN, PARK COMMISSIONER.
At a meeting of the Old Settlers' association held at Wahpeton on June 26, 1902, a petition was drafted and sen't to the governor and the legislature of the state to provide for an appropriation for the purchase of ground on the old site of Fort Abercrombie as a public park, to be in charge of the Richland County Old Settlers' association and the State Historical commission. Again at a meeting of the executive committee of this association held at Grand Forks on December 20, 1902, a map of the old fort grounds and a letter of suggestions written by Albert Schmidt of Abercrombie was presented by me, indicating how the old location could be utilized as a site for a park, and it was moved by Geo. B. Winship that the president and secretary of the Old Settlers' association and Col. Lounsberry be a committee of three for the purpose of conferring with the State Historical Society in preparing a memorial to the state legislature, asking for an appropriation of |1,000 for the purchase of the site and the making of improvements on the grounds purchased. It was further recommended that the bill be presented by our member, Hon. Judson LaMoure, and that the appropriation be expended by the Historical Society in conjunction with the Old Settlers' association.
The request of the memorial was drafted into a bill and pre- sented by Senator LaMoure, and passed by the unanimous vote of the senate, as Senate Bill No. 196, an act to provide for the contribution, purchase and custody of historical sites and relics in the state of North Dakota, and to appropriate money therefor.
Old Fort Abercrombie was established in 1858 on the bank Of the Red river in the northern part of Richland county. In the early days it served as a gateway to our state for immigration, and to the pioneers it was the best known place west of St. Cloud, Minn. For these reasons it should be preserved in honor of our hardy pioneers who have made the settlement in this section secure by their dauntless courage and unfaltering determination.
The park is now a reality, and all who have supported us and aided in the enterprise have the heartfelt gratitude of the citi-
412 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
zens of this section of the state and that portion of Minnesota across the line. The State Historical Society and the Old Settlers' association are doing a great service for coming generations by thus creating an interest in the rugged virtues of our pioneer ancestors. Their efforts in preserving the old landmarks where the first great struggles for civilization in this state took place are deserving of the highest commendation. Heretofore the old and the new settlers have been occupied in developing the re- sources of the country, but now that prosperity has at last crowned the toil of many decades, the time has come when we have the leisure for other things less mercenary and merely material. It is fitting that the younger generation should show their appreciation of what the early pioneers had to endure. The spirit of reverence for the men who preceded them will make them better citizens, and better men and women.
Our park is a six-acre tract located on the bank of the Red River. A pavilion has been erected from which a beautiful view can be obtained of the surrounding country. A fence has been built around the entire ground, and a border of fine trees set out, and the whole park has been seeded down to white clover. On every purpling summer day the music from God's winds through the sobbing willows and mournful elms will pour forth a solemn requiem, and speak of the immortality of the patriotism here commemorated.
FORT ABERCROMBIE.
BY LINDA W. SLAUGHTER.
Fort Abercrombie, in the early history of this country, was a post of great importance on the eastern border of Dakota, as being the terminus of the military mail routes from Fort Steven- son via Fort Totten, and Fort Wadsworth via Fort Ransom, and the point from whence mail from these posts was forwarded to department headquarters, via St. Cloud, to St. Paul. It was situated on the west bank of the Red River of the North, twelve miles north of the confluence of its two branches, the Bois de Sioux and the Otter Tail ; latitude 46 m., 27 sec. north, longitude 96 m., 23 sec. west. The military post was established by act of congress, approved March 3, 1857. The general orders were issued in June, 1857, from the headquarters of the army, directing that it be named Fort Abercrombie and that it be established on the most eligible site near the head of the Red River of the North, in the vicinity of a place known as Graham's Point, Min- nesota.
STATE OP NORTH DAKOTA
413
In obedience to orders, Lieut.-Col. John J. Abercrombie arrived with troops and encamped in a protected bend of the river, on August 28, 1858. The heat was intense, and the mosquitoes and buffalo flies intolerable, but the troops worked vigorously to build the log quarters in which they spent the winter. '
In July, 1859, the fort was abandoned, but was again occupied in July, 1860, the fort being rebuilt by Major Day.
The valley of the Red Kiver of the North at old Fort Aber- crombie is about 1,700 feet above the level of the sea, and forms a perfectly flat prairie, broken only by the streams that drain it. This plain commences about fifty miles from the old post at the divide which separates the waters of Lake Traverse, one source of the Her river, from the waters of Big Stone lake, the source of the Minnesota (or as it was then called, St. Peter's)
414 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
river, and extends eastward into Minnesota to a high range of hills, sixty miles distant, called Leaf mountains, westward in North Dakota to the Gateaux de Prairie., fifty miles distant, and northwest to the debouche of the river into Lake Winnipeg — only contrasted at its western side by the Pembina mountains. These mountains are probably the northern abutment of the Coteaux de Prairie, — one the western shore of the great water that filled the broad Red river valley. So the Bed river flows northward and into a colder climate. The snow and ice which form in the water melt on its sources before its outlet is free from ice, and from this cause overflows of its banks often occur.
The tortuous course of the river also causes in the spring, when the ice breaks up, frequent gorges of ice, and then the country behind the gorge becomes flooded. From this cause, and also from floods in the Wild Rice and Cheyenne rivers, the mail and supply trains for the distant posts of Fort Stevenson and Fort Buford were frequently delayed, and the stage of water in the Red River of the North and its branches became the gauge by which the dwellers in those lonely stations on the Missouri river could judge of the probable regularity of their mail service.
Officers who were stationed at Fort Abercrombie during the late '60s state that the country was infested with locusts that came in countless swarms and destroyed every green thing, and that sixty miles west of them their ravages caused destitution and famine. They also stated that the climate was very cold during four or five months in the year, frequently being 40 degrees below zero, and in the summer rising often to 100 degrees in the shade. Between these two extremes the mean annual temperature was 39 degrees.
The location of Fort Abercrombie is on the west bank of the Red river, about twelve miles north of the point where the Otter Tail and Bois de Sioux river join and form the Red river, The location of this post was on the eastern border of Dakota, on account of being near the head of navigation on the Red river and also on account of its proximity to the northern Indian tribes. From Fort Abercrombie the mail was sent weekly by quartermaster team to St. Cloud, Minnesota, and from there was forwarded to St. Paul.
In 1862 the post was besieged by some 300 Indians of the Sisseton and Yankton band of Sioux. They drove away the cattle and horses belonging to the post and those of the citizens near by. The Indians made two assaults on the fort, one on Sep- tember 3 and the other on September 6, 1862, but they were repulsed. The fort, having then no stockade, was in imminent danger of capture, but fortunately many of the citizens were able and willing to assist in its defense. A team, laden with goods for the Red Lake Indians, had just arrived, having among other supplies sixty double barreled shot guns. The teamsters
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 415
and other citizens were armed with them and formed into a militia company which rendered effective service. At this time there were no settlers on the Dakota side of the boundary line. Major Day, with two companies of regular 'troops, occupied the post. In July, 1861, he, with his command, was ordered to Wash- ington, D. C., and was succeeded by Capt. Markman with two companies of regular troops. These were withdrawn by the demands of the civil war in the south, and were succeeded by several companies of the Fourth Minnesota, under command of Capt. Inman. These troops also were sent to the south and were succeeded by Capt. John VanderHorck, with several companies of the Fifth Minnesota Volunteer infantry, who were at the post when the massacre occurred. The fort was kept up until 1877, when it was abandoned ; and the ensuing year the buildings were sold to the early settlers of that region, who built houses and stalls of the material.
On the 23d of August, 1862, hostilities began in the valley of the Red River of the North. On this day word was brought to the commander of the fort that a band of 500 Sioux had crossed the Otter Tail river, with the intention of capturing the train and cattle then being driven toward Fort Abercrombie to effect a settlement with the Red Lake Chippewas. These included thirty wagons loaded with goods, and at this time had reached the neighborhood of the fort. Messages were at once sent to the train and also to Breckinridge, Old Crossing, Graham's Point, and all the principal settlements in the vicinity, warning the people to flee to the fort, and nearly all of them did so. These settlers dwelt upon the east side of the river in Minnesota as there were but few settlers who had located on the west side, south of Pembina. A Mr. Russell, with several men, undertook to stay at Breckinridge in a large hotel building, believing they could defend themselves. On the evening of the same day a party of six men from the fort rode in the direction of Breckin- ridge, and found the place in the possession of a large body of Indians. As the Indians were on foot they made their escape. A part of the troops at Abercrombie were then stationed at Georgetown, Minnesota, on the east bank of the river fifty miles north. This detachment was ordered to return at once. On the 24th a reconnoissance was made toward Breckinridge, and it was found that the Indians had deserted the place. The bodies of the three men who had undertaken its defense were found terribly mutilated ; chains were bound upon their ankles by which they had been dragged around until life was gone. At a sawmill in the neighborhood an old lady by the name of Scott was found. She had crawled on her hands and knees sixteen miles to the mill. Her son had been killed and her grandson taken prisoner. They also found the body of Joe Snell, a stage driver, three miles, from Breckinridge. On their way back to the fort the
416 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Indians attacked them and killed Bennett, the teamster, and nearly captured Capt. Mill's wagon, containing Mrs. Scott. Kounsval, who was in command, made a charge and brought back the team with Mrs. Scott and the body of Bennett. They buried Scott the next day. The mail taken in the stage coach was taken from the sacks and scattered about the prairies, but much of it was gathered up by this detachment which was com- manded by Judge McCauly. Some fifty men had now willingly taken refuge with the garrison, and as they were destitute of arms and the post commander had none to furnish them, the men helped to strengthen the position by building outside entrenchments. The headquarters and barracks for the soldiers were on the prairie. A fortification for the quarters was made by using the barrels of pork and corned beef and flour, mingled with earth and cordwood, for this purpose. Special provision was also made for the comfort of the women and children and for those who were sick.
About the 25th of August a message was dispatched to head- quarters, stating the danger of a severe attack. At this time some thousand or fifteen hundred excited savages were gathered around the fort, determined to capture the place and to carry off the stores. Steps were at once taken at headquarters to relieve the distress at the fort, but owing to the war in the south most of the young and vigorous men of Minnesota and Iowa were away at the front. The garrison did their best. On the 27th of this month a party went out from the fort and buried several bodies of murdered settlers. On August 30th a small party was sent to Old Crossing to collect and drive to the fort such live stock as could be found. After proceeding about ten miles they were fired upon by a party of Sioux in ambush. One of the party was killed but the rest escaped to the fort, losing their wagon, five mules and camp equipage. At 2 o'clock the same afternoon a large body of Indians surrounded the be- leaguered fort, and stampeded the herd of cattle belonging thereto. This included a herd of cattle belonging to the Chippewas, with whom the government was about to make a treaty. . The Indians got about 200 head of cattle and 100 horses and mules. They made no demonstration toward the garrison, and the settlers could not go to the defense of the cattle, ranging from half a mile to three miles from the fort, without endangering the citizens and risking their capture. On the 2nd of September another party was sent out from the post in the direction of Breckinridge. It returned in the afternoon having seen no Indians, and picking up about fifty head of the cattle that had been driven off by them.
At daybreak on the morning of September 23d the garrison was alarmed by firing by the sentinels in the vicinity of the stock yards belonging to the post, and the Sioux were found to
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 417
be advancing in considerable force. A couple of the haystacks were found to be on fire. The settlers, emboldened by the sight and inflamed by the thought of seeing their remaining cattle carried off, rushed at once to the stalls and killed two Sioux as they entered the building. The conflict was kept up for three hours. Three of th.e garrison were wounded, one fatally, by shots of the enemy, when the Indians were forced to retire. The fort was then strengthened with cordwood and hewn timbers, a breastwork being built around the barracks which was raised to a height of eight feet. This was capped by hewn timbers, eight inches square, with loopholes between them from which a fire could be maintained upon an attacking enemy.
A second attack was made on September 6th. At daylight of that morning about fifty Indians, on horseback, appeared on the prairie in the rear of the fort. They sought to draw'a pursuit on the part of the soldiers, but as the garrison was too wise to be induced to leave the protection of the fort, the Sioux threw off all disguise and appearing in large numbers, entered upon a bitter conflict. The stalls were upon the edge of the prairie, a. grove of heavy timber lying between them and the river. Repeated efforts were made by the Indians to capture the animals but they were surprised by the opening upon them of a six- pounder gun and the sharp explosion of a shell. Several of them were shot as they skulked through the timber from tree to tree. A body of the Indians collected on the prairie half a mile away, and a shell was sent hissing through the air. Its explosion in the vicinity was followed by the immediate disappearance of the whole party.
This fight lasted until nearly noon, when the savages retreated, carrying off most of their dead and wounded. It is not known what was their loss, but the loss of the soldiers was one man killed and two wounded.
On the 24th of September an expedition sent from St. Paul to the relief of Fort Ambercrombie arrived at the fort under command of Capt. Emil Buerger. As they neared the fort a dense smoke was observed, but on reaching an eminence they found the American flag still flying from the fort. The Indians, who were aware of the coming of the re-inforcement, had set fire to the prairie between the command and the post, and as the latter approached the river a band of thirteen savages ap- peared on the opposite shore and discharged their rifles at the marching troops at a distance of fifteen hundred yards, without effect, whereupon they hastily fled. Capt. Buerger with his command tried to capture the hostile Indians, who were soon found retreating in the direction of Wild Rice river. After crossing the Red River, pursuit was considered useless and the line of march was resumed for the fort. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon of September 24th, they reached Fort Abercrombie,
Hist-27
418 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
where they were heartily received by the citizens and the gar- rison. When the moving column of troops had first been seen that morning they were mistaken for Indian re-inforcements. Their happiness when their true character became known may be imagined.
At an early hour that same morning the garrison had dis- patched a messenger named Walter H. Hills, a citizen, to head- quarters at St. Paul, with an urgent call for help. He was escorted from the fort by thirty-two volunteers, partly soldiers and partly citizens. The Indians were in ambush ail around, but did not fire upon this party when they left the fort, but when the escort returned to the post they were attacked by the Indians and two of their number were shot, the rest making their escape.
The next morning part of a mounted company under Capt. Freeman, accompanied by a force of infantry, were sent out to search for their bodies. One of them was a soldier named Shultz, and the other was a citizen named Edward Wright. Their bodies were found about one mile from the post most horribly mangled and dismembered.
On September 26th Capt. Freeman's company while watering their horses at the river were fired upon by a party of Sioux from ambush and a teamster was mortally wounded. The soldiers were unarmed but a fire from the fort was speedily opened and the Indians withdrew. They w^ere followed by a detachment from the fort of fifty mounted men of the Third regiment and a squad in charge of a howitzer, who overtook the Indians two miles up the river. Here they answered the gun shots fired at them but fled hastily when a shell from the howitzer was fired at them. Their camp was taken possession of and their valuables taken to the fort, the balance being burned. This was the last skirmish had with the Indians near Fort Abercrombie.
Fort Abercrombie was used as a depot of supplies and an objective point for the troops under Gen. Sully during his cam- paigns against the Sioux in 1863, during which and after their massacre at New Ulm, Minnesota, he had followed them into Dakota. The following have been the later commanders at Fort Abercrombie: Capt. Buerger, Capt. Pettier, Major Camp, Capt. Chamberlain, Gen. C. P. Adams, Capt. Whitcomb, Major Hall, and Gen. Slidel.
The Koman Catholic missions in Dakota were formally opened at Fort Abercrombie on May 7, 1865. Bishop Garrand, vice- apostolic of Athabaska, McKenzie, with Eev. Father J. B. M. Genin, arrived at Fort Abercrombie on their way northward, and halted to hold three days' mission to the soldiers and some Indian scouts and others in the vicinity. Some three years later the half-breed buffalo hunters, to the number of 600, returned from their hunt along the Cheyenne river with both dead and dying
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 419
people in their carts, seeking help after a terrible encounter with the .Sioux. When they reached Abercrombie on the 13th of August, 1867, Father Genin had just arrived from the east, on his way back to the northern mission of the McKenzie River district in British North America. Bishops Tache and Grandin, whom he had met on his way at Sauk Center, made him promise to stay at Abercrombie to minister to the Catholic soldiers and to instruct and baptize some Indians in the vicinity of the post. His first attention was given to the dying, then to the burial of the dead, and finally to the instruction of the living. After several days of such work, during which he acknowledged the courteous attention the officers and soldiers of the military post bestowed upon him, he received the intelligence that some horses, which the bishop had ordered to his former mission, had been stolen and the men in charge of them, affrighted, had fled, aban- doning everything. He therefore secured a couple of Indians, able to speak the French as well as the Sioux language, to accom- pany him to the great Sioux camp at Lakes Traverse and Big Stone. He reached their camps on the 24th of June, 1867, and found some eleven hundred warriors assembled, their wives and children with them. There he met Chief O'Mahalette with his first soldier, Cante Tanke (Great Heart). After having smoked tobacco and killikinick pipes an amicable decision was had during which all declared a desire for peace. Several weeks were spent here in profitably teaching the catechism. There were ninet}7-nine who desired to become Catholics. The ceremony of baptism began at 7 o'clock a. m. and ended with the mass at 2 o'clock p. m., it being necessary that each one of the four chiefs, Sweet Corn, Burning Ground, Red Iron and Iron Heart, explain satisfactory after the priest every article to their respective peo- ple. Then came the petitions of the representatives of several thousand Sioux of all tribes, asking the priest to stay in their midst. The priest's mission flag was adopted by the Indians as the nation's flag. It happened also that the Teton tribes of Sioux were electing at their head as supreme rulers of the Indian army forces the warrior- Tatankai Yotanka (Sitting Bull) who adopted Father Genin for his brother; while Black Moon, the supreme chief of all the Sioux adopted him for his nephew. The Tetons are the name of the nation who lived in Dakota. Their principal tribes are Ogallala, Minneconju, Sans Arcs, Uncpapa, Brule, Two Kettle, and Blackfeet. The key of the country was then placed in the hands of the priest, who lost no time in writing to his superiors forwarding the petitions of the children of the wilderness. In due course of time the reply came requesting Father Genin to stay with these Indians and to continue among them the missionary work already started. This reply was com- municated to Father Genin by Bishop Tache, who1 had carried it over from Europe. Thus it was that the priest established his
420 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
headquarters at or near the entrance of the upper Wild Rice river into the Bed River, a deep point of timber where the Sioux and the Chippewas had their warpath, and where the United States mail carriers were frequently stopped and their mails burned by marauders. From time immemorial the two nations, the Sioux and the Chippewas, were deadly enemies, and it was on this path that they often had to fight to death for the glory of carrying away some scalps. There also in the outbreak of 1862 it was very unsafe for any white man to show himself. At this time both sides of the Red river near that spot offered evident marks of bloody encounters. On the- Minnesota side there are yet to be seen there three graves of people who were evidently murdered, while on the Dakota side, where the Milwaukee rail- road crosses the Wild ,Rice, there were thirteen graves marking the spot where Sioux and Chippewas fought, and thirteen had their breasts cut open with knives, the enemy drinking the warm blood in the hollow of their hands, furious yells succeeding the awful action.
Here the mission cross was raised by the half-breeds and Indians at Father Genin's bidding. A log building was erected by the priest on the Minnesota side, for the triple purpose of church, priest's house and post office. The postmaster was the priest himself, duly appointed by the Washington authorities at the request of Governor Ramsey of St. Paul, Minnesota. From there Father Genin visited sixty-three Indian camps in Dakota during the fall and winter of 1867 and 1868, baptizing a very large number of people. It was during that winter that Father Genin established the mission of St. Michael and the Lodge of Sorrow at Devils lake, and put up the mission cross twenty-seven feet high on the heart-shaped bluff called formerly the Devil's Heart.
During the same winter, 1867-68, mass was celebrated at the junction of the Red River with the Red Lake river, where a number of Indians used to spend the winter, and the name of St. Michael was given to the mission at that place. Another church was built here several years later by Rev. Father L'Hiver.
In July, 1869, the Northern Pacific Railroad exploring party, consisting of about fifty-five prominent Americans, met Father Genin at his mission of Holy Cross. Of this party were Jay Cooke, Gregory Smith, Governor of Vermont, ex-Governor Mar- shall of Minnesota, etc. While Mr. Smith addressed Father Genin, Jay Cooke made up a purse for him from the offerings of all present. The acting president, Mr. Smith, promised Father Genin that his work should not be forgotten when the new railway should be put into operation. This promise was faithfully kept. Not only was Father Genin honored with a free pass. for ten years, but a number of new settlers and some twenty-seven car- loads of lumber were passed free from the Northern Pacific June-
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 421
tion in Minnesota all along the line of railroad operated by this company.
In the spring of 1869 hostilities between Sioux and Chippewas were reopened and several murders were committed by the Chip- pewas of Leech lake. Flatmouth, a chief of the Leech lake Jbands, was badly implicated with two others. Seeing it would not avail to invite settlers into the Bed Kiver valley until these savage incursions would be stopped, Father Genin invited a convention to take place at Fort Abercrombie in August, 1870. The Indians were faithful to the call. Eighteen hundred select braves appeared as the representatives of respective bands, 900 Sioux and 900 Chippewas. The convention lasted three days, closing happily on the day after Assumption, 15th of August, by a treaty of peace signed by all the principal chiefs in the presence of the commanding officer of the fort, Col. Lewis Hunt, and a great assemblage of officers, soldiers and citizens of the vicinity of the fort. From that day no more of those war parties were seen in our valley and no more barbarities heard of. The protection of the cross was already very evident in that country, while this new treaty, entered into voluntarily among themselves by the Sioux and the Chippewas at the invitation of the priest, put an end to all those horrors of which we had a sickening display in the Minnesota massacre of 1862.
Sitting Bull, the war chief of the Teton Sioux, had put an end to one of the greatest evils among his nation's people. Being elected chief warrior on account of his bravery, he would never consent to his appointment until the nation voted complete and absolute prohibition as advised by Father Genin. Sitting Bull would never do anything by halves. Whatever he undertook he was bound to accomplish. He therefore decreed the pain of death against any person, white, black or red, that would be convicted of either selling or giving spirituous liquors of any kind to his people. The same penalty was applicable to those who might have bought or received the spirituous liquors and would refuse to reveal the name of the party or parties from whom they had obtained it. In that manner the most effective kind of prohibition was put in action. This law was passed at the nation's council at Abercrombie in 1867, when Sitting Bull was made chief warrior of the Teton bands of Sioux Indians under the presidency of the venerable old chief, Black Moon, a man most respected and loved by all the tribes. The priest had at once a fair field for his zeal, and the whites an efficacious protection for the settlements, which promptly began to open and to grow, until finally, in place of the buffalo and the tepee we had the beautiful state of Dakota showing forth as the true granary of the universe. ,
Fort Ransom was one of the forts established in North Dakota for the protection of the settlers, who still held in vivid remem-
422 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
brance the bloody Sioux, uprising in Minnesota in 1862. On June 17, 1867, a batallion of the Tenth United States infantry arrived at Bear's Den Hillock from Fort Wadsworth and en- camped there. The quarters were furnished in August. Fort Ransom is situated on the Cheyenne river about seventy miles from its junction with the Red River of the North and at the point where the Cheyenne bends suddenly from the north to the east. The locality had been a favorite camping ground for the Indians and numerous mounds that appeared to be of ancient and artificial origin are found there.- Being thus protected by the presence of United States troops, the settlement of that part of Dakota rapidly increased, and culminated in the period of which I write in the thriving town of Fargo, the first station on the Dakota division of the Northern Pacific railroad. Follow- ing the railroad westward came the settlers. At the crossing of the James river, the Rivere au Jacques of the first explorers, the little post of Camp Seward was established, co-incident with the establishment of Camp Hancock, for the protection of the railroad engineers and graders of the line between the Red and Grand rivers. There also sprang up the promising settlement that became the Jamestown of today, and thereafter the mail and supply trains for the Missouri river forts were carried overland along the surveyed line of the railroad, and the settlements on the Red River and the settlements on the Missouri were connected by a direct line of communication. The overland mail route from Fort Stevenson, via Fort Totten to Fort Abercrombie, was abandoned. The Arickara scout line from Fort Rice to Grand river fell into disuse. Mail and officers on leave went east from Camp Hancock. Supply teams for all the Missouri river posts now crossed the territory, coming to Edwinton (now Bismarck) direct from the Minnesota line. What a saving in time and distance and how near we seemed to be living to the states! We laughingly said we had no need to return to civilization; we had only to stay here and civilisation would come to us.
On September 6, 1871, Gen. Thomas L. Rosser, chief .engineer of the Northern Pacific railroad, accompanied by Messrs. Meigs and Eastman and several surveyors, arrived at Fort Rice on the Missouri river some forty miles south of the present location of Fort Rice.
On July 2, 1864, congress passed an act granting right of way through the Indian country to the Northern Pacific Railroad company. It was entitled "An Act Granting Lands to Aid in the Construction of a Railroad and Telegraph Line from Lake Su- perior to Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast by the Northern Route." At Fort Rice in 1871 we first heard of the prospect of building the Northern Pacific through this wild region. The scheme was at first regarded as the wildest folly by every officer on the frontier, but orders came from department headquarters
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 423
at St. Paul to fit out an expedition at Fort Rice to accompany the engineers of the proposed railroad to the Yellowstone river. On the morning of September 2, 1871, the expedition left Fort Eice for the west. The military escort consisted of 500 mounted men, a detachment of artillery with two gatling guns, and fifty mounted Indian scouts, with a train of 100 wagons, the whole under the command of Gen. Whistler.
It should be borne in mind that what is now the map of North Dakota was then a blank as far as settlements or railroads were concerned. There were no roads at all, only trails, and these were limited to the mail trails running up and down the Missouri river between the military trails of Forts Buford, Stevenson, Rice, Sully and Randall, and the overland route between Forts Stevenson, Totten (at Devils lake) and Fort Aber- crombie. The events that have been narrated are the preliminary steps, taken by our great state in its early marches toward civil- ization.
Fort Abercrombie was abandoned as a military post in 1877, and in 1878 the government buildings were sold to the settlers in the vicinity.
XFORT RANDALL.
BY LINDA W. SLAUGHTER.
Fort Randall, on the right bank of the Missouri river, was established by Gen. Harney in 1856. The government at that time removed old Fort Pierre, which was located about 300 feet from the west bank of the Missouri river, and about three miles north of the present city of Pierre at the mouth of the Teton river. It was the successor of Fort Teton, built by Joseph La Frambois in 1,817 on the west side of the Missouri at the mouth of the Teton, and of Fort Tecumseh, built in 1827. The latter fort was situated about two and one-half miles above the mouth of the Teton river and one-half mile from the west bank of the Missouri river. From the time of its first occupancy in 1832 and for more than a quarter of a century later, old Fort Pierre was the chief emporium of the fur trader in the upper Missouri country, and likewise was a historic point around which revolved many of the important events in the early history of the Dakotas and the great west. It continued to be the main post of the American Fur company until 1855, when it was sold to the United States to be used as a military post.
JThe Society has recently purchased one of the pews from the old Fort Randall church. This church was in use during the earliest days of the post, and within its walls took place many historic events. This sketch of Fort Randall will serve to recall the historic setting of this relic of former days which now stands in the rooms of the society at Bismarck.
424 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The Sioux expedition under Gen. Harney 1,200 strong, waited there during the summer of 1855. In the spring and summer of 1856 Gen. Harney designated it as the point for a general council with the different bands of Sioux. In 1857 the government abandoned old Fort Pierre and removed the available material by boat for use in the construction of Fort Randall, a new post then being built some 100 miles or so down the Missouri. Thus was ended the existence of one of the most conspicuous land- marks of the old trading epoch. The Fort Pierre of the period subsequent to 1857 was located on the west side of old Fort Pierre. The name still clings to the locality and is perpetuated in the cities of Pierre and old Fort Pierre.
Up to the early seventies the medical, hospital and commissary supplies for the Missouri river forts were brought from St. Louis by a line of steamers run by the firm of Durfee & Peck, but after that the base of supplies was transferred to Sioux City, Iowa, the nearest railroad point on the south of Fort Randall.
Fort Sully was the next post above Fort Randall, and was situated in 1863 on the east bank of the Missouri river twenty miles below the mouth of the Cheyenne river, and 200 miles by river above Fort Randall. It was about the same distance to Fort Rice above. This post was half way between the head of navigation, Fort Benton, and the mouth of the Missouri river, and 1,400 miles above St. Louis. Fort Buford is ninety miles south of the Canadian line. There were two mail routes from Fort Buford to the states. The first was via Forts Stevenson, Totten and Abercrombie to St. Paul. It took from three to six weeks for a letter to go to department headquarters, St. Paul, Minnesota. The Indians were very troublesome between Forts Stevenson and Totten, and in 1868 killed five mail carriers on that route, three of whom were soldiers and two citizens. The second mail route was via Forts Stevenson, Rice and Sully to Sioux City, Iowa. Mail by this route was slower than by the Fort Totten route, and on both routes it was so subject to inter- ruption that the fort was frequently without a mail for three months at a time.
The only railroad that extended westward from St. Paul was the St. Paul & Pacific, now the Great Northern, whose western terminus was at St. Cloud, seventy miles distant from St. Paul. Troops were detailed from the .western posts to protect the sur- veyors of the railroad when the route was surveyed through Dakota and Montana.
The Indians at that time roamed throughout the country of Dakota Territory. There were a few whites at the trader's store at Pembina and a number of settlers in the southern part of the territory. The Indians roamed continually about the •terri- tory except during the winter, when they camped upon the bank of some stream. Many of the Indians were not pleased by the
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 425
location of trading posts along the rivers in their country, and the opening of forts in later days along their rivers caused much illwill by the destruction of the buffalo and other game.
The establishment of the military post of Fort Randall was not pleasing to the Indians. This fort was named by Gen. Harvey in honor of the memory of Daniel Randall, deputy paymaster general of the army.1
On the 16th of May, 1857, Capt. Lovell and his men embarked for Fort Randall taking with them all movable stores and prop- erty from Fort Pierre, which was then finally abandoned as a military post.
Fort Randall, thirty miles above the mouth of the Niobrara river, now became the successor of all the lesser posts on the upper Missouri. It had been selected by General Harney after a careful reconnoissance of the adjoining country. On the 26th of June, 1856, a party of eighty-four recruits of the Second in- fantry, under the regimental quartermaster, Lieut. Geo. H. Paige, and First Lieut. D. S. Stanley of the First regiment of cav- alry, had landed at this point, laid out the post and built the cottages. In August of the same year Companies C and I of the Second infantry, and D, E, H and K of the Second dragoons, arrived under command of Col. Francis Lee, and these troops constituted the first garrison. It was located on the second ter- race above the river, having at the rear a range of hills some 150 feet in height. The post was laid out at a place half a mile from the river, which at this point is nearly 1,000 yards wide and navigable for light-draft steamboats. By the treaty of April 19, 1858, two years later, with the Yanktonaise, 400,000 acres of land to the east and northeast was set apart as an Indian reservation for the Yankton tribes; and at a later date a tract to the south, about one-half as large, was reserved for the Poncas. Fort Randall stood as a sentinel for nearly half a century between these two leading bands of Sioux.
The career of Fort Randall was uneventful until the summer of 1859. Col. Lee and some 300 men and officers formed the garrison. In June, 1859, the headquarters and companies E, L and M of the Fourth artillery, under command of Lieut.-Col. John Monroe, followed several days later by Companies H and I, arrived and encamped below the fort. On the 16th the companies of the Second infantry inarched out, and those of the artillery took their places. Another two years of quiet ensued. The Indians were peaceably devoted to hunting and such agriculture as the country would permit without rain, and readily accommodated themselves to reservation life. Their furs
Better of Gen. Wm. S. Harney to 'Col. S. Cooper, Adjutant General, U. S. A., Washington, D. C. , dated June 30, 1856, suggesting the name of Fort Randall (in mem- ory of Col. Daniel Randall, late Deputy Paymaster) for the military post selected' in accordance with instructions from Adjutant General's office, dated June 20, 1856.
426 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
and hides were sold to the traders much as formerly, though the approach of the settler was surely driving the buffalo and smaller game to the far northwest. At this time peace reigned in the west of Dakota. The American Fur company had disposed of its establishment at Fort Pierre to the Unites States, moved up the river and located trading houses at the mouth of the Chautier and Cheyenne rivers where there were Indian villages.
Jos. LaFramboise had located a village about four miles above Fort Pierre opposite Lost Island, where there was a small village of Oahes, called Fort LaFramboise. The fur trade east of the Eocky mountains was nearing its end. The government had assumed paternal care of the Indians and was furnishing them clothing, food, blankets and trinkets, sending to them beef cattle by the thousands, supplying them with firearms — with which they afterward fought the government — and also gave them the oppor- tunity to obtain "firewater," which furnished them with courage ' to ravage the helpless settlements. At this time all was peace and tranquility from the Big Sioux to the Yellowstone.
The war of the rebellion led to new conditions. There were five companies of the Fourth' artillery at Fort Randall. In May Companies E, I and L had been sent to the east to be mounted as light batteries, leaving H and M, under command of Capt. John D. Brown of Maryland, who soon after left the post and sent his resignation from the south, where he joined the Con- federacy. Second Lieut. T. R. Tannett was the highest officer who remained, and for six months this officer and his brave little post of less than 100 men remained alone at this outpost of civilization surrounded by Indians, whose friendship, at all times doubtful, was not now to be trusted. Three companies of the Fourteenth Iowa volunteers, under the command of Capt. Brad- ley Maham, came from Iowa City and relieved the garrison, they being sent to Louisville, Kentucky.
The neglect of the government to fulfill the promises made by Gen. Harney in 1856, and the growing discontent among the Sioux was finally demonstrated by the murder of Bear's Rib at Fort Pierre on May 27, 1862. Mr. Latta, the agent for the upper Missouri tribes, was in charge of the annuity goods on board the steamer Spread Eagle. They arrived at Pierre where there were from 2,000 to 3,000 Indians, portions of the several bands of Sioux. In the morning their goods were placed on the shore in seven parcels, conforming as nearly as possible the popu- lation of each, the Brules, Blackfeet, Sans Arcs, Minneconjous, Hunkapapas, Two Kettles and Yanktonai.
The Sioux at the time stated their grievances to be the lack of keeping Gen. Harney's promises made in 1856. Th§y said they were in the minority in the nation ; that those of the nations opposed to the government were more hostile than ever before; that they had year after year been promised the fulfillment of
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 427
this pledge by the government, and they must now break off their pledge of friendly relations with the government and rejoin their respective bands; that their lives and property were threatened in case they accepted any more goods from the government; that the small amount of annuities given the Indians did not satisfy them and created dissatisfaction rather than harmony. They said that they had been friends to the government and to all white men; that they had lived up to their pledge made in 1857 as far as the}' could, and still wished to do so; but hence- forth they must be excused unless their Great Father would aid them. They refused to receive the goods sent to them and requested them to bring no more. All the native speakers courteously expressed the same views. But afterwards Bear's Rib, a chief of the Sioux nation appointed by Gen. Harney, arose and said dramatically that for eleven years he had been the friend of the government and the white man; that for years he had relied upon promises made by Gen. Harney and from agents to send him assistance, yet none had come; that if he received these presents sent him by his Great Father he not only en- dangered his own life but the lives of all present; yet he loved his Great Father and would this once more receive for his people the goods presented. He closed by requesting the agent to bring no more goods unless they could have assistance.
A few days after this delivery that portion of the Sans Arcs band opposed to any intercourse with the government came in from the prairies and assaulted and killed within the gates of Fort Pierre Bear's Rib, this true friend of the white man in the Sioux nation. The scene of the murder, which was located at Fort Pierre, was at the trading post on the left bank of the Missouri river, three miles above the site of old Fort Pierre, which had been established by Jos. LaFramboise in 1857, and was known as Fort LaFramboise, although in time, an unworthy successor to the original fort of that name, it became known as Fort Pierre.
The dissatisfaction among the Sioux, arising from the failure of the government to keep the promises of Gen. Harney made in 1856, which were expressed to Agent Latta on the 28th of May, 1862, and more forcibly illustrated by the murder of Bear's Rib, was rapidly growing in intensity. An outbreak at the Sisseton agency was prevented by the timely arrival of the United States troops from Fort Ridgley, Minnesota, and the disappointed Indians scattered about the country. Five persons were mur- dered at Seton, in Meeker county, Minnesota, on August 17th; and this was followed by a series of cruel and murderous deeds characterized by every inhuman and savage atrocity known to savage ingenuity. Nearly one thousand peaceful citizens, men, women and children, at New Ulm, Minnesota, on the Minnesota river, were murdered in cold blood, with such acts of cruel
428 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
brutality as froze the blood in the veins of all who heard of the shameful facts. Fort Bidgely was besieged but saved by the heroism of less than fifty soldier defenders. The greatest alarm prevailed. Thousands of people fled from their homes. Armed men were hurried to the scene from St. Paul and vicinity but it was some days before troops could reach the vicinity and in the meantime the Indians had escaped to the west.
On the 8th of September the governor of Iowa telegraphed the secretary of war that the Yanktons on his western borders had joined the hostiles; that the settlers were fleeing by thousands, and prompt action alone could prevent a terrible massacre. The governors of Nebraska and Dakota sent similar telegrams. A regiment at Des Moines under organization was hurried to Sioux City. The militiamen of Dakota and Nebraska were called to the field. The governor of Kansas summoned every able-bodied citizen to organize for home defense and called upon the war department for 5,000 stand of arms. By the 15th of September a large majority of the settlers of southern Dakota and northeast Dakota had gathered at Sioux City. All had left their property, their stock uncared for, their crops unharvested. BonHomme. Vermillion, and in fact every town and settlement in Dakota was deserted. Every white settler in Dakota was either at Fort Randall or at the Yankton agency which was being hastily forti- fied. An officer of a steamboat that had been in the employ of the American Fur company for twenty-five years said that never before this trip had he seen the Indians so hostile. He said the Sioux nation was bound for a war of extermination against the white man. He said that in his opinion the British gov- ernment, through the Hudson's Bay company, were instigating the Indians to attack the whites. He said British rum from the Red river came over to the Missouri river ; that British traders were among them continually; and that statements as to the success of the southern Confederacy against the northern com- munity were being circulated. In the meantime all southeastern Minnesota was aroused and troops hastily summoned under Gen. H. H. Sibley who heard the news of the infamous deeds of the Dakota Sioux on the 21st of August. He rode into St. Paul, met Governor Ramsey, and obtained the needed authority to punish the murderers. He at once gathered a party of twenty- five horsemen and before daylight of the 22nd was on his Avay to Fort Ridgely. Within less than five weeks he had organized a force of 1,500 men and marched 250 miles and overtook the Indians near the Yellow Medicine. On the 23d of September he attacked and defeated them, leaving many of them dead upon the field. Two days later he overtook the balance and captured over 2,000 with all the property they had stolen from the settlers. The last battle fought by General Sibley took place some four miles south of the city of Bismarck, at Apple creek. There on
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 429
July 29, 1863, he was attacked by the Indians, who had recrossed the river to attack the soldiers. They were defeated and driven back across the Missouri river. Lieut. Beaver, an Englishman serving as volunteer aid on Gen. Sibley's staff, was killed here while carrying dispatches. A few days thereafter Gen. Sibley marched his men back into Minnesota. In course of time the leaders of this insurrection were tried by a military commission, found guilty and sentenced to be hung, but through the kindness of the president only forty of the guilty ones were sentenced to so just a fate, and were hanged on December 27, 1863. Fort Randall was abandoned June 18, 1884.
REMINISCENSES OF EARLY NORTH DAKOTA.
BY REV. A. McG. BEEDE.
In March, 1877, a few of us crossed the Red River at Breckin- ridge into what is now North Dakota. Going northward with loaded teams through snow sometimes three feet deep, and losing our way, we did not arrive at a point opposite Fort Abercrombie till 2 :30 the next morning. Recrossing the river we went to Moorhead on the Minnesota side, stopping over night at the only house then on the river between Fort Abercrombie and Moorhead. It was very cold. A youth in the party, just from school, froze his face badly. A Scotchman cursed the whole country, while an Irishman jested as only the Irish can. As near as I am able to estimate there were at this time in what is now North Dakota not over 7,000 white residents, exclusive of post soldiers, though several "old timers" met by me then are still in North Dakota. New comers feared the land was not good. One Sunday I piloted a wagon load of land seekers, mostly from Wisconsin, over a vast stretch of land. p]very mile or so the post auger was put down to try the soil. Not one of the party found a place he would risk for a home. As darkness came they returned to Fargo disgusted, and some drowned displeasure in the cup. I think the grade of whiskey was better then than now. There were settlers at that time on the Cheyenne river out of Fargo. Caledonia was a place of promise. "Yankee" Johnson's spacious log hotel gave this place favorable mention. In spite of existing doubts and subsequent reverses these few thousand pioneers had laid a real foundation. Some of them stayed here because they could not get away. Most people do as they want to do when they can, and when they can't they do as they have to do. Even pioneers live some way till they die. I do not remember meeting a person in those days, except a few foreign born, who regarded Dakota as a good place in which to live. There were a few houses
430 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
at Jamestown then, or rather near by where the town now is; a few at Devils Lake, a few at Grand Forks, Walhalla, etc. There were also a very few white settlers in Kolette county even at this early date. And far up the Missouri there had come here and there a settler. But they were few and monarchs of large domains. I have seen the statement that the first Christian service in Grand Forks was held by an Episcopal church clergy- man. This is no doubt true as regards a "regular service;" but the first Christian public worship was conducted by a minister whose name and denominational affinity, so far as I can learn, are unknown; and the offering at this service was $70. I heard tell of this when a boy. Travellers journeying from down the river stopped over Sunday in Grand Forks. A man in the com- pany who was evidently far gone with consumption announced on Sunday what was not before known, viz: that he was an ordained minister. He held a service, preaching what was con- sidered a good sermon. At its close he announced that his last dollar was spent and asked for an offering. The hat passed around brought to his relief $70. This is a worthy beginning of the generosity and humanity of North Dakota people, and it is worth remembering that at the first Christian service in Grand Forks the offering was $70. When Chicago was a village with muddy roads some "wags," in order to convince a visiting young Oxford graduate that Chicago did in some respects surpass Lon- don, put snapping turtles in his bed and made him believe they were Chicago bedbugs; but Grand Forks can always truthfully boast of the largest initiatory money sacrifice at a Christian service.
Part V.
THE INDIANS OF NORTH DAKOTA.
No. 2 — Middle Grosventre village. No. 3 — Mountain village of the Grosventres.
PRINCIPAL GROSVENTRE VILLAGE
No. 1 — Principal Grosventra village.
THE MANDANS AND GROSVENTRES.
The sketches of the Indians of the Five Villages in the upper Missouri country and the accompanying descriptions and illus- trations are intended merely as preliminary to more careful and detailed studies later on. Our society wishes in this public way to call the attention of investigators and scientists to the fact that we are becoming aware of our own archaeological wealth, and that we are able and willing to make use of it. We desire ear- nestly to co-operate with all organizations having similar aims, to the end that each may profit by exchange of material and printed matter. The day of the mere specimen hunter is rapidly pasing away for our section as it has elsewhere, and the task our society has set itself, that of reconstructing the past out of the remains available in the state, is one in which every historian and archaeologist will sympathize. The rather miscellaneous ar- ray of material in this portion of the volume is a defect arising rather from the abundance than from the paucity of material. In no state are the remains of these two great tribes, the Man- dans and the Grosventres, more abundant and in a better state of preservation. With the many thousand specimens already collected, awaiting classification, we feel the richness of our op- portunity and the importance of making known what we have already discovered. Moreover, the little yet published in this field makes it one of great importance and of unusual interest.
THE FIVE KNIFE RIVER VILLAGES. .
The accompanying plates were made from drawings prepared at the request of the secretary by Sitting Rabbit, a young Mandan Indian, in consultation with the older men of his tribe. They rep- resent the two Mandan and the three Grosventre villages on the Knife river, Mercer Co., N. D., as they stood in 1837, just before the smallpox broke out that destroyed most of the inhabitants. Making all allowances for lack of perspective and some very obvious topographical errors, the drawings are valuable, as show- ing the Indian point of view, and they convey much information as to the customs and peculiar beliefs of the Mandans and Gros- ventres. It is proposed later to publish a series of carefully drawn maps supplying all the necessary details which are omit- ted here, correcting the topographical errors in these Indian pic- tures, and showing the exact location of such of the remains as can be still traced. In this way we shall have a more complete picture of the life in these historic villages, made famous by the visits of Lewis and Clark, Catlin, Maximilian, Bradbury, Brack-
Hist-28
434 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
enridge, and many others. The village numbered 4 in the accom- panying plate, was the largest Mandan village, and stood second in population. The Mandans called it High Village, Mi-ti-was- kos, and it was founded by the Mandan chief, Good Boy, Suk-shi. In 1837 the head chief was Crow Chief, Ke-ka-nu-mak-shi, son of a Mandan chief and an Arikara woman, living on Grand river, S. D. Crow Chief lived with his mother's tribe till 1836, being on the Platte river from 1833 to 1836. In that year he returned to his father's tribe and was at once chosen chief of their principal village on the Knife river.
In the center of the village is shown the holy ground, O-pshi, and around this the tepees are grouped, facing toward it. The holy tepee is the largest one, and is of a peculiar shape, which the Mandans have carefully preserved since the earliest times. In front of the holy tepee is a circular fence made of slabs fixed ver- tically in the ground, with their edges fitting closely together, and bound together by thongs. This structure is called by the Man- dans Mi-ni-mi-ta-che, and is the "big canoe" spoken of by Catlin, and figured in plates 67 and 69.1 Inside this fence, which is less than eight feet in diameter, stands the red cedar post, Och-ta, representing the Elder Man (Creator) and placed there at his request. Outside the fence is a buffalo head, while the offers to the gods are piled up outside the holy tepee.
The bust of Crow Chief is shown just above the village and his lodge is the one in front of which the corn scaffold stands. The Missouri river is represented as flowing close by the village, with two paths leading to the river along which the Mandan women carried water. The rubbish of the village was thrown over the steep bank between these two paths. The village law forbade anyone to leave rubbish or refuse in or about the lodges, and this was enforced by the local police, or Brave Men's society, Ha-dok- ho-ha-de, or E-he-psi-he-de (Black Mouth). As is seen in the plate, all the lodges have a covered entrance, consisting of split logs or slabs, and before each one stands a corn scaffold, where corn, squashes and meat are hung to dry. 'The gardens are rep- resented at either side, a small rectangular space being marked out for each family. Here the Indian women, using sharpened stakes, and hoes made of buffalo shoulder blades bound upon crooked sticks, cultivated their corn, tobacco, squashes, and sun- flowers. The smoke-hole of each lodge was always covered by a frame of poles or by an old bull boat as shown in the plate. As the top of the lodge was a general lounging place for the whole family in fine weather, this was a matter of precaution. The lad- ders used in climbing up to the lodge roofs were simply small logs deeply notched by ax or knife. One of these ladders is figured at the bottom of the plate, as is also a Mandan carrying— basket of woven willows. This village was the summer residence of the
'Catlin, North American Indians, Edinburgh, 1903, I., 178 ff.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 435
Mandans, and the inhabitants had, like all the others, a winter residence which in this case was some miles down the river, near the timber.
The log house at the left and down the river was an American trading post, built at the same time the village was founded. The trader was called by the Mandans Long Hair, and his son was known as Stone; he was later interpreter at Fort Berthold. From this trader they had purchased a few guns, all of them old fashioned flint locks.
The village numbered 5 was called by the Mandans Small Vil- lage, Mi-te-son-kas. The two villages were connected by a series of trails, and between them ran Cross Timber creek. The head chief was Little Crow, founder of the village, and the second chief was Four Bears, Mah-ta-to-pe, whose bust appears at the top of the plate. The lodge of Little Crow is the one before which the horse and rider are standing. This village was in all respects like the one already described, the place for getting water was reached by two paths, the dumping ground for rubbish was on a flat place up the river, and the gardens were at the lower side of the village, toward Cross Timber creek. On the other side of the village from the river ran a series of trails, some fifteen in number, northward toward the three Grosventre villages on the Knife river. The zigzag line at the top of the plate, represents one of these regular trails which, according to legend, was struck by lightning and ever after remained in this condition.
The three Grosventre villages are shown in the accompanying plate, their relative positions are fairly well given, but some cor- rections need to be made. Village number 3 is farther from the river than number 2, and the trail leading from village No. 1 does not run between village No. 2 and the river, but on the other side. Village No. 3 is Scattered Village, in the Mandan language, Ti- cha-de. It was also known as the Mountain or East village. It is on higher ground than No. 2, and its head chief, Roadmaker, has his lodge where the corn scaffold is shown in the plate. The lack of order in the arrangement of the tepees is very apparent, and this gives the village its name. The cultivated fields lie between the village and the river. There was at this time a spring between the two villages, and from it a few of the Grosventres obtained water, the remainder using the Missouri river for their supply. The holy tepee used by all three villages is shown at the upper part of the plate, between villages 2 and 1. It is made of green boughs and was used four days in each year. The three figures standing near the holy tepee represent the three chiefs. Roadmaker of village No. 3 is the one with the buffalo head dress, and he has in his hand a coo stick covered with otter fur.
Village No. 2 is called Middle Village, and was made famous by its being the home of Charbonneau, the interpreter of Lewis and Clark, and his wife Sakakawea. The chief of the village was
436 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Black Moccasin, and he is represented as standing at the left of Roadmaker, close to the holy tepee. Black Moccasin's lodge is the one before which the three images are erected on poles.
Village No. 1 was the main Grosventre village, the largest of the five. Flat Bear was the chief, called by the Mandans, A-ra-tsu- ka-da-na-pit-zish. His lodge stands nearest the ford where the trail leads across the Knife river to village No. 2. Flat Bear was a very brave warrior, and a general favorite of the tribe. He was made chief on account of his bravery and was the youngest leader the village ever had. The path by which the Gros- ventres reached the river for water is shown on the plate, as are also their gardens. Not all the village is shown in the drawing for lack of sj/ace
Since 1837 the Missouri river has changed its course, and now runs more than a mile from village No. 1, while the Knife river and not the Missouri skirts villages Nos. 2 and 3. This change in the bed of the Missouri left village No. 1 without convenient access to water, and a special device was adopted later in the> history of the village to overcome this difficulty. Villages 2 and 3 were always regarded by the inhabitants of No. 1 as being of more mixed stock and as speaking a less pure language than themselves. This is also mentioned by Lewis and Clark, by Maxi- milian, and by Washington Matthews in his Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa (Grosventre) Indians.
NAMES OF THE SURVIVORS OP THE SMALLPOX SCOURGE OP 1837. FIVE VILLAGES, NORTH DAKOTA.
The subjoined list in the Grosventre language is supplied to the society by the courtesy of Rev. C. L. Hall of Elbowoods, whose intimate knowledge of the language enable him to give the exact rendering of each name in the Grosventre.
/. — Survivors of the Two Mandan Villages. Warriors at least Fifteen Years of Age.
The following list was given to the secretary by Little Crow and by Many Buffalos Marching — O-mi-na-ha-na-she.
Eagle Bull Maisu-kidepis
Bull Wolf Tsesa-kidapis
Toy White Man (Flying Eagle) Maisu des
Big Cloud Apahi-itias
No End Ataka-desas
Woman's Dress Mia-ituhis
White Painted House At-uki-hes
Plain Voice (Strikes the Back) Isita-dikis
Black Coyote Motsa-sipisas
Chief Matse-itsis
Bull Ho'rn Kidepi-asis
Red Breast Bird . , , .Imaki-hisi-tsakakas
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 437
Cedar Mida-hopas
Medicine Bird Tsakaka-hopas
Different Pipe Ita-ikipi-ihas
Many Coyote Motsa-ahus
Five Times (Five Nights) Maku-kihus
Fire (Oldest Man) • MidaS
Crow Bow (Big Coat) , Ituhi-i'tias
Bird's Bill Tsakaka-apas
Coyote Necklace Motsa-apes
Wooden House Mida-ati-hes
Young Snake (No. 1) Mapuksa-dakas
Young Snake (No. 2) 1
Spotted Arm Ada-hanes
Big Foot Buffalo : . . . . Kidepi-itsi-itias
Medicine Man Matse-hopas
Crow Chief Peditska-matseitsis
Big Bull
Move Slowly (Sitting White Buffalo) Wite-taki-amakis
Nine Dry Duwetsapi-utsis
Bear on the Water Midikua-dahpitsis
Growling Odaki-hopas
Black Bear Dahpitsi-sipisas
Left hand Sake-idasakua
Antelope Uhis
Old Mountain Lion Itupa-hies
Heavy Wood Ita-mida-daktsias
Black Tongue Desi-sipisas
Bobtailed Bull -. Kidepi-uhi'tis
Big Hand. Sake-i'tias
Arrowhead Earring Maia'poksa-hes
No Arm '. Ada-desas
Red Buffalo Wite-hisis
Feather on Head Okes
Tobacco Fat Opi-idipis
Heart Ghost Dokihahi-datas
Big Wind Hutsi-I'-ias
Orow Peditskas
Crow's Belt (Old Man) Pedits-ipaski
Nest I'kisis
Sixteen ' A'p-akamas
One Crow ' Peditska-duwetsas
//. — Survivors in the Three Grosventre Villages.
Statement of Poor Wolf, Grosventre chief, now in his eighty- sixth year:
"When I was a lad of 17 I had the smallpox which decimated our Grosventre and Mandan tribes. A few months after that time, the Sioux attacked us, thinking to destroy all that were left from the face of the earth. There were about one hundred of my
438 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Grosventre people who were fighting men, or able to make some defence at the time. We were in three villages, Awahami, the Mountain or East village ; Awatiha, the Middle village ; Hidatsa, the West village. Of these survivors of the smallpox epidemic of 1837, I remember the following who were able to do some fight- ing against the Sioux :
Of the East Village, Awahami.
Koad Maker (Head Chief) Adi-ahus
Smoke Tanned Hide (Second Chief) Atisia
Bear Seeking Something Dahpitsi-makikidis
What He Shoots With It-idis
Blackened Shield Ita-midaki-sipihes
Big Hand Sake-i'tias
Old Woman Crawling Kadu-akumitis
Intestines Sipas
Dried Squash Kakuwi-utsis
Old Tail Tsita-hies
— Ghost A'pa-dahis
Black Panther Itupa-sipisas
Old Woman Kadus
Spotted White Biifi;alo Wita-ataki-hahes
Seven Bears Dalipitsi-sapuas
Poor Wolf Tsesa-nadahes
Shakes Tree Wida-hakab.es
Middle Village, Awatiha.
Yellowed (Head Chief) Tsidikes
Bobtail Wolf (Second Chief) Tsesa-uh itis
Wolf Head Tsesa-atus
(— — )' Idi-i'pu-itas
Blood Bag ^Idi-isis
Bear Hugs Dahpitsi-da'pas
Left-hand Bull Kidapi-dahkisas
Cut Tail Tsite-patsakis
In the Cedar Mida-hupa-kuas
The Ree or Arickaree Adakadahus
Fish Speared Him Buadi-ida'pis
Wedge Mitis
Missouri River Awatis
Prairie Chicken Bear Tsitska-dahpitsis
Yellow Handle Hupa-tsidis
No Tears Ista-midi-desas
Lee Side Midokes
White Dog Wasuka-atakis
All Wet Adu-midi-tsakis
Of the West Village, Hidatsa.
The Red Point (Head Chief) I'puta-hises
Mocasin String (Second Chief) Itapa-kas
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 439
White Finger Nails Sake-i'p-atakis
One Buffalo '. Wite-duwetsas
Berry Necklace Matsu-apes
Mule (skin) Arrow Quiver Ita-isi-apitias
Arrow Point Wound Dropped Off • . . I-u-hatsis
(i. e. Has not penetrated deep)
The Bull (Striker Kidapi-dikis
Water Dropping In Midi-aduhes
White Buffalo Head Wite-ataki-atus
Bad Horn . . Asi-isias
Bull Looking at Something Kidapi-maikas
Raven Hair Peditska-dah pitsis
Long Hair Aku-ada-hatskis
Dog Crying Wasuka-iwias
White Crown (of head) Aseda-atakis
Four Bears Dahpitsi-topas
His Spotted (horses) Many Ita-haha-ahus
Blood from the Mouth .' I-idis
Ghost Getting Black Dokidahes-sipiades
Prairie Chicken Not Swimming Tsitska-midi-didi-tas
Last Rock Miihapa-datakis
Face to the Wind Ita-hutsi-tas
Raven Paunch Peditsk-inis
Porcupine Pemmican Apadi-i'tis
Red Drum Midaha-hises
Blue Stone Mii-tuas
Thin Shins Isa-tskipis
Walking Chief Matse-itsi-didis
Arm Flapping (The bone has been partly shot away). . .Ada-hehes
Big Black Adu-sipis-i'tias
On the Flat — or astray Adu-tsuka-dus
No Milk in the Breast Atsi-midi-desas
Wolf Different Tsesa-ihas
Gun Guarding House Ita-duha-ati-ika'kes
Raises Heart Madata-duh is
Boat Tail Wati-tsitas
Foolish Chief Matseitsi-wadutas
Shoulder Yellow , Idaspa-tsidis
Goose Midas
Eagle Holder Maisu-iaksis
Bear Heart Dahpitsi-datas
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF POOR WOLF_, HEAD SOLDIER OF THE HIDATSA OR GROSVENTRE TRIBE. (Eighty-six years old in 1906.)
I was born on the Knife river in the middle of the three Gros- ventre villages near the mouth of that stream. The chief of this middle village was the Road Maker. His father's name was Buffalo-hide-tent. The Road Maker was my mother's brother.
440 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
He was born 142 or 143 years ago/ I have kept a record and know 'this. The Koad Maker died when he was 78 years old. My father died the same year. I was then 22 years old. The Koad Maker was 78. That was about 64 or 65 years ago. My father was a lit- tle the younger of the two. He died in the winter, and the Road Maker died the summer before, when the cherries were ripe.
When I was a child of five winters, perhaps only four, I prayed to the spirits of animals, to the stars, the sun and the moon. My words were not many, but I prayed. I was afraid of the enemy in the dark. My father had heard of the white man's God through a trader but nothing clearly. We sometimes prayed to the white man's God who made us and could make us grow.
We had female divinities above, and we prayed to the four winds, and to the earth that makes the corn grow. There are many songs concerning these things, some of the songs speak of the different colored flowers. These things were taught for a great price, by the priests of the tribe.
When I was about five winters old a white chief visited our village on the Knife river. He said that the Gros Ventres should obey the Great Father, and consider their hunting grounds as extending from Devil's lake to the Yellowstone river. I remem- ber saying to my father: Will I be a white man now? And my father said, Yes. That was 77 years ago, and I have been a friend to the whites ever since.
These men had eight boats. They were drawn by ropes that the men pulled. They were soldiers with stripes on their breasts and arms. They returned down stream from the neighborhood of the Knife. One of the men in this company came to the Gros Ventre village just below the mouth of the Knife, where we were, and painted a picture of my uncle The Eoad Maker, the chief of our village.1 (Poor Wolf has. a carefully preserved water color done by some amateur painter. It is in a little nest or round frame, covered with a cracked glass, and ornamented with some brass headed tacks, and hung up by a piece of raw hide. With the picture he had preserved the scalp locks of his father and younger brother.)
When I was 17 years of age I had the small pox. I was left alone in a lodge, helpless, weak, and my eyes nearly closed. A bear came in and walked up to where I was lying. He sat down with his back pressed against me, and began to scratch his breast with his fore paws. By and by he got up and walked out of the lodge. Was I dreaming or had it really happened? While I was thinking it over the bear returned, and while T trembled for fear, went through the same motions again, and then went off, leaving me unharmed. I thought surely the bear has had mercy on me. When my father came again we talked it over and agreed
'For picture of Road Maker, see illustration.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 441
that the bear had pitied me. After that I worshiped the bear, and in the dance I wore anklets of bear's teeth.
When I was 19 or 20 years of age, I went fasting for 20 days. I would not eat anything nor smoke for four days. On the fifth day I would eat a little, and then fast again. My mother and friends would try to have me give up, but I persisted. I cried during this time, and then, for a year after, though I did not fast I kept on crying. After this I was tattooed on my arms and neck and other places on my body. This was done with great ceremony. Song was used in the performance. They would sing- Let his body be pictured, his face, his spirit also, and O! White Father in heaven, and ye four winds, make him blue. Let him not be bitten by rattle snakes. It was thought tha't the tattooing would give courage and afford protection; one would not be struck by bullets. One could suck out snake poison without harm. This last I did not like to try, but my father assured me it could be done. The tattooing left me sore- swollen, and itching. After a while I moved about slowly and painfully, and ate a little. I was rubbed with grease and then the sores healed and the blue patterns came out. In tattooing five little sharp instruments were fastened side by side. They were like needles, and pricked painfully into the flesh.
At the Knife river a party of Sioux once attacked us in the winter. The Gros Ventres were running away. I walked right ur> to the Sioux who were on horseback. They ran. Then two of them came against me on foot. They shot at me, but the bul- lets struck my beaded shirt and did no harm. I was then 21 years of age.
When I was 24 I came to the old Fort Berthold village. There they built a trading post. There were 50 warriors and 50 adults and children in the party. We put up a palisade round the post. We drew the logs with lariats of raw hide over our shoulders. We left the Knife because timber was scarce there and the Sioux were plenty. The Blackfeet (Hidu-sidi) also were troublesome.
There is a bluff in the "Six-Mile-creek," near the present stage- road crossing where they used to go to catch eagles. There my father used to worship when he was on such a hunt. They came from Knife river at that time. I once caught twelve eagles on one hunt. Three in one day was the most I ever caught. On another hunt I got seven. There are very strict rules for eagle hunting, but I did not think them correct and did not observe them all. One rule was that the successful hunter should return to camp with his eagles crying. I came back happy. If I cried over my success, I thought the eagles would not like it. If they cried because they did not catch an eagle, the rope might hear and help the next time. They prayed to the rope with which they caught the eagles. This was made of the fibre of a plant found in the woods. Two leaders of an eagle hunt wear eagle feathers
442 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
round their necks, and sing songs in the night. There are other rules, but I liked to go about the business in my own way. I have an eagle claw tattooed on my right hand. My uncle put it on so that I could grab a Sioux.
Once one hundred warriors of us were out on a trip, and got very hungry. I had a piece of fat buffalo meat that I had hidden and carried along. This I roasted and gave to them and so kept them from starving. In consequence one of the warriors gave me my name "Poor Wolf." The warrior who gave the name had taken part in a sun dance. He had continued dancing four days till all the others had stopped, and then kept on four days more. Then he had a dream and saw a wolf that told him he would have a long life. So he gave the name of Poor, i. e. Lean Wolf to me, because I had saved his life. Once when I first got a wagon and a span of mules, I hauled wood all winter for the people in our village who had no horses. One summer I killed buffalo when they were scarce, and brought in and divided the meat to the whole tribe. That same year I brought in two more pony loads of meat. I was alone. Once I gave away my meat and all my things, a nice horse, a war bonnet, a red blanket, a whet stone, a knife and sheath. I now enjoy thinking of these things.
Forty-four years ago when the Sioux made their last attack on the old Fort Berthold village, I was sick up river at our winter camp. The Sioux came from Poplar river and also from Standing Rock. They burnt a large part of the village, including my house, my big bell, and other things. They got some of the stores out of the cache holes. Pierre Garreau was in the village, and some of the Indians from the winter quarters had gone down to the village, and they helped defend the trader's corral, and block house. At this time Pierre scalped the Sioux whose body he hauled up from under the projecting upper story of the block house by a noose. After the fight Old-Knife, a Crow Indian, and a Sioux man living among us went as far as the Knife river and found two dead Sioux. These they scalped, and then returned having seen no more of the enemy. I was never wounded in a fight.
In the old time we had plenty to eat by hunting, but now we have cattle and big horses. In the old time there were many ene mies everywhere, but now we are safe in any place. In the old time we prayed to everything, and dreamed, and conjured, and got horses for pay. Now we know that this is wrong, yet in that time we thought about what was right and wrong. We thought that a murderer or one who killed himself could not be in the happy place.
Before I was baptized I threw away all my mysterious things (fetishes, charms, amulets, etc.). (Poor Wolf was baptized and united with a Christian church, May 28th, 1893, at Fort Berthold,
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 443
and has since been faithful and until he became blind and hard of hearing was active in leading his people to the Christ.)
I had a dried turtle shell, a muskrat skin, a mink skin, red muscles, a crane's head, an otter skin, — six things, besides pep- permint and other herbs. For these, and the songs and so forth connected with them, I paid eighty buffalo hides, besides guns, ponies, etc. I keep the turtle shell and the muscles yet, because they belong to my father; but I do not worship them. At one time, I paid one hundred and eighty buffalo hides, ten of which were decorated with porcupine work, and knives, and ponies, for a bear's arm, a crane's head, an owl's head, a buffalo skull, and a sweet-grass braid that represented a snake with two heads. There were other things. The Ion"1 hair of the buffalo near the jaw, owl's claws, and an image of an owl in buffalo hair. Such things were used at the buffalo dance for conjuring. These things give the strength of the buffalo in fighting with the enemy. They also bring the buffalo when food is scarce. They also cure wounds. There is also corn in the ear, and in a basket; red foxes, swift foxes, arrow heads, and things to make the wind blow right. Such things as these I took out on to a hill talked to them, saying I do not need you any more, and threw them to the winds. For doing so Crow Breast, the Gros Ventre chief, called me a fool.
(Addressing a younger man who had become a Christian, he said:)
I am very old and am waiting to go above, but you are young yet. Persevere in the way of God. So many of our young men are given up to the old dances and vices. (In this strain the old man talked at length to his friend at breakfast, after the usual blessing had been asked.)
Recorded for the Historical Society of North Dakota by C. L. Hall, Aug. 13th, 1906.
C. L. HALL.
BEAR ON THE WATER, MINIAKIHAMATO.
In 1904, when Bear on the Water was interviewed, he was the oldest living Mandan. He was born in 1822, at the chief village of the Mandans near Fort Clark. His father was Coyote Medi- cine, Shi-hak-hoch-pine, and was born in the smaller Mandan vil- lage. At the age of eleven Bear on the Water had already made himself a reputation as the swiftest runner of the tribe, and he recalls that on the night of the great meteoric shower in 1833, he had been running all day and so was not wakened when every other occupant of the village was awake and panic struck at the sight of the falling meteors. At the age of fifteen, after the small pox had decimated his tribe, he lived in a small village with the remnants of the Mandans who had sought shelter from the Sioux. Bear on the Water was at this time just beginning to use a gun. He recalls the attack on his village by the Sioux which resulted
444 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
in the death of one Mandan and four Sioux. The next year the Arikara came up the Missouri and occupied the old Mandan vil- lage. In about 1844 he recalls moving to Fort Berthold on ac- count of trouble with the Arikara. The following year, at the age of 23, he assumed the position he has held ever since, that of land chief, or adviser of the tribe on all land questions, and his decision was taken as final in the matter. Bear on the Water was the most famous runner in the whole Missouri valley ; he was accustomed to hunt and catch antelope on foot and in the same way overtake and shoot buffalo.
His rival for speed in the upper Missouri country was a cer- tain Sioux, who was so swift that he had many times out run horses in a race. These two finally fought in battle, the Sioux with a gun and Bear on the Water with a bow and arrow, and the latter was victorious. His second battle was at Fort Berthold, when he with some others attacked nine Sioux barricaded behind some poles and brush in a small grove. Bear on the Water acted as spokesman of his tribe at Bismarck, at the occasion of a great council of all the upper Missouri Indians, and as his interpreter, Chas. Patineaude (Packeneau) failed to. appear, he spoke in Sioux. He has always been a friend of the white man, and he is proud that he is a member of a tribe that never shed the blood of the whites. Bear on the Water and his wife, Yellow Nose, both died within a month of each other during the winter of 1905. Their pictures are seen in characteristic attitudes in the accom- panying plate.
A MANDAN WOMAN'S GAME.
This game is an exceedingly old one, as the related folklore ac- companying it indicates. With the origin of the game is con- nected the ever present buffalo, and the sacred ducks, the first white woman seen by the tribe, and the early movements of the first Mandans northward from their original home.
The game is played with six bone pieces made from buffalo ribs, and a small shallow basket or dish, about 10 inches in diameter, of woven willow, ornamented with colored porcupine quills. The six pieces are marked as seen in the accompanying plate and are called in the Mandan language, Sha-we. The basket is called Bach-dush-ke. The game is played as seen below, the two play- ers alternately tossing the pieces up in the basket and catching them again. They use a bundle of sticks, 100 in number, about 10 inches in length, as counters. The one winning the largest number of sticks is the victor in the game. The plays that were given to me by Good Voice, and other Mandan and Grosventre women, as counting in this game, are as follows :
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 445
I. — All the pieces face up , 10
II. — All the pieces obverse side up 10
III. — No. 1 obverse side up, Nos. 2 to 6 face up 10
IV. — Nos. 1 to 5 obverse side up, No. 6 face up CO
V. — Nos. 1, and 3 to 6 obverse side up, No. 2 face up 5
VI. — Nos. 1, 2, and 4 to 6 obverse side up, No. 3 face up 5
VII. — Nos. 1, and 3 to 6 face up, No. 2 obverse side up 10
VIII. — Nos. 1, 2, and 4 to 6 face up, No. 3 obverse side up .... 10
IX. — Nos. 1, 2, and 6 face up, Nos. 3, 4, 5, obverse side up .... 16
X. — Nos. 1 to 3 obverse side up, Nos. 4 to 6 face up 10
As long as any of the above combinations are thrown, the player is entitled to another throw. The following combinations, while not counting, also entitle the player to a second throw :
I. — Nos. 1 to 4, and 6 face up, No. 5 obverse side up.
II. — Nos. 1 to 3, 5 and 6 face up, No. 4 obverse side up.
The basket, Bach-dush-ke, is connected with another curious custom among the Mandans, that of baptism, as an accompani- ment of what corresponds to ordinary christening. When the basket is so used, the small hole in the center of the bottom is stopped with clay, and the basket is filled with water. At a cer- tain point in the ceremony the one in charge pierces the clay with a sharp instrument, and the water falls in a stream on the head of the young person in whose behalf the ceremony is per- formed.
In the game as originally played, or as played by the first woman, there were seven pieces, but one of them has been lost. It is hoped that the accompanying myth may appear in some future volume of our Collections. Like a number of others of a similar nature, it was told under pledge of secrecy,- and until permission is given, this very interesting story must remain un- published.
THE FOUR STICK GAME OP THE MANDANS.
This was a very common game among the Mandans and Gros- ventres of early days. The Mandans call it Man-i-dop, Four Stick Game. It is played by two or more persons, each taking his turn at tossing or dropping the four sticks upon the ground or upon a blanket in front of the players. As seen in the accompanying figure, one of the sticks is marked differently from the other three, which are all alike. The front and the obverse sides of the sticks are also different. For convenience of description the stick marked differently from the others will be. called B, and the three others will be called C. In the game, 60 small sticks or splints, about the size of matches, and six inches long, are used as count- ers. The winner of the last stick is the victor in the game. The following plays were given by Scattered Corn, daughter of Move Slowly, as counting in this game : —
446 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1. B obverse side up and any one of C front side up 5
2. B front side up and all three of C obverse side up 10
3. B and C all front side up 10
4. B and any one of C front side up 5
5. B and any one of C obverse side up, and these two sticks
touching each other at the end 4
6. B and any one of C obverse side up, and these two sticks
lying across each other 4
7. In the position given in 6, any one of C touching the pat-
tern on the obverse side of B 10
8. The four sticks lying other side up but across each other
in pairs 6
9. All of the sticks obverse side up, and two of C lying across
each other 4
The significance of the pattern on the sticks, which is burned into the wood, will be the subject of a future paper. Only one kind of wood is used in making these sticks, and this, as well as their number, and the pattern upon them is prescribed by very ancient tradition.
THE MYTH OP PACKS ANTELOPE. Translation from the Hidatsa or Grosventre by Rev. C. L. Hall.
This is a story told by the Indians of the Grosventre tribe as having occurred at Thunder Nest, a hill almost a mountain, that rises to a height of about one thousand feet above the Mis- souri river in the unorganized region west of the Missouri river and north of the Knife river, Twp. 151. N. Range 96 W. It is one of a large number of eminences, but is distinguished by having precipitous sides some sixty feet above the debris at the base. Before the work of erosion took place the top of this hill was probably nearly level and contained about twenty acres. The material is a soft sandstone which breaks off in great blocks some of them more than fourteen feet cube.
There was a man who was a hunter. He was in the habit of packing (carrying) antelope on his back. So the name of Packs Antelope was given to him. This man once went hunting and finding nothing sat down on the top of a hill. There he went to sleep. He lay asleep some time and when he awaked he found himself on the top of a very high hill. He went along the steep edges and found it everywhere a wall like precipice. When night came he slept and dreamed that he saw what seemed to be a girl and a boy. The girl talked for him and sang for him. Then he awaked and wandered about on the top of the hill crying. Then he found two eggs. These, he said to himself, are connected with what I saw in my dream. Then he found a doe lying dead. A little dry wood lay near. He cut up the doe and ate some of it. It rained there on the hilltop and places in the rock were filled
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 447
with water to drink. The eggs he found proved to be the thun- der-bird children. They by this time lay hatched. Of these thunder bird children one was a female and the other a male. The female was the one which sang for him. It was her father's mysterious songs that she had sung to him. The boy child, he said: "Why have you sung our father's mystery song to him?" She replied: "He is my older brother." She referred to Packs Antelope. "At this season I shake myself, I shake off my fledg- ling feathers and they fall off and go flying to the lake over there and drop in, and a big snake comes mounting up and devours us continually. So father brought you, a capable person from the earth," she said. "Now tomorrow is the time we will shake off our first feathers. If he comes, be ready. There is only one way to kill him. Here in the hollow of the neck is the only place." "Well, all right," said he. And in the morning when they shook themselves, fledgling feathers floated off and went there to the lake. And lo! a fog rolled up and the water came up over the land. "Look!" she said, "it is time, my older brother." And Packs Antelope blackened two arrows and two others he painted red. And now a big snake reached up its breast. Then he took a blackened arrow and pierced with it the round white spot in the hollow of the neck. Then he took another arrow and did the same way again. The snake sent out his lightning but Packs Antelope had built a wall of rocks in front of him for protection so he was not hurt. And the big snake fell down. Then the man ran to the opposite side for there another head and breast had appeared. But he did as before and again it fell down. Then the precipices split, the water went down, and the big snake lay dead coiled around the hill. How very glad his younger sister was! Then she showed him what to do. "When I call my father and he gives you the choice of swords, take the one that is tied up in several places," she said. And the girl called all the thun- der birds from the four winds. And from everywhere, one after another, they all came back. And they saw the big snake and rejoiced greatly and praised the man. Then the thunder bird let Packs Antelope choose a sword. And he did as his younger sister had already instructed him. When he chose he took the one that was tied up in several places, and then there was a crying noise all about. "So now Packs Antelope you have both our mysterious song and mysterious sword, and we will sro about with you from now on," they said. "A1J ready! perform ye some magic," they said. Then one of them came, made him lie down, and covered him with a blanket. And when the blanket was taken off he lay made into an egg. Then again the blanket hid him and was taken off and the egg was hatched. Again he was hid with the blanket, and it was taken off the third time, and he was shaking off the first feathers. A fourth time the blanket hid him and was taken off, and he was a full fledged bird. So he was made com-
448 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
pletely a thunder bird. Then they said, "All right, see ye to it, he has killed a fat thing for us." Then the thunder bird, the one with the white tail, was set to work but could not raise the great snake. Then also others attempted it, but none could do it. Then a wren (a thunder bird of that kind) was set to work and he carried the snake to the top of the hill. "Now then Packs An- telope, see what you can do" they said. And at once he flew up and he san^ completely the mysterious song that had been given him. And with that sword of his he cut it in four pieces, that big snake, with a face at both ends. Then they made a big feast "And now Packs Antelope you have become our child," they said. "You have both our song mysterious and our sword mysterious. These we always take to all four parts of the earth" they said. "And if we go about with you it will be the same.'' In all the earth they went with him and made him fully a thunder bird. And he destroyed all the mighty things. Traveling north with them he destroyed the great beaver, the great snake, and many other mighty ones.
Then our Grandfather, the Grosventre, did not like it, and set out to get him (Packs Antelope) back into the tribe. So he made his hair braids to lie floating in the middle of the water (Mis- souri river). Then the white tailed eagle (that kind of thunder bird that never misses seeing anything) now saw and signaled back, and soon Packs Antelope arrived. He swooped down on top of the head as it lay there and struck it, and as it lay still he lighted on it. He wished to fly off with it quickly, but his feet were caught in the hair. Then Packs Antelope was dragged into the water with him (the grandfather). Now a sweat house stood ready and Packs Antelope went into it with him. There some of the biggest bulls stood as edge weights to hold the sweat house down. Then the grandfather took four sage plants wrapped together and beat him with them. Then Packs Ante- lope cried, "I come to myself, I come to myself, my Grandfather." He made Packs Antelope vomit so that the snake flesh was all completely thrown up which he had eaten, and he sent him out of the sweat house to lie exhausted. "Because you have acted badly I have done this" the Grandfather said. "Mighty myste- rious things you have destroyed, so I have done this." But now as Packs Antelope looked about at things the lightning struck (where he looked). "Ah! I forgot your eyes" the Grand- father said. Then he took a bull's hide and made a hat of it. Thus Packs Antelope was again made a common person. He went home. He returned to the village. And the people came to see him. But when he looked on the house wall for anything the lightning struck there. That alone our Grandfather forgot to fix when he sent Packs Antelope out of the sweat house. That is the way it was. "And from now on they call me Hat-Low and so my band is named" Packs Antelope said. %"And if anyone
Pestle from principal Grosventre village on Knife river.
GROSVE.NTRE' SYMBOLIC • HAMMER.
The old blockhouse at Fort Berthold.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 449
gives me food these who are of my band take it away and eat it," he said. "And also some days when they go traveling if rain conies they signal to me always to go to one side and I do so," he said. "Further if an enemy is near I crash loudly," he said. So since that time if any member of the band does these things he (Packs Antelope) understands. This is the end.
[The interlinear translation of the above myth is here ap- pended.]
Masits Uni-Kiis. THE MYTH OF PACKS-ANTELOPE
Matse wa maasiksi wadets. Unikia kuadu iksi wadets .
Man a hunter indeed. Antelope pacing in that habit.
Heesaduk ikidasi'ka wadets, Unikiis. Heesaduk maasi
So name given indeed, Packs- Antelope. So hunting
de is, hesak itamodii nesak i'tihpu amakak makikida da'ku> went, and his find nothing top of hill sat searching was,
ihidawi wadets. Hidawa waka itsheduk, awa wa maku
slept indeed. Sleeping lay waked when, • hill a very
ihidiwa i'puka itshe wadets. Awadeti'ti'ta asiduk, hakaheta high on top waked indeed. Edge went along when, all
miihapi idaktsatsi hise wadets. Oktsia masiadeduk, precipice wall-like indeed. At night dreamed when,
makadista wia wa sek makadista matse wa sek maika wadets. girl a that and boy a that and he saw indeed.
Akumias seedi ikupide wadets, hesak mapaha ku wadets.
The girl that one talked to him, and sang for
Haduk itshak siawiduk awas i'pukaha iwiak asa ha'ku wadets. And waked then hill the on top crying wandered.
Tsakaka daka dupa odapi wadets. Hadiuk hiadoodi wadets,
Eggs two found. And these indeed,
mamasiade wa akuamkas idietsi wadets. Heesaduk aduwitei'tia dream in those I saw he thot. And doe
wa ta waki odapi wadets. Wida aduutsi duwa kausta utidu a dead lay found indeed. Wood dry some little near
ka wadets. Haduk aduwitei'tias hakatsi wadets. Hesak waduti lay And doe the butcherd. And ate .
wadets. Hesak nadeha kuadu awas i'pukaha miihapase midi some And rain there the hill top on among the rocks
masi tsakidu, hiai waki wadets. Tsakaka-daka akuodapis sio water full, to drink lay. Eggs he found those
tahu idaka wadets. Heseadetsa ka kidahuha wadet. Hesak
the thunder bird children. Now lay hatched indeed. And
Hist-29
450 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
tahu idakas duwetsa aduwi'ka, duwetsa adukidapi wadets. thunder child the one female one male indeed.
Haduk aduwi'ka sedi akumapaha kuns seedi wadets. Hidits And female that one who sang for was that. This
atuas itu akuhupoo see ' wadets. Heesaduk
father's the • songs that was mysterious. So
akumakadista-matse seedi: Tose maatuas itu akuhupaas dapaha the boy that one: Why our father's song mysteirous
claku. he wadets. Hesak isa se wadets: Matadu
you sang for, said. And so she said indeed: My older brother
he wadets. Uhikiis see kak. Awa hidi'kadu
she said. Packs-Antelope that ment. Season this at
mi'kipatotadu. adumiipitu'to, hatsak dakapak dak,
I shake myself, I am shaking off (feathers), fall off flying go,
midii'tia ewaki'kua dedu mapuksi'tia adatak huits. Hesak lake there go in, big snake mounting comes. And
mipe icluts. Heesawa tatis siadi diakdahuats
devours us always. So father that one you he brought a person-
awaankadohpaka maadukiadetsi iduts, hak. . Hidi ataduk of-the-earth capable always, said she. Now to-morrow
ku'kats adumi'kipatoats. Huduk mapehe tsakiha,
is time we will shake off feathers. If he comes be ready.
itaite duwetsatats. Hidoo apa aduhakupidu
way to kill only one is. Here neck hollow in
seetsaki'tats. Heeduk ho he wadets. Hesaduk atawa there only. All right says (he) indeed. And in morning
i'kipato'taduk aduipitu'to dakapak dak
when they shook themselves, fledgeling (feathers) floated
midii'tia sekua de wadets. Haduk wate awasiaa dahade lake there to went indeed. And. now fog stood.
Hesak awas akata midi uahe wadets. Haduk, ihe, ku'kats, And land above water came over. And, look, its time,
matadu he wadets. Haduk Uhikiis ta dupa sipihe
my older brother said she. And Packs -Antelope arrows two
wadets, hesak isa dupa hise wadets. Haduk wate mapusi'tia blackened and also two reddened. And now snake- big
wa apata akipe wadet. Haduk ita akusipihas duwetsa a breast reached up. And arrow blackened one
kutsak apa aduhakupidu kakiha ohata dakiduk, seduiikakahi'ke took neck hollow in round white was, therein wTith
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 451
wadets. Hesak isa iduwetsa kutsak, ihesatseduk,
pierced. And again one more he took, did the same when
i itakadi!ka dihe wadets. Uhikiis ita widaksi hidiwa
his lightning- sent out (i.e. the snake). Packs-Antelope his pali-
sekua i'kipsa'ke diha wadets, heesawa maduwata wadets.
sade made because there defended, so harm no indeed.
Hesak mapuksi'tias ikipatak de wadets. Hak iikupata tidia And the snake fell down. And opposite side to
wadets. Duwetsa isa apata akipeduk, isa hesatsa wadets,
he ran. Another breast came up, and again he did the same.
Hesaduk isa kipatak de wadets. I miihapa hatsa. haduk
So again it fell down. The preceipice split, the
midis kiduhimi wadets, haduk mapuksi'tias i awas i'kikiahak water went down, and the big snake the hill sorrounding
waki madets, tahe wa. Haduk itakisas seedi iepa ihidi lay killed because. And his younger sister was glad
wadets. Hak maowiaku wadets. Tatis mamakikuhaduk
very. And (she) taught him. Father when I call
heesaduk midahise etsa diuatakaduk, duwetsa adu kiduti
then swords all he gives you choice of, one tied up there
watuduk see dadutsidits, he wadets. Hesak makadistawias seedi as if that take, she said. And the girl that
hutsi aduhu topatsa tahu etsa makikuha wadets: Haduk one winds four thunder birds all called indeed. And
tokahedus ikia wa'ku etsa daka wadets. Hesak
everywhere from in succession all came back. And
mapuksi'tias ikak iapa ihida wadets, hesak dohpakas ekiweda wadet. snake the saw and rejoiced greatly, and man the they praised.
Hak tahuas siadi Uhikiis midahise uataka wadets. Haduk
And thunder bird Packs-Antelope sword let choose. And
itakisas seedi tatakua aduowiakus heesa hidi wadets. younger sister the that one already showed so he did.
Uataduk duwetsa iadukiduti tsake hisaduk, see dutsi wadets. Choose when one tied up. here and there kthat he took.
Haduk imaiwi tsatsk'i wadets. Heeseduk hidf Uliikii
And crying noise. So now Packs-Antelope
|
matua songs |
akuhpapak, matamidahise akuhupapak, dupatsa deets; mysterious, and sword mysterious, both you have; |
||||
|
haduk and |
odimakupapak will you we |
awasa with |
aduawakuats go about |
hinikak, ' from now on, |
haa they |
452 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
wadets. Ku'kats, duwa kiduspiadatsada haaduk,
said All ready, some magic do you they said when,
duwetsidi dawak, napi'kak, itasi iahua wadets. Hesak
one came made him lie, blanket with covered. And the
itasis kidunapiduk kitsakaka i'ka'ka waki wadets.
blanket took off when made an egg he lay.
Hi hidoo ikupa itasi ianuak, kutsiduk wate
And now again blanket hid with, taken off when already
kidahuhak daki wadets. Hi hidoo itasi ianua
hatched it was. And now blankets with hid and
kutsiduk idahawi wate i'ikpatota da'ku wadets.
taken off third time now shaking feathers off it was.
Hi iitopa itasi iahua kutsiduk isuuti
And the fourth time blanket hid with taken off when full
odak daki wadets. Haduk ikitahu'kak wadets.
fledged was And he was made fully thunder-bird indeed.
Hesak seduhak ku'ka duwa ikadatsada, Uhikiis maidipiwa
And then all right some see to it, Packs-Antelope a fat thing
akutaha mikua he, haa wadets. Haduk seduhak tahuas
which he has killed for us, they said. And then thunder-bird the
akuipataki dawi'kaduk dunipita wadets, mapuksi'tias. [big] the one of the white tail set to work when could not lift the snake
Hi isa ahatsase dawi'ka a'kuadu dunipitidu wadets.
And also others set to work when could not any of them.
Haduk midatsitsuni wa dami'kaduk seedi akadati
And wren a set to work when that one went up with it
wadets awas i'puka. Heeduk ku'kats Uhikii,
indeed hill to the top of. Now then Packs-Antelope,
duwa ikadats, haa wadets. Haduk ikadusedu kidakapini
see what you can do, they said. And at once he flew up.
wadets. Hasak maitu akunupawa okuas kipahi wadets. Hesak And song mystertous given he sang fully. And
itawiadahises seta ikitopahe'ke wadets, mapuksa-itias, see ita his sword that with he cut in four, the big snake the one
dupatsata wadets. Hasak maduti'tia hida wadets. Hesak
with the face at both ends. And feast big made. And
hidi Uhikii, dimadakiwaats, haa wadets. Maitu
now Packs- Antelope, you we make our child, they said. Song
akuhupapak, matawidahise akuliupapak, dupatsa deets. mysterious, and our sword mysterious, both ' you have.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 453
Kuo awa ito'pakuadusa irnamadutsi iduts, haa wadets. Those earth four parts all we take to always, they said.
Haduk odimak-awasats, haaduk hese wadets.
And you with we will go about, they said if, so it is.
Awa Bakaheta ak-asa wadets, kitahu'kak [they made him.
In all the earth they went with him, complete.tly thunder-bird
Haduk maaduidoo watuatsi etsa detshe wadets. Awasitakuaha And mighty things all he destroyed. Northward
akasaduk midapa adui'tiak, mapuksi'tiak, awaakuta ahu travelling with beaver great, snake great, mighty ones many
detshe wadets. Heesaduk madutako Hidatsa itaka seedi destroyed. Then our grandfather Grosventre that one
kidetata wadets. Hasak kutsi maihe wadets. Hesak midi
liked enot And get him back purposed. And water
duwatadu itadusipe idakapina a'kukak waki wadets. Haduk middle of his hair braids floating he made to lie. And now
wate ipataki wa seedi maiahe desa idusiduwa. wate white tail eagle a that one overlooking nothing ever, now
ikak matse'ka dakua wadets. Haduk itiata wate Unikiis
saw and signals back. And soon now Packs-Antelope
dawa hi wadets. Hesak aseda atehak wakiduk duwatadu
going arrives. And top of head in sight lay when middle in
diki wadets. Haduk ihakataha wakiduk, iankadu kihapi wadets. struck it. Then still like (it) lay when, on its lights.
Hesak akde maiheduk iitahidi'taha, hak itsise aksia wadets, And take it away wished quickly, but by was caught,
Unikiis. Hesak midi mahuka ak-widedi wadete. Hesak
Packs- Antelope. And water in he with him entered. And
awaawoti ihada dahade'keduk sekua iakwidedi wadets. sweat house ready stood there in with entered.
Seduhak kidapi adui'tiatsase awaawotis ati itake wadets. And there bulls of the biggest sweat house the holders-down.
Hesak inokataki topa pawutsak a'kak siata idati wadets. And sage plants four wrapped lay these with he beat him
Haduk, mi'kadawits, mi'kadawits, makutada,
And, I come to myself, I come to myself, my grandfather,
he wadets. Kade'ka hesa da'ku mapuksa aduidu etsa ikikade he said. Made vomit, so that was snake flesh all completely
wadets, hak katateduk awaawotikuhak iawaapia waki wadets. vomited, and sent out when sweat house from exhausted lay.
Hist-30 '
454 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Heesaduk, isidawa kuasawats, he wadets.
So you did badly because, I do this, he said.
mahupa aduidoo watu etsa destidawa kuasawats
mysterious things mighty destr©yed you, because so I do.
Haduk makikidiuk ikadi'ka dihe wadets. Hesak; E!
But things looking for when lightning struck. ,And; Ah!
dista makadahisa wadets, he wadets. Hesak kidapas aduihapi your eyes I forgot, he said. And bull the hide
dutsak apuka'ka wadets. Haduk Uhikiis isa
he took and hat made of. And Packs- Antelope again
kiamakadohpakake wadets. Ha kdakua wadets. Hesak
was made a common person. And went home. And
awatikua ki wadets. Haduk dohpakipi ika usia wadets. Hehaduk village to returned. And people to see came. But then
at-edi'kata makikidiuk ikadi'ka dihe wadets. Seetsaki
house wall on looking for things lightning struck. That only
madutaka hedi adukiksi kadahitsa katatewa
our grandfather that one to fix forgot sent out when
awaawotikuhak hesa wadets. Hak hidikak itu'ta "Apuka-Mika" sweat house frOm so it was. And from now on "Hat-Low"
mihehaats, matadaki onasati, he wadets. Haduk siada tney call me, my band is named, he said. And those ones
maduwadi mamikuduk kutsak dutihaats, he wadets.
any one gives me something if take and eat, he said.
Hesak mapiduwadu asa dadiaha hade huduk ihutak dutsi'ta And some days travelling going rain comes if, signalling aside
mide'ke ihats, haduk aduhesawats, he wadets. Hesak maiha me send always, and I will do so. And enemy
duwadi diatsaduk hi'taha madakiiwits, he wadets. Hawa siakawa some you near if loudly I will crash he said. Also since
daki aduakidi heesaduk e'ke i wadets.
then band member so do if he (i.e. Packs- Antelope) knows it.
Kidutskititis.
It is tied up. (i. e. ended).
Told by Edward Goodbird. Recorded by C. L. Hall. August 10, 1906.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 455
A GROSVENTRE INDIAN LEGEND. Told by Bobtailed Bull, (Grosventre). Translated by C. W. Hoffman.
Once upon a time a great Indian chief of the tribe of Gros- ventres, set out upon a journey. His motive was one of vengeance, for his grim, stolid features wore a look of hatred, while his dark eyes flashed with the fire of blood thirst. So silently he stole along the war path that his footsteps scarcely stirred the brittle grass. Presently as night came on the traveler observed that a storm was threatening, so he paused in a sheltered spot, and with the genius of his race, he quickly improvised a wigwam, covered over with a blanket, and beneath this shelter he lay down to rest. Scarcely had sleep touched his eyelids, however, when his quick ear caught a weird, unfamiliar sound which swelled and grew out of the silence of the night in a most terrifying manner. Half in terror the startled chief bounded to his feet, for to his superstitious fancy the sad, complaining tones that rose and fell in the distance seemed the doleful voices of his spirit people, for whose murder he now was going to seek revenge.
But now, as the sounds grew louder and nearer, he started in dismay. The numerous voices that, now swelled quite close about his tent were no longer weird and unearthly. Low, indistinct murmers of anger and hatred struck fear to the heart of the war- rior chief. Had the enemy found his lair? Was he doomed to die by the hand of his bitterest foe, without one friend to take his part? Then let his heart turn to stone, and his breast bare proudly to the deadly arrow, he would not flinch. With all the stoicism and courage of his race he stepped boldly forth to meet the approaching, enemy. To his great astonishment he found himself utterly alone. No savage forms lurked in the underbrush. But dark and thick and low a great swarm of large mosquitoes settled on and around him, and it was the concen- trated song of these myriads of mosquitoes which had caused the noble chief's alarm. In meek submission he bent his proud head and quickly sought the shelter of his wigwam.
THE PROCESS OF TANNING SKINS BY INDIANS. By C. W. Hoffman.
After the skin is procured, the meat is all scraped off by a small iron tool V/2 feet long by 1 in diameter, and flattened at one end with teeth like a saw. The skin is then stretched to dry by staking it out on the ground or on poles, and some times on the side of their houses, which takes all of three days, some times longer. After drying it is scraped on both sides with a bone tool made from a piece of an elk's horn with a small sharp piece of iron fastened in one end.
456 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The skin is then taken and rubbed all over with liver, bacon or the brains of the animal killed until it is saturated, and then left out in the air; after which it is taken and put to soak in a tub of water for a day, and then stretched again on the poles, and all the water scraped out by a small tool made of a thin piece of iron, five inches long by four wide. It is then nearly dry.
A rope is stretched perpendicularly and the skin taken by both hands is pulled back and forth against this rope untii it is whitened and softened.
If it is to be smoked, the skin is sewed up like a sack, and placed over a pail of smoking corn cobs, or a hole in the ground filled with the smoking cobs, which leaves the skin a dark tan color. The skin is now ready to be made up into moccasins, leggins, shirts and other articles of wearing apparel.
THE MANUFACTURE OP THE HORN ORNAMENTS OF THE MANDANS,
By E. R. Steinbrueck.
Bracelets have not been made from the rib-bones of any small animal, as stated by some other publication, but from, the thick of the elk horn, between the first and second prong. A test will prove that all pieces of bracelets found are of horn and not of bone.
I have found frequently and at every one of the ancient Man- dan Indian village sites, near and above the Heart river, three cornered long pointed pieces of elk horn (Fig. 2 d), which all showed work, but none of them was finished into any kind of an implement. They were shaved smooth on the surface and their edges were cut. Their purpose remained a riddle to me for a long time, and they would have been classified as "objects of horn, purpose unknown," only for a later discovery. I had found also long narrow strips of elkhorn, worked in the same manner, which I soon recognized to be bracelets in their first stage (Fig. 3 c). One day working at Heart River village site (so called for the reason that the only water near that site is the Heart river flowing immediately under its bank of twenty feet high), I un- earthed in one of the higher earth elevations or mounds, com- posed of layers of soil, ashes and refuse mixed, as they surround the outskirts of most every old Mandan village, a nest of those three cornered horn pieces (Fig 2), as also unfinished or broken bracelets, cut off tips (Fig. 7) and some pieces of elkhorn, the latter scraped on the outside with incisions running up and down the horn. These incisions though being irregular and crooked, that piece of elkhorn was discarded by the maker and was cast away to serve its future mission, viz., to teach posterity the very manner in which the Mandans used to make their bracelets.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
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458 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PROCESS OP MANUFACTURE.
First a piece of the elkhorn, between the first and the second prong was scraped smooth all around, probably by applying a flint scraper, which are found in greater abundance than any other implement. These incisions were made about half an inch apart, or less in some instances, running up and down, parallel to each other (Fig. 1). Now it happened to me to see that the three cornered piece (Fig. 2 d) simply was a remnant of no use, thrown away. And that reason accounts for the large number found of such horn pieces. The long narrow strips (Fig. 2 c) were secured for further manipulation. Still the little girls, who had to clean the lodge every day, do not seem to have been very par- ticular in saving all the serviceable material. The long horn strps were smoothed down, rounded at the edges, and scraped flat at the back or the inside (Fig. 4). Next a groove was cut at the flat inside for the purpose of easier bending (Fig. 5.) Then the bracelet, nearing its finish, was cut to the proper length (a — b Fig. 5) to fit either the wrist or the neck of the intended wearer, leaving two end pieces (Fig. 7) which are frequently found. The. piece of bracelet, now of exact length, received two holes, one at either end (Fig. 6), drilled by a small flint drill. It seems very reasonable to suppose that these holes were made for tying the bracelet. Narrower bracelets not allowing a hole, which would weaken the material, were supplied for the purpose of tying with notches at the ends. (Fig. 8). This latter kind of bracelet was either round or flat, without a groove.
Finally the now nearly ready bracelet, probably softened in hot grease, was bent to shape for the adornment of a happy girl or a happier wife.
The appliance of hot grease to horn and bone articles used as ornaments or as tools caused the better preservation up to our times, while other common bone debris in the very neighborhood of such implements is in a state of more or less decay.
Headgear for ornament was either made from the buffalo horn or from the elk horn. I have seen such buffalo horn headgear in the possession of a certain Hidasta Indian "Willem Bell," living at Fort Berthold reservation on the south side of the Mis- souri river, and have taken his photograph. The Indians of that reservation are in a decidedly high state of civilization, and do not wear Indian costumes; only keep them as a kind of relic, in remembrance of their fathers, who used to dress up in them.
I have found elk horn headgear in its different stages in the refuse heaps of the ancient Mandan villages and have observed that both kinds of headgear, that from the buffalo horn and that from the elk horn, were finished in the same manner, with the difference in the tips. The buffalo horn was pointed to one tip, while the elk horn was cut three-pointed at the upper end or
STATE OP NORTH DAKOTA
459
Tlctte IT.
rounded off. Several specimens of either shape have been found. I have a very fine, well finished, perfect piece of elk horn headgear among my private collection. See Fig. 2 A.
The same part of the elk horn which was used in making the bracelet was chosen to furnish the headgear. Instead of the many incisions but two cuts were made, after scraping the horn (see Fig. 1), the one cut up and down to the middle of the first prong (a-a) and the other exactly opposite (b-b), thus splitting the horn into two equal corresponding halves, which were cleaned of the adhering porous stuff inside, scraped, polished and cut to shape and to fit the head of the wearer (Fig. 2).
It is reported by Indians of today that at a pow-wow the horned dancers used to amuse the onlookers by throwing their horns alternately up and down. They were happy, unconcerned people, loving games, sport, fun and story-telling.
THE MEDICINE SOCIETY OF THE DAKOTA INDIANS.
BY J. M. GILLETTE.
Simmel, Ward, Ross and others in their writings recently have shown the large place deception has played in the process of social evolution. Thus, for instance, Simmel lays the basis for secret societies.
460 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Knowledge of the persons with whom we have to deal is neces- sary to sustain a working relationship. "Just as our apprehen- sion of external nature, along with its elusions and its inaccu- racies, still attains the degree of truth which is essential for the life and progress of our species, so each knows the other with whom he has to do, in a rough and ready way, to the degree necessary in order that the needed kinds of intercourse may pro- ceed." ("The Sociology of Secrecy and of Secret Societies," Amer. Jour. Sociol., Vol. 11, p. 441.) Positive knowledge of nat- ural conditions enables man to make accurate and scientific ad- justment to nature. Nature is full of deceptions for the sub- human world but she does not attempt to deceive the scientist. On the other hand, in an age where little positive knowledge exists the dreadful mystery of surrounding nature becomes the parent of illusions by which the burdens of life are borne. (Loc. cit, p. 444.)
In personal relations trustworthy intercourse with fellow- men would be advanced by exact knowledge of associates. How- ever, social experience has found concealment of intentions an advantage in some situations, "and our fellow-man of his own motion gives forth truth or error with reference to himself." (Ibid, p. 445.) In this manner lies get their social birth. In primitive society, where credit-economy, which demands veracity for its existence, played small part, deception was permissible in the sense of being less injurious than in civilized society. Moreover, in primitive conditions deception had positive value. "The lie that succeeds — that is, which is not seen through— is without doubt a means of bringing mental superiority to expres- sion, and of enabling it to guide and subordinate less crafty minds. It is a spiritually first law, equally brutal, but occasion- ally quite as much in place, as the physical species ; for instance, as a selective agency for the breeding of intelligence; as the means of enabling a certain few, for whom others must labor, to secure leisure for production of the higher cultural good; or in order to furnish a means of leadership for the group forces." (Ibid, pp. 446-7.)
It was the privilege of the present writer to go among the Dakota Indians, living on Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota, on a mission for the Historical Society of that state, during the month of July, 1906, to gather material of historical and sociological value for a history of the commonwealth which the society is in process of publishing. A very special field of inquiry was to be Dakota secret societies.
The Medicine Society was the only one of which definite trace could be found, and probably was the only secret order among the Sioux. The government authorities long since abolished the observances among the Indians because of their tendency to draw them back to and continue them in their primitive conditions.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 461
The information was gained from Indians who were acquainted with the rites as formerly practiced, and from whites whose lives have been spent and who still live among the Dakotas. My most valuable white informant was Mrs. Jas. McLaughlin, wife of Major Jas. McLaughlin, now U. S. Indian inspector, formerly agent to the Indians at Devils Lake, and later at Ft. Yates for a great many y*ears. Mrs. McLaughlin has resided among the In- dians for about twenty-five years, was adopted into the Medicine Society, and is thoroughly conversant with_ Indian life. Other whites who assisted me were Father Bernard, Catholic priest at Ft. Yates for twenty years ; Mr. T. J. Reedy, chief of Indian po- lice, a resident and employe of the government among the Indians for some twenty-five years; Mr. J. B. Gayton, who has lived among the Sioux over forty years and whose wife is of that race ; Mr. John Carrignan, formerly teacher, then agent, to the Indians, and now manager of a store at Yates.
My most valuable Indian informant was Mr. E. D. White, engi- neer at Yates. The superintendent of the government schools at Yates considers Mr. White the most advanced Indian on the reservation. Mr. White is a graduate of Carlisle, is interested in the history and customs of his people, and of his own initiative has gathered from the old men much information relative to the Sioux. I was also helped by Charging Thunder, medicine man; Black Bull, chief; Big Head, medicine man, and others.
The U. S. Ethnological Reports have been useful on several points.
No doubt the sociological specialists in the origin ond develop- ment of social institutions will be the ones to assign whatever small value this material possesses. To myself it has appeared important as the partial record of perhaps the most powerful device for social control and culture to be found among that most forceful of all native American races; also as furnishing a basis of comparison with similar societies among the more eastern native stocks to show how institutions degenerated or changed in the process of adoption. It appears that innovations are made. For instance, the medicine man among the Dakotas is both thaumaturgist and physician, while among certain more eastern Indians he was almost wholly, if not completely, the former. Again the social feature is more pronounced among the Sioux than among either the Menomini or the Ojibwa. Finally arid personally I am impressed with the fact that faith in and remem- brance of previously fundamental institutions are rapidly oblit- erated under the authoritative stress of a superior social en- vironment.
The Medicine Society of the Dakota Indians is evidently of ancient Indian origin. Referring to one of its features, that of initiation, Hoffman says : "This ceremonial, which appears" from all available evidence to have been originally an Algonquian pro-
462 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
duction, seems to have made its impress upon the cult ceremonies of, or perhaps even to have been adopted by, other tribes. When Carver met the Naudowessies (Sioux), he 'found that the nations to the westward of the Mississippi, and on the borders of Lake Superior,' still continued the 'use of the Pawwaw or Blackdance.' which partook of the character of the juggler's performances, as he speaks of 'the devil being raised in this dance by the Indians.' He next refers to the society of the 'Wakon-Kitchewah' or 'Friend ly Society of the Spirit,' which is composed of persons of both sexes, but such only as are of exceptional character, and who receive the approbation of the whole body. His description is sufficiently intelligible to show that the ceremonial was that of the Algonquian medicine society, though it had been greatly per- verted, as practiced even in former times by the Ojibwa and Menomini Indians." (Fourteenth Annual Ethnol. Kep., p. 111.)
The Medicine Society of the Dakota Indians might, in a very large sense, be called a secret society. Like our civilized societies which pass under that denomination, it had its marks of secrecy. Those who were permitted to belong to it were made fit for mem- bership by initiation and a long process of educational training, save in rare cases. When a member they gained admission to par- ticular functions of the society by means of passes and there ex- isted a grip by means of which in the absence of other insignia membership might be made known. Also there were certain ar- ticles which would indicate the standing of the person who held proprietorship over them. The magic wand, the medicine bag, the sacred rattle, etc., when worn or when kept in the lodge of the individual served to mark him as a member of the society.
This society was further similar to civilized secret orders by reason of the various degrees or ranks through which the order graduated. In the detailed description of some of the rites or functions of the society, which presently follow, it will be ap- parent that there were a certain few who were very much ad- vanced in membership and powers and to whom a certain set of rites belonged exclusively. It will likewise be apparent that the society must be considered a secret one by reason of the fact that to a considerable extent it was in its nature esoteric. While many of its observances were open to all the people for their observation and entertainment, only the membership could ac- tively participate and only the membership possessed the erudition and powers necessary to participation.
INITIATION INTO THE MEDICINE ORDER.
In all religions, whether primitive or civilized, the priest is either a miracle or wonder worker or a representative of the miraculous realm. Since a special body of knowledge of the working of the spirits or demons and of the laws or formulas according to which they work is necessary in order that they may be controlled, a special class of men arise under social
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 463
evolution whose peculiar social function it is to mediate between the body of people and the demons. To get to belong to this order a time of training is required, varying from a few days or weeks to several years. The final acceptance of the candidate by the order is always a time of solemnity when the unknown realm is specially approached and wrought upon for favor and power by means of ceremonies which are supposed to be peculiarly effective in their nice adjustment to that end. This occasion is known as the initiation or ordination.
The Medicine Society of the Dakota is an order after the nature of this designation. The members of the order are those who by their special knowledge of the spirits with which nature in every nook and cranny, every object and phenomenon, is possessed, and of their power to control them by formula and incantation occupy a place of extreme prominence and exercise large powers of so- cial control. The order by reason of what it is specialized to do partakes of the nature of two distinct specializations of mod- ern society. The members are religious or mystery mongers in so far as they handle the spirits. But in that they lay hold of diseases by application of natural remedies, whose virtue, how- ever, they attribute not to properties working according to cause and effect, but to the spirit in the remedies which they are able to. control through their formula, they are akin to physicians.
Spencer distinguished between medicine men and priests in that the former deal "antagonistically" with superhuman and supernatural beings. Since ghosts are affected quite like men, medicine men try to frighten them by threats, grimaces, and noises, or to disgust them by stenches, or to make the body intol- erable for their diseases. They have some capacity as a social factor though not as much as has the first. (Sociology, Vol. 3, p. 38.) The priest, though commonly dealing with spirits sympa- thetically through propitiation, comes to use exorcism in order to drive away one evil spirit by calling in another. (Ibid, p. 82.)
Such a powerful position, it may be believed, cannot be entered without due ceremony, save in very exceptional cases. This initia- tory proceeding occupies a very prominent place in the medicine dance. There is even some reason to think that it is the chief purpose of that dance. The ceremony by which the individual ceases to be a novitiate is said to have been introduced and or- dained by the patron of the order, Oanktayhee. This deity is one of the large class of water or subterranean gods, Unktelii. One of these lived in the falls of the Mississippi near the old habitat of the Indfnas. (Eleventh Ethnological Rep., p. 438.)
"These gods have power to send from their bodies a wakan in- fluence which is irresistible even by the superior gods. This influ- ence is termed tonwan. This power is common to all the Taku Waka. And it is claimed that this tonwan is infused into each mystery sack which is used in the mystery dance." (1. c. 439. \
464 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
As in other relations of Indian life, the sweat lodge has an im- portant office to perform. The one for this occasion is, like those for other purposes, constructed by stretching skins or blankets over bent poles in several thicknesses, making a very tight en- closure. Stones made very hot in a fire are placed on the ground in this lodge and water poured on. The inclosed steam makes a very high temperature and is capable of producing vigorous perspiration. The candidate submits to this sweat-bath during four days. In this period he is instructed into the secrets of the wahmnoo-ha, or shell-in-the-throat performance. They provide him with a dish and spoon. The dish is commonly decorated with the carved head of some voracious animal representing the god of eating. The candidate is taught how to mix and prepare pig- ments according to the prescriptions of the gods with which to paint himself for this and all such occasions as also for war. He must offer oblations to the gods. He must provide himself with the mystery sack or medicine bag. Dorsey has this to say of this important article : The Unktelii "Ordained that the sack should consist of the skin of the otter, raccoon, weasel, squirrel, loon, one variety of fish, and of serpents. It was also ordained that the sack should contain four species of medicine of wakan qualities, which should represent fowls, medicinal herbs, medici- nal trees, and quadrupeds. The down of the female swan repre- sents the first, and may be seen at the time of the dance inserted in the nose of the sack. Grass roots represent the second, bark from the roots of the trees the third, and hair from the back or head of the buffalo the fourth. These are carefully preserved in the sack. From this combination proceeds a wakan influence so powerful that no human being, unassisted, can resist it." (L. c. 440.)
Prior to these requirements which immediately precede those of the dance there has been a selecting process by which the candi- date knows that he belongs to this particular secret society.
Among the Arunta of central Australia, medicine men are made in three ways., First, by the spirits; second, by a special class of spirits of evil nature, and third by initiation of the medicine men. . Of course the first two methods really amount to one. (Native Tribes of Central Australia, Spencer and Gillam, chap- ter 16.)
Among the Ojibwa Indians the call to be a mide or medicine man comes to the youth through seclusion and fasting in the forest, by means of which an ecstatic state is produced. In this state if a powerful manido or other sacred being is beheld it is deemed to be a call to be a mide. (Hoffman, Seventh Ethnol. Rep., p. 163.)
Among the Dakotas membership in societies generally is not determined by tribal relation but by superhuman manifestations,
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 465
During a period of religious fasting a man is subject to visions. The animal which appears to him meanwhile decides his society for him. If women are admitted to the order their admission may depend on their own visions, but more likely on that of a hus- band, more usually on that of some male relative. (L. c. 497.)
The night preceding the initiatory dance is entirely given to dancing by members of the most advanced order of the society, The morning after this the ordination ceremony begins. A re- ligious observance composed of prayers and songs, each given by the deities and fitted for its particular place is held. Following this the candidate occupies a conspicuous position in the chief lodge on a pile of blankets. His only apparel is that regularly required, moccasins, paint and breech-cloth. Just behind the candidate is stationed an elder. It is the part of the master of ceremony to advance from the front articulating the syllable "heen-heen-heen" with fervor and force. His body is bent both at the hips and knees and he approaches with irregular and un- stable tread. When close at hand he discharges the mystery bag near the breast of the novice. At this moment the elder shoves the candidate from behind, tumbling him to the ground where he is covered with a blanket. The power of the medicine is sup- posed to have entirely overcome him. Its ability to bring him back to life is now shown. While the dancers chant about him the cloth covering is withdrawn, the master of ceremonies takes of the Oanktayhee, and chewing it spits the residue upon the candidate. This so far resuscitates him that he is able 'to sit up. The dancers now retire to their seats leaving the master of cere- mony to complete the restoration. This functionary again ap- proaches the candidate, this time with terrible sounds and mo- tions. After due incantation and having smitten the novice on the breast repeatedly to assist the wonder work, the latter with mighty muscular effort and retching coughs up the magic shell. It falls upon his medicine sack which has been designedly laid before him. Completely brought back to life and strength he exhibits. the marvelous shell to the other members, who simulate all the surprise the wonderful performance should elicit. This consummation makes the candidate a member in full standing.
The dance proceeds, however, with mystery contests, shooting, and feasting during the remainder of the day, or at any rate until all members have had a chance to take part.
It is somewhat important to note what is supposed to result to those who break the vows of the order which they have taken at initiation. On this point Dorsey says: "Those who violated their obligations as members of the mystery dance were sure of punishment. If they went into the forests, the black owl was there as the servant of the Unktelii; if they descended into the earth, they encountered the serpent ; if they ascended into the air, the eagle would pursue and overtake them ; and if they ventured
465 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
into the water, there were the Unktelii themselves." (Eleventh Eth. Eep., p. 440.)
THE HOLY FEAST.
An important observance of the Medicine Society of the Dakota Indians was known as the Medicine or Holy Feast. I obtained two accounts of this feast. The first was* from Mrs. McLaughlin, who was adopted without ceremony into the order at Devils Lake in the seventies, and the observance is what was practiced by the Sisseton, Wahpeton and Yanktonais, tribal branches of the Da- kota Sioux. The other account, as well as the one relating to the medicine dance, was chiefly given me by Mr. E. D. White, as the account of a feast observed in practice among the Dakotas of Standing Rock reservation, in Montana prior to their removal by the government. They show the variation which existed among the different branches of the Sionan stock.
At Devils Lake any member who felt himself able might under- take the giving of a feast. It was a matter of great expense to people of that grade of social development and the giver had to begin to practice economy sometimes a year ahead in order to be able to serve all who might be invited and in addition some- times to give to the poor.
When the time had arrived for the feast those who were in- vited would make their way to the lodge in which it was to be held, taking with them such insignia of membership as they pos- sessed, especially their medicine bags and their holy dishes. The lodge was so arranged that the chief medicinfe men sat at one end or side; near them was the sacred fire around which was piled the medicine bags, while the lower members sat apart to one side.
. The motive of the feast was to make the medicine strong and effective. In itself the feast was a mixture of ceremony and par- taking of food. Prayers and singing medicine songs made up the ceremonial part. When the time had arrived to partake of the food the holy dishes were held over the smoke of the sacred fire on which burned sacred or sweet grass in order that they might be sanctified to the occasion. Then the food was piled on the plates in abundance, each member being supposed to eat all that was laid on. However, in default of ability to consume all the food on one's dish the member was permitted to pass it outside the lodge to some person who could be presumed to be sinless, vir- tuous. All who participated in the feast were supposed, were prac- tically under an oath to that end, to be free from any sort of sin. Should it be found that any person was there who was not worthy he would be driven from the lodge. After eating from the sacred dishes they would again be held over the smoke of the sacred fire and so be purified.
In what was probably the medicine dance of the Devils Lake Sioux, there was a ceremony in which the most difficult and
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 467
esoteric performance of the Medicine Society was enacted. Those who were able to take part successfully in this performance were considered the real wakans.
Those who are able to take this part are stationed in the holy lodge where sit those who are novitiates. Nearby is the band which furnishes the music for the occasion, composed of one or more beaters of the tom-tom, several male singers and one female singer. In the songs the singers rehearse the origin of the so- ciety, in all its wonderful mystery, and how the rules of the order must be obeyed and the teachings of the fathers adhered to in order that the medicine may have its due virtue.
While the members stand in a circle and the band proceeds in low, plaintive tones, the four high medicine men emerge from the sacred lodge and proceed to march around the circle four times, each time to a different song. Then at a certain point they fall down on the earth upon their hands and knees and proceed to go through what is known as the shell swallowing act. They have provided themselves with small shells which they really or appa- rently swallow. After this the singers sing of the wonders of the medicine and the members dance in the places where they stand and the four chief medicine men retire to the sacred lodge Then with the beating of the drum the four men emerge again and proceed to what is known as coughing up the shell. First they dance about the ring in a half running style and holding their medicine bags by each end with a hand they wave them in front of them. At this point all the members in the circle take part in the music, the women chanting "oo-oo-oo," "oo-oo-oo," "oo-oo-oo," and the men intonating "ugh-ugh-ugh," "ugh-ugh-ugh," "ugh-ugh- ugh," in an intense feeling with measured rythm. The affair has worked up to the culmination. The play is ready for the great act.
Now the four fall down on the ground at the place where the shells were swallowed. They go through a mighty ordeal of straining and heaving. The mascles of the sides and abdomen are worked heavily. They pat themselves on the sides and shoulders to help along the muscles. Finally with an accompaniment of a great fit of coughing the shells corne up and are spit out into the medicine bags, often covered with blood and foam.
Only the four can perform this mighty wonder. The other members, however, have sufficient magic to overcome the work of enemies and the enemies themselves, to cure diseases, etc. For instance, one was able to cough up an eagle's claw, right on the spot, with blood on it, which someone had shot into him at the moment. This was done with the help of the wah-ko-mo-ha, or squash rattle box, which someone in the ceremony, who had the special power, shook skillfully the magic number of four times. (See accompanying figure of rattle.)
468 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The rough drawing is that of the sacred rattle. It is made of a small gourd. E is the body of the rattle which contains beans or grains of corn; c-d is the wooden handle extending through the gourd, onto which it is tacked at f. The hole at a, is for a retaining string or pin. The handle b, is bound with cloth and buffalo thongs. Mrs. McLaughlin owns a rattle five generations old.
THE FEAST OF THE STANDING ROCK DAKOTAS.
1. Purpose. — I asked my informant what was the purpose of this feast and was a little surprised that he did not state it read- ily or clearly. However, this is not strange when it is remembered that if the average Christian were asked the object of the sacra- ment or other religious rite with which he is familiar he would have difficulty in stating it definitely or even in stating it at all. So my informant stumbled and finally said it was just a ceremony the Medicine Society kept up.
Among the Ojibwas and more eastern Indians the feast was for the purpose of filling vacancies in the order made by death. But in getting taken over into the west this idea seems to have been overlooked.
2. Occasion. — In most cases, and probably in all, the occasion of a feast is left to the initiative of an individual member. Since the element in the feast which is most difficult to secure, due to the low economic stage of Indian society, is the food, and this in large amount, a long preparatory period is necessary in order to its accumulation. Strict economy and abstinence may have to be practiced by the more thriftless members of the society during several months or a year. However, the announcement goes forth from the first that member A. or B. expects to give a feast. All await it, therefore.
3. Invitation. — When the period of preparation has expired by reason of securing sufficient sustenance, the invitations are sent around. A helping member carries to and leaves at the lodges of the chosen guests a device or emblem which in itself is significant of the purpose. Not all the membership is invited. What is the basis of the choice, whether personal preference or society rank, I am not informed.
4. Admittance — Perhaps an indirect object of the Medicine So- ciety is seen in the requirements made of members invited in order that they may be admitted to the ceremony. The social Virtues must not have been neglected. According to the rules of the
Playing the Mandan women's game.
1 he bha-we. (Front Side)
BACHDUSttKE.
The Sha-we.
(Obverse side)
B
(Obverse side.) (Front side,)
Pieces in the Mami-dop, Four Stick game of the Mandans.
MANDAN BONE WORK
I
BY TML AWD6OM £>AY CO
5
a
Figs. 1 and 3, Hide Scrapers for taking off the hair; Fig. 2, old form of Hesher for cleaning the inner side of hides.
STATE OP NORTH DAKOTA
469
order only those may be admitted to the sacred feast who have not committed adultery or had unclean sexual contact, have not assaulted, stolen, lied, etc. Any kno^vn violators of the require- ments are put out of the lodge and excluded.
5. Internal Arrangement of the Lodge, Seating of Members, Etc. — These matters may be made plain by referring to the ac- companying diagrammatic representation. (See Chart I.)
MEDICINE: FCR.5T. CHKTIT I.
a, Entrance to the lodge where feast is held.
b, Medicine members of the higher order at the head of the lodge. The master of ceremonies in the center.
c c', members of the lower order ranged in circle around the sides of the lodge between the higher order members and the door.
d, Lodge fire for ordinary or common use.
e, Sacred or incense fire, in which sweet grass or sage is burned.
f, f, Sacred pipes.
g, Sacred medicine bags; one row if only a few, two rows if many present. The oldest ones in row next the sacred fire.
h, Piles of food for the feast. •
6. Sacred Places. — In the diagram it will be noticed that there are three places which are especially sacred, e, f, f and g. These places are depositories of the sacred pipes, the medicine bags, band, more usually on that of some male relative. (L. c. 497.) must be prepared by special care and ceremony. All such places
Hist.-31
470 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
among the Dakotas must be stripped of the grass sod down to virgin soil so that there shall be produced the "U-ma-ne," or mel- lowed earth space. When the virgin soil is reached vermillion is scattered over the space and it is made sacred by medicine men.
7. Entrance Observances, — As each member comes to the feast he pauses in the entrance of the sacred lodge and greets each one individually who has preceded him. This greeting is taken in the order of the seating, beginning with the one nearest the door and passing around the circle. This address must be in terms of their relationship to himself. The relation is of course tribal and the exact relation is denoted in his address. Thus he will say "sister," "cousin," "uncle/5 "mother," etc., in the enumeration. Then before passing in after addressing he invokes their prayers for health, success, prosperity.
In seating the lower rank members occupy the sides of the lodge between the seats of the higher rank members and the entrance. The places, beginning next the chief seats, are filled in successively, hence the last comer always has the seat nearest the door.
8. Religious Ceremony. — The whole feast is, of course, sacred, but the ceremony leading up to the feasting is especially religious in character. When all are in, one or more medicine songs are sung bearing on this portion of the observance. Then the master of ceremonies, who is the great medicine man present or who has been selected to preside in that capacity, arises from the center of the block of higher rank members, walks around the end of the pile of medicine bags, takes a sacred pipe and lights it. Holding this sacred instrument he stands back of the medicine bags and prays, calling down general blessings, asking for the health and prosperity of his people. Then he petitions for special blessings, those of buffalo, deer, horses, and verdure for their sus- tenance; for sweet grass and wild turnips and whatever else on which they depend for sustenance. After these petitions, hold- ing the stem of the pipe pointing outward from his body the leader waves it to the sky, beseeching the benediction of the Great Spirit, to the earth asking the favors of the earth-spirit, and to the four winds, imploring the continuance of their assist- ance.
This period of prayer is followed by one of ceremonial smoking. The pipe he holds is given by the leader to the chief medicine men, who smoke it in turn. The other sacred pipe is likewise lighted and given to the lower order of members, who pass it around their circle each smoking it in his turn. When all nave smoked the ashes of the pipes are emptied into the sacred fire and other medicine songs are sung.
9. The Feast. — It is a condition to participation in the feast that each attendant member should have brought his own indi-
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 471
vidual medicine plate to the lodge with him. This plate is made of wood, turtle shell or some fit or sacred material. At the appro- priate time the master of ceremonies, along with those selected to help him serve the food provided, take their places at the food pile. First each dish of the members is held over the smoke of the sacred fire so that it shall be made sacred for any who shall eat from it. With a great spoon made from buffalo or mountain sheep's horn the food is piled on the plates and handed around in order. It is expected that each one will eat all the food placed on his dish. But should he be unable to do so he is permitted to hand it outside to some onlooker. The person chosen must be known to be innocent. A child is commonly selected because the age makes a standing presumption of purity. In eating care must be taken not to drop any particle of food on the ground as that would be sacrilege. Hence the individual holds the dish close up under his chin while he eats. All remnants left on the plate are burnt in the sacred fire. The dishes when emptied at the end of the meal are held over the smoke of the sacred grass for the purpose of purification. At the close of the feast the poor are commonly remembered with food.
Closing the Feast. — When all have eaten the master of cere- monies arises and announces that the affair is at an end. The manner of exit is similar to that of entrance. The member nearest the door takes the initiative, and addressing each one present in terms of relationship to him, petitions that he shall be remembered in their prayers and departs. This is done by every one upon departure until the lodge is empty.
THE MEDICINE DANCE OP THE MEDICINE SOCIETY.
Of the various features connected with the Medicine Society it would perhaps be no exaggeration to say that none were more significant of the nature of the society and none more popular with the people in general than the medicine dance. A study of the diagram of the lodges and internal arrangements of the dance as exhibited in Chart II., will indicate the great scale on which the occasion was conducted and suggest that it must have been one that appealed to all the membership. In fact all the mem- bership had a place in the observance, no matter how humble. Besides this a way was made for the interested spectators in great numbers to look on and enjoy the exhibitions.
The dance lodge or lodges were large enough to accommodate the numerous membership of a tribe or even of several tribes, for sometimes, perhaps commonly, the dance was a joint-tribal occasion. The structure might be several hundred feet long and made of the coverings of smaller lodges loaned for the occasion, and with withes and leaves woven on poles, with spaces enough left for the use of those standing on the outside for purposes of observation.1
picture of these lodges among the Menomini is given in the 14th Eth. Rep.
472 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MEDICINE Dunce LODGE.
EXPLANATION.
1. The tent in which the sacred soldiers or special police stand guard to enforce the purity regulations and to prevent sacrilege.
2. The lodge of the chief medicine men or members of the higher de- gree.
3-3'. The walls of the corridor connecting lodges, 1 and 2. The com- bined lodges would be several hundred feet in length.
4. The tom-tom or drum which is played by some of the hand.
Musicians whose duty it is to sing the medicine songs, and with the tom-tom furnish the music of the occasion. The singers are chosen from the chief medicine men.
6. Rows of medicine bags.
7-7'. Position of the chief members of both sexes.
8-8', and 9-9'. The members of the lower order composed of both sexes.
10. The dotted line which bounds this eliptical area is the course around which the members of the lower degree dance during the medi- cine dance.
11-11'. Entrances to the dance lodge.
12. Entrance to lodge of sacred soldiers. The partition of this lodge is a mere screen.
The real motive of the dance as held in mind by the leaders in the society, and as suggested by the demonstrations, centered about the medicine. The fundamental purpose was to exhibit the power and virtue of the medicine. There was much mystery in the way of conjuring and sorcery present which was believed in all primitive simplicity to have real wonder working and power giving qualities. When brought to bear on the medicine deposited in the medicine bags virtue could not help but accumu- late and accrue. Along with this went the idea that the accru- ing virtue could be shown by ocular demonstration. This gave rise to the various contests and exhibitions of power on the part of members. The initiation of new members also formed a part of the object and ceremony. And of course, working as a power- ful even though an indirect motive was the sociability feature, for it was one of the great events in Indian life.
_The following medicine dance song reveals the mystery and reverence which centered about the medicine, and how Appro- priate it was that it should be the basis of an organization and its origin and gift to men the fit object of celebration :
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 473
"He created it for me enclosed in real down, He in the water with a mysterious visage gave me this,
My grandfather, My grandfather created for me mysterious medicine,
That is true,
The mysterious being in the water gave it me, Stretch out your hand before the face of my grandfather, Having a quadruped, stretch out your hand before him."
The qualification for admission into the great lodge where the dance is to be held is, of course, first of all based on the fact of membership, and this is signified by the secret sign or pass chosen for the occasion. But beyond this there is the purity regulation which works after the manner of that of the holy feast, only it is probably much more stringently applied. That it must be so may be seen in the fact of the existence of the lodge of attendant sacred soldiers whose sole business it is to vigilantly detect and eject violators of the purity rule.
The entrance ceremony is much like that of the holy feast. It will be observed by the diagram (Chart II.), that the members of the higher degree have an almost separate lodge where they head the ceremony. They enter first and find their seats. The members of the lower order range themselves in standing position along the connecting corridor walls. Upon entering each member addresses present members successively in terms of tribal rela- tionship, and when all have been addressed asks their prayers for personal and family success in all the affairs of life. A whole day is given to the medicine dance, and we can believe it would be quite necessary for such functions as this one of entrance.
The chief feature and attraction of the occasion is, of course, the dance itself. After the entrance formalities, and the appro- priate religious ritual has been dispensed with, the head medicine man, who occupies the central place behind the medicine pouches, gives the sign for the dance to begin. Then the tom-tom is beaten, the chorus of singers strike in, and the members standing in the long corridor begin to dance. It is the part of all, save a few chosen members of these, to remain dancing on the spot where they stood. The ones who give the great demonstrations of power are the members of the higher order with perhaps a few specially qualified individuals from the corridor. These danced around the full course about the elliptical area, all proceeding in one direc- tion. Each one carried his medicine bag, holding it at the ends, at about the height of the hips. The dancer advanced one side of the body, proceeding with a running movement, preserving a rythmical pulsation in it in time with the tri-syllabic chant of the chorus. Each participating dancer as he proceeded extolled the virtue of his particular medicine, relating what wonderful things it would accomplish and the remarkable cures he had wrought
474 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
with it. In addition to this oracular testimony there was a con- test to demonstrate in an ocular manner the superior potency of the individual's medicine. For instance, one member might strike another on the face or head with his medicine bag. If the medi- cine of the striker were more powerful than that of the one hit, the latter would fall upon the earth as a visible token. But if it were not he would keep on dancing. Sometimes a medicine was found which had such virtue that a whole row of dancers were smitten to the earth at one time.
This part of the proceedings particularly appealed to the spec- tators. They lined the outside of the corridor walls and took as active a part as the rooters at a football game. A medicine would have its votaries among the spectators and these would give it their support by words and shouts of encouragement. While the good medicine was roundly cheered as it demonstrated its effects, the impotent was as devotedly jeered. Witticisms and sarcasms provoked laughter or derision.
While the dance was the chief feature, there were special re- ligious ceremonies, although the information is not at hand to indicate them in detail. The whole proceedings partake of the wakan, sacred, superhuman. The precincts are sacred to the occasion so that impurities committed by members participating are punished with expulsion by the sacred soldiers. As has been said, those present known to have been recently impure are eject- ed. The method is rough. The soldiers bear arms and use them on provocation. Intruding animals are killed on the spot.
THE IKTOMI MYTH.
BY REV. GILBERT L. WILSON.
I first heard the Ik-to-mi myth in the dealer's shop in Mandan. There are several old Indian village sites in that vicinity, rich in flint and bone specimens. I was interested in making a collec- tion and eager to know how the Indians formerly worked their flints. I mentioned this to the dealer, Mr. Allen.
"Queer," he answered, "I never could find out. I have dealt with the Sioux for twenty years but I never could learn how those flint arrow heads were made. Once an old fellow said he had seen his grandfather make them. But when I got him a flint he tried to knock it into shape with a pebble — of course with failure. With this exception every Indian I ever met would answer : 'Iktomi make 'em — Spider men.' "
While we were discussing the subject a big Sioux stalkeM into the shop. Mr. Allen turned toward him.
"Arrow-head — flint — how made?" he asked.
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 475
The Indian laid the flint in his palm. "Iktomi, — leetle spider men — so big," and he indicated a little being some four inches high.
During the next four years I used every opportunity I knew to find an explanation to this myth. All I learned was as fol- lows:
The Dakotas (Sioux) deny that they ever made flint arrow heads. They made bone points, cutting them from the thin part of a buffalo's shoulder blade. Flint heads when used were not made by them, but were picked up in the fields where they are dropped by the little Spider men — dwarfs who turn spiders when not busy at their labors.
At night, especially if the moon is bright, you can sometimes hear the light tap-tap-tap-ping of the dwarfs' hammers chipping the flints into shape. Indeed there are regular quarries where the dwarfs were wont to work — usually in the side of a sandy hill.
Once a party of warriors were digging into a hill when they struck rock. To their surprise it sounded hollow. Breaking through they found a cavity filled with flint arrow heads — doubt- less the work of the Iktomi (Santee, Unk-to-mi) dwarfs.
This story is wide spread among the Teton Dakotas. It was told me, exactly as above, by a Santee, and to a friend of mine by a Yankton Dakota.
Some of the Dakotas say that the Arikara made flint points, but deny that it was done by their own tribe.
This of course is nonsense. Gun flint and blue chert exist in abundance on the prairies. Every old Indian village site could yield tons of flint chippings — the refuse of aboriginal work-shops.
Among the Fort Berthold Indians, Mandans and Hidatsas, old men yet remember when flint was in general use. "My father," said Edward Good-Bird, "told me how he had seen old men make flint arrow heads. They put a skin (pad) in their hand, laid the flint on it, and pressed at it with a piece of bone. He said that the best flint came from deep under the ground."
"In old times," said Short Bull, "We used flint knives as long as that," (indicating his palm and an inch of his wrist). "We wrapped sinews about one end for a haft."
The Fort Berthold Indians seem then to have made no secret of their flint work. Why the Dakotas should, I do not know; but there is no doubt that the Iktomi myth is wide spread and that it is believed.
What is the explanation? Was flint work among the Dakotas the property of a band or fraternity who kept secret the mysteries of their craft? I do not know.
I have made good arrow heads of flint and glass, using an old bone tooth-brush handle for a chipping tool. I told this to soma of the Standing Rock Dakotas. They said I lied.
47b REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
SOME DEVILS LAKE NOTES.
BY MARY R. BRENNAN.
THE LEGEND OP MINNEWAUKAN — MYSTERIOUS WATER.
When, in 1641, Father Raymbault and Father Jogues reached what is now Sault Sainte Marie, and met and conversed with the two thousand Chippewas or Ojibways assembled there, they heard of a race of warrior Indians hitherto unknown. They learned of the deadly and unceasing enmity which the Chippewas bore this race, and of the continuous warfare between the two nations. They were told of the ferocity and prowess of these hated tribes whom the Ojibways called Nadouessioux, or Enemies. Later explorers discovered that these Sioux, tho hostile to the Ojibway nation, were willing and even anxious to trade with the whites; that tho ^treacherous and vengeful in their dealings with the Chippewas, as friends they were staunch and faithful. They called themselves not Sioux, but Dacotahs, that is the Allied Tribes, of which there were seven. They lived the nomadic life of the hunter, roaming the plains in summer and in winter build- ing lodges in the wooded lands scattered here and there between the Mississippi and Montana.
Now it happened in the course of their wanderings that one band came upon a beautiful lake in the heart of the prairies. Along one shore were stretches of fertile pasture where the buffalo herded and lived in luxury. On another were wooded hills and valleys with crystal springs. Gnarled oaks and graceful elms gave pleasant shade in summer and broke the force of northern blasts in winter. Tall, straight poplars shone silver and green in the sunlight, an'd in the wanderer's dreams were shaped into slim, white lodge-poles. Among the hills were innumerable quiet bays in whose rushes the wild fowl of the region made their home, and in the lake was an abundance of fish. An ideal camping- place, decided the old chiefs, and smoked their peace-pipes in lazy contentment while the young hunters tracked the woods for veni- son and bear-steak, and the maidens and squaws built fires and gathered ripe plums and berries. ,
But one evening a band of hunters who had explored for days returned with disturbing, but by no means unwelcome news. It had been discovered that some hated Ojibways were camped for the winter near the Turtle Mountains. Should they camp in peace? The young men hoped not, for the very name, Ojibway, made their fighting-blood leap. The old chiefs held council and to the great joy of the young men who listened silently — fo^* they were not allowed to speak in council unless questioned by the old men — to their great joy, war was declared. Through the follow- ing weeks the arrow-makers and boat-builders were busy from
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 477
dawn till dark. Around camp-fires at night the old warriors planned the expedition, and all day long Indian maidens and squaws sat in the wigwams fashioning their tribal ornaments of war. So eager were all for the fray that the warnings of the seer, Owanda, were laughed at. His dreams were scorned and the battle-fury in the warrior's blood made omens that were usually gravely obeyed seem insignificant. The unusual south- ward flight of birds was but plentiful game sent by the Great Spirit in time of need. The early reddening of the leaves was not a portent of bloody defeat or of northern storms, but rather the radiant herald of victory. And though to the maidens who watched their braves embark on the great morning, the shining waters seemed dangerously calm and their brightness showed glints of treachery, to the warriors the stillness of wind and wave was but another evidence of the Great Spirit's approval, and the Indian Summer warmth and haze gave them the freshness and vigor that creeps through the veins when the sounds of melting snow and running streams answer the spring winds.
All day the Dacotah women and children with the old men watched the placid lake for the returning boats. Night came but the warriors returned not. Another day passed and the bosom of the bay was ruffled by fitful whirling gusts. Dusty clouds gathered in the east. Red leaves drooped in the late heat, and ominous rumbles of distant thunder broke the anxious stillness of the camp. The western "lake was blood-red from the crimson sky. Above the range of sunset, black clouds, their edges curled with bronze, moved ponderously into fearful shapes. A cry broke from Nadassa, "the chieftain's dark-eyed daughter." Against the .lurid sky the returning boats were silhouetted. Scalps waving from their prows proclaimed the expedition victorious. Great was the joy in camp. Fires were lighted, peace-pipes filled, and welcome prepared for the home-coming braves. How slowly the boats crept on ! The sunset faded. Lightning gashed the heavy clouds and showed the sleeping lake a livid green. Nearer and more omnious rolled the thunder. Moans in the hill-tops told of rising winds. A blaze of fire from the heavens, a deafening crash that shook the hills, and the anger of the suddenly wind-lashed lake burst forth. All night long the tempest raged. At dawn the broken trees showed wreaths of torn sea-weed and sandy foam on their stripped branches. The skin sides of the lodges were torn by falling boughs. The women, exhausted from the fury of the storm and the anxiety in their hearts, wailed listlessly on the desolate beach. There was no need to search for the brave warriors whom they had watched in the red light before the storm. Shattered boats with bits of hair and feathers hanging to them drifted to shore. The mysterious waters had carried all else beyond finding. The beautiful lake, angered because its bosom had been desecrated by blood spilled in hatred, had avenged
Hist-32
478 REPORT OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY
itself and now in the cold sunlight of the Autumn morning brooded sullenly over its wrongs. And the green waves, still lash- ing each other in their slowly dying fury, closed with cruel greed over the form of Nadassa whose stricken heart found rest only in the darkness in which Watha had been lost.
For days the death-song floated out over the lake — mournful, insistent, its rythmic monotone broken now and then by the de- spairing wail of "Minnewaukan ! Minnewaukan !" And for long years after whenever the twilight's beauty was darkened by angry clouds and the waves rose in fury, Dacotahs watching from the shore saw the faithful Nadassa and her lover Watha braving the angry spirit of the lake in search of the lost warriors.
STORY OP HOWASTENA (BEAUTIFUL VOICE), FT. TOTTEN, N. D. (Translated by Father Jerome.)
My father lived on the lake-shore near what is now Minnewau- kan town, as early as 1851. I was born there in 1863. My father told me of an island which used to be there. Since the lake has sunk this island, is but a point of land. One night in summer when there was no moonlight and darknerss was so thick that the island could not be seen from the mainland, strange sounds were heard. The beating of a drum came across the water, the sound of chanting and confused voices mingled with the usual rustle of leaves and swish of waves. There was great wonder in the camp. Could Chippewas have come so close? Could friends be looking for us ? In the early dawn a number of Dacotahs swam over to the island and searched the woods. But a few frightened deer and small animals were all they found. So real had been the sound of voices in the night, and so regular the beating of the drum, that they could not believe the sounds to have been made by winds or animals. From that time they called the lake Min- newaukan or Holy-Lake. What you call the Devil's Heart we call the Heart of the Holy Lake.
INDEX
PAGE
Aagard, Louis, sketch of 356
Abercrombie, Lieut. Col. John J 413
Abercrombie State Park, history of, by H. J. Hagen 411
Adams, Gen. C. P 418
Akra, map locating Icelandic landholders in 110
Akra township, Icelandic settlements in 102, 103
Organized : 109
Akra, vote of, on adoption of state constitution 125
For governor, 1892-1904 125
For president, 1892-1904 125
On prohibition 125
Allouez, Father Claude i 201
Alone, Missouri river steamboat 342
American Fur Co 341, 342, 344, 346, 348, 349, 356, 357, 358, 360, 361,
362, 363, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377,
378, 379, 380, 423, 426, 428
American Museum of Natural History, New York, list of archaeo- logical specimens in, from North Dakota 80
Andersen, Kirstine 156, 180
Mrs. Maren Katrine ; 156, 177
Marie 155
Mrs. Mette Katrine Schmidt 158, note 1
Nicolai 177
Peter 158, note 1
Anderson, — — , Norwegian settler at Sibley Crossing 140
Jack 340
Andre, Father 220, 221
Anson Northrop, Red river steamboat 364
Antiquities, methods of collecting 78
Preservation of 74
Archaeological sites in the Dakotas 81
Archambault, Louis 356
Arikara, the 363, 365
Arnold, H. F., French in the Northwest 72
Arrstad, Christian 136
Articles of incorporation, State Historical Society 11
Asmundsson, Einar 96
Assessed valuation of property in Bald Hill and Sverdrup townships. 148
Astor, John Jacob 203
Atkinson, General .• 343, 357, 380
Aubert, Father 219
Auneau, Father 371
Austin, Governor, Minnesota 321
Bach-dush-ke, basket used in Mandan game; description of 444, 445
Picture of opp. 445
Baker, Colonel S43
A. J 346
Bald Hill township assessed valuation of property of 148
Organization of 147
Map showing Norwegian land holding in 149
Norwegian settlement in 137
Schools in 146
Vote for governor 1900-1904 147
Hist—
480 INDEX
.PAGE
Baldwinsson, Hon. B. L 97, 100
Ball, Frank R., sketch of John E. Haggart 334
Barjiard, Rev. Alonzo 222, 252, 253
Barnes county, North Dakota, archaeological remains in 82
Bates, Frank 344
Bear-on-the-Water, Mandan Indian, portrait of opp. 443
Sketch of 443
Beardsley, G. G. . 306
Bear's Den Hillock, Indian camping place 422
Bear's Ears, Arikara Indian 363
Bear's Rib, Sioux chief 426, 427
Beauchamp, Peter 356
Beaulieu township, Icelandic settlement in 102, 103
Map locating Icelandic landholders in 110
Organized 109
Beaupre, Joseph i 356
Beaver, Lieutenant , 429
Beede, Rev. A. McG., Reminiscences of Early North Dakota 429
Belcourt, Father G. A ' 213, 216, 219, 252, 253, 356
Letter to Washington by 213
Belknap, Dr. Jeremy 59
Bellehumeur, Simon 357
Beltrami 212
Bergman, E. H 105, 111 and note 3, 120, 129
Portrait of " opp. 444
F. J. .'. Ill
Jon 102, 103
Berger, - 357
Bernard, Father 461
Bibliography of Dakota Archaeology 80
Bilbie, Rev. H. B 316
Bingenheimer Loan Collection, inventory of 45
Bird Woman, Grosventre spelling of name 69
Bismarck Tribune 302
Bissonette, - — 357
Bjarnason, Ben 112, note 1
Samson 98, 99
Bjornsson, S. Josua 98
Black Bear, Arikara chief 344
Black Moccasin, Grosventre chief ' 436
Black Moon, Sioux chief 227, 246, 266, 419, 421
Blockhouse at Fort Berthold, picture of, opp. 442
Bobtailed Bull, Grosventre legend by 455
Bolkan, Christ 147, note 4
Boiler, Henry A 357
Booise, fur trader on Missouri river 349, 366
Borassa, Father 219
Bottineau, Charles 304, 307, 358, 365
Pierre 358
Bottineau county, Icelandic settlements in 112, note 1
Boulder mosaics in North Dakota 82
Picture of 85
Bounin, Father 235
Bovoy, A. E 297
Bradley, Rev. C. F » . . 314
Brave Men's Society of the Mandans 434
Brazeau, John 358
INDEX 481
Brazil, Icelandic settlements in 96
Breckenridge, Minnesota 415
Brennan, Mary R., Devils Lake Notes 476
Bridger, James 341, 358, 362, 378
Brower, J. V., portrait of opp. 336
Sketch of 335
Works of 339
Brown, Capt. John D 426
Bruguire, James 341
Brymner, Report on Canadian Archives, 1889; referred to. 371
Brynjolfsson, Magnus 120
Buckman, Joseph Y 358
Buerger, Capt. Emil 417
Buffalo, last seen in Cass county 159
Buffalo bones, sale of, by settlers 140
Buffalo district, boundaries defined 221
Buffalo skinning knife, picture of opp. 454
Bunch, George 358
Burke, Major John H 268
Burleigh county, archaeological remains in. 86
Burning Ground, Sioux chief 227, 419
Busrack, Halvor 152
Cadot, J. Baptiste, Jr 295
J. Baptiste, Sr 294
Cameron, John 358
Camp, Major 418
Campbell, half-breed trader on Cheyenne river, South Dakota 341
Robert 358, 376, 379, 380
Canadian French in North Dakota 184
Canadian landholders in Traill county, map showing distribution of. . 108
Canadians in North Dakota 185, 187, 190, 195, 198
Carhart, Joseph, sketch of B. S. Russell 330
Carson, Alexander 359
Cass county, archaeological remains in. 87
Early history of 309
Foreign population, by townships 197
Map Showing distribution of foreigners in 1905 107
Cataract, Missouri river steamboat 342
Catlin 360, 361, 368
Catlin's North American Indians, referred to 360, 361, 368
Cavalier county, Icelandic settlements in 112, note 1
Cavileer, Charles 303, 307, 359
E. K 359
Census, United States, Pembina district for 1850 385
Chaboillez, C. J. B 359
Charles 359
Chamberlain, Captain 418
Chambers, Daniel 383
Chaney, J. B., sketch of J. V. Brower 335
Charbonneau, spelling of the name 71
Charbonneau, Toussaint 359, 435
Chardon, Francois A 360
Frank 360
Charger, Sioux chief 343
Charles P. Choteau Co 346, 360
Chess, H. B 383
Chippewa half breeds, treaty with Sioux 220
Chippewas 293, 294, 295, 296
Missionary work among 213
482 INDEX
PAGE
Choteau, Charles P 360
Edward 360
Menard 360
Paul 360
Pierre, Jr 360, 379
Chrisensen, Peter 158, note 1
Christ, Rev. H. J 312
Christensen, Christen 157, 178
Karen 177, 178
Church, Danish, religious services in Hill township 164
Organization oft in Icelandic settlements 109
Claymore, Basil, see Clement, Basil.
Clement, Basil 344, 356, 357, 360, 361, 362,
363, 366, 367, 369, 370, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379
Portrait of opp. 340
Sketch of 341
Charles J341
Cochrane, John M., portrait of opp. 326
Sketch of 325
Colombo, Frank 303
Colter, John 361, 362
Columbia Fur Co 368, 373
Conditions in Denmark leading to emigration 153
Congregational church, first organized in North Dakota 312
Constitution of state, vote of Icelandic townships on 125
Cooke, Jay 420
Cooper, R. C 140
Cooper, Thomas E., portrait of opp. 354
Sketch of ! 354
Corliss, Guy C. H., sketch of Judge Cochrane 325
Cotton, William . 341
Coues, Elliott, spelling of Sakakawea 71
Coues' Journal of Alexander Henry and David Thompson referred to
358, 359, 36l, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 372, 373, 374, 375
Coues' Larpenteur's Forty Years a Fur Trader on the Upper Mis- souri, referred to 357, 358, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 369
Covell, A. G 383
Cox, Elizabeth 361
Harriet ; Lucy ; Orin , 361
Coyote Medicine, Mandan Indian 443
Craft, Rev. Francis 265
Crandall, Rev. H. B 314
Crawford, L 361
Crittenden, General 242
Crow Chief, Mandan chief 434
Crow's Breast, Grosventre chief 443
Culbertson, Alexander; John; Joseph 361
Custer battle of the Little Big Horn, told by Sitting Bull 277
Custer expedition of 1876 347
Cyr, Joseph 361
Dagslyset 155
Dakota district, boundaries defined 221
Dakota Indians, Medicine Society of, by J. M. Gillette 459
Dakota Medicine Dance Lodge, diagram of 472
Dakota Medicine Society, initiation into 462
Dakotas, archaeological sites in ? . . 81
Bibliography of archaeology 80
Data of archaeology of 74
List of archaeological specimens from, in American Museum of Natural History,, New York 80
INDEX 483
PAGE
Dalmann, G. J 105
Danes, in North Dakota 185, 190, 195, 196, 198
In the northwest 180, 181, 182, 183
Danish brick used in dwellings 160
Danish dishes in use among settlers in North Dakota 162
Danish emigrants to United States, route used 154
Danish politics in Hill township 165
Danish settlement, Hia township, Cass county, by W. C. Westergaard. 153
Danish survivals in North Dakota settlements 159
Data of archaeology of the Dakotas, by Harlan I. Smith 74
Davis, D. J 383
Dawson, Andrew 342, 348, 361, 362, 363, 370
Maggie 362, 363
Day, John 361
Major 413, 415
Dease, John „ 362
Denmark, conditions in, leading to emigration 153
Labor conditions in 154
Denmark forty years ago 169
De Rudio, Lieutenant 348
Des Autel, Joseph 362
De Smet, Father Peter John 362
Destroismaisons, Father Pierre 210, 218
Devils Lake, legends of, by Mary R. Brennan 476
Dickson, Joseph 361, 362
Dill, Colonel 342, 343
Door county, Wisconsin, Icelandic settlement in 96
Dougherty, 362
Draper, Lyman C., Wisconsin Historical Society 61
Duford, J 362
Dumoulin, Rev. Joseph S 206, 208, 209, 210, 217
Dupre, Frederick 363
Durfee & Peck 346, 424
Early Development of North Dakota, Col. C. A. Lounsberry 299
Early Western Travels, Cleveland Ohio, Vol. V., referred to
359, 361, 367, 368, 372, 378
Vol. VI. referred to 372
Vol. XIV. referred to 377
Vol. XX. referred to 370
Vol. XXI. referred to 373
Vol. XXII. referred to 359, 366, 368, 369, 373, 374, 377, 379
Vol. XXIII. referred to 357, 358, 360, 362, 365, 368, 370, 374, 377, 380
Vol. XXIV. referred to 357, 360, 363, 373
Edge. William 206
Education in Icelandic settlements 118
Edwinton, now Bismarck 422
Egilsson, Gisli 104
Eigilsson, Gisli 99
Einarsson, Gudmundur 128
Portrait of opp. 104
Jon 96
Emigration, Icelandic 122, 123
Emigration from Norway, conditions producing 131, 132, 133
English born population in North Dakota '. .185, 189
Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians, referred to 436
484 INDEX
PAGF
Farand, Father Henri 219
Fargo, early history of *. 306
Fargo in the Timber, by G. F. Keeney 318
Fargo Methodist church, early history of. .311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317
Fattigmandsbakkelse 152
Fich, — — , Scotch settler in Minnesota- 137
Fisher, Joseph 363
Fisk, Capt. J. L 343
First Norwegian Settlement in Griggs County, by Omon B. Herigstad. 131
Five Knife River Villages, picture of opp. 433
Fjelstad, Mathias 152
Flad Broed 152
Flat Bear, Grosventre chief ' 436
Flatmouth, Chippewa chief 421
Flensborg, Denmark 154
Flesher, picture of opp. 455
Floede Groed 152
Floods, Red river 212, 213
Foreign-born population in Cass county by townships 197
In Grand Forks county by townships 197
Foreign Immigration into North Dakota, by J. A. Tanner 180
Foreign population in North Dakota, 1900, map showing distribution of 194
In 1890, map showing distribution of 193
Foreigners, map showing distribution of, Grand Forks county 106
Cass county 107
Traill county 108
Four Bears, Mandan chief 435
Sioux chief 343
Four Stick game of Mandans, description of 445
Picture of pieces in opp. 446
Freeman, Captain 418
French Occupation of the Northwest, by H. F. Arnold 72
Freniere, Louis • 343
Fridriksson, Fridjon 98
Ft. Abercrombie 225, 232, 422, 424, 429
Plan of 413
Siege of. by the Sioux 414
Sketch by Linda W. Slaughter 412
Ft. Alexander 368
Ft. Assiniboine, Canada 359, 370, 372
Ft. Benton 354, 361, 362, 374, 424
Ft. Berthold 342, 344, 345, 346, 349, 357, 358,
360, 362, 363, 364, 366, 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 378, 379, 435, 441, 444
Sioux attack on trading post 442
Ft. Berthold block house, picture of opp. 442
Ft. Berthold Indian village, Sioux attack on 442
Ft. Buford 367, 370, 371, 414, 423, 424
Ft. Clark 342, 344 346, 349, 356,
360, 361, 362, 363, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 374, 375, 377, 379, 380, 443
Ft. Douglas 207, 208, 209
Ft. Jackson 360
Ft. LaBarge 369
Ft. La Framboise 426, 427
Ft. Lincoln 330, 363
Ft. McKenzie, Montana 360, 362, 366, 387, 368
Ft. Mandan 358, 365, 366, 369, 371, 371
Indian expedition to 215
Ft. Paubna . 359
INDEX 485
PAGE
Ft. Peck 370
Ft. Pembina 240. 356, 362, 366, 376
Ft. Pierre
356, 362, 365, 366, 370, 372, 373, 375, 376, 378, 423, 424, 426, 427
Ft. Primeaux 377
Ft. Randall, how named 425
Sketch of 423
Ft. Randall church 423. note I
Ft. Randall pew 423, note 1
Ft. Ransom 412, 421, 422
Ft. Rice 342, 343, 354, 356, 363, 369, 422, 423, 424
Ft. Ridgely, Minnesota 427, 428
Ft. Stevenson .* 358, 412 414, 422, 423, 424
Ft. Sully 423, 424
Ft. Tecumseh 423
Ft. Teton 423
Ft. Totten 412, 422, 423, 424
Ft. Totten trail 158
Ft. Union. .356, 357, 358, 360, 361, 362, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 373, 374, 377
Ft. Vanderburgh 377
Ft. Wadsworth 412, 422
Ft. William 358, 380
Ft. Yates : 356, 366, 373, 377, 461
Fur trade of the Chippewas 293
Galpin, Charles , 341, 343, 356, 363
Gardar, map locating Icelandic landholders in 110
Vote of, for governor, 1892-1904 125
Vote of, for president, 1892-1904 125
Vote of, on adoption of state constitution 125
Vote of, on prohibition 125
Gardar township, condition of Icelanders in 1884 105, note 3
Icelandic settlement in 103
Organized 109
Garrand, Bishop 41S
Garreau, Antoine 363
Pierre 345, 363, 442
Gaskili, Mary 332
Gayton, J. B 461
Gazetteer of old settlers in North Dakota before 1862 355
General Brooks, Missouri river steamboat 341
Genin, Father Jean B. M
224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 230, 232, 233. 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244,
246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 254, 255, 256, 260, 268, 269, 273, 274, 283, 290, 291
Genin, Father, Riel rebellion in Turtle Mountains 287
Georgetown, Minnesota 415
Gerard, F. F. 356,
357, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 366, 367, 370, 372, 374, 375, 376, 377, 379
Portrait of opp. 344
Sketch of 344
Francois; John B ,. . 344
German Russians in North Dakota 199
Germans-in the northwest 180, 181, 182, 183
Germans in North Dakota 185, 187, 192, 196, 198
Germans in Russia 199
Geroux, Lucien 364, 375
Gifts to the library of the State Historical Society 34
Gifts to the museum of the State Historical Society 36
Gillette, J. M., Medicine Society of the Dakota Indians 458
486 INDEX
PAGE
Gingras, Antoine 364
Girard, Antoine 356, 358, 362, 364, 365, 371, 373, 375, 377, 378
Portrait of opp. 340
Gislason, Jon 96
Glass, Hugh 365
Glasston, market for Icelandic settlements Ill
Glen Ullin, history .of 297
Goddard, Dr. C. E 223
Goiffon, Father 220
Gome, 152
Goodbird, Edward, Grosventre 454
Good Boy, Mandan chief 434
Good Voice, Mandan Indian, portrait of opp. 444
Gore, Sir George, English traveler in Missouri valley 349
Goudreau, Joseph 365
Gouzzeon, Andre 365
Graf ton, North Dakota, origin of name 355
Graham's Point, Minnesota 412
Grand Forks, first religious services in 430
Grand Forks county, archaeological remains in 87
Foreign born population, by townships 197
Map showing distribution of foreigners in 1905 106
Grandin, Bishop 419
Grandin farm 105
Grant, Charles 358, 365
Ewen 383
Peter 365
Grasshoppers, plague of 209, 210
Gravilines, Joseph 265
Green, Camp 242
Greenland, Frithof 152
Portrait of opp. 136
Griffith, Robert 383
Griggs county, archaeological remains in 87
First Norwegian settlement in 131
Gristmill at Walhalla, used by Icelandic settlers of Pembina county. . 102
Groena Groed 152
Grondal, Ben 123
Grosseillers 73
Grosventre legend, by Bobtailed Bull 455
Grosventre pestle, picture of opp. 438
Grosventre principal village, picture of opp. 437
Grosventre spelling of Bird Woman 69
Grosventre survivors of small pox of 1837 437
Grosventre symbolic hammer, picture of opp. 438
Grosventre village on the Mouse river 340
Grosventre villages on Knife river, pictures of opp. 433, 436, 437
Grosventres, the Five Knife river villages 433
Visits of Alexander Henry, Jr., and David Thompson to 372
Visit of Charles McKenzie to 373
Visit of F. A. Larocque to 370, 373
Gudmundsson, Arni " 96
Gudmundur 96
Guijon, Joseph 366
Gurley, Rev. James . . . •. 310
Haaland, Knut ' . 152
Hagen, H. J., History of Abercromie State Park 411
Haggart, John R., portrait of opp. 334
Sketch of . 334
INDEX 487
PAGE
Hair, Rev. G. R 315
Hall, Major ; 418
Hall, Rev. C. L., Grosventre spelling of Bird Woman 69
Interlinear translation of Myth of Packs Antelope 449
List of names of survivors of smallpox of 1837 436, 437
The Myth of Packs Antelope 446
Translation of Poor Wolf's autobiography 439
Haldorsson, Thomas 129
Portrait of opp. 104
Hallsson, Johann P 98, 99, 101, 102, 103, 105, 110, 130
Portrait of opp. 104
Holsey, William 366
Hancock, Camp, Bismarck 242, 422
Hancock, Forrest 361, 366
Hahna, Sarah 329
Hansen, Mrs. Sven 178
Harding, Thomas 383
Harker, Mrs. Frank 383
Harmon, Mrs. William 376
Harney, Gen. Win. S 342, 343, 423, 424, 425, note 1, 426, 427
Harvey, Wells county, Danes near 169
Harvey, Alex 366, 367, 377
Harvey, Primeaux & Co 377
Hassing, Denmark 153
Hawley & Hubbell, Ft. Berthold trading firm 376
Henderson, G 365
Hengstad, Betuel 135, note 1, 152
Henney, Hugh 358, 366
Henry, Alexander, Jr 358, 359, 361, 367, 369, 370, 372, 373
Herigstad, Betuel, portrait of opp. 136
Carl 152
Portrait of opp. 136
Lars 152
Herigstad, Omon B., First Norwegian Settlement in Griggs County. . 131
Hertgaard, Betsey J 334
Hibernia, steamboat used by Danish emigrants 154
Hidatss, Indians, see Grosventres.
Hide scraper, picture of opp. 455
High Village of the Mandans, picture of opp. 434
Hill township, Danish settlement in 153
Organization of • 166
Vote for president, 1892-1904 165
Hills, Walter H 418
Historical society, uses of 53
History of Glen Ullin, by E. R. Steinbrueck 297
History of Methodism in North Dakota, by Wm. H. White 310
Hoback, John 367
Hodgkiss, Wm. D 367
Hoffman, C. W., Process of Tanning Hides by Indians 455
Translation of Grosventre legend 455
Holes, James 305
Holy Feast of Medicine Society of Dakotas 466
Horgdal, Jon 99, 101
Horn Ornaments, manufacture of 456
Harstad, Rev .' 104
Howastena, story of, translated by Father Jerome 478
Hubbard, Gen. F. S 355
Hubbell, A. J 344
488 INDEX
PAGE
Hudson Bay Company
73, 209, 214, 215, 218, 228, 293, 357, 358, 364, 366, 373, 378, 428
Approval of work of missionaries 212
Attitude toward missionaries • 220
Half breeds dissatisfied with 214
Hughes, Walter J 383
Humel, J. P 155
Letter to C. Westergaard 172
Hunt, Capt. Lewis 421
Father Jerome 246
Hunter, - — , editor of the Standard, Winnipeg 98
Iceland, climate and geography of 92
Conditions in 123
Early history of 90
Industrial conditions in 93
Labor and wages in 124
Products of 93
Icelanders, migrating to America 122
Icelandic church organized in Pembina county 109
Icelandic forms of food used in America 114
Icelandic literature in North Dakota 116
Icelandic newspapers read in North Dakota 115
Icelandic population of Pembina county 116, note 2
Icelandic settlement at Lake Winnipeg, Canada 97
In America, agitation for, in Canada and United States 99
' In Brazil 96
In Gardar township " k . . . 103
In Pembina, North Dakota 98
In Wisconsin 96
Icelandic Settlement in Pembina County, by Sveinbjorn Johnson.... 89
Icelandic settlements, education in 118
First postomce in • 110
In North Dakota, pioneer days in 102
In Akra, Beaulieu and Thingwalla townships 102, 103
In Mouse river country, in Bottineau and McHenry counties. .112, note 1
Lutheran church in , 117
School districts organized in 109
Visit of La Verendrye to 203, 371
Visit of Mackintosh to 373
Icelandic settlers, in North Dakota, portraits of opp. 104
Route travelled by 97, note 3
Icelandic store, first established Ill
Icelandic survivals in America 112
Iktomi Myth, by Rev. G. L. Wilson 474
Indian Hide Tanning, by C. W. Hoffman 455
Indian Hill, Valley City, plan of figure on 85
Ingham, Rev. S. W 316
Inman, Captain 415
Instructions to missionaries in the northwest 206
Interlinear translation of myth of Packs Antelope, by Rev. C. L. Hall. 449
Immigration, foreign, into North Dakota 180
Iowa, foreign population in , 183
Irish in North Dakota 185, 186, 189, 195, 196, 198
Iron Heart, Sioux chief 227, 419
Isidore • •. . 367
Isidoro : '. . 367
Itasca Lake, survey of, by J. V. Brower 337
Jackson, William, half-breed scout 348
INDEX 489
PAGE
Jacobson, Henry, letter concerning Ward county Danes 175
James, Frank 326
Jamestown, settlement of 422
Jansen, Kristoffer 164
Jeaneau, Z 345
Jeannotte, Francois, portrait of opp. 340
Sketch of 339
Jutras " 339
Jensen, Andrew 153, note '3, 157, 168, note 2, 179
A. Niels, Lucca 160
Thomas 158, note 1
Jerome, Father, translation of story of Howastena 478
T<^spersen, Mrs. Peter 177
Jessaume, Rene .' 367
Jewett, Joseph 341
Jogues, Father 476
Johannesson, Benedict 102, 103
Johannsson, O. O 112, note 1
Johnson, Augusta 178
Jonas 178
Johnson, Sveinbjorn, Icelandic Settlement in Pembina County 89
Jonasson, Johannes 128
Portrait of opp. 104
Jones, Benjamin 368
Jonsson, Jon 105
Jonas 99
Kansas, foreign population in 183
Kaufman, Rev. M. S 316
Keating 212
Keeney, G. F., Fargo in the Timber 318
G. J 239, 308
Ke-ka-nu-mak-shi, Mandan chief 434
Keplin 340
King Sverre, steamboat used in Norwegian emigration 135
Kingsbury, Geo. W., sketch of Enos Stutsman 350
Kiplin, see Keplin.
Kipp, James 348, 362, 368
Kittson, Norman W 356, 368, 375, 377, 378
Klubben, Valdemar 152
Portrait of opp. 136
Knappen, N. H 302
Knife River villages of Mandans and Grosventres. .362, 365, 368, 372, 433
Picture of opp. 433
Smallpox in 374, 377
Visited by Alexander Henry, Jr 369
Knight, Rev. D. W 317
Komla 152
Kringla 152
La Barge, John 369
La Barge, Harkness & Co 369, 371
Labor in Denmark 154
In Iceland 124
Labroche 369
Lacombe, Father Andre 369
Lady Ellen, steamboat carrying Icelandic settlers 98
Lafitte 374
La Flache, Father, at Wild Rice 210
La Flock, Father 246
490 INDEX
PAGE
La Frambois Frank 369
La Framboise, Joseph 423, 426
Lafrance, J. Baptiste 36.)
Laidlaw, William 341, 369
Lajae, Antoine '......- STO
Lambert, Edward 370
Louis '. 370
Lambout, Daniel (Lambert) 370
La Moure, Judson 303, 307
La Moure county, archaeological remains in 87
Landholders in Traill county, nationality of ; 198
Langlois, Michel 370
La Plante, Louis, Sr 370
Larocque, F. A 369, 370, 373
Larpenteur, Charles 341, 347, 357, 362, 370, 371, 379
Larpenteur's Journal 370, 371, 374, 376, 377, 379
Larsen, Christian 155, note 3
Larson, Helge 152
La Salle 202
Latta, Indian agent of Missouri Indians 426, 427
La Verendrye 73, 202. 203, 371
Lawson, Nelson, Soo railway immigration agent 175
Laxdal, D. J 120
Lea, Christ 152
L'eau Qui Monte creek 345
Leaves from Northwestern History, by Linda W. Slaughter 200
Le Beau, Frederick 341, 342
Le Caron, Father 201
Lee, Eliza M 330
Col. Francis 425
Walter '. 383
Legal newspapers, state regulations for 37
Lemae, Joseph 371, 375
Lemon, Robert -. 357, 371
Le Page, Baptiste 371
Lepage, Louis 349, 371
Letter of transmittal to the governor 5
Letters from Norwegian settlers in Griggs county 138
Lewis, Daniel 372
Frederic : , . . 372
Griffith 383
Louise 372
Lucy 372
Reuben 371
Dr. William 372
Lewis and Clerk Expedition, Original Journals referred to
358, 360, 361, 362, 363, 365, 366, 367, 369, 371, 372, 373
Lewis and Clark Journal, spelling of Charbonneau and Sakakawea ... 70
L'Hiver, Father 245, 266, 420
Library of State Historical Society 32
Lima, Sven 152
Little Crow, Mandan chief 435, 436
Little Shell, Chippewa chief 288, 296
Lisa, Manuel . . 368, 371, 374, 377
Loan collection of the State Historical Society *. . 45
Lofsa ......:..:..:...: 152
Loge, Sven 152
Lonesome Charley Reynolds 347
INDEX 491
PAGE
Long, Major S. H 378
Expedition of 217
Lounsberry, Col. C. A., Early Devlopment of North Dakota 299
Lowry, D. J 159
Luegumkloster, Denmark 178, 179
Lunde, Martin, portrait of opp. 136
Sven 152
Portrait of ..." opp. 136
Lutheran church in Icelandic settlements 117
Lyon, Rev. D. C 301
McBride, 349
John 372
McCamley, Alfred 345
McCarthy, Sheriff Charles 244
McCauley, Judge 416
McCracken, Hugh 372
McDowell, Catherine A ..:... 325
Mrs. W. A 325
McEllery, James 372
Joseph 346
McFetridge, James 373
McGillivray, Michael 341, 373
McHenry county, Icelandic settlement in 112, note 1
McKenzie, Charles 373
Kenneth 373
McLaughlin, Prof. A. C., address delivered by 53
Mrs. James 461
McNear, George W 243, 244
Mackintosh 373
Magnusson, Pall ." 121
Maham, Capt. Bradley 426
Mail routes in North Dakota 422
Maisonneuve, Father 219
Malnouri, Charles 345, 349, 373
Malo, Father 246
Mandan bone work, picture of several pieces opp. 454
Mandai, Four Stick game, description of 445
Pieces in, picture of , opp. 446
Mandan horn ornaments, manufacture of 456
Mandan survivors of the smallpox of 1837 : 436
Mandan tepees, figured on plates opp. 434 and 435
Mandan villages, pictures of opp. 434, 435
Mandan woman's game, description of 444
Picture of opp. 444
Picture of players in opp. 444
Mandans, North West Fur Co., visit to 368
The Five Knife river villages 433
Henry's visit to 367
Visit of David Thompson to 380
Visit of F. A. Larocque to. . 370, 373
Visit of North West Fur Co. to 369
Visits of Henry and Thompson to 372
Man-i-dop, Mandan Four Stick game, descript'on of 445
Picture of pieces in opp. 446
Manitoba, steamboat used by Icelanders in settlement of Pembina 99
Manufacture of Horn Ornaments, by E. R. Steinbrueck 456
Drawings Illustrating : 457, 459
Map of distribution of foreign population in North Dakota, 1890 193
For 1900 194
492 INDEX
PAGE
Map showing land held by Icelanders in Pembina county, North
Dakota 110
Maps showing Norwegian landholding in Bald Hill and Sverdrup 149
Map showing part of Hill township owned by Danes 167
Marchand, John 383
Marion, Missouri river steamboat 355
Markman, Captain 415
Marquette, Father 201, 202
Martin, Moses 383
Marty, Bishop Martin 245, 255, 266, 267, 268, 271
Massachusetts Historical Society 59
Massacre of Montana gold miners 346
Matthews, Washington, his Ethnography and Philology of the Hi-
datsa Indians referred to .373, 436
Maximilian, Alexander Philip
358, 359, 360, 362, 363, 366, 368, 369, 370, 373, 374, 379, 380
May 374
Mayrand, Father 218
Medicine Dance Lodge of the Dakotas, diagram of 472
Medicine Dance of Dakota Medicine Society 471
Medicine Feast of Siouan Indians, diagram of 469
Medicine Hill, Blunt, South Dakota, picture of 85
Medicine Hill boulder mosaic, Blunt, South Dakota, picture of Sf>
Medicine Society of the Dakota Indians, by J. M. Gillette 459
Menard, Pierre 374
Merrill, Frances 329
Mestre, Father 220
Methodism in North Dakota, early history of 31.0
Mlddleton, John 383
Middle Village of the Grosventres, picture of opp. 436
Military roads in North Dakota 423
Miller, Charles F., United States deputy marshal 244
Mrs. Nicolena Schmidt 158, note 1
Minnesota, foreign population in 182
Minnewaukan, Indian legend of 476
Min-i-a-ki-ha-ma-to, see Bear-on-the-Water.
Mi-ni-mi-ta-che, Mandan holy place, figured on plates opp. 434, 435
Minitaree Indians, see Grosvetitres.
Missouri Fur Co., 36S, 372, 377
Mitchell, Col. David D 374
Mitchelle, employe of American Fur Co 349, 274
Montana gold miners, massacre of 346
Montreille, Joseph ... 375
Moorhead, William 381, 375, 371
Morrison, Donald G 375
Mortensen, Andrew 177
Morton county, archaeological remains in 87
Mountain village, Grosventre, picture of opp. 436
Mouse river region, Icelandic settlements in 112, note 1
Move Slowly, Mandan Indian 445
Museum of State Historical Society 35
Myth of Packs Antelope,* interlinear translation of by Rev. C. L.
Hall 449
Translation by same 446
Narcelle, Paul 341, 342, 343, 363, 375
Nebraska, foreign population in • 183
Nelson, N. E 303
New Iceland, the Lake Winnipeg colony of Icelanders
97 and note 3, 103, 105 and note 1, 111, note 1
INDEX 493
PAGE
New York Freeman's Journal, article on Father Genin 247, 248
Letters of Father Genin 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 257, 260
Newspaper agitation in America for Icelandic settlement 99
Newspaper collection, State Historical Society 37
Newspapers, Danish, read in Hill township 159, note 5
Icelandic, read in North Dakota 115, 116, note 1
Nez Percez war 275
Nickeus, John 383
Nissen, Thomas 157
Norcross, Sarah 331
North Dakota, Canadian French in 184
Canadians in 185, 187, 190, 195, 198
Danes in 185, 190, 195, 196, 198
English born population in 185, 189
First Icelandic settlement in 98
Foreign immigration into 180
Foreign population in 183
German Russians in 199
Germans in 185, 187, 192, 196, 198
Irish in 185, 186, 189, 195, 196, 198
Map showing distribution of foreign population in, 1890 193
Map showing distribution of foreign poulation in, 1900 194
Norwegians in 185, 187, 190, 195, 198
Russians in 185, 188, 191, 195
Swedes in 185, 188, 192, 196, 198
Northern Pacific Railway 241, 242
Building of 422
Survey for ,. . 420
Northrup, George W 375
Northwest, Germans, Swedes, Norwegians and Danes in 181
North West Fur Co
203, 204, 209, 228, 357, 359, 362, 365, 367, 368, 369, 370, 372, 373, 375, 380
Norway, conditions in, contributing to emirgation ." . . .131, 132, 133
Norwegian customs in North Dakota 141
Norwegian dishes still in use in North Dakota 152
Norwegian emigration, conditions in Norway producing 131
Norwegian emigration to United States, first settlers 135
Route used 135
Norwegian landholders, map showing distribution of, in Traill county. 108
Norwegian politics in Griggs county 147
Norwegian settlement in Griggs county 131
In Sverdrup and Bald Hill townships 137
Norwegian settlers, Americanization of 145
Norwegian settlers in North Dakota, portraits of opp. 136
Norwegians in North Dakota 185, 187, 190, 195, 198
In North Dakota counties, 1890 150
In North Dakota counties in 1900 151
In the Northwest 180, 181, 182, 183
Och-ta, elder man, figured on plates : opp. 434, 435
Ogland, Miss A 152
Ojibwas, see Chippewas.
Olafsson, Jon 121, 122, 123
Olafur 121
Old Blossom, Mandan Indian, portrait of opp. 444
Old Knife, Crow Indian 442
Old Star, Arikara chief 344
Olson, Butler 99, 102
Halvor . 156
494 INDEX
PAGE
O-mi-na-ha-na-she, Mandan Indian 436
O'Neill, James 383
Sergeant 348
O-pshi, Mandan holy ground 434, 435
Shown on plates opp. 434, 435
Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition referred to
358, 360, 361, 362 363, 365, 366, 367, 369, 371, 372, 373
Ouren, Simon 152
Packeneau, Charles, see Patineaude.
Packs Antelope, Myth of, translated by Rev. C. L. Hall 446
Paige, Lieutenant George H 425
Palliser, Capt. John 360, 375
Palmyra, steamboat used in Norwegian emigration 135
Pangman, Bostonnais 376
Parveau, Father 218
Patineaude, Charles 376, 444
Patterson, Capt. John H 300
Paul, John 177
Mrs. Marie Schmidt 158, note 1
Paulson, John, see John Paul.
Pease, David 376
Pelosche, mulatto pilot on Missouri river 348
Pembina 356, 358, 259, 361, 364, 368, 371, 373, 375, 378
Icelandic settlement in 98
Meaning of word 221, 222
Missionary station 209, 210, 218
Major Woods' expedition to 385
Pembina county, archaeological remains in 87
Icelandic population of 116, note 2
Icelandic settlement in 89
Personal property valuation for, 1873 405
Personal property valuation for, 1874 408
Township organized in 109
Pembina district, Minnesota territory, Canadian French in 184
Pembina district, United States census for 1850 385
Pembina settlement, North Dakota .212, 213
Pemmican 223
Perrott, Prof. G. S 383
Peterson, John 243
Pettier, Captain 418
Picotte, Charles 376
Honore : 341, 344, 349, 376, 377
Joseph 349, 366, 376, 377
Pierre Choteau Jr. Co 360, 364, 367
Pilcher, Major Joshua 377
Pitch, J., Scotch settler in Griggs county 137
Plissis, Bishop J. O 206, 208
Poire, Father 218
Poorman's cake 152
Poor Wolf, autobiography of 439
Grosventre chief, portrait of opp. 43?*
His story of smallpox of 1837 437
Population, Icelandic, in Pembina county 116, note 2
Postoffice, first established in Icelandic settlements 110
Potter, Lieutenant Horatio 223
John .* 383
Prairie Bird, Missouri river steamboat 341
Prairie fire among Icelandic settlements 104
In Norwegian settlement, Hill township 156
INDEX 495
PAGE
Presby-terian church, first organized in North Dakota 312
Preservation of antiquities . 74
Primeaux, Charles 343, 344, 360, 366, 377
Principal Grosventre village, picture of opp. 437
Process of tanning hides by Indians 455
Prohibition, vote of Icelandic townships on 125
Provencher, Rev. Joseph N
206, 208, 209, 210, 212, 213, 217, 218, 219
Radisson 73
Ramsey, governor of Minnesota 428
Ramsey county, archaeological remains in 87
Randall, Col. Daniel .". 425
George M., agent at Ft. Yates 343
Ransom county archaeological remains in 87
Ravoux, Father 218
Raymbault, Father 476
Record, 1897, referred to 377, 379
Of 1897-1898, referred to 375
Red Bear, Chippewa chief 380
Red Bird, Arikara Indian 370
Red Iron, Sioux chief 227, 419
Red Thunder, Chippewa chief 285
Red river floods 212, 213
Red River Transportation Co 368
Red River valley, grasshoppers in 210
Ree, see Arikara.
Reed, William 383
Reedy, T. J 461
Reminiscences of Early North Dakota, by Rev. A. McG. Beede 429
Reno, General , 348
Renville, Joseph 373, 378
Francois 377
Report of secretary 9
On expenditures of State Historical Society 21
Reynolds, Charles 347
Rezner, Jacob 378
Richardson, Isaac 297
Richland county, archaeological remains in 88
Riel, Louis 286
Rifle pits on Ft. Totten trail 159
Riggs, Rev. D. D 268
Dr. D. L 223
Ringsaker, Norwegian district sending emigrants to Griggs
county 134, 137
Roadmaker, Grosventre chief 435, 440
Portrait of opp. 440
Robert, Joseph 378
Robinson, John 378
Rolette, I. C. 378
Joseph 303, 368, 378
Rolette county, archaeological remains in 88
Rolla Poelsa 153
Roseau county, Minnesota, Icelandic settlements in 112
Rosser, Brigadier General 319, 343, 347
Gen. Thomas L 422
Route used by Danish emigrants to United States 154
By Icelandic settlers 97, note 3
Hist-
4% INDEX
PAGE
Russell, B. S., portrait of opp. 332
Sketch of 330
Hamlin 330
William 330
Russia, Germans in 199
Russians in North Dakota 185, 188, 191, 195
Sacred rattle of Dakota Medicine Society, picture of 468
St. Boniface 201, 209, 210, 218, 219
St. Francis Xavier mission 218
St. Joseph, Dakota territory 220, 356, 358, 359, 362, 364, 371, 375
Mission at 213
St. Michaels mission 225
St. Paul & Pacific Railroad . 424
St. Paul butte 213
St. Thomas, market of Icelandic settlements 110, 111
St. Vincent, Minnesota, nearest market of Icelandic settlements 110
Sakakawea 435
Spelling of the name 70
Sand Bakkelse 152
Sandoval, Isidore 379
Sanford, Major John P. A 379
San Arcs, Sioux tribe -427
Sarpee, Jean Pierre 379
Pierre 379
Scandinavian Society for Reform 155
Scattered Corn, Mandan Indian 445
Scattered Village of the Grosventres, picture of opp. 436
Schleswig, Norwegian settlers from 157
Schmidt, Caroline 178
Jngeborg 179
Jens 157, 168, note 2, 178
Katrina Marie 177
Mrs. Kjaersten 158, note 1
School district organization in Icelandic settlements '. 109
Schools in Hill township 168
Schultz, Robert 383
Sears, Louis 371, 372, 376
Sketch of 348
Seidenbush, Bishop 245
Selkirk, Lord 203, 204, 205, 206, 209, 210
Seward, Camp, Jamestown 242, 422
Fort 300
Shava, Armina E 336
Sha-we, Mandan game pieces, description of 444
Picture of opp. 444, 445
Sheard, Joseph 3
She-he-ke, Mandan chief 368
Sherman treaty with Sioux tribe 238
Shibons, Charles 379
Shreveport, Missouri river steamboat 369
Sibley, Gen. H. H 220, 221, 230, 368, 375, 428, 429
Sibley Crossing 140
Siouan Medicine Feast, diagram of » 469
Sioux, attack of, on Fort Berthold trading post and Indian village 4
Hunting parties of 220
Sherman treaty with , 238
Treaty with Chippewa half-breeds 220
War of 1862 . 414, 427
INDEX 497
PAGE
Sitting Bull, Sioux chief
227, 238, 247, 250, 255, 257, 258, 273, 274, 277, 280, 281, 421
Sitting Rabbit, drawing of Five Knife river villages 433
Skjold, P. J Ill
Slaughter, Linda W., Leaves from Northwestern History 200
Sketch of Ft. Abercrombie 412
Sketch of Ft. Randall 423
Slaughter, Major 241
Slidel, General 418
Sloan, Rev. I. C 244, 301
Smallpox at the Knife river villages 374, 377
At Winnipeg Icelandic settlement 97, 103 and note 2
Of 1837, list of Grosventre survivors 437
Of 1837, list of Mandan survivors 436
On the Missouri river 346, 347, 349
Small Village of the Mandans, picture of opp. 435
Smee, H. H. M 365
Smith, A. J 344
Governor Gregory, Vermont ' 420
Harlan I., Data of the Archaeology of the Dakotas 74
Jefferson 357, 372, 379
John 379
Snell, Joseph, stage driver 415
Soenderhaa, Denmark 153
Some Devils Lake Notes, by Mary R. Brennan 476
Somereisen, Father 245
Son of the Star, Arikara chief. 346
South Dakota, foreign population in 183
Spruce, Jack 340
Spencer, David B. and wife 252, 253
Spread Eagle, Missouri river steamboat 426
Stai, Edward 152
Portrait of .,. opp. 136
Laurits '. 152
Standing Cloud, Indian scout 343
Stanley, General 343
Lieutenant D. S 425
Starkey, Rev. J. B 313, 314
State Historical Society, articles of incorporation 11
Directors and other officers 15
Library and museum 32
Legislative provision for 9
Loan collections 45
Membership 17
Newspaper collection 37
Report of expenditures 21
Standing committees 15
Stavanger, Norwegian district sending settlers to Griggs county 134
Stefansson, Gudmundur 105
Magnus 98, 99
Stephen, Father 269
Steinbrueck, E. R., History of Glen Ullin 297
Manufacture of Mandan Horn Ornaments 456
Stokka, Ola 152
Portrait of opp. 136
Stowers, Rev. C. N 314
Stutsman, Enos, portrait of 350
Sketch of, by George W. Kingsbury 350
Jacob 350
Nicholas 350
498 INDEX
PAGE
Stutsman county, archaeological remains in 88
Sublette, William ' 358, 380
Suk-shi, Mandan chief 434
Sully, General 230, 342, 343, 354, 369, 376
Suttle, Henry, portrait of opp. 330
Sketch of 329
Sverdrup township, assessed valuation of property of 148
Map showing Norwegian landholding in 149
Organization of 147
Norwegian settlement in 137
Schools in 146
Vote for governor, 1900-1904 147
Sveinsson, Sigurjon 102, 103
Sveinn 102
Swedes in North Dakota 185, 188, 192, 196, 198
In the Northwest 180, 181, 182, 183
Sweet Corn, Sioux chief 227, 419
Sykes, Sir Francis 375
Richard, sketch of Sykeston 383
Sykeston, sketch of ^ 383
Sylta 153
Tabeau, Father 205
Tache, Bishop 419
Father Alex. A 219
Tanner, James 252
J. A., Foreign Immigration into North Dakota ". 180
Tannett, Lieutenant T. R 426
Terry, Elijah 252, 253
General 343, 348
Thibault, Father 218
Thingwalla, map locating Icelandic landholders in 110
Thingwalla township, Icelandic settlement in 102, 103
Organized 109
Vote of, for governor, 1892-1904 125
Vote of, for president, 1892-1904 125
Vote of, on adoption of state constitution. 125
Vote of, on prohibition 125
Thisted, Danish seaport 153
Thjodolfur, Icelandic newspaper opposed to emigration 101
Thompson, David 368, 372, 382
Thordarsen, Mrs. Gudmundur ,. 105, note 4
Thorgrimsen, Gudmund 96
Rev. H. B 96, 109
Thorlaksson, Haraldur 104, 111
Rev. Pall 97, 98, 99, 102, 104, 109, 126
Rev. Pall, portrait of " . . .' opp. 104
Thorson, H 104
Thorwaldsson, Stigur Ill, 127
Portrait of opp. 104
Swain 120
Thrane, Marcus 155 and note 1, 172, 173
Thunder Nest, Indian myth concerning 446
Picture of opp. 448
Thwaites, Reuben Gold, editor of Early Western Travels 374
Thy, Denmark 153, 176, 177
Tilton . 380
INDEX 499
PAGE
Time, Tobias 152
Tiscat, Father 219
Tomasin, Father 246
Traill county, map showing nationality of landholders in 1905 108
Nationality of landholders by townships 198
Trapper, Missouri river steamboat 341
Treaty, Indian 220
Trotier, Frederic 344
Turtle Mountains, missionary work at 213
Turtle Mountain Indians 289
Turtle Point, South Dakota, picture of 85
Two Bears, Sioux chief 345
Two Lance, Sioux chief 276
TJeland, Martin 147, note 2, 152
United States census of 1850, for Pembina District 385
United States mail routes in North Dakota 424
Uses of an Historical Society, address delivered by Prof. A. C.
McLaughlin 53
Valuation of personal property in Pembina county in 1873 405
In 1874 408
Vanderhorck, Capt. John 415
Van Solen, Mrs. L . 376
Varnum, Zeph 383
Vatne, Andrew 152
Portrait of opp. 136
Veum, J 112, note 1
Vinjie, A. 0 133
Vote for governor, 1900-1904, in Norwegian township of Griggs county. 147
Vote for president in Hill township, 1892-1904 165
Vote of Icelandic townships for governor, 1892-1904 125
For president, 1892-1904 125
Waddell, Ella S 348
Walhalla, first town officer in 380
Walhalla grist mill, used by Icelandic settlers in Pembina county 102
Walhalla (St. Joseph) missions 257
Walker, Rev. J. T 313
Walsh county, archaeological remains in 88
Ward county, Danish settlements in 175
War Eagle, Mississippi river steamboat 364
Warner, Rev. S. B 315, 316
Waterbury, South Dakota, plan of boulder mosaic in 85
Webb, Rev. John 311, 312, 313
Wehrle, Rev. Vincent, on German Russians in North Dakota 199
Wells, E. P 383
Westergaard, Anna .' 177
Annie W 180
Christen 154, 155, 176
Mrs. Christen 156, 176
Christian, Denmark Forty Years Ago 169
Jacob 179
Mrs. Jacob 176
Jens W 180
Mariana 177
Peter 154, 155, 177
W. C., Danish Settlement in Hill Township, Cass County 153
Westley, Ola 152
Portrait of opp. 136
Whistler, General 343, 423
500 INDEX
PAGE
Whitcomb, Captain • 418
White, E. D 461
Rev. G. S 317
. William H., History of Methodism in North Dakota 310
White Crane, Indian scout 343
White Shield, Arikara chief 344
Whitman, Newman 304
Wickman, William 96
Wikey, Richard 383
Wilcox family 156
Wilke, Jean Baptiste 380
Williams, Rev. T. M 313
Wilson, Rev. G. L., The Iktomi Myth 474
Peter 380
Windmills, Danish 106, 163
Norwegian 142, 143, note 1, 145
Winnipeg, Lake, Icelandic settlement on 97
Wisconsin, foreign population in 183
Icelandic settlement in 96
Woods, Major, expedition to Pembina 385
Report on expedition to Pembina 357
Woodward, Plin 383
Wright, Ann 380
Charlotte 380
Charles 380
Edward 418
Emily T - 380
John 303
Rev. S. G 222, 380
X. Y. Fur Co ; 362
Yellow Bear, Arikara chief 346
Yellow Hawk, ludian scout 343
Yellow Nose, portrait of opp. 443
Yokell, George 383
York, sailboat used by Icelanders on Red river 99
Zink, Peter .383
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