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HISTORY
OF
GOODHUE COUNTY,
INCLUDING A SKETCH OF THE
TERRITORY AND STATE OF MINNESOTA;
TOGETHER WITH
AN ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY FRENCH DISCOVERIES, INDIAN MASSA-
CRES. THE PART BORNE BY MINNESOTA'S PATRIOTS IN THE
WAR OF THE GREAT REBELLION, AND A FULL AND
COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM THE
TIME OF ITS OCCUPANCY BY SWISS MISSION-
ARIES IN 1838. "PIONEER INCIDENTS,
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF
EARLY AND PROMINENT
SETTLERS AND REPRE-
SENTATIVE MEN,
AND OF ITS
CITIES, TOWNS, CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, SECRET SOCIETIES, Etc.
ILLUSTRATED
RED WING, MINN.
WOOD, ALLEY & CO., ST. JAMES BUILDING,
1878.
[She
ke.w ym,
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Aeren, tcwox and
tilg^ * lONS "
1S&8
PIONEER PRESS CO., ST. PAUL
Printers, Lithographers and Bookbinders.
PREFACE.
In the preparation of the following pages, we have aimed at
conciseness and accuracy rather than elegance of diction and high-
sounding phrases. We are in the midst of mighty progress and
marvelous development, and men will not wait to study fine-spun
theories and pore over the intricate details of the metaphysical
>
world. They want facts plainly stated, and couched in language
brief, pointed, and applicable to the practical affairs of life.
It has been our object to present, in a readable manner, as much
information as could be given in the space allotted the several
divisions of this book.
Owing to the obscure and imperfect county war record which we
had to unravel, and the preponderance of foreign population with
which we had to contend — many of whom could not readily compre-
hend our motive — we .found some difficulty in the early stages of
the work in collating our data and laying the foundation upon which
to build a reliable superstructure. As we progressed with the
enterprise, however, and the people learned more of us, encourage-
ment and words of good cheer greeted us from all classes, thence-
forth we found the way plain and the work more easy.
It may be said of our township histories that we have dealt
partially by some, but if it so appears it should be attributed to
those possessing the facts and refusing to impart them. We made
every reasonable effort to do justice .by each and all the townships,
villages, county, places, and people ; and we can truthfully say we
IV
have put into the hands of our subscribers in Goodhue County, a
larger and better compilation of general and local historical informa-
tion, than was ever before published in a single volume in the
Northwest.
Among such a vast catalogue of dates and names, if errors are
discovered, the intelligent reader will appreciate the complexity of
such matters and make due allowance.
To as many of the people of the county as have rendered us
valuable assistance — and they are not a few — we extend our heart-
felt thanks ; and for the more valuable information and personal favors
we desire to acknowledge the names of Rev. J. W. Hancock, Dr. W.
W. Sweney, John Day, S. J. Willard, Hon. H. B. Wilson, Judge
Chris. Graham, Charles Betche:, C. C. Webster, Col. Hans. Mattson,
Minneapolis, L. A. Hancock, A. Seeback; B. B. Herbert, of the
Advance; Charles L. Davis, of the Argus; Gen. S. P. Jennison and T.
H. Perkins, of the Republican; Charles Ward, Zumbrota; Rev. E.
Norelius, Vasa; Charles Parks, Cannon Falls; Dr. Chr. Gronvold,
Wanamingo, and others. The newspaper publications throughout
the county have encouraged us in the work, and we take this oppor-
tunity to extend them our humble meed of gratitude.
WOOD, ALLEY & CO.
Red Wing, November, 1878.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
The Northwestern Territory, as ceded to the United States by
Virginia in 1784, included that district of country bounded on the one
side by the Ohio River, on the other by the Mississippi River, and on
the north by Canada. It is now represented by the States of Ohio,
Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that portion of Minnesota
lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. At that period, the
United States only extended westward to the Mississippi River. Be-
yond, to the Pacific Ocean, the country was an unknown, unexplored
wild, claimed by the Spanish government. In 1803, however, by the
purchase of the Louisiana Territory, the domain of the United States
was extended westward to the Rocky Mountains, and the Northern
Pacific Ocean. The territory thus obtained come to be called the " New
Northwest," in contradistinction from the old "Northwestern Territory."
As compared with the old Northwest, this is a territory of vast extent
and magnitude, and covers an area of 1,887,850 square miles, — being
much larger in extent than the united areas of all the Middle and
Southern States, including Texas. Out of this magnificent territory,
eleven sovereign States and eight Territories have been erected, which,
according to the U. S.. Census Reports for 1870, returned an aggregate
population of 13,000,000 inhabitants — nearly one-third of the entire
population of the United States and Territories.
Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the large rivers of the continent —
the Mississippi, the Missouri and the Arkansas — flow for thousands of
miles through its rich alluvial valleys and far-stretching prairies, more
acres of which are arable and productive of a higher percentage of
cereals than any other area of like extent on the globe. During the
last twenty years the increase of population in this country of States
and Territories has been about as three to one in any other portion of
the United States government.
EARLY EXPLORATIONS.
In the year 1541, DeSoto first saw the Great West in the New World,
but he only prosecuted his explorations as far north as the 35th parallel
2
Z THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
of latitude. The exposures and privations incident to the expedition
resulted in his death and the death of more than half his men. Those
who survived the trials of the expedition found their way to Cuba and
thence to Spain, in a famished and greatly demoralized condition.
DeSoto founded no settlements, produced no results, and left no
traces of civilization, unless it were to awaken the hostility of the red
natives of the country against the white man, or dishearten such as
might have a desire to follow up the era of discovery for better purposes.
The French Government was eager and ready to seize upon any
information from this extensive domain, and were the first to profit by
the disaster <mat befel DeSoto and his expedition, and to utilize the
discoveries he had made, yet more than one hundred years were
allowed to pass before any advantages were taken of the discoveries.
A. D. 1616, four years before the Pilgrims landed the Mayflower at
Plymouth Rock, LeCaron, a French Franciscan, had penetrated through
the Iroquois and Wyandots (Hurons) to the streams which run into
Lake Huron; and in 1634, tw<i Jesuit missionaries founded the first
mission among the lake tribes. It was just one hundred years from
the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto (1541) until the Canadian
envoys met the savage nations of the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary,
below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit led to no permanent
result; and it was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous fur
traders attempted to spend a winter in the frozen wilds about the great
lakes, nor was it until 1660 that a station was established upon their
borders by Mesnard, who perished in the woods a few months later. In
1665, Claude Allouez built the earliest lasting habitation of the white
man among the Indians of the Northwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and
James Marquette founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at the Falls
of St. Mary ; and two years afterward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M.
Talon, Governor General of Canada, explored Lake Illinois (Michigan)
as far south as the present city of Chicago, and invited the Indian
nations to meet him at a grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the follow-
ing spring, where they were taken under the protection of the king,
and formal possession taken of the Northwest. This same year Mar-
quette established a mission at Point St. Ignatius, where was founded
the old town of Michillimackinac.
During M. Talon's explorations and Marquette's residence at St.
Ignatius, they learned of a great river away to the west, and fancied —
as all others did then — that upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's
children resided, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come.
Filled with a wish to go and preach to them, and in compliance with a
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 6
request of M. Talon, who earnestly desired to extend the domain of his
king, and to ascertain whether the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico
or the Pacific Ocean, Marquette, with Joliet as commander of the expe-
dition, prepared for the undertaking.
On the 13th of May, 1673, the explorers, accompanied by five assist-
ant French Canadians, set out from Mackinaw on their daring voyage
of discovery. The Indians, who gathered to witness their departure,
were astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, and endeavored to
dissuade them from their purpose by representing that the tribes on the
Mississippi were exceedingly savage and cruel, and that the river itself
was full of all sorts of frightful monsters ready to swallow them and
their canoes together. But, nothing daunted by these terrific descrip-
tions, Marquette told them he was willing not only to encounter all the
perils of the unknown region they were about to explore, but to lay
down his life in a cause in w^hich the salvation of souls was involved ;
and having prayed together, they separated. Coasting along the
northern shore of Lake Michigan, the avi venturers entered Green Bay,
and passed thence up the Fox River and Lake Winnebago to a village
of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Marquette was delighted to find
a'beautiful cross planted in the middle of the town, ornamented with
white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows, which these good people
had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to thank him for the pity he
had bestowed on them during the winter in giving them abundant
game. This was the farthest outpost to which Dablon and Allouez had
extended their missionary labors the year previous. Here Marquette
drank mineral waters and was instructed in the secret of a root which
the Indians said would cure the bite of the venomous rattlesnake. He
assembled the chiefs and old men of the village, and pointing to Joliet,
said : " My friend is an envoy of France, to discover new countries,
and I am an ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths
of the Gospel." Two Miami guides were here furnished to conduct
them to the Wisconsin River, and they set out from the Indian village
on the 10th of June, amidst a great crowd of natives who had assembled
to witness their departure into a region where no white man had ever
yet ventured. The guides having conducted them across the portage,
returned to their village. Marquette and his companions launched
their canoes upon the Wisconsin River and floated down towards the
Mississippi, which they entered at the site now occupied by Prairie du
Chien, on the 17th of June, and proceeded down its unknown waters.
What emotions must have filled their souls, as their canoes glided out
of the Wisconsin and entered upon the broad bosom of the great river
4 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
of which they had heard marvelous accounts from the Indians ! Their
feelings of wonder and admiration as they realized that they had at
last found the long-sought river, may be imagined but not described.
Previous to this, there was no positive knowledge that such a mighty
stream existed. But the Indian stories of its great length, and breadth,
and depth, were about to be established beyond the cavil of a doubt.
The mysteries that enshrouded it were to be solved, and the way to a
new world — the great Northwest — to be opened to civilization and civ-
ilized industry.
The scenery along the banks of the Upper Mississippi is grand (even
now) beyond conception. Before white men came to destroy the natu-
ral grandeur by clearing away the forests that covered the towering
and majestic bluffs, and reduce its flower-bearing valleys or meadows
to grain-growing fields, there must have existed here a primitive beauty
that no artist's imagination could touch. While the cloud-towering
bluifs still remain as monuments to the hand of the Great Architect
who reared them and spreadwt their base the beautiful valleys and
prairies, much of their primeval beauty has faded away before the
march of the people who came after the intrepid explorer Marquette
and his companions to occupy the land, and drive from their native
haunts the wild men of the prairies and forests.
Drifting rapidly before the current, "the bold bluifs on either hand,"
wrote Marquette, " reminded us of the castled shores of our own beau-
tiful rivers in France." By-and-by, as they drifted along, great herds
of buffalo appeared on the banks. Approaching the heads of the
valleys, they could see a country of the greatest beauty and fertility,
which, although destitute of inhabitants, presented the appearance of
extensive manors under the fastidious cultivation of lordly proprietors.
On the 25th of June, the explorers went ashore and found some
fresh traces of men upon the sand, and a path that led out to the
prairie. The men remained in the boat, and Marquette and Joliet fol-
lowed the path until they discovered a village on the banks of a river,
and two other villages on a hill within half a league of the first, all
inhabited by Indians. Marquette wrote: "We were received most
hospitably by these natives, who had never before seen a white per-
son." After remaining among these people a few days they returned
to their boat, re-embarked and descended the river to about latitude
35°, where they found a village of the Arkansas, and being satisfied
that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, they turned their course
and ascended the river to the mouth of the Illinois, which they entered
and followed to its source. There they procured Indian guides and
proceeded across the country to the lakes.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 5
"Nowhere on this journey," says Marquette, "did we see such
grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wildcats, bustards,
swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois River."
The party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay in September,
and reported their discovery — one of the most important of the age,
but of which no record was preserved save Marquette's, Joliet losing
his by the upsetting of his canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward
Marquette returned to the Illinois Indians by their request, and minis-
tered to them until 1675. On the 18th of May in that year, as he was
passing the mouth of a stream — going with his boatmen up Lake
Michigan — he asked to land at its mouth and celebrate mass. Leaving
his men with the eanoe, he retired a short distance and began his devo-
tions. As much time passed and he did not return, his men went in
search of him, and found him upon his knees, dead. He had peacefully
passed away while at prayer. He was buried at this spot. Charlevoix,
who visited the place fifty years later, found the waters had retreated
from the grave, leaving the beloved missionary to repose in peace.
The river has since been called Marquette.
While Marquette and his companions were pursuing their labors in
the West, two men. differing widely from him and each other, were
preparing to follow in his footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well
begun by him. These were Robert de LaSalle and Louis Hennepin.
After La Salle's return from the discoverv of the Ohio River (see
the narrative elsewhere) he established himself again among the
French trading posts in Canada. Here he mused long upon the pet
project of those ages — a short way to China and the East, and was busily
planning an expedition up the great lakes, and so across the continent
to the Pacific, when Marquette returned from the Mississippi. At once
the vigorous mind of LaSalle received from his and his companions'
stories the idea that by following the Great River northward, or by
turning up some of the numerous western tributaries, the object could
easily be gained. He applied to Frontenac, Governor General of
Canada, and laid before him the dim, but gigantic plan. Frontenac
entered warmly into his plans, seeing that LaSalle's idea to connect the
great lakes by a chain of forts with the Gulf of Mexico would bind the
country strongly together, and give unmeasured power to France, and
glory to himself, under whose administration he earnestly hoped all
would be realized.
LaSalle repaired to France, laid his plans before the King, who warmly
approved of them, and made him a Chevalier. He also received from
all the noblemen the warmest wishes for his success. The Chevalier
6 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
returned to Canada, and busily entered upon his work. He at once
rebuilt Fort Frontenac, and constructed the first ship to sail on the
fresh-water seas. On the 7th of August, 1679, having been joined by
Hennepin, he began his voyage in the Griffin up Lake Erie. He passed
over this lake, through the straits beyond, up Lake St. Clair and into
Lake Huron. In this lake they encountered heavy storms. They were
some time at Michillimackinac, where LaSalle founded a fort, and
passed thence to Green Bay, the " Baie des Puans" of the French, where
he found a large quantity of furs collected for him. He loaded the
Griffin with these, and placing her under the care of a pilot and four-
teen sailors, started her on her return voyage. The vessel was never
afterward heard of. LaSalle remained thereabouts until early in the
winter, when, hearing nothing from the Griffin, he collected all his
men — thirty working men and three monks — and started again upon
his great undertaking.
By a short portage they passed to the Illinois or Kankakee, called by
the Indians, "Theake,'" wolf, because of the tribes of Indians known to
them by that name, but commonly called Mahingons, dwelling there.
The French pronounced it Keakiki, which became corrupted to Kan-
kakee. "Falling down the river by easy stages, the better to observe
the country," about the last of December they reached a village of the
Illinois Indians, containing some five hundred cabins, but at that time
no inhabitants. The Sieur de LaSalle being in want of some breadstuffs,
took advantage of the absence of the Indians to help himself to a suffi-
ciency of maize, large quantities of which he found concealed in holes
under the wigwams. This village was situated near the present village
of Utica, in LaSalle county, Illinois. The corn being securely stored,
the voyagers again betook themselves to the stream, and toward eve-
ning, on the 4th day of January, 1680, they came into a lake which must
have been the lake of Peoria, at Peoria City. This was called by the In-
dians Pim-i-te-wi, that is, a place where there are many fat beasts. Here
the natives were met with in large numbers, but they were gentle and
kind, and having spent some time with them, LaSalle determined to
erect another fort in that place, for he had heard rumors that some of the
adjoining tribes were trying to disturb the good feeling which existed,
and some of his men were disposed to complain, owing to the hardships
and perils of the travel. He called this fort "Crevecceur" (broken-
heart,) a name expressive of the very natural sorrow and anxiety
which the pretty certain loss of his ship, Griffin, and his consequent
impoverishment, the danger of hostility on the part of the Indians, and
of mutiny among his own men, might well cause him. His fears were
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 7
not entirely groundless. At one time poison was placed in his food,
but fortunately was discovered.
While building this fort, the winter wore away, the prairies began to
look green, and LaSalle, despairing of any reinforcements, concluded
to return to Canada, raise new means and new men, and embark anew
in the enterprise. For this purpose he made Hennepin the leader of a
party to explore the head waters of the Mississippi, and set out on his
journey. This journey was accomplished with the aid of a few persons,
and was successfully made, though over an almost unknown route, and
in a bad season of the year. He reached Canada in safety, and soon
set out again for the object of his search.
Hennepin and his party left Fort Crevecoeur the last of February,
1680. When LaSalle reached this place on his return expedition, he
found the fort entirely deserted, and was obliged to return again to
Canada. He embarked the third time, and succeeded. Seven days after
leaving the fort, Hennepin 'reached the Mississippi, and paddling up
the icy stream as best he could, reached the Wisconsin River about the
11th of April. Here he and his followers were taken prisoners by a
band of Northern Indians, who treated them with great kindness.
Hennepin's comrades were Anthony Auguel and Michael Ako. On this
voyage they found several beautiful lakes, and "saw some charming
prairies." Their captors were the Isaute or Sauteurs, Chippewas, a tribe
of the Sioux nation, who took them up the river, and about the first of
May they reached the falls (at Minneapolis) which Hennepin christened
Falls of St. Anthony, in honor of his patron saint. Here they left the
river and travelled across the country in a northwesterly direction for a
distance of about two hundred miles, when they came to the villages
of the tribe with which they were prisoners, and by whom they were
treated with kindness. They were kept in captivity for a period of
three months, at the end of which time they were met by a band
of Frenchmen, headed by one Sieur de Luth, who, in pursuit of trade
and game, had penetrated that far by way of Lake Superior. Hennepin
and his companions were released to their countrymen and allowed to
return with them to the borders of civilized life, in November, 1680,
just after LaSalle had returned on his second expedition to the wilder-
ness. Hennepin soon after went to France, where he published a book
giving an account of his adventures among the wild red men of the
New World.
The Mississippi was first discovered by De Soto, in April, 1541, in his
vain endeavor to find gold and precious gems. In the following spring,
De Soto, weary with hope long deferred, and worn out with his wander-
8 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
ings, fell a victim to disease, and died on the 21st of May. His follow-
ers, reduced by fatigue and disease to less than three hundred men,
wandered about the country nearly a year, in the vain endeavor to
rescue themselves by land, and finally constructed seven small vessels,
called brigantines, in which they embarked, and descending the river,
supposing it would lead them to the sea, and came to the Gulf of
Mexico in July, and in September reached the island of Cuba.
They were the first to see the great outlet of the Mississippi ; but,
being so wearied and discouraged, made no attempt to claim the country,
and hardly had an intelligent idea of what they had passed through.
To LaSalle, the intrepid explorer, belongs the honor of giving the first
account of the mouths of the river. His great desire was to possess
this entire country for his king, and in January, 1682, he and his band
of explorers left the shores of Lake Michigan on their third attempt,
crossed the portage, passed down the Illinois River, and on the 6th of
February, reached the banks of the Mississippi.
On the 13th of February they commenced their downward course,
which they pursued with but one interruption, until, on the 6th of
March, they discovered the three great passages by which the river
discharges its waters into the gulf. LaSalle thus narrates the event:
"We landed on the bank of the most western channel, about three
leagues (nine miles) from its mouth. On the seventh, M. de LaSalle
went to reconnoiter the shores of the neighboring sea, and M. de Tonti
meanwhile examined the great middle channel. They found the main
outlets beautiful, large and deep. On the 8th we reascended the river,
a little above its confluence with the sea, to find a dry place beyond
the reach of inundations. The elevation of the North Pole was here
about twenty-seven degrees. Here we prepared a column and a cross,
and to the column were affixed the arms of France, with this inscription :
' Louis Le Grand, Roi de France et de Navarre, regne ; Le neuvieme Avril, 1682.' '
The whole party, under arms, chanted the Te Deu?n, and then, after
a salute and cries of " Vive le Roi" the column was erected by M. de
LaSalle, who, standing near it. proclaimed in a loud voice the authority
of the King of France. LaSalle returned and laid the foundations of
the Mississippi settlements in Illinois, thence he proceeded to France,
where another expedition was fitted out, of which he was commander,
and in two succeeding voyages failed to find the outlet of the river by
sailing along the shore of the gulf. On his third voyage he was killed
through the treachery of his followers, and the object of his expedition
wns not accomplished until 1699, when D'Iberville, under the authority
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 9
of the crown, discovered, on the second of March, by way of the sea,
the mouth of the "Hidden River." This majestic stream was called by
the natives " Malbouchia" and by the Spaniards, u La Paissade," from
the number of trees growing about its mouth. After examining the
several outlets, and satisfying himself as to its certainty, he erected
a fort near its western outlet, and then returned to France.
An avenue of trade was now opened out, which was fully improved.
In 1718, New Orleans was laid out and settled by some European colo-
nists. In 1762 the colony was made over to Spain, to be regained by
France under the consulate of Napoleon. In 1803, it was purchased
by the United States for the sum of fifteen million dollars, and the ter-
ritory of Louisiana and commerce of the Mississippi River came under
the charge of the United States. Although LaSalle's labors ended in
defeat and death, he had not worked and suffered in vain. He had
thrown open to France and the world an immense and most valuable
country ; had established several ports, and laid the foundations of more
than one settlement in the New World. " Peoria, Kaskaskia andCahokia,
are to this day monuments of LaSalle's labors ; for, though he had
founded neither of them, (unless Peoria, which was built nearly upon
the site of Fort Crevecoeur,) it was by those whom he led into the West
that these places were peopled and civilized. He was, if not the dis-
coverer, the first settler of the Mississippi Valley, and as such deserves
to be known and honored.' 1
The French early improved the opening made for them. Before the
year 1698, the Rev. Father Gravier began a mission among the Illinois,
and founded Kaskaskia. For some time this was merely a missionary
station, where none but natives resided, it being one of three such vil-
lages, the other two being Cahokia and Peoria. What is known of these
missions is learned from a letter written by Father Gabriel Marest,
dated "Aux Cascaskias, autrement dit de l'lmmaculate Conception de
la Sainte Vierge, le 9 Novembre, 1712." Soon after the founding of
Kaskaskia, the missionary, Pinet, gathered a flock at Cahokia, while
Peoria arose near the ruins of Fort Crevecoeur. This must have been
about the year 1700. The post at Vincennes, on the Oubache River,
(pronounced Wa-ba, meaning summer cloud moving swiftly) was estab-
lished in 1702, according to the best authorities.* It is altogether
probable that on LaSalle's last trip he established the stations at Kas-
kaskia and Cahokia. In July, 1701, the foundations of Fort Ponchar-
* There is considerable dispute about this date, some asserting it was founded as late as 1742. When
the new court house at Vincennes was erected, all authorities on the subject were carefully examined, and
1702 fixed upon as the correct date. It was accordingly engraved on the corner-stone of the court house
10 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
train were laid by De la Motte Cadillac, on the Detroit River. These
stations, with those established further north, were the earliest attempts
to occupy the Northwest Territory. At the* same time efforts were
being made to occupy the Southwest, which finally culminated in the
settlement and founding of the city of New Orleans by a colony from
England, in 1718. This was mainly accomplished through the efforts of
the famous Mississippi Company, established by the notorious John
Law, who so quickly arose into prominence in France, and who with his
scheme so quickly and so ignominiously passed away.
From the time of the founding of these stations, for fifty years the
French nation were engrossed with the settlement of the Lower Missis-
sippi, and the war with the Chicasaws, who had, in revenge for repeated
injuries, cut off the entire colony at Natchez. Although the company
did little for Louisiana, as the entire West was then called, yet it opened
the trade through the Mississippi River, and started the raising of
grains indigenous to that climate. Until the year 1750, but little is
known of the settlements in t,he Northwest, as it was not until this
time that the attention of the English was called to the occupation of
this portion of the New World, which they then supposed they owned.
Vivier, a missionary among the Illinois, writing from '*Aux Illinois,"
six leagues from Fort Chartres, June 8, 1750, says:
" We have here whites, negroes and Indians, to say nothing of cross-breeds. There
are five French villages, and three villages of the natives, within a space of twenty-one
leagues situated between the Mississippi- and another river called the Karkadaid
(Kaskaskias.) In the five French villages are, perhaps, eleven hundred whites, three
hundred blacks, and some sixty red slaves or savages. The three Illinois towns do not
contain more than eight hundred souls, all told. Most of the French till the soil; they
raise wheat, cattle, pigs and horses, and live like princes. Three times as much is
produced as can be consumed ; and great quantities of grain and flour are sent to New
Orleans."
This city was now the seaport town of the Northwest, and save in the
extreme northern part, where only furs and copper ore were found,
almost all the products of the country found their way to France by
the mouth of the Father of Waters. In another letter, dated November
7, 1750, this same priest says :
" For fifteen leagues above the mouth of the Mississippi one sees no dwellings, the
ground being too low to be habitable. Thence to New Orleans, the lands are only par-
tially occupied. New Orleans contains black, white and red, not more, I think, than
twelve hundred persons. To this point comes all lumber, bricks, salt-beef, tallow, tar,
skins and bear's grease; and above all, pork and flour, from the Illinois. These things
create some commerce, as forty vessels and more have come hither this year. Above
New Orleans, plantations are again met with; the most considerable is a colony of Ger-
mans, some ten leagues up the river. At Point Coupee, thirty-five leagues above the
German settlement, is a fort. Along* here, within five or six leagues, are not less than
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 11
sixty habitations. Fifty leagues farther up is the Natchez post, where we have a garri-
son, who are kept prisoners through fear of the Chickasaws. Here and at Point Coupee,
they raise excellent tobacco. Another hundred leagues brings us to the Arkansas, where
we have also a fort and a garrison for the benefit of the river traders. * * * From
the Arkansas to the Illinois, nearly five hundred leagues, there is not a settlement.
There should be, however, a fort at the Oubache (Ohio), the only path by which the
English can reach the Mississippi. In the Illinois country are numberless mines, but
no one to work them as they deserve."
Father Marest, writing from the post at Vincennes in 1812, makes
the same observation. Vivier also says :
" Some individuals dig lead near the surface and supply the Indians and Canada.
Two Spaniards now here, who claim to be adepts, say that our mines are like those of
Mexico, and that if we would dig deeper, we should find silver under the lead ; and at
any rate the lead is excellent. There is also in this country, beyond doubt, copper ore,
as from time to time large pieces are fouud in the streams."
At the close of the year 1750, the French occupied, in addition to the
lower Mississippi posts and those in Illinois, one at Du Quesne, one at
the Maumee, in the country of the Miamis, and one at Sandusky, in
what may be termed the Ohio Valley. In the northern part of the
Northwest they had stations at St. Joseph, on the St. Joseph's of Lake
Michigan, at Fort Ponchartrain (Detroit), at Michillimackinac or Mas-
sillimacanac, Fox River of Green Bay, and at Sault Ste. Marie. The
fondest dreams of LaSalie were now fully realized. The French alone
were possessors of this vast realm, basing their claim on discovery and
settlement. Another nation, however, was now turning its attention
to this extensive country, and hearing of its wealth, began to lay plans
for occupying it and for securing the great profits arising therefrom.
The French, however, had another claim to this country, namely, the
discovery of the Ohio.
This "Beautiful" river was discovered by Robert Cavalier de LaSalie,
in 1669, four years before the discovery of the Mississippi by Joliet
and Marquette.
While LaSalie was at his trading post on the St. Lawrence, he found
leisure to study nine Indian dialects, the chief of which was the
Iroquois. He not only desired to facilitate his intercourse in trade,
but he longed to travel and explore the unknown regions of the West.
An incident soon occurred which decided him to fit out an exploring
expedition.
While conversing with some Senecas, he learned of a river called the
Ohio, which rose in their country and flowed to the sea, but at such a
distance that it required eight months to reach its mouth. In this state-
ment the Mississippi and its tributaries were considered as one stream
LaSnlle believing, as most of the French at that period belie v^q
\
12 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
that the great rivers flowing west emptied into the Sea of California,
was anxious to embark in the enterprise of discovering a route across
the continent to the commerce of China and Japan.
He repaired at once to Quebec to obtain the approval of the Gover-
nor. His eloquent appeal prevailed. The Governor and the Intendant,
Talon, issued letters patent authorizing the enterprise, but made no
provision to defray the expenses. At this juncture the seminary of St.
Sulpice decided to send out missionaries in connection with the expe-
dition, and LaSalle offering to sell his improvements at LaChine to raise
money, the offer was accepted by the Superior, and two thousand
eight hundred dollars were raised, with which LaSalle purchased four
canoes and the necessary supplies for the outfit.
On the 6th of July, 1669, the party, numbering twenty-four persons,
embarked in seven canoes on the St. Lawrence; two additional canoes
carried the Indian guides. In three days they were gliding over the
bosom of Lake Ontario. Their guides conducted them directly to the
Seneca village on the bank of the Genesee, in the vicinity of the pres-
ent city of Rochester, New York. Here they expected to procure
guides to conduct them to the Ohio, but in this they were disappointed.
The Indians seemed unfriendly to the enterprise. LaSalle suspected
that the Jesuits had prejudiced their minds against his plans. After
waiting a month in the hope of gaining their object, they met an Indian
from the Iroquois colony at the head of Lake Ontario, who assured them
that they could there find guides, and offered to conduct them thence.
On their way they passed the mouth of the Niagara River, when they
heard for the first time the distant thunder of the cataract. Arriving
among the Iroquois, they met with a friendly reception, and learned
from a Shawnee prisoner that they could reach the Ohio in six weeks.
Delighted with the unexpected good fortune, they made ready to
resume their journey; but just as they were about to start they heard
of the arrival of two Frenchmen in a neighboring village. One of them
proved to be Louis Joliet, afterwards famous as an explorer in the West.
He had been sent by the Canadian Government to explore the copper
mines on Lake Superior, but had failed, and was on his way back to
Quebec. He gave the missionaries a map of the country he had
explored in the lake region, together with an account of the condition
of the Indians in that quarter. This induced the priests to determine
on leaving the expedition and going to Lake Superior. LaSalle warned
them that the Jesuits were probably occupying that field, and that they
•vyould meet with a cold reception. Nevertheless they persisted in their
Gerpose, and after worship on the lake shore, parted from LaSalle. On
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 13
arriving at Lake Superior, they found, as LaSalle had predicted, the
Jesuit Fathers, Marquette* and Dablon, occupying the field.
These zealous disciples of Loyola informed them that they wanted,
no assistance from St. Sulpice, nor from those who made him their pat-
ron saint. Thus repulsed, they returned to Montreal the following June,
without having made a single discovery or converted a single Indian.
After parting with the priests, LaSalle went to the chief Iroquois
village at Onondaga, where he obtained guides, and passing thence to
a tributary of the Ohio south of Lake Erie, he descended the latter as
far as the falls at Louisville. Thus was the Ohio discovered by LaSalle,
the persevering and successful French explorer of the West, in 1669.
The account of the latter part of his journey is found in an anony-
mous paper, which purports to have been taken from the lips of LaSalle
himself during a subsequent visit to Paris. In a letter written to Count
Frontenac, in 1667, shortly after the discovery, he himself says that he
discovered the Ohio and descended it to the falls. This was regarded
as an indisputable fact by the French authorities, who claimed the
Ohio Valley upon another ground. When Washington was sent by the
colony of Virginia, in 1753, to demand of Gordeur de St. Pierre why
the French had built a fort on the Monongahela, the haughty comman-
dant at Quebec replied : " We claim the country on the Ohio by virtue
of the discoveries of LaSalle, and will not give it up to the English.
Our orders are to make prisoners of every Englishman found trading
in the Ohio Valley."
ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS.
When the new year of 1750 broke in upon the Father of Waters and
the Great Northwest, all was still wild save at the French posts already
described. In 1749, when the English first began to think seriously
about sending men into the West, the greater portion of the States of
Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were yet
under the dominion of the red men. The English knew, however, pretty
conclusively, of the nature of the wealth of these wilds. As earlv as
1710, Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, had commenced movements to
secure the country west of the Alleghenies to the English crown. In
Pennsylvania, Governor Keith and James Logan, secretary of the prov-
ince, from 1719 to 1731, represented to the powers of England the
necessity of securing the Western lands. Nothing was done, however,
by that power save to take some diplomatic steps to secure the claims
of Britain to this unexplored wilderness.
England had from the outset claimed from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
14 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
on the ground that the discovery of the seacoast and its possession was
a discovery and possession of the country, and, as is well known, her
grants to the colonies extended "from sea to sea." This was not all her
claim. She had purchased from the Indian tribes large tracts of land.
This latter was also a strong argument. As early as 1684, Lord Howard,
Governor of Virginia, held a treaty with the Six Nations. These were
the great Northern Confederacy, and comprised at first the Mohawks,
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. Afterward the Tuscaroras
were taken into the confederacy, and it became known as the Six
Nations. They came under the protection of the mother country, and
again in 1701, they reaffirmed the agreement, and in September, 1726,
a formal deed was drawn up and signed by the chiefs. The validity of
this claim has often been disputed, but never successfully maintained.
In 1744, a purchase was made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, of certain
lands within the u Colony of Virginia," for which the Indians received
£200 in gold and a like sum in goods, with ! a promise that, as settle-
ments increased, more should be,.paid. The commissioners from Virginia
were Colonel Thomas Lee and Colonel William Beverly. As settle-
ments extended, the promise of more pay was called to mind, and Mr.
Conrad Weiser was sent across the mountains with presents to appease
the savages. Colonel Lee and some Virginians accompanied him, with
the intention of sounding the Indians upon their feelings regarding the
English. They were not satisfied with their treatment, and plainly told
the Commissioners why. The English did not desire the cultivation of
the country, but the monopoly of the Indian trade. In 1748, the Ohio
Company was formed, and petitioned the king for a grant of land
beyond the Alleghenies. This was granted, and the government of
Virginia was ordered to grant to them a half million acres, two hundred
thousand of which were to be located at once. On the 12th of June,
1749, 800,000 acres from the line of Canada north and west, was made
to the Loyal Company, and on the 29th of October, 1751, 100,000 acres
were given to the Green briar Company. All this time the French were
not idle. They saw that, should the British gain a foothold in the West,
especially upon the Ohio, they might not only prevent the French
settling upon it, but in time would come to the lower posts, and so gain
possession of the whole country. Upon the 10th of May, 1774, Vaud-
reuil, Governor of Canada and the French possessions, well knowing
the consequences that must arise from allowing the English to build
trading posts in the Northwest, seized some of their frontier posts, and
to further secure the claim of the French to the West, he, in 1749, sent
Louis Celeron with a party of soldiers to plant along the Ohio River,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 15
in the mounds and at the mouths of its principal tributaries, plates ot
load, on which were inscribed the claims of France. These were heard
of in 1752, and within the memory of residents now living along the
" Oyo," as the beautiful river was called by the French. One of these
plates was found, with the inscription partly defaced. It bears date
August 16, 1749, and a copy of the inscription, with particular account
of the discovery of the plate, was sent by DeWitt Clinton to the Ameri-
can Antiquarian Society, among whose journals it may now be found.*
These measures did not, however, deter the English from going on with
their explorations, and though neither party resorted to arms, yet the
conflict was gathering, and it was only a question of time when the
storm would burst upon the frontier settlements. In 1750, Christopher
Gist was sent by the Ohio Company to examine its lands. He went to
a village of the Twigtwees, on the Miami, about one hundred and fifty
miles above its mouth. He afterward spoke of it as very populous.
From there he went down the Ohio River nearly to the falls at the
present city of Louisville, and in November he commenced a survey
of the company's lands. During the winter. General Andrew Lewis
performed a similar work for the Greenbriar Company. Meanwhile the
French were busy in preparing their forts for defense, and in opening
roads, and also sent a small party of soldiers to keep the Ohio clear
This party, having heard of the English post on the Miami River, early
in 1652, assisted by the Ottawas and Chippewas, attacked it, and after
a severe battle, in which fourteen of the natives were killed and others
wounded, captured the garrison. (They were probably garrisoned in a
block house.) The traders were carried away to Canada, and one
account says several were burned. This fort or post was called by the
English Pickawillany. A memorial of the King's ministers refers to it
as " Pickawillanes, in the center of the territory between the Ohio and
the Wabash. The name is probably some variation of Pickaway or
Piqua in 1773, written by Rev. David Jones, Pickaweke."
This was the first blood shed between the French and English, and
occurred near the present city of Piqua, Miami county, Ohio, or at least
at a point about forty-seven miles north of Dayton. Each nation be-
came now more interested in the progress of events in the Northwest.
The English determined to purchase from the Indians a title to the
* The following is a translation of the inscription on the plate: •' In the year 1749, reign of Louis XV.
King of France, we, Celeron, commandant of a detachment by Monsieur the Marquis of Gallisoniere,
commander-in-chief of New France, to establish tranquility in certain Indian villages of these cantons,
have buried this plate at the confluence of the Toradakoin, this 29th of July, near the river Ohio, other-
wise Beautiful River, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken of the said river, and
all its tributaries; inasmuch as the preceding Kings of France have enjoyed it, and maintained it by their
arms and treaties; especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix La Chapelle."
16 THE NORTHAVEST TERRITORY.
lands they wished to occupy, and Messrs. Fry (afterwards Commander-
in-Chief over Washington at the commencement of the French War of
1775-1763), Lomax and Patton were sent, in the spring of 1752, to hold
a conference with the natives at Logstown, to learn their obiections to
the treaty of Lancaster, already noticed, and to settle all difficulties.
On the 9th of June, these Commissioners met the red men at Logs-
town, a little village on the north bank of the Ohio, about seventeen
miles below the site of Pittsburgh. Here there had been a trading
point for many years, but it was abandoned by the Indians in 1750. At
first the Indians declined to recognize the treaty of Lancaster, but, the
Commissioners taking aside Montour, the interpreter, who was a son of
the famous Catherine Montour, and a chief among the Six Nations,
induced him to use his influence in their favor. This he did, and upon
the 13th of June they all united in signing a deed, confirming the Lan-
caster treaty in its full extent, consenting to a settlement of the country
southeast of the Ohio, and guaranteeing that it should not be disturbed
by them. These were the mea^s used to obtain the first treaty with
the Indians in the Ohio Valley.
Meanwhile the powers beyond the sea were trying to out-manoeuvre
each other, and were professing to be at peace. The English generally
outwitted the Indians, but failed in many instances to fulfil their con-
tracts. They thereby gained the ill-will of the red men, and further
increased the feeling by failing to provide them with arms and ammu-
nition. Said an old chief, at Easton, in 1758:
"The Indians on the Ohio left you because of your own fault. When we heard the
French were coming, we asked you for help and arms, but we did not get them. The
French came, they treated us kindly, and gained our affections. The Governor of Vir-
ginia settled on our lands for his own benefit, and, when we wanted help, he forsook us."
At the beginning of 1653, the English thought they had secured by
title the lands in the West, but the French had quietly gathered can-
non and military stores to be in readiness for the expected blow. The
English made other attempts to ratify these existing treaties, but not
until the summer could the Indians be gathered together to discuss the
plans of the French. They had sent messages to the French, warning
them away ; but they replied that they intended to complete the chain
of forts already begun, and would not abandon the field.
Soon after this, no satisfaction being obtained from the Ohio regard-
ing the positions and purposes of the French, Governor Dinwiddie, of
Virginia, determined to send to them another messenger and learn from
them, if possible, their intentions. For this purpose he selected a young
man, a surveyor, who, at the early age of nineteen,' had received the
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 17
rank of major, and who was thoroughly posted regarding frontier life.
This personage was no other than the illustrious George Washington,
who then held considerable interest in Western lands. He was at this
time just twenty-two years of age. Taking Gist as his guide, the two,
accompanied by four servitors, set out on their perilous march. They
left Will's Creek on the 10th of November, 1753, and on the 22d reached
the Monongahela, about ten miles above the fork. From there they
went to Logstown, where Washington had a long conference with the
chiefs of the Six Nations. From them he learned the condition of the
French, and also heard of their determination not to come down
the river till the following spring. The Indians were non-committal, as
they were afraid to turn either way, and, as far as they could, desired to
remain neutral. Washington, finding nothing could be done with them,
went on to Venango, an old Indian town at the mouth of French Creek.
Here the French had a fort, palled Fort Machault. Through the rum
and flattery of the French, he nearly lost all his Indian followers.
Finding nothing of importance here, lit/ pursued his way amid great
privations, and on the 11th of December reached the fort at the head
of French Creek. Here he delivered Governor Dinwiddie's letter,
received his answer, took his observations, and on the 16th set out
upon his return journey with no one but Gist, his guide, and a few
Indians who still remained true to him, notwithstanding the endeavors
of the French to retain them. Their homeward journey was one of
great peril and suffering from the cold, yet they reached home in safety
on the 6th of January, 1754.
From the letter of St. Pierre, commander of the French fort, sent by
Washington to Governor Dinwiddie, it was learned that the French
would not give up without a struggle. Active preparations were at
once made in all the English colonies for the coming conflict, while the
French finished the fort at Venango and strengthened their lines of
fortifications, and gathered their forces to be in readiness.
The Old Dominion was all alive. Virginia was the center of great
activities ; volunteers were called for, and from all the neighboring
colonies men rallied to the conflict, and everywhere along the Potomac
men were enlisting under the Governor's proclamation — which prom-
ised two hundred thousand acres on the Ohio. Along this river they
were gathering as far as Will's Creek, and far beyond this point, whither
Trent had come for assistance for his little band of forty-one men, who
were working away in hunger and want, to fortify that point at the fork
of the Ohio, to which both parties were looking with deep interest.
" The first birds of spring filled the air with their song ; the swift
3
18 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
river rolled by the Allegheny hillsides, swollen by the melting snows
of spring and the April showers. The leaves were appearing ; a few
Indian scouts were seen, but no enemy seemed near at hand ; and all
was so quiet, that Frazier, an old Indian scout and trader, who had
been left by Trent in command, ventured to his home at the mouth of
Turtle Creek, ten miles up the Monongahela. But, though all was so
quiet in that wilderness, keen eyes had seen the low intrenchment rising
at the fork, and swift feet had borne the news of it up the river ; and
upon the morning of the 17th of April, Ensign Ward, who then had
charge of it, saw upon the Allegheny a sight that made his heart sink —
sixty batteaux and three hundred canoes filled with men, and laden
deep with cannon and stores. * * * That evening he supped
with his captor, Contrecoeur, and the next day he was bowed off
by the Frenchman, and with his men and tools, marched up the Monon-
gahela."
The French and Indian war had begun. The treaty of Aix la
Chapelle, in 1748, had left th% boundaries between the French and
English possessions unsettled, and the events already narrated show the
French were determined to hold the country watered by the Mississippi
and its tributaries ; while the English laid claims to the country by
virtue of the discoveries of the Cabots, and claimed all the country
from Newfoundland to Florida, extending from the Atlantic to the Pa-
cific. The first decisive blow had now been struck, and the first attempt
of the English, through the Ohio Company, to occupy these lands, had
resulted disastrously to them. The French and Indians immediately
completed the fortifications begun at the fork, which they had so easily
captured, and when completed gave to the fort the name of DuQuesne.
Washington was at Will's Creek when the news of the capture of the
fort arrived. He at once departed to recapture it. On his way he en-
trenched himself at a place called the "Meadows," where he erected
a fort called by him Fort Necessity. From there he surprised and cap-
tured a force of French and Indians marching against him, but was soon
after attacked in his fort by a much superior force, and was obliged to
yield on the morning of July 4th. He was allowed to return to Virginia.
The English Government immediately planned four campaigns : one
against Fort DuQuesne; one against Nova Scotia; one against Fort
Niagara; and one against Crown Point. These occurred during 1755-6,
and were not successful in driving the French from their possessions.
The expedition against Fort DuQuesne was led by the famous General
Braddock, who, refusing to listen to the advice of Washington and those
acquainted with Indian warfare, suffered such an inglorious defeat.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 19
This occurred on the morning of July 9th, and is generally known as
the battle of Monongahela, or k 'Braddock's Defeat." The war contin-
ued with various vicissitudes through the years 1756-7 ; when, at the
commencement of 1758, in accordance with the plans of William Pitt,
then Secretary of State, afterwards Lord Chatham, active preparations
were made to carry on the war. Three expeditions were planned for
this year: one, under General Amherst, against Louisburg; another,
under Abercrombie, against Fort Ticonderoga; and a third, under Gen-
eral Forbes, against Fort DuQuesne. On the 26th of July, Louisburg,
surrendered after a desperate resistance of more than forty days, and
the eastern part of the Canadian possessions fell into the hands of the
British. Abercrombie captured Fort Frontenac, and when the expedi-
tion against Fort DuQuesne, of which Washington had the active com-
mand, arrived there, it was found in flames and deserted. The English
at once took possession, rebuilt the fort, and, in honor of their illustrious
statesman, changed the name to Fort Pitt.
The great object of the campaign of '1759, was the reduction of Can-
ada. General Wolfe was to lay siege to Quebec ; Amherst was to reduce
Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and General Prideaux was to capture
Niagara. This latter place was taken in July, but the gallant Prideaux
lost his life in the attempt. Amherst captured Ticonderoga and Crown
Point without a blow; and Wolfe, after making the memorable ascent
to the Plains of Abraham, on September 13th, defeated Montcalm, and
on the 18th, the city capitulated. In this engagement Montcalm and
Wolfe both lost their lives. De Levi, Montcalm's successor, marched
to Sillery, three miles above the city, with the purpose of defeating the
English, and there, on the 28th of the following April, was fought one of
the bloodiest battles of the French and Indian War. It resulted in the
defeat of the French, and the fall of the City of Montreal. The Gov-
ernor signed a capitulation by which the whole of Canada was surren-
dered to the English. This practically concluded the war, but it was
not until 1763 that the treaties of peace between France and England
were signed. This was done on the 10th of February of that year, and
under its provisions all the country east of the Mississippi and north of
the Iberville River, in Louisiana, were ceded to England. At the same
time Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain.
On the 13th of September, 1760, Major Robert Rogers was sent from
Montreal to take chage of Detroit, the only remaining French post in
the territory. He arrived there on the 19th of November, and sum-
moned the place to surrender. At first the commander of the post,
Beletre, refused, but on the 29th, hearing of the continued defeat of the
20 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
French arms, surrendered. Rogers remained there until December
23d, under the personal protection of the celebrated chief, Pontiac, to
whom, no doubt, he owed his safety. Pontiac had come here to inquire
the purposes of the English in taking possession of the country. He
was assured that they came simply to trade with the natives, and did
not desire their country. This answer conciliated the savages, and did
much to insure the safety of Rogers and his party during their stay,
and while on their journey home.
Rogers set out for Fort Pitt on December 23, and was just one month
on the way. His route was from Detroit to Maumee, thence across the
present State of Ohio directly to the fort. This was the common trail
of the Indians in their journeys from Sandusky to the fork of the Ohio.
It went from Fort Sandusky, where Sandusky City now is, crossed the
Huron river, then called Bald Eagle Creek, to "Mohickon John's
Town" on Mohickon Creek, the northern branch of White Woman's
River, and thence crossed to Beaver's Town, a Delaware town on what
is now Sandy Creek. At Beaver'--'. Town were probably one hundred and
fifty warriors, and not less than three thousand acres of cleared land.
From there the track went up Sandy Creek to and across Big Beaver,
and up the Ohio to Logstown, thence on to the fork.
The Northwest Territory was now entirely under the English rule.
New settlements began to be rapidly made, and the promise of a large
trade was speedily manifested. Had the British carried out their prom-
ises with the natives none of those savage butcheries would have been
perpetrated, and the country would have been spared their recital.
The renowned chief, Pontiac, was one of the leading spirits in these
atrocities. We will now pause in our narrative, and notice the leading
events in his life. The earliest authentic information regarding this
noted Indian chief is learned from an account of an Indian trader named
Alexander Henry, who, in the spring of 1761, penetrated his domains
as far as Missillimacnac. Pontiac was then a great friend of the French,
but a bitter foe of the English, whom he considered as encroaching on
his hunting grounds. Henry was obliged to disguise himself as a Cana-
dian to insure safety, but was discovered by Pontiac, who bitterly re-
proached him and the English for their attempted subjugation of the
West. He declared that no treaty had been made with them ; no pres-
ents sent them ; and that he would resent any possession of the West by
that nation. He was at the time about fifty years of age, tall and dig-
nified, and was civil and military ruler of the Ottawas, Ojibwas and
Pottawatamies.
The Indians, from Lake Michigan to the borders of North Carolina,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 21
were united in this feeling, and at the time of the treaty of Paris, rati-
fied February 10, 1763, a general conspiracy was formed to fall suddenly
upon the frontier British posts, and with one blow strike every man
dead. Pontiac was the marked leader in all this, and was the com-
mander of the Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots, Miamis, Shawanese,
Delawares and Mingoes, who had, for the time, laid aside their local
quarrels to unite in this enterprise.
The blow came, as near as can now be ascertained, on May T, 1763.
Nine British posts fell, and the Indians drank, "scooped up in the hol-
low of joined hands," the blood of many a Briton.
Pontiac's immediate field of action was the garrison at Detroit.
Here, however, the plans were frustrated by an Indian woman disclos-
ing the plot the evening previous to his arrival. Everything was
carried out, however, according to Pontiac's plans until the moment of
action, when Major Gladwyn, the commander of the post, stepping to
one of the Indian chiefs, suddenly drew aside his blanket and disclosed
the concealed musket. Pontiac, though a brave man, turned pale and
trembled. He saw his plan was known, and that the garrison were
prepared.
He endeavored to exculpate himself from any such intentions; but
the guilt was evident, and he and his followers were dismissed with a
severe reprimand, and warned never to again enter the walls of the post.
Pontiac at once laid siege to the fort, and until the treaty of peace
between the British and the Western Indians, concluded in August,
1761, continued to harass and besiege the fortress. He organized a
regular commissariat department, issued bills of credit written out on
bark, which, to his credit, it may be stated, were punctually redeemed.
At the conclusion of the treaty, in which it seems he took no part, he
went further south, living many years among the Illinois.
He had given up all hope of saving his country and race. After a
time he endeavored to unite the Illinois tribe and those about St. Louis
in a war with the whites. His efforts were fruitless, and only ended in
a quarrel between himself and some Kaskaskia Indians, one of whom
soon afterwards killed him. His death was, however, avenged by the
Northern Indians, who nearly exterminated the Illinois in the wars
which followed.
Had it not been for the treachery of a few of his followers, his plan
for the extermination of the whites, a masterly one, would undoubtedly
have been carried out.
It was in the spring of the year following Rogers' visit that Alex-
ander Henry went to Missillimacnac, and everywhere found the strongest
22 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
feelings against the English, who had not carried out their promises,
and were doing nothing to conciliate the natives. Here he met the
chief, Pontiac, who, after conveying to him in a speech the idea that
their French father would awake soon and utterly destroy his enemies,
said: ''Englishman, although you have conquered the French, you
have not yet conquered us! We are not your slaves! These lakes,
these woods, these mountains, were left us by our ancestors. They are
our inheritance, and we will part with them to none. Your nation sup-
poses that we, like the white people, can not live without bread and
pork and beef. But you ought to know that He, the Great Spirit and
Master of Life, has provided food for us upon these broad lakes and in
these mountains."
He then spoke of the fact that no treaty had been made with them,
no presents sent them, and that be and his people were yet for war.
Such were the feelings of the Northwestern Indians immediately after
the English took possession of their country. These feelings were no
doubt encouraged by the Canadians and French, who hoped that yet
the French arms might prevail. The treaty of Paris, however, gave to
the English the right to this vast domain, and active preparations were
going on to occupy it and enjoy its trade and emoluments.
In 1762, France, by a secret treaty, ceded Louisiana to Spain, to pre-
vent it falling into the hands of the English, who were becoming mas-
ters of the entire West. The next year the treaty of Paris, signed at
Fontainbleau, gave to the English the domain of the country in ques-
tion. Twenty years after, by the treaty of peace between the United
States and England, that part of Canada lying south and west of the
Great Lakes, comprehending a large territory which is the subject of
these sketches, was acknowledged to be a portion of the United States ;
and twenty } T ears still later, in 1803, Louisiana was ceded by Spain back
to France, and by France sold to the United States.
In the half century, from the building of the Fort of Crevecoeur by
LaSalle, in 1680, up to the erection of Fort Chartres, many French set-
tlements had been made in that quarter. These have already been
noticed, being those at St. Vincent (Vincennes), Kohokia or Cahokia,
Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher, on the American Bottom, a large
tract of rich alluvial soil in Illinois, on the Mississippi, opposite the site
of St. Louis.
By the treaty of Paris, the regions east of the Mississippi, including
all these and other towns of the Northwest, were given over to Eng-
land ; but they do not appear to have been taken possession of until
1765, when Captain Stirling, in the name of the Majesty of England,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 23
established himself at Fort Chartres, bearing with him the proclamation
of General Gage, dated December 30, 1764, which promised religious
freedom to all Catholics who worshipped here, and a right to leave the
country with their effects if they wished, or to remain with the privi-
leges of Englishmen. It was shortly after the occupancy of the West
by the British that the war with Pontiac opened. It is already noticed
in the sketch of that chieftain. By it many a Briton lost his life, and
many a frontier settlement in its infancy ceased to exist. This was not
ended until the year 1764, when, failing to capture Detroit, Niagara and
Fort Pitt, his confederacy became disheartened, and, receiving no aid
from the French, Pontiac abandoned the enterprise and departed to the
Illinois Indians, among whom he afterward lost his life.
As soon as these difficulties were definitely settled, settlers began
rapidly to survey the country and prepare for occupation. During the
year 1770, a number of persons from Virginia and other British provinces
explored and marked out nearly all the valuable lands on the Monon-
gahela and along the banks of the Ohio as far as the Little Kanawha.
This was followed by another exploring expedition, in which George
Washington was a party. The latter, accompanied by Doctor Craik,
Captain Crawford and others, on the 20th of October, 1770, descended
the Ohio from Pittsburgh to the mouth of the Kanawha ; ascended that
stream about fourteen miles, marked out several large tracts of land,
shot several buffalo, which were then abundant in the Ohio Valley, and
returned to the fort.
Pittsburgh was at this time a trading post, about which was clustered
a village of some twenty houses, inhabited by Indian traders. This
same year Captain Pittman visited Kaskaskia and its neighboring vil-
lages. He found there about sixty-five resident families, and at Cahokia
only forty-five dwellings. At Fort Chartres was another small settle-
ment, and at Detroit the garrison were quite prosperous and strong.
For a year or two settlers continued to locate near some of these posts,
generally Fort Pitt or Detroit, owing to the fears of the Indians, who
still maintained some feelings of hatred to the English. The trade from
the posts was quite good, and from those in Illinois large quantities of
pork and flour found their way to the New Orleans market. At this
time the policy of the British government was strongly opposed to the
extension of the colonies west. In 1763, the King of England forbade,
by royal proclamation, his colonial subjects from making a settlement
beyond the sources of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean.
At the instance of the Board of Trade, measures were taken to prevent
24 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the settlement without the limits prescribed, and to retain the com-
merce within easy reach of Great Britain.
The commander-in-chief of the king's forces wrote in 1769: "In the
course of a few years necessity will compel the colonists, should they
extend their settlements west, to provide manufactures of some kind
for themselves, and when all connection upheld by commerce with the
mother country ceases, an independency in their government will soon
follow."
In accordance with this policy, Governor Gage issued a proclamation
in 1772, commanding the inhabitants of Vincennes to abandon their
settlements and join some of the Eastern English colonies. To this
they strenuously objected, giving good reasons therefor, and were
allowed to remain. The strong opposition to this policy of Great Britain
led to its change, and to such a course as to gain the attachment of the
French population. In December, 1773, influential citizens of Quebec
petitioned the king for an extension of the boundary lines of that
province, which was granted, and Parliament passed an act on June 2,
1774, extending the boundary so as to include the territory lying within
the present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.
In consequence of the liberal policy pursued by the British Govern-
ment toward the French settlers in the West, they were disposed to
favor that nation in the war which soon followed with the colonies; but
the early alliance between France and America soon brought them to
the side of the war for independence.
In 1774, Governor Dunmore, of Virginia, began to encourage emi-
gration to the Western lands. He appointed magistrates at Fort Pitt,
under the pretense that the fort was under the government of that
commonwealth. One of these justices, John Connelly, who possessed a
tract of land in the Ohio Valley, gathered a force of men and garrisoned
the fort, calling it Fort Dunmore. This and other parties were formed
to select sites for settlements, and often came in conflict with the Indi-
ans, who yet claimed portions of the valley, and several battles followed.
These ended in the famous battle of Kanawha, in July, where the
Indians were defeated and driven across the Ohio.
During the years 1775 and 1776, by the operations of land companies
and the perseverance of individuals, several settlements were firmly
established between the Alleghenies and the Ohio River, and Western
land speculators were busy in Illinois and on the Wabash. At a council
held in Kaskaskia, on July 5, 1773, an association of English traders,
calling themselves the "Illinois Land Company," obtained from ten
chiefs of the Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Peoria tribes, two large tracts of
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 25
land lying on the east side of the Mississippi River south of the Illinois.
In 1775, a merchant from the Illinois country, named Viviat, came to
Post Vincennes as the agent of the association called the " Wabash
Land Company." On the 8th of October he obtained from eleven
Piankeshaw chiefs, a deed for 37,497,600 acres of land. This deed was
signed by the grantors, attested by a number of the inhabitants of
Vincennes, and afterward recorded in the office of a notary public at
Kaskaskia. This, and other land companies, had extensive schemes for
the colonization of the West; but all were frustrated by the breaking
out of the Revolution. On the 20th of April, 1780, the two companies
named consolidated under the name of the " United Illinois and Wabash
Land Oomgany." They afterwards made strenuous efforts to have these
grants sanctioned by Congress, but all signally failed.
When the War of the Revolution commenced, Kentucky was an
unorganized country, though there were several settlements within her
borders.
In Hutchins' Topography of Virginia,. it is stated that at that time
" Kaskaskia contained 80 houses, and nearly 1,000 white and black
inhabitants — the whites being a little the more numerous. Cahokia
contains 50 houses and 300 white inhabitants, and 80 negroes. There
were east of the Mississippi River, about the year 1771" — when these
observations were made — "300 white men capable of bearing arms,
and 230 negroes."
From 1775 until the expedition of Clark, nothing is recorded and
nothing known of these settlements, save what is contained in a report
made by a committee to Congress in June, 1778. From it the following
extract is made :
"Near the mouth of the River Kaskaskia, there is a village which appears to have
contained nearly eighty families from the beginning of the late revolution. There are
twelve families in a small village at la Prairie du Rochers, and near fifty families at the
Cahokia village. There are also four or five families at Fort Chartres and St. Philips,
which is five miles further up the river."
St. Louis had been settled in February, 1764, and at this time con-
tained, including its neighboring towns, over six hundred whites and
one hundred and fifty negroes. It must be remembered that all the
country west of the Mississippi was now under French rule, and re-
mained so until ceded again to Spain, its original owner, who afterwards
sold it, and the country including New Orleans, to the United States.
At Detroit there were, according to Capt. Carver, who was in the
Northwest from 1766 to 1768, more than one hundred houses, and the
river was settled for more than twenty miles, although poorly culti-
26 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
vated — the people being engaged in the Indian trade. This old town
has a history, which we will here relate.
It is the oldest town in the Northwest, having been founded by
Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac, in 1701. It was laid out in the form of an
oblong square, of two acres in length, and an acre and a half in width.
As described by A. D. Frazer, who first visited it and became a perma-
nent resident of the place, in 1778, it comprised within its limits that
space between Mr. Palmer's store (Conant Block) and Capt. Perkin's
house (near the Arsenal building), and extended back as far as the
public barn, and was bordered in front by the Detroit River. It was
surrounded by oak and cedar pickets, about fifteen feet long, set in the
ground, and had four gates — east, west, north and south. Over the first
three of these gates were block houses provided with four six-pound
guns each. Two six-gun batteries were planted fronting the river, and
in a parallel direction with the block houses. There were four streets
running east and west, the main street being twenty feet wide and the
rest fifteen feet, while the four streets crossing these at right angles
were from ten to fifteen feet in width.
At the date spoken of by Mr. Frazer, there was no fort within the
enclosure, but a citadel on the ground corresponding to the present
northwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Wayne Street. The citadel
was inclosed by pickets, and within it were erected barracks of wood,
two stories high, sufficient to contain ten officers, and also barracks suf-
ficient to contain four hundred men, and a provision store built of brick.
The citadel also contained a hospital and guard-house. The old town
of Detroit, in 1778, contained about sixty houses, most of them one
story, with a few a story and a half in height. They were all of logs,
some hewn and some round. There was one building of fine appear-
ance, called the " King's Palace," two stories high, which stood near
the east gate. It was built for Governor Hamilton, the first governor
commissioned by the British. There were two guard-houses, one near
the west gate and the other near the Government House. Each of the
guards consisted of twenty-four men and a subaltern, who mounted
regularly every morning between nine and ten o'clock. Each furnished
four sentinels, who were relieved every two hours. There was also an
officer of the day, who performed strict duty. Each of the gates was
shut regularly at sunset; even wicket gates were shut at nine o'clock,
and all the keys were delivered into the hands of the commanding
officer. They were opened in the morning at sunrise. No Indian or
squaw was permitted to enter town with any weapon, such as a toma-
hawk or a knife. It was a standing order that the Indians should deliver
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 27
their arms and instruments of every kind before they were permitted
to pass the sentinel, and they were restored to them on their return.
No more than twenty-five Indians were allowed to enter the town at
any one time, and they were admitted only at the east and west gates.
At sundown the drums beat, and all the Indians were required to leave
town instantly. There was a council house near the water side for the
purpose of holding council with the Indians. The population of the
town was about sixty families, in all about two hundred males and one
hundred females. This town was destroyed by fire, all except one dwel-
ling, in 1805. After which the present " new" town was laid out.
On the breaking out of the Revolution, the British held every post
of importance in the West. Kentucky was formed as a component part
of Virginia, and the sturdy pioneers of the West, alive to their inter-
ests, and recognizing the great benefits of obtaining the control of the
trade in this part of the New World, held steadily to their purposes,
and those within the commonwealth of Kentucky proceeded to exer-
cise their civil privileges, by electing John Todd and Richard Gallaway
burgesses to represent them in the Assembly of the parent state. Early
in September of that year (1777) the first court was held in Harrods-
burg, and Col. Bowman, afterwards Major, who had arrived in August,
was made the commander of a militia organization which had been
commenced the March previous. Thus the tree of loyalty was growing.
The chief spirit in this far-out colony, who had represented her the year
previous east of the mountains, was now meditating a move unequaled
in its boldness. He had been watching the movements of the British
throughout the Northwest, and understood their whole plan. He saw
it was through their possession of the posts at Detroit, Vincennes, Kas-
kaskia, and other places, which would give them constant and easy
access to the various Indian tribes in the Northwest, that the British
intended to penetrate the country from the north and south, and anni-
hilate the frontier fortresses. This moving, energetic man was Colonel,
afterwards General George Rogers Clark. He knew the Indians were
not unanimously in accord with the English, and he was convinced that,
could the British be defeated and expelled from the Northwest, the
natives might be easily awed into neutrality ; and by spies sent for the
purpose, he satisfied himself that the enterprise against the Illinois set-
tlements might easily succeed. Having convinced himself of the cer-
tainty of the project, he repaired to the capital of Virginia, which
place he reached on November 5th. While he was on his way, fortu-
nately, on October 17th, Burgoyne had been defeated, and the spirits
of the colonists greatly encouraged thereby. Patrick Henry was Gov
28 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
ernor of Virginia, and at once entered heartly into Clark's plans. The
same plan had before been agitated in the Colonial Assemblies, but
there was no one, until Clark came, who was sufficiently acquainted
with the condition of affairs at the scene of action to be able to guide
them.
Clark, having satisfied the Virginia leaders of the feasibility of his
plan, received, on the 2d of January, two sets of instructions — one
secret, the other open — the latter authorized him to proceed to enlist
seven companies to go to Kentucky, subject to his orders, and to serve
three months from their arrival in the West. The secret order author-
ized him to arm these troops, to procure his powder and lead of Gen.
Hand at Pittsburgh, and to proceed at once to subjugate the country.
With these instructions Clark repaired to Pittsburg, choosing rather
to raise his men west of the mountains, as he well knew all were needed
in the colonies in the conflict there. He sent Col. W. B. Smith to Hol-
ston for the same purpose, but neither succeeded in raising the required
number of men. The settlers, in these parts were afraid to leave their
own firesides exposed to a vigilant foe, and but few could be induced
to join the proposed expedition. With three companies and several
private volunteers, Clark at length commenced his descent of the Ohio,
which he navigated as far as the falls, where he took possession of and
fortified Corn Island, a small island between the present cities of Louis-
ville, Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana. Remains of this fortifica-
tion may yet be found. At this place he appointed Col. Bowman to
meet him with such recruits as had reached Kentucky by the southern
route, and as many as could be spared from the station. Here he
announced to the men their real destination. Having completed his
arrangements, and chosen his party, he left a small garrison upon the
island, and on the 24th of June, during a total eclipse of the sun, which
to them augured no good, and which fixes beyond dispute the date of
starting, he with his chosen band, fell down the river. His plan was
to go by water as far as Fort Massac or Massacre, and thence march
direct to Kaskaskia. Here he intended to surprise the garrison, and
after its capture go to Cahokia, then to Vincennes, and lastly to De-
troit. Should he fail, he intended to march directly to the Mississippi
river and cross it into the Spanish country. Before his start he received
two good items of information : one that the alliance had been formed
between France and the United States; and the other that the Indians
throughout the Illinois country and the inhabitants at the various fron-
tier posts, had been led to believe by the British that the " Long
Knives" or Virginians, were the most fierce, blood-thirsty and cruel
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 29
savages that ever scalped a foe. With this impression on their minds,
Clark saw that proper management would cause them to submit at
once from fear, if surprised, and then from gratitude would become
friendly if treated with unexpected leniency.
The march to Kaskaskia was accomplished through a hot July sun,
and the town reached on the evening of July 4. He captured the fort
near the village, and soon after the village itself by surprise, and with-
out the loss of a single man or by killing any of the enemy. After
sufficiently working upon the fears of the natives, Clark told them they
were at perfect liberty to worship as they pleased, and to take which-
ever side of the great conflict they would, also he would protect them
from any barbarity from British or Indian foe. This had the desired
effect, and the inhabitants, so unexpectedly and so gratefully surprised
by the unlooked for turn of affairs, at once swore allegiance to the
American arms, and when Clark desired to go to Cahokia on the 6th of
July, they accompanied him,' and through their influence the inhab-
itants of the place surrendered, and gladly placed themselves under
his protection. Thus the two important posts in Illinois passed from
the hands of the English into the possession of Virginia.
In the person of the priest at Kaskaskia, M. Gibault, Clark found a
powerful ally and generous friend. Clark saw that, to retain possession
of the s Northwest and treat successfully with the Indians within its
boundaries, he must establish a government for the colonies he had
taken. St. Vincent, the next important post to Detroit, remained yet
to be taken before the Mississippi Valley was conquered. M. Gibault
told him that he would alone, by persuasion, lead Vincennes to throw
off its connection with England. Clark gladly accepted his offer, and
on the 14th of July, in company with a fellow-townsman, M. Gibault
started on his mission of peace, and on the 1st of August returned with
the cheerful intelligence that the post on the " Oubache" had taken
the oath of allegiance to the Old Dominion. During this interval Clark
established his courts, placed garrisons at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, suc-
cessfully re-enlisted his men, sent word to have a fort, which proved
the germ of Louisville, erected at the Falls of the Ohio, and dispatched
Mr. Roche blave, who had been commander at Kaskaskia, as a prisoner
of war, to Richmond. In October the county of Illinois was established
by the Legislature of Virginia, John Todd appointed Lieutenant Colonel
and Civil Governor, and in November General Clark and his men re-
ceived the thanks of the Old Dominion through their Legislature.
In a speech a few days afterward, Clark made known fully to the
natives his plans, and at its close all came forward and swore allegiance
30 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
to the Long Knives. While he was doing this Governor Hamilton,
having made his various arrangements, had left Detroit and moved
down the Wabash to Vincennes, intending to operate from that point
in reducing the Illinois posts, and then proceed on down to Kentucky
and drive the rebels from the West. General Clark had, on the return
of M. Gibault, dispatched Captain Helm, of Fauquier county, Virginia,
with an attendant named Henry, across the Illinois prairies to command
the fort. Hamilton knew nothing of the capitulation of the post, and
was greatly surprised on his arrival to be confronted by Captain Helm,
who, standing at the entrance of the fort by a loaded cannon ready to
fire upon his assailants, demanded upon what terms Hamilton demanded
possession of the fort. Being granted the rights of a prisoner of war,
he surrendered to the British General, who could scarcely believe his
eyes when he saw the force in the garrison.
Hamilton, not realizing the character of the men with whom he was
contending, gave up his intended campaign for the winter, sent his four
hundred Indian warriors to prevent troops from coming down the Ohio,
and to annoy the Americans in all ways, and sat quietly down to pass
the winter. Information of all these proceedings having reached Clark,
he saw that immediate and decisive action was necessary, and that un-
less he captured Hamilton, Hamilton would capture him. Clark received
the news on the 29th of January, 1779, and on February 4th, having
sufficiently garrisoned Kaskaskia and Cahokia, he sent down the Missis-
sippi a " battoe," as Major Bowman writes it, in order to ascend the
Ohio and Wabash, and operate with the land forces gathering for the
fray.
On the next day, Clark, with his little force of one hundred and
twenty men, set out for the post, and after incredible hard marching-
through much mud, the ground being thawed by the incessant spring
rains, on the 22d reached the fort, and being joined by his " battoe," at
once commenced the attack on the post. The aim of the American
backwoodsman was unerring, and on the 24th the garrison surrendered
to the intrepid boldness of Clark. The French were treated with great
kindness, and gladly renewed their allegiance to Virginia. Hamilton
was sent as a prisoner to Virginia, where he was kept in close confine-
ment. During his command of the British frontier posts, he had offered
prizes to the Indians for all the scalps of Americans they would bring
to him, and had earned in consequence thereof the title, " Hair- buyer
General," by which he was ever afterward known.
Detroit was now without doubt within easy reach of the enterprising
Virginian, could he but raise the necessary force. Governor Henry,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 31
being apprised of this, promised him the needed reinforcement, and
Clark concluded to wait until he could capture and sufficiently garrison
the posts. Had Clark failed in this bold undertaking, and Hamilton
succeeded in uniting the Western Indians for the next spring's cam-
paign, the West would indeed have been swept from the Mississippi
to the Allegheny Mountains, and the great blow struck, which had
been contemplated from the commencement, by the British.
" But for this small army of dripping, but fearless Virginians, the
union of all the tribes from Georgia to Maine against the colonies might
have been effected, and the whole current of our history changed."
At this time some fears were entertained by the colonial governments
that the Indians in the North and Northwest were inclining to the
British, and under the instructions of Washington, now Commander-
in-Chief of the Colonial army, and so bravely fighting for American
independence, armed forces were sent against the Six Nations, and upon
the Ohio frontier, Col. Bowma'n, acting under the same general's orders,
marched against Indians within the present limits of that State. These
expeditions were in the main successful, and the Indians were com-
pelled to sue for peace.
During this same year (1779) the famous "Land Laws" of Virginia
were passed. The passage of these laws was of more consequence to
the pioneers of Kentucky and the Northwest than the gaining of a few
Indian conflicts. These laws confirmed in main all grants made, and
guaranteed to all actual settlers their rights and privileges. After pro-
viding for the settlers, the laws provided for selling the balance of the
public lands at forty cents per acre. To carry the Land Laws into effect,
the Legislature sent four Virginians westward to attend to the various
claims, over many of which great confusion prevailed concerning their
validity. These gentlemen opened their court on October 13, 1779, at
St. Asaphs, and continued until April 26, 1780, when they adjourned,
having decided three thousand claims. They were succeeded by the
surveyor, who came in the person of Mr. George May, and assumed his
duties on the 10th day of the month whose name he bore. With the
opening of the next year (1780) the troubles concerning the navigation
of the Mississippi commenced. The Spanish Government exacted such
measures in relation to its trade as to cause the overtures made to the
United States to be rejected. The American Government considered
they had a right to navigate its channel. To enforce their claims, a fort
was erected below the mouth of the Ohio, on the Kentucky side of the
river. The settlements in Kentucky were being rapidly filled by emi-
grants. It was during this year that the first seminary of learning
32 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
was established in the West in this young and enterprising common-
wealth.
The settlers here did not look upon the building of this fort in a
friendly manner, as it aroused the hostility ol the Indians. Spain had
been friendly to the colonies during their struggle for independence,
and though for a while this friendship appeared in danger from the
refusal of the free navigation of the river, yet it was finally settled to
the satisfaction of both nations.
The winter of 1779-80 was one of the most unusually severe ones
ever experienced in the West. The Indians always referred to it as the
" Great Cold." Numbers of wild animals perished, and not a few
pioneers lost their lives. The following summer a party of Canadians
and Indians attacked St. Louis, and attempted to take possession of it
in consequence of the friendly disposition of Spain to the revolting
colonies. They met with such a determined resistance on the part of
the inhabitants, even the women taking part in the battle, that they
were compelled to abandon the contest. They also made an attack on
the settlements in Kentucky, but, becoming alarmed in some unac-
countable manner, they fled the country in great haste.
About this time arose the question in the Colonial Congress concern-
ing the western lands claimed by Virginia, New York, Massachusetts
and Connecticut. The agitation concerning this subject finally led New
York, on the 19th of February, 1780, to pass a law giving to the dele-
gates of that State in Congress the power to cede her western lands
for the benefit of the United States. This law was laid before Congress
during the next month, but no steps were taken concerning it until
September 6th, when a resolution passed that body calling upon the
States claiming western lands to release their claims in favor of the
whole body. This basis formed the union, and was the first, after all,
of those legislative measures which resulted in the creation of the
States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
In December of the same year, the plan of conquering Detroit again
arose. The conquest might have easily been effected by Clark, had the
necessary aid been furnished him. Nothing decisive was done, yet the
heads of the government knew that the safety of the Northwest from
British invasion lay in the capture and retention of that important
post, the only unconquered one in the territory.
Before the close of the year, Kentucky was divided into the counties
of Lincoln, Fayette and Jefferson, and the act establishing the town of
Louisville was passed. This same year is also noted in the annals of
American history as the year in which occurred Arnold's treason to the
United States.
RED WING
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 33
Virginia, in accordance with the resolution of Congress, on the 2d
day of January, 1781, agreed to yield her western lands to the United
States upon certain conditions, which Congress would not accede to, and
the Act of Cession on the part of the Old Dominion, failed, nor was
anything further done until 1783. During all that time the colonies
were busily engaged in the struggle with the mother country, and in
consequence thereof but little heed was given to the western settle-
ments. Upon the 16th of April, 1781, the first birth north of the Ohio
Eiver of the American parentage occurred, being that of Mary Hecke-
welder, daughter of the widely known Moravian missionary, whose band
of Christian Indians suffered in after years a horrible massacre by the
hands of the frontier settlers, who had been exasperated by the murder
of several of their neighbors, and in their rage committed, without re-
gard to humanity, a deed which forever afterwards cast a shade of
shame upon their lives. For this and kindred outrages on the part of
the whites, the Indians committed many deeds of cruelty which darken
the years of 1771 and 1772 in the historv of the Northwest.
During the year 1782 a number of battles among the Indians and
frontiersmen occurred, and between the Moravian Indians and the
Wyandots. In these horrible acts of cruelty were practiced on the
captives, many of such dark deeds transpiring under the leadership of
the notorious frontier outlaw, Simon Girty, whose name, as well as those
of his brothers, was a terror to women and children. These occurred
chiefly in the Ohio valleys. Cotemporary with them were several en-
gagements in Kentucky, in which the famous Daniel Boone engaged,
and who often by his skill and knowledge of Indian warfare, saved the
outposts from cruel destruction. By the close of the year victory had
perched upon the American banner, and on the 30th of November,
provisional articles of peace had been arranged between the Commis-
sioners of England and her unconquerable colonies. Cornwallis had
been defeated on the 19th of October preceding, and the liberty of
America was assured. On the 19th of April following, the anniversary
of the battle of Lexington, peace was proclaimed to the army of the
United States, and on the 3d of the next September, the definite treaty
which ended our revolutionary struggle Was concluded. By the terms
of that treaty, the boundaries of the West were as follows : On the
north, the line was to extend along the center of the Great Lakes ; from
the western point of Lake Superior to Long Lake; thence to the Lake
of the Woods; thence to the head of the Mississippi River; down its
center to the 31st parallel of latitude ; thence on that line east to the
head of the Appalachicola River; down its center to its junction with
4
34 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the Flint ; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River, and thence
down along its center to the Atlantic Ocean.
Following the cessation of hostilities with England, several posts
were still occupied by the British in the North and West. Among these
was Detroit, still in the hands of the enemj^. Numerous engagements
with the Indians throughout Ohio and Indiana occurred, upon whose
lands adventurous whites would settle ere the title had been acquired
by the proper treaty.
To remedy this latter evil, Congress appointed commissioners to treat
with the natives and purchase their lands, and prohibited the settlement
of the territory until this could be done. Before the close of the year
another attempt was made to capture Detroit, which was, however, not
pushed ; and Virginia, no longer feeling the interest in the Northwest
she had formerly done, withdrew her troops, having on the 20th of De-
cember preceding authorized the whole of her possessions to be deeded
to the United States. This was done on the 1st of March following, and
the Northwest Territory passed from the control of the Old Dominion.
To Gen. Clark and his soldier?, however, she gave a tract of one hun-
dred and fifty thousand acres of land, to be situated anywhere north of
the Ohio wherever they chose to locate them. They selected the region
opposite the falls of the Ohio, where is now the dilapidated village of
Clarksville, about midway between the cities of New Albany and Jef-
fersonville, Indiana.
While the frontier remained thus, and Gen. Haldimand at Detroit
refused to evacuate, alleging that he had no orders from his king to do
so, settlers were rapidly gathering about the inland forts. In the spring
of 1784, Pittsburgh was regularly laid out, and from the journal of
Arthur Lee, who passed through the town soon after on his way to the
Indian council at Fort Mcintosh, we suppose it was not very prepossess-
ing in appearance. He says :
" Pittsburgh is inhabited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, who live
in paltry log houses, and are as dirty as if in the north of Ireland or
even Scotland. There is a great deal of trade carried on, the goods being
brought at the vast expense of forty -five shillings per pound from Phila-
delphia and Baltimore. They take in the shops, flour, wheat, skins and
money. There are in the town four attorneys, two doctors, and not a
priest of any persuasion, nor church nor chapel."
Kentucky at this time contained thirty thousand inhabitants, and
was beginning to discuss measures for a separation from Virginia. A
land office was opened at Louisville, and measures were adopted to take
defensive precaution against the Indians who were yet, in some instan-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 35
ces, incited to deeds of violence by the British. Before the close of this
year, 1784, the military claimants of land began to occupy them, although
no entries were recorded until 1787.
The Indian title to the Northwest was not yet extinguished. They
held large tracts of lands, and in order to prevent bloodshed Congress
adopted means for treaties with the original owners and provided for
the surveys of the lands gained thereby, as well as for those north of
the Ohio, now in its possession. On January 31, 1786, a treaty was
made with the Wabash Indians. The treaty of Fort Stanwix had been
made in 1784. That at Fort Mcintosh in 1785, and through these much
land was gained. The Wabash Indians, however, afterward refused to
comply with the provisions of the treaty made with them, and in order
to compel their adherence to its provisions, force was used. During the
year 1786, the free navigation of the Mississippi came up in Congress,
and caused various discussions, which resulted in no definite action,
only serving to excite speculation in regard to the western lands. Con-
gress had promised bounties of land to the soldiers of the Revolution,
but owing to the unsettled condition of affairs along the Mississippi re-
specting its navigation, and the trade of the Northwest, that body had,
in 1783, declared its inability to fulfill these promises until a treaty
could be concluded between the two governments. Before the close of
the year 1786, however, it was able, through the treaties with the Indians,
to allow some grants and. the settlement thereon, and on the 14th of
September Connecticut ceded to the General Government the tract of
land known as the " Connecticut Reserve, 1 ' and before the close of the
following year a large tract of land north of the Ohio was sold to a com-
pany, who at once took measures to settle it. By the provisions of this
grant, the company were to pay the United States one dollar per acre,
subject to a deduction of one-third for bad lands and other contingen-
cies. They received 750,000 acres, bounded on the south by the Ohio,
on the east by the seventh range of townships, on the west by the six-
teenth range, and on the north by a line so drawn as to make the grant
complete without the reservations. In addition to this, Congress after-
ward granted 100,000 acres to actual settlers, and 214,285 acres as army
bounties under the resolutions of 1789 and 1790.
While Dr. Cutler, one of the agents of the company, was pressing
its claims before Congress, that body was bringing into form an ordi-
nance for the political and social organization of this territory. When
the cession was made by Virginia, in 1784, a plan was offered, but
rejected. A motion had been made to strike from the proposed plan
the prohibition of slavery, which prevailed. The plan was then dis-
36 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
cussed and altered, and finally passed unanimously, with the exception
of South Carolina. By this proposition, the territory was to have been
divided into States by parallels and meridian lines. This, it was
thought, would make ten States, which were to have been named as
follows — beginning at the northwest corner and going southwardly:
Sylvania, Michigania, Chersonesus, Assenisipia, Mesopotamia, Illenoia,
Saratoga, Washington, Polypotamia and Pelisipia.
There was a more serious objection to this plan than its category of
names — the boundaries. The root of the difficulty was in the resolu-
tion of Congress, passed in October, 1780, which fixed the boundaries
of the ceded lands to be from one hundred to one hundred and fifty
miles square. These resolutions being presented to the legislatures of
Virginia and Massachusetts, they desired a change, and in July, 1786,
the subject was taken up in Congress, and changed to favor a division'
into not more than five States, and not less than three. This was ap-
proved by the State Legislature of Virginia. The subject of the
government was again taken up by Congress in 1786, and discussed
throughout that year and until July, 1787, when the famous "Compact
of 1787" was passed, and the foundation of the government of the
Northwest laid. This compact is fully discussed and explained in the
history of Illinois, in this book, and to it the reader is referred.
The passage of this act and the grant to the New England Company
was soon followed by an application to the government by John Cleves
Symmes, of New Jersey, for a grant of the land between the Miamis.
This gentleman had visited these lands soon after the treaty of 1786,
and, being greatly pleased with them, offered similar terms to those
given to the New England Company. The petition wa9 referred to the
Treasury Board, with power to act, and a contract was concluded the
following year. During the autumn the directors of the New England
Company were preparing to occupy their grant the following spring,
and, upon the 23d of November, made arrangements for a party of
forty-seven men, under the superintendency of Gen. Rufus Putnam, to
set forward. Six boat-builders were to leave at once, and on the first
of January the surveyors and their assistants, twenty-six in number,
were to meet at Hartford and proceed on their journey westward; the
remainder to follow as soon as possible. Congress, in the meantime,
upon the 3d of October, had ordered seven hundred troops for defense
of the western settlers, and to prevent unauthorized intrusions ; and
two days later appointed Arthur St. Clair Governor of the Territory of
the Northwest.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 37
AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS.
The civil organization of the Northwest Territory was now complete,
and notwithstanding the uncertainty of Indian affairs, settlers from the
East began to come into the country rapidly. The New England Com-
pany sent their men during the winter of 1787-8, pressing on over the
Alleghenies by the old Indian path which had been opened into Brad-
dock's road, and which has since been made a national turnpike from
Cumberland westward. Through the weary winter days they toiled on,
and by April were all gathered on the Yohiogany, where boats had been
built, and at once started for the Muskingum. Here they arrived on the
7th of that month, and unless the Moravian missionaries be regarded
as the pioneers of Ohio, this little band can justly claim that honor.
General St. Clair, the appointed Governor of the Northwest, not hav-
ing yet arrived, a set of laws were passed, written out, and published by
being nailed to a tree in the embryo, town, and Jonathan Meigs
appointed to administer them.
Washington, in writing of this, the first American settlement in the
Northwest, said : " No colony in America was ever settled under such
favorable auspices as that which has just commenced at Muskingum.
Information, property and strength will be its characteristics. I know
many of its settlers personally, and there never were men better cal-
culated to promote the welfare of such a community."
On the 2d of July a meeting of the directors and agents was held on
the banks of the Muskingum, " for the purpose of naming the new-born
city and its squares." As yet the settlement was known as the " Mus-
kingum," but that was now changed to the name Marietta, in honor of
Marie Antoinette. The square upon which the block-houses stood was
called " Campus Martius; " square number 19, " Capitolium; " square
number 61, " Cecilia; " and the great road through the covert way,
" Sacra Via." Two days after, an oration was delivered by James M.
Varnum, who, with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong, had been ap-
pointed to the judicial bench of the territory on the 16th of October,
1787. On July 9, Governor St. Clair arrived, and the colony began to
assume form. The act of 1787 provided two district grades of govern-
ment for the Northwest, under the first of which the whole power was
invested in the hands of a governor and three district judges. This
was immediately formed upon the governor's arrival, and the first laws
of the colony passed on the 25th of July. These provided for the organi-
zation of the militia, and on the next day appeared the governor's
38 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
proclamation, erecting all that country that had been ceded by the
Indians east of the Scioto River into the county of Washington. From
that time forward, notwithstanding the doubts yet existing as to the
Indians, all Marietta prospered, and on the 2d of September the first
conrt of the territory was held with imposing ceremonies.
The emigration westward at this time was very great. The com-
mander at Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Muskingum, reported four
thousand five hundred persons as having passed that post between
February and June, 1788 — many of whom would have purchased of the
" Associates," as the New England company was called, had they been
ready to receive them.
On the 26th of November, 1787, Symmes issued a pamphlet stating
the terms of his contract and the plan of sale he intended to adopt.
In January, 1788, Matthias Denman, of New Jersey, took an active
interest in Symmes' purchase, and located among other tracts the sec-
tions upon which Cincinnati 'has been built. Retaining one-third of
this locality, he sold the other two-thirds to Robert Patterson and John
Filson, and the three, about August, commenced to lay out a town on
the spot, which was designated as being opposite Licking River, to the
mouth of which they proposed to have a road cut from Lexington. The
naming of the town is thus narrated in the " Western Annals :" " Mr.
Filson, who had been a schoolmaster, was appointed to name the town,
and, in respect to its situation, and as if with a prophetic perception of
the mixed race that were to inhabit it in after days, he named it
Losantiville, which, being interpreted, means: ville, the town; anti,
against or opposite to ; os, the mouth; L. of Licking."
Meanwhile, in July, Symmes got thirty persons and eight four-horse
teams' under way for the West. These reached Limestone (now Mays-
ville) in September, where were several persons from Redstone. Here
Mr. Symmes tried to found a settlement, but the great freshet of 1789
caused the " Point," as it was and is yet called, to be fifteen feet under
water, and the settlement to be abandoned. The little band of settlers
removed to the mouth of the Miami. Before Symmes and his colony
left the "Point," two settlements had been made on his purchase. The
first was by Mr. Stiltes, the original projector of the whole plan, who,
with a colony of Redstone people, had located at the mouth of the
Miami, whither Symmes went with his Maysville colony. Here a clear-
ing had been made by the Indians owing to the great fertility of the
soil. Mr. Stiltes with his colony came to this place on the 18th of
November, 1788, with twenty-six persons, and, building a block-house,
prepared to remain through the winter. They named the settlement
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 39
Columbia. Here they were kindly treated by the Indians, but suffered
greatly from the flood of 1789.
On the 4th of March, 1789, the Constitution of the United States went
into operation, and on April 30, George Washington was inaugurated
President of the American people, and during the next summer an
Indian war was commenced by the tribes north of the Ohio. The Presi-
dent at first used pacific means; but these failing, he sent General
Harmer against the hostile tribes. He destroyed several villages, but
was defeated in two battles, near the present city of Fort Wayne,
Indiana. From this time till the close of 1795, the principal events were
the wars with the various Indian tribes. In 1796, General St. Clair
was appointed in command, and marched against the Indians ; but while
he was encamped on a stream, the St. Mary, a branch of the Maumee,
he was attacked and defeated with a loss of six hundred men.
General Wayne was now sent against the savages. In August, 1794,
he met them near the rapids of the Maumee, and gained a complete
victory. This success, followed by vigorous measures, compelled the
Indians to sue for peace, and on the 30th of July, the following year,
the treaty of Greenville was signed by the principal chiefs, by which a
large tract of country was ceded to the United States.
Before proceeding in our narrative, we will pause to notice Fort
Washington, erected in the early part of this war on the site of Cincin-
nati. Nearly all of the great cities of the Northwest, and indeed of the
whole country, have had their nuclei in those rude pioneer structures,
known as forts or stockades. Thus Forts Dearborn, Washington, Pon-
chartrain, mark the original sites of the now proud cities of Chicago,
Cincinnati and Detroit. So of most of the flourishing cities east and
west of the Mississippi. Fort Washington, erected by Doughty in 1790,
was a rude but highly interesting structure. It was composed of a
number of strongly built, hewed log cabins. Those designed for soldiers'
barracks were a story and a half high, while those composing the officers
quarters were more imposing and more conveniently arranged and
furnished. The whole were so placed as to form a hollow square,
enclosing about an acre of ground, with a block house at each of the
four angles.
The logs for the construction of this fort were cut from the ground
upon which it was erected. It stood between Third and Fourth streets
of the present city (Cincinnati) extending east of Eastern Row, now
Broadway, which was then a narrow alley, and the eastern boundary
of the town as it was originally laid out. On the bank of the river,
immediately in front of the fort, was an appendage of the fort, called
40 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the Artificer's Yard. It contained about two acres of ground, enclosed
by small contiguous buildings, occupied by workshops and quarters of
laborers. Within this enclosure there was a large two-story frame
house, familiarly called the " Yellow House," built for the accommoda-
tion of the Quartermaster General. For many years this was the best
finished and most commodious edifice in the Queen City. Fort Wash-
ington was for some time the headquarters of both the civil and military
governments of the Northwestern Territory.
Following the consummation of the treaty, various gigantic land
speculations were entered into by different persons, who hoped to obtain
from the Indians in Michigan and Northern Indiana, large tracts of
lands. These were generally discovered in time to prevent the outrage-
ous schemes from being carried out, and from involving the settlers in
war. On October 27, 1795, the treaty between the United States and
Spain was signed, whereby the free navigation of the Mississippi was
secured.
No sooner had the treaty of i'795 been ratified, than settlements began
to pour rapidly into the West. The great event of the year 1796 was
the occupation of that part of the Northwest, including Michigan, which
was this year, under the provisions of the treaty, evacuated by the
British forces. The United States, owing to certain conditions, did not
feel justified in addressing the authorities in Canada in relation to
Detroit and other frontier posts. When at last the British authorities
were called to give them up, they at once complied, and General Wayne,
who had done so much to preserve the frontier settlements, and who,
before the year's close, sickened and died near Erie, transferred his
headquarters to the neighborhood of the lakes, where a county named
after him was formed, which included the northwest of Ohio, all of
Michigan, and the northeast of Indiana. During this same year settle-
ments were formed at the present city of Chillicothe, along the Miami
from Middletown to Piqua, while in the more distant West, settlers and
speculators began to appear in great numbers. In September, the city
of Cleveland was laid out, and during the summer and autumn, Samuel
Jackson and Jonathan Sharpless erected the first manufactory of
paper — the " Redstone Paper Mill" — in the West. St. Louis contained
some seventy houses, and Detroit over three hundred, and along the
river, contiguous to it, were more than three thousand inhabitants,
mostly French Canadians, Indians and half-breeds, scarcely any Ameri-
cans venturing yet into that part of the Northwest.
The election of representatives for the territory had taken place, and
on the 4th of February, 1799, they convened at Losantiville — now
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 41
known as Cincinnati, having been named so by Gov. St. Clair, and con-
sidered the capital of the Territory, — to nominate persons from whom
the members of the Legislature were to be chosen, in accordance with
a previous ordinance. This nomination being made, the Assembly
adjourned until the 16th of the following September. From those named
the President selected as members of the council, Henry Vandenburg,
of Vincennes, Robert Oliver, of Marietta, James Findlay and Jacob
Burnett, of Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vanceville. On the 16th
of September the Territorial Legislature met, and on the 24th the two
houses were duly organized, Henry Vandenburg being elected Presi-
dent of the Council.
The message of Governor St. Clair was addressed to the Legislature
September 20th, and on October 13th that body elected as a delegate to
Congress Gen. William Henry Harrison, who received eleven of the
votes cast, being a majority of one over his opponent, Arthur St. Clair,
son of Gen. St. Clair.
The whole number of acts passed at ihis session, and approved by
the governor, were thirty-seven. Eleven others were passed, but
received his veto. The most important of those passed related to the
militia, to the administration, and to taxation. On the 19th of Decem-
ber this protracted session of the first Legislature in the West was
closed, and on the 30th of December the President nominated Charles
Willing Bryd to the office of Secretary of the Territory vice Wm. Henry
Harrison, elected to Congress. The Senate confirmed his nomination
the next day.
DIVISION OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
The increased emigration to the Northwest, the extent of the domain,
and the inconvenient modes of travel, made it very difficult to conduct
the ordinary operations of government, and rendered the efficient action
of courts almost impossible. To remedy this, it was deemed advisable
to divide the territory for civil purposes. Congress, in 1800, appointed
a committee to examine the question and report some means for its
solution. This committee, on the 3d of March, reported that :
" In the three western countries there has been but one court having cognizance of
crimes, in five years, and the immunity which offenders experience attracts as to an
asylum, the most vile and abandoned criminals, and at the same time deters useful citizens
from making settlements in such society. The extreme necessity of judiciary attention
and assistance is experienced in civil as well as in criminal cases. * * * * To min-
ister a remedy to these and other evils, it occurs to this committee that it is expedient
42 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
that a division of said territory into two distinct and separate governments should be
made ; and that such division be made by a line beginning at the mouth of the Great
Miami River, running directly north until it intersects the boundary between the
United States and Canada."
The report was accepted by Congress, and, in accordance with its
suggestions, that body passed an act extinguishing the Northwest Terri-
tory, which act was approved May 7. Among its provisions were these :
" That from and after July 4 next, all that part of the territory of the United States
northwest of the Ohio River, which lies to the westward of a line beginning at a point
on the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of the Kentucky River, and running thence to Fort
Recovery, and thence north until it shall intersect the territorial line between the
United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a
separate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory."
After providing for the exercise of the civil and criminal powers of
the territories, and other provisions, the act further provides:
" That until it shall otherwise be ordered by the Legislatures of the said Territories,
respectively, Chillicothe, on the Scioto River, shall be the seat of government of the
territory of the United States northwest of the Obio River; and that St. Vincennes, on
the Wabash River, shall be the seat of government for the Indiana Territory."
Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison was appointed Governor of the Indiana
Territory, and entered upon his duties about a year later. Connecticut
also, about this time, released her claims to the reserve, and in March
a law was passed accepting this cession. Settlements had been made
upon thirty-five of the townships in the reserve, mills had been built,
and seven hundred miles of road cut in various directions. On the 3d
of November the General Assembly met at Chillicothe. Near the close
of the year, the first missionary on the Connecticut Reserve came, who
found no township containing more than eleven families. It was upon
the first of October that the secret treaty had been made between
Napoleon and the King of Spain, whereby the latter agreed to cede to
France the province of Louisiana.
In January, 1802, the Assembly of the Northwestern Territory char-
tered the college at Athens. From the earliest dawn of the western
colonies, education was promptly provided for, and as early as 1787,
newspapers were issued from Pittsburgh and Kentucky, and largely
read throughout the frontier settlements. Before the close of this year,
the Congress of the United States granted to the citizens of the North-
western Territory the formation of a State government. One of the
provisions of the "compact of 1787" provided that whenever the num-
ber of inhabitants within prescribed limits exceeded 15,000, they should
be entitled to a separate government. The prescribed limits of Ohio
contained, from a census taken to ascertain the legality of the act,
more than that number, and on the 30th of April, 1802, Congress passed
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 43
the act defining its limits, and on the 29th of November the constitu-
tion of the new State of Ohio, so named from the beautiful river
forming its southern boundary, came into existence. The exact limits
of Lake Michigan were not then known, but the territory now included
within the State of Michigan was wholly within the Territory of Indiana.
Gen. Harrison, while residing at Vincennes, made several treaties
with the Indians, thereby gaining large tracts of lands. The next year
is memorable in the history of the West for the purchase of Louisiana
from France by the United States for $15,000,000. Thus, by a peaceful
mode, the domain of the United States was extended over a large tract
of country west of the Mississippi, and was for a time under the juris-
diction of the Northwest government, and, as has been mentioned in
the early part of this narrative, was called the " New Northwest." The
limits of this history will not allow a description of its territory. The
same year large grants of land were obtained from the Indians, and
the House of Representatives of the new State of Ohio signed a bill
respecting the College Township in the district of Cincinnati.
Before the close of the year, Gen. Harrison obtained additional grants
of lands from the various Indian nations in Indiana and the present
limits of Illinois, and on the 18th of August, 1804, completed a treaty
at St. Louis, whereby over 51,000,000 acres of lands were obtained from
the aborigines. Measures were also taken to learn the condition of
affairs in and about Detroit.
C. Jouett, the Indian agent in Michigan, still a part of Indiana Terri-
tory, reported as follows upon the condition of matters at that post:
" The Town of Detroit — the charter, which is for fifteen miles square, was granted in
the time of Louis XIV. of France, and is now, from the best information I have been
able to get, at Quebec. Of those two hundred and twenty-five acres, only four are
occupied by the town and Fort Lenault. The remainder is a common, except twenty-
four acres, which were added twenty years ago to a farm belongiug to Win. Macomb.
* * * A stockade incloses the town, fort aud citadel. The pickets, as well as the
public houses, are in a state of gradual decay. . The streets are narrow, straight and
regular, and intersect each other at right angles. The houses are, for the most part,
low and inelegant."
During this year, Congress granted a township of land for the support
of a college, and began to offer inducements for settlers in these wilds,
and the country now comprising the State of Michigan began to fill
rapidly with settlers along its southern borders. This same year, also,
a law was passed organizing the Southwest Territory, dividing it into
two portions, the Territory of New Orleans, which city was made the
seat of government, and the District of Louisiana, which was annexed
to the domain of Gen. Harrison.
44 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
On the 11th of January, 1805, the Territory of Michigan was formed;
Wm. Hull was appointed governor, with headquarters at Detroit, the
change to take effect on June 30. On the 11th of that month a fire
occurred at Detroit, which destroyed almost every building in the place.
When the officers of the new territory reached the post, they found it
in ruins, and the inhabitants scattered throughout the countiy. Re-
building, however, soon commenced, and ere long the town contained
more houses than before the fire, and many of them much better built.
While this was being done, Indiana had passed to the second grade
of government, and through her General Assembly had obtained large
tracts of land from the Indian tribes. To all this the celebrated Indian,
Tecumthe, or Tecumseh, vigorously protested, and it was the main
cause of his attempts to unite the various Indian tribes in a conflict
with the settlers. To obtain a full account of these attempts, the
workings of the British, and the signal failure, culminating in the death
of Tecumseh at the battle of the Thames, and the close of the war of
1812 in the Northwest, we will-step aside in our story, and relate the
principal events of his life, and his connection with this conflict.
TECUMSEH, AND THE WAR OF 1812.
This famous Indian chief was born about the year 1768, not far from
the site of the present city of Piqua, Ohio. His father, Puckeshinwa,
was a member of the Kisopok tribe of the Swanoese nation, and his
mother, Methontaske, was a member of the Turtle tribe of the same
people. They removed from Florida about the middle of the last cen-
tury to the birthplace of Tecumseh. In 1774, his father, who had risen
to be chief, was slain at the battle of Point Pleasant, and not long
after Tecumseh, by his bravery, became the leader of his tribe. In
1795 he was declared chief, and then lived at Deer Creek, near the site
of the present city of Urbana. He remained here about one year,
when he returned to Piqua, and in 1798, he went to White River,
Indiana. In 1805, he and his brother, Laulewasikan (Open Door), who
had announced himself as a prophet, went to a tract of land on the
Wabash River, which had been given to them by the Pottawatomies
and Kickapoos. From this date the chief comes into prominence. He
was now about thirty-seven years of age, was five feet and ten inches
in height, stoutly built, and possessed of enormous powers of endurance.
His countenance was naturally pleasing, and he was, in general, devoid
of those savage attributes possessed by most Indians. It is stated that
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 45
he could read and write, and that he had a confidential secretary and
adviser, named Billy Caldwell, a half-breed, who afterward became chief
of the Pottawatomies. He occupied the first house built on the site of
Chicago. At this time Tecumseh entered upon the great work of his
life. He had long objected to the grants of land made by the Indians
to the white people, and determined to unite all the Indian tribes into
a league, in order that no treaties or grants of land could be made save
by the consent of this confederation.
He traveled constantly, going from north to south ; from the south
to the north ; everywhere urging the Indians to this step. He was a
matchless orator, and his burning words had their effect.
Gen. Harrison, then Governor of Indiana, by watching the movements
of the Indians became convinced that a grand conspiracy was forming,
and made preparations to defend the settlements. Tecumseh's plan
was similar to Pontiac's, elsewhere described, and to the cunning
artifice of that chieftain was added his own sagacity.
During the year 1809, Tecumseh and the prophet were actively pre-
paring for the work. In that year, Gen. Harrison entered into a treaty
with the Delawares, Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel Eiver
Indians and Weas, in which these tribes ceded to the whites certain
lands upon the Wabash, to all of which Tecumseh entered a bitter pro-
test, averring as one principal reason, that he did not want the Indians
to give up any lands north and west of the Ohio River.
In August, 1810, Tecumseh visited General Harrison, at Vincennes,
and held a council relating to the grievances of the Indians. Becoming
unduly angry at this conference, he was dismissed from the village, and
soon after departed to incite the southern Indian tribes to the conflict.
Gen. Harrison determined to move upon the chief's headquarters at
Tippecanoe, and for this purpose went about sixty-five miles up the
Wabash, where he built Fort Harrison. From this place he went to
the prophet's town, where he informed the Indians he had no hostile
intentions, provided they were true to the existing treaties. He en-
camped near the village early in October, and on the morning of
November 7, he was attacked by a large force of the Indians, and the
famous battle of Tippecanoe occurred. The Indians were routed and
their town broken up. Tecumseh returning not long after, was greatly
exasperated at his brother, the prophet, even threatening to kill him
for rashly precipitating the war, and foiling his (Tecumseh's) plans.
Soon after his return from the South, Tecumseh sent word to Gen.
Harrison that he was ready to visit the President, according to previous
agreement, when he was informed by Gen. Harrison that he would not
46 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
be permitted to go to Washington as a chief, as he desired. This deci-
sion of Gen. Harrison so wounded the proud spirit of Tecumseh, that
the visit was never made.
In June of the following year, Tecumseh visited the Indian agent at
Fort Wayne, to whom he disavowed any intention of making war
against the United States, and severely reproached Gen. Harrison for
marching against his people, To the agent's reply Tecumseh listened
with cold indifference, and after making a. few general remarks, drew
his blanket about him and departed from the council house with a
haughty demeanor, and immediately departed for Fort Maiden, in
Upper Canada, where he allied himself with the British standard.
He remained under the British Government and proved an effective
ally lor the Crown during the War of 1812, which was now opened. It
is said of him, however, that he was always humane in his treatment
of prisoners of war, and that he never allowed his warriors to ruthlessly
mutilate the bodies of those slain in battle, nor to wantonly murder a
captive.
Soon after Perry's victory ©n Lake Erie, in the summer of 1813,
active preparations were made to capture Fort Maiden. On the 27th
of September, the American army, under Gen. Harrison, embarked for
the shores of Canada, and in a few hours reached the point of destina-
tion. But the fort had been deserted. The British forces, under
command of Gen. Proctor, had retreated to Sandwich, intending to gain
the heart of Canada by the valley of the Thames. Gen. Harrison fol-
lowed in pursuit, and reached Sandwich on the 29th. On the same
day Gen. McArthur took possession of Detroit and the Territory of
Michigan.
On the 5th of October Proctor's army was overtaken, and the battle
of the Thames followed, on the 6th. Early in the engagement, Tecum-
seh, who was at the head of the Indian division or column of the "Red
Coats," was killed, when his command became demoralized and panic-
stricken, and fled in every direction. The American victory was
decisive, and practically closed the war in the Northwest.
It has never been definitely known who killed Tecumseh, although
the credit of that act has generally been conceded to Colonel Richard
M. Johnson, of Kentucky, who fired at the Indian chieftan with an old-
fashioned horse pistol. [Colonel Johnson was the candidate for Vice
President on the ticket with Martin Van Buren, in 1840.]
In January, 1807, Governor Hull, of Michigan Territory, made a
treaty with the Indians, whereby all that peninsula was ceded to the
United States. Before the close of the year, a stockade was built
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 47
about Detroit. It was also during this year that Indiana and Illinois
endeavored to obtain the repeal of that section of the compact of 1787,
whereby slavery was excluded from the Northwest Territory. These
attempts, however, all signally failed.
In 1809 it was deemed advisable to divide the Indiana Territory.
This was done, and the Territory of Illinois was formed from the west-
ern part, the seat of government being fixed at Kaskaskia. The next
year, the intentions of Tecumseh manifested themselves in open hos-
tilities, and then began the events already narrated.
While this war was in progress, emigration to the West continued
with surprising rapidity. In 1811, under Mr. Roosevelt, of New York,
the first steamboat trip was made on the Ohio, much to the astonish-
ment of the natives, many of whom fled in terror at the appearance of
the " monster." It arrived at Louisville on the 10th day of October.
At the close of the first week of January, 1812, it arrived at Natchez,
after being nearly overwhelmed in the great earthquake which occurred
while on its downward trip.
The battle of the Thames was fought on October 6, 1813. It
effectually closed hostilities in the Northwest, although peace was not
fully restored until July 22d, 1814, when a treaty was formed at Green-
ville, (now in Dorke county, Ohio,) under the direction of General
Harrison, between the United States and the Indian tribes, in which
it was stipulated that the Indians should cease hostilities against the
Americans if the war were continued. Such, happily, was not the case,
and on the 24th of December the treaty of Ghent was signed by the
representatives of England and the United States. This treaty was
followed the next year by treaties with various Indian tribes throughout
the West and Northwest, and quiet was again restored in this part of
the New World.
Until the year 1832, the commencement of the Black Hawk War, but
few Indian hostilities were experienced. Roads were opened, canals
were constructed, cities were built, common schools were established,
and universities were founded, many of which, especially the Michigan
University, have achieved a world-wide reputation. The people were
becoming wealthy. The domain of the United States had been ex-
tended, and had the children of the forest duly appreciated the good
intentions of the government, the record of many years would have
been that of peace and continuous prosperity.
48 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
ABSTRACT OF TERRITORIAL TITLE.
ORGANIZATION OF TERRITORIES — ADMISSION OF STATES, ETC.
The States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and that
part of Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River, came
from the Northwest Territory, which was ceded to the United States
by Virginia in 1784. In 1800 Congress deemed it advisable, because
of the vast extent of the territory and the difficulty of executing the
laws, to divide the territory, and the Ohio Territory, with the bounda-
ries substantially the same as those of the present State of Ohio, was
created. Two years later (in 1802) Ohio was admitted into the Union
as a sovereign and independent State.
The act of Congress creating the Territory of Ohio, extinguished the
Northwest Territory, and declared that all the remaining part of the
Northwest Territory should be called the Indiana Territory.
On the 30th day of June, 1805, the Indiana Territory was divided by
the creation of Michigan Territory, with boundaries nearly the same as
the present State of Michigan.
In 1835 a controversy arose between Michigan and Ohio, in regard
to their boundary-line and the right to a strip of land to which both
laid claim. At first there was danger of an armed collision, but the
excitement passed away without bloodshed. A constitution was
adopted and a State government elected in 1835, which were accepted
by Congress June 15, 1836, and the State admitted into the Union with
the condition that Michigan should accept the boundary claimed by
Ohio. This condition was very unsatisfactory to the people of Michi-
gan, but it was finally accepted under protest, December 15, 1836, and
the State was allowed to record its vote for President that year, although
it was not formally declared a State by act of Congress until January
26, 1837.
In 1809 Indiana Territory was again divided, and the Territory of
Illinois created. On the 11th day of December, 1816, Indiana was
formally declared to be a State of the American Union ; and two years
later, in April, 1818, Illinois was admitted to the sisterhood of States.
In 1809 Wisconsin was included in the Territory of Illinois, as then
formed. When Illinois was admitted into the Union in 1818, Wiscon-
sin was still a wilderness, and was annexed to Michigan for such gov-
ernment as was needed. In 1836 the population had so increased that
a territorial government was organized, which at first included a part
of the upper peninsula of Michigan, the whole of Minnesota and Iowa,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 49
and that part of Dakota lying east of the Missouri and White Earth
Rivers. When Michigan was admitted into the Union as a State, part
of the Lake Superior region was set off to her ; and when the Territory
of Iowa was formed in 1838, it included all the region west of the Mis-
sissippi. [Two sessions of the Wisconsin Legislature were held at
Burlington, Iowa, in 1837 and 1838.] The first effort to procure the
admission of Wisconsin to the Union, as a State, was made in 1846,
when Congress passed a conditional e ibling act. A convention was
held that year, and a constitution draf id, which was sent to Congress
and submitted to the people for their acceptance. In 1847 Congress
passed an act admitting the State under this constitution, but the people
rejected the constitution on account of some objectionable features.
Another convention was called December 15, 1847, and another con-
stitution drafted and submitted to the people and ratified by them in
March, 1848, and the State was admitted to the Union by act of
Congress, May 29, 1S48. Under the jurisdiction of the Territorial gov-
ernment of Wisconsin, county organization was extended to that part
of Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. The
county was called St. Croix, with Stillwater as the county seat.
In order to complete our chain of territorial title, it is now necessary
to go back and bring up the history of the Louisiana purchase, from
which much the larger part of the territory included in the State of
Minnesota was derived.
What is known as the Louisiana Purchase, included nearly all the
present States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota,
Dakota Territory, Nebraska, the most of Kansas and the Indian Terri-
tory ; part of Colorado, the most of Wyoming, and the whole of Mon-
tana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington Territory.
As the reader already knows, the Upper Mississippi River and its
principal tributaries, was first discovered and explored by the French.
DeSoto and his followers were the first to visit the vicinity of New
Orleans and to explore the country on both sides of the Lower Missis-
sippi. DeSoto died and was buried in the waters of the Great River in
1543. Marquette and his Canadians descended to the mouth of the
Mississippi in 1673, but did not establish any colony or settlement.
LaSalle descended the river in 1682, and took possession of the country
in the name of Louis XIV, King of France, and give it the name of
Louisiana, but it is doubtful whether any colony was attempted pre-
vious to 1699, when Iberville and a number of followers commenced a
settlement at Biloxi. In 1723 the capital of the colony was removed
from New Biloxi to New Orleans. In 1762 France ceded the whole
5
50 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
province, claimed by right of discovery and possession, to Spain, and
for thirty-eight years the country remained under the control of the
Spanish government. In 1800, at the treaty of Ildefonso, Spain restored
the country to the possession of France, and in 1803 it was sold to the
United States by Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, for
60,000,000 francs, or $11,250,000, and the assumption of what was
known as the " French Spoliation Claims," amounting to $3,750,000,
and making the total cost to the United States of the vast extent of
country described above, only $15,000,000.
In 1804, the southern portion of this great domain was erected into
a separate territory, and called the Territory of Orleans. In 1810, that
portion of the State of Louisiana lying between the Mississippi and the
Amite and the Pearl River, which had been ceded by Spain, was
annexed to the territory, and in April, 1812, the Territory of Orleans
was admitted into the Union as the State of Louisiana.
In 1812, when Louisiana was admitted into the Union, the remaining
territory was reorganized as Missouri Territory. In 1819, Missouri
having framed a State constitution, Arkansas and the Indian Territory
were organized as Arkansas Territory, and remained in that condition
until June 15, 1836, when the State of Arkansas, with its present
boundaries, was admitted into the Union as the twenty-fifth State.
[That portion of the Arkansas Territory not included within the
boundaries of the State of Arkansas was set up as the Indian Territory,
and is bounded as follows: On the east by the States of Missouri and
Arkansas ; on the south by Texas ; on the west by Texas and New
Mexico ; and on the north by Kansas. The territory remains for the
most part in the ownership and exclusive possession of the Indians, the
Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Kiowas and Comanches being
the strongest in numbers. The last named are untamed and uncivilized^
and still adhere to the customs of their tribal ancestors. The four for-
mer tribes or nations, especially the Cherokees, are, for the most part,
highly civilized and educated. The Cherokees maintain their courts
and court buildings; capital (Tahlequa) and capitol buildings; legisla-
tive assemblies, schools, churches, colleges, a newspaper, agricultural
association, etc. Besides the tribes named, there are remnants of the
Wyandotts, Pottawottomies, Sacs and Foxes, Delawares, Quapaws,
Osages, and some others, who inhabit certain parts of the territory. A
good many individuals of these several remnants of tribes — the Qua-
paws and Osages, perhaps, excepted — have entirely abandoned their
ancient habits of idleness, are cultivating large farms, and are in every
way well-to-do.]
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 51
In 1834, all that district north of Missouri and west of the Mississippi
River was placed under the jurisdiction of Michigan Territory. When
Wisconsin Territory was organized, in 1836, Iowa was made to form a
part of it, and the seat of government was fixed at Burlington. June
12, 1838, Congress passed an act which became operative on the 3d
day of July following, by which Iowa was separated from Wisconsin,
and on the 3d day of March, 1845, Iowa [and Florida] was admitted
into the Union as a sovereign and independent State.
MINNESOTA.
FOOTPRINTS OF FRENCH OCCUPANCY.
During the latter part of the seventeenth century, says Mr. Neill,
the name of Nicholas 'Perrot was familiar, not only to the men of
business and officers of government at Montreal and Quebec, but
around the council fires of the Hurons, Ottawas, Otchagus, Ojibways,
Miamis and Dahkotahs. He was a native of Canada, and had been
accustomed from childhood to the excitement and incidents of border
life, which, to a certain extent, prepared him for the wild scenes of
which he was a witness and a participant in his later years.
"If the name of Joliet is worthy of preservation," continues the
author from which we quote, " the citizens of the Northwest ought not
to be willing to let the name of that man die who was the first of whom
we have any account that erected a trading post on the Upper
Mississippi."
Before LaSalle launched the Griffin on Lake Erie and commenced his
career of discovery, Perrot, at the request of the authorities in Canada,
who looked upon him as a man of great shrewdness and tact, visited
the various Indian tribes of the Northwest to prepare them for partici-
pation in the grand council or convocation between white men and
Indians at Sault Ste. Marie, in May, 1671. That visit made Perrot
acquainted, not only with the Indians, their habits and customs, but
with the country ; and when the council was held, he became the inter-
preter between the French envoy, St. Sussin, and the aborigines, thus
giving him character and influence among the people with whom he
was afterwards associated as trader.
The accounts Perrot gave of the country he visited when inviting
the Indians to the council of which we have just written, attracted the
attention of LaSalle, and inspired him to undertake those enterprises
that gave distinction to his name. These explorations also unfolded to
52 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Monsieur Perrot the wonderful beauty of the Minnesota country, and
influenced him to establish himself as a trader among the Dakotas a
few years later. Referring to the theatre of Perrot's operations, Neill's
history of Minnesota appropriately and truthfully remarks :
" One of the most picturesque scenes in North America is the approach
to Lake Pepin. For miles the steamboat ascending the Mississippi
glides through an extended vista, crowned in the distance by an am-
phitheatre of hills which define the basin of the lake.
" In the summer the islands of the river, luxuriant with vegetation,
and the banks flanked by abrupt bluffs of limestone, with cedar trees
standing like sentinels wherever roothold can be found, make an im-
pression which the traveler can not erase in a lifetime.
"Occasionally these steep walls of stone recede with their fanciful
outline of castles and battlements, and prairies sufficiently elevated to
be secure from the inundations of spring, appear, which were enticing
spots to the ancient voyageur after a long and wearisome day's paddle
in his frail canoe.
"Just below Lake Pepin, on the west shore, opposite the mouth of
the Chippewa River, is one of those beautiful plateaux, which captivated
Nicholas Perrot, who had been commissioned by the governor of
Canada as commandant of the West" — all of which, at that time, was
claimed by France.
There are no records to show that Perrot visited this region previous
to 1683. Sometime in that year, however, accompanied by twenty
other bold and daring Frenchmen, he was voyaging along the Missis-
sippi River, and impressed with the peculiar and attractive beauty of
the country, they landed their fleet of canoes at the foot of Lake Pepin,
determined to make that place the scene of their operations. If Perrot
had previously visited Lake Pepin, or any part of the adjacent country,
the fact is lost to history, as are the names of his daring companions.
In that year, however, and immediately after their arrival, they pro-
ceeded to the erection of a rude log fort, which was the first European-
fashioned structure erected in any part of all that vast region of country
included in the Louisiana purchase. A generation passed before New
Orleans, " two thousand miles lower down the Mississippi, was founded."
Mr. Neill continues : " This primitive establishment, within the
limits of the State of Minnesota, on some of the maps is appropriately
named Fort Perrot." On a map of the year 1700 it was called Fort
Bon Secours. Three years later, on a map published in Paris by Wil-
liam de ITsle, it was marked Fort LeSueur.
In 1676 Frontenac, who was Governor of Canada, was removed from
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 53
authority because of his opposition to the " ecclesiastics, who deplored
the ill effects of rum and licentious ' coureurs des hois' upon the morals
of the savages, and desired both excluded from the country. 1 ' Frontenac
" had no interest in Christianity, and still less confidence in the Jesuits.
In a communication to the government he bluntly said to Oobert, the
minister, ' to speak frankly to you, they think as much about the con-
version of beavers as of souls. The majority of their missions are
mockeries."' In 1683 Frontenac was re-commissioned as Governor of
Canada, and soon after assuming the duties of the office, he "issued
orders that all Frenchmen in the Upper Mississippi country should
return to Mackinaw." In consonance with this order, Perrot aban-
doned his fort, and it remained unoccupieduntil 1688, when he returned
with forty men to its re-occupation. In May of the next year Perrot
formally claimed the country in the name of his king, and issued the
following pronunciamento, which is the first official document relating
to Minnesota, and consequently worthy of preservation:
"Nicholas Perrot, commanding for the king, at the post of the Nadouessioux,* commis-
sioned by Marquis Denonville, Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of all New France, to
manage the interest of commerce among all the Indian tribes and people of the Bay des
Puants (Green Bay,) Nadouessioux (Dahkotahs,) Mascoutins and other Western nations
of the Upper Mississippi, and to take possession in the king's name of all the places
where he has heretofore been and whither he will go.
" We, this day, the eighth of May, one thousand six hundred and eighty-nine, do, in the
presence of the Reverend Father Marest of the Society of Jesus, missionary among the
Nadouessioux; of Monsieur de Borieguillot [Charlevoix writes Boisguillot,] command-
ing the French in the neighborhood of the Ouiskonchef on the Mississippi; Augustine
Legardeur, Esquire, Sieur de Caumont, and of Messieurs LeSueur, Herbert, Lemire and
Blein,
" Declare to all whom it may concern, that they being come from the Bay des Puants,
and the Lake of the Ouiskonches, and to the river Mississippi, we did transport our-
selves to the country of the Nadouessioux on the border of the river St. Croix, J and at
the mouth of the river St. Pierre, § on the bank of which were the Mantantans, and
farther up to the interior to the Northeast of the Mississippi, as far as the Menchoka-
tonx (M'daywawkawtwawns,) with whom dwell the majority of the Songeskitons, and
other Nadouessioux, who are to the northeast of the Mississippi, to take possession for,
and in the name of the king, of countries and rivers inhabited by the said tribes, and of
which they are proprietors. The present act done in our presence, signed with our
hand and subscribed."
The second French post was built by LeSueur, in 1695, by order of
* On the first of September, 1678, Daniel Greysolon du Suth, a native of Lyons, left Quebec, to explore
the country of the Assineboines and Dahkotahs. On the 2nd of July, 1679, he caused his king's arms to
be planted in the "great village of Nadouessioux (Dahkotahs,) called Kathio. where no Frenchman had
ever been; also, at Songaskicons and Houetbalons, 120 leagues distant from the former. Du Suth also
built the first trading post on Lake Superior, beyond Sault St. Marie. The site of this post was at the
mouth of Pigeon River. The post was built of pine logs. — Neill.
t Wisconsin (Fort St. Nicholas,) Ouisconche, Mesconsing, Ouisconsing, Wisconsan, are some of the
former spellings of this word.
X Named after Mons. St. Croix, who was drowned at its mouth.— La Harpe's Louisiana.
§ Nicollet supposes that this river bore the name of Capt. St. Pierre.
54 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Frontenac. The site of this post is on an island on the west side of the
channel of the Mississippi River, about eight miles above Red Wing,
and is therefore in Goodhue county. The island was easily accessible
by canoes, yet very retired. The fort was erected as a barrier and pro-
tection against hostile Indians. Referring to its location, Charlevoix
said: "The island has a beautiful prairie, and the French of Canada
have made it a channel of commerce for the western posts, and many
pass the winter here, because it is a good country for hunting." It is
said that the foundation of this old fort is still pretty clearly outlined.
Its location, at least, is well known to many of the residents of Good-
hue county, whose farms are in the near vicinity of the island upon
which it was built.
The third fort was completed on the 14th of October, 1700, and was
located at the mouth of St. Remi, a small tributary of Blue Earth River.
It was founded by LeSueur, who visited that country to search for
copper. This fort was " called L'Huiller, after the Farmer-General in
Paris, who had aided the project " of searching for copper mines.
The fourth and last French post or fort, of which there is any known
record, was built by LaPerriere du Boucher, in the fall of 1727. This
post was located on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi, opposite
Maiden Rock. Boucher is known to American history as the leader of
the Indian attack on Haverhill, Massachusetts, a few years before the
building of this fort. Haverhill was completely sacked by the red
fiends and their devilish white leader. The puritan minister of the vil-
lage was killed, his wife was scalped, and the brains of their infant
child dashed out against the ground.
FORT SNELLING.
ADVANCE GUARD OF AMERICAN OCCUPANCY.
"On the 10th of February, 1819," says Mr. Neill, in his History of
Minnesota, " an order was issued from the War Department, concen-
trating the Fifth Regiment of Infantry at Detroit, with a view to trans-
portation by way of Fox and Wisconsin rivers to Prairie du Chien.
After garrisoning that post and Rock Island, the remainder were to
proceed to the mouth of the Minnesota, then designated as the Saint
Peter's, to establish a post at which the headquarters of the regiment
were to be located. About the time of this order, the portion of Illi-
nois territory not included within the State of that name was attached
to Michigan, of which Lewis Cass was governor. Crawford county,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 55
Wisconsiu, was organized under an act of the territorial legislature of
Michigan, approved October 16, 1818,* and when the Fifth Regiment
above quoted, set out from Detroit for its new field of service on the
banks of the Mississippi, Colonel Leavenworth, its commander, was
entrusted with commissions in blank for the county officers. He was
also empowered to set the machinery of the county in motion, and by
form of election or otherwise, submit the choice of officers to the inhab-
itants. After some difficulty, he succeeded in getting John W. Johnson,
United States factor, to consent to serve as chief justice of the county
court ; Michael Brisbois and Francis Bouthillier were chosen as asso-
ciates ; Wilfred Owens was appointed judge of probate ; John S. Findlay
was designated as clerk of the court ; and Thomas McNair was selected
to serve as sheriff."
After completing this trust, Colonel Leavenworth left Prairie du
Chien on Sunday morning, the eighth of August, with a detachment of
ninety-eight men, twenty men as laborers, boatmen, etc., and fourteen
batteaux and two large keel boats, for the site of the first American
fort to be erected within the limits of Minnesota. In consequence of
the low stage of water which prevailed at that time, more than a month
was consumed in making the trip, as the expedition did not arrive at
its point of destination until the seventeenth of September. While
rude huts and pickets were being erected, the officers, and such of their
wives and children as accompanied them, lived in the large boats."
" Before the quarters were completed," remarks Minnesota's historian
(Neill,) the reign of winter was felt, and the removal from the open
boats to the log cabins, plastered with clay, was considered a privilege."
During the winter the scurvy appeared among the troops, f and raged
so extensively, that for a few days military duty was suspended. It is
said that " so sudden was the attack, that soldiers apparently in good
health when they retired at night, were found dead in the morning.
One man who was relieved from his tour of sentinel duty, and stretched
himself upon a bench, when he was called four hours after to resume
his duties, was found lifeless."
In the month of May, 1820, the command " entered into summer
encampment at a spring not far from the old Baker trading house. The
camp was named Coldwater."
Colonel Leavenworth remained in command at the new cantonment
until August, 1820, when he was relieved by Colonel Josiah Snelling,
and on the 10th of September following the corner stone of Fort St.
* Williams' History of Ramsey County and St. Paul.
+ Sibley.
56 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Anthony was lowered to its place. The first barracks were log struc-
tures. When the winter of 1820-21 came in, no part of the fort was far
enough advanced to afford protection from the cold and storms, and the
troops were forced to retreat to the quarters occupied during the pre-
vious winter.
The pine lumber used in the construction of the fortifications was cut
on Rum River by the soldiers, and was the first ever cut in the territory.
In the fall of 1822, the fort was so far completed as to admit of its
occupancy, and from that time to the present it has never been un-
occupied.
During the summer of 1820, Governor Cass, of Michigan ; Dr. Wolcott,
Indian agent at Chicago and surgeon ; Captain Douglass, military engi-
neer ; H. R. Schoolcraft, mineralogist; Lieutenant Mackay ; James Doty,
Esq., secretary; Major Forsyth, private secretary to the governor ; C. C.
Trowbridge, topographer, besides the voyageurs, soldiers and Indians
accompanying the party, and amounting in all to about forty persons,
after visiting the upper part of the country, came down to Fort St.
Anthony. The object of the visit (which originated with Governor
Cass and was approved by John C. Calhoun, then Secretary of War,)
was for the purpose of becoming better acquainted with the Indian
tribes and the mineral and agricultural resources of this district of
country, then included in Michigan Territory, of which Cass was gover-
nor. The party arrived at the garrison at " Camp Cold Water" on the
30th of July, when all was busy, and were received with the customary
national salute. In addition to the work that had been done on the fort,
ninety acres of ground had been broken and were under cultivation.
Green peas had been ready for the table on the fifteenth of June ; corn
was ripe enough for roasting ears on the fifteenth of July, and wheat
was ripe for the harvest.
In 1824 General Winfield Scott visited Fort St. Anthony on a tour of
inspection, and at his suggestion the name was changed to Fort Snel-
ling, the reason for the change being fully explained in the following
extract from his report to the War Department:
"This work, of which the War Department is in possession of a plan, reflects the
highest credit on Col. Snelling, his ofBcers and men. The defenses, and for the most
part the public storehouses, shops and quarters being constructed of stone, the whole is
likely to endure as long as the post shall remain a frontier one. The cost of erection
to the government has only been the amount for tools and iron, and the per diem paid
to soldiers employed as mechanics.
" I wish to suggest to the General-in-Chief, and through him to the War Department,
the propriety of calling this work Fort Snelling, as a just compliment to the meritorious
officer under whom it has been erected.
" The present name [Fort St. Anthony] is foreign to all our associations, and is
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 57
geographically incorrect, as the work stands at the junction of the Mississippi and St.
Peter rivers, eight miles bejow the great falls of the Mississippi, and called after St.
Anthony."
The suggestion of Gen. Scott was adopted and orders were issued
accordingly, since when the name of Fort St. Anthony only exists in
history.
Col. Henry Leavenworth, under whose direction the beginning of
Fort Snelling was commenced, was born in Connecticut, December 10,
1783, and was educated to the profession of the law. When the war of
1812 broke out he was commissioned Captain in the twenty-fifth Infantry
in April, 1812; promoted to Major of ninth Infantry in August, 1813;
brevetted Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel for distinguished services at
Chippewa, July 5, 1814, and at Niagara Falls, where he was wounded.
He was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the fifth Infantry in February,
1818, and became Brevet Brigadier General in July, 1824, and Colonel
of the third Infantry December 16, 1825. He established various mili-
tary posts on the frontier, one of which, the flourishing city of Leaven-
worth, Kansas, perpetuates his name. He died at Cross Timbers, Texas,
July 21, 1834.
It will not be inappropriate to remark here that the first white
women to visit Minnesota were the wives of army officers. The first of
these came in September, 1819, with Col. Leavenworth. On Saturday,
"the 28th of September," as related in Major Forsyth's narrative, that
gentleman, " accompanied by Col. Leavenworth, Major Vose, Dr. Pur-
cell, Lieutenant Clark and Mrs. Gooding (the wife of Captain Gooding
of the Fifth regiment,) set out to visit St. Anthony's Falls." Conse-
quently there is no reason to doubt that Mrs. Gooding was the first
white woman who ever saw that rushing, roaring cataract. Mrs. Clark,
the wife of the commissary of the post, came in 1820, bringing an infant
that was born at Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin. Besides these there
were others, for Mrs. Ellet, in a sketch of Mrs. Clark, says: " Huts had
also to be built, though in the rudest manner, to serve as a shelter
during the winter, from the rigors of a severe climate. After living
with her family in the boat for a month, it was a highly appreciated
luxury for Mrs. Clark to find herself at home in a log hut, plastered with
clay and chinked for her reception. It was December before they got
into winter quarters, and the fierce winds of that exposed region, with
terrific storms now and then, were enough to make tbem keep within
doors as much as possible. Once in a violent tempest the roof of their
dwelling was raised by the wind, and partially slid off; there was no
protection for the inmates, but the baby in the cradle was pushed under
58 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the bed for safety. Notwithstanding these discomforts and perils, the
inconveniences they had to encounter, and their isolated situation, the
little party of emigrants were not without their social enjoyments ; they
were nearly all young married persons, cheerful and fond of gayety,
and had their dancing assemblages once a fortnight."
Mrs. Snelling accompanied her husband when he came to relieve
Col. Leavenworth, and a few days after their arrival at Mendota, a
daughter was born unto them. After a brief existence of thirteen
months the little one passed beyond the shadows, and was buried in
the graveyard of the fort. "It was the first interment," says Mr.
Neill, k ' and the stone which marks its remains can still be seen."
THE SWISS COLONY AND FIRST FARMERS — FORCIBLE REMOVAL FROM THEIR FARMS
—DESTRUCTION OF THEIR HOUSES AND HOMES.
Closely associated with the early days of Fort Snelling is the history
of a small Swiss colony of farmers that settled in the vicinity. " Before
the eastern wave of emigration had ascended above Prairie du Chien,"
says Mr. Neill, " the Swiss had opened farms on or near St. Paul, and
should be recognized as the first actual settlers in the country."
These early first farmers were industrious and thrifty, and rapidly
accumulated stock and other evidences of prosperity. Their settle-
ments were made in 1836, before the Indian title to the land on the
east side of the river, between Minneapolis and St. Paul, was extin-
guished. " By the treaty of September, 1837, made by the Dakotahs
with the United States, which was ratified by the Senate, on the
fifteenth of June, 1838, the Indian title to the tract in question ceased.
In March, 1838, the commander at Fort Snelling selected this land as a
part of a military reservation ; consequently it was withheld from sale.
Those who had made claims upon it were much dissatisfied, and evinced
a disposition to resist, and orders were issued from the War Depart-
ment to the United States Marshal of Wisconsin, to remove the intrud-
ers. The greater portion of the settlers were Swiss, and after all their
migrations from Switzerland, via Hudson Bay Company's possessions,
to the present desirable location, they were loath to depart. The
troops were summarily called out from the fort on the tenth of May,
1840, and the settlers, with undue haste, removed, and on the next day
the troops destroyed their cabins to prevent reoccupation."
Mr. Stevens, in an address on the early history of Hennepin county,
says : " This colony consisted of Louis Massy, Mr. Perry, Pierrie
Garvas and others. * * * Some had their houses
torn down ; others were more unfortunate, and had their buildings
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 59
burnt. To the latter class Mr. Garvas belonged. Mr. Perry was the
Abraham of Hennepin county. He resided in front of the slaughter-
house, near the landing. He pitched his tent, after being driven off his
first home, on the bank of the brook between the Cave and St. Paul.
Here he attended to his numerous flocks, and cultivated a field, and, I
think, died below St. Paul near where the large hotel was burnt, a year
or two since. He was a Swiss by birth. At one time he owned more
cattle than all the rest of the inhabitants of what is now Minnesota, if
we except Mr. Renville."
After being removed from their homes, the Swiss colonists scattered
to different parts of the country. Some of them remained in Minne-
sota, some went to Wisconsin, and a few, we believe, found their way
to Vevay, Indiana, a town that was founded by their countrymen.
Such was the beginning and ending of the first attempt at farming in
Minnesota.
FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS — POPULATION IN 1849.
The permanent occupancy of Minnesota by American civilization
commenced when Col. Leavenworth arrived at Mendota with a detach-
ment of the Fifth Regiment U. S. Infantry on the 17th of Se'ptember,
1819. More than a quarter of a century passed after that date, how-
ever, before the land began to be occupied for purposes of agriculture.
In all these years the country remained an unbroken and undisturbed
wild, inhabited only by native red men, the animals natural to the
climate, herbs and grasses, and a few Indian traders scattered here and
there through the territory. Steamboats and steamboating were
unknown on the Upper Mississippi previous to 1823, and up to May 26,
1826, only fifteen steamboats had ascended the " Father of Waters" as
far as Fort Snelling. Even as late as 1849, when the Territory of Min-
nesota was organized, the settlements were " few and far between."
West of the Mississippi River, and north from the Iowa State line to
the British possessions, the country was still owned and occupied by
the Indians.
At Wabasha there was a trading post in charge of Alexis Bailly,
where was also the home of the old voyageur, A. Rogue. F. S. Richards
kept a store house at the foot of Lake Pepin, probably at or near the
site of the fort built by Perrot. An eccentric character, named Wells,
whose wife was a hois hrule, and the daughter of the old-time trader
Duncan Graham, lived on the west side of the lake. Wells lived in a
stone house, probably the first of the kind erected in any part of the
territory. At Red Wing there was a cluster of bark wigwams and a
60 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Presbyterian Mission House. The next nucleus of settlement was at
Kaposia, also an Indian village, and the residence of Rev. T. S.William-
son, M. D., a Presbyterian missionary.
On the east side of the Mississippi River, settlements commenced at
Point Douglas, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. There were also a
few settlers and farmers at Red Rock, the site of a former Methodist
station. St. Paul was just emerging from a semi-barbarous condition —
Indian whiskey shops and birch-roofed cabins of half-breed voyageurs.
A few frame tenements had been erected ; and under the management
of H. M. Rice, who had secured an interest in the townsite, some ware-
houses were being constructed, and the foundations of the American
House were laid. There was, perhaps, a population of two hundred and
fifty or three hundred people, for the rumor had become current that
the new town might be named in the act creating the territory as the
capital thereof.
There was also a settlement at and around Stillwater, as already men-
tioned. Joseph R. Brown had secured the organization of St. Croix
county when a member of the Wisconsin Territorial Assembly, and his
town of Dakota had been named as the county seat. Then came the
McKusicks and their associates, who laid the foundations of the present
city of Stillwater. There was also a settlement at Mendota, and several
beginnings of settlements in other parts of the territory — but they were
scattering. When the census of the territory was taken in the summer
of 1849, as required by the organic act, the total population was 4,940,
including the soldiers and women and children in the forts.
RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS.
PIONEER MISSION WORK — THE CATHOLICS.
The following account of early religious movements is based upon an
article prepared by Rev. C. Hobart, for the Minnesota Historical Soci-
ety, in 1851.
The first effort to establish Christianity in this territory was probably
made by the Roman Catholic Church. And although names and dates
cannot be furnished by me, yet it is inferable, from the known zeal of
her priesthood, and the fact that almost the entire trade with the Indi-
ans for more than fifty years, was in the hands of the French voyageurs,
who were mostly French Catholics. Chapels were built at Lake Pepin,
St. Paul and Mendota. They were rude, primitive structures, built
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 61
mostly of logs, and appear to have been erected many years ago. Rev.
Mr. Ravoux officiated at St. Paul and Mendota, and a missionary was
sent to Pembina in 1850.
INDIAN MISSIONS — AMERICAN BOARD.
The first in the territory, so far as I can learn, was established at
Sandy Lake, in 1832 — Edmund F. Ely, teacher and catechist. The
second, at Leech Lake, in 1833 — William T. Boutwell, missionary and
teacher. In 1834 a mission was commenced at Fond du Lac, at the
head of Lake Superior — E. F. Ely, teacher and catechist. In 1835
another mission was established at Pokegoma (Snake River.) The
above were intimately connected with missions at LaPointe and Yel-
low Lake, now within the bounds of Wisconsin. All the missions
within the territory alluded to above were continued with some varia-
tions, until within a few years, when they were given up.
In 1835 Dr. Williamson visited this country for the purpose of estab-
lishing missions among the Sioux. Sometime after thai, in connection
with Messrs. G. H. and S. W. Pond, Stevens, Riggs and Huggins, and
perhaps others, missions were established at Lac qui Parle, Traverse des
Sioux, and at several other places along the St. Peters. Also at Kapo-
sia and Red Wing on the Mississippi. These missions were still con-
tinued when this article was prepared by Mr. Hobart, the missionaries
having labored amid difficulties and privations with an amount of zeal
worthy of all praise.
METHODIST MISSIONS.
Missions were established by the Methodist Episcopal Church in
1837, by Rev. Alfred Brunson and Rev. David King, at Kaposia and
St. Peters among the Sioux. In 1838 these missions were continued ;
and in 1839 Rev. S. Spates, Huddleston, George Copway and John
Johnson, (the two last named converted Chippewas,) were sent to
Crow Wing and Sandy Lake as missionaries to the Chippewas. The
Crow Wing mission, after a few years, was given up, and a mission
established at Fond du Lac.
The mission at Kaposia was changed to Red Rock, and continued
until 1842, when it was discontinued. In 1851 there were but two
missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church to the Indians within the
bounds of the territory, viz., at Sandy Lake and Mille Lac, — the last
named was established in 1850. In addition to the missionaries already
named, Rev. Messrs. B. F. Kavenaugh, H. Kavenaugh, J. W. Pope, G.
62 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Whitford, H. J. Brace and McReynolds labored more or less in the
territory among the Indians.
OBERLIN MISSIONS.
In 1843 Rev. F. Ayer and wife, assisted by Messrs. Spencer, Wright,
Barnard and Dr. Lewis, were sent out by a Presbyterian Missionary
Society, located at Oberlin, Ohio. After that time missions were estab-
lished by them among the Chippewas, at Red Lake, Cass Lake, and
Little Lake Winnepeg. These missions were still in operation in 1851.
SWISS mission. #
This mission was established at Mount Trempeleau, by Rev. Messrs.
Denton and Gavan, in 1837, and removed to Red Wing village at the
head of Lake Pepin, in 1838, where it was continued until Mr. Denton's
health failed in 1846, when it was given up to the American Board.
From 1846 to 1848 it was unoccupied, but in the year last named Revs.
John Aiton and Joseph W. Hancock were appointed to the work. Mr.
Aiton commenced his labors soon after his appointment. Mr. Hancock
arrived June 13, 1849. The two men did not co-operate many months
until they separated — Mr. Aiton going elsewhere. Mr. Hancock re-
mained and continued the mission work until the Indians were removed
in 1853.
MISSIONS TO THE INHABITANTS OF MINNESOTA TERRITORY.
METHODIST MISSIONS.
The first missionary sent to this country to preach to the white
settlers was the Rev. Mr. Hurlbrest, of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
He came in the fall of 1844, and left in the spring of 1846. In Sep-
tember, 1846, Rev. J. W. Putnam, of the same church, was appointed
to the St. Croix mission, which included all the settlements on the
Mississippi and St. Croix rivers, above Point Douglas. He was con-
tinued two years, and was succeeded in 1848 by Rev. Benjamin Close.
In 1849, three missionaries were sent to the territory, and stationed
as follows: Stillwater, James Harrington; St. Anthony Falls, Enos
Stevens ; St. Paul, C. Hobart. Mr. Hobart was the presiding elder of
the Minnesota district at that time.
In 1850, Rev. James Harrington was re-appointed to Stillwater ; Rev.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 63
L. Dickens, to St. Paul ; Rev. C. A. Newcombe, to St. Anthony Falls.
Point Douglas was supplied with Rev. L. Nobles. J. Harrington died
in August, which caused the removal of L. Nobles to Stillwater, and the
appointment of Rev. J. W. Dow to Point Douglas. C. Hobart was
appointed presiding elder of Minnesota district, including all of Min-
nesota Territory and that part of Wisconsin north of the Wisconsin River.
BAPTIST MISSIONS.
In February, 1849, Rev. M. Parsons was appointed by the American
Home Mission Society as missionary to St. Paul, and arrived May 17th.
In the fall of the same year, Rev. Mr. Brown was sent out by the same
society, and stationed at Stillwater. In 1850, Mr. Parsons was contin-
ued at St. Paul ; Mr. Brown appointed to St. Anthony Falls ; and Rev.
Mr. Webber sent to Stillwater.
PRESBYTERIAN AND CONGREGATIONAL MISSIONS.
In May, 1849, Rev. E. D. Neill visited St. Paul and preached once,
when he returned to Illinois and then to Philadelphia; was appointed
missionary to this place by the Home Missionary Society, and returned
with his family in July. Rev. Mr. Whitney came to Stillwater in the
fall of the same year. In 1850, Mr. Neill was continued at St. Paul, and
Mr. Whitney at Stillwater. During the fall, Rev. Mr. Secombe arrived
at St. Anthony Falls, and the Rev. Mr. Hall was sent to Point Douglas
and Cottage Grove. Messrs. Secombe and Hall were Congregationalists.
EPISCOPAL MISSION.
In the summer of 1850, Rev. Messrs. Breck, Wilcoxson and Merrick
located themselves at St. Paul as missionaries of the above-named
church to the territory. They visited every neighborhood on foot,
once in three weeks, from Fort Ripley to Point Douglas, and thence to
the falls of St. Croix, besides maintaining regular service at St. Paul.
ORGANIZATION OP CHURCHES.
The first Protestant church organized in the territory was organized
at Fort Snelling, in 1833 or 1834, according to the statements of Dr.
Williamson, Hon. H. H. Sibley and Col. Loomis. This church was
dissolved soon after. The first permanent organization was of the
Methodist church, in 1844, by Rev. Mr. Hurbut.
The following table will show when and by whom churches were
organized in St. Paul :
64
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
CHURCHES.
WHEN
ORGANIZED.
MINISTERS.
NO. WHEN
ORGANIZED.
NO. AT
PRESENT.
Methodist E. Church
Presbyterian Church
Episcopalian Church
Dec. 31, 1848.
Dec. 29, 1849.
Jan. 6, 1850.
Not organized
Rev. B. Close
Rev. J. C. Parsons.
Rev. E.D. Neill....
8
12
9
52
14
15
CHURCH ORGANIZATION AT ST. ANTHONY FALLS.
CHURCHES.
WHEN
ORGANIZED.
BY WHOM.
NO. WHEN
ORGANIZED.
NO. AT
PRESENT.
Methodist E. Church ....
Presbyterian Church . . .
Episcopalian Church-...
October, 1849.
July 13, 1850.
Sept. 1, 1850.
Not organized
Rev. E. Stevens
Rev. W. C. Brown.
Rev. Mr. Wheeler..
13
13
12
24
18
15
MORALITY OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.
[From Hon. H. H. Sibley's Beminiscences of the Early Days of Minnesota]
It has been made a subject of frequent remark, that the settlement
of Minnesota has been singularly free from the disorders and deeds of
violence which have almost invariably accompanied the same process
in other Western Territories and States. Crimes of magnitude, espe-
cially such as involved the destruction of human life, have been so
rarely committed, that the whole record of Minnesota in that respect,
may be advantageously compared with that of any State in the Union.
I attribute this, mainly, to the fact that Minnesota, California and Ore-
gon were settled simultaneously, and that the gold fields of the Pacific
attracted thither a host of reckless adventurers, who would otherwise
have found a home among us. Thus while that class emigrated to the
other side of the stony mountains, in pursuit of the precious metals,
the men who had it in view to gain a subsistence by honest labor,
sought the fertile prairies of Minnesota with their families. It is hardly
necessary to mention that while our population is many thousands less
than it would have been, but for the attractions referred to in another
quarter, the State has been vastly benefitted by remaining free from
the presence of a large number of that description of persons who are
popularly said to " live by their wits." The infusion of such an element
into our population would have resulted in a rehearsal on an extensive
scale of those scenes of sanguinary violence which have disgraced the
early history of so many of the border States.
PIONEER CHARACTER — FALSE OPINIONS.
If there is any one class more than another that deserves the grateful
remembrance and homage of the American people, it is the pioneers
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 65
— the men and women who go ahead to spy out the land and mark the
way for the possession and occupancy of the savage wilds of our front-
ier domain by the sons and daughters of civilization. As a rule, the
Pioneers are bold, fearless, industrious, enterprising, self-reliant and
determined. They may not always be educated men and women, as the
phrase goes, — they may not be learned in the lore of the books, — but
they possess an intuitive knowledge, a native sense, that renders them
the equals, sometimes the superiors, of those of their fellows who were
educated within and graduated from seminaries and colleges. And yet
it has happened that men of culture, from some cause or other, chose
to abandon the busy haunts and thronged marts of civilization, to seek
homes in the midst of frontier wilds. But, whether learned or not,
there is a certain grandeur and nobleness of character about frontiers-
men — the advance guards of a higher order of civilization — that com-
mands respect, admiration and honor. Building their homes in the
midst of Indians, where they are untrammeled and unfettered by the
conventionalities of refined society, the maturity of their manhood and
womanhood is reached under nature's teachings. Beyond the reach
and the influence of the deceptions, the hypocrisies and the false
assumptions incident to the corrupted condition of modern civilization,
their characters remain untainted by tricks of dishonesty, and they
develop into true nobleness of thought, of purpose and of action.
" As a class," writes one of Minnesota's most respected and honored
citizens, " the Pioneers of Minnesota were far superior in morality,
education and intelligence to the pioneers of most of the other territo-
ries, and they left a favorable impress upon the character of the State.
' They were by no means free from the vices and frailties of poor human-
ity ; but, on the other hand, they were, for the most part, distinguished
for charity to the poor and friendless, hospitable even to a fault, and
enthusiastically devoted to the interests and the prosperity of our beau-
tiful Minnesota. Although, generally speaking, men of limited educa-
tion, there were exceptions to this rule, individuals being found among
them of respectable literary attainments. And they were, for the most
part, religiously inclined. Men who, like Cooper's " Leatherstocking,"
are brought face to face with Nature in her deepest solitudes, are led
naturally to the worship of that Great Being whose hand alone could
have created the vast expanse of wood and prairie, mountain, lake and
river which spread themselves daily, in endless extent and variety,
before their eyes. They were not particularly given to respect law,
especially when it favored speculators at the expense of the settler.
At the land sales at the Falls of St. Croix, in 1848, when the site of the
6
66 THE NOETHWEST TEKRITORY.
present, city of St. Paul, and the tracts adjacent thereto on the east side
of the Mississippi, were exposed to public sale, Gen. H. H. Sibley was
selected by the actual settlers to bid off portions of the land for them,
and when the hour for business had arrived, his seat was invariably
surrounded by men with huge bludgeons. What was meant by the
proceeding Gen. Sibley could only surmise, but he says he would not
have envied the fate of the individual who would have ventured to bid
against him."
An opinion prevails among some people in the old settled parts of the
country, that pioneers are rude and boorish, and that because of their
isolation and surroundings, they become ignorant " Know-nothings,"
and easy victims to the wiles and intrigues of those speculatively
inclined. The belief is not founded in fact, nor will it stand the test of
trial, unless to be defeated. It is true that isolation and long absences
from the circles of society may render their movements a little awk-
ward in fashionable drawing-rooms ; they may not be as polished in
their manners as those who never left the shadows of colleges and tailor
shops, but there is a genuine hospitality and courtliness about them that
always commands respect. The charge of ignorance is equally ground-
less, as is shown in the fact that some of the ablest, as well as the most
honest representatives in the national legislature, graduated from pioneer
huts. No better illustration of this position can be offered, and in fact
no better argument is needed, than in the case of H. H. Sibley, the first
delegate to Congress from the Minnesota Territory. Mr. Sibley came
to the country in November, 1834, long before there was any other
people than a few French traders, half-breed voyageurs and Indians to
be seen. After a continued residence of fourteen years in the midst
of such surroundings, he was sent to Washington to represent the
interests of the embryo territory among the learned men of the nation.
No Senator, no Representative, no matter from what constituency, ever
made a prouder record or commanded more solid respect from the
assembled Solons of the American Republic than Mr. Sibley. His
speech before the Committee on Elections of the House of Representa-
tives, December 22, 1848, which is published elsewhere, was one of the
most forcible and convincing arguments ever presented to that body.
The subject of the speech — the cause of it, as the reader will see, was
a singular one, almost if not entirely without precedent; but it was so
ably and carefully presented, that the right of his admission to a seat
in the House as a delegate from the residum of Wisconsin Territory,
(i. <?., that part of the old Territory of Wisconsin which had been struck
off and left without even a provisional government when the boundary
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 67
lines of the State of Wisconsin were established,) was recognized.
That victory was the beginning of Minnesota's glory — the first step
towards her proud grandeur as a sovereign and independent State of
the American Union.
Mr. Sibley has related that when his credentials as delegate were
presented by Hon. James Wilson, of New Hampshire, to the House of
Representatives, some curiosity was manifested by the members to see
what kind of a person had been selected to represent the distant and
wild territory claiming representation in Congress. He was told by a
New England member, with whom he subsequently became quite inti-
mate, that there was some disappointment felt when he made his
appearance, for it was expected that the delegate from this remote
region would make his debut, if not in full Indian costume, at least
with some peculiarities of dress and manners characteristic of the rude
and semi-civilized people who had sent him to the capitol. They were
disappointed, for instead of a rude, unlettered backwoodsman, they
found Mr. Sibley would compare favorably with the members of that
body in every particular.
The imputation that a pioneer people fall easy victims to adventurers
and speculators is an idle one. As a class, they are keen, shrewd men,
of quick perceptions and ready ken, and those who imagine them to be
fools or dolts in maintaining their rights and " holding their own" in
making bargains — buying and selling — are sadly at fault.
The following anecdote, for the first time in print, is given in illus-
tration, the circumstances of which were well known to the writer.
A good many years ago, Ewing, a fur merchant, who operated
throughout all this region of country, and whose home was at Fort
Wayne, Indiana, became interested in the son of one of the early
settlers of Whitley county in that State, named Miner, and commis-
sioned him to buy furs in his immediate neighborhood. Young Miner
was very apt, and took readily to the business. Ewing was so well
pleased with his protege that as he grew in years and experience he
gave him enlarged territory. Prosperity attended all his transactions
and at last he was taken into the full confidence of his employer, and
entrusted with the entire management of certain branches of the busi-
ness. While thus employed Miner grew to manhood. He had been
careful of his earnings, and prudently invested his savings in property
in the " City of Spires," and at last married, and came to be acknow-
ledged as one of the most prosperous and promising business men of
the community. When the St. Paul fever of speculation was at its
height, Miner fell a victim to it, and expressed a determination to con-
68 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
vert his property into money, and remove to the capital of the new
territory, assigning as a reason, that as the countiy was new and settled
with a people who always kept in advance of civilization, they knew
nothing about the " tricks of trade,-' and that they had no money upon
which to speculate if they did. To use his own words, "They were
ignorant, foolish pioneers, and easily hoodwinked. With what money I
can carry with me, I can go up there and in a very short time double
it by trading with them. A little money will do a great deal with that
class of men, the most of whom never had a hundred dollars at one
time in their lives." His friends sought to dissuade him from his pur-
pose, but in vain. He converted his property into money, and started
for St. Paul with about twenty thousands dollars. In a little more than
a year from the time he left, his old friends were surprised to see Miner
back in the streets of Fort Wayne, looking somewhat seedy in dress
and careworn in features. "Hello, Miner; back again, eh? How's
Saint Paul?" was the greetings that came from his old associates. "Sh,"
was the reply that came from his lips, with upraised arm and extended
finger; "come and take a drink and say no more about St. Paul. You
were right when you told me I would find as sharp traders up there as
could be found anywhere in the country, but 1 didn't believe you. I
expected to find them a lot of d — d fools who didn't know anything,
but I hadn't been there six months until 1 discovered that I was the
only d — d fool among them. In less than nine months they had me
completely surrounded, and in a year they euchered me out of every
cent I had in the world. I concluded the best thing I could do was to
come back home and make a new start among the people I knew.
They were pretty good fellows, though, after all, for they gave me
money enough to pay my way back, and here I am ; dead broke.' No
more trading among Minnesota pioneers for me."
And such was the fact. The pioneers were too shrewed, and drove
closer bargains than Miner expected, and within a year after his arrival
at St. Paul, his savings of years had been gathered into other hands,
and he returned home a much wiser man in regard to the character
and shrewdness of pioneer settlers.
PERSONAL SKETCHES OF REPRESENTATIVE PIONEERS.
JOSEPH R. BROWN.
The subject of this sketch was one of the most prominent and influen-
tial pioneers of the Minnesota country. He was born in Hartford
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 69
county, Maryland, January 5, 1805. Soon after his birth, his father,
who was a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, removed
to Pennsylvania, and settled on a farm near Lancaster. At the age of
fourteen years Joseph was apprenticed to a printer in Lancaster, but
his master proved to be a harsh and somewhat cruel man, and after a
few months service young Brown ran away and joined the army, and
came to what is now Minnesota, as a drummer boy with the detach-
ment of troops that commenced the erection of Fort Snelling in 1819.
Some authorities say he was discharged from military service in
1825; others in 1828. But whatever the date may have been, he made
Minnesota his permanent home until his death, which occurred in New
York, November 9th, 1870.
After his discharge he made his home at Mendota, St. Croix and
other points, as best suited his trade with the Indians and lumbering
operations. "His energy, industry and ability," says a paper read
before the Minnesota Editorial Association in 1871, " made him a prom-
inent character on the frontier, and no man in the Northwest was better
known. He acquired a very perfect acquaintance with the Dakota
tongue, and attained an influence among that nation (being allied to
them by marriage,) which continued unabated to his death. He held,
at different times during his life, a number of civil offices, which he
filled with credit and ability. In 1838 he was appointed a justice of
the peace by Governor Dodge, of Wisconsin, and for several years had
his office at his trading post, at Grey Cloud, about twelve miles below
Saint Paul. He was elected a member of the Wisconsin Legislature
from St. Croix county in 1840, 1841 and 1842, taking a prominent part
in those sessions. He was also a leading member of the famous Still-
water convention of citizens, held in August, 1848, to take steps to
secure a territorial organization for what is now Minnesota. He was
Secretary of the Territorial Council of 1848 and 1851, and Chief Clerk
of the House of Representatives in 1853, a member of the Council in
1854 and '55, and of the House in 1857, and Territorial Printer in
1853 and 1854. He was also a member from Sibley county in the Con-
stitutional Convention (" Democratic Wing") of 1857, and took a very
prominent part in the formation of our present State constitution. He
was likewise one of the Commissioners named in that instrument to
canvass the vote on its adoption, and of the State officers elected under
it. He shaped much of the legislation of the early territorial days, and
chiefly dictated the policy of his party, of whose conventions he was
always a prominent member.
70 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
" But it is as a journalist and publisher I* desire principally to speak of him here. His
first regular entrance into the printing business in Minnesota, was in the year 1852,
though he had before written considerable for the press. Shortly after the death of
James M. Goodhue, which occurred in August of that year, Major Brown purchased the
' Minnesota Pioneer,' and edited and published it under his own name for nearly two
years. In the spring of 1854 he transferred the establishment to Col. E. S. Goodrich.
During the period of his connection with the paper, he established a reputation as one
of the most sagacious, successful and able political editors in the Territory, and as a
sharp, interesting and sensible writer.
" In 1857 he established at Henderson, which town had been founded and laid out by
him a short time before, a journal called the ' Henderson Democrat,' which soon became
a prominent political organ, and was continued with much ability and success until 1860
or 1861."
J. A. Wlieelock, noticing the death of Major Brown, in the St. Paul
Press, under date of November 12, 1870, paid the following tribute to
his memory :
" As early as 1831, Jo. Brown, as he was then called, and has ever since been fami-
liarly called, had an Indian trading post at Land's End, on the Minnesota River, about a
mile above Fort Snelling. In 1833 4 he had established his trading post at Oliver's
Grove, at the mouth of the St. Croix. At that time the only inhabitants in the country,
outside the fort, were Indians, except a few traders at Mendota and elsewhere. Brown
was still engaged in the Indian trade when the speculative mania of 1837 set in, and dis-
tant as this portion of what was then Wisconsin was from its scenes, some pulsation of
it reached these remote' solitudes. Brown was about the only man among the Indian
traders of that time with sagacity enough to distinguish, in the wild hubbub of this
movement of speculation and emigration, the march of that great westward develop-
ment which was soon to take in the then remote wilderness of the Upper Mississippi.
He at once set about, as soon as the Indian title was extinguished, to seize what seemed
to him to be the salient points of the regions hereabout. He first settled in 1838 at Gray
Cloud Island, fifteen miles below St. Paul, where he had a trading post and farm. Two
years afterward he formed the first settlement, or laid out the first town site, at the
head of Lake St. Croix, about a mile above the present site of Stillwater, and which he
called Dahkotah, and about the same time he, with James R. Clewett, bought the first
claim made in St. Paul, from a discharged soldier. This claim embraced what is now
Kittson's addition, and was bought for 8150. At this time Brown, whose operations
were extensive, owned an interest in a trading house on the Fort Snelling Reservation,
on this side of the Mississippi, which, on September 13, 1838, was destroyed by a party
of Sioux.
" Major Brown was not only the pioneer town builder of Minnesota, but the pioneer
lumberman, being the first to raft lumber down the St. Croix. In 1841 he was elected
as representative of Crawford county, Wisconsin, which had been extended over the
delta of country between the St. Croix and Mississippi. Here he succeeded in getting
an act passed organizing St. Croix county, with his town — Dahkotah — as its county-
seat. A judge of the district arrived one day at this county-seat to hold court, but find-
ing that it consisted of a single claim cabin, he seems to have resigned the judicial office
for this locality to Jo. Brown, who already absorbed all the other functions of govern-
ment in the county of St. Croix.
" It may as well be said here that Brown, like many of the old Indian traders, had
married a Sioux woman, by whom he had a numerous family, and it was perhaps this
circumstance, as well as the associations of his early life, that attached him so strongly
* J. F. Williams.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 71
to the Indians. Fitted by his abilities and character for any position or any career in
the new centers of civilization which had sprung up around him, we find him at short
intervals always going back to the Indians, as agent or trader, or in some such capacity.
He was, however, always planning new enterprises, — and this haunter of Indian camps,
this half Bedouin, was the founder of more embryo cities, than any other half a dozen
men in the State, and the planner of more schemes for its development than any other.
He had a force, originality and genius of invention in him which was always propelling
him in new paths. Among his inventions was his steam traction motor, or steam
wagon.
" Joseph R. Brown, though not free from guile, was, in the main, an honest man.
He was possessed of a cheerful and happy temper, a bon-homme which nothing could
ruffle. No taint of malice or spite or spleen, lurked in his robust, warm and healthy
blood. If his mental powers had been disciplined to the routine of some profession or
regular occupation; if he had not been dragged down to the slip-shod, half-vagabond
associations and habits of his frontier life, from the high career for which he was formed,
he would have been one of the foremost men of his day.
"A drummer-boy, soldier, Indian trader, lumberman, pioneer, speculator, founder of
cities, legislator, politician, editor, inventor, his career, though it had hardly com-
menced till half his life had been wasted in the obscure solitudes of this far northwestern
wilderness — has been a very remarkable and characteristic one, not so much for what
he has achieved, as for the extraordinary versatility and capacity which he has displayed
in every new situation."
Another writer,* and intimate acquaintance of Major Brown, spoke
of him as follows:
' ' Joseph R. Brown was a great man in many of the best senses of that term, and never
a common man in any sense. Without education, according to its scholarly significance,
he yet knew much of all that scholars know, and more of that of which they are
ignorant."
Major Brown, it may be truthfully stated, was the first pioneer of the
Minnesota country. He came here as a boy, and grew to manhood in
the uncivilized wilds. When civilization claimed the country, Joseph
R. Brown was here, and from the time the first white settlers came to
found homes on the beautiful prairies until the day of his death, he
took a prominent part in all public movements, and grew in influence
with the expanding growth Qf the territory and State. So much interest
did Major Brown take in public affairs, and so much importance was
attached to his presence and advice upon public measures, that from the
organization of the territory until the State was fairly in working order,
he was rarely or never absent from a general convention of his party,
or from a legislative session. And it is said that nearly all the import-
ant legislation which forms the basis of the present code of Minnesota
bears the impress of his mind. This is especially so in respect to those
features which are novel to our system, and are stamped with liberality,
progress, and reform. It would surprise any one not familiar with the
subject, to contrast the code of Minnesota with that of any leading
*Col. E. S. Goodrich.
72 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Eastern State, and observe the superiority of our system in every liberal,
humanitarian aspect. The centers of population, wealth, refinement
and culture, which are shackled by precedent and tradition, are not the
sources of ameliorating laws ; these spring from the freer, fresher, more
generous life of new communities. The mass of this liberal legislation,
if it did not owe its paternity to Major Brown, had always in him a
hearty and efficient advocate ; and his labors therein entitle him to
honorable memory.
H. H. SIBLEY.
This representative pioneer citizen was born in Detroit, Michigan, on
the 20th day of February, 1811. His father was a native of Massachu-
setts, but removed to Michigan at a very early period in the history of
the lake region, and was a member of the first Legislative Assembly
of the Northwestern Territory, which met at Cincinnati. Subsequently
he was elected as delegate to Congress, and was afterwards a member
of the Supreme Court of Michigan.
Mr. Sibley came into the world in the midst of troublous times. The
Northwest was in the throes of agitation and excitement consequent
upon the savage warfare that desolated that region, the siege and sur-
render of Detroit, and the hardships experienced by the white inhabit-
ants of that region from 1810 to 1815, in all of which the Sibley family
bore a full share. It would almost seem that the subject of this sketch
was launched into a career destined from the start to be one of adven-
ture and stirring incidents, repeating the eventful pioneer life of his
ancestors. " Thus hereditarily predisposed (to quote from the Minnesota
Historical Collections) as it might be said, to a life of close contact
with the strange and romantic elements that have always given such a
charm to frontier life in the eyes of the courageous and active, his
innate disposition received a still further bent from the very condition
of society in his boyhood. It was passed in a region favorable for field
sports, and. the hardy exploits of the hunter and sailor, where every
inhabitant was a fireside bard, reciting those wonderful epics of 'hair-
breadth 'scapes, 1 and accidents by 'flood and field,' perils and feats of
the half mythical heroes of the frontier, legends full of poetry and
romance, that seem never to weary the listener.
" Young Sibley received an academical education in his boyhood,
and subsequently enjoyed two years' private tuition in the classics.
His father had destined him for the profession of the law, and at about
the age of sixteen he commenced its study in his father's office," but
abandoned it for a more active life at the end of one year, and in 1829
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 73
went to Macinac ana entered the service of the American Fur Com-
pany. He remained there until 1834, when he came to Mendota as
agent of the American Fur Company's establishment at that point.
This company tailed in 1842, and the inventory was purchased by P.
Chouteau, Jr. & Co., of St. Louis, and Mr. Sibley was continued in
charge of the business until 1848, when he was elected a delegate to
Congress.
Mr. Sibley has been successively a resident of Michigan, Wisconsin,
Iowa and Minnesota without changing his residence. He came to Men-
dota in November, 1834. The country was then subject to the juris-
diction of Michigan. In 1836 Wisconsin Territory was created, and the
jurisdiction of Michigan terminated, and the Wisconsin territorial
authorities exercised dominion over the country until the 30th day of
July, 1838, when the act creating Iowa Territory went into effect, and
all that part of Minnesota lying west of the Mississippi River, became
subject to the jurisdiction of Iowa. When Iowa was admitted as a
State, without very materially diminished territory, the country lying
outside of the State boundaries was left without any government until
the establishment of the Minnesota territorial organization. Says Mr.
Sibley in bis reminiscences already quoted: "It was my fortune to be
the first to introduce the machinery of the law into what our legal
brethren would have termed a benighted region, having received a
commission of justice of the peace from the Governor of Iowa, for the
county of Clayton. This county was an empire of itself in extent,
reaching from a line some twenty miles below Prairie du Chien on the
west of the w Father of Waters,' to Pembina, and across to the Mis-
souri. As I was the only magistrate in this region, and the county seat
was some three hundred miles distant, I had matters pretty much under
my own control, there being little chance of an appeal from my deci-
sions. In fact some of the simple-minded people around me believed
that I had the power of life and death. On one occasion I issued a
warrant for a Canadian, who had committed a gross outrage, and then
fled from justice. I dispatched a trusty constable in pursuit, and he
overtook the man below Lake Pepin, and brought him back in irons.
The friends of the culprit begged hard that he should not be severely
punished, and after keeping him in durance vile for several days, I
agreed to release him if he would leave the country, threatening him
with dire vengeance if he should ever return. He left in great haste,
and I never saw him afterwards."
On the 30th day of October, 1848, Mr. Sibley was elected as a dele-
gate to Congress, and attended the session of 1848-9. He was sub-
74 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
sequently re-elected, and served for several years in that capacity, dis-
charging every trust faithfully and honestly. When the constitutional
convention was ordered preparatory to becoming a "sovereign and
independent State," Mr. Sibley was elected a member of that body, and
was selected to preside over the deliberations of the Democratic wing.
Upon the admission of the territory as a State in 1857, he was elected
governor, but in consequence of some delay in canvassing the vote, he
was not inaugurated until the 24th day of May, 1858, although the
State Legislature met on the 2d of December, 1857. Mr. Sibley served
as governor until January 2, 1860.
HENRY M. RICE.
This distinguished pioneer was a native of Vermont, and came to
Minnesota about 1839, and first stopped at Fort Snelling. After remain-
ing there a few months he removed to Prairie du Ohien, and engaged
in trade with the Winnebago Indians, and where he remained until that
people were removed to the Crow Wing River country in 1847, whither
he accompanied them.
The following sketch, published a few years ago, gives the views of
one of Mr. Rice's friends :
"He settled here when there were no white men in the territory, except Indian
traders, missionaries and soldiers; and during his long residence, has been noted as the
promoter of every enterprise tending to develop the hidden wealth of Minnesota, and
attract hither immigration from other portions of the country. Two years ago (in 1854)
he was elected (delegate) to Congress by an overwhelming vote ; and then commenced a
series of labors on his part which will make him long remembered in the territory as
the most efficient of representatives. The pre-emption system he caused to be extended
to unsurveyed lands ; the military reserves opened to actual settlers ; land offices to be
established ; post routes opened out and offices established ; millions of acres of lands
to be purchased from Indians, and thrown open to settlers; and thousands of dollars to
be appropriated to the construction of government roads. Nor was this all: legislation
for the benefit of individuals entitled to it was secured, and no exertion ever spared, in
Congress or out of it, at the executive department, or elsewhere, that would benefit the
territory. The heavy immigration of the past two years is as strong proof as could be
desired that Minnesota is regarded as the chosen spot of the West, either for immigrants
seeking to establish themselves, or capitalists desiring investments; and for much of
this heavy immigration, we cannot help thinking our territory is indebted to the late
delegate. The beneficial legislation he procured for us, rendered Minnesota indeed a
land of promise.
" Mr. Rice possesses in a great degree the qualities necessary to make a good delegate.
His winning manners secure him hosts of friends, and enable him to acquire great influ-
ence; his business habits, industry, and perseverance, insure the accomplishment of
whatever he undertakes, while his perfect knowledge of the wants of the territory pre-
vents his efforts from being misdirected. His political opinions are those of a National
Democrat— coinciding with those of the President and heads of departments, a majority
of the Senate, and a respectable and united majority in the House — which will success-
fully combat a divided majority."
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 75
The first legislature under State organization convened on the first
Wednesday in December, 1857, when Mr. Rice and James Shields*
were elected as senators from the new State. Mr. Rice served as sen-
ator until 1863, when he was succeeded by Alexander Ramsey, the first
governor of the territory.
JEAN BAPTISTE FARIBAULT.
This early French trader and subsequent citizen of Minnesota, after
whom the village of Faribault was named, was born at Berthier,
Canada, in 1774. At the age of twenty-four years, when he became an
attache of the Northwest Fur Company, and was dispatched to his
new field of labor at Macinac, in May, 1798. Soon after their arrival
there, Faribault was assigned to duty at Kankakee, some fifty or sixty
miles below the present site of the city of Chicago. After remaining
there for about one year, during which time he displayed commend-
able business tact, Faribault was placed in charge of a more important
post on the Des Moines River, of Iowa, about two hundred miles above
its mouth. The post was named Redwood, and the Indians with whom
he was to trade were the Dakota or Sioux, whose language was entire-
ly different from that of the Pottawotamies, to which Faribault had
been accustomed and which he learned to speak. A man named
Debon was sent along as interpreter. Debon was an old man and had
lived among the Yankton Sioux for a number of years. Faribault
remained in charge of the Redwood post four years, during which time
he saw no white man but his own assistants, except when on his annual
tour to the mouth of the river. Mr. Sibley says, in a memoir of this
gentleman :
" Having served the terra for which he had been engaged, he returned to Macinac
with the intention of going back to Canada, but having learned of the sudden death of
both of his parents, within fifteen days of each other, Mr. Faribault again entered the
service of his former employers and was dispatched to the river St. Peters, now the
Minnesota, and took charge of the post at Little Rapids, about forty miles above its
mouth. * * * * During the third year of his residence at Little Rapids,
Mr. Faribault married a widow, the daughter of a Mr. Hanse, who had previously been
Superintendent of Indian Affairs. At the time of their marriage the groom was in his
thirty-first and the bride in her twenty-second year. This event precluded any idea of
Mr. F.'s return to Canada, and he was thenceforth permanently established as a
denizen of the remote Northwest."
* Mr Shields has had the distinguished honor of representing two different States in the U. S. Senate.
He was first elected from the State of Illinois. After the expiration of his term of service from that
State, he removed to Minnesota, and was elec'ed with Mr. Rice. When the late war came on, he entered
the service and made a glorious record. After the close of the war, he removed to Carrollton, Carroll
county, Missouri, and in 1868 was a candidate for Congress from that district; but under the manipulations
of the registry law of that State and the unjust charge of '' copperheadism," and "disloyalty," was
defeated, or rather " counted out," for it was a notorious fact that he had a large majority of the votes.
76 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
" After ten years' connection with the Northwest Company, in the capacity of agent
and trader, Mr. F. resolved to commence business on his own account at Prairie du
Chien, which was then a mere hamlet, containing a few families. He erected a suitable
house, and began trading with the Winnebagoes, the Foxes and the Sioux of the Wak-
pa-koota band, these several tribes being at peace with each other. He continued in
this business for a number of years, and on one occasion received a dangerous wound in
the side from the knife of a drunken Winnebago, to whom he had refused liquor. In
addition to the regular trade with the Indians, Mr. F. entered upon an exchange of
goods for lead, with a Mr. Dubuque,* at the point now occupied by the city of that
name. The lead was taken to St. Louis in keel boats, and sold there at a good profit.
Fifteen days was considered a good average trip up the Mississippi from St. Louis to
Prairie du Chien.
" When the war of 1812 was declared, the British Government made great efforts to
enlist the Indians of the Northwest against the Americans. Knowing the great influence
wielded by the traders among these savages, commissions in the British army were ten-
dered to each of them, and they were accepted by all but Messrs. Faribault and
Provencalle, who declined to take any part against the American Government. The
subject of this memoir was consequently arrested by a Col. McCall, of the British militia
service, and held as a prisoner on a gunboat, commanded by a Capt. Henderson, on
board ol which were two hundred men en route to Prairie du Chien to dislodge the
Americans. He was ordered to take his turn at the oar, but absolutely refused, saying
he was a gentleman, and not accustomed to that kind of work. Capt. Henderson
reported him to Col. McCall for disobedience, but the latter, admiring his pluck, not only
did not punish him, but received him on board his own boat, and treated him with cour-
tesy and kindness.
" The combined force of militia and Indians, upon their arrival at Prairie du Chien,
made preparations to attack the American post. The families on the outside of the
fort abandoned their homes, some of them taking refuge within the stockade, and otbers,
Mrs. Faribault among the number, ascended the river in canoes to what is now called
Winona. Mrs. F. supposed her husband to have proceeded to Macinac, and had no idea
that he was a prisoner in the hands of the attacking party. A bombardment was opened
on the fort, and on the third day the Americans surrendered to greatly superior num-
bers. Meanwhile the deserted habitations were robbed of all their contents by the
savages, and Mr. F., in addition to the losses thus sustained, received the unwelcome
intelligence that lead belonging to him of the value of $3,000, which had been left in
charge of Dubuque at his trading station, had been taken possession of by the hostile
Indians and distributed among them.
" After the surrender of Prairie du Chien, that post was garrisoned by 200 British
regulars. Mr. F. was released on parole, and repaired to his former home, but the
buildings had been burnt with their contents by the savages, and his stock of horses
and cattle either run off or destroyed. He was thus left almost penniless, but, with his
usual energy, he set himself industriously to work to retrieve his shattered fortune.
The band of Sioux with whom Mrs. F. had taken refuge had remained neutral during
the war, and they manifested their warm friendship for the old trader by bringing him
game in abundance, and all the furs and skins they could collect from their hunts.
" When peace was proclaimed, Col. Bolger, the British commander of the post at
Praire du Chien, withdrew his forces, after having destroyed the buildings and stockade,
and proceeded to Macinac. The following spring, a detachment of American riflemen
under Col. Chambers rebuilt and garrisoned the fort. Mr. Faribault in due form declared
his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and a militia company having
been organized, he received the appointment of First Lieutenant. The Northwest Fur
* Dubuque commenced mining a few miles below the city of Dubuque, in 1788, and at one time held a
large grant of land in that regon from Spain.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 77
Company not being permitted to continue their business upon American territory, sold
out their interests to the American Fur Company, of which John Jacob Astor was the
head. Joseph Rolette was constituted the agent of the newly-formed association in the
Northwest, and Mr. Faribault made arrangements with him for a supply of such mer-
chandise as was requisite for his trade. He continued at Prairie du Chien for a period
of three years, and was quite successful in business. At the end of that time he
removed his trading station to Pike's Island, near the present Fort Snelling. This was
done at the suggestion of Col. Leavenworth, who was en route up the Mississippi to
establish a military post at or near the junction of that river with the St. Peters, now
Minnesota. Having fallen in with Mr. Faribault at Prairie du Chien, Col. Leavenworth
was much impressed with the intelligence and extensive knowledge of the Sioux Indi-
ans, their character and habits, displayed by that gentleman, and strongly urged him to
accompany the command, promising that if he would locate near the contemplated post
he should be guaranteed military protection and encouragement in business."
Leavihg his family behind, he followed the troops to their destina-
tion the succeeding spring (1820,) so that Mr. Faribault's permanent
residence in Minnesota dates from that period. He established him-
self, as we learn from Mr. Sibley, on " Pike's Island," where his log
cabins were situated. He soon had a goodly number of acres under
cultivation, and was favored with good crops, so that he and his family,
who had rejoined him, were contented and happy for the space of two
entire years. In June of the third year there occurred a flood in the
Mississippi, which covered the island, and carried off or destroyed all
his moveable property. Nowise discouraged, he crossed to the east
bank of the river, and erected a dwelling and storehouse on a plateau
which seemed to be above high-water mark. But the fates had more
ill in store for him, for in 1826, four years later, the ice gorged above
the fort to such an extent that the river rose many feet beyond the
highest mark previously known, and when the barrier gave way under
the enormous pressure, the torrent carried with it Faribault's buildings
and their contents, and his stock of animals.
In the year 1821 Col. Leavenworth called together the chiefs and
head men of the Sioux bands, and procured from them a grant of land
nine miles square at the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota
rivers. In the same treaty was inserted an article by which the Indians
donated " Pike's Island " to the wife and children of Mr. F., whose
Indian name was " Cha-pa-sin-tay" or the " Beaver's Tail."
After the flood of 1826, Mr. Faribault removed to the site now occu-
pied by Mendota, where he erected a dwelling, and where his family
lived for many vears, he himself passing the winters at Little .Rapids,
where he had established a trading post. He narrowly escaped death
in 1833 at his station, at the hands of a treacherous Sioux Indian who
became enraged because he could not procure some article he desired
on credit which Mr. Faribault did not have in his store. Without say-
78 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
ing a word, the savage drew a knife and stabbed Mr. F. in the back,
under the shoulder blade, when, leaving the knife sticking in the
wound, he turned to make his escape, but would have been shot down
by Oliver, a son of the old gentleman, aged about fourteen years, had
not the gun been seized by Indians standing by who were relatives of
the intended murderer. The wound was a very serious one, the knife
having penetrated the lungs, and a long time elapsed before Mr. F. was
considered out of danger ; but his vigorous constitution and temperate
habits finally carried him through, and his health was restored. Mrs.
Faribault manifested her devotion to her husband by a walk during the
night of thirty-five miles from Mendota to Little Rapids, so soon as she
learned of the injury he had received, without any escort but that of a
single Indian.
Ir. Sibley concludes: "The death of Mr. Faribault took place at his
daughter's house at Faribault, on the 20th day of August, 1860, at the
advanced age of eighty-seven years. He closed his eyes upon things
earthly, after witnessing the marvelous changes wrought by civilization
in the region which had for so many years been his abiding place,
sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
Among the pioneers of Minnesota there are none whose memory and
whose name better deserve to be respected and perpetuated than Jean
Baptiste Faribault. Requiescat en pace?
DAVID OLMSTED.
David Olmsted was a native of Fairfax, Franklin county, Vermont,
and was born May 5, 1822. He left home in the spring of 1838, when
he was sixteen years of age, his sole possessions consisting of a limited
wardrobe and twenty dollars in money. He was about one month
making his way to Chicago, from which place he went to Mineral Point,
Wisconsin. There he purchased forty acres of land and lived in the rude
style of the miners of that region, keeping "bachelor's hall." In the
fall of 1839 he and a brother went to Prairie du Chien, where they
remained several months, and then started on foot to explore the
northern part of Iowa, then an almost unbroken, undisturbed wilder-
ness waste. After visiting several localities in that region, they selected
a claim at a place now known as Monona, about thirteen miles west of
the Mississippi, and erected a cabin. The nearest white occupancy (of
any note) was at Prairie du Chien. West of their new home there was
no settlement. The Winnebago Indians possessed the country in the
immediate vicinity north and west, and the Olmsteds found it to their
interest to traffic with the natives, by which means David learned a
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 79
good deal of the character, custom, habits and language of the Winne-
bagoes — a fact which probably more than anything else, was the cause
of David Olmsted becoming subsequently identified with the Indian
trade on a large scale, and a resident of Minnesota, where he became
one of the most prominent and influential of her early settlers.
In the fall of 18-44, at the age of twenty-two years, he sold his claim
and entered the employ of W. G. & G. W. Ewing, at Fort Atkinson, Iowa.
In the fall of 1845 he was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Con-
vention of Iowa, from Clayton county. The convention assembled in
May, 1846, at Iowa City, and consisted of thirty-three members. On the
18th of May the instrument was completed, and signed by the members.
Mr. J. F. Williams, in his memoir of Mr. Olmsted, says : " We might
mention as a fact, showing the primitive modes of traveling in Iowa at
that day, that a prominent citizen of Minnesota [Mr. Hodges] saw Olm-
sted on his way to the convention, riding a bare-back mule with a rope
halter P It is further related by the same authority that so youthful
was the appearance of young Olmsted that many of his constituents
thought he was not of age, but said they " would send him anyhow, as
he was so much esteemed."
In 1847, continues Mr. Williams, Mr. Olmsted, in company with H.
C. Rhodes, purchased the interest of the Ewings in the Winnebago
trade, and in the summer of 1848, when the Indians were removed to
Long Prairie, Minnesota, he accompanied them."
In October, 1846, the Winnebagoes made a treaty at Washington
City, by the terms of which they agreed to abandon their "old posses-
sions in the soon-to-be State of Iowa, and remove to a new reservation
procured for them in the Chippewa country, in the year 1848. But
when the time of their removal arrived, they seemed very reluctant to
go, and it required all the diplomacy and influence of Gen. J. E.
Fletcher, their agent, accompanied by the presence of U. S. troops
from Fort Atkinson, with the threat of coercion, to induce the savages
to start. At Wabasha Prairie (now Winona) they made another stand,
and having purchased that spot from Wabasha, the Dakota chief seemed
determined to resist to bloodshed any attempt to move them a step
farther. The situation was now critical. The first drop of blood hostily
spilled would have led to a bitter war. An express was dispatched to
Fort Snelling for more troops, which soon arrived under command of
Capt, Seth Eastman. This, with the dragoons from Fort Atkinson, a
company of volunteers from Crawford county, Wisconsin, and two pieces
of artillery, made quite a formidable force. The Winnebagoes began
to reconsider their first hasty resolves, and the defection of a part of
80 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
their number under an influential chief, added to the arguments and
persuasion of Mr. Olmsted, Hon. Henry M. Rice, George Culver and
others who were present, finally convinced them that resistance would
be unwise and ruinous, and they proceeded on their journey. The
value of the services that Mr. Olmsted rendered in quieting the revolt
can hardly be overestimated. Perhaps no man living had more influence
with the tribe than he. They trusted him implicitly. Had he given
any encouragement to their rebellious conduct, or said one word to urge
them on, a long and bloody war with the tribe would have desolated
the frontier.
" On arriving at Long Prairie, Mr. Olmsted, with his partner, established a trading
post which was continued for several years."
" The Territory of Minnesota was organized March 3d, 1849. On the 7th of July fol-
lowing Governor Ramsey issued a proclamation dividing the Territory into Council
Districts, and ordering an election for members of the legislature, on August 7th. Mr.
Olmsted was elected a member [for two yearsj of the Council, from the Sixth District,
which was constituted as follows : ' The Sauk Rapids and Crow Wing Precincts of the
county of St. Croix, and all the settlements west of the Mississippi, and on the north of
a due west line from the head waters of said river to the northern line of the territory.'
In the absence of any surveys or well known natural lines, this was the only way in
which such a district could be described. The legislature assembled on the 3d of Sep-
tember, and Mr. Olmsted was chosen President of the Council. The next session of the
legislature was not held until January, 1851. It is unnecessary to add that Mr. Olmsted
took a prominent part in both sessions."
To summarize, the leading events in Mr. Olmsted's prominency in
Minnesota are collated from the memoirs already quoted :
In 1851 Mr. Olmsted married a Miss Stevens, of St. Albans, Vermont,
by whom he had two children — a son and a daughter — both of whom
are residents of Minnesota.
When the profits of the Indian trade began to fall off, Mr. Olmsted
disposed of his interest in the business and removed to St. Paul, and in
June. 1853, purchased the Minnesota Democrat establishment from Col.
D. A. Robertson. The paper gained an increased circulation and influ-
ence under his management, and in May, 1854, was changed to a daily.
In September, 1854, in consequence of failing health, he sold the office
to Charles L. Emmerson. " His connection with the Democrat," says
Mr. Williams, " made him widely known and popular with the people
of the territory."
St. Paul became an incorporated city in the spring of 1854, and Mr.
Olmsted was elected its first mayor.
In 1855, when Winona was a village of a few houses, Mr. Olmsted
removed there and devoted his energies to building up that city, now
one of the handsomest on the Mississippi River. Many of its under-
uyoc&c-Ust^f
RED WING
THE NOETHWEST TERRITORY. 81
takings and achievements are due to the enterprise and foresight of
the subject of this memoir.
In the fall of 1855 Mr. Olmsted was a candidate for delegate to Con-
gress, but was defeated. There were Ihree candidates before the
people during that contest — Henry M. Rice, the regular Democratic
candidate ; William R. Marshall, the nominee of the first regular
Republican Convention held in the Territory; and David Olmsted, the
candidate of the adherents of a wing of the Democratic Convention
that had split off in consequence of the tenor of certain resolutions
adopted by the convention. The contest was spirited. Each of the
candidates was supported by ably-conducted journals, but the Olmsted
party was too weak to afford him any chance of success, " although he
came out of the contest with his popularity unimpaired and his honor
untarnished."
In the fall of 1856 his health became so impaired that his physicians
advised him to spend the winter in Cuba. He followed the advice, but
the change of climate failed to afford him the desired relief, and he
returned to the scenes of his early struggles and final triumphs. After
visiting friends at Monona, Iowa, and at Winona, he went to St. Paul,
to see his friends there. It was his last visit to the capital of Minne-
sota, but it afforded his friends an opportunity to secure his portrait,
which now adorns the City Hall. In October, 1857, he went to the old
home, in Franklin county, Vermont, to remain at his mother's house
until the final summons should come, and where he died on the 2d day
of February, 1861. "The news of his death was received with sincere
regret by his friends in Minnesota, and the press paid generous and
warm tributes to his worth and integrity. St. Paul Lodge No. 2, I. O.
O. F., and Ancient Landmark Lodge No. 5, A. F. A. M., of which he was
a valued member, passed heartfelt resolutions of regret, and the ' Old
Settlers' Association ' of Minnesota, at their next annual reunion,
placed on their records an appropriate eulogy. On the map of the
State, whose ends he helped to shape, his name is well bestowed on
one of the most flourishing and populous counties."
One of his friends, and one who knew him well, thus sketched the
character of David Olmsted in a communication to the St. Paul Pioneer,
soon after his death :
" David Olmsted had a mind of a peculiar order. His leading characteristics were
firm integrity, honesty of. purpose, adhesion to friends, charity for opponents, a reten-
tive memory, good common sense and sound judgment. He was brave, but never rash;
and was as modest as brave. No man ever saw him excited. Grateful for favors, he
would rather grant than receive them. Originally a Democrat, then a conservative
Republican, firm in his own principles, always respecting the views of others, he was
7
82 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
never a partisan, but always a patriot. Often absorbed in deep thought, even to absent-
mindedness, and without a polished address, he nevertheless won the hearts of all by
his kind, straightforward and manly conduct."
FRANKLIN STEELE
Was another enterprising pioneer, and one the people of the territory
delighted to honor. He was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania,
and, when a mere youth, was advised by Andrew Jackson to identify
himself with the West. John H. Stevens, Esq., of Glencoe, (formerly
a clerk of Mr. Steele's,) in a lecture delivered before the Hennepin
County Lyceum, furnished the following brief sketch of Mr. Steele's
operations in the land of his adoption :
"The day he landed at Fort Snelling, the Indians had concluded a treaty with the
whites by which the St. Croix Fails were ceded to the latter. Mr. Steele went over;
liked the place much; made a claim; hired a large crew of men, put Calvin A. Tuttle,
Esq., now of St. Anthony, at their head, and commenced in earnest to build mills. Upon
being appointed sutler to the army at Fort Snelling, he disposed of the St. Croix prop-
erty, and became interested in the east side of St. Anthony Falls. He has continued to
make this county his home ever since his first arrival in the territory. Mr. Steele has
been a good friend to Hennepin, and as most of the citizens came here poor, they never
had to ask Mr. Steele a second time for a favor. Fortune has favored him, and while
many a family has reason to be thankful for his generosity, he has constantly made
money."
JAMES M. GOODHUE, THE PIONEER JOURNALIST.
Minnesota Territory was organized March 3, 1849, and nine days
thereafter, James M. Goodhue (after whom Goodhue county was named)
arrived in St. Paul, with press, type, etc., to commence the publication
of a newspaper. Mr. Goodhue was a graduate of Amherst College, and
a lawyer by profession, and like many another man before and since
his day and generation, became a newspaper editor by accident. Says
Mr. Neill : " He had been invited to take the oversight of a press, in
the lead region of Wisconsin, during the temporary absence of its con-
ductor, and soon discovered that he increased the interest of the
readers in the paper. From that time he began to pay less attention
to the legal profession, and was soon known among the citizens of the
mines, as the editor of the Grant County Herald, published at Lancaster,
Wisconsin."
While residing at Lancaster he became interested in the territory of
sky-tinted waters (Minnesota.) With the independence and temerity
of one Benjamin Franklin, he left Lancaster as suddenly as the osten-
sible editor of the New England Courant left Boston, and he arrived at
the landing of what is now the capital of Minnesota, with little more
money and few more friends than the young printer who landed at
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 83
Market Street wharf, in the capital of the then youthful territory of
Pennsylvania.
" In April, 1849, he found St. Paul nothing more than a frontier Indian
trading settlement, known by the savages as the place where they
could obtain Minne Wakan, or whisky, and wholly unknown to the
civilized world."
It was Mr. Goodhue's intention to call his paper The Epistle of St.
Paul, and he had so announced in a prospectus published in February
preceding. In the first issue of his paper, however, which was made
on the 28th day of April, he announced a change of title, in the words
following: "The paper was to be called the Epistle of St. Paul,
* * * * but we found so many little saints in the territory, jealous
of St. Paul, that we determined to call our paper the Minnesota
Pioneer P
" The editor of the Pioneer" (says Minnesota's historian, Neill,) "was unlike other
men. Every action, and every line he wrote, marked great individuality. He could
imitate no man in his manners, nor in his style ; neither could any man imitate him.
Attempts were sometimes made, but the failure was always very great. Impetuous as
the whirlwind, with perceptive powers that gave to his mind the eye of a lynx, with
a vivid imagination that made the very stones of Minnesota speak her praise; with
an intellect as vigorous and elastic as a Damascus blade, he penned editorials which the
people of this territory can never blot out from memory.
" His wit, when it was chastened, caused ascetics to laugh. His sarcasm upon the
foibles of society was paralyzing and unequalled by Macauley in his review of the life of
Barrere.
"When in the heat of partizan warfare, all the qualities of his mind were combined to
defeat certain measures ; the columns of his paper were like a terrific storm in mid-
summer amid the Alps. One sentence would be like the dazzling arrowy lightning,
peeling in a moment the mountain oak, and riving it from the topmost branch to the
deepest root; the next, like a crash of awful thunder; and the next, like the stunning
roar of a torrent of many waters. To employ a remark made at his funeral, ' With the
ingenuity of Vulcan, he would hammer out thunder bolts on the anvil of his mind, and
hurl them with the power and dexterity of Jove.'
" As a paragraphist, he was equaled by few living men. His sentences so leaped with
life, that when the distant reader perused his sheet, he seemed to hear the purling brooks
and see the agate pavements and crystal waters of the lakes of Minnesota, and he longed
to leave the slugglish stream, the deadly malaria, and worn-out farms, and begin life
anew in the territory of the sky-tinted waters. When the immigrant from week to
week was disposed to despond, and give way to the distress of home-sickness, the hope-
ful sentences of his paper in relation to the prosperous future, chased that dismal feeling
away."
Such were the characteristics of James M. Goodhue, the pioneer edi-
tor of Minnesota, who was born at Hebron, New Hampshire, March 21,
1810, and who died at St. Paul, on Friday evening, August 27, 1852, at
half-past eight o'clock. His usefulness had just commenced. At the
beginning of his manhood's glory, he was called to the brighter shores
of the Eternal Beyond. Minnesota never had, and never will have, a
truer, more ardent or enthusiastic friend than James M. Goodhue.
84 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
EARLY STEAMBOATING.
When Colonel Leavenworth arrived at the site of Fort Snelling, in
September, 1819, steamboats had never disturbed the water of the
Upper Mississippi River. His journey from Prairie du Chien to St.
Peters, was made bv keelboats, and was considerablv delaved and im-
peded by the low stage of water which prevailed at that time. Previ-
ous to the spring of 1823, it was generally believed that the rapids at
Rock Island, offered an impossible barrier to the steamboat navigation
of the lt Father of Waters " above that point. In the month of April of
that year, however, it was publically announced in the city of St. Louis,
that, on the 2d day of May, the Virginia, a steamboat one hundred and
eighteen feet in length, twenty-two feet in width, and drawing six feet
of water, would leave her moorings in that city for Fort Snelling.
There was no delay in the departure of the Virginia, and the trip was
safely accomplished, and the vessel arrived at her point of destination
not far from the middle of May. Mr. Neill says, " the arrival of the Vir-
ginia at Mendota, is an era in the history of the Dakota nation, and
will probably be transmitted to their posterity as long as they exist
as a people. They say that some of their sacred men, the night before,
dreamed of seeing some monster of the waters, which frightened them
very much."
In his published " Reminiscences ; Historical and Personal," General
Sibley relates the following incident concerning the arrival of the Vir-
ginia at Mendota or Fort Snelling: k ' A sentinel on duty first heard
the sound made by the escaping steam, before the boat was discernible.
He cried out most vociferously, and when officers and men crowded
around him for information, it happened that the sounds were no longer
audible. The poor fellow was in imminent danger of being put under
guard, when the ' Virginia ' made her appearance, and her arrival was
greeted by the booming of cannon, and by shouts of welcome from the
whole command."
Among the passengers on this trial trip of the Upper Mississippi
were Major Taliaferro, the agent of the Dahkotahs ; Beltrami, an Italian
count, once a judge (if the Royal Court, then a political refugee; Great
Eagle, a Sauk chief, returning to his village from a conference with
Governor Clark; and a family from Kentucky, with their children,
guns, chests, cats, dogs and chickens, emigrating to Galena, then the
extreme frontier, and just beginning to be a center of great attraction
by reason of the lead mines of that section.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 85
One of the passengers, probably Count Beltrami, although Mr. Neill
does not give the name, in writing of the incident of the trip, tells the
following:
" After the steamer had passed the mouth of the Upper Iowa, a grand illumination
greeted the appearance of the 'great fire canoe.' It was perfectly dark, and we were at
the mouth of the river Iowa, when we saw at a great distance all the combined images
of the infernal regions in full perfection. I was on the point of exclaiming with Michael
Angelo, ' How terrible ! but yet how beautiful!'
"The venerable trees of these eternal forests were on fire, which had communicated
to the grass and brushwood, and these had been borne by a violent northwest wind to
the adjacent plains and valleys. The flames towering above the tops of the hills where
the wind raged with most violence, gave them the appearance of volcanoes at the moment
of their most terrific eruptions, and the fire, winding its descent through places covered
with grass, exhibited an exact resemblance to the undulating lava of Etna or Vesuvius.
Almost all night we traveled by the light of this superb torch."
When the Virginia neared the shore at Mendota, writes Mr. Neill,
" men, women and children beheld it with silent astonishment, sup-
posing that it was some enormous water spirit coughing, puffing out
hot breath, and splashing water in every direction. When it touched
the landing their fears prevailed, and they retreated some distance, but
when the blowing off steam commenced they were completely un-
nerved; mothers forgetting their children, with streaming hair, sought
hiding places ; chiefs, renouncing their stoicism, scampered away like
affrighted animals."
Previous to this time, keelboats were used exclusively for the trans-
portation of troops and supplies. Sixty days time from St. Louis to
Fort Snelling was considered a good average trip.
Commencing with the Virginia the following is a complete list of
steamboat arrivals at Fort Snelling up to May 26, 1826.
9. Josephine.
10. Fulton.
11. Red Rover.
12. Black Rover.
13. Warrior.
11. Enterprise.
15. Volant.
1. Virginia, May 10, 1823.
2. Neiville.
3. Putnam, April 2, 1825.
4. Mandan.
5. Indiana.
6. Lawrence, May 2, 1826.
7. Sciota.
8. Eclipse.
The Palmyra, Captain Holland, was the first steamboat to plow the
water of the St. Croix, and reached the Fall of St. Croix on the 17th of
July, 1838. She carried men and machinery for the projected mills at
that place.
Neill says the navigation of the Minnesota River by steamboats com-
menced in the summer of 1850. With the exception of a steamer that
86 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
made a pleasure excursion as far as Shakopee, in 1842, no large vessels
had ever disturbed the waters of the stream. In June the " Anthony-
Wayne," which a month previously had ascended to the Falls of St.
Anthony, made a trip. On the 18th of July, she made a second trip,
going almost to Mankato. The " Nominee " also navigated the stream
for some distance.
On the 22d of July, the officers of the " Yankee,' 1 taking advantage
of the high water which prevailed at that time, determined to navigate
the stream as far as the size of the boat would allow. The whole coun-
try west of the Mississippi was then in the possession of the people
" native to the manor born," and the capacity of the stream, for pur-
poses of navigation, were comparatively unknown. This was an exper-
imental trip, and at night of the first day out from the fort (Snelling)
the " Yankee " had only made about twenty-five miles, and when dark-
ness began to cover the face of the country and hide the riffles and
shoals, and rocks, and sand-bars, and snags from the eyes of the pilot,
the officers of the boat conceived it to be the " better part of valor" to
" tie up " for the night.
Wednesday morning after the " Yankee " left Fort Snelling, they
passed the mouth of Blue Earth River, and from a south-easterly course,
the boat bore to the northwest. When night came on the boat had
reached the near vicinity of the mouth of the Cottonwood River, two
hundred miles distant from Fort Snelling. The day had been intensely
hot, the mercury having reached one hundred and four degrees in the
shade; and as soon as the sun went down, a cloud of musquitoes envel-
oped the excursionists. Mr. Neill, who formed one of the party, says
they looked upon the excursionists as intruders, and seemed deter-
mined to make them smart and to leave their impressions. The ice,
too, had given out, and the ladies of the party began to feel there was
more of reality than of poetry in an exploring expedition into an
uncivilized country. A meeting was called to see if the captain should
go on or turn back. A majority were in favor of continuing the trip.
But few of the male members* of the party entered their state rooms
that night, but wrapped in musquito bars, sought rest and sleep upon
the hurricane deck. When Thursday's sun arose, the boat was not in
motion. The crew, worn out by excessive heat and extra labor, and
even those of the passengers who had been anxious the night before to
continue the trip, were ready to come to terms and take the back track,
and while at breakfast, to the satisfaction of all parties, the prow of the
boat turned towards the land of civilization. Twenty-seven years
before, Major Long, at the same place, suffered a similar annoyance from
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 87
the musquitoes. He said in his narrative : " We never were tormented
at any period of our journey more than when traveling in the vicinity
of St. Peters. The musquitoes rose all of a sudden. We have fre-
quently been so much annoyed by these insects as to be obliged to
relinquish an unfinished supper, or to throw away a cup of tea which
we could not enjoy. To protect our feet and legs, we were obliged to
lie with our boots on."
On Friday evening the " Yankee " touched the wharf and discharged
the exploring excursionists at St. Paul. Few large boats have since
ascended the Minnesota as far as the Cottonwood, and only then in
stages of high water; but it was demonstrated by the " Yankee " excur-
sion that steamboats of light draught could navigate that stream at all
stages of water, if a few obstructions were removed, as far as Traverse
des Sioux and Blue Earth River. Since that trip, the country, then
wild and untamed, and the home of savages, has passed into the occu-
pancy of white people, and is now a garden spot of cultivated beauty
and a rich grain-producing region.
PIONEER LUMBERMEN.
Messrs. Orange Walker and his associates at Marine, and John and
Jonathan McKusick, at Stillwater, have the honor of being the pioneers
in the lumber business, which has since assumed such gigantic propor-
tions, although Joseph R. Brown is believed to have been the first to
descend the St. Croix with a raft of lumber.
TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION.
CRAWFORD AND ST. CROIX COUNTIES — ADMISSION OF THE STATE OF WISCONSIN —
AN ANOMALOUS CONDITION OF AFFAIRS.
As already stated, Crawford county, Wisconsin, was organized under
the jurisdiction of Michigan Territory, in the winter of 1818-19, and
its machinery put in motion under direction of Col. Leavenworth,
in the summer of 1819, as he was en route, with the Fifth Regiment TJ.
S. Infantry, to garrison Prairie du Chien and Rock Island, and to estab-
lish a military post, etc., at Mendota.
As originally defined, the jurisdiction of Crawford county extended
over the larger part of the western half of the present State of Wis-
consin, and included all that part of Minnesota lying between the
Mississippi and St. Croix rivers. For a period of twenty- one years, or
until January, 1840, the county lines remained unchanged. At that
88 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
time, however, the influence of Joseph R. Brown, who was interested
in the development of the country around the present city of Stillwater,
secured the passage of a bill by the territorial legislature of Wisconsin,
in November, 1841, creating St. Croix county. The boundaries of the
new county included all that part of Crawford lying west of a line run-
ning northward from the mouth of Porcupine River, on Lake Pepin, to
Lake Superior. The county seat was fixed at " Brown's town-site of
Dakota," at the upper part of the present city of Stillwater. "In the
fall of this year," says Mr. Williams, " Mr. Brown was elected a member
of the Assembly of Wisconsin for two years. This region then began
to have a voice in the affairs of the territory, to which it had been
hitherto a mere unnoticed backwoods settlement."
Notwithstanding St. Croix county was created in the late fall of 1841,
it remained connected with Crawford county for judicial purposes until
1847. Stillwater had been commenced in October (the 10th,) 1843, by
Messrs. John McKusick, Calvin Leach, Elam Greeley and Elias McKeon ;
and when St. Croix county was reorganized for judicial purposes in
1847, Stillwater, which had overshadowed Dakotah, was named as the
county seat, and in June of that year a session of the United States
District Court, Judge Charles Dunn presiding, was held in McKusick's
store room.
On the 6th of August, 1816, Congress passed an act by which the
citizens of Wisconsin were authorized to frame a constitution and form
a State government. Says Mr. Neill : " The act fixed the St. Louis
River to the rapids, from thence south to the St. Croix, and thence down
that river to its junction with the Mississippi, as the western boundary.
" On the twenty-third of December, 1846, the delegate from Wiscon-
sin, Morgan L. Martin, introduced a bill in Congress for the organization
of a territory of Minnesota. This bill made its western boundary the
Sioux and Red River of the North. On the 3d of March, 1847, permis-
sion was granted to Wisconsin to change her boundary, so that the
western limit would proceed due south from the rapids of the St. Louis
River, and fifteen miles east of the most easterly point of Lake St.
Croix, thence to the Mississippi.
"A number in the constitutional convention of Wisconsin were anxious
that Rum River should be a part of her western boundary, while citizens
of the valley of the St. Croix were desirous that the Chippewa River
should be the limit of Wisconsin. The citizens of Wisconsin Territory,
in the valley of the St. Croix, and about Fort Snelling, wished to be
included in the projected new territory, and on the 28th of March, 1848,
a memorial, signed by H. H. Sibley, Henry M. Rice, Franklin Steele,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 89
William R. Marshall, and others, was presented to Congress, remon-
strating against the proposition before the convention to make Rum
River a portion of the boundary line of the contemplated State of Wis-
consin." The petitioners remark :
"Your memorialists conceive it to be the intention of your honorable bodies to so
divide the present territory of Wisconsin as to form two states nearly equal in size as
well as in other respects. A line drawn due south from Shagwamigan Bay, on Lake
Superior, to the intersection of the main Chippewa River, and from thence down the
middle of said stream to its debouchure into the Mississippi, would seem to your mem-
orialists a very proper and equitable division, which, while it would secure to Wisconsin
a portion of the Lake Superior shore, would also afford Minnesota some countervailing
advantages. But if the northern line should be changed, as suggested by the
convention, Minnesota would not have a single point on the Mississippi below the Falls
of St. Athony, which is the limit of steamboat navigation. This alone, to the appre-
hension of your memorialists, would be a good and sufficient reason why the mouth of
Rum River should not be the boundary, as that stream pours its waters into the Missis-
sippi nearly twenty miles above the falls. Besides this, the Chippewa and St. Croix
valleys are closely connected in geographical position with the Upper Mississippi;
while they are widely separated from the settled parts of Wisconsin, not only by hun-
dreds of miles of mostly waste and barren lands, which must remain uncultivated for
ages, but equally so by a diversity of interests and character in the population."
"On the twenty-ninth of May, 1848, [continues Mr. Neill,] " the act to admit Wis-
consin, changed their boundary line to the present, and as first defined in the enabling
act of 1846. After the bill of Mr. Martin was introduced into the House of Representa-
tives in 1846, it was referred to the Committee on Territories, of which Mr. Douglas was
chairmau. On the twentieth of January, 1847, he reported in favor of the proposed
territory with the name of Itasca. On the seventeenth of February, before the bill
passed the House, a discussion arose in relation to the proposed names. Mr. Wlnthrop,
of Massachusetts, proposed Chippewa as a substitute name, alleging that this tribe was
the principal one in the proposed territory, which was not correct. Mr. J. Thomson, of
Mississippi, disliked all Indian names, and hoped the territory would be called Jackson.
Mr. Houston, of Delaware, thought that there ought to be one territory named after the
1 Father of his country,' and proposed Washington. All of the names proposed were
rejected, and the name in the original bill inserted. On the last day of the session,
March third, the bill was called up in the Senate and laid on the table."
As defined in the act of admission, the western boundary line of Wis-
consin divided St. Croix county, leaving all west of St. Croix River in
the proposed Territory of Minnesota. This condition of affairs raised
the question whether the old territorial government of Wisconsin did
not continue in force west of the Mississippi. [And it may here be
stated as a fact, and as a condition of affairs without precedent, that
when Mr. Sibley appeared as a delegate in Congress at the session of
1848-9, there were senators and representatives present from the State
of Wisconsin, and a delegate from the Territory of Wisconsin.]
In July, 1848, a preliminary meeting was held in Jackson's store-
room at St. Paul, to consider .the situation and determine upon some
plan of united action to bring the question before the authorities at
Washington for solution. At that meeting it was determined to call a
90 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
public meeting of the territory to assemble at Stillwater on the 5th day
of August.* Jonathan E. McCusick presided at the Stillwater meeting,
and William Holcombe acted as secretary. Sundry resolutions were
adopted, and the letter of Hon. John Catlin, who had been Secretary of
Wisconsin Territory was read, as follows :
Madison, August 22, 1848.
Hon. Wm. Holcombe.
Dear Sir : — I take the liberty to write you briefly for the purpose of ascertaining what
the citizens of the present Territory of Wisconsin desire in relation to the organization
of a territorial government. Congress adjourned on the 14th inst., without taking any
steps to organize the Territory of Minnesota, or of amending the act of 1836, organizing
Wisconsin, so that the present government could be successfully continued.
I have given Mr. Bowron, by whom I send this, a copy of Mr. Buchanan's opinion, by
which he gives it as his opinion that the laws of Wisconsin are in force in your territory;
and if the laws are in force. I think it is equally clear that the officers necessary to carry
out those laws are still in office. After the organization of the State of Michigan, but
before her admission, Gen. G. W. Jones was elected by the Territory of Michigan (now
Wisconsin) and was allowed to take his seat.
It is my opinion that if your people were to elect a delegate this fall he would be
allowed to take his seat in December, and then a government might be fully organized ; and
unless a delegate is elected and sent on, I do not believe a government will be organized for
several years. You are aware of the difficulty which has prevented the organization of
Oregon for two years past; and the same difficulty will prevent the organization
of Minnesota. If Mr. Tweedy were to resign, (and he would if requested,) I do not see
anything to prevent my issuing a proclamation for an election to fill the vacancy, as the
acting governor; but I should not like to do so unless the people would act under it and
hold the election.
II a delegate were elected by color of law, Congress never would inquire into the
legality of the election.
It is the opinion of most all this way that the government of the Territory of Wiscon-
sin still continues, although it is nearly inoperative for want of court and legislation.
I write in haste, and have not time to state further tue reasons which lead me to the
conclusion that the territorial government is still in being; but you can confer with Mr.
Bowron, who, I believe, is in possession of the views and opinions entertained here on
the subject.
I shall be pleased to hear from you at your earliest convenience.
Yours, very respectfully,
John Catlin.
Judge Irvine, Mr. Martin, Gen. Jones, H. N. Wells, A. D. Smith,
Chas. H. Larrabee, J. G. Knapp, and many others, entertain the opinion
the territorial government of Wisconsin was not abolished by the
admission of the State of Wisconsin, but is still in being in that part of
the former territory not included within the limits of the State. Gov.
Dewey told me he had no doubt on the subject.
The following is the opinion of the Hon. James Buchanan, Secretary
of State, referred to in Mr. Oatlin's letter, to-wit :
♦'The question is, whether the laws of the Territory of Wisconsin, still remain in force
* " Annals," 1851.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 91
in that portion of it now beyond the limits of Wisconsin. I am clearly of opinion that
these laws are still in force over the territory not embraced within the limits of the State.
It cannot well be supposed that Congress, by admitting the State of Wisconsin into the
Union, intended to deprive the citizens of the United States, beyond its limits, of the
protection of existing laws ; and there is nothing in their legislation from which any
such inference can be drawn. The difficult question is, what officers still remain to carry
those laws into execution? It is clear to my mind that all the local officers residing in
counties without the State line, such as judges of probate, sherifts, justices of the peace,
and constables, may exercise their appropriate functions as heretofore. Whether the
general officers, such as Governor, Secretary and Judges, appointed for the whole of the
former territory, are authorized to perform their duties within what remains of it. pre-
sents a question of greater difficulty, on which I express no opinion. Whatever may be
the correct decision of this question, immediate legislation is required; because it is
very certain that Congress will never consent to maintain the machinery provided by the
government of the entire territory, merely for the purpose of governing the twenty-five
hundred or three thousand inhabitants who reside beyond the limits of the State."
A second public meeting took place agreeably to the following no-
tice, to-wit :
NOTICE.
We, the undersigned, citizens of Minnesota Territory, impressed with the necessity of
taking measures to secure an early territorial organization, and that those measures
should be taken by the people with unity of action, respectfully recommend that the
people of the several settlements in the proposed territory, appoint delegates to meet in
convention at Stillwater, on the 26th day of August next, to adopt the necessary steps
for that purpose.
Stillwater, Aug. 4, 1848.
[Signed :]
Loins Roberts, C. Carli, Jacob Fisher, H. L. Moss,
H. H. Siblet, Jno. R. Brewster, John Collier, S. Nelson,
Jno. McKusick, H. K. McKinstry, Jos. R. Brown, Franklin Steele,
M. S. Wilkinson, James D. McComb, W. Holcombe, P. A. R. Brace,
Anson Northrup, Horace Jacobs.
Proceedings of a Territorial Convention held at the Court House at the town of Still-
water, in the county of St. Croix, and Territory of Wisconsin, on the 26th day
of August, 1848, in accordance with the above notice.
The delegates to the convention assembled at the court house at 10
o'clock, A. M.
On motion of Mr. Jos. R. Brown, the convention was temporarily
organized by the election of M. S. Wilkinson, Esq., of Stillwater, as
president, and David Lambert, of St. Paul, as secretary.
Mr. Joseph R. Brown offered the following resolution :
JResolved, That a committe of five be appointed to select a president, two vice-presi-
dents and two secretaries as the permanent officers of this convention.
Which having been adopted, the chair appointed Messrs. Brown,
Jackson, Fisher, Nelson and Sibley as such committee.
The committee retired, and after consultation, reported through their
chairman the following gentlemen as officers of the convention :
92 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
President, Samuel Berkleo; vice-presidents, Robert Kennedy, Joshua
L. Taylor; secretaries, William Holcomb and David Lambert.
On motion of Henry Jackson, Esq., the report was accepted, and the
committee discharged. The above named gentlemen were then unani-
mously elected to fill the several offices designated in the report.
The following resolution was then offered by Mr. Joseph R. Brown:
Besolved, That a committee of seven members be appointed to draft a memorial to
Congress for the early organization of the Territory of Minnesota, and to report such
further proceedings as they may think proper for tbe action of this convention.
Which was adopted. The chair appointed the following gentlemen
as members of this committee under the above resolution, viz.: Messrs.
Joseph R. Brown, Calvin Leach, H. H. Sibley, S. Nelson, M. S. Wilkin-
son, H. Jackson and H. L. Moss.
On motion of M. Larpenteur, the convention then took a recess until
half-past one o'clock, p. m.
Half past one o'clock, p. m.
Mr. J. R. Brown, as chairman of the committee of seven, reported a
memorial to Congress, and one to the President of the United States,
on the subject of the organization of the Territory, together with the
following preamble and resolution:
Whereas, By the admission of Wisconsin and Iowa into the Union with the bounda-
ries prescribed by Congress, we, the inhabitants of the country formerly a portion of
said territories, are left without a government or officers to administer the laws ; and
Whereas, By the omission of Congress to organize a separate territorial government
for the region of country which we inhabit, we are placed in the unparalleled position of
being disfranchised of the rights and privileges which were guaranteed to us under the
Ordinance of 1787 ; and without any fault of our own, and with every desire to be gov-
erned by laws, are in fact without adequate legal protection for our lives or property ;
and
Whereas, Having patiently awaited the action of Congress during its late session,
under the full hope and confidence that before the adjournment of that honorable body, a
bill would have been passed for the organization of a territorial government to embrace
our section of the country, we have been disappointed in our hopes, and cannot believe
that the omission of Congress to act in the premises can proceed from any other cause
than the want of an adequate acquaintance with the position in which we are placed, the
character of the country, its population and resources ; therefore be it
Besolved, That a memorial be addressed to the Senate and House of Representatives in
Congress assembled, and also to his Excellency the President of the United States,
respectfully requesting that he will invite the attention of that honorable body, in his
annual message, to action in the premises.
Besolved, That a delegate be appointed by this convention, with full power to act,
whose duty it shall be to visit Washington during the ensuing session of Congress, and
there to represent the interests of the proposed territory, and to urge an immediate
organization of the same.
Besolved, That a committee of three persons be appointed by the president of this
convention, residing upon the waters of the St. Croix, and three residing upon the waters
of the Mississippi, who shall collect information relative to the amount of business
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 93
transacted and capital employed within the limits of Minnesota Territory, and forward
such information, as soon as may be, to our delegate.
Resolved, That there shall be a committee of seven appointed by the President of
this Convention, to act as a central committee, whose duty it shall be to correspond
with our Delegate at Washington, and to adopt all other proper .means to forward the
objects of this Convention.
The memorials, preamble and resolutions were severally read and
unanimously adopted.
On motion of Mr. Wilkinson, the convention then proceeded to the
election of a delegate to represent the interests of the territory at
Washington.
On the first ballot, Mr. H. H. Sibley, having received a majority of
all the votes cast, was, on motion of Joseph R. Brown, declared unani-
mously elected by the convention.
The chair appointed Messrs. J. R. Brown and P. A. R. Brace to wait
on Mr. Sibley and inform him of his election.
Mr. Sibley then made his appearance in the convention, and
accepted the office conferred upon him in a few brief and appropriate
remarks :
Mr. Wilkinson offered the following resolution, which was adopted:
JResolved, That the thanks of this convention be rendered to Benjamin H. Cheever,
Esquire, for the exertions he used at Washington city, last winter, to procure the pas-
sage of a bill through Congress for the organization of the Territory of Minnesota.
The chair announced the following gentlemen as the committee to
collect information as to business, capital, &c. :
On the Mississippi — Messrs. Steele, Jackson and Hurtzell.
On the St. Croix — Messrs. Holcombe, Walker and Taylor.
Also, the following named gentlemen to constitute the central com-
mittee :
H. L. Moss, David Lambert, Franklin Steele, Levi Hurtzell, S. Nelson,
Orange Walker, Joshua L. Taylor.
Mr. Brown submitted the following resolution, which was adopted :
Resolved, That the proceedings of this convention be signed by the officers thereof,
and forwarded by the secretaries to the editors of the Prairie du Chien Patriot, the Mad-
ison, Dubuque and Galena papers, and the Washington Union and National Intelli-
gencer, with a request for publication.
Mr. Wilkinson offered the following resolution, which was adopted :
Resolved, That the president of this convention is required to issue a certificate to
H. H. Sibley, signed by himseif, the vice presidents and secretaries, certifying that he
is a duiy elected delegate under resolution and action of this convention.
On motion of Joseph R. Brown, the following resolution was adopted :
Resolved, That our delegate be requested to cause the orthography of Minnesota
(when the organization of the Territory shall be effected,) to be according to that used
in this resolution.
94 • THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Mr. Moss offered the following resolution, which was adopted:
Resolved, That the secretaries prepare copies of the memorials to the president of the
United States, and to Congress, adopted by this convention, with the signatures of
members attached thereto, and furnish the same to Mr. H. H. Sibley, our delegate,
before his departure to Washington.
The memorials were then signed by all the delegates to the conven-
tion, amounting to sixty-one signatures.
Mr. Wilkinson moved a vote of thanks to the officers of the conven-
tion, which was ordered.
On motion of Mr. Moss, the convention adjourned sine die.
MEMORIAL TO HIS EXCELLENCY JAMES K. POLK, PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES.
Your memorialists, citizens of the Territory of the Northwestern boundary of Wis-
consin, and of the Northern boundary of Iowa, ask leave respectfully to represent:
That the region of country which they inhabit formed formerly a portion of the Ter-
ritories of Iowa and Wisconsin, subject to the laws and government of those Territo-
ries; and a judicial circuit, having within its limits a seat of justice, where sessions of
the district court have been held, and the records of the court are deposited, had been
established.
That this region of country is settled by a population of nearly 5,000 persons, who are
engaged in various industrial pursuits; that it contains valuable pine forests, excellent
arable land, mineral treasures, almost uuequaled facilities for mills and manufactories,
and possessing an exceedingly healthful climate, is capable of sustaining a dense and
prosperous population; that its population is now constantly and rapidly increasing,
and is characterized by industry, energy and sobriety.
That by the admission of Wisconsin into the Union with the boundaries prescribed by
Congress, and the omission by that body to pass a law for the organization of a new
territory, embracing the portion of country inhabited by your memorialists, they and all
their fellow citizens are left without officers to administer and execute the laws. That
having once enjoyed the rights and privileges of citizens of a territory of the United
States, they are now, without fault or blame of their own, virtually disfranchised.
They have no securities for their lives or property, but those which exist in mutual
good understanding. Meanwhile all proceedings in criminal cases, and all process for
the collection of debts, are suspended ; credit exists only so far as a perfect confidence
in mutual good faith extends, and all the operations of business are embarrassed.
Your memorialists would respectfully represent, that even in a well ordered and law-
abiding community, such as they feel pride in declaring their own to be, such a state of
affairs is fraught with evils and dangers. Its continuance will tend to prevent the im-
migration of the more valuable class of citizens of the United States, while it will open
a door of invitation and allurement to the lawless and desperate. It will foster dishon-
est and disorderly principles and actions among their citizens, and if suffered to exist
for a long period, will bring ruin upon a prosperous and fertile region.
They would further represent, that having been disappointed in their confident hopes
that Congress would by its action at the late session of that honorable body, have re-
lieved them from the painful position in which they are placed, by the passage of a law
for the organization of a new territory in the limits of which they should have been
embraced, they now most respectfully lay their case before the highest executive author-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
95
ity, earnestly asking that your excellency will call the attention of Congress to their
situation at the opening of the next annual session, and recommend the early organiza-
tion of the territory of Minnesota.
And your memorialists will ever pray, &c.
Joseph R. Brown, Crow Wing.
A. L. Larpenteur, St. Paul.
C. F. Leach, Stillwater.
H. L. Moss, Stillwater.
Morton T. Wilkinson, Stillwater.
David Lambert, St. Paul.
W. Holcombe, Stillwater.
J. W. Simpson, St. Paul.
Henry H. Sibley, Mendota.
H. Jackson, St. Paul.
Jacob Fisher, Stillwater.
William Foreman, Stillwater.
R. B. Johnson, Stillwater.
Mahlan Black, Stillwater.
W. R. Vail, Stillwater.
H. K. McKinstry, Stillwater.
S. Nelson, Stillwater.
C. Carli, Stillwater.
Wm. Stinchfield, Stillwater.
John Day, Stillwater.
John Morgan, Stillwater.
Louis Robert, St. Paul.
J. L. Taylor, Falls of St. Croix, Westside
Samuel Burkleo, Stillwater.
Robert Kennedy, Pa. Farm.
William Willim, Stillwater.
Wm. R. Brown, Red Rock Prairie.
John A. Ford, Red Rock Prairie.
James S. Norris, Cottage Grove.
P. A. R. Brace, Stillwater.
A. R. French, St. Anthony Falls.
Stephen Denoyer, St. Anthony Falls.
Vetal Guerin, St. Paul.
David Hebert, St. Paul.
Oliver Rosseau, St. Paul.
Andrea Godfrey, St. Paul.
Joseph Resh, St. Anthony.
Paschal St. Martin, St. Anthony.
Joseph Rondo, Sauk Rapids.
H. Chevri, Raccicot.
Peter Quinn, Raccicot.
John Banfield, Rice Creek.
David T. Sloan, Sauk Rapids.
D. T. Holmes, Sauk Rapids.
Wm. Aitkin, Little Rock.
James R. Clewett, St. Paul.
Edward Blake, Spunk Creek.
Michael Phalan, Crow Wing.
J. B. Cory, Cornelian Lake.
N. B. Ferrell, Rum River.
P. Flinn, Rum River.
John W. McLaughlin, Cottage Grove.
Richard McDonald, Little Rock.
James D. McComb, Point Douglas.
Samuel F. Brown, Boles' Mill.
Edward Phalen, Prospect Mill.
Wm. G. Carter, Prospect Mill.
Francis Marran, Gervais' Mill.
James Patten, Pt. Douglas.
Peter Gervais, Gervais' Mill.
D. McDonald, Crow Wing.
Hon. John H. Tweedy having resigned his office of delegate to Con-
gress on Sept. 18, 1848, Hon. John Catlin, claiming to be acting Gov-
ernor of Wisconsin Territory, issued, on October 9th, a proclamation
dated at Stillwater, where he was temporarily residing, ordering a
special election at that place to fill the vacancy. Said election was
accordingly held on the 30th day of October, 1848. Hon. H. H. Sibley
being elected the delegate, attended the session of Congress of 1848-9
as such, and after the adjournment thereof published [in the Minnesota
Pioneer] an address to the people of Minnesota Territory, from which
we extract. Mr. Sibley says in that address :
I arrived in Washington two days before Congress convened, and I soon became
convinced that my admission as delegate was extremely uncertain, in fact I may say
absolutely improbable. My credentials were presented on the first day of the session by
the Hon. James Wilson, of New Hampshire, in whose hands they were placed, because
96 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
he had formerly resided in Iowa, and might be supposed to be better informed as to our
situation and geographical position than any other member. Yet, though the case was
by him set forth in a clear and strong light, and no objection was raised to my admission,
my claim was referred to the committee on elections, with instructions to examine and
report thereon. I will not enter into a detail of the mortifications and vexatious delays
to which I was subjected from that time until the question was decided, six weeks after.
Although permitted through courtesy to occupy a seat in the house, I was allowed
none of the privileges of a delegate, and indeed I was a little more than a lobby member.
Meanwhile, my claim was resisted with bitter pertinacity by certain individuals of the
committee, particularly by the Honorable Mr. Boyden, of North Carolina, who made a
long and labored argument against my right to a seat, and ridiculed the pretension that
a territorial organization still existed in the country north and west of the State of Wis-
consin. I made a reply before the committee, the substance of which will be found
appended to this address. You can judge whether your rights were properly sustained
and defended. Finally, the majority of the committee reported in my favor, and the
minority presented a strong counter protest. On the 15th of January, the subject was
brought before the House, and the resolution introduced by the majority of the commit-
tee was adopted by a strong vote, which admitted me to the full enjoyment of the priv-
ileges of a delegate. I should have mentioned that my argument, in answer to the speech
of Mr. Boyden, was made the basis of the report of the committee on elections, a copy
having been furnished by me to the chairman at his request.
Notwithstanding the decision of the House of Representatives, which recognized me
as the representative of Wisconsin Territory, it was publically stated by many members
who had voted for my reception, that they did not intend thereby to admit the existence
of an organization there, but had been actuated merely by motives of courtesy. Now
this fact was made evident but a few days subsequently, when one of my opponents,
being determined to test the question, moved to add an item to the general appropria-
tion bill for defraying the expenses of Wisconsin Territory for the ensuing year, which
motion was negatived by a large majority.
The House was then taunted with having admitted a delegate to represent a territory
which had in reality no legal existence. The great object to which I turned my attention
was the bill for the organization of Minnesota Territory. I was kindly allowed by the
Committee on Territories of the Senate, to change certain provisions of the bill, so as
to meet the wishes of my constituents, and but little difficulty was experienced in pro-
curing its passage by that body, But with the House the case was far diflerent. The
bill was there most violently opposed. The Committee on Territories had reported
amendments to the Senate bill, changing the boundary of Minnesota, and making the
act to take effect on the 10th of March, instead of the day of its passage, so as to pre-
clude the administration of Mr. Polk from making the appointments. I was averse to
these changes, because we had already sufficient territory, without extending our
boundary to the Missouri River; and as to the appointments, I stated that Mr. Polk
would only exercise the right to nominate two or three of the officers, and that under
any circumstances the proposed amendment was, to my view, a breach of delicacy and
propriety ; but in both points I was overruled.
An effort was made, in committee, to append the Wilmot Proviso to the territorial
bill; but this I resisted, as I determined, as far as it was in my power, not to allow it to
be clogged by a provision wholly superfluous, as the introduction of slavery was pro-
hibited on the east of the Mississippi by the ordinance of 1787, and on the west of that
river by the act of 1819. establishing the Missouri line. The proposition was therefore
voted down before the bill was reported to the House, but was brought in as an amend-
ment by the minority of the comm'ttee, and was only kept from being adopted, and
producing consequently a fierce and angry discussion, which would have resulted in the
loss of the bill, by my moving and refusing to withdraw the previous question, which
cut off all amendments.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 97
On the 22d of February, I moved that the rules of the House be suspended,* to enable
me to submit a motion, that a Committee of the Whole be discharged from the further
consideration of the bill for the organization of Minnesota Territory, so as to put it
upon its passage. The rules were suspended by a vote of 100 to 16, and the struggle
then commenced upon my moving the previous question. I turned a deaf ear to all
entreaties to withdraw it, and I thereby incurred the ire of those who were inimical to the
bill. But after an attempt to lay it on the table, or in other words, to defeat it, which was
unsuccessful, it was finally ordered to a third reading, and all opposition to it ceased.
It was finally passed on the 2d of March, and sent to the Senate, which body refused to
concur in the House amendment, changing the date when the bill was to take effect. By
great exertion on the part of my friends and myself, the House was at length persuaded
to recede from its amendment, and the bill was passed and became a law on the 3d of
March, 1849.
The removal of the Land Office to Stillwater, was only effected after much delay and
difficulty, as a remonstrance had been made by the members of the Wisconsin Legisla-
ture, and to Senator Walker, against its being removed out of the limits of the State.
This obstacle was eventually surmounted by the establishment of an additional Land
District in Wisconsin, the location of which office has been made at Willow River. A
weekly mail has been granted us by the Postmaster General, at my earnest and repeated
solicitation. I was aided in obtaining this grant by the gentlemen composing the Iowa
and Wisconsin delegations.
I offered a resolution in the House, which was adopted, to instruct the Committee on
Post Office to inquire into the expediency of establishing a post route from Fort Snelling
to Fort Gains, also to instruct the Committee on Indian Affairs to inquire into the
expediency of extending the laws of the United States over the Northwest tribes, so as to
make all amenable to the proper tribunals, and thereby put a stop to the murders and
other crimes habitually perpetrated among them. I also drew up a bill which was pre-
sented in the Senate by Hon. Robert Smith, appropriating $12,000 for the construction
of a road from the St. Louis River of Lake Superior, to St. Paul and to Point Douglass,
via the Marine Mills and Stillwater.
There was not sufficient time to push these measures through Congress at this short
session; but they will doubtless be effected next winter, as I do not apprehend any
difficulty will be thrown in the way of their passage. Much business appertaining to
individuals and to private claims have also been entrusted to me, and I have given it as
great a share of my attention as other and more important duties would permit.
Having been furnished with a power of attorney, signed by a large number of Sioux
mixed bloods, to dispose of their lands at Lake Pepin, I waited upon the Secretary of
War and Commissioner of Indian Affairs, repeatedly, with a hope of procuring their
concurrence in the furtherance of this object. It was finally decided by the former, that
as a change of administration was so soon to take place, it would not be proper for him
to enter into any negotiations with me ; and he likewise objected, that, as many of the
signatures were in the same handwriting, and only witnessed by two persons, that the
letter of attorney would not be considered valid in law. I then made the attempt to
procure an item to be appended to the general appropriation bill, for a sufficient sum to
* The following circular, of which a copy is on file among the papers of the Historical Society, was
placed on the desk of each member of the House, in order to aid the motion referred to.
House of Representatives, Saturday, Feb. 17, 1849.
Sir :— It is not probable that the bill for the organization of Minnesota Territory, will be reached in the
order of business before the Committee of the Whole. As a failure of this bill would be a most serious
calamity to that territory, I take the liberty to appeal to your kind feelings in their behalf, to sustain me
in a motion I shall make on Monday to suspend the rules, that the bill may be taken up and passed. It is
not probable that any debate will take place upon it. I am, Sir, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
H. H. Sibley.
8
98
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
defray the expenses of making a treaty with the owners of Lake Pepin tract, and for
negotiating a general treaty with the Sioux Indians. * * * * * *
In the first place, I assert as a proposition which cannot be contradicted, that your
delegate would not have been admitted to a seat if he had appeared there as elected by
a party, and that his defeat would have involved the failure of the Minnesota bill, and
necessarily of other important projects which were committed solely to his care. I do
not make this declaration in any self-gratulation or conceit. There are others among
you, who, with the same advantages and the same means, would have performed as
much as I have clone. But I refer to the fact to illustrate the wisdom of your deter-
nation to draw no party lines at the late election. Chosen by the people, without
regard to the distinctions of Whig or Democrat, my course here has been shaped in
exact accordance with that determination. My rule was to keep my ears open and my
mouth shut, whenever questions were discussed of a party character, or other matters
not appertaining in any way to my own region of country.
You are all aware that I appeared before the people as a candidate opposed to drawing
party lines. I believed then, and, believe now, that no such distinction should be made
in a territory, the delegate of which has no vote, and whose policy is to make himself
popular with all parties. When the time comes, be it sooner or later, that we shall have
a population sufficient to justify us in looking forward to our admission into the Union
at an early day, then, in my view, will be the proper period to mould the political com-
plexion of the State. My own opinions on points of national policy, are as distinct and
well defined as those of any other man. Minnesota now occupies no unenviable position.
The government granted us, secures us all in the full possession of privileges almost, if
not fully equal to those enjoyed by the people of the States. With a legislative council
elected from among our own citizens, our own judicial tribunals, with a large appropria-
tion for the construction of public buildings, and for a public library, with ample provi-
sion for defraying the expenses of the territorial government, and with the right of
representation in the halls of Congress, surely we can have no cause of complaint so far
as our political situation is concerned. It is for ourselves, by a wise, careful, and prac-
tical legislation, and by the improving of the advantages we possess, to keep inviolate
the public faith, and to hasten the time when the star of Minnesota, which now but
twinkles in the political firmament, shall shine brilliantly in the constellation of our con-
federated States.
In an address before the first annual banquet of the " Old Settlers'
Association of Minnesota," June 1, 1858, Gov. Sibley referred to the
difficulties attending the organization of the Territory, as follows :
"I desire that none of you shall ever experience more doubt or distress of mind than
I felt, when, as a delegate elect from the Territory of Wisconsin, I took the route to
Washington city, in 1848, with a view to secure a seat in the House of Representatives,
and the subsequent passage of an act for the establishment of Minnesota. I was then
an utter stranger to all except two or three of the public men of the country. It so
happened that I fell in with some members of Congress, who were also on their way to
the federal city, and among others was Hon. John Wentworth, commonly called ' Long
John.' He manifested much interest in my mission, but advised me by no means to
attempt to be admitted to a seat as a delegate, but rather to act as a lobby member, and
by so doing, the passage of the Minnesota bill would, in his opinion, be facilitated Mr.
Wentworth was a good friend of our territory, and aided much in achieving the final
favorable result, but I differed with him in opinion, when he gave me the counsel I have
mentioned ; and you all know that after severe struggles and considerable delay, I was
allowed a seat as the delegate to Congress from Wisconsin Territory. The bill to
organize Minnesota first passed the Senate and was sent to the House, the Senate
being then, as now, Democratic, and the House of Representatives being composed of a
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 99
majority of Whigs. The latter amended the bill so as to take effect on the 10th of
March, instead of from the day of its passage, as fixed in the bill as it passed the Senate.
Mr. Polk's administration was about to go out and that of Gen. Taylor to succeed it.
The Senate desired to give the appointment of the officers of the new territory to Mr.
Polk, while the House was as persistent in its own amendment, which would give the
officers to the new administration. Thus the bill was suspended between the two
bodies, and would probably be killed. The people of Minnesota should regard the De-
partment of the Interior with peculiar interest, for the creation of that new division of
the public service carried with it our bill, in the manner following:
'' The bill for the formation of a new department, called the ' Home' or ' Interior '
Department, passed the House ; and towards the close of the session its fate was to be
decided in the Senate. Several of the Democratic Senators, although not decided in
their opposition, cared little whether a measure which bestowed upon the incoming
administration a large additional amount of patronage, would be successful or not. It
was while laboring under great apprehensions lest the Minnesota bill should be defeated
that I chanced to find myself in the Senate. I expressed my fears to several of the Demo-
cratic Senators, who were my personal friends, and they, to the number of five or six,
authorized me to say to the Whig leaders in the House, that unless that body receded,
from its amendment, and thus permitted Minnesota to be organized, they would cast
their votes against the bill for the formation of the Interior Department. I hastened
back to the House, called together several of the prominent Whig members, and
informed them of the state of affaiis, satisfied that the votes of the senators I named
would turn the whole scale for or against a measure they particularly desired should
succeed. They went to work in the House, and produced so great a change in a short
time, that a motion to recede from their amendment to the Senate bill was adopted the
same evening, by a majority of some thirty or forty; and into our infant Territory was
breathed the breath of life."
Speech of Hon. H. H. Sibley, of Minnesota, before the Committee on Elections of
the House of Representatives, December 22, 1848.
Mr. Chairman : — Having been elected by the people of Wisconsin Territory to repre-
sent their interests as a delegate in the Congress of the United States, I should consider
myself as recreant to the trust reposed in me by those who have honored me with their
confidence, if I did not take every proper means to secure my seat, and be thus placed in
a position where I may render some service to my constituents. No question has been
or cau be raised, with regard to the legality of the election. The certificate of the act-
ing governor is prima facie evidence of that fact. It remains then only to show, if pos-
sible, that the residuum of Wisconsin Territory, after the admission of the State, remained
in the possession of the same rights and immunities which were secured to the people
of the whole territory by the organic law. In doing this I shall be as brief as the nature
of the case will admit, but being convinced that a favorable report from your honorable
committee is vitally important, I must be permitted to present all the facts bearing upon
the case, and sustain by such arguments as I may, based upon the facts, the position
assumed by those who sent me here.
The honorable gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Boyden,) at your previous meet-
ing, attempted to show that the act for the admission of the State of Wisconsin was
ipso facto a repeal of the organic law of the territory.
To support this proposition, he supposed a case in which all the population of a terri-
tory should be included within the limits of a State, except a few individuals, or one
man, who might elect one of their number or himself, as a delegate to Congress, and be
entitled to admission, upon the principle assumed in the present case. Mr. Chairman, I
meet this fairly by another supposition, by no means so improbable. It was seriously
93255
100 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
contemplated, by a respectable portion of the people, to ask Congress to make the Wis-
consin River the northern boundary of the State of that name. If this had been done,
some fifteen or twenty thousand inhabitants would have been left in precisely the same
situation in which the present population of Wisconsin Territory now find themselves.
Would Congress have refused under such circumstances to receive a delegate elected by
the people, according to the provisions of the organic law? The case supposed is an
extreme one. Congress has full power to prevent any abuse of such privileges. But
when a large portion of a territory is left without the boundaries of a State, and no pro-
vision is made for the repealing or modifying the organic law, does not that very fact,
taken in connection with the obligation of a government to afford to all its citizens the
protection of law, make it perfectly clear that the residuum remains under the full opera-
tion of the same organic law? To suppose otherwise would be to maintain that a gov-
ernment has the right at pleasure to deprive its citizens of all civil rights, a hypothesis
repugnant to the spirit of our institutions and of the age.
The imprescriptible, inalienable birthright of the subject is laid down as one of the
national rights of citizenship, of which none can be deprived without their consent.
(Payley's Phil. B. VI, chap. 3, Judge Iredell in Talcot v. Janson, 3 Ball., Bep. 133.) Vat-
tell, in his Law of Nations, B. 1, chap. 2, thus lays down the rule: "If a nation is
obliged to preserve itself, it is no less obliged carefully to preserve all its members."
And, again : " The body of a nation cannot then abandon a province, a town, or even a
single individual, who is a part of it, unless compelled to do it by necessity, or indis-
pensably obliged to do it for the strongest reasons, founded on the public safety."
Having thus shown that the point of international law, as received by all civilized
countries, is clearly in our favor, I will merely quote a paragraph of the ordinance of
1787, as applicable to the country northwest of the Ohio River. This guarantees to all
the inhabitants of that region, the possession of " the benefits of habeas corpus, and trial
by jury, of a proportionate representation in the legislature, and of judicial proceedings
according to the course of the common law. We are a part and parcel of the people to
whom were secured these blessings, and a decision which would deprive us of the right
to be represented on the floor of Congress, would virtually annul all those guarantees,
and reduce society into its original elements.
I come now, Mr. Chairman, to the precedents cited in support of my claim, and which
the gentleman from North Carolina so strongly objects, inasmuch as, in his opinion,
they do not cover the present case. They are those of Paul Fearing and George W.
Jones. It is admitted that the former, elected as delegate from the northwest territory,
appeared and took his seat months after the passage of the act of Congress admitting
Ohio into the Union, and before any other new territorial organization had been effected.
So far, then, Ohio had a perfect right to send a representative and senators to Congress.
That she did not do so, affects in no manner the merits of the question. She only
declined, for good and sufficient reasons, to exercise her undoubted right. During this
state of things, Mr. Fearing was in his seat, not as the representative of the sovereign
State of Ohio, but of the residuum of the northwest territory. This is a fact beyond
contradiction or dispute. If Ohio had sent her representatives, they would have been
admitted without question. But it is said that Mr. Fearing's right to a seat was not
formally passed upon by the House. But we know that the committee on elections
reported favorably in his case, and the fact that he retained his station until the end of
the session, is good evidence that the House concurred with the committee in opinion.
In the case of Hon. George W. Jones, now a United States Senator from Iowa, the
circumstances, although not precisely similar, are sufficiently so in point to give them
authority as a precedent. Mr. Jones was elected the delegate from the Territory of
Michigan, and the State had previously formed a constitution and sent its senators and
representatives here to demand admission. True, the act of Congress admitting the
State not having been yet passed, they were not formally received ; but it is nevertheless
equally true that Mr. Jones was elected by the people residing out of the limits of the
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 101
State, and that he represented the interests of the residuum only. The inhabitants of
the State of Michigan took no part in the election of that gentleman. Surely one or the
other of the above cited cases must be allowed to be an exact precedent, if both are not
to be so considered.
Mr. Chairman, the onus probandi must rest upon those who deny the existence of a
distinct territorial government in Wisconsin Territory. The fact that the organic law
gave to that territory certain privileges, among which was the right to elect a delegate
to Congress, is undeniable, and it is equally certain that no subsequent action of that
body abrogated any portion of that law, or divested the people of any of these privileges.
The conclusion is not to be controverted, that a law of Congress creating a temporary
government over a portion of the territory of the United States, must continue in force,
unless repealed by the same legislative authority. The division of a territory is not the
destruction thereof. That portion formed iuto a State, and admitted as such, has com-
menced a new political existence; but the residuum not being in anywise affected
thereby, remained under the operation of the old law. The sphere in which each moves
is well defined, and there can be no collision between them. The very act of establishing
the territorial government of Wisconsin, provides that Congress shall have the right to
divide it into two or more territories at any time thereafter, if such a step should be
deemed expedient or necessary. It did so virtually by the act admitting Wisconsin into
the Union.
The honorable gentleman from North Carolina has fallen into a grievous error, when
he asserts that during the first grade of territorial government, that in which the legis-
lative power was vested in the governor and judges, the government has not granted
them a delegate in Congress ; for Michigan was entitled to and represented by a delegate
years before a legislative council was vouchsafed to her. This can be ascertained by a
reference to the journals of Congress. But, sir, I do not conceive this question to have
any bearing upon the case before you. The people of Wisconsin Territory are not
present by their representative to argue any question of abstract right, but to appeal to
this committee to protect them in the enjoyment of those immunities which are secured
to them by the solemn sanctions of law. The government of the United States, when
it invited its citizens to emigrate to the Territory of Wisconsin by the formation of a
temporary government, must have intended to act in good faith towards them, by con-
tinuing over them the provisions of the organic law. Sixteen thousand acres of land have
been purchased, for the most part by bona fide settlers, the proceeds of which have
gone into your treasury. Taxed equally with other inhabitants of this Union for the
support of the general government, they are certainly entitled to equal privileges.
Sir," it is a fact that the inhabitants of the region I have the honor to represent, have
always heretofore, since the establishment of a territorial government for Wisconsin,
participated in the election of a delegate, and have enjoyed all the rights and immunities
secured to them by the organic law. It is equally a fact, that they have a full county
organization, and form part of a judicial circuit. Congress was by no means ignorant
of the existing state of things when the State of Wisconsin was admitted, for there
were lying at that time upon the tables of both Houses, petitions signed by hundreds of
citizens living north and west of the St. Croix Kiver, praying that they might not be
included within the limits of the State, but suffered to enjoy the benefits of the terri-
torial government. The region north and west of Wisconsin contains an area of more
than 20,000 square miles, with a population nearly, if not quite, 6000 souls. Can a prop-
osition be seriously entertained to disfranchise and outlaw the people? Sir, if it is
determined that the territory I have come here to represent has no claim to such repre-
sentation on the floor of Congress, then will one branch of the law-making power have
sanctioned a principle which will scatter all the restraints of law in that region to the
winds. For either the territorial organization is perfect and complete, or it has been
entirely abrogated and annulled. The same authority which provides for the election of
a delegate, gives the power to choose other officers. All must stand or fall together.
102 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
If we have no organization, as is contended by the honorable gentlemen from North
Carolina, then have our judicial and ministerial officers rendered themselves liable to
future punishment for a usurpation of power. If a malefactor has been apprehended,
or a debtor arrested, the officers serving the writ will be visited hereafter with an action
for false imprisonment. Our beautiful country will become a place of refuge for
depraved and desperate characters from the neighboring States. The vast and varied agri-
cultural and commercial interests of the country will be involved in ruin, and all security
for life and property will vanish. But, sir, I do not believe that this committee will
consent to give a decision involving such a train of evils, and such utter absurdities.
Not a single good reason can be assigned for perpetrating so gross an outrage upon
several thousand citizens of the United States, as to divest them, at one fell stroke, of all
those blessings of a legal jurisdiction which they have hitherto enjoyed, and that
without any consent or agency of their own.
Sir, there are certain fixed principles of law which cannot be annulled by sophistry, or
destroyed by any system of special pleading. By these eternal and immutable maxims,
are the duties of government and their citizens or subjects defined, and their mutual and
reciprocal obligations are not to be laid aside or dispensed with by either. The action
of all popular government must be of a beneficial character to the governed. The one
must protect, the other obey. The former is charged with the duty of throwing around
its citizens the safeguards of law, while they on their part are bound to uphold the
majesty of that law. Circumstances of extreme danger alone can for a moment absolve
either from these imperative obligations. Whence then is derived the power of this
government to cast aside any portion of its citizens at will? Sir, when disfranchise-
ment is visited by despotic governments upon their people, it is to mete out to them the
severest punishment which can be inflicted upon a community for political offences
short of actual extermination.
Sir, the case now before you for your action does certainly present some novel fea-
tures. It is the first time since the foundation of this government that several thousand
citizens of the United States have been found supplicating and pleading, by their repre-
sentative, that they may not be deprived by Congress of all civil government, and thrust
from its doors by a forced and constructive interpretation of a law of the land, which
does not in fact bear even remotely upon the question. Sir, the wants and wishes of
those who sent me here have now no advocatie on the floor of Congress. These people
have emigrated to the remote region they now inhabit under many disadvantages.
They have not been attracted thither by the glitter of inexhaustible gold mines, but
with the same spirit which has actuated all our pioneers of civilization. They have gone
there to labor with the axe, the anvil, and the plough. They have elected a delegate,
with the full assurance that they had a right to do so, and he presents himself here for
admission. Sir, was this a question in which the consequences would be confined to
me personally, the honorable members of this House would not find me here, day after
day, wearying their patience by long appeals and explanations. But believing as I do,
before God, that my case, and the question whether there is any law in the Territory of
Wisconsin, are intimately and indissolubly blended together, I trust that the House of
Representatives will, by its decision of the claim before it, establish the principle, which
shall be as a landmark in all coming time, that citizens of this mighty republic, upon
whom the rights and immunities of a civil government have been once bestowed by an
act of Congress, shall not be deprived of those without fault or agency of their own,
unless under circumstances of grave and imperious necessity, involving the safety and
well-being of the whole country.
" More than a month after the adjournment of Congress," [says Mr.
Neill,] "just at eve, on the ninth of April, amid terrific peals of thun-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 103
der and torrents of rain, the weekly stearapacket, the first to force its
way through the icy. barriers of Lake Pepin, rounded the rocky point,
whistling loud and long, as if the bearer of glad tidings. Before she
was safely moored to the landing, the shouts of the excited villagers
announced that there was a Territory of Minnesota, and that St. Paul
was the seat of government. Every successive steamboat arrival
poured out on the landing men big with hope, and anxious to do some-
thing to mould the future of the new State/'
Section one of the act under which the Territory of Minnesota was
organized, defined the boundaries as follows :
"That from and after the passage of this act, all that part of the territory of the
United States which lies within the following limits, to wit : Beginning in the Missis-
sippi River, at the point where the line of forty-three degrees and thirty minutes of
north latitude crosses the same ; thence running due west on said line, which is the
northern boundary of the said State of Iowa, to the northwest corner of the said State
of Iowa; thence southerly along the western boundary of said State to the point where
said boundary strikes the Missouri River ; thence up the middle of the main channel of
the Missouri River to the mouth of the White Earth River; thence up the middle of the
main channel of the "White Earth River to the boundary line between the possessions of
the United States and Great Britain; thence east and south of east along the boundary
line between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain to Lake Superior;
thence in a straight line to the northernmost point of the State of Wisconsin in Lake
Superior; thence along the western boundary Hue of said State of Wisconsin to the Mis-
sissippi River; thence down the main channel of said river to the place 01 beginning, be,
and the same is hereby erected into a temporary government, by the name of the Terri-
tory of Minnesota: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to
inhibit the government of the United States from dividing said territory into two or
more territories, in such manner and at such times as Congress shall deem convenient
and proper, or from attaching any portion of said territory to any other State or Terri-
tory of the United States."
As thus defined, the Territory of Minnesota included a large part of
the present Territory of Dakota. St. Paul and Stillwater were the most
important towns or villages in the territory, and St. Paul was named as
the temporary capital of the new territory.
The organic act further provided that there should be appropriated
annually, from the U. S. treasury, the sum of one thousand dollars to be
expended by the Governor, to defray the contingent expenses of the
territory, and a sum sufficient, based upon the estimate of the Secretary
of the U. S. Treasury, to defray the expenses of the Legislative Assembly,
the printing of the laws, and other incidental expenses. It was also
provided that the first session of the Legislative Assembly should be
held at St. Paul ; and that at the said first session, the Governor and
Legislative Assembly should locate and establish a temporary seat of
government, at such place as they might deem eligible. Power was
also conferred upon them to prescribe by law the manner of locating
104 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the permanent seat of government by a vote of the people. Twenty-
thousand dollars, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appro-
priated, was granted to be applied by the Governor and Legislative
Assemby, to the erection of suitable public buildings at the seat of
government. Five thousand dollars to be expended under the direction
of the Governor, was also appropriated for the purchase of a library, to
be kept at the seat of government for the use of the Governor, Legislative
Assembly, Judges of the Supreme Court, etc.
It was also provided (in section six) that all laws passed by the
Legislative Assembly and Governor, should be submitted to the Congress
of the United States, and if disapproved by that body, they should be
null and of no effect.
Alexander Ramsey, of Pennsylvania, was appointed the first Governor
of Minnesota, and on the 27th of May, he arrived at St. Paul with his
family, but the scarcity and crowded condition of the public houses
rendered it impossible for him to secure accommodations, and he went
up to Mendota, and became the guest of Mr. Sibley, where he remained
until the 26th of June. On the afternoon of that day, himself and
family descended the river to St. Paul in a birch-bark canoe, and took
up his abode in St. Paul, where he has ever since continued to reside,
except when absent at Washington, as U. S. Senator.
June 1, 1849, Governor Ramsey issued a proclamation declaring the
territory duly organized. The several officers were as follows :
Governor, Alexander Ramsey, of Pennsylvania.
Secretary, C. K. Smith, of Ohio.
Chief Justice, A. Goodrich, of Tennessee ; Associates, D. Cooper, of
Pennsylvania, and B. B Meeker, of Kentucky.
Attorney for the United States, H. L. Moss.
Marshal, Joshua L. Taylor. Mr. Taylor declined the appointment,
and A. M. Mitchell, of Ohio, a graduate of West Point, was appointed
to the "vacancy.
A second proclamation was issued on the 11th of June, dividing the
territory into three temporary judicial districts. The first district was
comprised of the county of St. Croix; second, LaPointe county and the
region north of the Minnesota River, and a line running due west from
the headwaters of the Minnesota to the Missouri River. The third
district included all the country south of the Minnesota River. Judge
Goodrich was assigned to the first district, Meeker was assigned to the
second district, and Cooper was assigned to the third district. Terms
of court in each of the districts were ordered to be held as follows :
St. Croix county, at Stillwater, on the second Monday of August; at
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
105
the Falls of St. Anthony on the third Monday, and at Mendota on the
fourth Monday. As illustrative of the condition of affairs then existing,
the following paragraph, written by Mr. Sibley, is presented:
" I had the honor of being the foreman of the first grand jury ever impanelled on
the west of the Mississippi River, in what is now the State of Minnesota. The court
was held at Mendota, Judge Cooper being assigned to that district. His honor delivered
a written charge of considerable length, and really it was an able and finished produc-
tion. Unfortunately, out of the twenty-odd men who composed the jury, but three, if I
recollect rightly, could speak English, the rest being Frenchmen, who were to a man
profoundly ignorant of any language but their own. Asa matter of course, they were
highly edified while engaged in listening to the Judge's charge."
Under the provisions of the organic act of the territory, a census of
the inhabitants was taken in June, with the following showing:
Names of Places. Males.
females
Total.
Names of Places. Males. Females.
Total.
Stillwater, - - 455
154
609
Prairieville, - 9
13
22
Lake St. Croix, 129
82
211
Oak Grove, - 14
9
23
Marine Mills, - 142
31
173
Black Dog Village, 7
11
18
St. Paul, - 540
300
840
Crow Wing, east side, 35
35
70
Little Canada and St.
Mendota, - 72
50
122
Anthony, - - 352
219
571
Red Wing Village, 20
13
33
Crow Wing and Long
Wabasha and Root
Prairie, - - 235
115
350
River, - - 78
36
114
Osakis Rapids, 92
41
133
Fort Snelling, - 26
12
38
Falls of St. Croix, 15
1
16
Soldiers, women and
Snake River, - 58
24
82
children in forts, 267
50
317
La Pointe County, 12
10
22
Pembina, - - 295
342
637
Crow Wing, - 103
71
174
Missouri River, 49
37
86
Big Stone Lake and
Lac qui Parle, 33
35
68
Total, - 3067
1713
4780
Little Rock, - 20
15
35
On the 7th of July, Governor Ramsey issued a proclamation dividing
the territory into seven council districts preparatory to the election of
a Territorial Legislature, and for other election purposes, and fixing the
1st day of August as the time for holding the election. The election
passed off very quietly. H. H. Sibley was elected as delegate to
congress without opposition.
At the first session of the legislature the territory was divided into
the following counties, the census of which, together with the votes
cast for delegate to congress, was as follows:
106
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
County Seat.
St. Paul,
Stillwater,
Sauk Rapids,
Mendota,
Wabasha,
Pembina,
County.
Ramsey,
Washington,*
Benton,
Dahkotah,
Wahnahtah,
Wabasha,
Pembina,
Itasca,
Mankato,
Males,
Females,
Total population June 30, 1849, - 4940
The first Legislative Assembly was composed of the following named
representative citizens.
COUNCIL.
Males.
976
Females.
564
Vote for
Delegate.
273
821
291
213
249
108
18
301
167
75
344
182
70
247
84
33
295
342
—
21
9
—
—
—
—
3253
1687
682
1687
Names. No. ofDist. Residence.
James S. Norris, 1 Cottage Grove,
Samuel Burkelo, 2
William H. Forbes, 3
James McC. Boal, 4
David B. Loomis, 5
John Rollins, 6
David Olmsted, 7
William Sturges, 6
Martin McLeod, 7
Names. No. of Dist
Joseph W. Furber, 1
James Wells, 1
M. S. Wilkinson, 2
Sylvanus Frosk, 2
Mahlan Black, 2
BenjaminW. Brunson, 3
Henry Jackson, 3
John J. Dewey, 3
Parsons K. Johnson, 3
Henry F. Setzer, 4
Stillwater,
St. Paul,
St. Paul,
Marine Mills,
Falls of St. Anthony,
Long Prairie,
Elk River,
Lac qui Parle,
REPRESENTATIVES.
Residence.
Cottage Grove,
Lake Pepin,
Stillwater,
Stillwater,
Stillwater,
St. Paul,
St. Paul,
St. Paul,
St. Paul,
Snake River.
Age. Nativity.
38 Maine.
45 Delaware.
38 Montreal, Canada.
38 Pennsylvania.
32 Connecticut.
41 Maine.
27 Vermont.
28 Upper Canada.
36 Montreal, Canada.
Age. Nativity.
36 New Hampshire.
46 New Jersey.
30 New York.
— New York.
— Ohio.
25 Michigan.
42 Virginia.
— New York.
— Vermont.
— Missouri.
*At the first session of the Territorial Legislature, Washington was substituted for St. Croix.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
107
Names.
No. of Dist.
Residence.
Age.
Nativity.
William R. Marshall, 5 Falls of St. Anthony, 25
William Dugas,
Jeremiah Russell,
L. A. Babcock,
Thomas A. Holmes,
Allen Morrison,
Alexis Bailly
Gideon H. Pond,
5
6
6
6
6
7
Little Canada,
Crow Wing,
Sauk Rapids,
Sauk Rapids,
37 Lower Canada.
29 Vermont.
44 Pennsylvania.
Mendota,
7 Oak Grove,
50 Michigan. *
39 Connecticut.
During the summer the "• Central" House, a two-story frame build
ing, had been erected, and there being a great scarcity in the capital
of the new territory of buildings of sufficient capacity to accommodate
the Legislature, the Central was brought into requisition, and in this
building, on Monday the 3d day of September, 1849, the foundation of
the laws of the now great and prosperous State of Minnesota was com-
menced. The office of the Secretary and representative chamber were
located on the first floor, and the council chamber and library occupied
rooms in the second story. Indians were plenty around the new capitol,
and Mr. Neill says a number of them set on a rocky bluff and gazed at
what to them was a novel, and perhaps saddening scene, as the flag
was run up the staff in front of the house.
The Council consisted of nine, and the House of eighteen members.
The Assembly met on Monday, the 3d day of September, in the dining-
room of the " Central " House, and adjourned on the first of November.
The Council organized by electing David Olmsted, president ; Joseph
R. Brown, secretary, and H. A. Lambert, assistant. The House elected
Joseph W. Furber as speaker ; W. D. Phillips, clerk, and L. B. Wait,
assistant. After the organization was perfected, prayer was offered by
Rev. E. D. Neill, after which Governor Ramsey delivered his message.
The work of making laws for the new Territory then commenced.
What changes twenty-nine years have wrought! Now, instead of a
village of a few hundred inhabitants, many of whom were only one
degree removed from the native red men of the country, there are
many thousands. Instead of a few scattering skeletons of frame build-
ings, there are thousands of stately stone and brick edifices, that would
do no discredit to the cities of the oldest States of the Union. Instead
of utilizing a newly-constructed frame hotel building as a capitol, there
is a very handsome brick structure, founded upon a rock and built upon
a hill, in which the Solons of the State are wont to meet bi-ennially to
enact laws for the benefit and protection of the people of the common-
wealth. Great manufacturing establishments give employment to
108 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
thousands of honest, sturdy, toiling mechanics, and support to depend-
ent families. Great trains of steam-drawn cars come and go at almost
every hour of the twenty-four, and mighty steamboats plow the waters
of the great Mississippi almost daily, where less than a quarter of a cen-
tury ago, only an occasional birch-bark canoe, conveying wild men,
their wives and little ones, or may be a few peltries, disturbed its sky-
tinted waters. Strong iron bridges, instead of rude ferries, afford com-
munication between the east and west divisions of the beautiful and
prosperous State that has grown up in the land of the Dahkotas.
Instead of cavalcades and whole villages of Indians zigzaging along
the courses of the streets, or gazing in wonder and amazement at the
hoisting of the American flag, only an occasional "dusky son or daugh-
ter of the forest" is to be seen on the old hunting grounds of their
ancestors, now the abode of civilization, intelligence and refinement —
of schools, churches and colleges — of thundering steam printing presses
and all the other attendants and belongings of the high perfections of
American advancement. Instead of a Territorial Assembly of twenty-
seven members, all told, there is now a State Legislature of more than
five times that number. Instead of a solitary delegate (without vote)
to represent a scattering pioneer people in the National Congress, there
are two grave senators and three members of the House of Represent-
atives, all of whom are as wise and statesmanlike as are the members
from any of the other and older States. If twenty-nine short years
have evoked these wonderful changes, who can predict or foresee the
revolutions and additions of the next quarter of a century ? Fruitless
the inquiry.
At the first session of the first Legislative Assembly it was enacted
that " this Territory shall be divided into the following counties, to-wit :
Benton, Dakota, Itasca, Cass, Pembina, Ramsey, Washington, Chisago
and Wabasha." The boundary lines of these several counties were
defined, and " that the counties of Washington, Ramsey and Benton be,
and the same are hereby declared to be organized counties, and invested
with all and singular, the rights, privileges and immunities to which all
organized counties in the Territory shall be and are by law entitled."
The counties of Itasca, Wabasha, Dakota, Cass and Pembina were " de-
clared to be organized only for the purpose of the appointment of jus-
tices of the peace, constables and such other judicial and ministerial
officers as may be especially provided for. St. Paul was declared to
be the seat of justice of Ramsey county, and Stillwater of Washington
county. It was further provided that the seat of justice of Benton
should be within one quarter of a mile of a point on the east side of
THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY. 109
the Mississippi River, directly opposite the mouth of Sauk River, (Sauk
Rapids.) The seat of justice of Chisago county was left to be located
at such point as the first board of county commissioners should deter-
mine. Under the provisions of the law, however, Chisago county was
not entitled to exercise county independent functions until after the
first day of January, 1852. Wabasha county was attached to Washing-
ton for judicial purposes, and the county of Dakota was attached to the
county of Ramsey for similar purposes. Cass, Itasca and Pembina
were attached to Benton. The law also provided that the counties of
Itasca, Wabasha, Dakota, Cass and Pembina should " each be entitled
to any number of justices of the peace not exceeding six, and to the
same number of constables;" the justices and constables to "receive
their appointments from the Governor," and to hold for two years,
unless sooner removed by the Governor.
The common school system elicited a good deal of attention, and an
able report on this subject was made to the council by Mr. McLeod,
the chairman of the committee that had that interest in charge.
During the session of the Assembly, Mr. Sibley addressed a comma-
cation "To the Honorable the Legislative Council of Minnesota Terri-
tory," calling the attention of the members to the Red Pipe stone quarry
in the southwest part of the Territory and to the propriety of sending a
slab of the stone to the Washington Monument Association. He pre-
sented a slab to the Assembly about two and a half feet in length, a
little over one and a halt in breadth and two inches in thickness, to be
disposed of as the wisdom of the Territorial Legislators might suggest.
A joint resolution was adopted, and the slab was forwarded to Wash-
ington. A county has since been created called Pipe Stone, named
after this material.
To quote from Neill's history : " The committee on seal recommended
as a device an Indian family with lodge and canoe, encamped, a single
white man visiting them, and receiving from them the calumet of peace.
The report was accepted and the committee discharged. During the
following winter, Governor Ramsey and the Delegate to Congress
devised at Washington the Territorial seal. The design was: Falls of
St. Anthony in the distance ; an emigrant ploughing the land on the
borders of the Indian country, full of hope, and looking forward to the
possession of the hunting grounds beyond. An Indian amazed at the
sight of the plow, and fleeing on horseback towards the setting sun.
" The motto of the Earl of Dunraven, * Quce sursum volo videre,' ' I wish to see what
is above,' was most appropriately selected by Mr. Sibley, * * * but by the blunder
of an engraver it appeared on the territorial seal ' Quo sursum velo videre/ which no
scholar could translate. At length was substituted ' L'Etoile du Nord,' ' Star of the
110 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
North,' while the device of the setting sun remained, and this is objectionable, as Maine
had already placed the North Star on her escutcheon, with the motto ' Dirigo,' ' I Guide.
Perhaps some future legislature may direct the first motto to be restored and correctly
engraved."
When the Territory of Minnesota was organized, only a small portion
of the country had been acquired by the U. S. The portion to which
the Indians had relinquished their title, was mostly on the east side of
the Mississippi River, and was bounded on the north by aline extending
east from Crow Wing River, to the western boundary line of Wisconsin.
Above that line the lands were occupied by the Ojibways. A heavy
immigration was anticipated, and it was deemed advisable to make a
treaty with the Dakotas, so as to secure the right to the occupancy of
the lands west of the Mississippi and in the valley of the Minnesota.
To carry out this purpose, the U. S. authorities appointed Governor
Ramsey and ex-Governor Chambers, of Iowa, to treat with the Dakotas.
The commissioners went to Mendota during the session of the legislature
to hold a pow-wow or council with the Dakota head men, but in conse-
quence of the absence of many of the Indians on their fall hunt and
other hindering causes, they did not accomplish the full purpose of
their instructions, but did succeed in effecting a purchase of the half-
breed tract in the vicinity of Lake Pepin.
Political parties and party lines were unknown in Minnesota until
after the commencement of the session of the Legislature. On the
evening of the 24th of September, 1849, a caucus of Democrats was held
at the residence of Henry M. Rice, at which it was determined to call
a mass meeting of the Democrats, to assemble at St. Paul on the 20th
of October. The meeting assembled in the ball room of the American
House. Preliminary to a permanent organization, Henry Jackson was
chosen as temporary chairman. A committee on permanent officers
was appointed, which reported the following named gentlemen for per-
manent officers of the convention : President, James S. Norris ; vice
presidents, John A. Ford, S. Trask, W. Dugas, H. N. Setzer, James Wells,
John Rollins and A. Morrison; secretaries, B. W. Lott, A. Larpenteur,
H. A. Lambert and John Morgan. The Minnesota " Pioneer" was desig-
nated as the Organ of the party. From that time forward a different
spirit was present in the management of public affairs. On the 29th
of March, 1855, a convention was held at St. Anthony, which led to the
organization of the Republican party of Minnesota.
While the Legislature was in session, the right of the territory to
expend the twenty thousand dollars appropriated by Congress for the
erection of capitol buildings became a question of interest. Joseph R.
Brown, the Secretary of the Council, addressed a letter of inquiry to
»
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. Ill
the Secretary of the Treasury in reply to the subject. The Secretary
replied at some length, and after quoting the law under which the
appropriation was made, closed in the following pointed paragraph :
"In view of the antecedent, and the object of this appropriation, the Department
decide that the public building in question, can only be erected at the permanent seat of
justice, located as prescribed. Of course the reply to your inquiry must be, that nothing
can be expended from this appropriation until after the location shall be duly made."
During the session of the Legislature the Minnesota Historical Society
and the St. Anthony Library Association were incorporated. The incor-
poration of the former was principally due to the industry and influence
of C. K. Smith, Territorial Secretary. The act of incorporation was the
fifth one passed by the Legislature, and results have proved that it was
a wise enactment. In the month of December the St. Anthony Asso-
ciation commenced a series of lectures, the introductory one being
delivered by Rev. E. Dutefii: The first public exercises of the Histo-
rical Society occurred at the M. E. Church at St. Paul, on the 1st of
January, 1850. "The day was pleasant," said the "Chronicle and Reg-
ister," of the 5tb of that month, " and the attendance large. The open-
ing annual address was delivered by Mr. Neill. Subject — 'The Early
French Missionaries and Voyageurs to Minnesota.'"
On the fourth Monday in November an election for county officers
was held in the counties which had been organized at the beginning of
the Legislative Assembly. The Legislature passed an act providing
that thereafter elections should be held on the first of September.
In November, 1849, the question of establishing common schools
come to be considered. The first meeting relating to this vital interest
was held in a small school house on St. Anthony street, near the site
of the First Presbyterian Church, in St. Paul. Before this the English
schools, in the white settlements, had been taught by teachers that had
been sent out by the National Society of Popular Education. Among
these teachers were the Misses Bishop and Scofield, who had taught at
St. Paul ; and Miss A. Hosford, who had taught at Stillwater ; and Miss
Backus, who had taught at St. Anthony. These were the pioneer white
schools and school teachers in Minnesota Territory.
January 1, 1850, the "Pioneer" issued a Carrier Boy's Address, from
which the following lines are quoted :
" The cities on this river must be three,
Two that are built and one that is to be.
One is the mart of all the tropics yield —
The cane, the orange, and the cotton-field;
And sends her ships abroad and boasts
Her trade extended to a thousand coasts.
The other, central for the temperate zone,
112 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Garners the stores that on the plains are grown ;
A place where steamboats from all quarters range,
To meet and speculate as 'twere on 'change.
The third will be where rivers confluent flow
From the wide-spreading north through plains of snow ;
The most of all that boundless forests give
To make mankind more comfortable live,
The land of manufacturing industry,
The workshop of the nation it shall be;
Propelled by this wild stream, you'll see
A thousand factories at St. Anthony ;
And the St. Croix a hundred mills shall drive,
And all the smiling villages shall thrive ;
But then, my town — remember that high bench
With cabins scattered over it, of French?
A man named Henry Jackson 's living there,
Also a man — why every one knows L. Robair;
Below Fort Snelling, seven miles or so,
And three above the village of Old Crow?
Pig's Eye? Yes; Pig's Eye! That's the spot!
A very funny name, is't not?
Pig's Eye 's the spot to plant my city on,
To be remembered by, when I am gone.
Pig's Eye, converted thou shall be, like Saul :
Thy name, henceforth shall be St. Paul."
The first roadway along the bank of the Mississippi River between
Prairie du Chien and Hudson, Wisconsin, was marked out in Decem-
ber, 1849, and the hauling of supplies by land was commenced. Pre-
vious to that time the only roadway in winter to the settlements of
Wisconsin and Iowa was the ice of the Mississippi. Mails were scarce,
and as late as 1850 there was only one mail a week between St. Paul
and Prairie du Chien. The proposals inviting bids for its transporta-
tion specified that it should leave St. Paul at 6 o'clock a. m. every Mon-
day, and arrive at Prairie du Chien, 270 miles, by 6 o'clock p. m. the
next Sunday.
The first murder, after white settlements commenced, occurred at St.
Paul on the afternoon of September 12, 1849, when one boy named
Isaiah McMillan shot and killed another boy named Snow, aged about
twelve years. The case came on for trial before Judge Cooper at the
February term (1850) of the Court at Stillwater. Messrs. Bishop and
Wilkinson prosecuted, and Messrs. Ames and Moss defended. Notwith-
standing there seemed to be an absence of malice prepense on the part
of McMillan, he was found guilty of manslaughter, and in accordance
with the recommendation of the jury that the court would inflict the
lightest possible penalty consistent with the law, he was sentenced to
one year's imprisonment. There was no prison in which to confine
v
RED WING
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 113
him, and he was sent up to Fort Snelling, and was subsisted at the
expense of the soldiers. The circumstances of the. murder were as
follows : McMillan and a number of other boys were playing on the
bluff, and seeing Snow coming toward them with a press-board before
his face, McMillan exclaimed that he would shoot him, and taking aim
with a gun he had in his hands at the moment, fired. The shot entered
Snow's right eye and left cheek, from the effect of which he died in a
few hours.
The first proclamation for a Thanksgiving Day was issued by Gov-
ernor Ramsey in 1850 ; and the 26th day of December was the day
appointed, which was generally observed.
ST. PAUL IN OCTOBER, 1850.
In October, 1850, Miss Frederika Bremer, the Swedish novelist, visited
Minnesota and St. Paul, where she was the guest of Governor Ramsey
and his wife, and this is her description of the capital of Minnesota and
its surroundings at that time :
" Scarcely had we touched the shore, when the governor of Minnesota, and his pretty
young wife, came on board and invited me to take up my quarters at their house. And
there I am now ; happy with these kind people, and with them I make excursions into the
neighborhood. The town is one of the youngest infants of the Great West, scarcely
eighteen months old; and yet it has in a short time increased to a population of two
thousand persons, and in a very few years it will certainly be possessed of twenty-two
thousand; for its situation is as remarkable for its beauty and healthiness, as it is advan-
tageous for trade.
" As yet, however, the town is but in its infancy, and people manage with such
dwellings as they can get. The drawing-room at Governor Ramsey's house is also his
office, and Indians and work people, and ladies and gentlemen, are all alike admitted.
In the meantime, Mr. Ramsey is building a handsome spacious house upon a hill, a little
out of the city, with beautiful trees around it, and commanding a grand view of the
river. If I were to live on tne Mississippi, I would live here. It is a hilly region, and
on all sides extend beautiful and varying landscapes.
" The city is thronged with Indians. The men, for the most part, go about grandly
ornamented with naked hatchets, the shafts of which serve them as pipes. They paint
themselves so utterly without any taste, that it is incredible. Here comes an Indian
who has painted a great red spot in the middle of his nose; here another who has
painted the whole of his forehead in lines of black and yellow ; there a third with coal-
black rings around his eyes. * * * The women are less painted, with better
taste than the men, generally with merely one deep red little spot on the middle of the
cheeks ; and the parting of the hair on the forehead is dyed purple. There goes an
Indian with his proud step, bearing aloft. He carries only his pipe, and when he is on
a journey, perhaps a long stafl in his hand. After him, with bowed head and stooping
shoulders, follows his wife, bending under the burden which she bears. Above the
burden peeps forth a little round-faced child, with beautiful dark eyes."
THE SECOND LEGISLATURE.
The progress of the building in St. Paul was rapid. No sooner was
9
114
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the territory organized and the news spread abroad, then people — men
of capital, mechanics, laborers, speculators — flocked there by hundreds,
if not by thousands. Stone quarries, as well as the pine forests of the
upper district of country and the deposits of brick-clay in the immediate
vicinity, were utilized for building purposes, and in a short space of
time large buildings were being erected in all parts of the embryo city.
When the time came for the meeting of the second legislature on the
1st of January, 1851, better accommodations were in readiness, and a
three-story brick building that stood on St. Anthony street, between
Washington and Franklin streets, was secured for the occasion. This
legislature, composed of nine councilmen and eighteen representatives,
as provided in the organic act, consisted of the following members:
Names.
No. of District.
COUNCIL.
Residence.
James S. Norris, 1
Samuel Burkleo, 2
William H. Forbes, 3
James McC. Boal, 3
David B. Loomis, 4
John Rollins, 5
David Olmsted, 6
William Sturges, 6
Martin McLeod, 7
Cottage Grove,
Stillwater,
St. Paul,
St. Paul,
Marine Mills,
Falls of St. Anthony,
Long Prairie,
Elk River,
Lac qui Parle
Age. Nativity.
39 Maine.
46 Delaware.
35 Montreal, Canada.
39 Pennsylvania.
33 Connecticut.
42 Maine.
28 Vermont.
32 Upper Canada.
36 Montreal, Canada.
David B. Loomis, of Marine Mills, was chosen president of the council.
Names.
James Wells,
John A. Ford,
M. E. Ames,
Sylvanus Trask,
Jesse Taylor,
1
2
2
2
Benjamin W. Brunson, 3
J. C. Ramsey,
Edmund Rice,
H. L. Tilden,
John D. Ludden,
John W. North,
Edward Patch,
S. B. Olmstead,
W. W. Warren,
D. T. Sloan.
David Gilman,
Alex. Faribault,
B. H. Randall,
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.
No. of District Residence. Age.
1 Lake Pepin, 47
Red Rock, 38
Stillwater, 30
Stillwater, 30
Stillwater, 45
St. Paul, 26
St. Paul, 29
St. Paul, 30
St. Paul, 32
Marine Mills, 32
Falls of St. Anthony, 35
Falls of St. Anthony, 27
Belle Prairie, 36
Gull Lake, 26
Little Rock, 36
Watab, 39
Mendota, 46
27
3
3
3
4
5
5
6
6
6
6
7
7
Nativity.
New Jersey.
New York.
Vermont.
New York.
Kentucky.
Michigan.
Pennsylvania.
Vermont.
Connecticut.
Massachusetts.
New York.
New York.
New York.
Lake Superior.
New York.
New York.
Minnesota.
Vermont.
Fort Snelling,
M. E. Ames was elected speaker.
The penitentiary was located at Stillwater and the capitol building
at St. Paul.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 115
The exertions and influence of J. W. North, a member of the House
from the St. Anthony district, secured the passage of a bill creating the
University of Minnesota, and locating it at or near the Falls of St. An-
thony. This establishment subsequently became the State University,
and entitled to the ten townships of land granted by Congress to the
State for that purpose.
A little " unpleasantness" occurred during this session, that finally
resulted in the secession or withdrawal of seven members from the
House. The difficulty grew out of the apportionment bill based on
the census of 1850. The opponents of the bill maintained that the
census was incorrect ; that under the provisions of the bill, Benton
county, " with four thousand acres under cultivation, had but one-half
the representation that Pembina county had, where there were but
seventy acres under cultivation, and more than one-half of that belong-
ing to one individual. They also urged the fact that, excepting soldiers,
at least seven-eights of the population were Indians, and that the Leg-
islature had no authority over the unceded lands." Notwithstanding
the bitter personal feeling and discussion, and the withdrawal of the
seven opposing members, the bill passed the House on Saturday, the
29th day of March. Under the provisions of this bill, the territory was
divided into the counties, and the counties apportioned into council
districts, as follows:
1. Washington, Itasca and Chisago counties.
2. Precincts of St. Paul and Little Canada.
3. Precinct of St. Anthony Falls.
4. Counties of Wabasha and Washington, and precincts of St. Paul and
Little Canada, jointly, (Wabasha county to be one representative district.)
5. Benton and Cass counties.
6. Dakota county.
7. Pembina county.
The session of the Legislature adjourned on Monday, the 31st of
March, after a three months' session.
TREATY WITH THE DAKOTAS.
At Traverse des Sioux, on the 23d of July, 1851, Luke Lea and Gov-
ernor Ramsey, as commissioners on the part of the United States, con-
cluded a treaty with the Dakotas, by which the country on the west
side of the Mississippi River and the valley of the Minnesota, were
opened to white occupancy. The terms of the treaty were in substance :
Perpetual peace.
The cession of all the Sioux lands east of the Sioux River and Lac Traverse. The line
then runs up to the head waters of Otter Tail Lake, thence down from the head of
Watab River to the Mississippi.
116 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
The cession embraces the entire valley of the Minnesota, and the eastern tributaries
of the Sioux, and was estimated to contain 21,000,000 acres.
The Indians reserve a tract on the Minnesota, about one hundred miles in length, and
twenty in breadth. This reserve commences at the mouth of Yellow Medicine River,
and extends up the Minnesota ten miles on each side to Lake Traverse.
The Indians are to receive $1,655,000, as follows :
To be paid after their removal to the reservation, $275,000, and
To be expended in breaking land, erecting mills, and establishing manual labor schools,
amounting to $305,000.
The balance of $1,360,000 to be invested at five per cent, for fifty years, which will
give an annual income of $68,000, to be paid as follows :
In cash, annually $40,000
Goods and provisions 10,000
Civilization fund 12,000
Education 6,000— $68,000
After fifty years all payments to cease, and the principal of $1,360,000 to revert to the
government.
The intercourse laws, so far as relates to the introduction and sale of ardent spirits,
shall be continued in full force until changed by legal authority. — Neill.
The first week in August a treaty was also concluded beneath an oak
bower on Pilot Knob, at Mendota, with the M'dewakantonwan and
Wahpaykootay bands of the Dakotas. " About sixty of the chiefs and
principal men touched the pen, and Little Crow, who had been in the
mission school at Lac qui Parle, signed his own name" to the treaty
papers. The next day after the treaty papers were signed, " these lower
bands received $30,000, which, by the treaty of 1837, had been set
apart for education, but by the misrepresentation of interested half
breeds, the Indians were made to believe that it ought to be given to
them to be employed as they pleased.
The Mendota treaty, signed on the 5th day of August, 1851, ceded to
the United States all the lands held by the tribes named, in Minnesota
and Iowa. A reserve was granted them on the Minnesota River,
commencing at Little Rock, which is about fifty miles by land from
Traverse des Sioux, and extending up the river ten miles wide on each
side to Yellow Medicine and Ohautauba rivers, to which they were to
remove within one year after the ratification of the treaty.
In ratification of the treaty, the chiefs were paid the sum of $220,000,
to be used by them in the purchase of provisions, to defray the expenses
of their removal, and settle their affairs generally.
Thirty thousand dollars were to be expended in opening farms,
erecting mills, smith shops, and schoolhouses.
In annuities, to be continued fifty years :
In agricultural fund, - $ 12,000
In goods and provisions, ..... 10,000
In education, ....... 6,000
In cash, ------- 30,000
$58,000
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
117
These two treaties concluded with the four divisions or bands of the
Dakota tribe, secured to the United States about 30,000,000 acres of
land, most of which was within the limits of Minnesota.
THIRD LEGISLATURE.
An election for members of the Third Legislature was held on the
14th day of October, 1851, and on the 7th day of January, 1852, the
assembly met in a building on Franklin street, which subsequently
became, and still remains a part of the Merchants' Hotel.
COUNCILLORS.
Names. No.
of District. Residence.
Occupation.
Elam Greeley,
1
Near Stillwater,
Not reported.
D. B. Loomis,
1
Marine,
Lumber merchant.
G. W. Farrington,
2
St. Paul,
Merchant.
Wm. H. Forbes,
2
St. Paul,
Indian trader.'
W. L. Larned,
3
St. Anthony,
Not reported.
L. A. Babcock,
4
St. Paul,
Lawyer.
S. B. Lowry,
5
Watab,
Indian trader.
Martin McLeod,
6
Oak Grove,
Indian trader.
N. W. Kittson,
7
Pembina,
Indian trader.
William H. Forbes
, of St.
Paul, was chosen as
REPRESENTATIVES.
president.
Mahlon Leavitt,
1
Stillwater,
Lumber dealer.
Mahlon Black,
1
Stillwater,
Lumber dealer.
Jesse Taylor,
1
Stillwater,
Not reported.
John D. Ludden,
1
Marine,
Lumber dealer.
Charles S. Cave,
2
St. Paul,
Saloon keeper.
W. P. Murray,
2
St. Paul,
Lawyer.
S. D. Findlay,
2
Near Ft. Snellin
g, Indian trader.
J. W. Selby,
2
St. Paul,
Farmer.
J. E. Fullerton,
2
St. Paul,
Merchant.
S. W. Farnham,
3
St. Anthony,
Lumberman.
J. H. Murphy,
3
St. Anthony,
Physician.
F. S. Richards.
4
Lake Pepin,
Trader.
James Beatty,
5
Itasca,
Farmer.
David Day,
5
Long Prairie,
Physician.
James McBoal,
6
Mendota,
Painter.
B. H. Randall,
6
Fort Snelling,
Clerk.
Joseph Rolette,
7
Pembina,
Clerk.
Antoine Gingras,
7
Pembina,
Hunter.
John D. Ludden, of Marine, was elected speaker.
118
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Political discussions did not disturb the' sittings of this assembly, nor
did political issues cut any figure in the election of members. The
people were more deeply interested in the ratification of the Dakota
treaties of July and August, than in the discussion of political questions.
Hennepin county was created during this session, and an act was
passed to punish trespassers on school lands. The election of a dele-
gate was postponed, by enactment, until October, 1853. Even at this
early day the temperance question enlisted the attention of the people,
and it was so urged upon the attention of the Legislature that a law
similar to the Maine Liquor Law in its provisions, was passed, referring
the question back to the people and the ballot-box. An election was
authorized to be held on the first Monday in April, and if the law was
then ratified by the people, it was to become operative from and after
the first day of May following. In St. Paul and .Ramsey county the
discussion of the law was a theme of general interest among all classes,
and the subject of sermons in all the pulpits — Protestant and Catholic
ministers all joining in advocacy of the approval of the law. When it
become known that Ramsey county had voted in favor of the law,- all
the church bells at the capital were made to ring out glad peals simul-
taneously about the hour of nine o'clock at night. The good people of
St. Paul never went to bed in a happier frame of mind than on the
night of the day when they learned that the sovereign voters had
declared, by their ballots, that King Alcohol should no longer be
allowed an abiding place in their midst.
The vote on liquor law was as follows :
COUNTIES.
FOR.
AGAINST.
COUNTIES.
FOR.
AGAINST.
528
218
32
496
68
4
13
62
3
Benton and Cass.
Total
91
853
662
Congress was memoralized in regard to changing the name of the
River St. Peters. The memorial set forth that ever since the acquisition
of the country by the United States, this river had been called St.
Pierre by the French, and Anglicized by the Americans into St. Peters.
The memorial further cited (Neill) that the stream was named after
Mons. St. Pierre, who was never in this country, which is incorrect. It
then asserted "that Minnesota is the true name of this stream as given
to it in ages past by the strong and powerful tribes of aborigines, the
Dakotas, who dwelt upon its banks, and, that not only to assimulate the
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
119
name of the river with that of the Territory and future State of Minne-
sota, but to follow what we believe to be the dictates of a correct taste,
and to show a proper regard for the memory of the great nation whose
homes our people are soon to possess, we desire that it should be so
designated." Agreeable to the request of the memorial an act was
passed ordering the word St. Peters to be discontinued in public docu-
ments, and Minnesota employed in its place.
The first report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction was pre-
sented at this session of the Legislature. It was an elaborate docu-
ment, and contained not only a full and concise account of the condition
of the schools of the Territory, but it also contained many valuable
suggestions that have had an important and influential bearing upon the
welfare of the school interests. The following table represents the
condition and number of school districts in the Territory on the 1st of
January, 1852.
SCHOOL HOUSE, BY
■WHOM OWNED.
WHEN BUILT.
COST.
DIMENSIONS.
SIZE OP LOT.
Washington county.
16 by 18 ft.
20 by 30 ft.
20 by 30 ft
18 by 36 ft.
20 by 24 ft.
24 by 34 ft.
[No school building
erected or school kept.]
District
1848
Now build'g.
1850
1848
1849
$600
400
600
50 by 150 ft.
75 by 150 ft.
Benton county.
[No returns received.]
Bamsey county.
Private individual.
No returns.
St. Paul, No. 2
50 by 150 ft.
" No 3
" No 4
{ acre.
None.
No returns.
No returns.
District No. 8
The Legislature adjourned on the 6th of March.
The fourth session of the Legislature convened on the 5th day of
January, 1853.
Councillors.— First district, Elam Greeley, D. B. Loomis ; 2d, George
W. Farrington, William H.Forbes; 3d, William L. Lamed; 4th, L. A.
Babcock ; 5th, S. B. Lowry ; 6th, Martin McLeod ; 7th, N. W. Kittson.
Martin McLeod, of Lac qui Parle, was chosen as presiding officer.
Representatives. — First district, N. Greene Wilcox, John D. Ludden,
Albert Stimson, Caleb Truax; 2d, William P. Murray, B. W. Lott, J. C.
Ramsey, L. M. Olivier, William Noot; 3d, R. P. Russell, G. B. Dutton ;
4th, James Wells ; 5th, David Day ; 6th, A. E. Ames, B. H. Randall ;
7th, Joseph Rolette, Antoine Gingras.
120 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
David Day, of Long Prairie, was elected speaker.
The liquor law question was reopened at this session. A majority of
citizens petitioned for the passage of a law that would be free from the
objections held against the law enacted at the previous session, and a
new law was framed by the friends of temperance, but it failed to pass.
Petitions were presented at this session, asking for a division of the
school fund in the interest of the Catholic Church. A law was framed
looking to that end, but it failed to pass. The bill was introduced by
Mr. Murray, of the second representative district, and lead to a good
deal of discussion. The moderate and liberal-minded people of all
denominations, and the friends of the American free school system,
were amazed and surprised at the attempt to enact such a law, and the
popular clamor against it became so great that the bill failed of a third
reading in the House. When the question recurred on a third reading
the ayes and noes were called, with the following result: Ayes, 5;
noes, 12. " So the House refused to order the bill to be read a third
time."
Eleven new counties, all on the west side of the Mississippi River,
were created at this session — Dakota, Goodhue, Wabasha, Fillmore,
Scott, Le Sueur, Rice, Blue Earth, Sibley, Nicollet and Pierce.
The Baldwin School was incorporated at this session and opened the
following June. The male department of this school subsequently
became subject to a separate charter, and is now known as the College
of St. Paul.
The Legislature adjourned on the fifth of March.
The election of Franklin Pierce to the presidency in 1852, involved
a change in the officers and policy of the Territory. Governor Ramsey
was appointed under the Whig administration of Zachary Taylor, carried
out by Mr. Fillmore, who succeeded to the presidency because of the
death of Mr. Taylor. Mr. Pierce was elected as a representative Dem-
ocrat, and, as had been the practice with all political parties since
President Jackson established the rule that " to the victors belong the
spoils," when he was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1853, he pro-
ceeded to exercise the prerogative of removing all the appointees of
his predecessor, and filling their places with men whose political pre-
dilections were in harmony with his own. W. A. Gorman, of Indiana,
was appointed Governor to succeed Mr. Ramsey ; J. T. Rosser, of Vir-
ginia, was appointed Secretary; W. H. Welch, of Minnesota, Chief
Justice ; and Moses Sherburne, of Maine, and A. G. Chatfield, of Wis-
consin, were appointed Associate Judges.
Soon after assuming the duties of his position, Governor Gorman
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
121
made a treaty with the Winnebago Indians at Watab, Benton county,
for an exchange of country. At the close of the summer, the Dakotas
began to remove from their former villages along the Mississippi to the
Upper Minnesota reserve.
In October of this year (1853,) Henry M. Rice was elected as dele-
gate to Congress. His opponent was Alexander Wilkin. Two thousand
eight hundred and forty-five votes were cast for delegate, of which Mr.
Rice had 2,149 and Mr. Wilkin 696, giving Mr. Rice a majority of 1,453.
The election contest this year was marked by bitter personal con-
troversy, and the parties were known as Fur Company and Anti-Fur
Company. In 1854 there were new combinations. Men who had pre-
viously stood shoulder to shoulder and worked hand in hand, were
found arrayed against each other in bitter political hostility. Ramsey,
Rice and Robertson were pitched against Sibley and Gorman.
The fifth legislature assembled in the capitol building, (which had
just been completed,) on the 4th of January.
COUNCILLORS.
Name.
Age. Nativity.
Name.
Age
Nativity.
S. B. Olmstead,
41 Otsego Co., N. Y.
A. Stimson,
37
York Co., Maine.
J. E. Brown,
48 York Co., Penn.
W. P. Murray,
28
Butler Co., Ohio.
I. Van Etten,
27 Orange Co., N. Y
W. Freeborn,
37
Eichland Co., Ohio.
N. W. Kittson,
40 Sorel, Canada.
REPRESS
J. E. Mower,
NTATIVES.
36
Somerset Co., Maine
E. Watson,
28 Scotland.
John Fisher,
29
Canada West.
Cephas Gardner,
53 New Hampshire.
H. Fletcher,
35
Maine.
W. A. Davis,
31 St. Louis, Mo.
E. M. Eichardson
36
Pickaway Co., Ohio.
Levi Sloan,
31 Schoharie, N. Y.
J. H. Day,
33
Virginia.
W. H. Nobles,
36 Genesee Co., N. Y.
0. M. Lord,
27
Wyoming Co., N. Y
Wm. McKusick,
28 Maine.
Louis Bartlette,
33
Montreal, C. E.
D. G. Morrison,
27 Fond du Lac, M. T.
H. S. Pluraer,
25
Sheffield Co., N. H.
C. P. Stearns,
46 Berkshire Co., Mass.
William Noot,
43
Prussia.
N. C. D. Taylor,
42 Belknap Co., N. H.
Joseph Eolette,
32
Prairie du Chien.
Peter Eoy,
26 Eainy Lake, M. T.
8. B. Olmstead, of Belle Prairie, President of the Senate ; N. C. D.
Taylor, of Taylor's Falls, Speaker of the House.
Governor Gorman delivered his first annual message on the 10th.
The three most prominent features of the message were those divisions
relating to railroad matters, educational affairs and the interests of the
lumbermen.
The act relating to the incorporation of the Minnesota and North-
western Railroad Company, introduced by Joseph R. Brown, was the
most exciting topic of this session. It was passed after the hour of mid-
night on the last day of the session, and contrary to the expectation of
122 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Gov. Gorman's friends, he approved and signed the bill and it became
a law.
The Legislature adjourned on the 4th of March.
GRAND EXCURSION TO MINNESOTA — A RAILROAD SERMON — RAILROAD LAND
GRANT.
In the month of June of 1854, Mr. Farnham, the builder of the Rock
Island Railroad, inaugurated and carried into effect, a grand project for
an excursion of the magnates of the country — statesmen, scientists, his-
torians, editors, divines, professors, etc. — via that road and the Missis-
sippi River, to St. Paul and the Minnesota country. Five large steam-
ers were chartered for the occasion, and were in readiness at Rock
Island when the excursionists reached that city of the rapids, to convey
the party to the point of destination. This was probably the begin-
ning of the practice, now so common among railroad capitalists and
" land grabbers," of extending to the national law makers free rides to
such parts of the country as offer inviting opportunities for speculation
and land monopoly. Mr. Farnham and his invited guests may not have
foreseen nor anticipated the abuses to which that excursion opened the
way. It may have been prompted by honest purposes ; it may have
originated in pure motives ; but it is a fact, well known to every close
observer of passing events, that such excursions in later years always
result in national legislation favorable to land monopolists. But we
are not writing an essay on political economy.
The excursionists numbered one thousand men and women, among
whom were ex-President Fillmore, George Bancroft, Professor Silliman,
Edward Robinson, L. L. D., Prof. Gibbs and Prof. Larned, of Yale
College; Prof. Parker, of Harvard College; Prof. H. B. Smith, of New
York ; Rev. Drs. Vermilye, Spring and Bacon, Charles Sedgwick, Miss
Catharine Sedgwick, and many others of note and character. The
arrival of the line of steamboats at St. Paul that conveyed the excur-
sionists was one day sooner than expected, and before preparations for
their reception were completed, but they were right royally received
and entertained notwithstanding. The Falls of St. Anthony, Fort
Snelling, and other points of interest were visited. In fact, the visitors
came to Minnesota on a sight-seeing expedition, and were determined
to see all that could be seen or that was worth seeing. And the people
of St. Paul, proud to entertain so distinguished a party, gave themselves
up to showing them the sights. There was no time for anything else.
While the visitors remained, business was almost suspended. Lawyers
laid aside their briefs ; territorial politicians and aspirants for place and
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 123
fame, were never more obsequious or graciously condescending;
merchants never wore more smiling faces nor gave better measure ;
real estate speculators were never more glib of speech or ready to point
out the advantages of the growing metropolis of the northwest.
Preachers had no time to study and write their sermons in nicely rounded
sentences, but were left to speak to their audiences under the influences
and inspirations of the occasion. Of the discourses delivered on the
Sunday the excursionists remained in St. Paul, Rev. E. D. Neill, then a
young man, comparatively speaking, preached one that gave him a
national reputation and elicited no small degree of criticism from the
Eastern press, especially from the " Daily Times," of New York. The
sermon was an impromptu one, the words of which were spoken
without previous thought or preparation, and was based upon the
following passages of Holy Writ:
Isaiah xl, 3. — The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of
the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be
exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low ; and the crooked shall be made
straight, and the rough places plain.
Judges v, 6.— In the days of Shawgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Joel, the
highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through byways.
June 29th, following this excursion, Congress passed an act to aid in
the construction of a railroad in the Territory of Minnesota. The act
was approved by President Pierce, and an order was issued from the
general land office to the land offices in Minnesota, withdrawing from
sale certain townships on the line of the proposed road, and Minneso-
tians rejoiced.
So much for the influence of the excursion with Congress.
Some days after the passage of this act, it was discovered that some
alterations had been made in the wording of the bill after it left the
House, and on the 24th of July, Mr. Washburne, of Illinois, rose to a
question of privilege. He stated that a material alteration had been
made in the bill after its engrossment. The original wording of the bill
was carefully overhauled. The first alteration Mr. Washburne had
noticed, was the striking out of the word " future," but this erasure he
believed had been made by the committee (on public lands.) "The
second alteration, he charged as being made after the bill was engrossed,
was the changing of the word ' or,' to the word ' and,' so as to read
' constituted and organized company.' This company, not being consti-
tuted and organized, expects to hold these lands under the bill, and he
charged this object in the alteration. The word was in a hand different
from that of the engrossment. This was a matter affecting deeply the
proceedings of the House, and it was due that an examination should
124 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
be made, as the records of this House have been mutilated." He moved
for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the fact, with
power to send for persons and papers, and to examine witnesses under
oath."
These statements of Mr. Washburne, called out several personal
explanations from members, all of whom protested their innocence of
any desire to change the wording of the bill for sinister or dishonest
purposes. Pending the discussion of these matters, Mr. Letcher, of
Virginia, introduced a repeal bill. Some of the members maintained
that the House could not take such action, but when the bill (Letcher's)
was called up for final action on the morning of the 3rd of August, it
passed by a large majority, and the Minnesota land grant bill was
repealed.
Mr. Neill says : " The Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad Company,
contended that they had complied with the provisions of Congress, and
that that body had no right to repeal. A complaint was brought before
Judge Welch, at a session of the United States District Court in Good-
hue county, against the company. The complaint alleged that the
company had cut and carried away five hundred trees, the property of
the United States, in Goodhue county. On the fourth of November,
Chief Justice Welch, gave judgment in favor of the company. The
case was carried up to the Supreme Court of Minnesota, on December
sixth, which confirmed the decision of Judge Welch. Chancellor Wal-
worth, and other jurists of New York, furnished written opinions that
Congress had no right to repeal the act. The case was then taken to
the Supreme Court of the United States, and at the December term,
1855, the attorney general moved to dismiss the case, which motion was
granted The company triumphed, but the discussion of the subject
continued to be agitated for several years. In his message to the
Legislature in January, 1855, Governor Gorman "took strong grounds
against the railroad charter, and in the United States House of Repre-
sentatives, a resolution was passed declaring the charter of the Minnesota
and Northwestern Company null. On the 27th of February, the United
States Senate refused to approve the resolution that had passed the
House, annulling the charter of the company. The news that the charter
was not annulled, caused great rejoicing among the friends of the
railroad, and on Saturday night, March 24th, there was a general illu-
mination of the principal stores and residences of the capital.
" Governor Gorman having vetoed the bill passed by the Minnesota
Legislature, amending the act incorporating the Minnesota and North-
western Railroad Company, it was again passed in the Legislature on
February 21st, by a two-thirds vote and became a law."
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 125
FIRST EXECUTION OF THE DEATH PENALTY.
On the afternoon of the 27th of December, 1855, the first execution
of the death penalty was carried into effect by the hanging of a Dakota
Indian named Yuhozee, for the murder of a German woman. The
circumstances of the murder are thus stated: The murdered woman
was traveling with others above Shakopee, when Yuhozee and some
other Indians met them. As they gathered about the wagon in which
the woman was riding, the Indians became much excited, and Yuhozee
punched the woman with his gun. One of the party remonstrated with
him for the cowardly act, when he immediately loaded his gun and shot
and killed the woman and wounded one of the men. He was arrested
and held for trial. His trial came on at the November term (1852) of
the United States District Court for Ramsey county, Judge Hayner*
presiding. He was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. Under
the laws then existing one convicted of murder could not be executed
until twelve months had elapsed, and Yuhozee was ordered into close
confinement until the Governor of the Territory should issue a warrant
for his execution.
The execution took place in St. Paul. About two o'clock, the pris-
oner, dressed in a white shroud, was taken from the old log jail by the
officers of the law, and conveyed in a carriage to the place of execution.
" He was assisted up the steps that led to the scaffold, where he made a
few remarks in his native language, and was then executed. A dis-
graceful rabble surrounded the scaffold, and none of the decencies of
the law were manifested on the occasion. * * * * Numerous
ladies sent in a petition to the Governor asking the pardon of the
Indian," but it had no other effect than to elicit from Governor Gorman
a lengthy letter of refusal. The letter was couched in firm, but
respectful language. We quote the following paragraphs :
" The murder for which this unfortunate child of nature is condemned, was without a
shadow of excuse. It was seemingly deliberate, and his victim was of your sex, inno-
cent and defenseless. She was murdered by the side of a poor, but no doubt fond and
devoted husband, while in the public highway, wending their course to a new home.
" If such criminals should be allowed to escape the stern demands of the law, others
of his savage tribe might be tempted to hope for a like release, and commit a like
offense ; and the danger of such results would be far greater from Indians than from
civilized man.
" Every effort that can be has been made to save him by the law. An impartial jury
of the county gave him a fair trial, and found him guilty. And there is no just reason
known to stay the execution of the law."
* Judge Puller's nomination was not confirmed and Henry C. Hayner was appointed to the vacancy in
1862.
126 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
This letter was addressed to Mrs. Julia E. Fillmore, Mrs. Anna E.
Ramsey, Mrs. E. R. Hollinshead, and others.
SIXTH LEGISLATURE — FIRST BRIDGE OVER THE MISSISSIPPI.
The sixth session of the Legislature commenced on the third day of
January, 1855. A number of the old members had been re-elected.
William P. Murray, of St. Paul, was chosen to preside over the delib-
erations of the Council, and James S. Norris was elected speaker of the
House.
The last days of the first month of this year marked an important
period in the history of the capital of the territory, if not in the entire
country. In this month was completed at St. Paul the first bridge over
the Mississippi between Lake Itasca and the Gulf of Mexico. The com-
pletion of this structure added fresh laurels to the character already
accredited to Minnesota's capital-ists for energy and enterprise. In
honor of the event, and to join with the people in rejoicing over the
occasion, the Legislature adjourned over one day. This bridge is made
of wire, and is the only one of the many that have since been built over
the Father of Waters, that is sufficiently elevated to permit the pas-
sage of steamboats without a draw or turn section. It is in nowise an
obstruction to navigation. At the time of its completion the patent for
the land on which the west piers were built had not issued from
the government land office — a remarkable evidence of the wonderful
growth and development of the Minnesota country.
The Legislature adjourned on the third of March.
APPORTIONMENT OF 1855 — ENLARGEMENT OF THE LEGISLATURE.
In section four of the organic act it was provided that the number of
councillors and representatives might be increased by the Legislature
from time to time, in proportion to the increase of population, but that
the whole number should never exceed fifteen councillors and thirty-
nine representatives. In accordance with the provisions of this act,
the Legislature of 1855 made a new apportionment and re-districted
the State so that the Seventh Legislature consisted of fifteen council-
lors and thirty-eight representatives. John B. Brisbin was chosen as
president of the Council, and Charles Gardiner was elected speaker of
the House. The session commenced on the second day of January,
1856, and adjourned on the first day of March.
The Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad question came before this
session as it had come before previous ones. Governor Gorman devoted
a good share of his annual message to railroad measures, and expressed
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 127
strong opposition to the old company and the terms and conditions of
its charter. He had but little confidence in the honesty of the com-
pany or its purpose to carry out, in good faith, its part of the contract
as stipulated in the act of incorporation. The Legislature passed an
act granting the company an extension of time ; which, contrary to
the expectations of the people, was approved and signed by Governor
Gorman on the last night of the session.
During the sitting of this legislature, the question of dividing the
territory by an east and west line so as to form a new territory north of
the forty-sixth degree of latitude, was discussed to some extent, but no
definite action was taken, and the proposition ended with the adjourn-
ment of the session.
The affairs of the Territory were remarkably tranquil during the spring,
summer and fall of 1856. The people were generally too much
absorbed in their own personal affairs — making claims, building houses,
and otherwise laying foundations for homes, to engage in the discussion
of political issues to any extent, and so the season passed away in
almost undisturbed quiet.
The eighth and last regular session of the Territorial Legislature
convened on the 7th of January, 1857. J. B. Brisbin was elected
President of the Council, and J. W. Furber, Speaker of the House.
The most exciting topic attending this session, was the passage of a
bill by the House to remove the capitol from St. Paul to St. Peter, on
the Minnesota River. The bill, however, failed to become a law. The
excitement in and out of the legislature while this measure was pending
was intense and absorbing, and was the occasion of the council remain-
ing in continued session for a period of one hundred and twenty-three
hours, during which time the members partook of their meals and slept
in the council chamber.
James Buchanan was elected president in November, 1856, and
entered upon the duties of his office on the 4th of March, 1857. This
change of the national executive involved a change of territorial
officers, and Governor Gorman was succeeded by Samuel Medary, of
Ohio, who served until the territory became a state, and was clothed
with power to chose its own governor. He served as governor of the
territory from April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858, one year and one month,
and was the last territorial governor.
TERRITORIAL DELEGATES TO CONGRESS.
H. H. Sibley, 1849 to 1853.
H. M. Rice, 1853 to 1857.
Kingsbury, 1857 to organization of State.
128
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
REPRESENTATIVES TO CONGRESS.
W. W. Phelps, M. C 1858 to 1860
J. N. Cavanaugh, M. C 1858 to 1860
Wm. Windom, M. 1860 to 1868
Cyrus Aldrich, M. C I860 to 1863
I. Donnelly, M. C 1863 to 1868
M. D. Wilkinson, M. C 1868 to 1870
E. M. Willson, M. C 1869 to 1871
J. T. Averill, M. C 1871 to 1875
M. H. Dunnell, M. C 1871 to 1879
H. B. Strait, M. C 1872 to 1879
W. S. King, M. C 1875 to 1877
J. H. Stewart, M. C 1877 to 1879
UNITED STATES SENATORS.
James Shields 1858 to 1861
H. M. Rice 1858 to 1863
Wm. Windom 1867 to 1883
D. S. Norton 1865 to 1870
O. P. Stearns 1871 to fill vacancy.
Alex. Ramsey 1863 to 1875
M. S. Wilkinson 1861 to 1867
S. J. R. McMillan 1875 to 1881
OFFICERS OF MINNESOTA TERRITORY FROM JUNE 1, 1849,
TO MAY 24, 1858.
GOVERNORS.
Alexander Ramsey, of Pennsylvania, from June 1, 1849, to May 15,
1853.
Willis A. Gorman, of Indiana, from May 15, 1853, to April 23, 1857.
Samuel Medary, from April 23,1857, to May 24, 1858.
Alexander Ramsey is the only one of the three territorial governors
that still survives. Gorman and Medary are both dead.
SECRETARIES.
Charles K. Smith,* June 1, 1849, to October 23, 1851.
Alexander Wilkin,* October 23, 1851, to May 15, 1853.
Joseph Travis Rosser,* May 15, 1853, to April 15, 1857.
Charles L. Chase, April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858.
TREASURERS.
Calvin A. Tuttle, November 3, 1849, to 1853.
George W. Prescott, 1853, to 1854.
Charles E. Leonard. 1854, to May 7, 1857.
George W. Armstrong, May 7, 1857, to May 24, 1858.
AUDITORS.
J. E. McKusick, November 3, 1849.
A. VanVorhes, to May 15, 1853.
Socrates Nelson,* May 15, 1853, to April 23, 1857.
Julius Georgii, April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858.
* Deceased.
M«"
-
./•.
Z/MT £//>:
.OE.N FCK
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 129
ATTORNEYS GENERAL.
Lorenzo A. Babcock,* June 1, 1849, to May 15, 1853.
Lafayette Emmet, May 15, 1853, to May 24, 1858.
JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.
CHIEF JUSTICES.
Aaron Goodrich, June 1, 1849, to November 13, 1851.
Jerome Fuller, November 15,1851.
Henry Z. Hayner, 1852. [Never presided at a term.]
William H. Walsh,* April 7, 1853, to May 24, 1858.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICES.
David Cooper, June 1, 1849, to April 7, 1853.
Bradley B. Meeker,* June 1, 1849, to April 7, 1853.
Andrew G. Chatfield,* April 7, 1853, to April 23, 1857.
Moses Sherburne,* April 7, 1853, to April 23, 1857.
R. R. Nelson, April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858.
Charles E. Flandrau, April 23, 1857, to May 24, 1858.
CLERKS OF SUPREME COURT.
James K. Humphrey, January 14, 1850, to 1853.
Andrew J. Whitney, 1853, to 1854.
George W. Prescott, 1855, to May 24, 1858.
REPORTERS OF SUPREME COURT.
William Hollinshead,* appointed July 7, 1851.
Isaac Atwater, appointed March, 1852.
John B. Brisbin, appointed February 28, 1854.
M. E. Ames,* appointed March 20, 1856.
Harvey Officer, appointed November 27, 1857.
STATE ORGANIZATION.
An act was passed by Congress on the 23d day of February, 1857, to
enable the people of Minnesota to form a State constitution ; and
during the last days of that session another act was passed making a
grant of land in alternate sections, to aid in the construction of certain
* Deceased.
10
130 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
railroads. The eighth session of the territorial legislature adjourned
on the 7th of March, and soon thereafter Governor Gorman issued a
proclamation calling an extra session, to take into consideration such
measures as were necessary to carry these Congressional enactments
into force and effect. The extra session met on the 27th of April, and
received the message of Governor Medary, which had been prepared
for the occasion and properly transmitted. "An act was passed to
execute the trust created by Congress ; and the lands, under certain
conditions, were given to certain chartered railroad companies." The
extra session adjourned on the 23d of May, and on the first Monday in
June, an election was held to choose delegates to the constitutional
convention, which was called to assemble at St. Paul on the second
Monday in July. The election resulted, as was generally believed, in
the choice of a majority of Republicans.
The organization of the convention was not harmoniously effected.
The enabling act had not fixed the hour at which the convention should
meet on the second Monday, and fearing the Democrats might meet
and elect the officers of the convention, the Republicans took advantage
of the omission, and at midnight of Sunday, before the day of meeting,
repaired to the capitol and took possession. A little before noon of
Monday the Secretary of the Territory entered the Speaker's place and
commenced to call the members to order. At the same time, Delegate
J. W. North, acting under a written request from a majority of the
members, commenced to do the same thing. Confusion reigned. The
Secretary of the Territory put a motion to adjourn, which prevailed,
and the Democrats left the hall. The Republicans believing they had
a majority of the members, remained and perfected an organization.
The two wings were constituted as follows:
REPURLICAN WING.
1. P. A. Cederstam, W. H. C. Folsom, L. K. Stannard, Charles F.
Lowe.
3. S. W. Putnam, D. M. Hall, D. A. Secombe, P. Winell, L. C. Walker,
J. H. Murphy.
4. Charles McClure, Aaron G. Hudson, George Watson, Frank
Mantor, Joseph Peckham.
5. Fred. Ayer.
6. John W. North, Thomas Bolles, Oscar E. Perkins, Thomas J. Gal-
braith, D. D. Dickenson.
8. Alanson B. Vaughan, C. W. Thompson, John A. Anderson, Charles
A. Coe, N. P. Colburn, James A. McCann, H. A. Billings, Charles Han-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 131
son, H. W. Holley, John Cleghorn, A. H. Butler, Robert Lyle, Boyd
Phelps.
9. St. A. D. Balcombe, William H. Mills, Charles Gerrish, Simlow
Harding, Nathan B. Robbins, W. J. Duly, Samuel A. Kemp, Thomas
Wilson, David L. King, Benjamin C. Baldwin.
10. Amos Coggswell, Lewis McCune, Edwin Page Davis.
11. Cyrus Aldrich, Wentworth Hayden, R. L. Bartholomew, W. F.
Russell, Henry Eschlie, Charles B. Shelden, David Morgan, E. N. Bates,
Albert W. Combs, T. D. Smith, B. E. Messer— 59.
St. A. D. Balcombe was elected president, and L. A. Babcock was
chosen secretary.
DEMOCRATIC WING.
1. William Holcomb, James S. Norris, Henry N. Setzer, Gould T.
Curtis, Charles G. Leonard, Newington Gilbert, Charles E. Butler, R. H.
Sanderson.
2. George L. Becker, Moses Sherburne, D. A. J. Baker, Lafayette
Emmett, William P. Murray, W. A. Gorman, William H. Taylor, John S.
Prince, Patrick Nash, William B. McGrorty, Paul Faber, Michael E.
Ames.
3. B. B. Meeker, William M. Lashelles, C. A. Tuttle, C. L. Chase.
4. Edwin C. Stacy.
5. Daniel Gilman, H. C. Waite, J. C. Shepley, William Sturgis, J.
W. Tenvoorde, W. W. Kingsbury, R. H. Barrett.
6. Henr} r H. Sibley, Robert Kennedy, Daniel J. Burns, Frank War-
ner, William A. Davis, Joseph Burraell, Henry G. Bailey, Andrew
Keegan.
7. James McFetridge, J. P. Wilson, J. Jerome, Xavier Cantell, Joseph
Rolette, Louis Vasseur.
8. James C. Day.
10. Joseph R.Brown, C. E. Flandrau, Francis Baasen, William B.
McMahon, J. H. Swan.
11. Alfred E. Ames— 53.
After leaving the Hall of the House of Representatives, the Demo-
crats re-assembled in the Senate Chamber, and claiming to be the true
body, proceeded to perfect an organization by the election of Henry
H. Sibley, as president, and choosing J. J. Noah, as secretary.
Each body proceeded to the work of framing a constitution, each
believing it was the legally constituted body. After some days an
understanding was reached between the two bodies, and by means of
conference committees the same constitution was framed by both wings,
132 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
and submitted to the people, by whom it was ratified at an election
held on the 13th of October. The convention dissolved on the 29th of
August. The vote in favor of the constitution was almost unanimous.
Section seven of article five of the constitution, provided that "the
term of each of the officers named in this article, shall commence on
taking the oath of office, after the State shall be admitted by Congress
into the Union." On the 29th of January, 1858, Mr. Douglas introduced
a bill in the U. S. Senate, for the admission of Minnesota into the Union
on terms of equality with the other States. The Kansas question was
a disturbing element at that time, and some of the southern Senators
were opposed to taking action in regard to the admission of Minnesota,
until that question was settled. On the first day of February, a spirited
discussion ensued on the bill, in which Douglas, Wilson, Gavin, Hale,
Mason, Green, Brown, and Crittenden, participated. The bill passed
the Senate on the 7th of April, with only three dissenting votes. In a
few days thereafter, the bill was considered in the House, and agreed
to, and out of one hundred and ninety-six votes, one hundred and fifty-
eight were cast in favor of admission. On the 11th day of May, 1858,
President Buchanan approved and signed the bill, and Minnesota
became a sovereign and independent State of the American Union,
with the following boundaries:
Beginning at the point in the centre of the main channel of the Red
River of the North, where the boundary line between the United States
and the British Possessions cross the same ; thence up the main channel
of said river to that of the Bois dis Sioux River ; thence up the main
channel of said river to Lake Traverse ; thence up the center of said
lake to the southern extremity thereof ; thence in a direct line to the
head of Big Stone Lake; thence through its centre to its outlet ; thence
by a due south line to the north line of the State of Iowa; thence east
along the northern boundary of the said State to the main channel of
the Mississippi River ; thence up the main channel of said river, and
following the boundary of the State of Wisconsin, until the same inter-
sects the St. Louis River ; thence down the said river to and through
Lake Superior, on the boundary line of Wisconsin and Michigan, until
it intersects the dividing line between the United States and British
Possessions ; thence up Pigeon River, and following said dividing line
to the place of beginning.
The first State Legislature, consisting of thirty-seven Senators and
eighty Representatives, convened on Wednesday, December 2, 1857.
Richard G. Murphy presided over the Senate until June 2, when
he was succeeded by Lieutenant-Governor Holcombe, who with the
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 133
other State officers had taken the oath of office, and entered upon the
discharge of the duties of their several offices. J. S. Watsons was
speaker of the House until the 12th of March, when he was succeeded
by Hon. George Bradley. On the 25th of March, 1858, a recess was taken
until the 2d day of June, from which time it remained in session until
the 12th of August, when it adjourned. In the month of December,
soon after the Legislature organized, Henry M. Rice and James Shields
were elected to represent the new State in the United States Senate.
H. H. Sibley, who had been elected governor, entered upon the dis-
charge of his duties on the 24th day of May, 1858.
HARD TIMES — RELIEF SOUGHT THROUGH RAILROAD CORPORATIONS.
When Minnesota became a State, the entire country was suffering
from financial depression and embarrassements. There was a famine
in the money market, and those who had hoped to aid the develop-
ment of the new State on borrowed capital found themselves con-
fronted by disappointment. The exigencies of the times were sore and
pressing, and the pioneers were ready and willing to listen to any one
who had a panacea to offer that promised relief. An act of Congress,
approved March 5, 1857, granted 4,500,000 acres of land to the Terri-
tory to aid in the construction of a system of railways.
Soon after the passage of this bill, a combination of shrewd, cunning
men was formed for the purpose of securing control of these lands, and
on the 22d of May, 1857, during the extra session of the Legislature, an
act was passed giving the entire grant to certain railroad companies.
Not long after the passage of this act, however, the people discovered
that those who had obtained control of the lands had neither money
nor credit to carry out any of their promised schemes of internal
improvements. In the winter of 1857-8 the first session of the State
Legislature was -invoked by the railroad corporations, and another act
was passed, submitting to the people an amendment to the constitu-
tion, providing for the loan of State credit to the land grant railroad
companies to the amount of $5,000,000, on condition that a certain
amount of labor was performed on the projected road. Such public-
spirited men as ex-Governor Gorman, D. A. Robertson, William R.
Marshall and others saw nothing but mischief in this scheme, and
opposed it with all the force they could command, but without avail.
On the 15th of April, 1858, the people voted on the amendment, and
approved it by a majority of 18,290 votes, out of a total vote of 31,756.
Before the adoption of this amendment, the constitution prohibited
the State from loaning its credit to any individual or corporation, but
134 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
by the adoption of this amendment, section ten of article 9 of the con-
stitution was made to read —
"The credit of this State shall never be given or loaned in aid of any
individual, association or corporation ; except that for the purpose of
expediting the construction of the lines of railroads, in aid of which
the Congress of the United States has granted lands to the Territory of
Minnesota, the governor shall cause to be issued and delivered to each
of the companies in which said grants are vested by the Legislative
Assembly of Minnesota, the special bonds of the State, bearing an
interest of seven per cent, per annum, payable semi-annually in the
City of New York, as a loan of public credit, to an amount not exceed-
ing twelve hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or an aggregate amount
to all of said companies not exceeding five millions of dollars, in manner
following, to wit," etc.
The sober, second thought came and a reaction in public sentiment
commenced. The words of warning of Messrs. Gorman, Robertson,
Marshall, et al., had not been without, influence, and on the 6th of
November the people voted to amend this article so as to read:
"The credit of the State shall never be given or loaned in aid of any individual,
association or corporation ; nor shall there be any further issue of bonds denominated
Minnesota State Railroad Bonds, under what purports to be an amendment to section
ten (10,) of article nine (9,) of the constitution, adopted April fifteenth, eighteen
hundred and fifty-eight, which is hereby expunged from the constitution, saving,
excepting and reserving to the State, nevertheless, all rights, remedies and forfeitures
accruing under said amendment."
Governor Sibley refused to issue these bonds unless the companies
claiming them would give first mortgage bonds with priority of lien
upon their lands, roads and franchises in favor of the State. The
companies refused to do this, and one of the companies applied to the
Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to compel the governor to issue
the bonds without restrictions. In November the Court, Judge
Flandrau dissenting, ordered the governor to issue the bonds as soon
as the company delivered their first mortgage bonds, as provided by the
constitution.
The bonds did not become popular with capitalists. They were not
regarded as either safe or profitable investments, and became a drug in
the market. After more than $2,000,000 of bonds had been issued, not
an iron rail had been laid, and only about 250 miles of grading com-
pleted. In his annual message to the second Legislature in December,
1858, Governor Sibley said in relation to the loan of the State credit:
"I regret to be obliged to state that the measure has proved a
failure, and has by no means accomplished what was" hoped from it,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 135
either in providing means for the issue of a safe currency, or of aiding
the companies in the completion of the work upon the roads."
Alexander Ramsey was elected governor in the fall of 1859, and his
administration had to wrestle with the complications growing out of
the mistaken policy of loaning the state credit to railroad companies,
and his inaugural message delivered to the second Legislature, on the
2d of January, 1860, was largely devoted to a discussion of the question,
and the suggestion of "ways and means" to relieve the embarrassment.
MINNESOTIANS IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.
If there is any one thing more than another of which the people of
the Northern States have reason to be proud, it is of the record they
made during the War of the Rebellion. And no State in the patriotic
Union-loving North, made a clearer, bolder, more commendable record
than the infant State of Minnesota.
This war came on in the third year of Minnesota's existence as a
State and in the second year of Governor Ramsey's administration.
The people had scarcely become accustomed to the new order of
things — to the transition of State independency from territorial depend-
ency — and, busied with their individual plans and purposes, for the
building of homes and the accumulation of a competence that would
secure them against want in the days of old age, they had paid but
little heed to the threatenings and mutterings of discontented, oligar-
chical slave breeders, slave traders and slave drivers. With the
exception of these southern mutterings, the country was enjoying
national peace and tranquility when Abraham Lincoln was elected to
the presidency in November, 1860. The growth of the Republican
party and the spread of its freedom-loving principles threatened to
overcome and destroy the influence and power of the proslavery party
in the National Legislature, and assuming to believe that it was the
purpose and intention of Mr. Lincoln and the Republican party to
destroy their cherished institution, they inaugurated a movement tor
the destruction of the Union and the erection of an independent con-
federacy wherein the will of the slave breeder should be the supreme
law of the land.
The spring of 1861 found Fort Sumter, at Charleston, South Carolina,
garrisoned by a small detachment of United States troops under com-
mand of Major Anderson, as gallant and patriotic an officer as ever
donned a federal uniform or drew a sword. Maddened at their loss of
136 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
power, the hot-heads of South Carolina mustered in force in April, and
demanded that Fort Sumter be surrendered to them. The demand was
refused, in the belief that it was made more in a spirit of impetuous
bravado than in a spirit of earnest, settled determination; more the
act of a drunken mob, than the first earnest of a people determined to
rule or ruin. But Major Anderson was given but little time to specu-
late upon the situation, and scarcely had the electric wires borne to
Northern ears the news of the insulting, treasonable demand, than
another message followed stating that the "secessionists" had fired upon
the fort, and that the war had in reality commenced. The people were
startled from their undertakings almost as much as if a bombshell had
unexpectedly fallen and exploded in their fields or their door yards.
Another message soon followed, announcing the fact that after a gallant
resistance of thirty-four hours, Major Anderson had been forced to
haul down the national colors, and surrender the fort to rebels in arms
against the government.
The North was astounded, but their astonishment quickly gave way
to active preparations to meet the assault and resent the insult to the
nation's honor. The gauntlet thrown down by the traitors of the South
in their attack upon Fort Sumter was accepted, not, however, in the
spirit with which insolence meets insolence — but with a firm, deter-
mined spirit of patriotism and love of country. The duty of the
President under the constitution and the laws was plain; and above
and beyond all, the masses of the people, from whom all political power
is derived, demanded the suppression of the rebellion, and stood ready
to sustain the authority of their representative and executive officers, to
the extent of the last man and the last dollar, to help drive the rebels
into the "last ditch."
With Abraham Lincoln, the people's President and freedom's cham-
pion, there was no halting between two opinions. He saw and com-
prehended the situation, and, on the 15th day of April, 1861, issued a
proclamation calling for " the militia of the several States of the Union,
to the aggregate number of 75,000, to suppress the said combination
and execute the laws."
Governor Ramsey was in Washington when the proclamation was
issued, and on the Sunday following, in company with two other citizens
of the State, he called on the President, and, on behalf of the people,
tendered a regiment of volunteers in defense of the cause of the
people, the suppression of the rebellion. The tender was accepted,
and Governor Ramsey sent a dispatch to Lieutenant-Governor Donnelly,
causing the following proclamation to be issued :
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 137
Whereas, the government of the United States, in the dne enforcement of the laws,
has for several months been resisted by armed organizations of citizens in several of the
Southern States, who, precipitating the country into revolution, have seized upon and
confiscated the property of the nation to the amount of many millions of dollars ; have
taken possession of its forts and arsenals; have fired upon its flag; and at last consum-
mating their treason, have, under circumstances of peculiar indignity and humiliation,
assaulted and captured a Federal fort, occupied by Federal troops ; and whereas, all
these outrages, it is evident, are to be followed by an attempt to seize upon the national
capital and the offices and archives of the government; and whereas, the President of
the United States, recurring in this extremity to the only resource left him, the patriotism
of a people who, through three great wars, and all the changes of eighty-five years, have
ever proved true to the cause ol law, order, and free institutions, has issued a requisition
to the governors of the several States for troops to support the government.
Now, therefore, in pursuance of law and of the requisition of the President of the
United States, I do hereby give notice that volunteers will be received at the city of St.
Paul for one regiment of infantry, composed of ten companies, each of sixty-four pri-
vates, one captain, two lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals and one bugler. The
volunteer companies already organized, upon complying with the foregoing requirements
as to number and officers, will be entitled to be first received.
The term of service will be three months, unless sooner discharged. Volunteers will
report themselves to the adjutant-general, at the capitol, St. Paul, by whom orders will
at once be issued, giving all the necessary details as to enrollment and organization.
During the week following the publication of this proclamation busi-
ness was almost entirely suspended. The national flag was displayed
from all public places and private dwellings. There was no mistaking
the spirit of the people. Party lines were, for the time, ignored. Bitter
words spoken in moments of political heat, were forgiven and forgotten,
and joining hands in a common cause, the masses of the people repeated
the oath of America's soldier statesman : "By the Great Eternal, the
Union must and shall he preserved.''''
The tocsin of war was sounded. War meetings were held in all the
towns, villages and hamlets of the State — at St. Paul, Minneapolis,
Hastings, Red Wing, Wabasha, Winona — at which stirring and spirited
addresses were made and resolutions adopted that admitted of but one
interpretation. The spirit and determination of the people were clearly
reflected in the following preamble and resolutions:
Whereas, It becomes American citizens to know no political law but their country's
welfare ; and, whereas, the flag of our country has been insulted, and the laws set at
defiance by formidably-organized bands of lawless men, whose avowed purpose and overt
acts are high treason against the government; therefore,
Besolved, That in the present endangered state of our country, we will ignore all party
differences and distinctions, and will unite in rendering all the aid within our power to
the Federal Executive iu executing the laws and defending the honor of our national
flag.
Besolved, That we recognize the form of government formed by our fathers and bap-
tized in their blood, the best in the world, the birthright of citizens, and to be given up
but with our lives.
Besolved, That we are unalterably for the Union of the States, one and inseparable, now
and forever.
138 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
\
Enlistments commenced at once, and in a few days the first regiment
was full ; a camp was established at Fort Snelling, and the regiment
was mustered into the service by Captain Anderson D. Nelson, of the
regular service. On the 27th of April, twelve days after the date of
the president's proclamation, the following order was issued by Adju-
tant-General John B. Sanborn, in behalf of the governor:
"The commander-in-chief expresses his gratification at the prompt response to the call
of the President of the United States upon the militia of Minnesota, and his regret that
under the present requisition for only ten companies it is not possible to accept the ser-
vices of all the companies offered.
" The following companies, under the operation of general order No. 1, have been
accepted: Company B, 2d Regiment, Capt. Lester; Company A, 6th Regiment,
Capt. Pell; Company A, 7th Regiment, Capt. Colvill; Company A, 8th Regiment, Capt.
Dike; Company A, 13th Regiment, Capt. Adams; Company A, 16th Regiment, Capt.
Putnam; Company A, 17th Regiment, Capt. Morgan; Company A, 23d Regiment, Capt.
"Wilkin; Company B, 23d Regiment, Capt. Acker; Company A, 25th Regiment, Capt.
Brownley. Each officer and private is recommended to provide himself with a blanket.
Captains of the above companies will report their respective commands to the Adjutant
General at Fort Snelling.
"The commander-in-chief recommends the companies not enumerated above, to
maintain their organization and perfect their drill, and that patriotic citizens throughout
the State continue to enroll themselves and be ready for any emergency."
There was no abatement in the patriotic ardor of the people. Enlist-
ments continued throughout the State, and on the 3rd of May, Governor
Ramsey telegraphed the offer of another regiment to the President.
The first call of the President was for 75,000 men. Mr. Lincoln and
others in authority at Washington, soon saw the terrible mistake he
had made, in that he did not call for a larger number. The magnitude
of the rebellion had been underestimated. More men were needed, and
more calls were issued, until the aggregate reached 3,339,748. Of this
number Minnesota furnished her full proportion, without the humilia-
tion of a draft.
May 7, 1861, Secretary of War Cameron, sent the following dispatch
to Governor Ramsey:
" It is decidedly preferable that all the regiments mustered into the service of the
government from your State not already actually sent forward, should be mustered into
service for three years or during the war. If any persons belonging to the regiments
already mustered for three months, but not yet actually sent forward, should be unwil-
ling to serve for three years or during the war, could not their places be filled by others
willing to serve?"
There was no unwillingness, and on the 11th of May Lieutenant
Governor Donnelly telegraphed Governor Ramsey, then in Washington :
" The entire First Regiment, by its commissioned officers, is this day tendered to the
President for three years or during the war. The men will be mustered in to-day by
Capt. Nelson. In case of deficiency in the ranks, what course would you recommend?"
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 139
Governor Ramsey replied: "Adjutant General Thomas authorizes me to say that Capt.
Nelson may muster in Col. Gorman's regiment at once for three years or during the war.
Do this at once, under dispatch of May 7th."
While the regiment was being raised and mustered into the service,
the ladies of St. Paul were not idle, but had purchased the material and
made a handsome silk flag for presentation to the regiment. On the
25th of May the regiment marched down to receive it. It was presented
from the Statehouse steps. The regiment was formed in a hollow
square in front of the building, and at ten o'clock, Mrs. Governor
Ramsey appeared on the steps carrying the flag, and Captain Stans-
bury, of the U. S. A. Topographical Engineers, made the presentation
speech in behalf of the donors, to which Colonel Gorman responded in
a speech full of patriotic wisdom.
June 14th, the regiment was ordered to Washington, and on the Sat-
urday morning following the first regiment raised in the State of Min-
nesota embarked on the steamers Northern Belle and War Eagle, for
the field of duty. Before leaving Fort Snelling, Rev. E. D. Neill, who
had been appointed chaplain to the regiment, delivered an address
that was so full of patriotism, Christian love and manly duty, as to be
worthy of preservation :
" Soldiers of Minnesota ! This is not the hour for many words. The moment your
faces are turned towards the South you assume a new attitude. Gray-haired sires, ven-
erable matrons, young men and fair maidens, will look upon you with pride as you glide
by their peaceful homes. From week to week they will eagerly search the newspapers
to learn your position and condition.
" To-day the whole State view you as representative men, and you no doubt realize
that the honor of our commonwealth is largely entrusted to your keeping.
" Your errand is not to overrun, but to uphold, the most tolerant and forbearing gov-
ernment on earth. You go to war with misguided brethren, not with wrathful but with
mournful hearts. Your demeanor from the day of enlistment shows that you are fit for
something else than ' treason, stratagem and spoils.'
" To fight for a great principle is a noble work. We are all erring and fallible men ;
but the civilized world feel that you are engaged in a just cause, which God will defend.
" In introducing myself to you, I would say, I come not to command, but to be a
friend, and to point you to the ' Friend of friends,' who sticketh closer than a brother,
who pities when no earthly eye can pity, and who can save when no earthly arm can
save.
" As far as in me lies, I am ready to make known the glad tidings of the gospel — the
simple but sublime truth as it is in Christ Jesus. The religion I shall inculcate will
make you feel self-denying, courageous, cheerful here, and happy hereafter.
"Soldiers! If you would be obedient fo God, you must honor him who has been
ordained to lead you forth. The Colonel's will must be your will. If, like the Roman
Centurion, he says ' go,' go you must. If he says 'come,' come you must. God grant
you all the Hebrew's enduring faith, and you will be sure to have the Hebrew's valor.
Now, with the Hebrew's benediction, I will close :
" The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be
gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Amen !"
140 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
At an early hour in the morning the regiment reached the upper
landing at St. Paul, and amid the conflicting feelings of the citizens of
the capital, marched through the city to the lower landing, and again
embarked on the steamboat, and were soon borne beyond the sight of
the dense throng of relatives, friends and neighbors, who had gathered
to bid them " good bye " and " God speed." Some of them never came
back to make glad the hearts that grew sad when the order came for
them to march away where the enemy threatened. They died the
death of brave men, and their memories are sacredly enshrined in the
hearts of the people of the Union they fell to preserve and maintain.
So responded the patriotic sons of Minnesota to the first call of the
President for men to subdue the rebellion. Other calls followed and
other men were ready as long as there was an armed foe in the field —
as long as there was an unholy arm raised against the " government of
our fathers."
The regiment passed through Chicago on the 22d of June, 1861, en
route for Washington, the point to which it had been ordered. On the
23d, the Tribune published the following :
" Gallant Minnesota deserves high credit for her noble sons and their appearance
yesterday. They have eDJoyed in their make-up that rare and excellent process of
selection and culling from the older States, which has thrown into the van of civilization
the hardy lumbermen and first settlers of the wilds. There are few regiments we ever
saw that can compete in brawn and muscle with these Minnesotians, used to the axe,
the rifle, the oar, the setting pole, and thus every way splendid material for soldiers."
Another Chicago journal notes under the caption of the " Northern
Hive : "—
" The advent of the Minnesota regiment on Sunday, on their way to the seat of war,
was suggestive of many curious reflections. It carried the mind back to the twilight of
modern civilization, to the days when not hireling mercenaries, but companions in arms,
free men of Northern Europe, burst from their icy homes and overwhelmed their effem-
inate southern neighbors. The old story of the world's history seemed to be repeated ;
and chronicle and tradition alike teach us what the result must be. As we beheld the
men march by, their stalwart forms, wild dress, martial bearing, and healthy complexions,
gave reality to the reflection — that is, after all was the reflection of the scene, — that those
were forms as brawny, faces as intelligent, expressions as resolute, as in the days of old
issued from the northern bee-hive to plant the foundations of all that we now know of
freedom and civilization."
The regiment remained at Washington a few days, and was then
ordered to cross the Potomac, where it went into camp in the rear of
Alexandria. From there the gallant First went wherever the fortunes
of war directed, making a record that was not only a pride and honor
to itself, but a credit to the State it represented.
This was but the beginning of Minnesota's offering in defense of the
Union. To every call of the president there was a ready and a hearty
$573.83
Faribault,
- $170.10
225.00
Mankato,
52.00
49.10
Shakopee,
63.70
125.00
St. Cloud, -
24.80
100.00
124.64
55.20
Miscellaneous,
353.65
Total,
$1917.72
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 141
response. Whenever men or money were needed, men and money
were given. As an instance of the patriotic liberality of the people,
when a call was made for hospital funds for the benefit of the First
Regiment — that is for money to purchase such delicacies as the sick
and debilitated needed, there was such a hearty response that the
chaplain of the regiment wrote to Governor Ramsey, and through him
to the people, as follows :
"Washington, August 13.
To Governor Ramsey :— Don't kill us with kindness. Tell liberal men and noble
women to send no more money or clothing. God bless them. E. D. Neill."
To the request for money for the purposes named above, the people
of the several localities named below responded as follows:
St. Paul,
Stillwater, -
St. Anthony, -
Minneapolis,
Hastings, -
Red Wing, -
Winona, -
The people gave with a liberal hand and willing disposition.
Enlistments continued, and regiment after regiment was mustered
into the service and sent forward to the seat of war.
It is impossible to mention in detail in a work of this character, the
movements of the several regiments, batteries, etc., that went out from
Minnesota to take part in the suppression of the great rebellion, but it
must be written that from the time the first regiment was engaged in
battle, until the final surrender of the rebel cause and rebel army, there
was but few engagements in which some one or more of the Minnesota
regiments did not engage. It would be a pleasing duty to chronicle
the movements of these brave men and their gallant and heroic deeds,
but that pleasure is submitted to other and abler pens. It has not been
our purpose to write in detail of the heroic offerings and sacrifices of
Minnesota's boys in blue, but rather to show the general character and
willing and ready disposition of the people of one of the youngest States
in the Union, to stand by and defend that Union and maintain its integ-
rity with their "lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor."
From first to last the people of this young State, enlisted and sent
forward to the field of battle, men as brave, as good, and as true as
ever drew a sword or presented a musket. In 1860, according to the
U. S. census report, the population of Minnesota was 172,023, thus Minne-
sota offered 24,000 of her valiant sons out of this small population, to
142 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
defend the Union against traitors in arms. What other of the patriotic
States of the patriotic North, can show a better record of devotion to
the principles of union and freedom ?
The following table embraces a list of the regiments, date of organi-
zation, discharge, etc.:
No. of Regiment. Date of Organization. Date of Discharge.
First April, 1861, May 5, 1864.
Second July, 1861 July 11, 1865.
Third October, 1861 September, 1865.
Fourth December, 1861 August, 1865.
Fifth May, 1862 September, 1865.
Sixth August, 1862 August, 1865.
Seventh " "
Eighth " "
Ninth " "
Tenth " "
Eleventh August, 1864
Infantry Battalion May, 1864 July, 1865.
ARTILLERY.
First Reg. Heavy Artillery April, 1865 September, 1865.
BATTERIES.
First October, 1861 June, 1865.
Second December, 1861 July, 1865.
Third February, 1863 February, 1866.
CAVALRY.
Rangers March, 1863 Oct. to Dec, 1863.
Brackett's . . Oct. and Nov., 1861 May to June, 1866.
Second Regiment January, 1864 Nov. to June, 1866.
Hatch's July, 1863 April to June, 1866
SHARPSHOOTERS .
Company A 1861 .
Company B 1862.
The last named company was on duty with the First Regiment in the Army of the
Potomac.
The war ended, and, honorably discharged, the survivors of the dan-
gers incident to life on war's tented fields, returned to their homes to
receive ovations of honor from the people from whose midst they had
gone out, and who had eagerly, zealously watched their movements,
and marches and battles, from the day they were first borne away
towards the South. The welcomes over, the returned volunteers laid
aside their soldier's garb, donned the citizen's dress, and fell back upon
their old avocations — on the farm, in the shop, at the forge, or whatever
else their hands found to do. Brave men are honorable always, and
no class of Minnesota's men deserve better than those who offered then-
lives in defense of their country's honor, not alone because they were
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 143
•
soldiers, but because their daily walk is upright, and their characters
without reproach.
Their country first, their glory and their pride ;
Land of their hopes — land where their fathers died :
When in the right, they'll keep their honor bright;
When in the wrong, they'll die to set it right.
INDIAN MASSACRES.
Like all the border States, the early settlers of Minnesota were sub-
ject to annoyances and incursions from the Indians, and many an honest,
toiling, peaceable, inoffensive pioneer man and woman, intent only on
securing a home they could call their own, became victims, in some way
or another, to Indian savagery. Some of them were murdered, others
met a fate that was worse.
The first of these savage butcheries occurred at Spirit Lake, in the
northwestern part of Iowa, close to the Minnesota State line, in March,
1857, and ended at Springfield, in this State, about fifteen or twenty
miles north of Spirit Lake.
In the spring of 1856, Red Wing enterprise fitted out a company of
men consisting of G. W. Granger, Barttell Snyder and Isaac Harriett,
and sent them down to Spirit Lake to select land claims and found a
town. In the fall of 1856 there were seven cabins around the lake, all
of which were occupied. The occupants were a man named Thatcher
and family, Marble and family, Judge Howe and family, Marble and
family, Mattox and family, and Isaac Harriett, Barton Snyder and G.
W. Granger, the three last named occupying one cabin and keeping
" bachelor's hall."
For some years previous to this outrage, a few Dakota Indians and
outlaws, under the lead of an excommunicated Dakota named Inkpa-
dootah, had been roving through that part of Iowa. They had been
driven away from their own people, and were a band unto themselves —
insolent, devilish, murderous wretches; and on Sunday, the 8th of
March, 1856, they came to Spirit Lake, and almost immediately com-
menced their hellish work. Mr. Neill says they* proceeded to a cabin
occupied only by men, and asked for beef. Understanding, as they
afterwards asserted, to kill one of the cattle, they did so, and com-
menced cutting it up, when one of the white men went out and knocked
the Dakota down. In retaliation the white man was shot and killed;
and surrounding the house, the Indians set fire to the thatched roof and
* The Indians subsequently claimed they had received permission to kill the animal.
144 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
killed the occupants as they attempted to escape from the burning
building — eleven in all.
Other authorities say there was no beef demanded by the Indians —
no beef killed, and that Inkpadootah was not assaulted by any of the
white men, but that the attack was instigated solely and simply by
Indian treachery and thirst for blood. This version of the affair is main-
tained by Isaac Lauver, W. W. DeKay, George Huntington, and a Mr.
Patten, who went down to Spirit Lake from Red Wing about the 31st
of March, as soon they heard of the massacre, to bury the remains of
the murdered victims, and look after the claim interests.
At about the same time, the murdering wretches went to a cabin
occupied by a man named Gardner and his family, and asked for some-
thing to eat. Everything in the house was given them. While they
were disposing of Gardner's hospitality, his son-in-law, and another
man who was there, went out to see if everything was right at the
neighboring cabin — the one just mentioned as being set on fire. It was
their last mission, for some of the Indians were in ambush, and shot
and killed them also. The Indians left Gardner's, after securing all the
food the cabin contained, but returned in the latter part of the after-
noon and killed Gardner, his wife, two daughters, and his grandchildren,
and carried away, as a prisoner, one other, named Abby. That night,
or the next morning, they visited the homes of Noble and Thatcher,
who had settled there, and carried Mrs. Noble and Mrs. Thatcher pris-
oners to their camp. On Monday, a man named Markham, went to
Gardner's on some errand, and found the murdered bodies of the entire
family. Markham hid himself until darkness came on, and then went
to Springfield, and reported the murder.
The following Thursday, March 12, an Indian called at Marble's cabin,
three miles above Thatcher's, and told her that the white people down
on the lake had been nipped (killed) a day or two before. This intel-
ligence alarmed the Marbles, the more so, as the great depth of snow
then on the ground had prevented communication with the settlement
below for some days ; but, fearing the worst, it was impossible for the
Marble family to inaugurate any measures for flight, or other means of
safety. The next morning, Friday, the 13th, four Indians, with friendly
bearing, came to Marble's and bantered him to trade rifles. The trade
was made, after which they prevailed on Marble to go out on the lake
and shoot at a mark. After a few shots they turned in the direction of
the house, and managing to get Marble in advance of them, the Indians
shot him, and he fell dead in his tracks. Mrs. Marble, who had been
watching the maneuvering of the fiends, saw her husband fall and ran
\£^Pftili(W(&
WANAMINGO
[then
T1 UDEN FOONC
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 145
to him, when the bloody wretches seized her, and told her they would
not kill her, but that they would take her with them, and she was car-
ried to the camp, where they had previously taken Mrs. Noble, Mrs.
Thatcher, and Miss Gardner.
Inkpadootah and his followers next went to Springfield, where, a week
or two later, they butchered the entire settlement. The alarm was sent
to Fort Ridgely, and a detachment of soldiers was sent out in pursuit.
They found and buried two bodies, and the Iowans, who had volun-
teered and started out to avenge the murders and outrages, as soon as
they heard of their perpetration, found and buried twenty nine others.
Besides these thirty-one bodies that were found and buried, others were
still missing.
Learning that soldiers were in pursuit of them, the outlaws made haste
to leave the vicinity of their depredations, carrying the four women
along with them. They were forced to carry heavy burdens by day,
and to cut wood, build fires and do other camp duty when night came on.
In consequence of poor health and recent child-birth, Mrs. Thatcher
became burdensome, and at Big Sioux River, when attempting to cross
on the trunks of trees fallen from the opposite banks, she was pushed
off into the deep, cold water by one of the Indians. She swam to the
shore, when they pushed her back into the current, and then shot at
her as if she were a target, until life was extinct.
K In May, two men from Lac qui Parle, who had been taught to read
and write, while on their spring hunt found themselves in the neighbor-
hood of Inkpadootah and his party. Having heard that they held some
American women in captivity, the two brothers visited the camp —
though this was at some risk of their own lives, since Inkpadootah's hand
was now against every man — and found the outlaws, and succeeded in
bargaining for Mrs. Marble, whom they conveyed to their mother's
tent," where she was visited by persons connected with the Hazelwood
Mission, and re-clothed in civilized costume. From thence she was
conveyed to St. Paul, where the citizens welcomed her, and made up a
purse of one thousand dollars with which she was presented.
The rescue of the other two women was now resolved upon, and
Flandrau, the Dakota agent, commissioned a "good Indian" named
Paul by the whites, to accomplish their redemption. He was fitted out
with a wagon, two horses and some valuable presents, and started on
his mission. He found Inkpadootah and his iniquitous cut-throats with
a band of Yanktons, on the James River. Only Miss Gardner was
living. Mrs. Noble had been murdered a few nights before. She had
been ordered to go out and be subject to the wishes of the party, and
11
146 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
refusing to go, a son of Inkpadootah dragged her out by the hair of her
head and killed her. The next morning a Dakota woman took Miss
Gardner out to see the corpse, which had been horribly treated after
death.
By perseverance and large presents Paul succeeded in redeeming
Miss Gardner, and she was taken to the mission house. From there
she was taken to St. Paul, from whence she was sent to her sister in
Iowa.
The same year, about the last of June or first of July, Inkpadootah's
son, said to have been the murderer of Mrs. Noble, was killed while
seeking to escape arrest for that cruel butchery. Reports became
current that he was in camp on Yellow Medicine River. Flandrau and
a detachment of soldiers from Fort Ridgely, accompanied by some
Indian guides, started for the camp to arrest him. As they approached
the camp, the alarm was given and the murderer ran from his lodge,
and concealed himself in the brush near the river, but was soon uncov-
ered and shot by United States soldiers. The rest of the gang managed
to escape, and are said to have taken refuge beyond the Missouri River.
The Red Wing party who went down to Spirit Lake to bury the
dead, etc., as already mentioned, found the remains of Granger by the
side of the cabin he occupied in common with Snyder and Harriett.
Granger had first been shot, and then his head cut off from above the
mouth and ears with a broad axe. The remains of Harriett and Snyder
were found about forty rods distant, with several bullet holes through
their bodies. The presumption was they had started out to defend one
of the other cabins, and that they were shot and killed where their
bodies were found.
THE SIOUX OUTBREAK.
What is known as the Sioux Outbreak commenced at Acton, in
Meeker county, on the seventeenth day of August, 1862. On that day
a few young warriors of the Sioux tribe, who had been on an unsuccess-
ful hunt along the outer edges of the Big Woods, came to the Acton
settlement, and by some means secured whisky enough to make them
drunk. They made a demand of a man named Jones for more whisky,
which he promptly refused. This refusal infuriated the already excited
Indians, and they commenced an indiscriminate slaughter of all within
range of their guns, killing five persons — Jones, Webster and Baker, an
elderly woman and a young girl. When they grew sober enough to
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 147
realize the enormity of their offence, they became frightened at their
own violence, and fearful of the consequence of their hellish and
unprovoked murders, they fled to the Sioux camp at the Lower Agency,
and asked protection from the punishment due their crimes. The mur-
derers belonged to the "first families " of the Sioux tribe, and the affair
was discussed in the " Soldiers' Lodge," where it was determined that
the several bands should make common cause with the criminals, and
to urge a war of extermination against the white settlers within their
reach. The next day was fixed for the beginning of the butchery.
Purposely starting the rumor in advance that they were going on the
" war path " against the Chippewas, a large number of Sioux warriors
appeared at the Lower Agency, in what is now Redwood county, at six
o'clock the next morning, the eighteenth, and took up the several posi-
tions that had been assigned them in the plan of operations adopted
in the " Soldiers' Lodge," the night previous. At a given signal, an
attack was made upon the whites at the Agency. With the exception
of two or three men, who concealed themselves, and a few of the
women and children who were taken prisoners and kept captives, none
of the whites escaped instant death but George H. Spencer, who,
although twice wounded, was saved from death through the interven-
tion of an Indian acquaintance, named Wak-ke-an-da-tah or Red Light-
ning. The slaughter extended to the Upper Agency, but through the
influence of a Christianized Indian, called Other Day, the missionaries
and others, among whom were Messrs. Riggs and Williamson and their
families — in all about sixty persons — were rescued from the impending
calamity, and were taken in safety through the Indian lines and Indian
country to the white settlements beyond.
After the people at the agencies were butchered, the houses and
stores pillaged and destroyed, the red fiends were divided into several
parties and sent out to fall upon and destroy the settlers on farms and
in villages along the entire frontier, covering an area of nearly two
hundred miles. How well and faithfully the several savage bands kept
their trusts and filled their missions, can never be accurately told. Mr.
Neill says :
" The fiends of hell could not invent more fearful atrocities than were perpetrated by
the savages upon their victims. The bullet, the tomahawk and the scalping-knife
spared neither age nor sex, the only prisoners taken being the young and comely
women, to minister to the brutal lusts of their captors, and a few young children. For-
tunate, comparatively speaking, was the lot of those who were doomed to instant death,
and thus spared the agonies of lingering tortures, and the superadded anguish of wit-
nessing outrages upon the persons of those nearest and dearest to them.
" In the short space of thirty-six hours, as nearly as could be computed, eight hundred
whites were cruelly slain. Almost every dwelling along the extreme frontier was a
148 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
charnel-house, containing the dying and the dead. In many cases the torch was applied,
and maimed and crippled sufferers, unable to escape, were consumed with their habita-
tions. The alarm was communicated by refugees to the adjacent settlements, and soon
the roads leading to St. Paul were crowded by thousands of men, women and children
in the wild confusion of sudden flight. Domestic animals, including hundreds and even
thousands of cattle were abandoned, and only those taken which could expediate the
movements of the terror-stricken settlers.
"The savages, after accomplishing their mission of death, assembled in force, and
attempted to take Fort Ridgely by a coup de main. In this they were foiled by the vigil-
ance and determination of the garrison, aided by volunteers who had escaped from the
surrounding settlements. The attack was continued at intervals for several days, but
without success. The town of New Ulm was also assailed by a strong force of the
savages, but was gallantly defended by volunteers from the neighboring counties under
the command of Colonel C. H. Flandrau. Captain Dodd, an old and respectable citizen
of St. Peter, was among the killed at this point. Fort Abercrombie, on the Red River,
also suffered a long and tedious siege by the bands of Sioux from Lac qui Parle, until
relieved by a force despatched by Governor Ramsey from St. Paul."
Intelligence of the outbreak and massacre reached St. Paul the next
day after the butchery at the Lower Agency, and immediate prepara-
tions were made by Governor Ramsey to arrest the progress of the
devilish savages. H. H. Sibley, from his long residence among the
Indians and his acquaintance with the character and habits of the
Indians, was selected as best suited to take command of the expedi-
tion, to which he consented, and was commissioned as colonel. At
this time the State was greatly deficient of means and appliances for
carrying on a war of the proportions this threatened to assume. Full
five thousand of the fighting men of the commonwealth were absent
from the State as soldiers in the army of the Union. The arsenal was
stripped of all the arms that were effective. There was but little ammu-
nition on hand and no rations or means of transportation. The allied
Sioux could muster from eight hundred to one thousand warriors, and
they might be indefinitely reinforced by the powerful divisions of the
Prairie Sioux. Those already engaged in hostilities were good marks-
men, splendidly armed, and abundantly supplied with ammunition.
They had been victorious in several encounters with detachments of
troops, and had overwhelming confidence in their own skill. The out-
look was dark and threatening. But with all the disadvantages and
discouragements, Governor Ramsey acted with promptness and vigor.
He telegraphed to the War Department for arms and to the Governors
of the adjoining States for all they could spare, and authorized the use
of teams belonging to individual citizens for purposes of transporta-
tion, and adopted such other measures as the emergency of the occa-
sion demanded.
On the morning of the 20th of August, Colonel Sibley left Fort
Snelling with four hundred men of the Sixth Regiment Minnesota
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 149
Volunteers. An inspection of the arms and cartridges furnished, showed
that the former were worthless Austrian rifles, and that the ammuni-
tion was for guns of a different and larger calibre, and the command
was detained several days at St. Peter, where the men were engaged
in reducing the balls so as to fit the muskets, and in preparing canister
shot for the six-pounders. In the meantime a supply of arms of better
quality were received, reinforcements arrived, and the march to Fort
Bidgely commenced. At Fort Bidgely the troops went into camp, to
await the reception of rations and to make final preparations for an
advance on the hostiles, who had drawn in their detached parties, and
were concentrating for a decisive battle. We quote in full from Neill's
account of the further prosecution and termination of the expedition :
" Scouts were dispatched to ascertain the location of the main Indian camp, and upon
their return they reported no Indians below Yellow Medicine River. A burial party of
twenty men, under escort of one company of infantry and the available mounted force,
in all about two hundred men, under command of Major J. R. Brown, was detailed to
proceed and inter the remains of the murdered at the Lower Agency, and other points in
the vicinity. The duty was performed; fifty-four bodies buried, and the detachment
was en route to the settlements on Beaver River, and had encamped for the night near
Birch Coolie, a long and wooded ravine debouching into the Minnesota River, when,
about dawn the followiug morning, the camp was attacked by a large force of Indians,
twenty-five men killed or mortally wounded, and nearly all the horses, ninety in number,
shot down. Providentially, the volleys of musketry were heard at the main camp,
although eighteen miles distant, and Colonel Sibley marched to the relief of the beleag-
uered detachment, drove off the Indians, buried the dead, and the weary column then
retraced its steps to the camp.
" The period spent in awaiting the necessary supplies of men and provisions was
made useful in drilling the men and bringing them under discipline. So soon as ten
days' rations had been accumulated, Colonel Sibley marched in search of the savages,
and on the 23d day of September, 1862, was fought the decisive and severe battle of
Wood Lake. The action was commenced by the Indians and was bravely contested by
them for more than two hours, when they gave way at all points and sent in a flag of
truce, asking permission to remove their dead and wounded, which was refused. A
message was sent back to Little Crow, the leader of the hostile Indians, to the effect
that if any of the white prisoners held by him received injury at the hands of the sav-
ages, no mercy would be shown to the latter, but that they would be pursued and
destroyed without regard to age or sex.
" The success at "Wood Lake was not achieved without serious loss. Major Welch, of
the 3d Minnesota Volunteers, commanding, was severely wounded in the leg; Captain
Wilson, of the 6th Regiment, was badly contused in the breast by a spent ball ; and
nearly forty commissioned officers and privates were killed or wounded. The loss of
the enemy was much greater, a half-breed prisoner stating it at thirty killed and a large
number wonnded.
" One of the main objects of the campaign, the deliverance of the white captives, was
yet to be accomplished, and required the exercise of much judgment and caution. There
was good reason to fear that, in the exasperation of defeat, they might fall victims to
the savages. Colonel Sibley, therefore, delayed his march towards the great Indian
camp until the second day after the battle, to allow time to the friendly element to
strengthen itself, and to avoid driving the hostile Indians into desperate measures
150 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
against the prisoners. On the 25th of September the column, with drums beating and
colors flying, filed past the Indian encampment, and formed the camp within a few hun-
dred yards of it. Colonel Sibley, with his staff and field officers, then proceeded to the
lodges of the Indians and directed that all the captives should be delivered up to him,
which was forthwith done. A sight was then presented which filled the eyes of
strong men with tears. Young and beautiful women, who had for weeks endured
the extremity of outrage from their brutal captors, followed by a crowd of children
of all ages, came forth from the lodges, hardly realizing that the day of their deliv-
erance had arrived. Convulsive sobbings were heard on every side, and the poor crea-
tures clung to the men who had come to their relief, as if they feared some savage would
drag them away. They were all escorted tenderly to the tents prepared for their recep-
tion, and made as comfortable as circumstances would admit. The number of pure
whites thus released amounted to about one hundred and fifty, including one man only,
Mr. Spencer. The latter expressed his gratitude to Colonel Sibley that he had not made
a forced march upon the camp after the battle, stating emphatically that if such a course
had been pursued, it was the determination of the hostile Indians to cut the throats of
the captives, and then disperse in the prairies. There were delivered also nearly two
hundred and fifty half-breeds, who had been held as prisoners.
"Two of the principal objects of the campaign, the defeat of the savages and the
release of the captives, having now been consummated, there remained but to punish
the guilty. Many of these, with Little Crow, had made their escape and could not be
overtaken, but some of the small camps of the refugees were surrounded and their
inmates brought back. The locality where these events transpired was appropriately
called Camp Release, and the name should be perpetuated.
"At the proper time, the Indian camp was surrounded by a cordon of troops, and four
hundred of the warriors were arrested, chained together in pairs, and placed in an
inclosure of logs made by the troops, under strong guard. Others, who were known to
be innocent, were not interfered with. Colonel Sibley constituted a military commis-
sion, with Colonel Crooks, commanding Sixth Regiment, as president, for the trial of the
prisoners. A fair and impartial hearing was accorded to each, and the result was the
finding of three hundred and three guilty of participation in the murder of the whites,
and the sentence of death by hanging was passed upon them. Others were convicted of
robbery and pillage, and condemned to various terms of imprisonment. The witnesses
were composed of the released captives, including mixed bloods, and Christian Indians,
who had refused to join Little Crow in the war. A full record was kept of each case
tried.
" The preparations for the execution of the guilty Indians were brought to a summary
close by an order from President Lincoln prohibiting the hanging of any of the convicted
men without his previous sanction. The people of the State were highly indignant at
this suspension, and an energetic protest was made by their Senators and Representa-
tives in Washington. Finally, after much delay, Colonel Sibley was directed to carry
out the sentence of the commission in certain cases specified; and on December 26th,
1862, thirty-eight of the criminals were executed accordingly, at Mankato, on the same
scaffold, under the direction of Colonel Miller, commanding that post. The remainder
of the condemned were sent to Davenport, Iowa, early in the spring, where they were
kept in confinement more than a year, a large number dying of disease in the meantime.
Those that remained were eventually dispatched to a reservation on the Upper Mis-
souri, where the larger number of prisoners taken by Colonel Sibley, principally women
and children, had already been placed.
" The President testified his appreciation of the conduct of Colonel Sibley, by conferr-
ing upon him, unasked, the commission of brigadier general of volunteers, and the
appointment was subsequently confirmed by the Senate.
"Thus happily terminated the Indian campaign of 1862, entered upon without due
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 151
preparation, against an enemy formidable in numbers, completely armed and equipped,
and withal confident of their own powers and strength. It was a critical period in the
history of the State, for it was then suspected, and has since been confirmed, that if the
column of troops under Colonel Sibley, had met with a reverse, there would have been
a rising of the Chippewas and Winnebagoes, against the whites, and many of the counties
west of the Mississippi would have been entirely depopulated. Indeed, in a speeeh to
his warriors the night previous to the battle of Wood Lake, Little Crow stated the
programme to be, first, the defeat and destruction of the old men and boys composing,
as he said, the command of Colonel Sibley; and second, the immediate descent there-
after of himself and his people, to St. Paul, there to dispose summarily of the whites,
and then establish themselves comfortably in winter quarters. That the people of
Minnesota succeeded, without extraneous aid, in speedily ending an Indian war of such
threatening and formidable proportions, while they continued to bear their share of the
burdens imposed on the northern States in the suppression of the rebellion, constitutes
an epoch in their history of which they may be justly proud."
CONCLUSION.
An extra session of the Legislature was convened on the 9th of Sep-
tember, 1862, to consider certain exigencies occasioned by the Sioux
outbreak. In his message to that session, Governor Ramsey took strong
grounds in favor of prompt and severe measures to subdue the savages
and render the country a safe abiding place for the hardy pioneers and
tillers of the soil. He reasonabl}' maintained that so long as there was
danger of such scenes as the Sioux had inaugurated, the tide of emi-
gration would grow less and less, and in time cease altogether, and that
every interest of the State would suffer. Happily, however, Colonel
Sibley's expedition against the Sioux, and his defeat of them at Wood
Lake, ended all apprehensions of further Indian troubles. Since then
and the close of the War of the Rebellion, in 1865, the State has steadily
grown in population and wealth ; the material interests of the com-
monwealth have been rapidly developed, and no State in the American
Union enjoys a higher position in all that goes to make a people proud,
prosperous, progressive and great, than the State of Minnesota.
OFFICERS OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA-
GOVERNORS.
Henry H. Sibley, May 24, 1858, to January 2, 1860.
Alexander Ramsey, January 2, 1860, to July 10, 1863.
Henry A. Swift,* July 10, 1863, to January 11, 1864.
Stephen Miller, January 11, 1864, to January 8, 1866.
William R. Marshall, January 8, 1866, to January 7, 1870.
Horace Austin, January 7, 1870, to January 9, 1874.
* Deceased.
152 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Cushman K. Davis, January 9, 1874, to January, 1876.
John S. Pillsbury, the present incumbent was inaugurated in Janu-
ary, 1876.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS.
William Holcombe,* May 24, 1858, to January 2, 1860.
Ignatius Donnelly, January 2, 1860, to March 3, 1863.
Henry A. Swift, March 4, 1863, to July 10, 1863.
Charles D. Sherwood, January 11, 1864, to January 8, 1866.
Thomas H. Armstrong, January 8, 1866, to January 7, 1870.
William H. Yale, January 7, 1870, to January 9, 1874.
Alphonso Barto, January 9, 1874, to January, 1876.
James B. Wakefield, January, 1876.
SECRETARIES OF STATE.
Francis Baasen, May 24, 1858, to January 2, 1860.
James H. Baker, January 2, 1860, to November 17, 1862.
David Blakeley, November 17, 1862, to January 8, 1866.
Henry C. Rogers,* January 8, 1866, to January 7, 1870.
Hans Mattson, January 7, 1870, to January 2, 1872.
S. P. Jennison, January 5, 1872, to January, 1876.
John S. Irgens, January, 1876.
TREASURERS.
George W. Armstrong, May 24, 1858, to January 2, 1860.
Charles Sheffer,* January 1, 1860, to January 10, 1868.
Emil Munch, January 10, 1868, to January 5, 1872.
William Seeger, January 5, 1872, to February 7, 1873.
Edwin W. Dyke, February 7, 1873, to January, 1876.
William Pfaender, January, 1876.
AUDITORS.
W. F. Dunbar, May 24, 1858, to January 1, 1861.
Charles Mcllrath, January 1, 1861, to January 13, 1873.
O. P. Whitcomb, January 13, 1873.
ATTORNEYS GENERAL.
Charles H. Berry, May 24, 1858, to January 2, 1860.
Gordon E. Cole, January 4, 1860, to January 8, 1866.
* Deceased.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 153
William Colville, January 8, 1866, to January 10, 1868.
F. R. E. Cornell, January 10, 1868, to January 9, 1874.
George P. Wilson, January 9, 1874.
JUDGES OP SUPREME COURT.
Lafayette Emmet, C. J., May 24, 1858, to January 10, 1865.
Thomas Wilson, C. J., January 10, 1865, to July 14, 1869.
James Gilfillan, 0. J., July 14, 1869, to January 7, 1870.
Christopher G. Ripley, C. J., January 7, 1870, to April 7, 1874.
S. J. R. McMillan, C. J., April 7, 1874, to March 10, 1875.
James Gilfillan, C. J., March 10, 1875.
Charles E. Flandrau, J., May 24, 1858, to July 5, 1864.
Isaac Atwater, J., May 24, 1858, to July 6, 1864.
S. J. R. McMillan, J., July 5, 1864, to April 7, 1874.
Thomas Wilson, J., July 6, 1864, to January 10, 1865.
John M. Berry, J., January 10, 1865.
George B. Young, J., April 16, 1874, to January 11, 1875.
F. R. E. Cornell, J., January 11, 1875.
CLERKS OF SUPREME COURT.
Jacob J. Noah, May 24, 1858, to January 15, 1861.
A. J. Voorhees,* January 15, 1861, to January 13, 1864.
George F. Potter, January 13, 1864, to January 14, 1867.
Sherwood Hough, January 14, 1867, to January, 1876.
S. H. Nichols, January, 1876.
REPORTERS OP SUPREME COURT.
Harvey Officer, May 24, 1858, to January 30, 1865.
William A. Spencer, January 30, 1865, to June 15, 1875.
George B. Young, June 15, 1875.
VISIT OF PRESIDENT HAYES TO THE NORTH STAR STATE.
MINNESOTA'S GALA DAY.
In closing this brief history of the Territory and State of Minnesota,
it is but proper that mention should be made of the visit of President
Hayes and party to St. Paul, Minneapolis, and other parts of the
North Star State, while this work was in course of preparation. The
* Deceased.
154 THE NORTHWEST 'TERRITORY.
visit was made during the week of the State Fair at St. Paul, which
commenced on Monday, the second day of September, 1878. On the
morning of the 5th, the St. Paul " Pioneer Press" contained the follow-
ing well-expressed editorial reference to that interesting event:
Not less than one hundred thousand citizens of Minnesota will be
assembled at St. Paul to-day, to tender the enthusiastic welcome of the
whole people of Minnesota, without distinction of party, to Rutherford
B. Hayes, President of the United States, the first of the long line of
the chief magistrates of the Union who has ever visited this young
State. We do not, however, reproach the shades of Washington and
his successors for thus slighting the greatest wheat State of the Union,
for, in reality it has sprung into existence and taken its place among
the States since the middle of the term of James Buchanan. Its whole
political history is spanned by five presidential terms, and five presi-
dents have approved the acts of Congress since Minnesota was repre-
sented in its chambers. Of these, Buchanan was too old and feeble,
Lincoln too busy, Johnson too distracted, and Grant too heavily bur-
dened with the important events that were transpiring around him, to
include Minnesota in the narrow circle of their summer journeyings.
It was reserved for President Hayes to initiate a new line of presiden-
tial policy in this regard, to mingle familiarly with people of all the
great country of which he is the chief ruler, and to make the circle of
his rare and brief excursions from the heats and toils of the White
House as broad as his patriotism, embracing the whole country to the
farthest South, and to this farthest State of the Northwest. The entire
people of Minnesota will be his hosts in person or by proxy while he
remains upon our soil, and in the cordial and enthusiastic greetings
he will everywhere receive, he will not fail to recognize something
more than the honors due his office, or even the respect to which he is
entitled by virtue of his patriotism and exalted position.
The presidential party consisted of the following named distinguished
gentlemen and ladies:
President and Mrs. Hayes, Webb, Rutherford B., Jr., and Burchard
Hayes, accompanied by two servants.
Gen. L. E. Loomax and wife, of Georgia.
Gen. Tyler and wife, postmaster at Baltimore.
Hon. James Calder, president of Pennsylvania State College.
Hon. B. C. Yancey, of Georgia.
Hon. Josiah Dent, one of three Commissioners of the District of
Columbia.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 155
Judge Jones and wife, of Ohio.
Hon. Albert J. Myer (Old Probs.) and daughter, of Washington.
United States Senator M. 0. Butler and son, of South Carolina.
Pay Director Looker, of the United States Navy.
Hon. L. F. Watson, M. C, Pennsylvania.
Gen. W. G. LeDuc, United States Commissioner of Agriculture.
O. D. LaDaw, Esq., Gen. LeDuc's private secretary.
A. V. Gardiner, Esq., New York, son-in-law of Gen. LeDuc.
Attorney General Devens, of Washington.
Miss F. G. LeDuc and sister, of Washington.
Wm. Henry Smith, Esq., agent of the Western Associated Press.
The party were met at the depot by a reception committee, consisting
of ex-Governor and ex-Senator Ramsey, ex-Governor Davis, ex-Gover-
nor Marshall, Gen. Gibbon, Gen. McLaren, and President Finch, of the
State Agricultural Society. The presidential party, which had been
met at the State line by ex-Governor Sibley, were by him introduced,
when Governor Pillsbury welcomed the President in these well-chosen
words:
" Mr. President : Our State is to-day honored for the first time by the presence of the
chief magistrate of the nation. I am proud in behalf of the people of Minnesota to extend
to the President of the United States, and to the distinguished party accompanying him, a
most cordial welcome to the commonwealth of Minnesota and to the hospitalities of her
people. It is an inspiring thought and the pardonable boast of our rescued nation, that
throughout her extended domain— stretching from ocean to ocean, and from zone to
zone — are found a people speaking one language, now animated by the same sentiment
of national fraternity and seeking the good of one common country. Be assured, Mr.
President, that the citizens of the North Star State, one of the youngest of the Union,
warmly share in the patriotic feelings ; and I sincerely hope for myself, and for our
whole people, that your stay here may be in every respect agreeable, and that you may
carry with you pleasing recollections of this visit among us."
The President responded in becoming terms, after which the several
members of the party were conveyed by carriages in waiting to the
places assigned them. The President and Mrs. Hayes, with Gov. Pills-
bury, were rapidly driven to ex-Gov. Ramsey's residence, and the others,
with the exception of Attorney General Devens, were conducted to the
Metropolitan Hotel. The Attorney General was driven to Gen. Mc-
Laren's residence, where he breakfasted, with Senator and Mrs. Windom.
A little after nine o'clock, a procession was formed and headed for
the fair grounds, the procession being formed in the following order:
Platoon of Police.
Great Western Band.
Minnesota Veterans.
President of the United States and party in carriages.
156 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
State Officers and Officers of the United States in carriages.
County and City Officers in carriages.
Grerniania Band.
Troops from Port Snelling.
Faribault Military Cadets.
Odd Fellows, United Workmen, Druids, and Civic Organizations.
Citizens in carriages.
The procession was under the charge of Gen. H. P. Van Cleve, who
had appointed as aids Col. C. S. Uline, Capt. Macy, Capt. A. R. Kiefer,
W. D. Rogers, R. O. Strong, W. E. McLean, Capt. Otto Dreher, Capt, M.
J. O'Connor, Jacob Miller and Chief of Police Weber. The procession
opened ranks, through which the President and guests in carriages rode,
and as the President passed the companies fell into line and followed,
until a point a short distance above the Metropolitan was reached,
when the President's carriage and others stopped. The procession
continued till the position designated for the illustrious guests was
reached, which they took, and the column continued down Third street
in the order above given. From the start till the arrival at the depot,
it was a continued ovation. Ladies and little children clapped their
hands and waved their handkerchiefs, while the men kept up one
continuous cheering. When the President's carriage stopped on upper
Third street, the scene was one of wild enthusiasm. Here, as elsewhere,
the President was cheered and cheered, and many rushed up to the
carriage to take him by the hand. The first one to do this was a little
fellow, perhaps fourteen years of age, ragged and dirty, but as much,
if not more, consideration was shown by the President to this lad than
to the best dressed gentleman who shook his hands. It showed that
the President has a big heart, and he was heartily applauded. At this
point many ladies rushed up with their little ones to be greeted by
President Hayes, who took pains to notice all of them. This was con-
tinued till he moved on. During the march down Third street, the
President remained standing in his carriage, lifting his hat and bowing
right and left in answer to the repeated salutes and cheers.
President Hayes and wife, and Governor Pillsbury and wife, occupied
an open carriage, and as the President passed through the closely packed
streets, he stood up with head uncovered and acknowledged the hearty
cheers that went up from the crowds that surged around him. The
reception of the President was hearty and general, and the spontaneous
expressions of the good-will of his fellow citizens of St. Paul and the
State of Minnesota, must have been gratifying to President Hayes,
grand and great as have been the ovations tendered to him in laiger
cities.
t
m
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 157
At eleven o'clock, the special train consisting of three cars drew out
for the fair grounds. Two of the cars contained the presidential party,
and in the third were the Faribault cadets, and their band, as an escort.
Tins military company had the honor of being the only escort, which
was due to their tine appearance and soldierly bearing. After a quick
run the train reached the fair grounds.
Immediately after the President was on board of the train, the vast
crowd in St. Paul made a grand rush for teams, and by the time that he
reached the lair grounds and was ready to alight, a large number were
also ready to receive him. The train steamed into the enclosure, and
a detachment of police formed, through the ranks of which the Faribault
band and guards headed the line, followed by the presidential party.
They marched at once to the President's pavilion, and the visitors took
seats on the platform, while the Faribault Guards filed in front of this
building. President Haves' reception on the fair grounds was another
grand ovation, the vast crow T d swinging their hats and cheering, extending
such a greeting as beggars description. When on the pavilion, the
crowd again tremendously applauded President Hayes. President
Finch, of the State Fair Association, stepped forward and introduced
the President, who spoke to the assembled thousands that had gathered
to see and hear him.
The President's speech lasted about an hour. It was of a congratu-
latory character, local, state and national, and abounded in many well
put phrases. The body of the speech was devoted to the financial
problems of the country which so vitally concern our people, and have
been stirring the national heart with intense zeal for the last decade.
At its conclusion, Genl. Myer was introduced and made a few
remarks, then Atty. Genl. Devins delivered a pretty little speech, fol-
lowed by Senator Butler of South Carolina.
When the speeches were concluded, and the audience had seen and
heard their authors, some one shouted, " Mrs. Hayes," and like wildfire
the cry spread all over the crowd, which continued until the demand
was so universal, that these people would not be satisfied or quieted
till Mrs. Hayes appeared before them. Senator Ramsey appeared with
Mrs. Hayes leaning on his arm, and introduced her to the vast assem-
blage. Mrs. Hayes bowed pleasantly several times, and for some time
after she sat down, the immense applause continued from the voices of
fifty thousand people, with whom this sensible woman was a great
favorite, as she is everywhere. Indeed, it seemed as if the welcome in
many instances was even more enthusiastic, if it could be, than the
President received.
158 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
At 10 o'clock on Thursday night (the 5th) the President and party-
left St. Paul via the Northern Pacific Railroad for Fargo and the Red
River Valley of the North, arriving at Fargo at 8:30 o'clock the next
morning. A little after ten o'clock the presidential train started to.
visit the great Dalrymple farm. Upon their arrival there one hundred
farm hands were found drawn up in line, who cheered the President as
he stepped from the car and bowed to them. The party were immedi-
ately hurried into vehicles of all sorts, which were in readiness for
them. Oliver Dalrymple, the manager of the farms, took the President
in a single-seated buggy, and took the lead. Next came Mrs. Hayes in
a two-seated wagon, accompanied by Gen. Sibley. A party of ladies
and gentlemen got aboard of. a hay-rack drawn by six mules, and
enjoyed rare sport while taking the rounds of the grain fields in the
line of the procession. The President being human, could not restrain
his admiration and wonder at these extensive fields, which but a week
or two ago where covered with a rich growth of golden grain, and but
five years ago were crossed by the fresh war path of the Sioux. Brigades
of men and horses were exhibited to the party, plowing furrows miles
in length. Others were threshing out the newly-harvested wheat at
the rate of several thousand bushels per day. After riding rapidly over
a portion of these grain fields, the President, Mrs. Hayes and others
accompanying them around the fields, were regaled by Mr. and Mrs.
Dalrymple at their cottage with refreshments.
After these honors by the wheat-growing king of the Northwest, the
party returned to their special train, re-entered their palace coaches,
and steamed away towards Minneapolis, where they arrived at 7:30
o'clock on Saturday morning. They were met at the depot of the St.
Paul and Pacific Railroad by a deputation of citizens, consisting of
Mayor Rand, Hon. W. 'D. Washburn, R. B. Langdon, Dr. Keith, Col.
McCrary and other distinguished citizens of that city, and conveyed to
vthe Nicollet House, where they were sumptuously entertained. The
Nicollet register shows the following names, from which it will be seen
that the party was augmented after leaving St. Paul:
President R. B. Hayes and wife.
Burchard Hayes, Washington.
Webb C. Hayes, Washington.
Rutherford B. Hayes, Jr., Washington.
Hon. H. B. Strait, M. C, Shakopee.
Hon. Wm. Windom, U. S. Senator, Winona.
Hon. Alexander Ramsey, St. Paul.
M. C. Butler, U. S. Senator, and son, South Carolina.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 159
Gen. Albert J. Meyer and daughter, U. S. A.
E. B. Tyler and wife, postmaster, Baltimore.
Judge T. C. Jones and wife, Ohio.
Wm. H. Mills and daughter, Ohio.
Gen. T. R. Looker, pay director, U. S. N.
Hon. Andrew Shuman, Journal, Chicago.
Jos. Calder, Pennsylvania State College.
0. D. LaDaw, Washington.
Gov. W. A. Howard, Dakota.
C. B. Wright, Philadelphia.
B. C. Yancey, Athens, Ga.
Wm. Henry Smith, wife, daughter and son, Chicago.
C. B. Farwell, wife and son, Chicago.
John V. Farwell and wife, Chicago.
John N. Jewett and wife, Chicago.
Wm. H. Ferry and wife, Chicago.
0. W. Nixon, Inter-Ocean, Chicago.
A little after twelve o'clock conveyances were in readiness, and the
party were taken out to visit the exposition of the Minneapolis Agri-
cultural and Mechanical Association, where the party was welcomed,
and the President introduced to the assembled multitude by Mayor
Rand in the following aptly-chosen words:
"Fellow Citizens, Ladies and Gentlemen :— Our city is especially honored to-day
by the presence of one whose person is a stranger to us, but whose name has long been
a household word; one who. has plowed deep furrows in the political soil of this country,
the harvest of which will bu garnered into the treasuries of the land when absolute
genuine peace shall be firmly established all over the Union, and particularly in the great
councils of the nation.
The policy of peace on earth and good will to his fellow men, as exercised in the
earliest days of his administration, was inaugurated nearly two thousand years ago by a
poor and lowly Nazarene; that outlived all dynasties, and will continue to live and
expand until the purpling dawn of the millenium. If the soil in which it was planted
was not ready for its reception, it ought not to depreciate one jot or title your estimate
of the kindly instincts of the courageous hearts that dared follow so illustrious an
example.
I have the honor to introduce His Excellency, Eutherford B. Hayes, the President of
the United Spates."
President Hayes responded in a speech of some length, covering
nearly the same subjects as those already quoted from his speech at St.
Paul.
Some incidents transpired during the visit of the party to the Minne-
apolis fair that are worthy of mention, for an account of which we are
indebted to the " Pioneer Press/'
When President Hayes concluded his speech and had taken his seat,
says the " Pioneer Press," the broad-brimmed hat of William Terrel,
160 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
an expressman, of Minneapolis, was seen to rise above the edge of the
judge's stand. "Bill" touched the President gently on the shoulder,
and the latter turning around, a most hearty greeting and handshaking
followed — honest Bill closing the salutation by wiping tears from his
eyes. He was presented to Mrs. Hayes, who greeted him with warm-
hearted cordiality, creating one of the interesting incidents of the day.
The explanation for the demonstration is, that William Terrel was a
member of President Hayes' regiment during the war, and the affec-
tionate greeting was simply that of an old soldier to his honored
commander, and the noble "mother of the regiment," to which the two
men belonged as officer and private soldier. To-day William Terrel
feels elevated above the average run of his fellow men.
Following the speech of Attorney General Devens, President Hayes
again advanced to the front, holding a Bible in his hand. He explained
that book was the gift of a Union soldier of Minneapolis, who wished it
sold at auction and the proceeds devoted to the family of some confed-
erate soldier, suffering from the present terrible epidemic, yellow fever.
Accepting the situation with characteristic vim, Mayor Rand converted
himself into an auctioneer, and called for a first bid. The response
came in the cry of "$5," then " $10." Then came a demand for names
and the bidding was continued as follows, in the midst of repeated
cheers : D. C. Gilman, of Minneapolis, " $50 ;" Mrs. J. I. Case, of Racine,
Wis., " $75 ;" R. F. Jones, Minneapolis, called out " $80," followed by
tremendous cheering. The kind-hearted little lady from Wisconsin, not
to be outdone in generosity, raised her bid to " $100," and took the
book — the crowd shouting themselves hoarse, while handkerchiefs filled
the air like a shower of big snow flakes.
This spirited scene was followed by loud calls for Mrs. Hayes, who
was escorted to the front by Gov. Pillsbury and greeted with rounds of
respectful cheers, as the first lady and one of the noblest women in a
land of noble women. Cheers were also proposed and given for Mrs.
J. I. Case, for her generous contribution to the yellow fever fund, and
everyone seemed thoroughly delighted with the day's experiences on
the grounds.
Subseqently, Mrs. Case very generously returned the valued book to
the donor, D. Newton Severance, with her compliments.
As President Hayes and wife were leaving the grounds, I hey under-
went a series of friendly shakes, and the name of the soldier who pre-
sented the Bible being called for, back came the response : "D. Newton
Severance, of Minneapolis."
The party returned to St. Paul on Saturday evening, where they
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 161
remained over Sunday. Monday they left the capital of the generous-
hearted North Star State, on their return to their homes, stopping for a
few hours at Hastings, the home of the Commissioner of Agriculture,
LeDuc, and at Red Wing, in both of which cities they were welcomed
by thousands of people.
After speaking to the multitude from the south balcony of the St.
James Hotel at the latter city, and partaking of a sumptuous collation
given by her citizens in the spacious dining hall of that house, at 9:50
p. m., the distinguished party bade adieu to the city of bluffs and
church spires and started on their homeward journey.
JOURNALISTIC ENTERPRISE.
THE CONTRAST.
Steadily with the growth and development of the State, journalism
has held a place in the front rank ot her industries. It has done more
to mould her destinies and direct her prosperity than any other one
interest. Perhaps no State in the Union of her years has enjoyed a
journalistic career as bright and substantial as Minnesota. The follow-
ing from the St. Paul "Pioneer Press," of January 2d, 1877, will be
instructive in this connection :
We have some difficulty in deciding whether the old " Pioneer," or
the old "Press," is the main stem of the consolidated newspaper, the
Minneapolis "Tribune" being a later and younger affluent. The
" Press," though twelve years younger, had far outgrown in general
business prosperity its older rival when the latter was taken to its
12
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 163
bosom, but the " Pioneer " had the precedence of seniority, and for
historical purposes, at least, may be considered the original stem of the
consolidated ' k Pioneer Press." The St. Paul « Pioneer " was founded
by James M. Goodhue, who came to St. Paul in the spring of 1849, with
a printing press and materials from Lancaster, Grant county, Wisconsin,
soon after the territory was organized. He put his printing press in a
little shanty on Third street, and there laid the corner stone of Minne-
sota journalism. On a previous page is given a cut of the little Wash-
ington hand press, with which the parent journal began its toils in
1849 ; and on the opposite page is seen a speaking likeness of the giant
press which embodies the mechanical power and symbolizes the vigor,
enterprize, and prosperity of the " Pioneer Press " of 1877.
The contrast is a suggestive one, and there are volumes of stirring-
history, of unrewarded toil, of fruitless enterprise, of hardly won
successes, in the long interval of thirty-one years, which separates these
two pictorial terms of comparison. Near the site of the little shanty,
where Goodhue planted his little Washington hand-press, the stately
and magnificent four-story stone building of the " Pioneer Press, 1 ' fifty
feet front and a hundred and fifty deep, now rears its imposing front.
The " Pioneer " was not issued as a daily till 1854, when Earl S. Goodrich
became its proprietor and editor. It was a prosperous paper during
his administration, and in the fall of that year, the little hand-press was
supplanted by a Hoe drum press, which was run by hand for a year,
and afterwards by steam. This press was capable of working off about
1,000 impressions an hour, and was considered a big thing in those
days. For this, which Mr. Goodrich found too cumbrous for his business,
he subsequently substituted a smaller one-cylinder Hoe press, run by
steam-power of about the same capacity.
In 1861 the "Press" started with a small hand-power press rented for
the purpose, but was soon compelled to purchase a new Taylor power
press run by steam. It was not until 1870, however, that it was found
necessary or deemed financially prudent to get a Hoe one-cylinder
which was capable of turning off 1,500 impressions an hour; but
though this was not equal to their necessities, and was the occasion
of their missing a great many mails and many disappointments to city
subscribers, a two-cylinder was felt to be more expensive than the
" Press" Company could afford. In 1872, however, its neighbor, the
'* Pioneer," went into a great lottery scheme for increasing its circula-
tion, The scheme succeeded so far as circulation was concerned, but it
broke the concern. To work off their immense edition they found it
necessary to purchase a two-cylinder Potter press. This press, which
164 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
was capable of 3,000 impressions per hour, became the property of the
" Pioneer Press" on the consolidation of the two papers, and it proved
a fortunate possession; for without it they would have been wholly unable
to work off the large edition of the two papers, which was subsequently
increased by the absorption of the " Minneapolis Tribune," and since
then still further increased by the impulse given to the popularity of
the newspaper by the great improvements its proprietors were enabled
to make in it, and by its independent course. But the circulation of
the " Pioneer Press" made such unexpectedly rapid strides beyond the
combined circulations of the consolidated newspapers, that it was soon
found that the two-cylinder press could not begin to do the work
required of it. To work off their edition at all, it was necessary to send
the first side to press at from 9:30 to 10:30 p. m., and the forms of their
last side to press by 2:30 a. m., at farthest, and even then the press
pushed to its utmost speed was unable to meet the demands upon it —
and every day was making matters worse. It often happened that the
most important telegraphic news came after 2 a. m., or even as late as
3 A. m. They either had to cut off the news or disappoint their subscri-
bers, and the slightest derangement of the machinery, or any other
cause of delay, would oblige them to miss important mails and to defraud
the city subscribers of their papers before breakfast. A four-cylinder
press was, therefore, an imperative necessity ; and though it cost a sum
of money sufficient to build two or three average business blocks, they
have no doubt it will prove as profitable as it was a necessary invest-
ment. It will be interesting to recapitulate the indices above mentioned
of the powers of the Hercules whose infancy was cradled by James M.
Goodhue, and whose later steps were guided by as many masters as
Rabelais' Gargantua, as measured by the various presses which marked
and symbolized its various stages of development.
From 1849 to 1854, a Washington hand press — capacity 240 impres-
sions an hour.
From 1854 to 1866, a Hoe drum or some similar press — capacity 1,000
to 1,200 impressions an hour.
From 1866 to 1875, a Hoe cylinder press — capacity 1,500 impres-
sions an hour.
From 1875 to 1877, a double cylinder — capacity 3,000 impressions
an hour.
1877, a Hoe four cylinder — capacity 10,000 impressions per hour.
So that in 1877 the u Pioneer Press " prints in less than a minute and
a half as many impressions as Goodhue could print in an hour. This
expressive contrast is a fair measure of the immense growth of Minne-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 165
sota journalism since its first feeble plant was made thirty-one years
ago.
We have not deemed it necessary to go at length into the other
aspects of this progress beyond its mere mechanical expressions and
symbols. But it will not fail to occur to every one that this growth is
a part of the general progress of this State and region. When the first
number of the " Pioneer " was issued, there were not more than 4,000
people in the present limits of Minnesota, nor more than 300, mostly
half-breeds, in St. Paul. There were still fewer at St. Anthony, and
none at all in Minneapolis west. Now these towns embrace an aggre-
gate population of 75,000 souls, and the State at least 800,000. In 1849
the only agencies through which the " Pioneer " could receive news was
through a weekly mail by steamboat, and in winter by stage from
Dubuque. There was no telegraph in those days in this region, and no
railroad nearer than Elgin, in Illinois. We have bravely changed all
that. It would astonish Goodhue if he could once arise from his grave
to see the changes which have been accomplished since his day in the
mere apparatus for the collection and transmission of news, to say
nothing of the wonderful transformation which the progress of civiliza-
tion and wealth and culture have effected in the external aspects of
the country. Lines of telegraph, stretching their wires all over the
State and the Union, and across the ocean through Europe, pour the
daily news gatherings of the associated press from all parts of the
country and the world in the news columns of the daily journal, while
the steam cars on a dozen lines of railroads are waiting to carry' the
great sacks of newspapers to every part of the State and of the North-
west.
During the first week in September, 1878, while two of the greatest
Fairs ever held in the Northwest were attracting the largest crowds of
people ever assembled in that region, the Pioneer Press Co. issued for
six consecutive days a twelve-page paper containing seventy-two
columns.
90,000 copies were issued during the six days.
The weight of paper used was six and three-fourths tons.
The sheets used, if fastened one to the other lengthway, would extend
over seventy-nine miles.
Spreading the sheets out singly, the area covered would be thirty-one
and eleven-sixteenth acres.
Reducing the number of columns to single columns, and the aggre-
gate issue would form a line one column wide of 2045 miles in length.
In preparing and circulating this great paper there were employed :
166 THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY.
In editorial department, - - - 19
In composition and proof reading, - 43
In press room, - - - - - 10
In mailing room, 15
In carriers' department, both cities, - 25
In business department, 12
Total, - - - 124
(This force was employed for only one of the departments. In the
book room, job room, bindery, and lithographic departments, there are
from sixty-five to seventy hands employed in addition to above.)
The total expenses of the paper for the six days footed up $2,850.
The press but shares in the general progress which has been going
on all over the State and throughout the entire Northwest.
STATE INSTITUTIONS.
EDUCATIONAL.
The State University is located at Minneapolis, East Division. It
was chartered under territorial jurisdiction. * " Under an act of Congress
approved February 19, 1851, there were located for the use of the
University, 46,468.35 acres of land, of which amount 23,361.71 were
pine lands, and 23,106.64 acres of agricultural lands. Of the latter,
1,193.26 acres were sold by the board of regents in 1862.
"By act of the legislature approved March 5, 1863, the State
Auditor, as Commissioner of the State Land Office, was required to take
charge of the University lands. By the act of March 4, 1864, a new
board of regents was appointed, and invested with special powers, for
the purpose of liquidating the indebtedness of the institution, and
authorized to dispose of 12,000 acres of the university lands ; which
amount was subsequently increased to 14,000 acres.
"Their reports show that a total of 14,734.76 acres were sold.
" An additional grant of seventy-two sections, or 46,080 acres, was
made to the State for University purposes, by act of Congress approved
July 8, 1870.
" Of the first grant, 36,703.75 acres only were certified before the
organization of the State. By a ruling of the Interior Department the
9,764.60 acres of the first grant certified since the State organization,
* Report of State Auditor, 1878.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 167
are chargeable to the second grant, leaving only 37,079.24 acres to be
selected.
"The selections for this amount have been practically completed by
the governor, of which the following lists have been approved.
District. Date of Approval. Acres,
Alexandria, May 13, 1872, - - - 6,042.37
New Ulm, September 24, 1872, - 7,319.71
Duluth, - - August 29, 1873, - - 822.89
St. Cloud, - August 29, 1873, - - - 4,388.94
Oak Lake, - August 29, 1873, - ' - 4,786.05
Alexandria, - - December 27, 1873, - - 2,880.00
Total, - - - 26,239.96
The proceeds of the Agricultural College lands and of the University
lands, go into the permanent University fund. The sales of Agricultu-
ral College lands in 1877 amounted to 7,551 acres, at the average price
of $5.81 per acre. The total sales of Agricultural College lands, at the
close of the last year, amounted to 49,643.75 acres. The total amount
realized was $280,739.68.
NORMAL SCHOOLS.
There are three legally established Normal Schools in the State.
The first State Normal School is located at Winona, the second at Man-
kato, and the third at St. Cloud. The resources of these schools are
State appropriations and funds arising from tuition in the model
schools.
The State Reform School is located near St. Paul, in Ramsey county.
ASYLUMS.
The Deaf and Dumb and the Blind Asylums are located at Faribault.
The building was commenced in 1866. Additions have been made
from time to time, as the needs of the State required. In 1874 a law
was passed levying a tax of ten dollars against each saloon in the State,
annually, for the purpose of erecting and maintaining an Inebriate
Asylum. Rochester was selected as the site of the new institution,
grounds secured, and the erection of the building commenced. The
last session of the Legislature, however, changed the programme, and
passed an act providing that it should be used for the purposes of a
second insane asylum. It will be opened this fall (1878) for the recep-
tion of patients. It will cost from $35,000 to $40,000.
168
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
STATE PRISON.
The penitentiary is located at Stillwater. The pioneer settlers in
Minnesota Territory located in the vicinity of St. Paul, St. Anthony
Falls and Stillwater, and by a kind of mutual understanding the capitol
was located at St. Paul, the penitentiary at Stillwater', and the State
University at St. Anthony — now included in the city of Minneapolis.
The following table, taken from the last report of the State Auditor,
shows the cost of buildings for the several State institutions:
Years.
1866.
1867.
1868.
1869.
1870.
1871.
1872.
1873.
1874.
1875.
1876.
1877.
Total $217,059 92
Prison.
7,100 14
14,157 93
17,150 00
12,150 00
39,596 47
31,387 79
40,000 00
5,849 35
34.836 18
3,136 76
11,713 30
Reform
School.
5,000 00
6,600 00
10,000 00
18,100 00
20,000 00
5,500 00
Insane.
{ 9,330 00
39.233 73
76,436 27
49,859 43
10,140 57
63,169,00
3,000 00
128,000 00
77,000 00
20,800 00
25,000 00
9,492 78
$ 75,200 00 $511,461 78 $152,000 00
Deaf, Dumb
and Blind.
9,600 82
43,339 18
7,033 09
10,000 00
466 91
25,000 00
31,000 00
9,000 00
7,000 00
4.000 00
5,500 00
University,
8,000 00
7,000 00
10,000 00
15,000 00
61,500 00
7,850 00
18,000 00
$127,350 00
Normal
Schools.
$ 10,000 00
25,000 00
30,000 00
37,000 00
65.576 68
14,954 84
2,700 00
20,600 00
20,000 00
3,100 00
2,500 00
$231,431 52
Total.
t 36,030 96
134,790 84
127,069 36
124,009 43
101,434 16
152,720 31
37,087 79
254,600 00
178,849 35
73,586 18
50,136 76
29,206 08
$1,314,521 22
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA, AND ITS AMENDMENTS.
We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings
of liberty to oursslves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
Article I.
Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and
House of Representatives.
Sec. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members
chosen every second year by the people of the several states, and the
electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors
of the most numerous branch of the state legislature.
No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to
the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that
state in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the
several states which may be included within this Union, according to
their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the
whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a
term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths ol all other
persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years
after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within
every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by
law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for
every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representa-
tive; and until such enumeration shall be made the State of New
Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight,
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New
York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight,, Delaware one, Mary-
land six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, and Georgia three.
170 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other
officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
Sec 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
Senators from each state, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six
years; and each Senator shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes.
The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated. at the expira-
tion of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the
fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year,
so that one-third may be chosen every second year ; and if vacancies
happen by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature
of any state, the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments
until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such
vacancies.
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age
of thirty years and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which
he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro
tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise
the office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the
President of the United States is tried the Chief Justice shall preside.
And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds
of the members present.
Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further than to
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of
honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party convicted
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment,
and punishment according to law.
Sec 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Sen-
ators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the
Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or
alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 171
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by
law appoint a different day.
Sec. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the election, returns, and
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute
a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day
to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent
members in such manner and under such penalties as each house may
provide.
Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-
thirds, expel a member.
Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may, in their judgment,
require secrecy; and the yeas and naves of the members of either house
on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be
entered on the journal.
Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other
place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.
Sec 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compen-
sation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the
treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason,
felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their
attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to
and returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either
house they shall not be questioned in any other place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the
United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments
whereof shall have been increased during such time ; and no person
holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either
house during his continuance in office.
Sec 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amend-
ments as on other bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President
of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it; but if not he shall
return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have origi-
nated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and
172 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration two-thirds of
that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with
the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be recon-
sidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a
law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined
by yeas and nayes, and the names of the persons voting for and against
the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If
any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sun-
days excepted,) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall
be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by
their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a
law.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a
question of adjournment,) shall be presented to the President of the
United States, and before the same shall take effect shall be approved
by him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by two thirds
of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules
and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Sec. 8. The Congress shall have power —
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts,
and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United
States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout
the United States ;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States ;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several
States, and with the Indian tribes ;
To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and
fix the standard of weights and measures;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and
current coin of the United States ;
To establish post offices and post roads ;
To promote the progress of sciences and useful arts, by securing, for
limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their
respective writings and discoveries ;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high
seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
To declare war, grant of letters marque and reprisal, and make rules
concerning captures on land and water ;
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 173
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that
use shall be for a longer term than two years ;
To provide and maintain a navy ;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and
naval forces ;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the
Union, supress insurrections and repel invasions :
To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and
for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of
the United States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment
of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the
discipline prescribed by Congress ;
To exercise legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not
exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and
the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the
United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased
by the consent of the Legislature of the state in which the same shall
be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other
needful buildings ; and
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this
Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any depart-
ment or officer thereof.
Sec. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the
states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress, prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and
eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not
exceeding ten dollars for each person.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may
require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion
to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or rev-
enue to the ports of one state over those of another ; nor shall vessels
bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in
another.
No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of
appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of
174 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published
from time to time.
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : and no
person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without
the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office
or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
Sec. 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confeder-
ation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money; emit bills of
credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of
debts; pass any bill of attainder,' ex post facto law, or law impairing
the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts
or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely neces-
sary for executing its inspection laws, and the net produce of all duties
and imposts laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use
of the Treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject
to the revision and control of the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on ton-
nage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agree-
ment or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage
in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not
admit of delay.
Article II.
Section 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of
the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term
of four years, and together with the Vice-President, chosen for the
same term, be elected as follows :
Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof
may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Sen-
ators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the
Congress ; but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office
of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
[* The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by
ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant
of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all
the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list
they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the gov-
ernment of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate.
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and
* This clause between brackets has been superseded and annulled by the Twelfth amendment.
CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 175
House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the vote shall
then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall
be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of
Electors appointed ; and if there be more than one who have such
majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Repre-
sentatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for Presi-
dent; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on
the list the said House shall, in like manner, choose the President.
But in choosing the President, the vote shall be taken by states, the
representation from each state having one vote ; a quorum for this pur
pose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states,
and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every
case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest
number of votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if
there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate
shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-President.]
The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and
the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the
same throughout the United States.
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United
States at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall be eligible
to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that
office who shall not have attained the age of thirty -five years, and been
fourteen years a resident within the United States.
In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death,
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said
office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the Congress
may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inabil-
ity, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what dfficer
shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until
the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a com-
pensation which shall neither be increased or diminished during the
period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive
within that period any other emolument from the United States or any
of them.
Before he enters on the execution of his office, he shall take the
following oath or affirmation :
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United
States."
176 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
Sec. 2. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when
called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the
opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive
departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective
offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardon for
offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present con-
cur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls,
judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States
whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which
shall be established by law ; but the Congress may by law vest the
appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the Presi-
dent alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which
shall expire at the end of their next session.
Sec 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information
of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such
measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may on extra-
ordinary occasions convene both houses, or either of them, and in case
of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment,
he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall
receive ambassadors and other public officers ; he shall take care that
the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of
the United States.
Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and
conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Article III.
Section 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested
in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as the Congress may
from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the
Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior,
and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation,
which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
Sec 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity,
arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 177
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all
cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all
cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which
the United States shall be a party ; to controversies between two or
more states ; between a state and citizens of another state ; between
citizens of different states ; between citizens of the same state claiming
lands under grants of different states, and between a state or the citi-
zens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects.
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls,
and those in which a state shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall
have original jurisdiction.
In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall
have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions
and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by
jury; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes
shall have been committed ; but when not committed within any state,
the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law
have directed.
Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levy-
ing war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid
and comfort. No person shall be" convicted of treason unless on the
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in
open court.
The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason,
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture,
except during the life of the person attainted.
Article IV.
Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And
the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such
acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
Sec. 2. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges
and immunities of citizens in the several states.
A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime,
who shall flee from justice and be found in another state, shall, on
demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be
delivered up, to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.
No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation
13
178 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered
up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.
Sec 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ;
but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of
any other state ; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more
states, or part of states, without the consent of the Legislatures of the
states concerned, as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful
rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belong-
ing to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so
construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any
particular state.
Sec 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this
Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them
against invasion, and on application of the legislature, or of the Execu-
tive (when the Legislature can not be convened,) against domestic vio-
lence.
Article V.
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it neces-
sary, shall propose amendments to this constitution, or, on the applica-
tion of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call a
convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be
valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution, when rati-
fied by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by con-
ventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of rati-
fication may be proposed by the Congress. Provided that no amend-
ment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred
and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the
ninth section of the first article ; and that no state, without its consent,
shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
Article VI.
All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adop-
tion of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States
under this Constitution as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme
law of the land ; and the Judges in every state shall be bound thereby,
anything in the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary not-
withstanding.
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
179
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the mem-
bers of the several state Legislatures, and all executive and judicial
officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be
bound by an oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no reli-
gious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or pub-
lic trust under the United States.
Article VII.
The ratification of the Conventions of nine states shall be sufficient
for the establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratify-
ing the same.
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present,
the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one
thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence
of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof
we have hereunto subscribed our names.
GEO. WASHINGTON,
President and Deputy from Virginia.
New Hampshire.
John Langdon,
Nicholas Gilman.
Massachusetts.
Nathaniel Gorham,
Rufus King.
Connecticut.
Wm. Sam'l Johnson,
Roger Sherman.
New York.
Alexander Hamilton.
New Jersey.
Wil. Livingston,
Wm. Patterson,
David Brearley,
Jona. Dayton.
Delaware.
Geo. Read,
John Dickinson,
Jaco. Broom,
Gunning Bedford, Jr.,
Richard Bassett.
Maryland.
James M'Henry,
Daniel. Carroll,
Dan. of St. Thos. Jenifer.
Virginia.
John Blair,
James Madison, Jr.
North Carolina.
Wm. Blount,
Hu. Williamson,
Rich'd Dobbs Spaight.
IgO CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
Pennsylvania. South Carolina.
B. FKANKLIN, J- RUTLEDGE,
Robt. Mokris, Charles Pinckney,
Thos. Fitzsimons, Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney.
James Wilson, Pierce Butler.
Thos. Mifflin,
Geo. Clymer, Georgia.
Jared Ingebsoll, William Few.
Gouv. Morris. Abb. Baldwin.
WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary.
Articles in Addition to and Amendatory of the Constitution of the
United States of America.
Proposed by Congress and ratified by the Legislatures of the several
States, pursuant to the fifth article of the original Constitution.
Article I.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Article II.
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Article III.
No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without
the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be
prescribed by law.
Article IV.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, sup-
ported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to
be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
Article V.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 181
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except
in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in
actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be
subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ;
nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against
himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due pro-
cess of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without
just compensation.
Article VI.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district
wherein the crime shall have been committted, which district shall have
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature
and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against
him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor;
and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Article VII.
In suits at common -law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact
tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the
United States than according to the rules of the common law.
Article VIII.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Article IX.
The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Article X.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively
or to the people.
Article XI.
The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to
extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against
one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or
subjects of any foreign state.
182 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
Article XII.
The electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot
for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an
inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their
ballots the person to be voted for as President, and in distinct ballots
the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct
lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for
as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which list they
shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The
President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and House of
Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be
counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for President
shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole num-
ber of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then
from the persons having the highest number not exceeding three on the
list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall
choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the
President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from
each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of
a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of
all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Rep-
resentatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice
shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following,
then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the
death or other constitutional disability of the President. The person
having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the
Vice-President, if such number be the majority of the whole number
of electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the
two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-
President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the
whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall
be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to
the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the
United States.
Article XIII.
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their juris-
diction.
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 183
Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro-
priate legislation.
Article XIV.
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and
of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any
law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the
United States ; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty,
or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Sec 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the several states
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of
persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed ; but when the right
to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and
Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the
executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the Legis-
lature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state,
being twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States, or in
any way abridged except for participation in rebellion or other crimes,
the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion
which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number
of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.
Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress,
or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or
military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having
previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of
the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an
executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the constitution of
the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion
against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But
Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such dis-
ability.
Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States author-
ized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and
bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not
be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall pay
any debt or obligation incurred in the aid of insurrection or rebellion
against the United States, or any loss or emancipation of any slave, but
such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Sec 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this act.
184 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
Article XV.
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro-
priate legislation.
HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION AND AREA— DRAINAGE— SUR-
FACE AND TIMBER— GEOLOGY— SHAKOPEE LIME-
STONE, DRIFT, MOUNDS, Etc., Etc.
BY PROF. HORACE B. WILSON, A.M.
This county lies on the Mississippi River, and is bounded on the
north by Dakota county and the Mississippi River ; on the east by the
Mississippi, Lake Pepin and Wabasha county ; on the south by Olmsted
and Dodge counties ; and on the west by Rice and Dakota counties.
Its area is about 764 square miles, or 488,833.84 acres, according to the
township plats of the U. S. Land Office. The townships are twenty-four
in number, those bordering on the Mississippi being fractional.
The following table, taken from the records of the Surveyor General's
office, gives the number of acres in each township in the county:
Name. Township N. Range W. Acres and Fractions.
Burnside 113 15 18,666.69
Cannon Falls 112 17 13,606.31
Central Point 112 12 1,121-42
Featherstone 112 15 22,909.89
Florence 112 13 20,901.67
Hay Creek 112 14 23,055.40
Stanton 112 18 15,375.53
Wacouta 113 14 2,700.47
Welch 113 16 27,132.28
Cherry Grove , 109 17 24,537.58
Roscoe 109 16 22,987.22
Pine Island 109 15 22,996.29
Zumbrota 110 15 22,905.12
Kenyon 109 18 23,006.38
Minneola 110 16 22,827.18
Wanamingo 110 17 24,523.55
Holden 110 18 23,016.70
Belvidere.: Ill 14 22,879.96
Goodhue Ill 15 22,853.45
Range W.
Acres and Fractions
16
22,707.11
17
21,198.57
18
22,951.36
11
1,180.00
16
26,193.11
186 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
Name. Township N.
Belle Creek Ill
Leon Ill
Warsaw Ill
Red Wing 113
Vasa 112
Total . 188, 833. 81
RAILROAD ELEVATIONS, C. M. & ST. PAUL R. R.
Above the Ocean.
Low water mark at St. Paul 672.31 feet.
Grade of railroad at St. Paul Depot 692.81 "
" " " Hastings Junction H. & D. R. R 696.31 "
" " " Etter Station 677.81 "
" Red Wing Depot 673.81 "
" " " Frontenac 707.31 "
" " " Lake City 691.81 "
" " " Winona 619.11 "
Top of Bam Bluff 1008.81 "
Fort Snelling '820.00 "
Itasca Lake source of Mississippi 1575.00 "
ANNUAL MEAN TEMPERATURE OF GOODHUE CO.
'Temperature in degrees F'hr.
Jan., +13.7, July, +73.4, Average for year, +14.6.
Annual rainfall in inches, 25.84.
The general surface of the county, except the land bordering on the
Mississippi, a strip averaging two miles in width, and the valleys of the
streams, which have been formed by the erosion of running water, is a
plane, or a gently rolling prairie.
DRAINAGE.
• Streams are numerous, and their falls sufficiently rapid to afford excel-
lent mill-sites. The surface is drained by the Great and Little Cannon
Rivers; the north branch, and the north middle branch of the Zumbro;
the Vermillion River;* Belle, Prairie, Spring, Hay, Wells, Bullard, Rock
* Sometimes called Vermillion Slough. It is formed, in the main, by an arm of the Mississippi River
that puts out from the main channel a few miles below Hastings, and re-unites therewith about six miles
above Red Wing. Foote and Warner in their recently published map of Goodhue county designate this
body of water as a river; and there is no good reason why it should not be so called. It receives the
water of the Vermillion River that comes down from Dakota county, and is always moved by a current.
In the spring of 1868, when stage travel was interrupted by the washing out of bridges on the route
of travel between Red Wing and Hastings, the mail and passengers were carried from Red Wing to
Hastings by the steamboat Tiger, Captain David Haucock in charge. On one occasion, he tried the experi.
ment of shortening the distance and saving time, by leaving the main channel of the river, and going up
through the slough. He made the trip, up, but followed the main channel on the return trip. That is
believed to have been the first and only time a steamboat glided through its waters.
TIIK HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 187
ami Clear creeks. These streams belong to three main paths by which
the water that falls upon the surface of the county is conveyed into the
Mississippi. The southern portion is drained by the Zumbro and its
tributaries; the northern and western by the Great Cannon and its
several branches; and the interior and eastern by Spring, Hay and
Wells creeks, and their numerous branches. Besides these, Vermillion
Kiver, after draining a large portion of Dakota county, separates
Prairie Island, which forms parts of the townships of Burnside and
Welch, from the main land. There are no lakes in the county, and but
few ponds.
Living springs of cool, pure water, of the very best quality, abound
in nearly every section. They are most common on the south or west
sides of bluffs, where the green shale of the Lower Trenton Limestone
is the surface rock. Good water is also easily procured in all sections
of the county, by sinking wells to a reasonable depth, except on the
top of the Magnesian Limestone bluffs bordering the Mississippi. This
formation contains so many seams and fissures between the different
layers, that there seems to be an absence of living water in such locali-
ties, within ordinary striking distance of the surface.
SURFACE AND TIMBER.
The following information in reference to the surface and timber of
the several townships of Goodhue county, was obtained from Mr.
Stephen A. Hart, who has for many years filled the office of county
surveyor, and is, perhaps, more familiar with the general topography of
the county than any other resident of it.
Pine Island.— (T. 109 N., 13 W.)
There is timber in the northeast corner of the township which covers
about four sections, viz., section 8, ^ of 9, £ of 17, and the south ^ of 18.
Also section 31 and part of section 32. The growth consists of red and
and burr oak, aspen, basswood, maple, and a few scattering pine. The
north middle branch of the Zumbro, extends through the S. W. corner
of the township. In the N. E. corner the surface is somewhat broken.
The soil is excellent. Magnetic variation, 9° 28'.
Cherry Grove.— (T. 109 N., 17 W.)
Parts of sections 33, 3i and 36, and all of 35, are covered with burr
and red oak, aspen and maple. Surface rolling, with soil of an extra
good quality. Magnetic variation, 7° 35'.
188 THE HISTORY OF» GOODHUE COUNTY.
Boscoe.—(T. 109 N., 16 W.)
Section 36, the south h of 25, parts of sections 32, 33, and all of sec-
tions 34 and 35, are timbered with white, red and burr oak, sugar maple,
and aspen. Surface rolling. Soil of excellent quality. Magnetic
variation, 9° 5".
Kenyon.—(T. 109 N., 18 W)
The north branch of the Zumbro River runs through the N. W. corner
of the township. There is timber on the north ^ of section 3, north f
of section 4, south ^ of 5, south f of 8, and the south + of 7 and 18.
The timber consists of white, red and burr oak and aspen. This is a
prairie township, the surface generally level, and possessing a most
excellent soil. Magnetic variation, 7° 54'.
Zumhrota.— (T. 110 N., 15 W.)
The north branch of the Zumbro runs through the S. W. corner of the
township. There is a small grove of scattering burr oak on section 24.
This township consists of gently rolling prairie, with soil of first-rate
quality. Magnetic variation, 9° 20'.
Minneola.— (T. 110 N., 16 W.)
The north branch of the Zumbro also extends from west to east nearly
through the center of the township. Soil, good. Surface, rolling
prairie. Timber, scattering burr oak. Magnetic variation, 9° 30'.
Wanamingo.—{T. 110 N., 17 W.)
The north branch of the Zumbro River runs through the southern
part of the township. Sections 5, 6, 7 and parts of 8, 9 and west % of
18, and also parts of 27 and 28 are timbered with red and burr oak and
aspen. The northwest corner of the township is broken along a branch
of the Little Cannon. The central portion is smooth prairie. In the
eastern part there are many scattering burr oak. The soil is of the
very finest quality. Magnetic variation, 8° 5'.
Holden.—(T. 110 N., 18 W.)
The Little Cannon River rises in the western part of the township.
The surface in the N. W. corner is broken. The rest consists of rolling
prairie. The soil is of an excellent quality. There is timber on sec-
tions 1 and 2, part of 12, and the south \ of 34 and 35. Magnetic
variation, 7° 55'
Belvidere.—(T. Ill N., 14 W.)
The northern portion of the township, along the margin of Wells
llll. II I -TORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 189
Greek, is broken, The Bnrface of the south | is a gently rolling prairie.
Soil excellent. Magnetic variation, 9° 25'.
— (T. Ill N., L5 W.)
The surface consists of rolling prairie. The soil is generally good,
except the north I of section 6, which is timbered with burr oak. Mag-
netic variation, 9° 48'.
Belle Creek.— (T. Ill N., 16 W.)
The surface of the township, in many places, is covered with scatter-
ing burr oak. The >«'. W. corner is broken. The south £ consists of
smooth rolling prairie ; soil excellent. Magnetic variation, 9° 35'
Leon.—{'\\ Ill N.. IT \Y.)
The south £ of sections 3, 4, 5, and the west £ of 10, 17, 18, 19, 20,
and also the north i of 29 ; all of 30, 31 and f of 32, and the south £ of
33 are covered with timber, consisting of white, red, and burr oak,
aspen, white ash, basswood, black cherry and red elm. The surface of
the N. W. portion of the township is broken. The balance rolling
prairie ; soil good. Magnetic variation, 8° 30'.
Warsaw.— (T. Ill N., 18 W.)
The surface of the eastern portion of the township, bordering on the
Little Cannon, is broken. The rest is mostly rolling prairie of the very
finest quality for farming purposes. There is timber of good quality
on part of section 1 ; on the east parts of 12 and 13 ; on the west part of
24; on nearly the whole of 26; the west part of 36 ; the whole of 34. It
is principally burr oak and aspen. The soil is first rate. Magnetic
variation, 8° 12'.
Central Point.— (T. 112 N., 12 W.)
The bluff known as Sugar Loaf is situated on section 31. The surface
of the rest of the township is generally level. The soil is only second
rate; the timber scattering, and mostly burr and red oak. Magnetic
variation, 9° 35'.
Florence.— (T. 112 N., 13 W.)
The surface is much broken ; the soil generally good, except in the
valley of Wells Creek, which is quite sandy, with a gravelly subsoil.
The timber is scattering burr oak. Magnetic variation, 9° 45'.
Hay Creek.— (T. 112 N., 14 W.)
Both the eastern and western portions of this township are broken
190 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
The surface of the central part is rolling prairie. The soil of the N. W.
corner is sandy ; the rest is of good quality. It has but little timber.
Magnetic variation, 8° 35'.
Featherstone.—{T. 112 N., 15 W.)
The surface of the eastern section of this township, bordering on Hay
Creek, is a good deal broken ; also the northwestern, along the margin
of Spring Creek, where it is intersected by the secondary ravines drain-
ing that portion of the town into the latter. The central and southern
parts are rolling. The soil is of excellent quality ; and the farmer gets
a rich return for his labor. There is scattering burr oak in the eastern
and northern portions. Magnetic variation, 8° 56".
Vasa.—(T. 112 N., 16 W.)
The surface is broken except in the middle and southern portions.
Belle Creek runs through the township, and the Great Cannon River
separates it from the town of Welch. Most of the timber of this town-
ship is on sections 16 and 25, on the Cannon River bottom. The soil
is good. Magnetic variation, 9° 35'.
Cannon Falls.— (T. 112 N., 17 W.)
The northern part is broken, with scattering burr and red oak. The
southeastern part is covered with burr oak thickets, and groves of
aspen. Cannon River bottom, from one-half to a mile in width, has
gravelly soil. The middle and western has thin, sandy soil. In the
southeastern the soil is good. Magnetic variation, 9° 5'.
Stanton.— (T. 112 N., 18 W.)
There is timber on sections 35 and 36, and a grove on 32. It consists
of sugar maple, elm, red and burr oak. The soil is generally of good
quality. Magnetic variation, 8° 45'.
Wacouta.—{T. 113 N., 13 and 14 W.)
The surface is bluffy and uneven; the soil sandy; timber, scattering
burr oak and cottonwood. Magnetic variation, 9° 5'.
Red Wing.—(T. 113 N., 14 W.)
The surface is bluffy and uneven. The soil second rate, portions of it
very sandy. Timber scattering burr and red oak. Magnetic variation
9° 21'.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 191
Bvrnaide.— (T. 113 and 114 N., 15 W.)
The southwestern portion is broken. The Cannon River bottom, from
three-fourths to a mile wide, is covered with timber, consisting of elm,
soft maple, cottonwood, white ash and hackberry. The soil on the high
land is good. The low land is generally marshy and underlaid with
blue clay. Magnetic variation, 9° 5'.
Welch.— (T. 113 and 114 N., 16 W.)
The surface in the southern part is broken. The middle, rolling prai-
rie, having excellent soil. The northern part of township 113 is broken,
soil good; section 36, parts of 25 and 26, timbered. Town 114, which
is a part of Welch, consists mostly of Prairie Island, bordering on the
Mississippi and Vermillion rivers. It is wooded along the river bot-
toms. The soil is poor and sandy. Magnetic variation, 9° 35'.
GEOLOGY.
There has never been a full and systematic geological survey of
Goodhue county. Dr. David Dale Owen, U. S. Geologist, in his report
of a geological survey of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, and inciden-
tally of Nebraska Territory, made under instructions from the Treasury
Department, published in 1852, speaks somewhat generally of the
geological formations of the country bordering on the Mississippi River.
He gives profile sections of the rock formations from Prairie du Chien
to the Falls of Saint Anthony. The following quotation is taken from
Mr. Owen's report:
" Lake Pepin is a mere expansion of the channel of the Mississippi,
produced, in a great measure, by the eroding and undermining action
of its waters, combined with atmospheric agencies, scooping out and
carrying away the inferior soft sandstones.
" A little below the Red Wing village, near the northern extremity
of Lake Pepin, is a remarkable headland, which has the appearance of
a hill split down the middle. Here the Lower Magnesian Limestone
forms about one hundred and fifty feet of the upper portion of the hill.
The base, for one hundred and eighty feet, is chiefly sandstone."
Dr. B. F. Shumard, assistant to Dr. Owen, gives the following meas-
urement of a section of La Grange Mountain (Barn Bluff,) made on the
river-side from the water level. He says :
" At La Grange Mountain, near the head of Lake Pepin, is an inter-
esting exposure of Lower Sandstone and Lower Magnesian Limestone.
The whole height of the bluff is about three hundred and fifty feet,
(accurately three hundred and thirty-five feet,) of which the Lower
192 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Magnesian Limestone constitutes one hundred and eighty-five feet."
The following is his measurement from the base of Barn Bluff upward
his base line being the level of the river :
1. Soft green and yellow sandstone, containing Lingulas and Orbic-
ulas 26 ft.
2. Alternations of green and yellow sandstone, and Schistose sand-
stone, with green particles disseminated 5 ft.
3. Brown dolomitic layers, containing Orthis, Lingulas, and col-
umns of Crinoideoe 1 4 ft.
4. Brown, white and green sandstone, with Schistose dolomitic
intercalations 26 ft.
5. Yellow and ash-colored Argillo-calcareous rock,containing Dikelo-
cephalus, Minnesotensis, Lingulas, and Orbiculas 4 ft.
6. Alternations of brown, yellow sandstones, surmounted by thick-
bedded white and brown sandstones 50 ft.
7. Slope covered with soil and vegetation 135 ft.
8. Lower Magnesian Limestone 150 ft.
"»'
Total 400 ft.
It is presumed these measurements were barometrical ; hence, they
are but an approximation to accuracy.
From Bed Wing to Minneiska, the Lower Magnesian Limestone appears
in perpendicular walls, forming the upper portions of most of the bluffs.
The next good section, showing the members at the junction of these
two formations is about two miles below the head of Lake Pepin. At
this locality, yellow and green sandstone is seen twenty-five feet above
the level of the lake ; and extending up the slope are thicker beds,
white and brown sandstone, supporting the Magnesian Limestone.
The entire area of Goodhue county is undoubtedly underlain by
rocks, belonging to the period of the formation of earth's crust, known
to geologists as the Lower Silurian. So far as observations have hitherto
been made, there is no rock in place, within the limits of the county,
of a more recent date. The green sandstone forming the base of Barn
Bluff, and which underlies the streets of the city of Red Wing, and
probably the whole county, is believed to belong to the same age as
the Potsdam Sandstone, in the State of New York. This conclusion is
based upon the fact of its containing the same fossils.
From Red Wing north, along the Mississippi, the rock strata dips
quite rapidly to the north, so that by the time one reaches the mouth
of the Vermillion River, back in the bluffs west of the Mississippi, the
sandstone can no longer be seen, and the Lower Magnesian Limestone
extends from the water level to the height of two hundred feet. Still
THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY. 193
ascending the river above Prairie Island, the strata takes a local rise,
so that above Hastings the sandstone again emerges from beneath the
water, and rises to the height of 12 or 15 feet above low water mark.
It then sinks again, and at Red Rock, eight miles below Saint Paul,
there are only ledges of Lower Magnesian Limestone, twelve feet thick.
It soon dips under the river, and is overlaid by the White Saint Peter
sandstone before arriving at Saint Paul. This white sandstone at the
latter place attains a thickness of some fifty or sixty feet; and at Fort
Snelling, of eighty to one hundred feet. At St. Paul, this is capped by
the Trenton Limestone, which is at this place about fifteen feet thick.
This Trenton Limestone is mostly used there for building purposes, and
is generally quarried as the cellars are excavated.
Leaving Red Wing by the Zumbrota or Featherstone roads, the
traveler soon ascends above the Potsdam Sandstone, and climbs over
the Lower Magnesian Limestone. Having reached the level of the
prairie, this last named formation lies below his horizon. As he again
descends into the valley of Hay Creek, on section 18, township of Hay
Creek, he sees an exposure of the Lower Magnesian Limestone. After
winding through the valley of Hay Creek, as he ascends to the level of
the prairie, towards Goodhue Center, he first sees an exposure of the
Shakopee Limestone, the upper stratum of the Lower Magnesian forma-
tion. Reaching the level of the prairie, by the Featherstone road,
leading to Hader, the last named stone is seen no more in that direction
in the county. Before leaving the township of Featherstone, on section
29, there may be seen an exposure of the Saint Peter Sandstone. The
surface material of the soil of the Potato Mound prairie was formed
principally by the disintegration of the Saint Peter Sandstone. White
Rock, on section 33, township of Vasa, is an outlier of that formation,
which once covered all that neighborhood. When this soft porous stone
is not capped by the shell Trenton Limestone, it is easily dissolved by
the action of frost and rain, and its materials spread over the adjacent
country.
The southern limit of the Lower Magnesian Limestone, in Goodhue
county, is marked by a line extending in a northwest and southeast
direction, at a distance of from five to eight miles from the Mississippi.
It is the surface rock in the towns of Welch, Burnside, Red Wing,
Wacoota, Florence and Central Point, and in the northern portions of
Hay Creek, Featherstone, and Vasa. The Vasa prairie is above the
Lower Magnesian. Belle Creek, however, as it winds its cOurse along
through the township has cut itself a channel through that hard compact
formation of a hundred feet in depth. At the point where the Red
14
194 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Wing and Cannon Falls road crosses the stream, there is an exposure
of a perpendicular escarpment along the western margin of the stream,
for a half mile or more. The current of the stream has worn down and
swept away the barrier on the east side to a distance of several hundred
yards. At this point a grist mill is located — the water power being
ample.
Ascending (he prairie towards Cannon Falls, evidence is soon exhib-
ited of passing over a region where sandstone is the outlier. Before
reaching the village of Cannon Falls, the white St. Peter Sandstone is
seen in the slopes of the bluffs, on either side of the Cannon River,
capped with its covering of Trenton Limestone. In this locality the
Saint Peter Sandstone has been worn down by erosion, forming the
valleys of the Little Cannon and the Great Cannon, above the village
of Cannon Falls. The material once forming this stratum may be seen
in the deep sandy road which the traveler encounters for four or five
miles before reaching that place. The Saint Peter Sandstone furnishes
the soil with little or no sustenance to support vegetation. The hills
formed of this stone are round and mound shaped ; the stone is easily
eroded, and the mounds bear a striking resemblance to the tumuli of
an ancient burying place of the mound builders.
Around the village of Cannon Falls the bluffs are capped with shell
limestone, the depth of which is nowhere greater than sixteen feet.
The rock underlying the town is a hard calcareo-arenaceous schist,
the topmost stratum of the Lower Magnesian Limestone, wholly desti-
tute of fossil remains. The topmost layers of the shell limestone cover-
ing the bluffs surrounding the village are filled with fossils; among
which may be mentioned forms of corals, orthidiform brachiepods and
tentaculites.
Some two miles above the village of Cannon Falls, on the Great Can-
non River, is the site of the falls which give name to both the village
and the township. Some two years ago, the writer, in company with
Frank Ives, Esq., and S. J. Hasler, of Red Wing, made an accurate
measurement of the rock strata in the south bank of the river at this
locality. The result showed the bluff to be one hundred and seventy
feet high, and composed of the following strata, viz., thirty-eight feet
of Lower Magnesian Limestone, counting from the level of the water
of the river, one hundred and twenty feet of dark brown ferru-
ginous Saint Peter Sandstone, and twelve feet of Shell Limestone,
forming the cap of the last named rock.
The Magnesian Limestone rises from the river in a perpendicular
escarpment to the base of the Sandstone, at which point there is a talus
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 195
or slope of some twelve feet to the foot of the sandstone escarpment,
which rises perpendicularly in a bold wall sixty feet, where there is
another slope extending to the base of the Shell Limestone.
The Magnesian Limestone, where the water breaks over it, the water
having a descent of six feet, is a hard, compact rock, with no organic
remains. The St. Peter Sandstone, at this point, owing to its exposure
to the weather, and its containing a small per cent, of iron, is of a darker
color than it is in the bluffs opposite the village, but is of the same
structure and of the same materials — a mass of consolidated particles
of globular quartz, like Castle Rock, in Dakota county, and White
Rock, in Goodhue county, already referred to. On the very edge
of this soft yielding escarpment of sandstone, nearly seventy feet from
its base huge pine trees (Pinus Strobus) are growing, and the wall as
square-cut as when the river receded to its present channel.
On Prairie Creek, in the township of Stanton, some four miles south-
west of the falls of the Great Cannon, on section 32, there is an expos-
ure of the Saint Peter Sandstone. It rises some seventy to eighty feet
above the bed of the creek. It is in a grove of timber, and its color
and structure are the same as that found at the falls of the Gannon.
Both the valleys of Prairie Creek and the Little Cannon have been
formed by the removal of the St. Peter Sandstone by erosion.
In the township of Belle Creek, on section 20, but a little above the
bed of the creek, near the residence of the Rev. S. P. Chandler, a cellar
was excavated in the St. Peter Sandstone. The Shell, or Trenton Lime-
stone, caps it on both sides of the valley. Some remarkably large speci-
mens of orthoceratites have been found in a quarry of Trenton Lime-
stone at this locality.
At Hader this is the surface rock in the beds of the small streams. In
fact, it is believed that it forms the rock underlying the soil and drift of
the whole western, interior and southern portions of the county as far
east as Zumbrota.
Four miles south of the village of Cannon Falls, at the old Freeborn
farm, on section 6, in the township of Leon, the Shell Limestone, in place
beside the road, exhibits the same organic remains as those found in
the bluffs west of the village. The strata here dips to the south about
two degrees, and conceals the sandstone long before reaching the head
of the stream. The Trenton Limestone affords good building material,
as well as supplying lime to the inhabitants in many localities in the
county.
At Kenyon there is an interesting exposure of the Shell Limestone
in the bed of the north branch of the Zumbro. The rocks in this
196 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
vicinity are very rich in fossil organic remains. The strata lie in nearly
a horizonal position. Eighteen feet below the surface the highest stra-
tum is found — a hard, ash-colored limestone. In this stratum is found
several species of orthis, a species of terebratula, an undetermined
cystideon, two species of bryozoon corals, two radiate corals, and two
species of cephalopods of the genera cystoceras and cryptoceras. There
is also found fucoidal impressions of two varieties, the only vegetables
that were known to exist in that age. In the top of the bed is found
an individual criniod of the family of Cystidids, Callocystites Jewetti,
with a section of the stem attached.
Immediately under the upper shell bed there is found a bed of bluish-
green clay twenty inches thick, highly calcareous, and in many places
calcareo-sihceous, closely resembling green sand. It is believed this
would afford a profitable top-dressing for light soils. Under this clay
bed is another layer of lime, and another of clay some six feet thick.
The second bed of clay reposes upon the blue limestone, the thick-
ness of which cannot be seen. It is the lowest number of the shell
beds here exposed, and is the bed rock of the river Zumbro. It is a
stratum full of the remains of brachiopods, cephalopods, corals and
crustaceans that inhabited the sea at the close of the Lower Silurian
Period. The color of this rock is dark grayish blue, and has undoubt-
edly taken this appearance from the organic matter of the animals that
found their last resting place on the bottom of the ocean while the
stratum was in process of formation. At this period the sea must have
literally swarmed with animal life, as most of the stratum is but a com-
plete mass of the exuvias of crustaceans, molluscs, and radiates,
cemented together by the calcareous mud that was deposited upon them.
The cephalopods, the orthoceratite and lituite evidently had their
feeding ground in this section of Goodhue county when its surface was
covered by the waters of a shallow ocean, and when surfeited with food,
rising to the surface to sport in the warm, genial rays of the sun. The
cephalopods were believed to be floaters, and probably spent much of
the time on the surface, as does the nautilus of the modern seas.
In the township of Wanamingo, below the village, near the mills, two
quarries have been opened on the north bank of the Zumbro. A sec-
tion may be also seen just below the mill-dam. It shows twelve or fif-
teen feet of ash-colored semi-crystalline shell limestone, resting con-
formably upon the blue bed which extends below the bed of the river.
This blue bed is of the same material as that at Kenyon. The upper
bed contains the remains of countless numbers of orthoceratites of all
sizes, from one foot to ten feet in length. The quarry above the dam
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 197
is the most prolific place in these remains yet discovered in the county.
This particular spot must have been a favorite resort for the huge
monsters of the ancient sea. It seems as if this locality may have been
a shallow bay, or arm of the ocean, where these lords of the ancient
world became hemmed in, at the time of the subsidence of the waters,
and left to perish in the locality where their tombs are now brought to
the light of day by the picks and drills of the quarrymen.
The quarry in Belle Creek, before alluded to, presents the same
quality of rock, containing the same species of fossils.
From this place eastward towards Zumbrota the strata rises, so that
the same stratum found at Wanamingo mills in the bed of the river,
may be seen at the quarry on section 15, in the township of Minneola,
seventy-five feet above the bed of the river. Fine specimens of ortho-
ceratites have been taken from this quarry.
«
THE SHAKOPEE LIMESTONE.
This is the upper stratum of the Lower Magnesian Limestone, and its
first out-crop is seen as one descends the north branch of the Zumbro,
at the village of Zumbrota. It forms the abutment and approach to the
bridge, on the south bank of the river at that place. It takes its name
from the village of Shakopee, on the Minnesota River, where its litho-
logical character has been examined and described by Prof. N. H.
Winchell, in his survey of that locality. In the valley of the Zumbro,
below the village of Zumbrota, the Trenton Limestone and St. Peter
Sandstone, seem to have been removed by erosion. The last vestige of
the St. Peter Sandstone, in this direction, may be seen near the north
bank of the river, just west of the village, in a conical-shaped mound,
some hundred feet in height. The Shakopee Limestone, so far as
examined in Goodhue county, contains very few fossils. Its bedding
is much less regular than the lower strata of the Magnesian series of
rocks. It is usually filled by cherty, concretionary masses, which, on
the exposure of the bluffs to the rains and frosts, become detached and
fall into the bottom of the valley, where they lie long after the non-
siliceous portions of the rock have dissolved and disappeared. Such
cherty lumps are often a foot, or even two or three feet, in diameter.
They are roughened by cavities opening on the surface; by dissolution
of the calcareous parts, and by natural openings and pores they acquired
in the act of formation. These are the portions of the formation in
which fossils are found. This same formation extends through Roscoe
and Pine Island, into Dodge and Olmsted counties. It is overlaid in
those towns by the Saint Peter Sandstone and Trenton Limestone.
198 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
The Shakopee Limestone shows itself along the bluffs skirting the
Zumbro, all the way to Mazeppa, and also in the bluffs in .the township
of Belvidere, till nearing the bluffs of the Mississippi, the lower strata
of the Lower Magnesian become the surface rock.
In the township of Florence, on section 21, J. F. Tostevin has opened
a quarry in the Magnesian Limestone. The stone is of superior quality,
and is entirely free from the siliceous, cherty materials which charac-
terize the stone in most of the other quarries in this formation, near the
Mississippi. The stone is susceptible of being easily sawn into suitable
shapes for water-tables, window sills and caps, mile-stones, flag-stones,
etc. A mill has been erected at Frontenac station, on the St. P., M. and
0. Railroad, where large quantities of this stone are sawed by steam,
and shipped to various localities for building purposes. It is a very
durable stone, and bears exposure to the frosts admirably.
G. A. Carlson, Esq., of Red Wing, has worked quarries in both Barn
and Sorin Bluffs in the Magnesian Limestone for several years. The
stone is of a light buff color, of a close, compact texture, capable of
sustaining great pressure without crushing, and will stand exposure to
the weather almost equal to granite. The stone for building the Epis-
copal Church in Red Wing, the stone for the piers of the iron railroad
bridge at Hastings, and the stone for the arch bridge across the east
channel of the Mississippi, at Minneapolis, were taken from Mr.
Carlson's quarries. Messrs. Seeback and Danielson have a quarry near
by of the same material and quality. The stone for the foundation and
lower stories of the Red Wing, Diamond and La Grange grist mills
was taken from these quarries. Robert Berglund owns a quarry further
south, in Sorin Bluff, of the same quality of stone, from which the
material for the new Catholic Church at Red Wing, was taken. The
stone from the last named quarry is of a darker color than that from
the quarries of Carlson, Seeback and Danielson.
The supply of stone in these quarries is almost inexhaustible, and
hundreds of tons are taken out annually for cellar and foundation walls,
sewers, sidewalks, and for burning into quicklime. Particular layers of
the Magnesian Limestone produce the best quality of mortar for
masonry. Mr. Carlson has two perpetual kilns in which he burns 18,000
barrels of lime annually. Messrs. Seeback and Danielson manufacture
nearly as much more. Goodhue county, in nearly every portion of it,
is abundantly supplied with the most durable stone for building pur-
poses. Lime is burnt in many localities in the county. Mr. William
M. Philleo owns land in section 1, in the township of Featherstone,
from which he obtains a superior article of clay, of which he manufac-
TUK HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 199
tures large quantities of the various articles of pottery ware, vases,
statues, terra cotta window caps, cornices and other ornamental work.
Many of the finest residences and business blocks of buildings in Red
Wing, Minneapolis and Saint Paul, have been adorned by terra-cotta,
furnished from the kiln of Mr. Philleo.
The Red Wing Stone Ware Manufacturing Company have established
a pottery in the city, where they carry on an extensive business in the
manufacture of all kinds of stone ware and fire brick. The clay is
procured from section 10, in the township of Goodhue. The fire brick
made from this clay is said to be fully equal to the best fire brick from
Ohio.
In several localities in the city of Red Wing there are outcrops of a
white, siliceous, quartzose sandstone, belonging to the Lower Magnesian
series. This formation so nearly resembles the Saint Peter Sandstone,
as to be mistaken by many intelligent people as belonging to the same
stratum. But at Red Wing it occupies a position at least two hundred
feet below the geographical horizon of the Saint Peter Sandstone. It
is believed to occupy the same position in the geological formation of
Minnesota as the Jordan stratum of the Minnesota River valley. It is
formed of globular grains of white quartz, so loosely cemented together
that it easily crumbles in the fingers when rubbed. It is in some places
locally stained with iron from surface water, when it presents a reddish,
or rusty color, and is apt to be harder. In such cases it has a shell or
thin coating of harder rock, about half an inch in thickness, on the
weathered surface. On penetrating into the quarry beyond the influence
of the weather, the grains are loosely cemented, and even crumbling;
and is nearly as white as loaf sugar. One of the best exposures for
examining this sandstone is at Twin Bluffs, in the city of Red Wing.
Great quantities of it have been shipped from this locality to Rock
Island, Illinois, to be used in the manufacture of glass. It is said to be
superior to the sand used in the best Pittsburgh glass, or to that used in
the manufacture of the celebrated American plate-glass, at New
Albany, Indiana. The supply of this glass material is inexhaustible in
Goodhue county.
DRIFT.
The northern drift covers the surface of nearly the entire county.
Banks of clay regularly laminated, and in some localities interspersed
with gravel and small boulders, occur in many places. Sand-banks, in
the stratification of which the ripple-marks are to be plainly seen, are
of frequent occurrence in the vicinity of the rivers and streams. Boul-
200 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
ders composed of a great variety of materials, but usually of granitic,
syenitic, quartzose or porphyritic character, and from the size of an
ordinary orange to that of a moderate-sized dwelling-house, may be
seen strewn over the prairies of the southern and western townships of
the count} 7 . The writer recollects attempting to ascertain the size of
a boulder that may be seen beside the road between Belle Creek post
office and Hader, on section 29 of that township, by pacing round it.
It was 42 steps in circumference, ten feet high above the ground, and
twenty feet, or more, thick. This immense stone is of gray granite, and
must have been transported to its present resting-place by the force of
ice, either in the shape of a floating iceberg or moving glacier.
The limited space in this work to which the writer is restricted, will
preclude his going further into detail in the geology of Goodhue
county.
For the benefit of the scientific and technical reader, a list of the
more common fossils found in the different formations of the county,
are here appended :
In Barn Bluff. — Several species of Trilobite, Dikelocephalus Minne-
sotensis, Lingulas, Orbiculas, Orthis, columns of Crinoidece, Fucoid.
Gephalopods. — Cryptoceras Undatum, Cyrtoceras Annulatum, found
at Kenyon ; Trocholites Ammonius, at Cannon Falls and Kenyon ;
Maclurea Magnus, at Wanamingo and Kenyon ; Endoceras Proteiforme,
at Wanamingo.
Articulates. — Calymene Senaria, Tentaculites Ornatus, at Kenyon.
Gasteropods. — Murchisonia Bicincta, Murchisonia Belicincta, Beller-
ophon Bilobatus, Pleurotomaria Lenticularis, Helicotoma Planulata, at
Kenyon.
Bryozoan. — Fenestella Prisca, Reptopora Incepta, Ptilodictya Fenes-
trata, at Cannon Falls and Kenyon.
Brachiopods. — Orthis Costalis Otestudinaria, Strophmena Alfeernata,
Orthis Biloba, Terebratula (undetermined;) Strophmena Plaunumbona,
Orthis Striatula, Atrypa Reticularis, at Kenyon and Cannon Falls.
Radiate Corals. — Petraia Corniculum, Columnaria Oveolata, Palaeo-
crinus Striatus, Crinoid (undetermined,) Cystidea Calocystiles Jewettii,
at Kenyon.
Radiates Acalephs. — Graptolithus Hallianus, Sertularia Abitiena, at
Kenyon.
INDIAN NAMES.
Minneola: Min-ne, water; olaA, much; meaning much water.
Wau-cou-tah : The Shorter, an Indian chief of the Sioux tribe. He is
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 201
said to have been a fine specimen of the perfectly developed man. He
was tall, well proportioned, straight as an arrow and as lithe and active
as a cat. He was a good friend to the white people, and a promoter of
civilization among his own people.
Hhoo-pah-hoo-doo-tah : Wing of Scarlet, Red Wing.
Wazee-wee-tah: Wasee, pine; wee tah, island ; Fine Island.
Hham-necha: Hill, water and wood, the name given to Barn Bluif
and vicinity, which was a favorite camping place with the Indians,
because of the abundance of wood and water within easy reach, and the
elevated situation afforded for camping places.
THE MOUNDS OF THE UPFER MISSISSIPPI.
THEIR ORIGIN — THEORY OF REV. J. W. HANCOCK.
These earth works have been the subject of much speculation. Many
and different theories have been advanced concerning them. Some
suppose them to have been the burial places of noted persons. Some
that ihey are the altars upon which an ancient people once offered
their sacrifices. Another theory is, that thev were built for the pur-
poses of defensive w r ar. I presume that each of these suppositions may
be true in respect to certain classes of ancient earth works found on
this continent. I have seen some that were evidently built for fortifi-
cations. Sepulchral mounds have been discovered in Ohio, and in some
of the states bordering on the Mississippi. And there are those which
bear evidence of having been once used for religious purposes. The
last are most numerous in Mexico and South America.
But in regard to the mounds so common to the Upper Mississippi
and its vicinity, I believe that neither of the above theories are true.
I refer to the conical hillocks found generally in clusters, and rows of
ten, twenty, and even fifty or sixty in some places, within the compass
of as many rods. These are generally about twenty feet in diameter
at the base, and rise to six or eight feet in the center; all of them
having about the same size and shape.
It perhaps seems very strange to some that the Indians who lately
left this country, did not pretend to be able to give any account of the
origin of these mounds. But when we consider that the different tribes
were almost constantly at war with each other, and that whole tribes
were frequently driven from their territory, or perished by pestilence
and famine, that circumstance will not appear so wonderful."
There is seldom any depression in the earth near these mounds, which
202 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
proves that they were not thrown up by human hands. My opinion is
that they simply mark the places where human dwellings once stood.
I have known of several being entirely removed and no appearance of
any human remains found in any of them. They are largely made up
of vegetable mould mixed with sand. In most of them ashes have
been discovered on a level with the surrounding ground. In one case
a bone, apparently from the leg of a deer, was found.
Those who have observed the place where a house once stood in a
civilized country, the ground not having been disturbed since its fall,
will remember that there is a depression in the ground, showing where
the cellar was. But around this cellar hole is a ridge a few feet higher
than the land adjacent. The material of the building of wood is all
decayed, perhaps, and the cellar is more than two-thirds filled with
earth. Whence all this accumulation of earth? It is evidently the
result of time and natural causes. When an old dwelling falls it becomes
a ruinous heap, from which springs up a thick growth of tall, rank
weeds. Among this luxuriant growth the floating sands and dry leaves
of autumn are lodged from year to year by the driving winds. After a
score of years or more the weeds will have run out, and their place
become occupied by grass or shrubs, and the accumulated process is
done. We have only to apply this work of decay to houses once
occupied by a savage people, who never build cellars, and we have a
solution of the problem, Whence came these mounds ?
EARLY BEGINNINGS.
THE SWISS MISSION — DENTON AND GAVAN — SUSPENSION OF THE MISSION —
REOCCUPATION BY THE AMERICAN BOARD HANCOCK AND AITON CONDI-
TION OF THE COUNTRY — INDIAN TREATY — SPEECH OF WACOOTA — PIONEERS
OF 1852 — EXPERIENCE OF JOHN DAY IN CABIN BUILDING — BEAR HUNTING
BY CANOE — SUCCESS OF THE CHASE — HEROISM OF MRS. DAY — THE FIRST
MILLINER, ETC., ETC.
The honor of planting the standard of civilization and the influence
of the Cross in what is now Goodhue county, properly and of right
belongs to Rev. Messrs. Denton and Gavan, Swiss missionaries, who
came out to the new world under the patronage of the Evangelical
Society of Lausanne, Switzerland. The mission over which they pre-
sided was first commenced at Mount Trempealeau, a few miles below
Winona, on the Wisconsin side of the river. In 1838 the mission was
THE HISTOBY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 203
removed to Red Wing, where Messrs. Gavan and Denton continued to
labor among the native people until Mr. Denton's health failed in 1846,
when the work was given up to the American Board.
Denton and Gavan were accompanied by their wives, and it is safe to
assume that if other white men had previously visited Red Wing's
village, their wives were the first white women to disturb the shadows
cast by the towering bluffs, in the midst of which the mission was
established.
In 1848, the American Board of Missions appointed Revs. Joseph W.
Hancock and John Aiton, of Vermont, to the charge of the work com-
menced by Revs. Denton and Gavan. Mr. Aiton came on during the
same year, but finding it quite lonely, he and his wife spent a part of
the winter of 1848-49 at Kaposia, fifty miles above the mission, where
Dr. T. S. Williamson, another missionary, was living with his wife.
The two log mission houses erected by Denton and Gavan remained
undisturbed, and Mr. Aiton found them in a fair state of preservation,
but it would be strange, indeed, if the Indians, in the two years the
mission was suspended, had not partially fallen back into their old
habits and wandered away from the beautiful precepts taught them by
the pioneer missionaries from Lausanne, Switzerland.
Mr. Hancock did not arrive until June 13, 1849. At that time, the
only signs of human presence between the foot, of Lake Pepin and
Mendota, on the west bank of the Mississippi, were at Wells' trading
place (twelve miles below Red Wing,) and at Red Wing. How long
Wells had been located there we have not been able to learn ; long
enough, however, to gain the confidence of the Indians, and to marry
one of their women — a half-breed, the daughter of Duncan Graham, an
old-time trader.
James Wells was an uneducated man, comparatively speaking, and
of peculiarly eccentric character and habits. He was a native of New
Jersey, and finding his way out West, became a trader among the
Indians, in which pursuit he was still engaged when the Territory of
Minnesota was organized. Writing of that period in Minnesota's
history, the condition of settlements, etc., in referring to the Lake
Pepin district and Mr. Wells' trading place, Mr. Neill remarks: "The
two unfinished buildings of stone, on the beautiful bank opposite the
renowned Maiden Rock, and the surrounding skin lodges of his wife's
relatives and friends, presented a rude but picturesque scene." Wells
was elected a member of the first Territorial Legislature, at which time
(the fall of 1849,) he gave his age at forty-nine years. He had lived so
long among the Indians, and had so assimilated to their habits and
204 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
customs, that he grew restless and uneasy under the encroachments of
white settlements, and the consequent destruction of the Indian trade,
and in 1854 he sold his buildings to Mr. Everet Westervelt, and removed
to Faribault. He was killed by the Indians in 1863.
At Red Wing there was an Indian village of about three hundred?
and two white families — the family of Rev. John Aiton, who came in
1848, and the family of John Bush, the Indian farmer, employed at
government expense. Mr. Aiton and family moved away in the summer
of 1850, and Bush went away with the Indians in 1853.
Indian wigwams and four log cabins made up the village. Two of
the cabins were occupied by half-breed Indians. The other two were
occupied for mission purposes. One of the mission houses stood in
what is now Bush street, directly in front of the ground now occupied
by the Hickman House. The other one stood near by, one corner of it
extending out into what is now the street. The wigwams were built
of poles and bark, and stood along on either side of the ravine (called
'Jordan" by the settlers of 1852-3,) between what is now Main street,
and the river. Their occupants were divided into two bands, and were
represented by two head men or chiefs. Those on the east side of
M Jordan " were presided over by Wacoota, The Shooter, and those on
the west side by Fmaza-washta.
A field of about sixty acres was under Indian cultivation. The lower
end of the field commenced near the spring, at the corner of Bush and
Fourth streets, extended westward and included a part of the ground
now enclosed in the court house square. The field was occupied by
the Indians in common. Each family had a certain division or section,
which was marked by sticks planted in the ground. The enclosure was
made of stakes driven into the ground at certain distances, and poles
tied along them with strips of bark. Only one tier of poles were used.
There was no occasion for a "hog tight" fence, for there were no hogs
to guard against. There was nothing to disturb the " crops " but Indian
ponies, and one pole was enough to turn them.
Such was the condition of the "county seat" of Goodhue county
twenty-nine years ago. The white population was represented by seven
adults, James Wells, at Lake Pepin ; Rev. James Aiton and wife, Rev.
Joseph W. Hancock and wife, and John Bush (the Indian farmer) and
wife. Mrs. Bush was, in fact, a half-breed, who had been educated at
Marquette, and partially raised in a white family at that place, by whom
she had been learned to household duties. Mr. Hancock says she was
a fat, rather good-natured woman, extravagant and fond of dress. When
her husband would receive his payment from the government, or money
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 205
from any other source, she would go to St. Paul, when stores were
opened there, and spend it in dress goods, regardless of cost or economy.
In I860 Mr. Geo. W. Bullard, under the protection of an Indian
trader's license, settled at the head of Lake Pepin, in what is now
Wacoota township, and made the first permanent improvement in that
part of the country. A man named Abner W. Post came with Bullard
and built his house. No other settlers came to Wacoota until 1852,
when quite a wave of immigration set in.
A little later, in 1850, a man named Snow came to Red Wing, and
opened a trading-house under like authority, on the site subsequently
occupied by the Metropolitan Hotel. In 1851 a man named Calvin
Potter became associated with Snow as a business partner. Soon after
the partnership commenced, Snow died of cholera in St. Paul, and Potter
continued the business until the Indians were removed, in 1853.
July 18, 1851, a treaty was partially concluded with the Indians for
the purchase of all their lands east from the Sioux River and Lac
Traverse to the Mississippi, except a reservation of one hundred miles
long and twenty miles wide, on the head-waters of the Minnesota River,
the purchase including about 21,000,000 acres. The treaty was acted
upon by the authorities at Washington during the winter of 1851-2,
but as some changes were made from the draft prepared and signed by
the treaty commissioners and the Indians, it became necessary to call
another convocation of the parties in interest in order to secure their
consent to the change. This convocation was held at Fort Snelling in
the fall of 1852. The proposed changes created a good deal of dissatis-
faction among the Indians, but means were devised to quiet the
dissatisfaction, and secure their consent to the proposed amendments.
These changes bring forcibly to mind and render very pertinent in
this connection a speech made by Chief Wacoota, before the treaty
council at Mendota, on Tuesday, the 29th day of August, 1859. When
the draft of the treaty was prepared and ready for the signatures of the
contracting parties, Wacoota said :
"Fathers, your counsel and advice is very good to Indians, but there
are a great many different minds and different opinions, and it appears
almost impossible to get an agreement, though we have all been con-
sulting so many days.
" Fathers, you have come with the words of our Great Father, and
have put them in this paper; but the Indians are afraid it may be
changed hereafter. I say this in good feeling. Perhaps you think many
of these things will be altered at Washington yourselves ! You have
been asked a great many questions, and have answered ' yes' to them.
206 - THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
If all prove as you say, it will be very good indeed. But when we
were at Washington, we were told many things, which when we came
back here, and attempted to carry out, we found it could not be done.
At the end of three or four years, the Indians found out very different
from what they had been told — and all were ashamed.
"I hope, when the people sign this treaty, you will take and deliver
it to the President as it is. I want you to write, first, that I wish the
country for our home to be reserved north of where I now live. I was
not brought up in a prairie country, but among woods ; and I would like
to go to a tract of land called Pine Island, which is a good place for
Indians. I want you to write this in the treaty. I mention to you my
wishes in this respect, but if you do not think it can be complied with,
and is not right and just, I will say no more about it."
In April, 1852, before intelligence of the ratification of the treaty
had been received in Minnesota, John Day came over from Diamond
Bluff, Wisconsin, and selected a claim in the southeast quarter of what
was subsequently established (under government survey) as section 25,
town 113, range 15. . About the time he selected this claim, he moved
over from Wisconsin, and occupied one of the mission houses, and
commenced to improve his claim by the erection of a cabin ; but the
Indians were jealous of their rights, and no sooner was the cabin built
than the Indians tore it down. It was rebuilt, and again razed to the
ground. In addition to this trouble, the Indian children began to
annoy Day's descendants, and fearing that the annoyance would lead
to difficulty with the parents of the little Indians, Day soon moved back
to Wisconsin, and stopped with E. C. Stevens, at Trenton, but continued
to watch his claim. He would come down in his canoe, do a day's work,
and paddle back at nightfall. As soon as he was fairly out of sight of
his cabin the Indians would tear it down; and so it continued until the
cabin had been built and torn down a half dozen times.
Among the Indian occupants at Red Wing, there was a French half-
breed, named Benjamin Young, who anticipated the treaty, and selected
a large tract of land around Barn Bluff. Some time after Day selected
his claim, a dispute arose between him and Young in regard to the line
dividing their respective claims — the half-breed claiming a part of the
land selected by Day. The controversy was finally settled by compro-
mise, without detriment to either party ; but during the pendency of
the dispute, the validity of the half-breed's title was raised, because of
his neglect to enter upon such improvements as would give evidence
of his intention to become a bona fide occupant of the land. The
discussion of this question so discouraged Young, that he subsequently
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 207
relinquished his claim to Dr. Sweeney, a part of the consideration being
a yoke of cattle. Young remained in the country for some length of
time afterwards, but at last moved away. He was heard of two years
ago in St. Paul, where he was seeking to organize an expedition to the
Black Hills.
While Day was living at Trenton a little incident occurred that gave
Day great prestige with his Indian neighbors on the Minnesota side of
the great river. While seated at breakfast one morning, Mrs. Day called
the attention of her husband to a large black object, which at first they
thought to be a black hog, but which, upon closer inspection, proved
to be a bear. Day had loaned his rifle to Mr. Stevens, and was not in
reach, but another gun, loaded with slugs, happened to be at hand, and
seizing it, Day started on the chase. He fired at the bear, but the slugs
fell short of the mark. The bear took to the water and made for the
Minnesota shore, leaving Mr. Day standing disappointedly watching his
movements. While thus engaged, a splashing of the water below him
attracted his attention, and turning his eyes in that direction, he saw his
wife coming up with a small skiff. As soon as she discovered that her
husband had missed his aim, and that the bear had taken to the water, with
a woman's forethought, she caught up a chopping axe, and hurrying to
the skiff unmoored it, and started to the aid of her husband, determined
that the prize should not escape. As soon as the skiff was close enough
to the shore Mr. Day jumped in and followed in bruin's wake, and suc-
ceeded in heading him off and turning him back towards the Wisconsin
shore. When nearly opposite his home Mr. Day managed to get close
enough to use the axe. A short but desperate struggle ensued, result-
ing in a victory for Day. The bear was towed to the shore, and was
found to weigh 400 pounds. The Indians considered this an unparal-
leled act of bravery, and averred that their boldest, best hunters would
not have dared to attack a bear in that manner. They declared that
Day was waukon — supernatural, and from that day till the last of them
had quit the country, he had their most unbounded admiration for his
daring and prowess. He gave the claws and tusks of the animal to
some of the Indians, which they fashioned into ornaments, esteeming
them very highly, and it is presumable they are still preserved in the
families of those to whom they were originally presented. In their
admiration and praise for Mr. Day, they forgot that most of the credit
for the success of the adventure belonged to Mrs. Day. If it had not
been for her forethought in taking the canoe and axe to her husband
when he missed his mark, he would have stood there until the bear had
escaped across the river and become lost in the country beyond. Of
such stuff were Minnesota's pioneer women made.
208 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
In May, 1852, soon after Day had moved back to the Wisconsin side,
and while he was there "watching and waiting" for news of the ratifi.
tion of the treaty, which would enable him to come back and occupy
his claim, Dr. W. W. Sweeney, then living in St. Paul, became interested
with other parties in the development of Red Wing's village as a town
site. Calvin Potter had succeeded Snow as Indian trader, and thought
it would be a good site for a town. A third party was desirable, and
William Freeborn, an old settler of St. Paul, who enjoyed a large and
popular acquaintance, was selected as the most available and desirable
associate. Freeborn could not remove to the new El Dorado at once,
and Dr. Sweeney volunteered to come in his place. This objection
removed, and the preliminary plans of the enterprise mapped out,
Messrs. Freeborn and Sweeney came down to Red Wing, when Dr.
Sweeney purchased the claim right of the French half-breed, Benjamin
Young, already mentioned, and now included in what is known as
"Sweeney's Addition to Red Wing." A purchase was also made of a
two-story log building, weather-boarded with antediluvian lumber, that
stood on the river bank in the rear of the First National bank block.
The doctor then returned to St. Paul and arranged his business so as to
come on and occupy his possessions. On his return to Red Wing he
was accompanied by James McGinnis. They made their headquarters
in the two-story building already designated, where they kept " bache-
lors hall."
These arrangements were made in anticipation of the ratification of
the treaty, and while the country was still in the absolute possession
and control of the Indians. But as a physician or "medicine man,"
Dr. Sweeney's presence was really desirable to the red occupants, and
he met with no objections to his settlement among them, although,
strictly speaking, he had no rights on the west side of the Mississippi
River that the Indians or any other people were legally bound to
respect. His presence was only tolerated by Indian sufferance and
their desire for a healing medium in their midst. His only guaranty of
protection was such as the mission could give, or Indian respect for his
profession command.
In 1844 Dr. Sweeney and his brother Charles, now a popular lawyer
of Fredonia, Wilson county, Kansas, went from Fulton county, Illinois,
to Galena, and commenced the publication of a newspaper called the
Sentinel, which they continued until some time in 1846, when they sold
the office to other parties, who change the name of the paper to the
Jefiersonian. After the sale the doctor returned to Fulton county, and
remained there until 1850, when he removed to St. Paul, and engaged
in the practice of medicine until his removal to Red Wing in 1852.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 209
In June, 1852, news was brought that the treaty had been ratified.
There was nothing now to interfere with or hinder white occupancy of
the country. Day moved back and set to work to rebuild his cabin.
His family came over with him. The first night or two after their
arrival Mrs. Day and the children slept under an inverted batteau as a
protection against the dew and damp of the night; and for a
week afterwards, until the cabin was completed sufficiently for occu-
pancy, they slept in a cave hollowed out of the bank for a root cellar.
These points establish the fact that the household of John Day was the
first white family that came to Goodhue with the purpose of making it
a permanent home, a purpose they have resolutely maintained to the
present.
That Mrs. Day is a woman of remarkable nerve and forethought has
already been shown in the part she took in her husband's capture of a
bear. But there is still another incident in which her heroism stood
out in bold relief. On one occasion, while they were living on the
Wisconsin side of the Mississippi, her husband had been down to
some of the lower towns, and came up on the steamboat "Nominee.*'
The river was so rough the boat would not attempt to make landing on
the Wisconsin side, but put Mr. Day ashore on the Minnesota side,
opposite his Trenton home. In a lull of the elements he managed to
call over to his wife and tell her if the wind and waves went down to
send a canoe over for him. The children became alarmed lest their
father would be compelled to remain out in the storm over night.
Added to their grief and agony was the feelings of the wife and
mother, and quieting the little ones as best she could, she went to the
river's bank, unmoored a canoe, and regardless of the waves that were
dashing here and there almost as high as a man's head, she bravely
pushed away from the shore and started to relieve her husband from
the perils of a pitiless storm-night on the opposite shore, yet within
sight of their home. She crossed in safety, although Mr. Day says there
were times when she was lost to his sight behind the rolling waves.
"Ah, such times," said Mr. Day, while relating the incident to the
writer, "my heart was in my mouth, and I was the worst ' pale-faced'
man in the Indian bailiwick. I expected every time she went down in
the trough of the waves that the canoe would swamp, and that she
would be buried beneath them. I have been pretty badly scared
sometimes — have been in some pretty scary places both before and
since, but I tell you I never had such feelings creep all over me as I
did that time, and I never want to experience such feelings again.
In making the return trip, I made my wife lie down in the canoe, while
15
210 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
I, trembling like a leaf, as its parent stem is shaken by the wind, man-
aged to guide the canoe to the other shore, where the children were
watching and waiting our coming with tearful eyes."
E. C. Stevens came over from Wisconsin with Day, and during the
summer selected a claim south of the original town plat that is now
included in T. J. Smith's addition to Red Wing.
David Pucket, Jack Saunders and Benjamin Hill, came in during the
summer. Charles Parks, now of Cannon Falls, came in November;
Warren Hunt and his family, including his wife's sister, Miss Cary, came
about the same time. Miss Cary was the reigning pale-faced belle of
the country, " whose right there was none to dispute," as she was the
only unmarried white woman of marriageable age in the district. She
subsequently became Mrs. Calvin Potter, their marriage being the first
ceremony of the kind solemnized among the white settlers. Potter and
his wife were recently living at Kellogg, where Mr. Potter was engaged
in merchandizing.
In December, the two Middaugb/s — H. B. and Joseph — came as car-
penters to prepare the material for a hotel the town proprietors had
planned to build. After their work was completed they remained as
permanent settlers.
The pioneers of the Norwegian and Swedish population, came at
nearly the same time. Mathias Peterson was the first son of Norway to
claim a home in the territory subsequently organized as Goodhue
county. He afterwards settled in Zumbrota township, where he became
a successful and prosperous farmer. To Nels Nelson belongs the honor
of pioneering the way from Sweden for the hundreds of his countrymen
and countrywomen that help make up the population, and whose enter-
prise, industry and economy, have added so largely to the wealth of the
county. These men were the last arrivals of 1852, commencing their
residence here in December of that year.
The names thus far mentioned, represented the entire white popula-
tion at the close of the year 1852. All told, the number did not exceed
forty persons.
In 1853 the tide of immigration grew stronger. Among the additions
to the Red Wing colony were William Freeborn and family, H. L.
Bevans and family, William Lamber and family, James Akers and
family, T. J. Smith and family, and W. D. Chilson, that are distinctly
remembered. H. L. Bevans opened a small store, which was the first,
Potter's Indian trading house excepted, and Akers was the first justice
of the peace elected in the Red Wing community.
When the government surveyors, engaged in establishing meridian
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 211
and parallel lines, reached what is now the southeast corner of Pine
Island township in June, 1853, no wagon had ever penetrated to that
part of the county. The teams accompanying the surveyors were the
first to disturb the grass and herbage. Mr. S. D. Hart, a resident of
Goodhue county since 1854, was a member of the government survey-
ing party, and he relates that when they reached Cannon Falls, in the
fall of 1853, they found a small, uncovered shanty — or rather the pole
structure of what was intended for a shanty — that had been erected on
the west side of the falls, to " mark a claim." That was the only
evidence of civilization they found until they reached a point within
five miles of Red Wing, where they found the body of a shanty on
Spring Creek.
This year, 1853, settlements began to extend back into the county,
and the first settlers back of the immediate vicinity of Red Wing came
in August that year. They were a party of Swedes, who came directly
from their native country, except a young man by the name of Hans
Mattson, who had been a couple of years in the United States, and was
the only one amongst them who could speak the English language.
He was sent out to Minnesota in behalf of. a number of his countrymen
in Moline, Illinois, to find a location for a settlement, and with him came
two others, Charles Roos and A. G. Kempe. After prospecting for
claims in the towns of Featherstone and Burnside, they selected the
town of Vasa for their settlements, and removed there early in Septem-
ber, 1853. The first claims were taken for H. Mattson and S. J. Wil-
lard, his brother-in-law, where Vasa church now stands, and for Ch.
Roos and Mr. Kempe in the valley where White Rock post-office is now
located; but the first habitation was in a tent camp in the timber on
Belle Creek, adjoining the place now called Jentland, where the three
pioneers, Mattson, Roos and Kempe, remained some time, cutting hay
and preparing for winter.
In November the little colony, which had then built their first log
house in the White Rock Valley, across the line in Belle Creek town,
was increased by the arrival of S. J. Willard. He and Mattson, however,
did not remain in the settlement the first winter, but went down to the
Mississippi bottoms, near the mouth of Cannon River, and started a
wood camp, in which they and some Norwegian young men, Albert
Halvar and Christian, chopped steamboat wood all winter. In March
Mattson and Willard, with Mrs. Willard and a little babe, Zelme, moved
on to their claims in section 15, town of Vasa. That spring the families
left in Illinois began to arrive.
See further in history of Vasa.
212 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
There were some other additions to the population during the year,
but at the close of 1853 the entire white population of the county did
not exceed seventy persons. On Christmas Day of that year the entire
Red Wing community partook of dinner at the residence of William
Freeborn, the first and only time the entire white population of Red
Wing dined together at any one house.
THE FIRST MILLINER.
Another woman who was a prominent representative of the female
pioneers to Goodhue county, is worthy of especial mention, as showing
what a woman can do.
Miss Sarah McDonald came to Red Wing from the State of New
York, in the year 1854. She had previously acquired some knowledge
of millinery, and had faith enough in her own ability to commence
business on her own account. She hired a room about 10 x 16 feet
square in the upper part of a story-and-half dwelling house on Bush
street, which had just been completed, in which she opened a small
assortment of millinery goods — the first stock of the kind opened in
Red Wing. She boarded herself, worked diligently, and for a while had
the custom of all the fair part of the population, and no competition.
Economical and industrious, she was soon enabled to secure a more
eligible situation and an enlarged assortment of goods. Availing her-
self of the advantages offered by the pre-emption laws, she obtained a
title to 160 acres of government land in the township of Belle Creek.
She purchased a lot on Main street, on which she erected a building in
1859, of sufficient dimensions for a workshop, salesroom and dwelling,
where her establishment became the resort of all the fashionables, and
more than ever the means of increasing her income. But alas for
human hopes. A fire broke out in June, 1865. The first hotel, called
the Te-pe ton ka, with several adjoining buildings, were destroyed, and
Miss McDonald's establishment was pulled down to prevent the further
progress of the fire-fiend. She was advised by some of her friends to
bring suit against the city for damages, etc., which she did, and gained
the suit in the lower court. The city authorities took an appeal to the
Supreme Court, where the rulings of the court below were reversed.
Beaten, but not conquered, her independence asserted itself in new
determinations and undertakings. She soon opened another shop and
recommenced business anew. Perseverance, industry, and rigid econ-
omy, soon brought their reward and won for her the victory. She now
owns the lot and brick building on Main street, occupied by Wilkinson
& Hodgman ; another lot on Main street, west of Broadway, and thirty-
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 213
live acres of land near Zumbrota. She sold her pre-empted 160 acres
of land a few years ago for $2,500. In 1870 she married L. W. Peck,
Esq., a well-to-do farmer in Cherry Grove, with whom she is still living,
a happy and contented matron.
HUMOROUS INCIDENTS.
GOING A DUCKING AND GETTING A " DUCKING " — CANOE RIDING BY LAND.
Missionary and pioneer life is not always shaded and clouded, not-
withstanding the representatives of these classes are frequently shut
out for months at a time from all communication with the inside, civil-
ized world. There are sunny places and humorous incidents with them,
just as there are among the people of densely populated districts and
more advanced communities. Generally speaking, the pioneers are
genial, humorous fellows, and as frolicsome as a sunbeam. They sport
with the winds, and laugh at storms and the freaks of the elements.
And missionaries, to whatever people or wilds, are not much unlike
other people, notwithstanding the sacredness of their calling. They
are happy in the work they have chosen to do, and having thrown aside
all other cares and responsibilities, they bend to the duties of their
philanthropic undertakings with hearts ready for any fate. Deprivation,
exposure to personal danger and want, may often encompass them round
about, but with a faith that no opposition or persecution can weaken,
they accommodate themselves to conditions and circumstances, and are
as ready to
"Enjoy a little recreation now and then,
As any other class of the sons of men."
If the experiences, humorous and otherwise, of the thousands of men
and women who have taken upon themselves the duties of missionary
servants, and gone out among the uncivilized tribes of the earth to
point to the better way, were collected into printed volumes, a
record of interest would be preserved that would be universally read.
Some of its pages would cause tears of pity, while others would excite
uncontrollable merriment and risibility.
One of the missionaries to the Dakota Indians, Rev. Joseph W. Han-
cock, is still a resident of Goodhue county and a citizen of Red Wing,
where he has maintained a continuous home since June 13, 1849.
Although a teacher to benighted, darkened souls, he is not, and never
was, of that class of teachers and preachers that thought it sinful to
214 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
smile or "crack a joke." to go a ducking or get a "ducking;" but
was as ready to join the members of his charge in innocent sports as
the most sportive of their kind. And although his missionary labors
ended a quarter of a century ago, and he is now far past the meridian
of life, he is still young at heart, and well preserved intellectually and
physically, and his memory well stored with a rich collection of inci-
dents and happenings in the early days of his residence among the
dusky sons and daughters he came to teach. Among these happenings
of the long ago, he relates the following :
When he came to Red Wing he was as ignorant of the management
of a canoe or other small water craft, as the Indians were of the letters
of the alphabet or their uses when his predecessors, Denton and Gavan,
first came among them in 1838. On one occasion an old Indian and his
son were going out duck hunting, and Mr. Hancock asked for permission
to accompany them, as anxious, no doubt, to witness the Indian modus
operandi of taking the feathered, web-footed game, as he was to secure
a share of the trophy of the hunt for his own table ; for it is reasonable
to suppose that Mr. Hancock, missionary though he was, was as fond of
a nicely-prepared roast of duck as the Sandwich Islanders used to be of
a roast from the arm or thigh of a fat missionary. Mr. Hancock's
request to accompany the hunt was granted, but he says he " came
near falling out of the canoe before he got in," from which hull it might
be supposed he was an Irishman, but we do not venture the opinion
that the supposition is correct. When all was ready, the canoe was
shoved off, and headed up stream for the duck haunt. Mr. Hancock
had a long stick in his hand, and coming to a place where he observed
the water was not deep, he put the stick over the side of the boat,
touched bottom, and gave a strong push. The bottom was muddy and
the stick stuck. In attempting to recover the stick by pulling it out,
it pulled him in about as quick as a flash of lightning. The next thing
he knew the canoe tipped over, and tipped him into three feet of
water, head foremost, and he went a ducking. When he regained his
feet, the Indians were picking up their guns and powder horns from the
bottom of the river. The elder Iudian seemed to blame Mr. Hancock
for the mishap and administered to him a pretty severe rebuke for his
ignorance, using the following Dakota words :
He-he ! Wa-si-cun-wakan kin, wahokonkiya hecen he-conpi na-ce-ca ;
tuka can-wata cin, ka wa-to-papi cin, hena ta-ku-dan docapi-ini.
To-hi-ni akei can-wata en da idotanka hukuga wo, nakun inina
yankawo.
Which, being translated, is substantially as follows :
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 215
The white missionary may be a very good man and know all about
the road to the land of the Great Spirit, and how to point the Indians
there, but he cannot point a canoe to a duck pond. His words may
stick like the stick he stuck in the mud that pulled the canoe over; but
if he don't know more about what he preaches than he does about
paddling a canoe, he'd better quit and go back to the home of white
men. May be white men make good preachers, but bad canoe men.
Get in the canoe now and keep still. Indians know how to keep them
right, and never turn them over like the white missionary.
Mr. Hancock obeyed the injunctions of the old Indian, got into the
canoe again, but was mindful to " keep still " the balance of the trip,
and returned home a ivetter, as well as wiser man as regarded canoe
management. He afterwards learned to " paddle his own canoe," as he
was determined the Indians should not always have occasion to taunt
him with his ignorance of skill in that kind of water-craft.
An account of another canoe ride, in which Mr. Hancock partici-
pated, is worthy of place in this connection. This time the ride was
taken on land.
In the summer of 1852, John Bush, the Indian farmer, accompanied
by his wife and Mr. and Mrs. Hancock, concluded to make a visit to the
head of Lake Pepin, to "call " on Mr. George W. Bullard and family.
The distance was six miles by land. There was no available wheeled
vehicle — no carriage, or wagon, or horses that could be used, so a large
canoe was brought into requisition. A yoke of cattle were hitched to
the canoe by a log-chain, and the visitors started. The wild grass was
tall and thick, and the canoe glided along where the ground was level
like a sleigh over a good snow-path. But the ground was not always
level. It was level only occasionally, and the oxen, not used to that
kind of a vehicle, stepped rather quickly over the rough places, occa-
sioning frequent turn overs and tip-outs. It is the opinion of Mr.
Hancock that they turned over as much as fifty times in going and
returning. They landed in all sorts of positions — on their sides, backs,
faces, singly, in heaps, and on top of each other — presenting the most
ludicrous appearances as they sought to right themselves. "No bodily
harm was experienced, however," says Mr. Hancock, " but the amount
of fun and hearty laughter we enjoyed that day exceeded anything of
the kind I ever knew, before or since. It was enough to make a stoic
laugh or cure a dyspeptic. I have never failed to laugh when the
circumstance is called to mind, and I don't know but what it will be one
of the last things I think of as my bark of life is shoved away from the
shore of time."
216 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
RETROSPECTIVE.
REMINISCENCES OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENT AT RED WING.
At a meeting of the Old Settlers Association* of Goodhue county,
held at Red Wing, on Tuesday, the 15th day of June, A. D.1869, W. W.
Sweeney, M. D., delivered an address on the early scenes and incidents
attending the first settlement at Red Wing, that was so full of interest
as to be worthy of preservation in these pages. A gentleman of educa-
tion, large observation and diversified experience, and one of the first
settlers, no one was better prepared to speak accurately of the trials
and hardships, realities and romance of pioneer life. When this address
was delivered, only seventeen years had been added to the record of
time since he "pitched his tent" in the shadows of Barn Bluff. These
seventeen years encompassed the fullness of his physical and mental
vigor, and hence the subject of his address was still fresh in his memory.
He said :
"In the spring of 1852, Calvin Potter, with whom I had previously
been acquainted, called at my office in St. Paul, and in the course of our
conversation informed me that he had bought out Mr. Snow, the licensed
Indian trader at Red Wing; and in view of a treaty then in process of
consummation, he thought that point a good location for a town-site;
also, that he would like to interest some one with him in a claim he had
there. Mr. William Freeborn being one of the old residents of St. Paul,
and having a large acquaintance, Mr. Potter thought he would be a
desirable man. From my opinion of the country, acquired in various
conversations with an old French voyager, and also from an Englishman
by birth, but in language and habits a compound of English, French
and Indian, who had been in the country for thirty years, I was more
than anxious to take part in the enterprise, and brought about a speedy
meeting between Mr. Potter and Mr. Freeborn.
" In our council Mr. Freeborn demurred at first, urging his inability
to remove to the new El Dorado immediately. I proposed to remove
that objection by coming myself, to which he acceded. The result was
that we three took the return boat, and landed in Red Wing in the early
part of May. While there I purchased a claim-right from a half-breed,
named Benjamin Young, of that part of the city known as " Sweeney's
Addition," as also that old weather-beaten, two-story log-house, well
known to old settlers — sided up with antediluvian lumber, that stood
in the rear of where Mr. Sheldon's warehouse now is. This done, I
* This organization, it is to be regretted, was not maintained, and now exists only in memory.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 217
returned to St. Paul, put my business in a proper shape, and came back
to Ked Wing with James McGinnis, who concluded to try his fortune
in this then unexplored country. We made our headquarters in the
venerable tenement before mentioned, kept our own house — or, as
some graphically describe it, ' kept bach.' This was in the latter part
of May or beginning June.
'•As it was not deemed advisable to go into any farming or building
operations until the treaty was ratified, we had plenty of idle time on
our hands, and the grand difficulty was to know how to dispose of it.
The families then here were the Rev. James N. Hancock, of the Pres-
byterian mission and John Bush, Indian farmer. John Day was not
far off, however. The old 'Excelsior' never made a trip up from below
that John did not board her, to hear ' about the treaty.' There were
several transient persons here, but their whereabouts is not now known.
The only actual residents of the county previous to my coming, besides
those above mentioned, were George Bullard (now deceased) and
family at Wacoota ; James Wells, since killed by the Indians in the
southwestern portion of the State, who then had a trading post at what
is now the village of Frontenac; and a Mr. Gould and family, who
resided near the mouth of Wells Creek. This comprised the white
population of the county.
HUNTING THE SOURCE OP HAY CREEK.
" Of the country back of us, even for four miles, I could learn nothing.
Mr. Knauer, the engineer of the old military road up the river, said he
had rode out to the source of Hay Creek, and that it orginated in a fine 1
tamarack marsh. It occurred to McGinnis and myself that a good
tamarack swamp, in a prairie country, would be a fine thing to possess,
and being like the caged starling, anxious to 'get out,' we 'just went'
for Hay Creek, and to our intense disgust, didn't find any tamarack.
In an after conversation with Mr. Knauer, I am persuaded that not
following the creek valley all the way, he mistook the poplar grove,
known in early times as 'Albert's grove,' for the swamp aforesaid.
"After our little disappointment about the source of Hay Creek, our
trips were mainly confined to the river side of the county, between the
divide of the waters of the Zumbro and Mississippi — even Belle Creek
was not known — its locality and course, however, was traced for us by
Hapah, the old chief's son-in-law. It was not deemed advisable to go
far from the river, as many of the Indians were decidedly hostile to
ceding their lands, and the Zumbro country was the common hunting
ground for several bands of the M'dewakantonwan Dakotahs, besides
218 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
being in the route of traveling Indians from the upper Minnesota to
Wabasha, the residence of the acknowledged head chief of the seven
bands.
REMOVAL OF HIS FAMILY TO RED WING — INDIAN NEIGHBORS.
"Having become acquainted with the principal men among the
Indians, I thought it safe to bring my family from St. Paul, which I did
in July, 1852, as did also Mr. McGinnis. I have a very lively recollec-
tion of getting our household stock from the landing to our residence.
A winding, rugged path up the bank was the course by which we con-
veyed it, and 'Mc' aud I transformed ourselves into pack-mules, until
stoves, bureaus, provisions and various etceteras of two households
were placed under shelter, and we were at home. Within the next
twenty-four hours ninety-nine hundredths of the Indian population had
called in through curiosity, and their various comments would, doubt-
less, have been edifying, had we been able to understand them. Friendly
relations were established, however, and we never could complain of
lack of company as long as they remained in the village. I must also
say in justice to the memory of these original settlers and occupants of
the soil, that I was never more kindly treated by any people, nor did I
ever enjoy myself better. To be sure they were importunate beggars,
as a community, and the women as a rule were chronic thieves. In
fact, they were kleptomaniacs, i. e., they would not help their steal-
ing proclivities. But making all allowances for these little peculiari-
ties of their manners and morals, which were a part of their natures,
and they were not a bad people to live among. By a little liberality
when their begging seemed justifiable, and by firmly refusing when
necessary, the beggars were disposed of and kept in good humor. And
by watchfulness and the aid of bolts and bars their thieving propensi-
ties were held in check and rendered measurably harmless.
THE TREATY SECOND CONVENTION — HUNGER AND DESTITUTION.
"The treaty being ratified by the Senate of the U. S., with some alter-
ations from the original as framed by the Dakotahs and the commis-
sioners, it became necessary to convene the different bands interested
therein to get their consent. Notice was accordingly given to them to
meet at Fort Snelling early in the fall, in consequence of which a
perfect exodus of the aborigines took place, and nothing more was
seen of them here until late in November, after the close of navigation.
When they did return, a more squalid, wretched looking set I never
saw. Bitter were the complaints against the government officials.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 219
Their annuities were spent in waiting at the fort, the best of the hunting
season had passed, their canoes were frozen in the ice away from home,
and would be mainly lost. I remember well when the first installment
that came home, three families, pitched their tents in the evening near
the mission house. They were worn out, cold and hungry. The
children were emaciated and sick, from want and exposure. They
were supplied by the whites with food until the men could obtain game
for their sustenance. In the morning two of the men went out hunting,
and as I came home in the evening, unsuccessful from a similar expe-
dition on Hay Creek, I struck their trail, and in a short time overtook
them, a little below where Cogel's flouring mill now is, each of them
slowly toiling through the deep snow, under the burthen of a deer.
The men seemed exhausted, and requested me to stop at their teepees
and tell the women where they were — that they had got tado — and
wanted them to come to their assistance. I hurried home to commu-
nicate this joyful intelligei ce to the inmates of those three lodges.
Upon reaching them I told one of the women the good news. She
immediately shouted forth a peculiar cry, which was echoed by all in
the tent, down to a three year old boy dressed in purus natur alibis.
This brought out the inhabitants of the other lodges. Upon being told
the cause of the commotion, the same shout went up from all present.
Women and children acted as if demented. The women rushed about
for straps, knives and blankets, and the children jumped up and down
for joy. After giving them the proper directions where to go, three
women started on a dog trot, and were soon lost to view ; but sometime
after dark I called at the lodges and found them busily engaged in
masticating huge mouthfulls of venison. In three days those little
half-starved, copper colored specimens of the genus homo had acquired
a very perceptible rotundity, and were as sleek and as frisky as a litter
of young pups. The cry or shout mentioned, I have heard frequently,
and is made on the occasion of the intelligence of a successful hunt:
not always the same, different intonations indicating the kind of game
killed, as for deer, bear, elk, &c.
ADDITIONS TO THE POPULATION.
"The additions to our population besides those mentioned, were John
Day and family, E. G. Stevens, David Pucket, Jack Sanders and Ben.
Hill, in the summer, and Charles Parks, in November, 1852.
" The proprietors of the town site had procured lumber late in the fall
for the erection of a hotel early in the spring, and it was necessary to
engage carpenters to prepare such of the material in the winter as
220 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
could be done within the shop. H. B. and Joseph Middaugh were
obtained, and became residents of the town, in December, 1852. About
this time, also, the first of our Scandinavian population arrived here :
Mathias Peterson, a farmer, now in Zumbrota township, a Norwegian
by birth ; and in a short time he brought Nels Nelson, a Swede, who
for a long time lived with me. These two men were the pioneers of
that nationality in Goodhue county, which now exceeds eight thousand
souls. Both these men formerly resided in St. Paul. In the spring fol-
lowing, Albert, a Norwegian, an acquaintance of Mr. Peterson, settled
here and made a claim in what is now Featherstone township, at Poplar
Grove, or Albert's Grove, now embraced in the limits of the farm
owned by Mr. Friend.
SHUT IN BY WINTER.
"The winter of 1852-3 was passed very pleasantly by our little iso-
lated community.* The natives soon left on their winter's hunt after
their return from the treaty ratification at the fort, and we saw but little
of them until some time in January ; in fact, we saw nobody but our
own residents. Communication between us and the civilized world
was only resumed when the post had rendered traveling safe on the
Mississippi River. The mail was carried from Prairie du Chien through
Wisconsin, crossing the Chippewa near the Menominee River, thence
through a wooded wilderness to the very source of Rush River, at Baker's
station, thence to Stillwater and St. Paul. A trip from Prairie du Chien
in the winter, required nerve, endurance, and a willingness to perform
any amount of manual labor that the emergency of the case might
require. We here got our mail from St. Paul — when we had a chance
to send for it. When the ice was safe, trains arrived frequently from
below, principally laden with pork and flour. Our isolation was from
about the middle of November to some time in January. Such supplies
as ran short were obtained of Mr. Potter, whose establishment contained
those articles more especially demanded by the Indian trade ; from Geo.
W. Bullard, at Wacoota, whose situation at the head of the lake ren-
dered it necessary for him to keep a more extensive assortment of
goods to supply the wants of the lumbering interests ; or if these stores
were deficient in the articles, then St. Paul was the last resort for the
winter.
COUNTY HISTORY.
"As it is impossible to relate all that I wish to say in chronological
order, I may as well give a few of the incidents connected with our
county history, even though out of their proper era.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 221
"On the Wisconsin side of the river, previous to the settlement here
in 1852, the land was ceded, surveyed and opened to settlement. At
Diamond Bluff lived John Day, Allen Wilson, Jack Payne, and George
Day. At the mouth of the Trimbelle, " old Hawley" and Jake Meade.
At Thing's Landing (now Trenton) lived Wilson Thing, E. C. Stevens
and Dexter, all more or less engaged in getting out wood for the use of
steamboats. Mr. John Day and E. C. Stevens are residents of our
county ; Mr. Thing and Wilson are deceased. The whereabouts of Payne,
George Day, Dexter and Hawley is unknown. Meade still resides near
his old location.
" ' Old Hawley ' was rather a hard case. By his sale of whisky our
community was frequently disturbed by the whooping and yelling of
drunken Indians, upon which occasions about all the population of
natives not engaged in the spree would flee to the houses of the whites
for protection, and there remain until the '■Minnie Wakan" 1 gave out,
and the legitimate results of a 'high old time' tad overtaken the
carousers. Nothing is known of Hawley's fate, but from a knowledge
of his character, I would infer that he is at some ' side station ' or
'switch off' in that 'undiscovered country from whence no traveler
returns.'
JUSTICE TO TRUTH AND HISTORY A PIONEER JUSTICE AND A PIONEER WEDDING.
"In justice to truth and history, I must say something of Wilson
Thing, a very eccentric man, a strict vegetarian, a man of strong preju-
dices, but moral and upright — a good neighbor and an honest man. He
was the only justice of the peace for many miles around, and conse-
quently had a little legal business to perform. Previous to my coming
here, (as related by an old settler,) a fair widow of this place had
entered into a marriage contract with a gentleman of St. Paul, and the
time was fixed for a consummation of the happy event. When the time
arrived, and the parties to the contract were present, a grand difficulty
occurred. Rev. Mr. Hancock, the only one authorized to solemnize
marriages, was absent. The bridegroom was impatient and the bride
annoyed. Friends suggested a canoe ride to Trenton and the services
of ' Squire Thing' as the only solution of the evils complained of. Of
course, under the circumstances, both bride and bridegroom eagerly
acceded to the proposition, and in a short time the bridal party was
under way for the residence of the justice. They found this worthy
representative of the law, as enacted and promulgated by the great
state of Wisconsin, busily engaged in the rather feminine occupation of
washing a two months' accumulation of dirty shirts (he being at that
222 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
time a bachelor,) and he was somewhat embarrassed at the sudden
irruption into his sanctum. The bride, however, was plucky, and to
relieve the justice, and give him time to make himself presentable and
con over the marriage ceremony, she proposed that herself and mother
would finish the laundry operations, while he got ready for his part of
the proceedings, which was accepted, and in due time both the shirt
washing and the marriage ceremony were completed to the satisfaction
of all concerned.
DIGGING POTATOES IN WISCONSIN.
" As winter approached, it became necessary for us to look about for
a supply of vegetables for winter use, as there were none to be had on
this side of the river. Upon inquiry I found that Mr. Thing had planted
four or five acres of potatoes, besides some beets and cabbages, which
latter we were able to purchase. The potatoes, however, were not to be
obtained by a regular business transaction of cash down. In the first
place, they were ' planted on the sod;' that is, two rounds were plowed
the potatoes dropped in the last furrow, and covered by the sod of the
next round, and so on. The 'Squire's field was in the prairie between
Trenton and the bluff's. The season was not favorable for rotting the
sod, and the tubers were hard to excavate. He wanted help, which
was hard to get. We wanted potatoes, and money wouldn't buy them.
Consequently, it was 'root, hog, or die,' with us, and we went to rooting.
A hard day's work unearthed ten bushels to the man, for which one
bushel was given as wages. I have to this day a very acute apprecia-
tion of the pleasant occupation I was then engaged in. Just fancy my
getting up at 4 o'clock in the morning, breaking my fast as soon as pos-
sible, getting into a canoe, with hoe, basket and sack, and paddling up
to Trenton, thence to the field. Now commences the dissection of those
gutta percha sods with a plantation hoe. A little experience in another
line of business enabled me to get the hang of the thing. In getting
honey out of a hollow tree, the best way is to cut two carfs into the
cavity, then split off the block of timber between. The same rule held
good in the present instance, but I must say I never saw sod so tough,
potatoes so hard to get at, and so small when I got them. But as an
offset, I have never eaten potatoes of equal excellence, and I was
prouder of the ten bushels I thus acquired, than of the biggest buck I
ever arrested in his wild career through the woods, or the largest trout
I ever landed from the clear rushing waters of his native brook. Just
think of it ! Ten bushels all my own. No gift ; not begged, but earned.
One hundred bushels torn from the rugged earth, ninety given as a
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 223
peace offering, but ten ray own, for use and dissipation. I think I didn't
dissipate. On ray back I nightly bore my wages down to my gondola,
and sailed away for home. But I have dwelt too long on this subject.
Time has mellowed down all of pain that was associated with the circum-
stance, and the recollection is now pleasurable and full of interest to
me in my musings and speculations of then, now of the future.
TROUT FISHING — INDIAN SUPERSTITION.
'' Leaving this portion of my subject, I must now refer to one full of
interest to me, but probably not as acceptable to a majority of my
audience. Among the first items of information I obtained from the
Indians was, that the small spring brooks contained -an abundance of
trout, and the equally gratifying intelligence that they never used them
as an article of food; in fact, their religious notions 'tabooed' their
use. From the name they gave the speckled beauties, I would infer
they considered them too bad to eat. Hogal-wichasta-sni (literally,
wicked-man-fish) is not suggestive of high appreciation among the
Indian community. They really believed some malign influence resided
in the fish, and that to eat them would be to invite disease and the
anger of the gods. This feeling was very prevalent among them, and
Wacoota (the chief) being invited to take dinner with me, at which
meal I informed him there would be a dish of trout, he consented to
be present provided we would lock the doors, eat dinner up stairs, hang
a curtain before the window and say nothing about what he had eaten.
This was done, and the old ' Shooter' made a very hearty meal, as
Indians are apt to do, but I thought during the trout course, that he
acted as though the morsels were hard to bolt, like a boy swallowing
his first oyster, and that qualms of conscience interfered with degluti-
tion. He ate frequently with me afterwards, but I cannot say that
trout ever appeared to be a favorite dish with him.
"All the streams within the limits of our county abounded with
trout, with the exception of Prairie Creek, the Pine Island branch of
the Zumbro, and the Little Cannon. The latter stream has since been
stocked, and now affords very fair sport, the run of trout being large.
V 'I only fished in four of these streams the first two years of my resi-
dence here, to-wit, Trout brook, the little stream emptying into Hay
Creek near Hawley's Mill, Spring Creek and Bullard's Creek. The first
of these, however, being adjacent to town, was where I got my supply
for home use. An hour or two in the evening would net me eight or
ten pounds of the fish.
" In my various tramps through the country, when I struck a stream
224 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
at a ford or ripple, it was no uncommon tiling to see dozens of trout
rushing and tumbling over each other in their haste to reach their
hiding places in deep water. On Hay Creek I have thus frightened off
a shallow ripple more than fifty pounds of the fish at one time, and
though I always carry an ample supply of fishing tackle with me, I
never wet a line in that stream until 1854. This I consider the greatest
instance of self-denial and resistance of temptation on record. I could
cite many cases where better men, probably, have signally failed, and
where the restraining influence should have been much stronger. The
reason why I did not gratify my natural instincts was the opposing one,
and true sportsman maxim, never to kill what you cannot make use of;
and, also, I am too great a lover of the gentle art to hasten the extinc-
tion, through a mere wantonness, of a creature that has so largely
contributed to my pleasure and happiness.
A SPORT-LOVING MINISTER — POWER OF TEMPTATION — FISHING AND PREACHING.
" With your permission I will relate one of these instances, although
properly not occurring in the early settling of the county, premising
my recital with the explanation that the cause of temptation was a
large, beautifully colored specimen of our gamest of all game fish —
the trout.
'• A party from below, accredited to our fishing club as being ' all
right,' arrived here and requested information as to where they could
enjoy a couple of weeks' good sporting during the hot month of July.
The very paradise of fishing grounds was selected for them, and the
next day their camp was pitched on a beautiful spot in Rush River, in
the State of Wisconsin. A few rods of open prairie stretched down to
the river from the camp, and the small, orchard-like trees surrounding,
afforded an inviting shade. In front loomed up steep bluffs, covered
with tall timber; back of the camp the ground rose in a succession of
plateaus until the general level of the country was attained. Taking
it all in all, it was one of the loveliest situations for the purposes of a
sportsman's camp, that I ever beheld. An invitation to call and' break
bread' with them was accepted, and in a few days John Webster, Billy
B., Sam Stevens, and myself, were on the ' old battle ground,' with rod,
reel, line, and various other appliances deemed necessary on such occa-
sions. We found our friends enjoying themselves admirably. They
had established friendly relations with the neighboring settlers, and
could not be better situated. One of the party was a minister of the
gospel of the Methodist denomination, a Pennsylvanian by birth, brought
up among the mountains of Sinnemahoning, as pure and unsophisticated,
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 225
as regards evil, as the clear mountain brooks of his old native home.
From his surroundings in childhood he could not have been less than a
keen sportsman and be a man !
"The country in the locality of this camp had been sparsely inhab-
ited for a number of years. Young men with young families had settled
there, and for a time had not felt the necessity of education or religious
instruction. As their families grew up, however, several had expressed
a determination to leave on account of their families growing up
ignorant in these particulars, and devoid of a knowledge of the
amenities and conventionalities of social life. A slight impetus of
immigration had raised their drooping spirits, and, by an effort, they had
just completed a school house, which, on the Sabbath, they used as a
church when a wandering minister traveled that way. This being the
situation, word was given out that our reverend sportsman, brother
Shaffer, would, with divine permission, give them a discourse on the
ensuing Sabbath at such hour as might suit their convenience. Nature
had been lavish of gifts to our friend of herculean proportions. He was
deep chested, strong limbed, and with a voice as clear as the clarion's
notes, combined with the resonance of distant artillery, yet he could
modulate it to the murmur of a mountain rill under the controllings of
genial influences. His invariable practice, after the evening meal, as
the shades of night drew on, was to retire a short distance from the
camp, and, I presume, offer up his devotions ; and then broke forth an
evening hymn which caused all camp avocations to be suspended. The
very birds ceased their songs ; the gambolings of the little denizens of
the forest and the busy hum of insect life seemed hushed. Naught of
earth was heard but the voice of praise and the gentle murmur of the
passing stream, in fitting unison. We were not the only auditors. The
powerful voice of the singer had penetrated far into the surrounding
woods. Hearers had learned when to enjoy the pleasure, and would
silently approach the camp without their presence being known, that
they might more clearly appreciate the beauty of the song. A religious
feeling was aroused, and the hearts of the community were in sympathy
with brother Shaffer. On Sunday morning all the inmates of the camp
were on the way to the place of meeting, and it appeared that the
entire population was in motion. By the roads, footpaths, and through
the woods they came, until the house was full, and groups standing on
the outside. The speaker gave them a discourse suited to their wants.
The grand old woods and the crystal waters came in as blessings which
should be thankfully acknowledged in their devotions to God, together
with the sustenance and pleasure derived therefrom. The remarks
16
226 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
were appreciated, and I will venture that seed was sown there that
time will not smother, nor the germinal principal decay, without bring-
ing forth much fruit.
" After the sermon all the fishing party returned to camp, with the
exception of our clerical friend, who was requested to stay and conduct
the exercises of class and Sunday school. In course of the afternoon
Webster and myself took a stroll on the hillside back of our camp. The
river running a few yards from the path, at the base of the hill, was
plainly visible in the interval between the trees. The pools of water
were as calm as the sleep of the infant. The quieting influence of the
day appeared to have affected the inmates of the waters, and their
usually lively demonstrations were sobered down to a gentle motion of
their fins to keep them in suspension in their liquid element. A cosy
shelf on the hillside invited a rest, and we sat down to enjoy the scene.
Anon a ripple in the stream attracted attention. 'Twas not larger than
that caused by the fall of a drop of rain. Nothing was said, but my
eyes were riveted to the spot. 'Twas repeated, and in the same place.
I saw that I should fall into temptation, to avoid which I rose and
ingloriousl-y fled. What Webster saw, I know not, but when he returned
to camp his eyes had a prominence and convexity that indicated hav-
ing k seen sights,' and his manner, that of a high state of nervous
excitement. I said he returned. He did, but he disappeared again,
in a state of mind that caused serious apprehensions in his friends. In
a short time Shaffer arrived, and selecting a turfy, shady spot, threw
himself prone on the ground, discoursing pleasantly of the happiness
he felt in having been allowed to minister to the wants of a people so
much in need of gospel teaching and so willing to receive it. I heard
him, and cordially was with him in spirit, but my eyes were on the
path, over the shingle, and up the river, where our absent friend evi-
dently had gone. After a time my apprehensions were almost quieted
in regard to Webster, and I was watching the countenance of the speaker
as it swayed under the varied emotions called up by the incidents of the
day, when a noise startled me. Turning round, I saw Webster approach-
ing a few yards away, evidently in a more easy state of mind. On he
came, and I was hopeful that none of the proprieties of the day or occa-
sion had been violated, but when within ten feet of me he suddenly
extended his right arm, softly exclaiming, " Look there " I sprang to
my feet and beheld the very incarnation of earthly beauty, his colors
unfaded, and the light of life still in his eye. My exclamation brought
brother Shaffer to a sitting posture. His eyes had an imperfect vision,
and he sternly exclaimed, ' Oh, you wicked, wicked man.' Webster
THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY. 227
skillfully displayed the full-length broadside to view. Brother Shaffer
was on his feet in a twinkling, fondling the fish, and the words, "Oh!
isn't he a beauty [".burst involuntarily from his lips, his admiration
obliterating all thought of the crime. A rebuke was now powerless, as
he himself, by his involuntary exclamation and action, was not above
temptation, but in fact had participated in the fault.
" The human countenance, as the reflex mirror of impressions on the
mental organization, is a pleasing and instructive study, from the very
inception of stimuli on the infant brain up to its maximum in mature
manhood, thence following on the waning scale of life to those changes
which shadow forth the coming of second childhood. Friend S.'s phys-
iognomy for a brief season, well repaid study and analyzation. First
were traces of sorrow and rebuke, then surprise and wonder, followed
quickly by signs of extravagant admiration, thence down the grade to
shame and humiliation. The thought waves were electrical in velocity
— each ripple expressing a sentiment or emotion, which the most rapid
symbolism could not trace on paper. A single character would have to
represent the emotional name; to elucidate it would require pages, yet
it was plainly written, and in as legible characters as though carved in
' monumental marble.' With a sigh he subsided into his former position,
realizing, doubtless, the weakness and imperfection of human nature,
and that even the bestof men are as l prone to do evil as the sparks are
to fly upward.'
" I think all those who saw that little episode will never forget it. It
was one of those incidents that language cannot communicate or the
artist's pencil portray — the finer features of the picture would be inev-
itably lost. My thoughts called up Uncle Toby's violation of the third
commandment, in his anxiety to relieve the poor lieutenant, and I
would adopt the author's views as to criminality in the case, with a very
slight alteration: 'The accusing spirit which flew up to Heaven's chan-
cery with the fault, blushed as he gave it in; and the recording angel,
as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word, and blotted it out
forever.'
"In the fall of 1852, having a fishing-seine in our possession, we
organized a fishing party, and built the necessary craft for running a
fishery. We began this enterprise for the purpose of supplying our
own wants. Meeting with great success, and having nothing else to do,
salt and barrels were procured, and in a short time we supplied St.
Paul with forty barrels of good fish, at the remarkably low price of $6
per barrel. Our fishing ground was the ' Bay,' in front of Oogel's mill,
and a lake on the Wisconsin shore, about a mile above Bay City. Large
228 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
quantities were caught, of all the kinds inhabiting the river, but we
only preserved the best fish, rejecting pike, pickerel, bass, sturgeon,
dog-fish, sheep-head and gars, while the rich, fat and luscious cat,
buffalo, and carp, were carefully cleaned and salted, well repaying us
for our labor. At one haul of our seine, in the lake above referred to,
we took out over eight barrels of fish, when cleaned and packed, besides
an innumerable quantity of the ' baser sort,' as before indicated.
"These remarks may provoke satirical comments from the members
of a certain 'fishing ring,' who think that the mantle of old Izaak
Walton has fallen on them individually, and that their palates and
peculiar notions should form the standard of true sport and gustatory
excellence. But to these I would say, we only wanted such fish as
would repay us in nutriment and feed for the animal economy, when
the mercury ranged from zero to forty below. This was supplied by
our selection, some of the fish yielding over a pint of good oil. Pike,
pickerel, bass and trout, as salt-fish, are about as nutrient as floating
island, puffs, pastry and gimcracks, and all are measurably worthless as
food to strong, hearty, working men.
LOCAL INDIAN CELEBRITIES.
" A short description of three or four of the Indian celebrities of the
village may not be out of place. I will commence with ' Wacoota ' —
literally the " Shooter" — chief of the band. This man stood about six
feet in his moccasins, was well proportioned, and I judge about sixty-
five years of age, when I knew him. He was the most intelligent man
in the band, with the exception of Wa-kon-toppy. He was friendly to
the whites, and much disposed to adopt the habits and customs of
civilized life, and consequently without much authority among the
restless young men of the village. His schemes for promoting the
well-being of his people were thwarted by Mahpiya-maza, or Iron Cloud,
second in rank, but first in real power. This latter personage was a
crafty, intriguing politician, favoring all the raiding propensities of the
young men, stimulating opposition to any advancement in civilization ;
begging when it would accomplish his object ; threatening when he
thought he had the power to do injury — a base, bad man, and a thorough
savage, whom no kindness could bind in the bonds of friendship, nor
reason influence to adopt views salutary to the welfare of his band.
His only redeeming trait of character was his advocacy of the cause of
temperance. His death, in the latter part of the summer of 1852,
freed the whites of the annoyance of his presence and counsels.
" Being indisposed with symptoms indicating cholera, which was then
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 229
prevalent along the river, he called at Mr. Potter's trading house, and
espying a demijohn, he asked if it contained Minnie-wakon, whisky.
Mr. P. told him it did not, that it was cha-han-pi-tik-ti-cha, molasses or
tree sap. The old fellow immediately asked for a donation, but was
informed that it belonged to Paska, as Mr. E. C. Stevens was called by
the Sioux. Iron Cloud then left on the hunt of Mr. Stevens, first stop-
ping at his own tepee and getting a good-sized coffee pot, as though
sure of his object. After finding Mr. Stevens he succeeded in getting
the molasses. In a day or two this medicine was disposed of, but the
patient was not much benefitted by its use, and importunate for more.
Mr. Stevens came to me and inquired what would be the result in my
opinion if old Mahpiya repeated the dose. My reply was that it would
' kill him as dead as Julius Caesar.' But importunity finally obtained
the coveted sweets, and in a few hours a messenger arrived from a
lodge in the Indian cornfield, about where Mr. Towne's house now is,
who told me that Iron Cloud was very sick and wanted to see me. I
accompanied him, and on entering the tent found it occupied by the
sick man, stretched on a robe. His wife, had, ranged in a semi-circle,
six of the most popular medicine men, dressed in very unprofessional
costume, or rather in undress, for the united apparel of the whole
conclave would not have afforded material enough for a pair of leggins.
The doctors looked very sullen at my intrusion, but the patient told me
they had done him no good, and wanted me to do what I could for him.
Upon examination I found him past all remedies, and left. In an hour
a wail told of the departure of Maphiya-Maza to the happy hunting
ground in the Indian spirit world.
" T'maza-washta, or Good Iron, was the next man of importance in the
village. Taller than Wacoota, always smiling, a rebuff never ruffled his
equanimity. A friend to both the Wacoota and Iron Cloud factions, he
successfully performed the difficult feat of carrying water on both
shoulders. On the death of the second chief, Good Iron was excessively
amiable, making feasts, and otherwise doing those things which we in
civilized life see so frequently performed by aspiring men thirsting for
political distinction. The old fellow being so good-natured, I frequently
gave more heed to his requests than was proper or necessary, and he
reached the conclusion that he had only to ask and he would receive
the favor. He wanted to be second chief. A delegation of Indians
from Wabasha stopped at our village, and Good Iron concluded a big
feast would bring him the desired elevation. I had a fat cow and a good
one, and an equally fat dog, but in no other particular did the dog
resemble the cow. Now these two animals, in old T'maza's estimation
230 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
would just about furnish the necessary amount of influence to place him
in possession of the object of his aspirations. Accordingly, all smiles,
he prefered his request, and, of course, was refused. He was a little
crestfallen at first, but he soon laughed, and said: 'My friend, you
always gave me what I asked for. Now, when I have friends come to
see me, and I want to feast them, you refuse me your cow and your dog.
It is not good.' I couldn't see the logic. The old beggar got to be
second chief, however.
" Maca-tiniza, (Standing Earth,) more generally known among the
whites as the 'Old Scolder,' was a regular old masculine termagant.
Nothing suited him. His only luxury was grumbling, and he enjoyed
that to an unlimited extent. He was, however, a strict Good Templar,
and not a bad Indian ; but his unfortunate peculiarity rendered him
anything but a favorite among his own people. He attended church
frequently and behaved very well, except on one occasion. I had made
Wacoota a one-horse train or sled the first winter of my residence here.
The ' Scolder' knew this, and one Sabbath, when we were all at church
and Mr. Hancock in the midst of his discourse, the old man and his wife
entered. Giving a succession of grunts, he said: 'I have come to
church to learn to be good, and may be the Good Spirit will smile on
me, so that Pezuta-wichasta (my Indian name) will make me a sled.'
The old fellow grinned at his interruption of the service, and I concluded
that his religion was not of a serious nature nor likely to become
chronic. I never saw him sleigh-riding, but I am informed that he was
one of those unfortunates who perished on the scaffold at Mankato at
the close of the Indian war in our State.
"My friend Wakon-toppy (Esteemed Sacred) will conclude the list.
Honest, honorable, and intelligent; a true man, whether judged by the
savage or civilized standard. This man was the only Indian I ever knew
whose word and character were above reproach. The traders gave him
credit whenever he desired, sure that they would receive prompt pay-
ment. Whatever he slated to be a fact, could be relied on. He
frequently camped with me, and it was my especial delight to fill our
camp-kettle with eatables enough for a dozen of men, and in addition
thereto make a corresponding amount of pezuta-sapa (black medicine
or coffee,) and then drawl over the meal, eating slowly, constantly
replenishing Wakon-toppy's plate and cup, which he made a point of
honor to empty as soon as possible, until the old fellow would heave a
deep sigh and cry out, ' Ozhuta!' (full.) Whenever this was accom-
plished, look out for yarns. I have lain in the tent and listened for five
long hours at a stretch to the tales, traditions, history of the feats in
THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY. 231
war, and hunting. He had never gone on a raid against the Chippe-
was, but he had followed the war-path south and west against the
Saukies and Omahas. His ( Wakon-toppy's) father was adopted into a
Dakota family, having been taken prisoner when he was very young in
one of the Dakota forays against the Sauks and Foxes, and finally
married a sister of Ti-tan-ka Monia, or Walking Buffalo, a very influen-
tial chief, and father of Wacoota.
" Wakon-toppy was very anxious to adopt civilized habits, and I wrote
several letters, at his dictation, to the Indian Agent, in which he desired
the government to give him eighty acres of land, and he would release
all claim to annuities. He even went so far as to stake out his claim,
which was where the village of Mazeppa now is, and was where he
made his winter hunting ground for a long period of years, and where
he wished his bones, to rest when the Master of Life should summon
him hence to a residence in the spirit world. His letters were unan-
swered, and he was not allowed to hold his claim when the whites came,
but was driven off with threats of violence. He stayed around here
until after the Spirit Lake Massacre. Finally, concluding to go up to
Red Wood, the then place of residence of our old band, he gave me a
history of Ink-pa-duta and his followers, and told me if he could get
permission he would lead a party against them. In the fall an Indian
messenger on his way to Wabasha, stopped at my house, at the old
man's request, and gave me an account of the expedition. Wakon-toppy
had kept his word. Nearlj 7 all the inmates of three lodges perished by
the hands of their own kindred. This man, so prompt to avenge the
wrongs of the whites, perished miserably in confinement at Davenport,
for no other crime than that of not being able to control the young men
of his family in the Indian difficulties on the frontier. From his imprison-
ment at Mankato, he sent me word, by Lieutenant Comstock, that his
fault was in letting his son have a horse, not knowing the purpose for
which it was to be used. If previous good character, in any man, is to
be relied on, then was Wakon-toppy an innocent victim.
PIONEER FARMING, AND WRESTLING WITH INDIAN MAIDENS.
"In the spring of 1853 I farmed the old Indian cornfield, which occu-
pied that portion of the ci.ty now lying between Third and Bush streets
and College Bluff, and as far west as Mr. Denstnore's residence, besides
breaking up that portion lying west of the latter point and extending
to John Day's farm. The crop was oats, corn, seven acres of potatoes,
six of rutabagas, turnips, pumpkins, cabbages, beans, etc., all of which
yielded largely. In the fall I needed help to secure the corn and
232 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
potatoes, and there was no other resource than to hire native laborers,
the white population of the county not exceeding one hundred souls.
The Indian camp was situated on the Mississippi bottom, near the mouth
of Cannon River. I had dug a few rows across the potato patch in order
to ascertain what a day's work might be, and found that six rows were
a moderate day's labor, but knowing the Indians pretty well, I concluded
to make four the standard. This done, I sent word to the camp that
twenty women were wanted to help me, who should receive a barrel of
potatoes for every four times they dug across the field. The next morning
found me at the patch, but nine o'clock arrived before they came. At
last thirteen women hove in sight, accompanied by about two dozen
dogs, a like number of children, several camp kettles, sack straps and
hoes. In a short time the business preliminaries were adjusted by the
high contracting parties. Among the operatives, was the Princess
Royal, Lucy, and her niece, Weenona.
" About eleven o'clock the laborers stopped work and held a short
council, and I was soon informed of the result of their deliberations,
which was nothing less than that I should get dinner for them. I
refused to cook for such a crowd, but we finally compromised by my
furnishing pork and bread. Vegetables were close at hand. A note
was written to ray wife, on a white basswood chip, desiring her to let
the bearer have eight pounds of pork and all the bread she could spare.
The messenger sped off on the errand like a deer, while an old squaw
rigged three tripods for camp kettles, washed potatoes and turnips, and
cut up cabbages and pumpkins by the time the pork arrived, when it
was all dumped into the kettles together. When cooked, it was suffi-
cient for a company of infantry, who had been on a short allowance of
hard tack, but it all disappeared under the united efforts of women,
children and dogs. At the close of the clay all received their wages —
two women having accomplished eight rows each, each of them received
two barrels, which they all took home with them, promising to return
the next day.
u The next morning thirty-two squaws appeared, with the usual
accompaniment, and the same number continued until the field was
finished. When the last round was dug we were all grouped together
on a slope between Main and Third streets, in front of Mr. Densmore's —
the women talking and joking. Lucy stepped up to me and said,
1 Pezuta-wichasta, do you know the reason why you have not worked
any in the field?' I thought I saw mischief in her eye, and looking
around observed the same sign among the dusky crowd; but not to be
beat by squaws I replied, ' Yes, it is because there are so many women
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 233
to work for me, there is no need of my working.' She said, ' No, no,
that is not it; you are little, and not strong and cannot work,' tossing
her blanket off as she made the remark. I saw the point at once, and
felt relieved, as that was one of my best holds. I told her I was strong
enough for any in that crowd. No sooner were the words out of my
mouth than Lucy pitched in, and was thrown a double-somersault the
first time. Another essay was made with like result. The natives were
chagrined. A little whispered parley took place, and a challenge for a
third trial was given. We squared ourselves, shoulder to elbow, Lucy
gripping like a vice. Just as the struggle commenced, I felt myself
grasped from behind, and knew I had got into difficulty. The outside
pressure was heavy against me — tripping, yelling and laughter. The
best I could do was to make of it, what in my youth was called a ' dog-
tall,' that is, a tumble into a promiscuous heap, without anyone being
uppermost enough to speak of, and this was accomplished. I extricated
myself from the confused mass and concluded not to engage any further
in this undignified pastime, knowing very well that fair play couldn't
be had in that crowd. They then dispersed, having gathered for me
over 1,000 bushels of potatoes, exclusive of their own wages. From
this crop I never realized a dollar, as there was no market, but it
answered very well for gratuitous distribution in the spring of 1854.
" Having such success in operating with native labor, I concluded to
cut up eight acres of corn, so as to secure the fodder for my stock, it
being as yet but little injured by the frost. The services of a married
woman and her sister were secured, besides two boys of ten or twelve
years of age. The girl was sixteen or seventeen years old, and the
most mischievous imp I ever saw. She appeared to have grown too
fast for the apparel she had on, for I noticed that her upper garments
refused to form a junction at the waist with that portion designed as
protection for the lower portion of the body. Myself and the woman
cut up the corn; the duty of the boys was to place it in the shock.
After working pretty hard, the day being warm, I called a rest and we
all sat down, 1 fanning myself with a large straw hat. When it was
time to resume labor, the women were told to go to work. The girl
laughingly refused, telling me to work myself. After a little parley,
she finally got up and advanced close to where I was sitting. Making
a remark to attract my attention away from her, she dexterously seized
my hat by the rim and sent it sailing over the cornfield and then
bounded like a deer to get out of my reach, but she was too late.
Without rising, I threw myself forward in the direction she was going;
grasping desperately at the same time, I caught the hem of her gar-
234 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
ment and something gave way. When I recovered an upright position
and my equanimity, I saw a dark piece of feminine apparel lying on the
ground, and, what to my astonished gaze appeared to be a pair of per-
ambulating tongs scudding through the corn. The girl hid herself
behind a shock and commenced begging for her clothes. After tor-
menting her enough, I exacted a promise that she would behave herself
and go to work, and then sent one of the boys with the desired garment.
When she rejoined the company her countenance had a very decided
vermillion tinge, and I thus discovered that a squaw could blush!
EVIDENCES OF PRE- OCCUPATION.
" I find that the ' old times' subject has made me garrulous, and my
address has far outgrown the proportions first designed, with many
matters of interest yet unrecorded. I will close with a notice of some
artificial remains which were observable when 1 first visited the locality.
"Evidences of the occupation of the country by a race of people,
whose habits in some respects differed from those of the Dakotahs of
the more recent period, were numerous. On the sharp hill points in
the vicinity of Cannon River and Spring Creek, were a number of cairns
or stone mounds. These were on the highest points, where shelly rock
outcropped, and always overlooked the lower plateaus or valleys, on
which were situated large groups of earthern tumuli. The cairns were
of various sizes, ranging from six feet in diameter to twelve at the base.
Their shape was conical, and some of those in the best state of preser-
vation had an elevation of from eight to ten feet. The base was on the
bare rock, and all the lower stone in the vicinity had evidently been
gathered to aid in the completion of the structure. The first layer was
in the form of a circle, and by inlapping toward the centre in every
succeeding layer an apex was finally reached. A majority of these
structures had fallen in, leaving a circle of rude masonry from three to
four feet high, while the remains of the upper portion laid in a mass
inside the wall, not filling the cavity; showing very conclusively that
they had been built hollow.
" Being very desirous of ascertaining the purposes for which they had
been erected, I selected two of the most perfect, which were situated on
an isolated hill in the valley leading to the little brook near Hawley's
mill, to Spring Creek. This hill is very sharp and narrow, barely afford-
ing level base enough for the foundation of the larger mound, which
was at least twelve feet in diameter and nine feet highland had settled
considerably, pressing upon the cavity. After an hour's hard work we
were in a situation to observe the condition at its foundation. A few
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 235
handfuls of black mould was scattered over the bare rock base, a frag-
ment of bone three inches long, a muscle shell nearly in powder, and
two remnants of wood, distant from each other about six feet, in the
east and west direction of the cairn, was all it contained. Of the bone
there was hardly enough to determine conclusively as to the species of
animal to which it belonged; but I think it was a portion of the hu-
merus, or upper arm bone of an adult human being. When we found
the wooden fragments they were standing upright, as stakes, supported
in that position by rock, and were dry-rotted to points. With a knife I
cut off all the decayed wood, the centre being a mere splinter, but
enough to clearly distinguish it as that kind of oak known as swamp or
blue oak. I searched very thoroughly for teeth, (as my opinion was
and is, that, these cairns were burial places,) thinking that the enameled
portions would resist the process of decay, but none were to be found.
The other mound did not vield the same amount of discoveries ; a little
mould, and traces of what we supposed to be decayed bones or shells,
was all that repaid our labor.
" As I observed, I think these cairns were designed as burial places,
and for distinguished personages. The material of which they were
composed secured them against the depredations of wild animals.
Their number, however, would lead to the conclusion that it was not
the common mode of sepulture. The groups of earthen mounds in the
valleys overlooked by these cairns, were counted by hundreds, and I
think were once human habitations; and if my conjectures be in the
right direction, these isolated cemeteries would not alone contain the
mortuary remains of as numerous a people as the evidences then to be
observed indicated.
" These rock structures appear to be peculiar to that portion of our
county lying between Hay Creek and Cannon River, and distant but
two or three miles from the Mississippi River. In no other portion of
our county or State have I seen remains of a similar character. The
earthern structures are always found where the soil is alluvial and loose,
doubtless for the purpose of quickly absorbing the moisture from rains
and melting snow, and consequently are mostly seen, when in numbers,
in the valleys or on benches, considerably below the general level of
the country, and in the vicinity of water. Occasionally one is found
in situations almost corresponding with those of the cairns ; and looking
at these with reference to those in the valley beneath, the conclusion
arrived at is that they were designed as shelters for outposts or sentinels
whose duty it was to spy out danger and give warning to the inhabitants
below.
236 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
" On breaking up land on which were many of these mounds, I ex-
posed large quantities of broken pottery and muscle shells. The frag-
ments of pottery appeared to be a combination of tenacious clay and
pulverized shells. It had a thickness of about one-fourth of an inch
and on the outside were rudely delineated, with some pointed instru-
ment, the figures of men, animals, foliage, etc. I noticed but one
peculiarity in the specimens. The representation of a weapon of war
or the chase was not to be found which would have been different had
the habits of the makers in any way assimilated those of the modern
Dakotas. The earthenware appeared to have been sun-dried, as there
was no trace of the action of fire to redden the clay, was quite firm,
and from the different shapes observable in the fragments, was manu-
factured in various forms.
"In numbers of places where farms have been made in the vicinity
of mounds, similar exhumations have taken place, and some very per
feet specimens of the manufacture before spoken of have been obtained,
but unfortunately it was not properly appreciated, and has become lost
to the researches and speculations of the antiquarian.
"In digging into several of these hillocks, where, in numbers, I have
invariably found in the center of the base, charcoal and earth reddened
by the action of heat; but the rule does not hold always in the isolated
ones on the hilltops. On the Wisconsin shore, opposite this place, there
are vast quantities of mounds dotted over the sandy plain between the
river and the bluffs. Some of these deviate from the regular circular
form, being composed of a main body of an oblong shape, with wings,
resembling the prostrate position of a bird with wings outstretched.
" On the farm of Mr. Charles Spates, near Cannon River, was the
largest collection of tumuli in a given space that I ever saw, rendering
it difficult to bring the ground into a proper shape for cultivation, and
which the plough has not wholly obliterated in the twelve or fourteen
years in which the soil has been tilled. I could fancy when I first saw
this locality, on which were some three hundred mounds, that a little
ravine running down to the water had been worn to that condition by
the constant tread of a busy multitude, and the appearances really indi-
cated the fact, without calling on the imagination to assist in forming
conclusions.
"I will close, hoping that all who feel interested in the antiquities of
this country, will carefully observe and preserve all such evidences as
may fall into their hands, noting localities and surroundings. Small
things sometimes give insight into the history of the past. I have, as
yet, to find the first trace of a warlike people in the remains above
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 237
spoken of — not even an arrow head of flint, which would be imperish-
able. The Dakotahs once used them, but I have never seen one taken
from a mound or from close proximity thereto."
COUNTY ORGANIZATION.
THE FIRST ELECTION " JUDGE" YOUNG A " RED-WINGED" BALLOT-BOX — POLIT-
ICAL ECONOMY, ETC.
The first Territorial Legislature met on Monday, the 3d day of Sep
tember, A. D. 1849, and adjourned on the first of November following.
During this session the following counties were created : Itasca, Wabasha,
Dakota, Wanota, Mankato, Pembina, Washington, Ramsey and Benton.
The three last named comprised the country that up to that time had
been ceded by the Indians on the eastside of the Mississippi. Still-
water was named as the county seat of Washington. The Legislature
declared "that all that portion of said territory lying east of a line run-
ning due south from a point on the Mississippi River known as Medi-
cine Bottle's village, at Pine Bend, to the Iowa line, be, and the same
is hereby erected into a separate county, which shall be known by the
name of Wabasha." Wabasha county, as thus defined, included a part
of Dakota, Goodhue, Dodge and Mower, and all of Wabasha, Winona,
Olmsted, Fillmore and Houston counties.
Section 13 of the act relating to the " division of the territory into
counties and their boundaries," provided as follows: "That the coun-
ties of Itasca, Wabasha, Dakota, Cass and Pembina be and the same
are hereby declared to be organized only for the purpose of the appoint-
ment of justices of the peace, constables, and such other judicial and
ministerial officers as may be specially provided for."
When the present counties of Dakota and Goodhue were organized,
under an act of the legislature approved March 5, 1853, the boundary
lines were rather vaguely and indefinitely defined, in consequence of
the absence of United States surveys. Section one, chapter fifteen, of
the general laws, approved March 5, 1853, provided " that so much
territory as is contained in the following boundaries, be and the same
is hereby created into the county of Dakota, to-wit: Beginning at a
point in the Minnesota River at the mouth of Credit River; thence on
a direct line to the upper branch of Cannon River, thence down said
river to its lower fork, as laid down in Nicollet's map ; thence on a direct
line to a point on the Mississippi River opposite the mouth of St. Croix
238 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Lake; thence up the Mississippi River to the mouth of the Minnesota
River; thence up the Minnesota River to the place of beginning.'"
The " direct line to the upper branch of Gannon River,'' would strike
near where the city of Faribault now stands, and the boundary down
the Cannon to the u lower fork as laid down in Nicollet's map," would
terminate at the junction of the Main and Little Cannon, at the present
site of the town of Cannon Falls. In a map by Colton, published in
1853, the east fork of Little Cannon is laid down as a stream of magnifi-
cent proportions, one much larger than the west branch or the Big
Cannon.
Section two of the same act, declared " that so much territory as is
contained within the following boundaries be, and the same is herebv
created into the county of Goodhue, to-wit : " Beginning at the south-
west corner* of Dakota county, thence due southeast on a line twenty-
five miles ;f thence on a due line to Lake Pepin, at a point on said lake
seven miles below Sand Point ; thence up to the middle of said lake
and the Mississippi River, to the boundary line of Dakota county ;
thence along the line of said county, to the place of beginning."
[These boundaries were modified by subsequent legislation (Feb. 23,
1854,) and made to conform, as nearly as possible, to the lines estab-
lished by the U. S. survey.]
Dakota and Wabasha counties were declared to be " organized coun-
ties, and invested with all and singular, the rights and privileges and
immunities to which all organized counties in this territory are entitled
by law." The county of Rice was attached to Dakota county for judi-
cial purposes, and the county of Goodhue was attached to the county of
Wabasha for the same purpose.
Section fifteen of the same act provided that " the counties which are
unorganized for judicial purposes, which are annexed to an organized
county for judicial purposes, shall, for the purpose of assessment and
the collection of taxes, be deemed to be within the limits of the county
to which they are so annexed, and as forming a part thereof, unless and
until otherwise provided by law.
"Section 16. That at any general election hereafter, the counties of
Sibley, Pierce, Rice and Goodhue, or either of them, may elect their
county commissioners, and all other county and precinct officers, and
thereafter the said county or counties shall be deemed to be organized
for all county and judicial purposes: Provided, that at said election
for county officers, as aforesaid, there shall not be less than fifty legal
*Near the present site of Faribault,
t About Concord, Dodge county.
THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY. 239
votes cast, for said county and precinct officers within the said county so
holding said election."
Section eighteen provided that it should be the duty of the first board
of county commissioners which should thereafter be elected in any
county laid off in pursuance of the provisions of this act, as soon after
said board shall have been elected and qualified as provided by law,
as the said board or a majority of them might determine, to locate the
county seat of the county; and that the location so made as aforesaid,
shall be the county seat of the county to all intents and purposes, until
otherwise provided by law.
The law under which these counties were organized, authorized the
governor to appoint all county officers until the next general election
(the second Tuesday of October) after their organization, when the
people were authorized to elect, as provided in the last clause of section
sixteen, above quoted. This proviso (says Dr. Sweeney) was altogether
unnecessary in a country where the people were so frequently called
upon to « devise ways and mean The law required six months' resi-
dence, which cut off most of the immigration ; but ten days in the
precinct gave to the citizen of the territory the right of suffrage, and
plenty of latitude for the exercisj o* a little enterprise. Red Wing
and Wacoota were rivals for tempoiary county-seat honors. Wacoota
was the headquarters of the lumbermen of that period, and the enter-
prising proprietors of that town-site were not slow to take advantage
of that fact, and to concentrate as many of those hardy sons of toil
against the day of election as possible.
The proprietors and friends of Red Wing were no less earnest in their
efforts to secure a majority of votes in favor of their future city. In a
sudden fit of enterprise and industry, they hired twenty unmarried
young men from St. Paul and set them to work in various capacities.
Great care was taken to have these men here in time to give them the
required residence to entitle them to the right of suffrage.
At last the second Tuesday of October arrived upon the embryo city.
Great preparations had been made for the election.
There was no one in Red Wing at that time authorized to administer
the oath of office to the election officers. But the judges and clerks
of election were selected, and one of the number, Benjamin Young, a
French half-breed, heretofore mentioned, was sent out to find some one
clothed with power to administer to him the necessary oath. Young
had been educated so as to read and write in the English language with
tolerable accuracy. He visited Point Douglas, where he found a justice
of the peace, who administered the legally required oath, and he
240 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
returned home fully prepared to act himself, and to qualify others to
act according to law.
No ballot box had been provided, but " Judge " Young was equal to
the emergency and rife with expedients, and to him was also delegated
the duty of providing a ballot box. Mechanics were scarce, even if
the sovereigns had not waited until too late, so that there was neither
time nor opportunity to have one made, and -'Judge" Young secured
an empty tea box, which he fashioned into a ballot box. Among the
other devices on the box was the figure of a dove with red wings, which
were singularly appropriate to the name of the village in which the
election was being conducted.
The statutes of Wisconsin in relation to the manner of conducting
elections was used as a guide. " Judge" Young was exceeding jeal-
ous of the purity of the ballot box, and guarded its sanctity with the
utmost caution — a caution approaching solemnity. When a " sove-
reign " approached the august presence of the election officers, if he
was not well known to them, or at least to some of them, he was required
to "swear in" his vote, i. e., to swear that he was an actual resident of
the precinct, etc. The form of oath was that defined in the Wisconsin
statutes, and, when the oath was administered, the entire form was read
over by Judge Young, including the clause in parenthesis, "or affi?'?n, as
the case may be." Those who were clothed in citizens' dress were sel-
dom " challenged ;" but when a wood-chopper, clad in a garb suited to
his avocation, approached the voting place, "Judge" Young was at
once on the alert, and the "chopper" was challenged, and required to
"solemnly swear [or affirm, as the case may be-Y It is proper to
explain here, that at the time this first election was held (the second
Tuesday in October, 1853,) a number of men were employed in cutting
wood for steamboats at different points up and down the river from Red
Wing. They lived in log cabins at their respective wood yards ; and as
the line between the State of Wisconsin and the Territory of Minnesota
was not clearly understood by the judges, it seemed necessary to them
to be very rigid in guarding against fraud and illegal voters.
No candidates for county officers were voted for at this election.
James Wells was a candidate for the legislature. Previous to the day
of election he had visited Red Wing and " made a speech," which is
said to have been " rich, rare, and racy." He was an illiterate man,
comparatively speaking, but full of eccentricity. The vote of the
county was given to Mr. Wells for representative. A majority of the
votes were cast in favor of Red Wing for the county seat. Wacoota
retired from the contest, since when Red Wing has had no rival. Imme-
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 241
diately after that election there was a sudden falling off in the population.
There was also a sudden lull in the enterprises undertaken a few weeks
before by the town proprietors, and the usual quiet settled down on the
Red Wing community. The fifty votes required by the act under which
the county was organized had been obtained, and the people were
happy in anticipation of a large immigration and a complete county,
organization the next year. Their hopes were verified.
FIRST BOARD OF COUNTY OFFICERS.
The first county officers were appointed by Governor Ramsey, under
the provisions of section fourteen, and were:
County Commissioners. — William Lauver, H. L. Bevans and Rezin
Spates.
Register of Deeds. — J. W. Hancock.
Sheriff.—?. S. Fish.
Treasurer. — Calvin Potter.
District Attorney. — Charles Gardner.
Clerk of the District Court. — P. Sandford.
Justice of the Peace. — James Akers.
The first session of the board of county commissioners was held at
three o'clock p. m., June 16th, 1854, on a pile of lumber at what is now
the intersection of Main and Bush streets, in the city of Red Wing.
H. L. Bevans was chosen as chairman of the board. Joseph W. Hancock,
register of deeds, was ex-officio clerk of the board. But little business
was transacted. The old journal of the board shows the following
entries :
"It being announced that there were two vacancies in the board of
assessors for the county of Goodhue, 1 ' when, " on motion, C. Bates and
M. Sorin were appointed to the vacancies.
"The northern district, including that portion of the county between
the northern boundary and Hay Creek, was assigned as Bates' district.
" The middle district, including that portion of the county lying
between Hay Creek and Bullard's Creek, was assigned as Day's district.
"The southern district, including that portion of the county not
included in the other two districts, and the whole of Wabasha county,
was assigned as Sorin's district."
The next meeting of the board occurred on the 20th of June, but was
adjourned until the 28th, when the following bills against the county
were presented, the first evidences of county indebtedness found on
record.
17
242 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
M. S. Combs, .... .... $23.85
L. Bates, as assessor, - - 6.00
J. Day, as assessor, 16.00
Total, $45.85
The returns made by the assessors showed the assessed valuation of
taxable personal property in the first and second districts to be $65,305.
First district, $ 4115
Second district, - - - - 61,190
Total, ........ $65,305
The expenses of the county for the year 1854 were estimated at
$554.09, and it was
" Ordered,Tha.t a tax of one per cent.be raised on the present assess-
ment to meet the expenses of the county for the current year."
[ The total assessment now is about $12,000,000, and the current
yearly expenses about $45,000 — a very perceptible increase in both
items.]
Charles Spates was appointed to be supervisor of road district No. 1,
which extended east to the west side of Hay Creek bottom, and
embraced all the northwestern portion of the county from that line.
T. J. Smith was appointed to be supervisor of road district No. 2,
which extended from the west side of Hay Creek bottom to Bullard's
Creek, and embraced the middle portion of the county between those
lines.
Charles Read was appointed to be supervisor of road district No. 3,
extending from Bullard's Creek to the line of Wabasha county, and
embraced the southern portion of the county.
William Freeborn, P. Sandford and S. Bates were appointed to be
judges of elections in the Red Wing precinct ; and Alexis Bailly, Charles
Read and F. S. Richardson were appointed to the same position in
Wabasha precinct, which included all of Wabasha county.
The board next "resolved to raise six hundred dollars toward the
erection of county buildings next year, provided, that the legal voters
of the county, by a majority of votes, consent to the same." The
location of a site for a court house was discussed at some length, and
finally laid over for future consideration, after which the board adjourned
until the 22d of July.
At that meeting of the board, it was "resolved, that the court house
for Goodhue county be located on the block marked and known as
Court house block on the town plat of Red Wing, according to the sur-
vey of the same made by J. Knauer, June 23, 1853." Adjourned.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 243
The next meeting was held on the 18th of November. The consider-
ation of bills presented against the county was taken up. James Akers
was allowed the sum of $8.10 justice's fees. P. S. Fish was allowed
$50.40 for services as sheriff. P. Sandford presented and was allowed
a bill of $65.85 " for services as attorney and other items." James L.
Allen was allowed $21.10 for detaining prisoner. This is the first refer-
ence found in regard to anyone having been held in durance. The crime
or misdemeanor or name of the prisoner does not appear of record.
In closing up the business of the year the commissioners passed upon
their own accounts, and upon the accounts of other officials.
R. Spates, for services as commissioner and traveling expenses, $18.60
H. L. Bevans, ditto, ... . . 15.60
W. Lauver, ditto, ... - # - - 10.40
J. W. Hancock, clerk of the board, - - - 25.00
H. B. Middaugh, services as deputy sheriff, - - - 15.00
$84.60
At a session held in December, the following additional accounts
were allowed:
C. Gardner, district attorney, $50.00
T.J.Smith, - - .... 8.00
Dr. Sweeney, 3.00
$61.00
Add amount allowed in November, .... 84.60
" total amount previously allowed, - - - 191.30
Total amount allowed against the county in 1854, - $336.90
On the second Tuesday in October, 1854, the people elected a full
board of county officers :
Commissioners. — R. Spates, A. W. Post, P. S. Fish.
Register of Deeds. — Joseph W. Hancock.
Treasurer — M. Sorin.
District Attorney. — P. Sandford.
Judge of Probate. — A. D. Shaw.
Oounty Surveyor. — S. A. Hart.
Assessors. — L. Bates, John Day, D. Kelley.
Clerk of Court. — P. Sandford.
The first meeting of the first regularly elected board of county
commissioners was held on the 1st of January, 1855. No business was
transacted at this meeting. The members simply subscribed to the oath
of office, elected P. S. Fish as chairman, and then adjourned until the
244 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
8th. At this meeting the board examined and allowed the following
accounts : Charles Spates, for services as supervisor, $5.00 ; H. S.
Simmons, burial expense of a German pauper, $6.00 ; total $ 11.00. At
this session of the board, the first grand and petit juries were selected;
the former consisted of fifty members, and the latter of seventy-two
members. The jurors were divided between Goodhue and Wabasha
counties according to population, and because the two counties were
attached for judicial purposes.
Assessment Districts. — The first district included that portion of the
county between Hay Creek and the northwestern line of the county ;
the second district included that portion between Hay Creek and
Potter's Creek ; and the third district was composed of the remaining
portion of the county. A vacancy was declared to exist in the second
district, which was filled by the appointment of P. Vandenberg.
Wacoota precinct was established, and embraced the southeastern
portion of the county, and was separated from Red Wing precinct by a
line commencing at the mouth of Potters Creek, thence along that
creek to its head, and thence on a line due south to the county line.
J. O. Wetherby was appointed justice of the peace for Red Wing,
and W. R. Culbertson and Joseph Middaugh were appointed constables
in the Red Wing precinct.
The clerk of the court and the register of deeds were directed to pro-
cure a case for each of their offices suitable for filing papers. The
register was also directed to procure blank books for the use of the
county — one for the register of deeds' office, and one for the clerk of
the court.
Provisions were made to secure permanent offices for the use of the
county officials. In the months of May and June, of this year, I. P.
Sandford erected a small frame building next west of his residence on
Main street, in the present city of Red Wing, for a law office, which
was the first law office erected in the city. This building was used by
the register of deeds, clerk of the court (Sandford,) treasurer's office,
when he had office business to transact, and for the meetings of the
board of county commissioners. The sheriff and treasurer, for the most
part, " carried their offices in their hats." This pioneer lawyer's office
was also used as a court house for the first term of court held in the
county in 1854. It was also occupied by the United States land office
in the spring 1855, and until more commodious quarters could be
secured ; and the first government sale of lands was also made in this
building.
The next meeting of the board was held on the second day of April,
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 245
when Florence precinct was established, bounded as follows : " Com-
mencing at the mouth of Wells Creek, on Lake Pepin, and runing up
that creek to the main bluff; thence south to the county line; thence
along the county line to Lake Pepin ; thence up the lake to the place of
beginning.'* John Kelly was appointed justice of the peace, and
Samuel Corey, R. S. Phillips and Hamilton Gudley were appointed to
be judges of election.
Vermillion precinct was also established : " Commencing where the
line between sections 12 and 13 strikes the Mississippi River, and run-
ning thence west until it strikes the Dakota county line ; thence along
said line to the river; thence down the river to the place of beginning.'*
Eli Preble, Silas Harper, and J. R. Niles were appointed to be judges
of elections.
The clerk of the district court was allowed twelve dollars per quarter
for furnishing his own office. The rule of economy prevailed in those
days.
The establishment of school districts was next considered. " District
No. one includes that portion of the county between the valley of Hay
Creek and Potter's Creek, bordering on the Mississippi River, and
extending back from the same six miles.
" District No. two includes that portion of the county within the fol-
lowing bounds : Commencing at the mouth of Potter's Creek on the
Mississippi River; thence down that river and Lake Pepin to Point No-
Point; thence due south to Wells' Creek; thence up the valley of the
same to the mouth of Rock Creek ; thence west to the precinct line ;
thence along said line to the place of beginning.
" District No. three includes that portion of the county within the fol-
lowing bounds : Commencing at Cannon River bridge ; thence due
south three miles; thence east to Hay Creek valley ; thence down said
valley to the Mississippi; thence up the Mississippi to the mouth of
Cannon River; thence up the Cannon River to the place of beginning."
Resolved, That the clerk of the board be instructed to obtain the
opinion of Rice, Hollingshead and Becker, of St. Paul, in* relation to the
legality of the jurisdiction of this county over Wabasha county, partic-
ularly in regard to taxes.
The board then adjourned to the 12th of May.
A special or called session of the board was held on the 14th of April.
Present, R. Spates and P. S. Fish. School district No. four was estab-
lished at this session. " Commencing on the west between Stilman
Harrison's and John Kelly's ; thence southwest to the Sugar Loaf, includ-
ing the valley south and west of the Sugar Loaf; thence east to Lake
246 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Pepin ; thence up the lake to the place of beginning." " R. L. Phillips,
was then appointed a justice of the peace, and Abner Dwelly a judge
of election in Florence precinct."
May 12. — The board met pursuant to adjournment. Present, R Spates
and A. W. Post. The first road petition of which any record is found,
was considered at this session, and L. Bates and Charles Spates were
appointed examiners or viewers. The petition was presented by H.
Matson and others.
School district No. five was established with the following bound-
aries: "Beginning at the Poplar Grove on the Cannon Falls road,
about ten miles from Red Wing, and running southwest to the south
fork of the Cannon, so as to include the claim of Ross and Champe ;
thence down the south fork to its mouth ; thence down the Cannon
River two miles; thence in a southeasterly direction to the place- of
beginning." Adjourned.
A special or called session of the board, was held on the 9th of June.
A full board present.
A petition signed by E. Westervelt and others, was presented, asking
for the erection of a new election precinct, which after some considera-
tion was dismissed. The inhabitants of Westervelt also presented a
petition praying for a new school district. The prayer of the petitioners
was granted, and district No. 6 was established with the following
boundaries: "Commencing at a point on the Lake (Pepin) above
Westervelt's, running in a southwesterly direction to the divide of the
creek near Mahammon Drum's claim ; thence south to Wells Creek and
down Wells Creek to the mill site ; thence in a southeasterly direction
along the range of bluffs to the district below; thence east to the lake ;
and thence up the lake to the place of beginning."
Two other unimportant entries closed the business of that session,
and the board adjourned to the 25th, when two additional school dis-
tricts were established. No. 7 was made to include the territory
included within the following boundaries: "Commencing at the south-
west corner of Ingram's claim on Wells Creek; thence north to the top
and center of the bluff dividing the valley of Wells Creek from the
military road valley; thence up the center of said bluff to a point oppo-
site George Steele's claim ; thence to the head of Rock Creek ; thence
embracing the Rock Creek settlement to Wells Creek, and the Wells
Creek settlement to the place of beginning." This district was taken
in part from district No. 2.
District No. 8 was declared to be bounded as follows : " Commencing
in the middle of section ten, T. 113, range 15 west, and running south
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 247
to the district line of district No. 5 ; thence along said line west three
miles ; thence north to the northwest side of Brownson's claim ; thence
east to the place of beginning." This district was taken in part from
district No. 3.
At a session of the board held on the 25th of June, Cannon Falls
precinct was established, which t; comprised the whole of township No.
112, range 17 west, and so much of township No. 112, range 18 west, as
lies within the county of Goodhue, being formed out of a portion of Red
Wing precinct.'" A. Durand, Charles Parks and William Thomas were
appointed to be judges of elections in this precinct. The voting place
was established at Durand's hotel.
" The board then agreed to raise a tax of one per cent, on the total
valuation for territorial, school and county purposes for the year 1855.
Total valuation of taxable property, $144,521.00 ; whole amount to be
raised, $1,455.21." Adjourned.
The increase of taxable property in one year was $79,216. Increased
expenses, including territorial and school tax, $901.12.
Recapitulation. — Valuation, 1855, - - $144,521
Valuation, 1854, - - 65,305 $79,216.00
Expenses, etc., 1855, $ 1,455.21
Expenses, etc., 1854, - 554.09 $ 901.12
August 4. — Special session, full board present.
A petition from the citizens of Florence precinct was presented,
praying for a change in the boundaries of said precinct, which after
some discussion was laid over till the next meeting. The petition was
subsequently dismissed.
In answer to the prayer of the petitioners, a new precinct called
Sackton was established in the south part of the county, which included
three townships, No. 109 in ranges 15, 16 and 17 west.
Abram Pierce was appointed justice of the peace; Simon Sackett,
constable ; and Joseph P. Rutherford, James Haggard and Robert T.
Freeman were named as judges of elections. The resignations of J.
Middaugh, constable, and F. D. Clark, justice of the peace, Red Wing,
were received and accepted.
The clerk of the board was directed to obtain, if possible, printed
blanks for county orders and poll books, " as required by law." Previ-
ous to this time printed or "labor saving" blanks were unused and
unknown among the Goodhue county officials, or at Goodhue elections.
The officers were made to " earn their money."
The county surveyor was directed to procure a suitable book for the
248 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
purpose, and "to copy into the same the field notes of the U. S. survey
of this county," which survey was completed in 18 — .
The remainder of the session was devoted to the examination of
accounts. Adjourned to September 10.
A Gentle Hint. — At the September meeting the following resolution
was adopted :
"Resolved, That it is the pleasure of this board that persons having bills
against the county will present them to the clerk, and leave the board
to act without the presence of the applicant."
The precinct of Dunkirk was established, embracing townships No. 110
in ranges 17 and 18 west, and township No. 109, range 18 west. Also
the precinct of Belle Creek, embracing townships No. Ill in ranges 15
and 16 west, and township No. 112, range 16 west.
Anders Knutson, Ole Oleson and Gunder Oleson were appointed to
be judges of election in Dunkirk precinct, and the election to be held
at the house of Anders Knutson. Walter Doyle, Hans Mattson and
S. P. Chandler were appointed judges of election in Belle Creek, the
election to be held at the house of Walter Doyle.
Townships No. Ill in ranges 17 and 18 were added to Cannon Falls
precinct, and townships 110 in ranges 15 and 16 were added to Sackton
precinct.
The consideration of road petitions, appointment of viewers and the
perfecting of arrangements for the October election, together with the
examination of sundry accounts, occupied the remainder of the session.
A session of one day was held on the first of October, which was
principally devoted to the examination and allowance of accounts.
The Spring Creek Valley and White Rock road was declared to be estab-
lished, and the clerk was directed to notify the supervisors of the same.
The Wacoota and the Wells Creek, and the Wells Creek and Florence
roads were also declared to be established, and a like order directed to
be issued to the supervisors of the several districts through which the
roads were located.
The last session of the year was held on the 5th of December, when
school district No. 9 was established. The boundaries were thus defined :
"Commencing at the southwest corner of section thirty one, town 109,
range fifteen east; thence east three miles; thence north two and a
half miles ; thence west three miles ; thence south two and one-half
miles to the place of beginning."
At the close of this year (1855) there were nine school districts in
Goodhue county. At the close of the year 1877, there were one hundred
and fifty-seven. The nine old districts, as defined in the boundaries
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 249
already quoted, were long since absorbed in other districts. Their old
log school houses and primitive furniture are supplanted by handsome
white frame structures, that are supplied with modern furniture and
conveniences. In no department of the public affairs of Goodhue have
there been more gratifying changes than in the educational. The educa-
tional interests have been carefully, jealously fostered, and as will be
seen by reference to a synopsis of the la'st official report of Superin-
tendent Hancock, all the schools of the county are in a healthy and
prosperous condition. No interest is dearer to the hearts of the people
of the American Republic than the free school system. To make war
on that system would be to make war on the life of the nation. The
school houses that dot the hill sides and prairies of the country are
so many sentinel posts to guard, protect and foster the germinal
principles of universal intelligence, freedom and equality.
1856. — The first session of the board this year was held on the 7th of
January. The time of that and the immediately subsequent session
was devoted to roads, auditing accounts, revising and re-establishing
assessor's districts, and kindred business.
At a session commencing on the 8th of April, the following named
sovereign and independent citizens were appointed to be judges of
elections in the several precincts during the year:
Red Wing.— Seth Washburne, R. 0. Todd, T. J. Smith.
Wacoota. — H. F. Simmons, George Post, Abner Post.
Belle Creek. — Hans Mattson, Walter Doyle, S. P. Chandler.
Florence. — Samuel Corey, Henry Phillips, J. L. Dixon.
Sackton. — Simeon Sackett, D. F. Stephens, P. G. Wilson.
Cannon Falls. — Andrew Durand, E. N. Sumner, Alonzo Dibble.
Dunkirk. — Dr. Ole Oleson, Samuel Knutson, Guilder Oleson.
School districts numbered 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 were established in
the beginning of this year. The rapid increase of immigration rendered
the establishment of new and additional districts necessary. The old
ones and their boundary lines were subject to changes as often as new
districts were demanded.
New road districts increased in like ratio. To note all these changes
and additions, or to name all the pioneer supervisors, etc., etc., would
be to name nearly all the pioneers of 1854-5-6. The minute details
so far entered into have been for the purpose of showing the nature,
manner and general order of starting county machinery, and to place
upon record the names of the pioneers who had the honor of perfecting
the county organization and starting the county on the road to that
proud position to which it has attained in 1878 — after a quarter of a
250 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
century had passed from the time that Governor Ramsey appointed the
first board of county officials in 1853. His selection was a wise one,
and their official record will bear the closest scrutiny, and defy the most
careful search after malfeasance or dishonesty. They were an honor to
the people they served, and their names are still honored in the county
their prudent economy and earnest industry helped to transform from
a "howling wilderness" to a garden of beauty, prosperity, intelligence,
refinement and contentment, now among the wealthiest and most popu-
lous in the State.
Hereafter only the more important matters of general interest will
be taken up and considered.
July 21, the board being in session, the assessment returns were taken
up and considered, and it was
" Ordered, That the value of lands as assessed in the third district
be raised, so as to make them equal to those assessed in the other two
districts."
The total valuation, as returned by the assessors, footed up $630,227,
an increase in one year of $485,706. This year lands became taxable,
which accounts for the heavy increase in valuation. The cost of assess-
ment, as allowed by the board, was as follows :
James Dayton, assessor third district, - - $57.00
John Lee, deputy assessor third district, - 15.00
H. B. Middaugh, assessor second district, - - - 65.00
« " team one half day, - - 3.00
L. M. Doyle, assessor first district, - - 42.00
Total, : - - $182.00
It was voted to raise a tax of one per cent, on all the taxable prop-
erty in the county for the year 1856, for territorial, county and school
purposes.
" Voted, That the legal voters be called upon at the next general
election in the county to decide whether they will raise money to build
county buildings in the year 1857.
" Voted, That the clerk be, and is hereby authorized to obtain a suit-
able fire-proof safe for the use of the office of register of deeds on the
credit of the county.
October 7, the first steps were taken towards securing the erection of
a stone or brick jail, and it was
" Voted, That the clerk advertise for sealed proposals of a plan and
specifications for a stone or brick jail, to cost from two to three thousand
dollars."
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 251
The last meeting of the board this year was held on the 20th of
November. The board then adjourned.
1857. — The first meeting of the board in this year was held on the
5th of January. Present, S. P. Chandler, A. W. Post and S. J. Hasler.
J. W. Hancock, clerk. Mr. Hasler was elected chairman of the board.
" Voted, To approve the treasurer's bond in the penal sum of ten
thousand dollars.
" Voted, To allow Allen P. Sanford the sum of one hundred and fif-
teen dollars for services as district attorney for the year 1856."
On petition of J. A. Thacher and others of Zumbrota,
u Voted, To set off from Sackton and Poplar Grove precincts, township
110 in ranges 15 and 16 west, as an election precinct, to be called Zum-
brota precinct; and that Joseph A. Thacher be appointed justice of the
peace ; Charles W. Smith, constable ; and Ezra Wilder, Jr., road super-
visor."
The remainder of the session, which adjourned on the 7th, was devoted
to the examination and allowance of accounts, road matters and kindred
affairs.
February 2d, the board was again in session, and the time generally
given to the examination of accounts. On application it was
" Voted, To allow the sheriff till April 1st in which to make collec-
tions and make his return to commissioners."
On the 3d, W. D. Chilson, deputy county treasurer, presented his
report in the words and figures following, which is the first report on
county finances on record:
County of Goodhue in Account with W. D. Chilson, Deputy Treasurer.
Dr. Cr.
1855-6.
To cancelled orders $2,194.89
" territorial tax 1855-6 767.04
" cash paid sundry bills 541.78
" Chilson's due bill in orders . . 82.87
" cash on hand 39.00
$3,625.58
By cash of sheriff $1,146.82
" fines collected 93.00
" school land rents. .108.00
" orders of sheriff 2,277.76
$3,625.58
After which the board adjourned to the first Monday in April — the
6th. This session was mostly taken up in the examination of accounts,
the reapportionment of assessor's districts, appointment of judges of
elections, the re -arrangement of school district boundaries, etc. It was
also
" Voted, To apportion the school money in the hands of the treasurer
to the amount of fifty cents per scholar, and that the clerk be ordered
to report the same to the treasurer."
252 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
On the 10th (April,) the board had the erection of a court house, etc.,
under consideration, when it was voted that the following resolution be
adopted:
''Whereas, It is the duty of the Board of County Commissioners to
4 provide for the erecting and repairing' of court house, jails and other
necessary public buildings for the use of the county ; and, whereas, this
county has no public buildings, court house or jail,
" Resolved, That this board provide for the erection of suitable
buildings for the use of the county.
44 Resolved, That this board for and in behalf of said Goodhue county,
will issue coupon bonds in a sum not exceeding thirty thousand dollars,
or such sum or sums as may be necessary for that purpose, and hereby
pledge the credit of the county in the payment of the same.
44 Resolved, That the bonds be issued in sums of not less than five
hundred dollars each, payable in not less than ten years, and bearing
interest at no greater rate than twelve per cent, per annum, interest
payable annually.
44 Resolved, That the chairman of this board be authorized, and is
hereby empowered, to sign said bonds, and that they be countersigned
by the clerk of said board, and that for the payment of the same this
board hereby pledges the credit of said county of Goodhue.
44 Resolved, That the chairman of this board be requested to consult
with the district attorney of said county, and prepare suitable bonds in
such form and style as fully to carry into effect the aforesaid object.
" Resolved, That Samuel J. Hasler, be and is hereby authorized to
take the bonds and negotiate the same with responsible parties, at his
discretion, to raise the said sum, not to exceed thirty thousand dollars.
44 Resolved, That said Samuel J. Hasler, be required before proceed-
ing to perform said trust, to make and execute a bond with sufficient
sureties, in the penal sum of sixty thousand dollars, to be approved by
the county treasurer and county register, for the faithful performance
of his said trust, and for the paying over of the money so raised to the
county treasurer, on or before the 1st day of June, 1857.
"Resolved, That said Samuel J. Hasler is hereby ordered and directed
not to negotiate said bonds at a less sum than their par value.
"Resolved, That the necessary expenses of said Samuel J. Hasler be
defrayed out of any money in the county treasury not otherwise
appropriated.
"Resolved, That the clerk of this board be hereby ordered to furnish
said Samuel J. Hasler a copy of these resolutions, certified to by him
under the seal of the county of Goodhue.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 253
"Resolved, That the board of county commissioners will receive
plans and specifications for a court house for the county of Goodhue,
and will pay a reasonable sum for the plan adopted, such plan and spe-
cification to be furnished on or before the second Monday in May to
the board of county commissioners, at the register of deeds Office, in
Red Wing.
"Resolved, That the clerk be, and is hereby ordered to have the
above resolutions printed in the Red Wing " Gazette " three successive
weeks prior to said second Monday in May, 1857."
On the 11th, the clerk made the following report of expenses for the
last fiscal year, which was accepted and ordered to be published :
Paid out for the support of poor, - - - $536.93
wt to assessors, - ... . 182.00
Cost of elections, - - - 119.90
" county roads, • 235.50
" territorial roads, - - - 587.86
" printing, - - - 67.00
« rents, - - - 136.00
Paid as salaries to county officers, ----- 424.80
Cost of stationery, ....... 206.75
Expense of office, - - - - 133.30
Sheriff's fees, ... . 211.30
Coroner's fees, ....... . 13.50
Cost of surveying roads, - 136.80
Safe for register's office, 251.89
Total, - ... $3,243.53
After which it was voted to accept the following resolution :
" Resolved, That the court house be located on the block between
blocks 29 and 30, and between Third and Fourth streets, Red Wing,
provided a good title can be obtained for the same ; and in case the
court house is so located, Mr. S. J. Hasler is hereby authorized to with-
draw the application for court house block."
[ The block above mentioned is the block now occupied by the
Episcopal Church.]
1858. — The next reference to building a court house is found under
date of February 2, of this year, when, on petition of T. J. Smith and
others, it was
" Voted, To erect county buildings according to plans and specifications
to be presented by Messrs. Chaffee ; provided, sufficient county bonds
can be negotiated at a sum not less than ninety cents on the dollar to
pay for the same, the cost of said building not to exceed thirty thousand
254 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
dollars. The vote stood: yeas, Messrs. Chandler, Hasler, — 2; nays,
M. S. Chandler —1."
On motion of M. S. Chandler it was " Voted, That the county bonds
to be issued be made to run twelve years, interest to be paid annually,
and after the lapse of two years such part of the principal yearly as
shall be sufficient to pay the whole amount in twelve years."
At a special meeting of the board, held on the 22d of February, the
following resolution was adopted:
"Resolved, That plans and proposals for building a court house and
jail in Goodhue county be invited as follows — said plans to be for a
court house and jail separately; also for court house and jail under same
roof.
"The plans to be filed in the office of the clerk of the board of county
commissioners of said county, before the 15th day of March, 1858 ; said
plans to be open to inspection of contract bidders, and subject to pro-
posals from any person or persons, any person to have the right of
offering proposals on one or more of the plans thus submitted, stating
specifically in his proposal to which of said plans it is intended to
refer. All proposals to be made on a cash basis, and sealed and deliv-
ered to said clerk before the 5th day of April, 1858, at which time said
proposals will be opened and said plans examined by said commission-
ers, and the contract for the erection of said buildings let to the person
or persons making the lowest responsible bid on the plan selected by
said commissioners.
"The person submitting the plan adopted by the commissioners to
be paid a reasonable compensation therefor. Plans for buildings not
to exceed in cost the sum of $20,000, will be more acceptable than those
to cost above that amount."
April 8th was occupied in considering the plans and specifications
presented. On Friday morning, the 9th, the question was again taken
up, when it was "voted to reject all plans for court house except those
offered by Knight and Thompson, of St. Paul, and Mr. D. C. Hill, of
Ked Wing, and to invite bids on such plans, the bids to be opened on
the first Monday of May, 1858, when the contract will be let to the
lowest responsible bidder."
On the 3d Monday in May the bids were opened, and the contract
awarded to Messrs. Simmons and Stevens, at $24,000, that being the
lowest and best offer, and included the entire completion of the build-
ing. Monday 17th, the boards " voted to notify the contractors for
building the court house and jail, that the same be erected on the block
known and designated as ' court house block,'in the city of Red Wing."
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 255
Tuesday, June 8th, the board " voted to accept the sureties given by-
Daniel C. Hill and others, for the completion of the contract for build-
ing the court house and jail, and ordered that the bonds be placed on
file in this (the county clerk's) office.
" Voted" also, "that the contract entered into by the county commis-
sioners of said county of Goodhue, Minn., parties of the first part, and
Daniel C. Hill and others, parties of the second part, to build the county
buildings, and to receive in pay therefore, the bonds of the said county
of Goodhue, Minn., to the amount of twenty-six thousand six hundred
and sixty-six ($26,666) be placed on file.' 1
The reader will observe that there is a difference of $2,666, as speci-
fied in the reference of the last order quoted, and the price named
($24,000) in the proposal or bid accepted. There is nothing on record
to show the occasion of this difference — whether for extras or changes
made from the plans adopted.
TOWNSHIP SYSTEM OF ECONOMY.
ORIGIN OF THE COUNTY SYSTEM — ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP SYSTEM — SPECIAL
ACT RELATING TO GOODHUE COUNTY FIRST BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
Up to this time, the management of the county affairs was vested in a
board of county commissioners, consisting of three members. The
commissioners were now succeeded by a board of county supervisors,
consisting of one member from each organized township.
Elijah M. Haines, in his "Township Organization Laws of Illinois,"
says, "the county system originated with Virginia, whose early settlers
soon became large landed proprietors, aristocratic in feeling, living
apart in almost baronial magnificence on their own estates, and owning
the laboring part of the population. Thus the materials for a town
were not at hand, the voters being thinly distributed over a great area.
The county organization, where a few influential men managed the
whole business of the county, retaining their places almost at their
pleasure, scarcely responsible at all, except in name, and permitted to
conduct the county concerns as their ideas or wishes might direct, was,
moreover, consonant with their recollections or traditions of the judicial
and social dignities of the landed aristocracy of England, in descent
from whom the Virginia gentlemen felt so much pride. In 1634, eight
counties were organized in Virginia, and the system extending through-
out the State, spread into all the Southern States, and some of the
Northern States, unless we except the nearly similar division into ' dis-
256 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
tricts ' in South Carolina, and that into ' parishes ' in Louisiana from the
French laws."
Township System. — On the 20th of March, the State Legislature
passed an act entitled "An act to provide for township organization,"
providing for the election of a board of supervisors and defining their
duties. This law went into effect on the 12th of July, 1858. When
assembled together for the transaction of county business, these town
representatives were known as the board of county supervisors. Section
one of this act, approved March 20th, 1858, required the governor to
appoint three persons to act as commissioners in each of the organized
counties in this State to divide the counties into towns, providing, how-
ever, that where the county commissioners had divided their respective
counties into towns by making a record of the fact and filing the same
in the office of the register of deeds, giving the bounds and names of
the town, the governor should not make such appointment.
Section two provided that in all cases where the county commis-
sioners had failed to divide their counties into towns, that it should be
the duty of the commissioners appointed by the governor to make a
record of the bounds, and to name each town in each township where
the legal voters had organized by the election of town officers. Section
three required the commissioners to discharge the duties to which they
were appointed within twenty days after their appointment, and to
divide the several counties into as many towns as there were town-
ships according to government survey. A special act, approved June
21, 1858, made especially applicable to Goodhue county, provided, " that
the action of the legal voters of those townships in the county of Good-
hue, that were organized into towns on the 11th of May," according to
the requirements of the general law above quoted, (approved March
12th,) except without due election notice by the county commissioners,
is hereby declared legal, and all of the officers then elected in said
town shall be deemed the regular and legitimate officers of the same.
Section two appointed Martin S. Chandler, William P. Tanner and
Jesse Mclntire, commissioners, to perform in all respects the duties that
devolved upon the commissioners by the above named act, and that
they should divide the county into towns within twenty days after the
passage of the act; providitig, however, that no division should be made
of the townships or fractional townships in which an election of town
officers had been held, pursuant to previous notice on the 11th day of
May, (1858.)
Section three required the chairman of the board of supervisors of
the several townships in which an election of town officers had been
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 257
held, to give notice of the same in writing to at least one of the above
named commissioners within fourteen days after the passage of the act;
and that if any of them failed to give such notice, the said town should
be deemed unorganized, and that the election of its officers should be
void.
Section four authorized the boards of supervisors to meet at the office
of the register of deeds, on the second Monday in July, for the transac-
tion of business as a board of county supervisors.
In New England, towns existed before counties, and counties were
formed before States. Originally, the towns or townships exercised all
the powers of government now possessed by a State. The powers sub-
sequently assumed by the State governments were from surrender
or delegation on the part of towns. Counties were created to define
the jurisdiction of courts of justice. The formation of States was by
a union of towns, wherein arose the representative system ; each town
being represented in the State legislature or general court by delegates
chosen by the freemen of the town at their stated town meetings. The
first town meeting of which we can find any direct evidence was held
by the congregation of the Plymouth colony, on the 23d of March, 1621,
for the purpose of perfecting military arrangements. At that meeting
a governor was elected for the ensuing year ; and it is noticed as a
coincidence, whether from that source or otherwise, that the annual
town meetings in New England, and nearly all the other States, have
ever since been held in the spring of the year. It was not, however,
until 1635 that the township system was adopted as a quasi corporation
in Massachusetts.
The first legal enactment concerning this system, provided that
whereas, "particular towns have many things which concern only
themselves, and the ordering of their own affairs, and disposing of busi-
ness in their own town, therefore, the freemen of every town or the
major part of them, shall only have power to dispose of their own lands
and woods, with all the appurtenances of said towns, to grant lots, and
to make such orders as may concern the well-ordering of their own
towns, not repugnant to the laws and orders established by the general
court. They might also impose fines of not more than twenty shillings,
and choose their own particular officers, as constables, surveyors for the
highways, and the like. Evidently this enactment relieved the general
court of a mass of municipal details, without any danger to the powers
of that body in controlling general measures of public policy. Proba-
bly, also, a demand from the freemen of the towns was felt, for the
control of their own home concerns."
18
258 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
The New England colonies were first governed by a " general court,"
or legislature, composed of a governor and small council, which court
consisted of the most influential inhabitants, and possessed and exer-
cised both legislative and judicial powers, which were limited only by
the wisdom of the holders. They made laws, ordered their execution,
elected their own officers, tried and decided civil and criminal causes,
enacted all manner of municipal regulations, and, in fact, did all the
public business of the colony.
Similar provisions for the incorporation ot towns were made in the
first constitution of Connecticut, adopted in 1639; and the plan of town-
ship organization became universal throughout New England, and came
west with the emigrants from New England to New York, Ohio and
other Western States, including the northern part of Illinois; and there
being a large New England element among the population of Minne-
sota, it is fair to presume that their influence secured the adoption of
this system in Minnesota, as created in the act already quoted. One
objection urged against the county system, was that the heavily popu-
lated districts would always control the election of the commissioners,
to the disadvantage of the more thinly populated sections — in short,
that under that system, equal and exact justice to all parts of the coun-
try could not be secured.
TOWNSHIPS DEFINED AND NAMED.
Pursuant to the provisions of the act under which they were appointed,
Messrs. Martin S. Chandler, William P. Tanner and Jesse Mclntire, pro-
ceeded to the discharge of the duty assigned them, and defined and
named the several townships in Goodhue county, as follows:
Belli Creek, all of township No. Ill, range No. 16.
Cherry Grove, all of township No. 109, range No. 17.
Central Point, all of township No. 112, range No. 12 in Goodhue
county.
Cannon Falls, all of township No. 112, range No. 17.
Featherstone, all of township No. 112, range No. 15.
Florence, all of township No. 112, range No. 13 in Goodhue county.
Holden, all of township No.. 110, range No. 18.
Hay Creek, all of township No. 112, range No. 14.
Kenyon, all of township No. 112, range No. 18.
Leon, all of township No. Ill, range No. 17.
Pine Island, all of township No. 109, range No. 15.
Roscoe, all of township No. 109, range No. 16.
Red Wing, the west half of township No. 113, range No. 14, frac-
' THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 259
tional, and sections 13, 24, 25 and 36, township No. 113, range No. 15.
Stanton, all of township No. 112, range No. 18 in Goodhue county.
Union, all of township No. 113, range No. 16, north of Cannon River.
All of township No. 113, range No. 15, except sections No. 13, 25, 24
and 36, and all of township No. 114, ranges No. 15 and 16, fractional.
Vasa, all of township No. 112, range No. 16, and all of township No,
113, range No. 16, south of Cannon River.
Wanamingo, all of township No. 110, range No. 17.
Warsaw, all of township No. Ill, range No. 18.
Wacoota, all of township No. 113, range No. 13, in Goodhue county,
and the east half of township No. 113, range No. 14, fractional.
York, all of township No. Ill, ranges No. 14 and 15.
Zumhrota, all of township No. 110, ranges No. 15 and 16.
Pursuant to instructions from the Auditor of State, the names of
three of the townships, as reported above, were changed.
"State Auditor's Office, St. Paul, Aug. 23d, 1858.
"To the Register of Deeds, Goodhue county — Sir: You are hereby
notified that the board of county supervisors, at their next session, are
required to change the names of the following towns, viz., Stanton,
Union and York, as provided for in the "Act to Provide for Township
Organization." You will inform me of the names to which they are
changed as soon thereafter as possible.
" Respectfully yours,
«D. N. Gates, Chief Clerk."
At a meeting of the board, September 15, 1858, the name of Union
was changed to Milton ; Stanton was changed to Lillian; and York was
changed to Elmira, and the Auditor of State so notified.
December 28, another communication was read from the Auditor of
State of similar import, directing the name of Elmira to be changed.
The communication was referred to a committee of three — Messrs.
Stearns, White and Stone — who reported in favor of substituting Belvi-
dere for Elmira. The report was adopted.
Minneola, including all of township No. 110, range No. 16, was set off
from Zumbrota in June, 1860.
Goodhue. — September 13, 1859, in answer to the prayer of peti-
tioners interested, township No. Ill, range No. 15, was erected into
a separate township and called Lime. In January, 1860, on petition of
the citizens interested, the name was changed from Lime to Goodhue.
It was formerly a part of Belvidere.
Burnside. — At the instance of the Auditor of State, Milton was
260 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
changed to Burnside, March 25, 1862. The change of name was desired
because of their being another township of that name in the State
previously organized. In March, 1864, under authority of legislative
enactment amending the city charter of Red Wing, sections thirteen
and fourteen, township No. 113, range No. 15, was set off from Red
Wing and attached to Burnside.
Welch. — March 23, 1864, on petition, the board of commissioners
divided Burnside by setting off the east fractional half of township No.
114 north, range No. 16 west, and all of town No. 113 north, range No.
16 west, lying north of Cannon River, as a separate township, and called
it Grant. Another township in the State already bore that name, and
the State Auditor, under date of the 13th of December, 1871, directed
a change of name. January 3, 1872, the commissioners had the com-
munication under consideration, and changed the name to Welch, in
honor of the late Major Abram Edwards Welch, of Red Wing.
FIRST BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
Belle Creek, S. P. Chandler ; York, Cyrus Crouch ; Zumbrota, Isaac
C. Stearns ; Union, W. S. Grow; Featherstone, William Freyberger ; Red
Wing, A. B. Miller, P. Vandenberg, Oren Densmore ; Wanamingo, J. G.
Brown; Pine Island, C. R. White; Holden, Knut Knutson; Roscoe,
Oliver Webb ; Central Point, Robert L. Phillips ; Warsaw, N. L.
Townsend ; Stanton, John Thomas ; Hay Creek, S. A.Wise; Wacoota,
Leonard Gould ; Cannon Falls, C. W. Gillett ; Kenyon, Addison Hilton ;
Cherry Grove, D. M. Haggard * ; Florence, Dr. J. Kelly ; Vasa, Charles
Himmelman ; Leon, Ellery Stone.
The first meeting of this board was held on the second Monday in
July, 1858. In those days the Democratic party held the balance of
power in Goodhue county. The Republican party was just beginning
so assume strength and power. In the selection of a presiding officer
for the board, both parties sought to gain advantage and secure the
chairman. S. P. Chandler was the Democratic candidate for chairman,
and I. C. Stearns was the Republican candidate. There was a tie vote,
and both men claimed the right to the chair, and both assumed to pre-
side. One of them sat upon one side of the table, and the other one
sat upon the other side. When a motion was submitted — and any
number of motions were made — both men would " put the question."
Party feeling ran high, and extended outside of the hall in which the
*Mr. Haggard came in under appointment July 26, in place of Woodward, who had resigned. The
appointing power was vested in the justice of the peace. His appointment was signed by Justices J.
Haggard and P. A. Crabb, of Cherry Grove. Mr. Woodward only appeared at the first meeting of the
board.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 261
board held its sessions. A fight was expected, and " Deacon " DeKay,
who was deputy sheriff at the time, was directed by his superior officer
to " take up a position " in the supervisors' room, and preserve order at
all hazards, even if it "took the last man and the last dollar" in the
bailiwick. He obeyed orders, and for two or three days maintained a
position between the two chairmen ; but the fight didn't " come off."
The troubled waters were finally quieted, by the giving way of J. G.
Brown, of Wanamingo, who came over to the support of Mr. Chandler,
making a rousing speech in explanation of his action.
There was about as much feeling manifested in this contest as there
was in the U. S. House of Representatives in 1856, when there was so
much trouble over the election of speaker. The reader of political
history will remember that Nathaniel P. Banks was the Republican can-
didate for speaker, and that several weeks were spent in voting,
making motions and personal explanations, before a result was reached
in the election of Mr. Banks. So it was in the election of a chairman
of the board of supervisors of Goodhue county in July, 1858. A
record of the motions, explanations, etc., covers several pages of the
journal, and is rather humorous reading, especially to those who under-
stood the "situation."
The board first met in the office of the register of deeds, but almost
equal in numbers to the Territorial Legislature ; the room was found to
be too small, and a committee consisting of Messrs. Crouch, Stearns
and Brown, was appointed to secure a suitable room, and a room was
found and obtained in Todd & Hasler's block, Main street.
When the board was fully organized, credentials examined and passed
upon, etc., the following committees were appointed :
Equalization.— C. R. White, O. Densmore, I. C. Stearns, R. S. Phillips,
C. W.Gillett.
Claims. — W. S. Grow, J. G. Brown, S. A. Wise.
Ways and Means.— A. B. Miller, C. R. White, L. N. Gould.
Roads and Bridges. — O. Webb, J. Kelly, C. Crouch.
Appropriations.— P. Vandenbergh, I. C. Stearns, C. W. Gillett.
Justices and Constables— -R. L. Phillips, C. R. White, W. S. Grow.
Sheriff and Jailer.— I. C. Stearns, C. W. Gillett, John Thomas.
To settle with Treasurer. — Ellery Stone, P. Vandenbergh, R. L.
Phillips.
Printing.— A. B. Miller, P. Vandenbergh, O. Densmore.
Poor.— Robert L. Phillips, Knut Knutson, D. M. Haggard.
Per Diem and Mileage.— J. Thomas, A. Hilton, N. D. Townsend.
Public Buildings.— O. Densmore, I. C. Stearns, W. S. Grow, C. W.
262 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Gillet, R. L. Phillips. " This committee," says a note on the margin of
the old journal, " was elected by the board by acclamation."
On motion of Mr. Grow, of Union township, James T. Chamberlain,
deputy register of deeds, was elected clerk of the board.
Tuesday, the report of the committee on rules and regulations sub-
mitted their report, which was adopted. These rules fill about eight
pages of the journal, and are about as voluminous as the rules govern-
ing the Congress of the United States.
The proceedings of the board were marked by motions and counter-
motions, speeches and counter-speeches — a few men doing the speaking
and a few others the work. In fact, it was a kind of young congress,
in which some men made speeches to be heard of men, and of course
were noted for their much speaking. They were of the " buncombe ' :
kind.
COURT HOUSE REDIVIVUS.
Wednesday morning, July 14, the " resolution offered by A. B. Miller,
of Red Wing," was read by the clerk, and on motion of Mr. Stearns, it
was voted to strike out all after the word " whereas," and adopt the
following:
" Whereas, There exists a diversity of opinion in reference to the
binding force upon Goodhue county of a certain contract entered into
by the county commissioners of Goodhue county with other parties for
the erection of court house and jail; and
" Whereas, Any action pending the uncertainty which now exists
would be very imprudent and hazardous, therefore,
11 Resolved, That this board, by a committee of three of its members to
be elected by the board, proceed at once to ascertain our liability under
said contract by presenting the case, without delay, to the Judge of the
Fifth Judicial District of this State for his decision upon the validity of
the said contract, or to obtain the best possible legal advice on the
matter."
The resolution was specially considered at two o'clock that afternoon.
A communication having been received from the Senator and Repre-
sentatives in the State Legislature in regard to the passage of a bill
authorizing the board of supervisors to issue bonds for the erection of
county buildings, Mr. Grow offered the following resolution :
"Resolved, By the board of supervisors of Goodhue county, that our
Senator and Representatives be requested to secure the passage of a
bill introduced by Senator Hudson, on the 9th day of July, A. D. 1858,
entitled " An act to authorize the board of supervisors of Goodhue
county to issue county bonds for the erection of county buildings."
THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY. 263
To which Mr. Stearns, of Zuinbrota, offered the following amendment:
"But this board does not intend by this resolution to express any
opinion in relation to the erection of county buildings or the issuing of
said bonds."
The resolution, as amended, was adopted.
Two o'clock p. m. — On motion of Mr. Grow, it was
" Voted, That the resolution presented by Mr. Miller, and amended
on motion of Mr. Stearns, be further amended by striking out of said
resolution the word ' three,' and substituting therefor the word ' two.' "
Messrs. Densmore and Stearns were elected to serve as such com-
mittee by acclamation.
On motion of Mr. Densmore, it was
" Voted,Tha,t the committee selected by the board to seek legal advice
regarding the contract for county buildings, be granted leave of absence
to procure such advice."
The ayes and nays being demanded, the vote stood: ayes, 13 ; nays, 8.
July 16, the committee submitted the following report :
" The undersigned committee of the board of supervisors of Goodhue
county to inquire after the validity of the contract made by the com-
missioners of Goodhue county with certain parties, for the erection of
a court house and jail, respectfully report the accompanying written
opinion of D. Cooper, Esq., of St. Paul, which is fully and unqualifiedly
corroborated by the verbal opinion expressed to your committee by
J. B. Brisbin, Esq., of the same place, and the judgment of your com-
mittee establishes the validity and binding force of said contract beyond
reasonable doubt.
" Your committee would therefore recommend that all future action
by this board in reference to said contract be based upon the admission
of its validity and binding force.
" Your committee would further report the payment by them of
counsel fees as per receipted bill, $10 ; traveling expenses, $11 — $21.*
"To which the attention of this honorable board is invited.
Orrin Densmore,
J. C. Stearns,
Committee.
"Red Wing, Goodhue county, July 16, 1858.
The following is the opinion of Judge Cooper, referred to in the
above report:
* Under this total of $21 are these words and figures in pencil—'- added #9.00 "—making the total $30.00
264 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
" St. Paul, July 15, 1858.
"Gentlemen — The question propounded by you, and upon which you
desire me briefly to give my opinion in writing, is as follows:
"The board of county commissioners of Goodhue county having
selected plans for county buildings, and by resolutions of the 9th of
April, 1858, having invited bids for their erection in accordance with
the plans selected, until the first Monday of May, 1858 ; and on the last
named day (May 3d,) having by resolution accepted the bid of Messrs.
Simmons and Stephens for their erection, according to the specifications
accompanying the bids, but no contract having been signed until May
14th, and in the meantime, between the 3d and 14th of May, the board
of county supervisors, under the township organization law, having
claimed the right of enjoying and performing the powers and duties
theretofore exercised by the county commissioners — is such contract
binding upon the county f
" I have no doubt that it is. The contract was complete by the pass-
age of the resolution accepting the bid and specifications of Messrs.
Simmons and Stephens; and the subsequent act of reducing the same
to writing and attaching the signitures of the parties, was a mere means
of perpetuating the evidence of the contract in detail.
"After the acceptance of the bid by the resolution of the board, and
as I understand the dates, there was no question of the right of the
commissionersvto act at that time, upon a refusal of that board, or its
successors, by whatever name called, to carry out its terms, the con-
tractors might have enforced the contract in and through the courts of
justice. Of this there can be no doubt.
" Apart from this, and from my present knowledge of the provisions of
the township law, understanding that the only time designated in the
act for the meeting of the board of county supervisors is the second
Monday in September, I am very clearly of the opinion that the board
of county commissioners are not superseded until that date. I under-
stand there is no provision for a meeting of the board except the general
one, sec. 1, of Article VII, and if this'be the case, until that time shall
arrive, there can be no meeting of the board of supervisors.
" It can not be presumed that the legislature intended there should
be no officers to perform the duties of the board of county commission-
ers, from the time of the election in May until the second Monday in
September, and consequently it must be presumed that there being no
means of meeting provided for the supervisors, the county commission-
ers were to hold over until actually superseded by the organization of
the board of supervisors at the time designated.
THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY. 265
" Having thus hastily given you such views as the time allotted me
allows, I have the honor to be
" Your obedient servant,
" D. Cooper."
On motion of Mr. Grow, of Union, it was voted to adopt the report.
On motion of Mr. White, it was " voted that the committee on public
buildings be instructed to confer with the contractors, to see on what
terms they will settle with the county and relinquish the contract, and
that said committee report as soon as possible. 1 '
The board then adjourned until 2 o'clock p. m.
At 2 o'clock the board was again in session. The committee on
public buildings had conferred with the contractors, and submitted the
following reply from them:
' To 0. Densmore, Esq., chairman committee.
''Dear Sir: — In reply to the request made by your committee,
through you, that we would submit to the board of supervisors a prop-
osition to compromise and release our contract with the county for the
erection of public buildings, we desire respectfully to say, that the con-
tract was, on our part, entered into with perfect good faith. We have
made several sub-contracts for materials and labor, to the amount of
many thousand dollars, for the performance of all of which we are
liable. A large share of these materials have been delivered, or are
ready for delivery, and no trifling amount of work has been performed.
In addition to this, we are all mechanics, and an abandonment of the
contract at this time will leave us without employment, or at least with
but small chance of securing other jobs. For these reasons, and many
others that will at once suggest themselves to your committee, and
especially to mechanics, we wish to complete, rather than surrender,
the contract. While, therefore, we will consider and respectfully
answer any proposition that the board may make to us in writing (so
that the terms may not be misconceived), for the cancellation of the
contract and a compromise of its subject matter, we decline making
any proposition ourselves looking to that end.
" Hill, Simmons & Co.
"Red Wing, July 16, 1858."
The report of the committee was placed on file, and the board soon
after adjourned until the 26th of July.
July 15, the board found that a still more commodious room was
necessary, and on motion of Mr. Grow, it was voted that a committee of
266 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
three be appointed to procure a room for the use of the board at its
future meetings. Harmony Hall was secured, which they occupied on
the 16th, and until the court house was completed and ready for occu-
pancy. [ Harmony Hall was situated on the corner of Main and Fulton
streets, and was destroyed by fire.]
July 27, Messrs. Stearns, of Zumbrota, Gillett, of Cannon Falls, and
Thomas, of Stanton, were appointed a special committee to make propo-
sitions to the contractors for the erection of the court house and jail,
and ascertain what compromise could be effected, and the contract
surrendered. In the afternoon of the same day the committee reported
the following proposition for the consideration of the board.
" That the said contractors go on and erect and enclose said building,
and finish the extension according to the terms of the contract, and also
the jail complete, but that the interior of the building, with the excep-
tion of the partition walls and the flooring joists throughout, and the
floors in the offices of the register and clerk be left unfinished. And
for the performance of the portion of the work above described, this
board agree to pay the sum of twenty thousand dollars in the negotiable
bonds of said county, as per original contract.
" Signed, " I. C. Stearns,
u O. W. Gillett,
" Com."
On the adoption of the report the yeas and nays were called. Those
who voted yea were, Messrs. Chandler, Crouch, Grow, Gould, Gillet,
Hilton, Himmelman, Kelly, Knutson, Miller, Phillips, Stearns, Stone,
Townsend, Thomas, Vandenbergh and Webb — 17.
Those who voted nay were, Messrs. Densmore, Brown, Freyberger,
Haggard, Wise and White — 6.
So the report was referred back to the committee to be submitted to
the contractors, and their answer obtained thereto. Leave of absence
was granted the committee for that purpose. After visiting the con-
tractors, the committee returned and made the following report:
contractors' answer.
"To Messrs. Stearns, Gillet and Thomas:
"Gentlemen: We, the undersigned contractors, have examined your
proposition, and would respectfully say that we cannot accept it, as it
now stands, but we would further say that, in addition to the leaving
out of our contract all the inside finish, with the exception of the floor
in the recorder's and clerk's office, if you will also omit in said contract
the outside front steps and all stone steps, not in the walls of said build-
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 267
ing, and the outside doors to the basement, and the galvanized iron
chimney-tops, we will accept the proposition which you have submitted.
" Signed, Hill, Simmons & Co."
On motion of Mr. Grow, the paper was laid on the table. Yeas 16.
On motion of Mr. Stearns it was resolved that —
"Whereas, it appears by the records of the board of county commis-
sioners of the county of Goodhue, that the majority of the board of
county commissioners of said county did, on the 14th day of May, A. D.
1858, enter into a written contract with D. C. Hill, Simmons and Ste-
phens, for the erection of ,a court house and jail ; for the erection of
which said commissioners bound the county to pay said contractors the
sum of twenty-four thousand dollars, to be paid in the negotiable bonds
of said county at ninety cents on the dollar, which bonds were to bear
interest at the rate of twelve per cent, per annum ; and
"Whereas, the board of supervisors of said county having taken
legal advice on the legality of the contract, and having been advised
that said contract is binding on the said county ; and
"Whereas, a large portion of the work on said building has been
sub-let, and a considerable portion of said work has been already done
by the said contractors, so that to abandon the said contract would
subject the county to heavy damages, which would be a total loss to
said county ; therefore
" Resolved, By the board of supervisors of said county, that we will
carry out the said contract so entered into as aforesaid, for the erection
of said buildings ; and that while we determine to carry out said con-
tract, we would consider that we were recreant to our duty as a board,
were we not to express our decided disapprobation of the course pursued
by the majority of the board of county commissioners, in entering into
said contract, thereby involving the county in a heavy debt ; and that
directly (as we believe) against the express wish of two-thirds of the
tax payers of said county ; and we hereby express our conviction that
a more high-handed act of usurpation of power and disregard of the will
of the people (on a small scale,) has never been perpetrated by the
agents of the people, than that of the majority of said board of county
commissioners, in the letting of the said contract."
On the adoption of this resolution the yeas and nays were called.
Those who voted yea were Messrs. Brown, Crouch, Densmore, Grow,
Gould, Hilton, Himmelman, Haggard, Kelly, Knutson, Miller, Phillips,
Stearns, Stone, Vandenbergh, Webb and Wise — 17.
Those who voted nay were Messrs. Freyberger, Gillet, Thomas, town-
send and White — 5.
268 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
The chairman was excused by the board from voting.
On motion of Mr. Grow —
"Resolved, That the chairman and the clerk of the board of super-
visors of Goodhue county be and they are hereby authorized to issue
county bonds in accordance with an act entitled, ' An act to authorize
the board of supervisors of Goodhue county to issue county bonds for
the erection of county buildings,' approved July twenty-third, one
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, and also in accordance with the
provisions of a certain contract entered into on the fourteenth day of
May, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-ejght, between the commis-
sioners of Goodhue of the first part, and Hill, Simmons and Stephens of
the second part, said bonds to be for the same amount, viz., twenty-six
thousand six hundred and sixty-six 66-100 dollars, bearing the same rate
of interest, and payable at the several times as provided for in said con-
tract, and to the order of Hill, Simmons & Co."
The yeas and nays were called on the adoption of this resolution.
Those who voted yea were Messrs. Brown, Crouch, Densmore, Freyberger,
Grow, Gould, Hilton, Himmelman, Haggard, Kelly, Knutson, Miller,
Stearns, Stone, Vandenbergh, Webb, Wise and Chandler — 19.
Those who voted nay were Messrs. Gillet, Thomas, Townsend and
White— 4.
This action of the board of supervisors settled all differences between
them and the contractors, and the work on the court house was pushed
vigorously forward.
Between the adjournment of the July session and the 14th of Sep-
tember, Mr. Grow, of Union (afterwards Burnside) resigned, and Mr.
Hobart was appointed to the vacancy. He presented his credentials
and was admitted September 14, 1858.
September 24, 1858, the second installment of bonds was ordered to
be issued to the contractors. The same date it was
" Resolved, By the board of supervisors of said county, that the com-
mittee on public buildings are hereby authorized to cause to be issued
county bonds to said contractors sooner than called for by said contract,
if in the judgment of said committee it shall be just and right, and
will tend to the more speedy completion of said buildings. And on the
completion of said work on said buildings to settle with said contrac-
tors, and to accept said job, and discharge said contract, and to take
receipt or receipts from said contractors for the payment of said work.
•A-fl->d the said committee are further authorized to alter the plan of
doings sa jd W ork on said buildings, when it may be thought advantage-
ous to, tne coun ty (with the consent of the contractors and their
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 269
bondsmen,) not, however, so as to increase the expense of said building
beyond the contract price."
SECOND BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
The second board of supervisors was elected in April, 1859, and pur-
suant to a call signed by a majority of the board, a meeting was held
at the office of the county auditor, on the 18th day of the same month.
J. A. Thacher, of Zumbrota, was elected chairman of the board. There
were two claimants — H. W. Twitchell and Peter Easterly — to the seat
from Belvidere. After investigation the seat was awarded to Mr.
Thacher.
April 21, it was voted that ;t the committee on public buildings accept
on behalf of the county, the court house when completely finished
according to contract, and that when so finished the county officers
who are to occupy it, are instructed to move into it.
The court house was completed and turned over by the contractors
in August, 1859. The excavation, the stone work, and the carpenter
work, was done by Hill, Simmons & Co., the contractors. The brick
were made by John Carter, and laid up in the wall by Messrs. Brink,
Todd & Co. The plastering work was also done by Brink, Todd & Co.
Some of the bonds issued to pay for the erection of the court house
were sold to individuals in Washington, D. C, some to individuals in
the city of New York, some to individuals in Ohio ; but the most of
them were taken by Red Wing parties. They were sold at various
prices ranging from fifty to ninety cents on the dollar. They have all
been taken up, and the expense of the court house, improvement and
enclosure of the square, long since paid up in full.
Pending the disposition of the board of supervisors to secure a cancel-
lation of the contract for the erection of the court house, and before
the bonds were issued, the contractors had been advised that the bonds
could be sold in the New York market at nearly their face value. An
agent was sent on there to investigate the matter, but before negotiations
were perfected a circumstance occurred that completely destroyed the
value of Minnesota county bonds in that market. Hennepin county
had issued bonds and built a court house. When the bonds became
due they were not paid, a fact that threw discredit upon all county
bonds and rendered them worthless among commercial men and
capitalists. The tax payers outside of Red Wing and its immediate
vicinity were fighting the court house enterprise, and using every
possible means to induce the contractors to throw up the contract, even
270 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
offering them as much as $10,000 cash to do so. The business men and
friends of Red Wing were as anxious the other way, and when they
found the bonds could not be sold for ready money, they promised to ren-
der all necessary material assistance to the contractors — to take the
bonds and advance the money, etc.
When the money was needed, however, it was not forthcoming.
When any of them did advance money to aid the contractors, they
required a deposit of two dollars in bonds for one dollar in money
advanced, and three per cent, interest per month besides. At least so
says Mr. Hill. Sometimes bonds could be traded for lumber and other
material, but only at a heavy discount. Through the influence of Mr.
Phelps, then representative in Congress from Minnesota, and Mr. Geb-
hort, member of Congress from Ohio, some of the bonds were sold for
seventy cents cash, both of these men taking small amounts.
Red Wing men, when the pinch came, were, for the most part, very
reluctant to invest their money in these bonds ; and when they did so,
exacted very large discounts.
The building of the court house was undertaken at the instance of
Red Wing interests. The tax payers in the interior were opposed to
the enterprise, hoping, in time, to either secure a division of the county,
or the location of the public buildings at a more central point. When
the board of supervisors succeeded the county commissioners, the
country townships had a larger representation, and bowing to the will
of their constituents, sought to avoid the responsibility of the contract
made by their predecessors in office. Legal advice was secured, how-
ever, which satisfied the board that the contract was legal and binding,
and rather than risk involving the county in heavy damages, the con-
tract was allowed to proceed, and the court house was completed within
the time specified in the agreement.
During the time the court house was building, a feeling of dissatisfac-
tion with the township system became general throughout the State —
probably because of the heavy expense attending; and in 1860 an act
was passed by the Legislature providing that each and every county in
the State should be deemed an organized county, and that in each and
every county there should be a board of county commissioners ; and
that in those counties in which at the last general election there were
cast eight hundred votes or over, the said board should consist of five
members, and in all other counties of three members, who should hold
their offices for one year, or until their successors were elected and
qualified. [Gen. Laws of Minn., 1860, p. 134.]
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
271
This law went into effect April 1, 1860. The last session of the board
of supervisors adjourned sine die on the 10th day of January, 1860, and
the first session of the board of commissioners commenced on the 4th
day of June following. This board was composed of J. A. Thacher, H.
L. Bevans, J. A. Jackson, A. Hilton and E. A. Sergeant. Mr. Thacher
was chosen chairman of the board. Since then there has been no
change in the management of county affairs.
It has been maintained in some of the States where the township
system prevails, that it is more economical than the county system. If
the figures to be found on the old journal in the auditor's office are cor-
rect, this opinion is sadly at fault. As a matter of history we quote
the cost to the county of Goodhue of each of the three sessions of the
board of supervisors held in 1858, the first session being held in July,
the second in September, and the third in December.
JULY SESSION.
Names. Miles. Days.
Chandler 16 3
Crouch 10 3
Stearns 20 3
Grow 3 3
Freyberger 8 2i
Brown 23 3
White 26 3
Knutson 32 3
Webb 28 3
Phillips IT 3
Townsend 33 3
Thomas 30 3
Wise 6 2|
Amount.
$9 20
8 00
10 00
4 60
4 60
10 00
11 20
12 24
11 60
9 40
12 60
12 00
6 20
Names. Miles.
Gould 6
Gillett 25
Hilton 32
Haggard 32
Kelly 14
Stone 21
Miller
Vandenberg
Densrnore
Himmelman 14
Totals 396 63 $205 20
Days.
Amount.
2
$6 20
3
11 00
3
12 40
3
12 40
2i
7 80
3
10 20
2
4 00
2
4 00
2
4 00
3
8 80
Names.
Chandler 16
Stearns 20 4
extra 20 6
Hobart 3| 2
Freyberger 8 5
" extra 8 1
Brown 23 4
White 26 4
" extra , 26 6
Knutson 32 4
Phillips 17 3
Thomas 30 4
Wise 6 4
SEPTEMBER SESSION.
Amount of
Miles. Days. Mileage.
6 $3 20
4
4
1
1
4
5
5
00
00
70
60
60
60
20
20
6 40
3 40
6 00
1 20
Amount of
Per. Diem.
$12 00
8 00
12 00
4 00
10 00
2 00
8 00
8 00
12 00
8 00
6 00
8 00
8 00
Total.
Amount.
$15 20
12 00
16 00
4 70
11 60
3 60
12 60
13 20
17 20
14 40
9 40
14 40
9 20
272
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Names.
Miles.
Days.
Amount of
Mileage.
Amount of
Per Diem.
Total
Amount.
Gould
6
2
1 20
4 00
5 20
Gillet
25
4
5 00
8 00
13 00
" extra
25
3
5 00
6 00
11 00
Hilton
32
4
6 40
8 00
14 40
Haggard
32
4
6 40
8 00
14 40
" extra
1
2 00
2 00
Kelly, "
14
4
2 80
8 00
10 80
ii it
14
6
2 80
12 00
14 80
Stone
21
4
4 20
8 00
12 20
Miller
2
4 00
4 00
" extra
2
4 00
4 00
Vandenbergh
2
4 00
4 00
Densmore -
2
6
4 00
12 00
4 00
12 00
Himmelman
14
418i
4
103
2 80
8 00
10 80
$83 70
$206 00
$289 70
DECEMBER SESSION.
Names.
Miles.
Mile
age.
Days.
Per Diem.
Total.
Brown
46
$4 60
4
$8 00
$12 60
Brimdage
3
6 00
6 00
Freyberger
14
1
40
4
8 00
9 40
Hobart
6
60
3
6 00
6 00
Hilton
64
' 6 40
4
8 00
14 40
Himmelman
28
2
80
4
8 00
10 80
Haggard
64
6 40
4
8 00
14 40
64
6 40
4
8 00
14 40
Miller
40
3
4
6 00
8 00
6 00
Stearns
4 00
12 00
Stone
42
4 20
4
8 00
12 00
Webb
3
6 00
6 00
58
5
80
4
8 00
13 80
Wise...
12
1
20
4
8 00
9 20
Chandler
36
3
60
5
10 00
13 60
Thomas
60
6 00
4
8 00
14 00
Townsend
64
6
40
4
8 00
14 40
White
52
650
5
20
4
69
8 00
13 20
Totals
$65
00
$138 00
$203 00
RECAPITULATION.
Miles.
Days.
Mileage.
Per Diem.
Total.
July session
.... 396
63
$79 20
$126 00
$205 20
September session
.... 418*
103
83 70
206 00
289 70
December session
650
69
130 00
138 00
203 00
Grand total 1,464* 235 $292 90 $470 00 $697 90
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 273
The supervisors were allowed ten cents per mile each way — going and
coming — equal to 20 cents per mile one way.
MISCELLANEOUS COUNTY NOTES.
December 29, 1858, the board of county supervisors "voted that the
county attorney be requested to give his opinion as to whether the
towns or the county were required bylaw to provide for the care of the
poor." In accordance with this request he rendered the opinion that it
was the duty of the county board to make provisions for their maintain-
ence.
It was then voted that thereafter the county board should exercise
jurisdiction in the matter and provide for the care of the unfortunate,
the sick and the destitute. On motion of Mr. Stearns it was further
" voted that all bills for poor charges be audited by the town auditors
before being allowed by the board."
On motion by Mr. Hobert, it was also " voted that in addition to such
bills being audited by the town auditors, they should be approved by the
chairman of the board of supervisors of the respective towns, and when
presented to the clerk of the county board so audited and approved, he
(the clerk) should issue orders for the amount."
COUNTY AUDITOR.
In 1858, an act was passed creating the office of county auditor.
Previous to that time the business now transacted by the county auditor
was entrusted to an officer designated as county clerk, which office had
been filled from the date of the organization of the county by Rev. J.
W. Hancock. In October of that year Eric Norelius, of Vasa township,
was elected to the office of county auditor, but he declined to qualify,
the office was declared to be vacant, and J. Going was appointed to fill
the vacancy. He continued to discharge the duties of that office until
October, 1859, when H. Mattson was elected. In 1861, Mr. Mattson
entered the service in defense of the cause of the Union, and Fred. Joss
was appointed deputy county auditor, and entrusted with the entire
management of the business of the office. On the 30th of July, 1862,
Mr. Mattson tendered his resignation, which was dated July 10. The
resignation was accepted, and Fred. Joss was appointed to fill the
vacancy until the next election in November, 1861, when he was elected
to fill out the unexpired term of Mr. Mattson, and in 1862 was re-elected
for the term of two years. In 1864, the present incumbent, Mr. S. J.
Willard, was elected. He was re-elected in 1866, 1868, 1870, 1872, 1874
19
274 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
and 1876, and is a candidate for re-election in 1878. His chief clerk is
Henry A. WilJard, who commenced to work in the office in 1872.
GRANTING LIQUOR LICENSE.
December 29, 1858, the board of supervisors voted to elect two per-
sons who, with the clerk or auditor, should serve as a committee to grant
license for the sale of spirituous liquors. R. C. White and C. W, Gillet,
were appointed such committee. The license for the sale of spirituous
liquors was fixed at $100.00 ; for malt liquors, $50.00.
April 21, the board " voted that no license for retailing liquors be
granted by this board unless in towns that have voted for license."
COUNTY BONDS.
In 1870, a special act was passed by the legislature, to enable Good-
hue county to issue bonds to fund the floating indebtedness. Under
this act, bonds to the amount of $13,000, payable in 1873, 1874 and
1875, were issued. These bonds were taken up as they became due.
In January, 1876, a similar act was passed, under which bonds were
issued to the amount of $10,500, due in 1878, 1879 and 1880, for the
purpose of building an iron bridge over Cannon River, on the Red Wing
and Hastings road. Eight thousand dollars of these bonds are still
outstanding, but the county is in condition to take them up as they
mature.
COUNTY INFIRMARY.
PURCHASE OF A POOR FARM — ERECTION OF BUILDINGS, ETC.
At a called session of the board of commissiones, held on the 16th
day of April, 1864, it was resolved to purchase a farm for poor purposes.
On the 23d of April, a contract was concluded for the purchase of the
Williams farm, about three miles from Red Wing, in Burnside township,
for $3,000. On the 11th of July, 1867, a contract was made with Ole K.
Simmons for the erection of the necesary buildings. The original con-
tract price was $5,500 ; but extra work was found necessary, which
involved an additional cost of $237.18, increasing the total cost of the
building to $5,737.18. It was completed and ready for occupancy
December 28, 1867.
At a session of the board of county commissioners, held on the 19th
of March, 1874, a resolution was adopted, by which it was agreed to
sell the poor farm to William A. Merriam, of Minneapolis, for educa-
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 275
tional and mill purposes, for the sum of $10,000, payable as follows :
One thousand dollars cash in hand, $4,000 payable July 1, 1874, and
$5,000 payable April 1, 1875. The contract was drawn and properly
acknowledged, the first payment of one thousand dollars was made, and
for a time it seemed as if Merriam's scheme would be realized; but he
failed to make the second payment of $4,000, on the first of July, 1874,
as per contract agreement, and at a session of the board held on the
8th of January, 1875, a resolution was adopted instructing the county
attorney to commence a suit to foreclose the mortgage given by Merriam
to secure payment. Proceedings were commenced in the district court
for Goodhue county, and the 29th day of March, 1875, and the 28th day
of March, 1876, were fixed as the times when the amount due on the
contract must be paid by Merriam. He failed to meet the payments
as required by the ruling of the court, and the property reverted to the
county on the 28th day of March, 1876.
DISTRICT COURT.
CRIMINAL MENTION — A CLEAN RECORD, ETC.
The district court has jurisdiction in important civil and all criminal
cases.
The first term of this court for Goodhue county was held in Red
Wing, in 1854. Judge William H. Welch presided; P. Sandford was
clerk, and P. S. Fish was sheriff. The session was held in Sandford's
law office, a small frame structure heretofore described. Not a single
case was tried, and no indictments were found by the grand jury. The
petit jury was held two days and then discharged, after which the court
sat in chambers four days.
There has never been a capital execution in the county, and, be it
said to the credit of the population of the county, but few murder cases
have ever been tried, and but very few murders committed, as compared
with other counties.
SULLIVAN-TRUDELL CASE.
On the morning of the 20th of June, 1859, the dead body of a French
half-breed, named Frank Trudell, was found in the yard in the rear of a
house in the lower end of town occupied by a woman of bad reputation
named Ann Sullivan. The killing had been done with a knife or some
other sharp instrument, and the woman Sullivan was arrested for the
murder. A first indictment was found against her at the October term
276 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
(1859) of the district court; but in consequence of some legal techni-
cality, the indictment did not hold good, and a second indictment was
found at the June term, 1800. The case was called for trial June 28,
1861, and was concluded on the 30th.
THE SHINNEMAN-JEKNEN CASE.
On Monday, the 20th day of November, 1860, Henry Shinneman, a
German, living on Wells Creek, gave himself into the hands of Sheriff
Chandler, confessing at the time that he had shot and killed a neighbor
named Jennen. As stated by Shinneman, a quarrel had occurred
between himself and Jennen about some injuries the latter had inflicted
on Shinneman's cattle by dogging them ; that during the quarrel Jennen
made an assault on him with an ax, and that in self-defense he had shot
and killed him. Shinneman was taken before Justice Smithers for a
preliminary hearing, who admitted him to bail in the sum of five hun-
dred dollars. The neighbors of the two men were not satisfied with the
action of justice Smithers, and his bondsmen fearing he might leave
them in the lurch, Shinneman was re-arrested by the sheriff on the fol-
lowing Monday, and taken before Justice Post, of Wacoota, for a rehear-
ing. Messrs. Wilder and Williston represented the State, and Messrs.
McClure and Colville conducted the defense. The examination closed
on Wednesday, the 29th of November, and resulted in committing
Shinneman to jail to await the action of the grand jury.
On the 5th of January, 1861, the district court being in session, an
indictment was found against Shinneman, and early in the night of
Friday, the 18th of January, he broke jail and escaped to the country.
On Monday night, the 21st, he was rearrested at the house of a man
named Busche, in Florence township, where he had sought conceal-
ment, and returned to jail. His case came on for trial on the 23d of
June, when he was found guilty of murder in the second degree, and
sentenced to the penitentiary tor seven years, twenty days of the time
to be spent in solitary confinement. After he entered the penitentiary,
he managed to elude the vigilance of the officers, escaped from the
prison and fled to Canada, and has never been brought back.
CONDON-CHURCHILL MURDER.
About nine o'clock, on the night of the sixth of April, 1875, William
Y. Churchill, of Cherry Grove township, was shot and killed while sit-
ting in his own house. The neighbors were immediately alarmed, and
arriving at the scene of the traged}', sundry circumstances were devel-
oped which directed suspicion against Thomas Condon, a neighbor, with
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 277
whom Churchill had had a quarrel during the day. Condon was arrested
and taken before Justice Fletcher Hagler for a preliminary hearing.
His wife testified that Condon was at home and in bed when the mur-
der was committed, and her testimony was corroborated by their
daughter. Nevertheless, the circumstances were so strong against
Condon that he was held to the higher court and committed to jail.
An adjourned term of the district court, Judge F. M. Crosby pre-
siding, was held in July of that year. An indictment had been found
against Condon, and on the 13th of that month the case was called for
trial.
In preparing Mr. Churchill's body for burial, a gun wad or two were
found. One of the wads was found against his person by one of the
attendants. On opening it out, it proved to be made from a piece of
paper torn from an Indianapolis surgical institute circular. This fact
was established on the trial, as also the fact that Congdon had, a short
time before the murder, got some powder from one man, and some shot
from another one in the neighborhood, and that he had wrapped each
parcel in a circular, or piece of a circular, of that kind. This fact, taken
together with threats that Congdon had made against the life of Church-
hill and other corroborative circumstances, formed so strong a chain of
evidence against Congdon, that he was found guilty and sentenced
for life.
The following named citizens comprised the jury before whom he
was tried:
A. Seeback, J. B. Dorman, H. B. Powers, G. G. McCoy, John Heath,
W. 8. Grow, Justin Chamberlin, August Peterson, Dudley C. Dow, Eric
Ericson, Til ton Howard, John Bronson.
John C. McClure prosecuted, and Pierce and Larry defended.
WILSON, THE WIFE MURDERER.
On the night of the 11th of July, 1876, Milton Wilson, of Cherry Grove
township, killed his wife by cutting her throat. The family were old
residents of the township, and had a kind of cat-and-dog life for a long
time previous to the murder. Wilson was about fifty years of age at
the time of the murder, and it was shown that a few days previous to
the terrible affair, he had whipped and abused his wife in a shocking
manner, the trouble arising because of a disagreement between Mrs.
Wilson and her step-daughter, and the tragedy seems to have originated
from that quarrel. After he had killed his wife, he attempted to cut
his own throat, but failed. At the December term of the district court,
1876, an indictment was found against Wilson, to which he plead guilty,
and was sentenced to imprisonment for life.
278 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
MINOR CONVICTIONS.
The State of Minnesota vs. Frank Burdett. Indicted for rape May 7,
1873. Tried May 15, 1873, found guilty, and sentenced to the peniten-
tiary for twenty years. Pardoned by Governor C. K. Davis, February
25, 1875.
The State of Minnesota vs. Peter Nugent. Indicted for rape Dec. 12,
1877. Tried Dec. 21, 1877, found guilty, and sentenced in March, 1878,
to the penitentiary for twelve years.
The above paragraphs embrace all the important convictions from
Goodhue county. There have been a few other convictions and short
sentences, but as compared with other counties, the criminal docket
shows fewer cases than any other county of equal population in the
State, a fact that speaks volumes for the morality and honesty of the
people by whom it is settled.
EDUCATIONAL.
FIRST SCHOOLS — PRIMITIVE SCHOOL HOUSES — EARLY TEACHERS, ETC.
In no one interest of the county have twenty-six years worked such
wonderful and gratifying changes as in the educational.
Fifty years ago a knowledge of the higher branches of education
could only be obtained at the colleges of the older States — Yale,
Harvard, Amherst, Dartmouth, and their cotemporaries. Now there is
not a graded or union school in Goodhue county that does not furnish
advantages almost equal to a majority of the colleges of that period.
On all the prairies and along the hill sides neat and comfortable school
houses are to be found, while the teachers are proficient and competent
to impart instruction in any of the branches necessary to the ordinary,
or even the higher pursuits of life. In reality they are the people's
colleges, and no system is dearer to the people than the system that
supports and maintains them. To make war upon that system would
only be making war upon the nation's life.
The first school houses in Goodhue county were rude, primitive,
make-shift concerns, that would hardly be used for stables now; but as
the population increased in towns and county, schools increased in like
proportion. As the years increased, and the people increased in wealth,
the old school houses, with their mud and stick chimneys, puncheon
floors, greased paper windows, and other primitive accommodations,
went down before those more in keeping with the progressive march of
time. But the old school houses and the old teachers are kindly
THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY. 279
remembered. In them the foundations of usefulness were laid that will
be as lasting as life.
The following historical sketch of the early schools and school teachers
of Goodhue county was contributed to these pages by Rev. Joseph W-
Hancock, who has been a resident of Red Wing since June 13, 1849,
and superintendent of the schools of the county from April 1, 1864 to
January 1, 1867, and from April 1, 1872, to the present.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
The first school among the whites in this county was a private
school taught by Mrs. H. L. Bevans, in the summer of 1853. Mr.
Bevans opened a store on Main street that year. His family occupied
one of the old mission houses, and Mrs. Bevans taught school in the
house where they lived. She had but few scholars, as there were not
ten white children of school age in the place. A few Indian children
attended this school, occasionally. There was no school the following
winter. In the summer of 1854, Miss Morris, afterwards Mrs. William
Bevans, taught a private school in the same building. In that year the
first school district was organized in Red Wing under the provisions of
the territorial school law. A board of trustees was elected under the
name of "The trustees of school district No. 1, Goodhue county."
Rev. Jabez Brooks came to Red Wing in November, 1S54, and
opened a school as the preparatory department of the Hamline Univer-
sity, in a hall in a building that had been erected at the foot of
Broadway, near the grounds now occupied by the R. R. depot. This
school was supported by tuition fees, and was the only school in the
place during the winter of 1854-5. The next summer a public school
was opened and taught by Miss Emma Sorin, in a temporary building
which had been erected by the Presbyterian society, and used as a
house of worship.
During the summer and fall of 1855, the first public school house was
erected. This building is still standing at the corner of Fourth street
and East avenue', and is now occupied as a laundry. It was built and
furnished entirely by individual subscriptions. During the winter of
1855-6 a school was. taught in this building by Miss Elizabeth Sorin.
The following summer the school was taught by Miss Libbie J. Adams,
now Mrs. 0. J. F. Smith. The winter school of 1856-7 was taught by
Mr. S. T. Sandford. The school was large, and his wife was engaged to
assist him.
In the summer of 1857, the school was divided and two teachers
employed. Miss Adams taught in the school house, and Miss Elizabeth
280 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Sorin taught in a small dwelling house in the east part of the town.
This continued to be the only public school house in Red Wing until
1865, when the central school house was finished and occupied in
December of that year.
As the population increased from 1855 to 1865, other rooms were
rented for the accommodation of schools, and for some time before the
central building was erected there were five teachers employed in as
many different rooms, at convenient distances for the pupils attending.
Since the year 1865, three other school buildings have been erected
to accommodate the schools of Red Wing. At present twenty teachers
are employed besides the superintendent.
The current expenses of the Red Wing schools are now from $18,000
to $20,000 per annum. The number of scholars enrolled the last year
1,224.
District No. 2 of the county was organized at the head of the lake,
in Wacoota township, in 1855; and Nos. 3 and 4, in Burnside, soon after.
A schoolhouse of considerable size was built at Cannon Falls as early
as 1860. In all the settled parts of the county, public schools were
established as soon as practicable. But good schoolhouses were rare in
the country districts until within a few years last past.
The following is a description of a few of these which were occupied
by schools in 1864: At that time just one hundred districts had
been organized, and schools were taught in eighty of them.
One school was found in a large barn, the great doors being
left open to afford light. Chickens, ducks and pigs were running
in the yard, and a large portion of the teacher's time was spent in
keeping out these intruders. The only seats for the scholars were
two long benches, with no support for the back. In the basement,
directly under the schoolroom, were stalls for horses and cattle.
Another school was taught in a deserted log shanty, without windows
except openings between the logs, and one large opening in the roof.
There was one door, but being without hinges or fastenings, was rather
inconvenient.
A third school occupied a room of a dwelling, where a family was
residing. The room was less than ten feet square, and in it were nine-
teen scholars and their teacher.
«
Another school was kept in the attic of a log house. The wing or
" lean up" to a log house, with seats extemporized by laying rough
boards across large sticks of wood, and a sort of shelf fixed against the
wall for the writing desk, constituted the more common kind of school
houses in those days.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 281
But the time for such school houses has gone by, and there are a
large number of fine school buildings, both in village and country dis-
tricts, that will compare favorably with any in the older states.
The following statistics from the report of the county superintendent
for the school year ending August 31, 1878, show the present state of
the public schools of Goodhue county:
SCHOOL STATISTICS.
The whole number of scholars enrolled in the schools of the county
is 7,692. The entire number entitled to apportionment, 7,404.
Number enrolled in winter, 6,423 ; summer enrollment, 3,679.
Total number of schools in all the districts, 173.
Total number of days of school in winter, 9,057 ; summer, 5,399.
Total daily attendance in winter, 4,207 4-10 ; summer, 2,906 6-10.
Average winter wages per month to teachers, $38.72; summer, $31.92.
Number of school-houses in the county, 149: brick, eight; stone,
four; frame, 136, and one composed of logs.
The value of the school-houses and the ground upon which they
stand, is computed at $161,274.
Cash on hand in the various districts at the beginning of the year,
$20,577.44.
Received from school fund, $15,039.24 ; one mill tax collected, $9,-
461.38; received from special taxes collected, $43,795.30.
Received from bonds, $2,008.50; from all other sources, $1,730.89.
Paid for teachers' wages, $46,390.42 ; for repairs and improving
grounds, $2,386.56.
Paid for wood and supplies, $4,137.48.
Paid for new school houses and sites, $2,383.27.
Paid for rents, $108.95; bonds and interest, $5.470.98 ; for all other
purposes, $3,717.97.
Cash on hand at this writing— Oct. 1, 1878— $22,997.08.
Whole amount paid out, $64,691. Number of grade certificates
granted, two to males and one to females. Number of second grade
certificates, sixty-three to females and thirty-eight to males. Number
of third grade certificates, females forty-eight, males eight. Number of
applicants rejected, twenty-six.
282 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
WAR HISTORY.
PATRIOTISM AND LIBERALITY OF THE PEOPLE.
If there is any one thing more than another of which the people of
the Northern States have reason to be proud, it is the record they made
during the dark and bloody days of the war of the rebellion. When the
war was forced upon the country the people were quietly pursuing the
even tenor of their ways, doing whatever their hands found to do —
making farms or cultivating those already made, erecting homes,
founding cities and towns, building shops and manufactories — in short,
the country was alive with industry and hopes for the future. The
country was just recovering from the depression and losses incident to
the financial panic of 1857.
The future looked bright and promising, and the industrious and
patriotic sons and daughters of the Free States were buoyant with hope?
and looking forward to the perfecting of new plans for the ensurement
of comfort and competence in their declining years, they little heeded
the mutterings and threatenings of treason's children in the Slave States
of the South. True sons and descendants of the heroes of the " times
that tried men's souls " — the struggle for American independence — they
never dreamed that there was even one so base as to attempt the
destruction of the Union of their fathers — a government baptized with
the best blood the world ever knew. While immediately surrounded
with peace and tranquility, they paid but little attention to rumored
plots and plans of those who lived and grew rich from the sweat, and
toil, and blood, and flesh, of others — aye, even by trafficking in the
offspring of their own loins. Nevertheless the war came with all its
attendant horrors.
April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter, at Charleston, South Carolina, Major
Anderson, U. S. A. commandant, was fired upon by rebels in arms.
Although basest treason, this first act in the bloody reality that followed
was looked upon as mere bravado of a few hotheads — the act of' a few
fire-eaters, whose sectional bias and freedom hatred was crazed by
excessive indulgence in intoxicating potations. When, a day later, the
news was borne along the telegraph wires, that Major Anderson had
been forced to surrender to what at first had been regarded as a
drunken mob, the patriotic people of the North were startled from their
dreams of the future — from undertakings half completed — and made
to realize that behind that mob there was a dark, deep and well organ-
ized purpose to destroy the government, rend the Union in twain, and
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 283
out of its ruins erect a slave oligarchy, wherein no one would dare
question their right to hold in bondage the sons and daughters of men
whose skins were black, or who, perchauce, through practices of lustful
natures, were half or three-quarters removed from the color that God,
for His own purpose, had given them. But they reckoned without their
host. Their dreams of the future — their plans for the establishment of
an independent confederacy, were doomed from inception to sad and
bitter disappointment.
Immediately upon the surrender of Fort Sumter, Abraham Lincoln,
America's martyr president, who, but a few short weeks before had
taken the oath of office as the nation's chief executive, issued a proc-
lamation calling for 75,000 volunteers for three months. The last word
of that proclamation had scarcely been taken from the electric wires
before the call was filled. Men and money were counted out by
hundreds of thousands.
The people who loved their whole government could not give enough.
Patriotism thrilled and vibrated and pulsated through every heart.
The farm, the workshop, the office, the pulpit, the bar, the bench, the
college, the school house — every calling offered its best men, their lives
and fortunes in defense of the government's honor and unity. Party
lines were, for the time, ignored. Bitter words spoken in moments of
political heat, were forgotten and forgiven, and joining in a common
cause, the masses of the people repeated the oath of America's soldier
statesman, " By the great Eternal, the Union must and shall he pre-
served."
The gauntlet thrown down by the traitors of the South in their
attack on Fort Sumter was accepted, not, however, in the spirit with
which insolence meets insolence, but with a firm, determined spirit of
patriotism and love of country. The duty of the president was plain
under the constitution and laws, and above and beyond all, the masses
of the people from whom all political power is derived, demanded the
suppression of the rebellion, and stood ready to sustain the authority
of their representatives and executive officers.
April 14, A. D. 1861, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States,
issued the following
PROCLAMATION :
Whereas, The laws of the United States have been, and now are,
violently opposed in several States by combinations too powerful to be
suppressed in the ordinary way, I therefore call for the militia of the
several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of 75,000 men,
284 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
to suppress said combination and execute the laws. I appeal to all
loyal citizens to facilitate and aid in this effort to maintain the laws,
the integrity and perpetuity of the popular government, and redress the
wrongs long enough endured. The first service assigned to the forces,
probably, will be to repossess the forts, places and property which have
been seized from the Union. Let the utmost care be taken, consistent
with the object, to avoid devastation, destruction, or interference with
the property of peaceful citizens in any part of the country ; and I
hereby command the persons composing the aforesaid combination to
disperse within twenty days from date.
I hereby convene both Houses of Congress for the 4th day of July
next, to determine upon measures for the public safety which the inter-
est of the subjects demands.
Wm. H. Seward, Abraham Lincoln,
Secretary of State. President of the United States.
Seventy-five thousand men were not enough to subdue the rebellion.
Nor were ten times that number. The war went on, and call followed
call, until it began to look as if there would not be men enough in all
the free States to crush out and subdue the monstrous war traitors had
inaugurated. But to every call for either men or money, there was a
willing and a ready response. And it is a boast of the people that, had
the supply of men fallen short, there were women brave enough, daring
enough, patriotic enough, to have offered themselves as sacrifices on
their country's altar.
Such were the impulses, motives and actions of the patriotic men of
the North, among whom the sons of Goodhue made a conspicuous and
praiseworthy record, one-sixth of the entire population enlisting in
defense of their country's cause.
The readiness with which the first call was filled, together with the
embarrassments that surrounded President Lincoln in the absence of
sufficient laws to authorize him to meet the unholy, unlooked-for and
unexpected emergency — an emergency that had never been anticipated
by the wisest and best of America's statesmen — together with an under-
estimate of the magnitude of the rebellion and the general belief that
the war could not and would not last more than three months, checked,
rather than encouraged, the patriotic ardor of the people.
But very few of the men, comparatively speaking, who volunteered
in response to President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers for three
months, were accepted. But the time soon came when there was a
place and a musket for every man. Call followed call in quick succes-
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 285
sion, until the number reached the grand total of 3,339,748, as
follows:
April 16, 1861, for three months, - - - 75,000
May 4, 1861, for five years, - ... 64,748
July, 1861, for three years, - - - 500,000
July 18, 1862, for three years, .... 300,000
August 4, 1862, for nine months, - - . 300,000
June, 1863, for three years, - - - 300,000
October 17, 1863, for three years, - - 300,000
February 18, 1864, for three years, - - 500,000
July 10, 1864, for three years, - - - 200,000
July 16, 1864, for one, two and three years, 500,000
December 24, 1864, for three years, - - 300,000
3,339,748
April 19, 1861, the Goodhue County "Republican," L. F. Hubbard,
editor, had the following war article :
"The crisis so long impending, has come at last. The blow has been
struck. The war has commenced. From the mass of dispatches given
in to-day's 'Republican,' the reader will learn full particulars of the
capture of Fort Sumter, by the southern rebels. The details of the
affair as given, though received through channels controlled by the
rebels, are doubtless substantially as they transpired.
" The last hope for a peaceful adjustment of our national dissensions,
by whomsoever entertained, must now be abandoned, and the dread
issue of war accepted as the only arbiter of our difficulties. However
much it may be deplored, though all patriots have devoutly prayed that
the calamity might be averted, the terrible reality must be met face to
face. Whatever of sympathy they may have had among the people of
the North, this last act of the Southern rebels has lost it to them, and
the universal sentiment of the civilized world will condemn their cause
as an unholy warfare upon human rights and constitutional liberty.
The news from every portion of the North indicates a general uprising
of the people in support of the government. All past differences are
blotted out. All considerations of party or of faction are laid aside,
and everywhere throughout the loyal States the popular voice is
unanimous in sustaining the government. Offers of men much in excess
of present demands have already been tendered the President, and
profers of loans to large amounts have been made in several of the
States.
" Minnesota is called upon for one regiment of men. The response,
286 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
we doubt not, will be such as befits the occasion. Indeed, we already
have assurances that the number will be promptly made up. May the
God of battle protect and defend the right."
The same issue of the "Republican" contained the following call for
a war meeting :
« TO ARMS ! TO ARMS ! !
" A public meeting of the citizens of Goodhue county will be held
at the court house in this city, this (Friday) evening, the* 19th inst., at
seven o'clock. In view of the public exigencies, every patriot that can
attend should do so. A full company of infantry must and shall be
organized for the service of the government.
Signed, Many Citizens."
The tocsin of war was sounded. Meetings were held in all the town-
ships, at which stirring and spirited addresses were made, and
resolutions adopted that admitted of but one interpretation.
THE FIRST WAR MEETING — SPIRITED RESOLUTIONS.
The first war meeting in Goodhue was held in accordance with the
notice above published, and was thus noticed in the " Republican," of
the 26th of April :
"The meeting held in this city on last Friday night was an import-
ant event in the history of Red Wing. It greatly exceeded, both in
numbers and enthusiam, any gathering that has ever taken place in
this locality. The people turned out en masse, and signified by word
and action their patriotic devotion to their country in its hour of peril.
It was indeed a glorious sight to see men forgetting the differences of
the past, laying aside the issues that had divided them until now, and
rallying side by side in a single cause. It was an occasion never to be
blotted from the memory of an individual present.
" Early in the evening crowds paraded the streets with music and
banners, and the ' Young Republican,' that had before rallied the crowd
in a partizan cause, did more noble service in sounding the call of the
country. Even the inanimate iron seemed to be inspired by the occa-
sion, as it belched forth its thunder in loudest tones.
"The meeting at the court house was organized by the election of
Hon. W. H. Welch, president; W. S. Grow and C. H. Baker, vice-presi-
dents ; and M. Maginnis and L. F. Hubbard, secretaries.
" On motion, a committee of five, consisting of Messrs. L. F. Hubbard,
William Colvill, H. B. Wilson, W. C. Williston and George Wilkinson,
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 287
was appointed to report resolutions expressive of the sense of the
meeting upon the existing crisis. The committee submitted the follow-
ing, which were adopted amidst the most enthusiastic demonstrations :
'"Whereas, The people in certain States of this republic have arisen
in armed rebellion against the general government, have robbed it of
millions of its property, have insulted its flag, have taken one of its
fortresses by force of arms under circumstances of peculiar indignity,
and now threaten the entire destruction of the government itself by
an attack upon the national capital, and by a general war; and
"'Whereas, Every consideration of honor, patriotism, and safety,
demands that the legitimate authorities be sustained in their efforts to
put down the traitors and to sustain the government; therefore
" '■Resolved, That whoever is not for the government is against it;
that all who sympathize with treason are traitors at heart, and only
lack the opportunity to carry their treason into practice.
"'That in the existing state of public affairs, it is the duty of all
citizens loyal to their country to forget all past differences of opinion,
and laying aside all inquiries as to the cause of the present difficulties,
bury forever the political hatchet, and henceforward know and sustain
our country, right or wrong ; and that we, the citizens of Goodhue
county, remembering only our country in its hour of peril, do hereby
express our readiness and determination to make any sacrifices which
may be required of us to maintain the honor of the Stars and Stripes,
to sustain the government and enforce the laws.
"'Resolved, That Goodhue county ought to and will furnish one com-
pany as her part of the quota required of the State.'
"The following resolution offered by W. S. Grow, was unanimously
adopted :
" \Resolved, That those individuals in our midst who turn their backs
upon their country in the hour of peril and danger, and forsake the
glorious old stars and stripes, that has protected them in their lives
and liberties, that has so long been a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar
of fire by night, deserve the contempt of all good and loyal citizens. 1
"The audience were entertained until a late hour with stirring speeches
by the president, Messrs. McClure, Sorin, Williston, Crary, Oolvill, Hoy t,
E. A. Welch and others. * * * A call was made for volunteers,
which was responded to by upwards of fifty, who placed their names
to a paper, pledging their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor
in upholding the stars and stripes against the rebellious assaults now
made upon them."
The company thus commenced, was the first company outside of the
288
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
organized State militia, to be offered to the governor under his call for
one regiment. As soon as the governor's proclamation was issued,
enlistments were commenced, and within five days the ranks of the
Goodhue volunteers were full, with men to spare.
On Monday, the 22nd of April, 1861, the county commissioners being
in session, a petition signed by numerous citizens, asking for an appro-
priation by the county of the sum of five hundred dollars for the support
of the Goodhue volunteers during the time they are preparing and
filling up their ranks, and for the support of their families during their
absence, was received, " whereupon, on motion, the sum of three hundred
dollars was appropriated for that purpose."
"It was further ordered that a committee of three be appointed to
see to the wants of said volunteers and families, and to expend said
money, or so much thereof as should be deemed by them necessary, and
that the county auditor be authorized to issue orders on the treasury
on the certificate of said committee for the amounts ;" which motion
prevailed.
The following citizens were elected to act as such committee : W.
H. Welch, W. Featherstone, Pascal Smith.
On Tuesday, the 23d of April, one hundred and fourteen men had
enlisted — fourteen more than wanted. Friday, the 26th, the company
was fully organized and ready for service. The following was the
organization and list of members :
Captain, William Oolvill, Jr.; First Lieutenant, A. E. Welch ; Second
Lieutenant, M. A. Hoyt; first sergeant, Martin Maginnis; second ser-
geant, C. P. Clark; third sergeant, Hezekiah Bauce ; fourth sergeant,
H. T. Bevans ; first corporal, John Barrow ; second corporal, A. E. Sco-
field ; third corporal, George Knight ; fourth corporal, Charles Harris ;
bugler, R. N. Bevans.
Jonas P. Davis,
E. L. Davis,
Elijah M.Thomas,
Fred E. Miller,
J. C. McClure,
J. C. McClenthen,
Theodore S. Wood,
Robert W. Seeson,
Williamson Crary,
Paul Nelson,
PRIVATES.
Lewis Cannon,
William D. Hubbs,
R. C. Barnes,
W.W.Wilson,
W. B. Kitchell,
Frank Snyder,
L. McManus,
Edward Ash,
J. Ahneman,
Asa Howe,
W. S. Workman,
Fred. Crossman,
George Harrison,
S. B. Dilley,
Lewis Quinnell,
James A. Wright,
Christopher Eastman,
C.E.Hudson,
William Duling,
T. Thompson,
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
■JS!)
E. A. Jackson,
J. C. F. Hobart,
A. Baniber,
J. R. Brown,
W. W. Clark,
William Gordon,
Henry Bennett,
D. C. Smith,
O. Burgh, *
C. W. Scott,
A. Glazier,
A. P. Baker,
R. E. Jacobs,
S. E. Baldwin,
E. F. Grow,
J. F. Bachelor,
J. M. Underwood,
O. W. Sudden,
C. W. Mills,
Drik Metseder,
P. R. Hamlin,
J. P. Kirk ham,
Richard McGee,
George Mozer,
Jeflerson Banner,
0. W. Merritt,
German Anderson,
John Lindquist,
John Williams,
Ferris Johnson,
Hiram J. Rush,
M. B. Milliken,
John H. Smith,
P. T. Galloway.
James W. Day,
T. G. Leeson,
W. D. Bennett,
Charles Adams,
George W. Wright,
S. B. Nilson,
William Esdou,
Marion Abbott,
George L. Lewis,
C. S. Bonderont,
E. F. Pitcher,
David Schwieger,
Edward Berdan,
George Noormer,
Fred. Rembrondt,
Hans Hoelstadt,
W. C. Riddle,
M. S. Standish,
William Bryant,
P. T. Davidson,
E.O.Williams.
George Atkinson,
"Saturday afternoon, April 27th (said the 'Republican' of May 3,)
the Goodhue Volunteers left Red Wing, by the stearher Ocean Wave, for
St. Paul and Fort Snelling, where the regiment (the 1st) to which they
were assigned was mustered in. Their departure was witnessed by a
large number of citizens, who gathered on the levee to bid God speed
to the gallant fellows in the glorious mission that called them away.
Among the throng were a large number of the relatives and near
friends of members of the company, who had come to give them a part-
ing word of counsel and cheer, and perhaps take the last look upon
those they loved. Many an eye dimmed and many a lip quivered, as
they filed aboard the boat, and not unfrequently might have been
noticed a tear stealing down the cheeks of those who had just bidden
farewell to friends. As the boat moved from the levee, the crowd ashore
cheered lustily, which was heartily responded to by the volunteers, and
amid the waving of flags and handkerchiefs, and the hurrahs of the
multitude, the Ocean Wave passed out of sight."
Of the reception at St. Paul of this first company raised in Minnesota
and offered as a sacrifice in defense of the integrity and perpetuity of
the American Union, the ; ' Press " of May 2d, said :
"They were received at the landing by the Pioneer Guards, who
escorted them to their temporary quarters in the city. An immense
crowd of citizens were at the levee to welcome their arrival ; and as
20
290
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
the companies filed through the streets to their quarters, the sidewalks
were lined with ladies and gentlemen, who kept up a continuous cheer
as the brave volunteers passed along. The ranks returned the saluta-
tions with hearty goodwill.
" The Red Wing Brass Band came up with the company from that
place, and added materially to the enthusiasm of the occasion.
"The company is more than full, and composed of the very bone and
sinew of the stalwart farmers of Goodhue county."'
No sooner was the above company full — in fact even before its organ-
ization was nearly perfected — a movement was started for the
organization of a second company in Red Wing, and up to Friday, the
3d of May, fifty names were reported. Patriotic enthusiasm was at
fever heat. Saturday evening, the 4th, this second company met and
perfected its organization by the election of the following officers :
Captain, A. D. Whitney ; first lieutenant, E. L. Baker; second lieuten-
ant, H. Mattson ; third lieutenant, J. F. Pingrey ; first sergeant, Andrew
A. Teele; second sergeant, W. E. Hawkins; third sergeant, J. H. Mues;
fourth sergeant, C. R. Brink; first corporal, C. Berg; second corporal,
M. J. Chamberlain ; third corporal, J. S. Allyn ; fourth corporal, C. C.
Johnson ; ensign, W. W. Phelps ; bugler, J. C. ELawes.
F. A. Meredith,
T. B. McCord,
William Phileo,
Charles Betcher,
W. P. Brown,
L. F. Hubbard,
Harvey Miller,
A. Johnson,
W. C. Williston,
Benjamin Densmore,
Daniel Densmore,
PRIVATES.
H.B.Wilson,
W. W. Rich,
T. R. Sterling,
J. M. Hodgman,
S.B.Morrow,
LH, Girard,
C. H. Baker,
A. Thomas,
Allen Swain,
W. W. DeKay,
R. N. McLaren,
G.W.Baldwin,
John Foot,
D. Mellen,
Watts Sherman,
H. C. Hoffman,
J. Ashton,
H. Hickman,
D. Heald,
F. P. Downing,
Herman Betcher.
C. C. Webster,
The country districts were not idle. All over the county the people
were full of patriotic furore. Meetings were held in almost every school
house, at which spirited addresses were made by the representative
men of the county. But few speeches, however, were needed. The
flag of the country had been grossly insulted ; the people were indignant
and resolved that the insult should be resented even if it took the last
man and the last dollar in the Northern States to punish the traitors and
subdue the rebellion they had inaugurated. And among all the people
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
291
of the patriotic North, none were braver or more devoted to the cause
of the Union than the sons of Norway and Sweden who had found homes
in Goodhue county. Not even native-born Americans made a better
record. They were true to their oaths of allegiance, and gallantly
joined the ranks of the "boys in blue,"" and marched away to help
defend the country of their adoption.
Besides furnishing nearly one-fifth of the rank and file of the first
company that went from Goodhue county, Fine Island township came
to the front with the " Pine Island Rifles,' 1 of which the following is the
muster roll :
OFFICERS.
Captain, N. D. Marble; first lieutenant, William Haskins; second
lieutenant, H. M. Stanton ; first sergeant, M. Tarbox ; second sergeant,
O. Morehouse ; third sergeant, J. Dickey ; fourth sergeant, H. Ahneman ;
first corporal, S. Kirkham ; second corporal, S. Corning ; third corporal,
John Eschabold ; fourth corporal, P. A. Shoemaker.
T. Parker,
W.S.Hubbs,
W. S. Heaton,
O. E. Smith,
James Pratt,
Isaac Gate,
William P. Hall,
E. W. Maynard,
O. M. Frink,
H. Washburn,
E. V. Dickey,
E. C. Parker,
PRIVATES.
H. M. Prime,
Allen Hills,
I. B. Perkins,
C. Reinhardt,
G. Marble,
Peter Morn any,
M. H. Palmer,
H. 0. Wheeler,
C. C. Cenatt,
H. F. Emery,
L. Van Nomee,
N. Andrews,
M. P. Parker,
F.McMannus,
M. Glazier,
C. L. Hubbs,
W. B. Dickey,*
John Ahneman,
William Mead,
John Hanks,
Leisler Hamlin,
S. W. Miller,
S. C. Jewell.
J.H.Gilleland,
Then came a company from Roscoe township — the Roscoe Union
Guards — with the following officers:
Captain, C. C. Sent; first lieutenant, J. M. Gates; second lieutenant.
D. C. Harkness; first sergeant, P. Slagle ; second sergeant, F. Hagler;
third sergeant, J. R. Cox; fourth sergeant, J. T. Comstock ; corporals,
Jacob Sherwood, Charles Simpson, B. F. Dayton, H. Collins; ensign, L.
Ward.
And thus the good work continued as long as there was a hand
upraised against the government. While the fathers and sons and
brothers and husbands were busy organizing companies and helping
292 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
them off " to the front," the wives and mothers and sisters and daughters
were no less active. Their deft fingers, guided by noble, patriotic
hearts, were busy in fashioning and sending forward such articles as
the volunteers needed. During the last week in July the ladies of Red
Wing were engaged at Masonic Hall in this good work, and on Satur-
day, the 2d day of August, forwarded to Rev. E. D. Neill, chaplain of
the First Minnesota Regiment, for the use and comfort of Captain Col-
vill's company, the following invoice of goods :
17 dressing gowns, valued at - - $ 25.50
6 pair slippers, @ 50 cents, - .... 3.00
75 towels, @ 10 cents, ... . 7.50
41 pair socks, @ 20 cents, ...... 8.20
75 pillow cases, @ 12£ cents, - - - 9.38
36 shirts, @ $1.00, .... . 36.00
54 sheets, @ 75 cents, - - - - 40.50
18 pair drawers, @ 75 cents, - - 13.50
2 paper pins, @ 10 cents, - - 20
Total - - - - - $143.78
At Cannon Falls the ladies undertook an entertainment that netted
them forty dollars in ready money, which was forwarded to Mr. Neill.
And so it was. Whenever money was needed money was given. Some-
times it was given directly from the pocket, whenever there was occa-
sion or demand. It would be interesting to record the money contri-
butions, voluntarily as well as by means of taxation, made by the peo-
ple during the years of the rebellion, but that would be impossible.
Of the former no accounts were kept. People never stopped to reckon
the cost, or keep accounts of what they gave. Whenever money was
needed for any purpose, and purposes and needs were plenty, it was
given and paid on demand. There were no delays, no excuses, no "days
of grace," no time for consideration demanded. People were ready
and willing. Husbands and fathers abandoned homes and their com-
forts, wives and little ones, for the dangers of tented fields of battle,
assured that, in their absence, plenty would be provided for their loved
ones. Because of this knowledge their dreams were none the less
sweet nor their slumbers less refreshing, even if their beds were made
upon mother earth, and their covering only that of the starry dome
above.
It was estimated in May, 1861, that within eighteen days after the
war commenced, thirty-two millions of dollars were contributed by the
States, societies and individuals in the North, to aid the government in
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 293
quelling the rebellion. That immense sum was spontaneously given.
No questions were asked ; no explanations demanded. The life of the
nation was at issue, and the people were ready and willing to give all
for its preservation. The world never witnessed such an uprising of
the masses; such a unanimity of sentiment; such a willingness to sac-
rifice men and money, as was shown by the people of the States north
of Mason and Dixon's Line, from the time the rebels fired upon Fort
Sumter, in April, 1861, until the surrender of Treason's army in 1865.
When the last census previous to the beginning of the war was taken,
in 1860, the population of Goodhue was 8,977, including men, women
and children. According to the best sources of information now acces-
sible, this population was represented in the army of the Union by
1,508 volunteers! or very nearly one sixth of the entire population!
The population considered, the facts here quoted certainly entitle
Goodhue to be recognized as the Banner County of the young and
vigorous State of Minnesota in the great and final conflict between
Freedom and Slavery !
These 1,508 brave and true men were distributed among the several
townships, as then organized, as follows :
Leon 63
Minneola 57
Pine Island 96
Roscoe 62
Red Wing 285
Vasa 62
Wanamingo 103
Warsaw 49
Waucoota 16
Zumbrota 48
1508
Burnside 33
Belle Creek.... 34
Belvidere 30
Cannon Falls 51
Central Point 21
Cherry Grove 73
Featherstone 79
Florence 85
Goodhue 31
Holden ." 102
Hay Creek 50
Keny on 39
Lillian (now Stanton) 39
The reader will detect a difference of five hundred and eight between
the number given here and the report elsewhere transcribed from the
Adjutant General's Report, The difference in numbers is due to two
reasons : First, the generally conceded inaccuracy of that report, and
second, a great many men enlisted in companies and regiments raised
outside of the county and State, that were not credited to Goodhue
county. The number, as quoted above, was taken from township sources,
and obtained from authorities that knew the name of every man that
enlisted from their midst, and hence may be regarded as accurate and
reliable.
294 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Frequent applications were made to the board of county commision-
ers for appropriations for volunteer purposes, and in no case did the
board refuse to consider the applications or grant the relief asked. On
the fifth of September. P. Smith, on behalf of a large number of citi-
zens, presented a petition asking for an appropriation of $300 for the
aid of volunteers and their families ; and it was ordered that the sum
of $300 be so appropriated, and that it be expended as follows : One
hundred to help defray the expenses of recruiting each a.nd every vol-
unteer company, and the balance, ($200) to be used for the benefit of
needy families
Under date of the 15th of October, 1861. the following entry appears
of record:
" Whereas, this country is in danger, and many men are needed by our
government for its defense ; and whereas H. Mattson, the auditor of
Goodhue county, Minn., is willing and anxious to raise a company of his
countrymen and volunteer his and its services to the defense of our coun-
try ; and whereas he is desirous of retaining his office as county auditor,
and is willing to place his business as such auditor, during his absence,
in the hands of competent men, to be approved by the commis-
sioners of this county, be it therefore
"Resolved, that we, the commissioners of said county, do hereby
approve of his volunteering and still retaining his office as aforesaid,
and as far as we can legally do so, we pledge him that as long as said
office is properly managed by his said deputies, we will consent cheer-
fully to have him retain the same, though absent in the defense of our
government and common country; and we hereby strongly recommend
to our successors in office, that they will also consent ^to such absence,
and not consider said office vacant as long as it is properly managed by
his said deputies.
" We also approve of Fred. Joss as principal clerk or deputy of said
auditor during his said absence."
Mr. Mattson succeeded in raising a company, which was assigned to
the Third Regiment, Mr. Mattson's company being designated as com-
pany D. It was officered as follows :
Captain, H. Mattson ; first lieutenant, L. K. Aakers ; second lieutenant,
H. Eustram ; orderlies, John Vaustrum, J. G. Gustafson, H.Johnson,
O. Folin, O. Leitzgren.
Captain Gurnee raised a company at the same time, which was also
assigned to the Third Regiment, and was designated as company E.
The " St. Paul Press " thus complimented these companies after they
appeared at the capital city :
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 295
" We congratulate Captain Mattson and his fellow countrymen upon
his success, and upon the fine representative company of Swedes and
Norwegians which he commands. A better company of soldiers has
not been mustered into the service.
" Captain Gurnee's Red Wing company was also filled to the minimum
yesterday, and takes rank as Company E. Good for old Goodhue ! This
makes the fourth company she has turned out for the war, besides help-
ing outside companies. She has at least four hundred men now in the
field. In Captain Gurnee's company we find the very flower of the
young men of Red Wing and other portions of the county. They have
a gallant gentleman to lead them, and they will never be known to
falter."
And they never did falter, although severely tried in many a hotly
contested engagement.
October 18, 1861, the " Republican ? ' wrote : "We claim the banner
for Goodhue county. She has furnished more volunteers in proportion
to her population than any other county in the State. She has one full
company in the first regiment, one in the second, two in the third, and
one in the fourth, besides being largely represented in the company of
sharpshooters and of cavalry that are furnished by the State, and there
is now organizing a company of artillery. Is there another county in
the west, of a population of about eight thousand, that has done as
well?"
Resignation of Mr. Mattson. — July 30, 1862, the board of commis-
sioners met pursuant to call. The resignation of Mr. Mattson, in the
following words, was received and accepted :
" County Auditor's Office, Red Wing, July, 10, 1862.
To the Hon. Board of County Commissioners of Goodhue county,
Minnesota,. — Gentlemen: When nearly a year ago I asked of your
predecessors in office leave to absent myself from this office for the pur-
pose of enlisting in the army of the country, and still retain the office
of county auditor of your county, my reasons for desiring to retain the
office was the hope that the present war, for which I enlisted, would
soon be brought to a close, and that I might return to this place long
before the expiration of my term of office, and thus find employment as
auditor during the remainder of the term.
" Events have since transpired, and are daily transpiring, which now
lead me to believe that the war will be of longer duration, and that
there is no reasonable prospect of my return home before the expira-
tion of said term of office.
296 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
" In view of these facts, I do therefore now most respectfully tender
my resignation as such county auditor, to take effect on or about the
last day of this month, that being necessary to bring the business of the
office to a final settlement on my part.
"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"H, Mattson,
County Auditor Goodhue County.''''
The same day (July 30, 1862) the commissioners passed the following
resolution :
" Resolved, That there be paid from the treasury of Goodhue county
to each and every person who may enlist in any company that may
be raised in this count}' for the sixth regiment of Minnesota volunteers,
or in any other regiment that may hereafter be called for from this
State, the sum of $20: said sum to be paid upon the mustering in of
the person enlisting, upon the certificate of the mustering officer or
commander of the company in which such recruit may enlist that such
person has enlisted."
September 2, the following additional resolution was passed :
" Resolved, That all persons who have enlisted and been mustered
into the service of the United States since the passage of the resolution
granting bounties to volunteers, whether such persons have enlisted in
companies raised in this county or not, provided they are accredited to
this county, be entitled to receive the $20 bounty."
The pen could be employed for months in sketching the uprising of
the people, the formation of companies, and telling of the deeds of
valor and heroism of the •' boys in blue" from Goodhue. There is
material here for volumes upon volumes, and it would be a pleasing
task to collect and arrange it, but no words our pen could employ
would add a single laurel to their brave and heroic deeds. Acts speak
louder than words, and their acts have spoken — are recorded on pages
written in blood. The people of no county in any of the States of the
freedom and Union-loving North made a better record during the dark
and trying times of the sanguinary and final struggle between freedom
and slavery, patriotism and treason, than the people of Goodhue.
Monuments may crumble, cities fall into decay, the tooth of time leave
its impress on all the works of man, but the memory of the gallant
deeds of the army of the Union in the war of the great rebellion, in
which the sons of this county bore so conspicuous a part, will live in
the minds of men so long as time and civilized governments endure.
March 23, 1864, the board of commissioners
'-'•Resolved, That there be paid from the treasury of Goodhue county,
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 297
to each and every person who enlisted or re-enlisted in the service of
the United States since July 30, 1862, the sum of twenty dollars
($20) bounty: said sum to be paid upon the presentation of the cer-
tificate of the mustering officer or commander of the company in which
such recruit or veteran has enlisted, that such person has enlisted or
re-enlisted."
It was the purpose and the desire of the publishers of this work, to
make a complete record of the amounts of money contributed by the
several townships, as well as by the county, in aid of the war. The}'
made every reasonable exertion to obtain the necessary data to do this,
but the carelessness or indifference of parties who ought to be in pos-
session of the facts and figures relating to this department of the
undertaking, and their neglect to respond to letters of inquiry, forces
the publishers to reluctantly abandon this part of their undertaking,
except in part.
Lewis Johnson, town clerk of Goodhue township, kindly furnishes
the publishers the following:
" April 5, 1864, voted to raise a tax of - $1,200
" Aug. 26, 1864, " " « ... l,500—$2,700
a Several private contributions were made, but of such I can furnish
no record or statistics."
Geo. Featherstone, of the 'township of Featherstone, furnishes the
following : An examination of the records of our town discloses the
fact that between 1863 and the end of the war, our people expended
for war purposes over $13,000. This was by authority and direction of
the town. There were contributions of a private nature for "sanitary
commission" and other purposes besides, of which no record was pre-
served. The town furnished from first to last about 85 men — about 25
of whom were citizens. This was done out of a voting population vary-
ing from 100 to 125, as appears from the poll lists of that period.
Mr. Swan Turner, treasurer of Vasa township, furnished the following :
"The financial record of this township, in connection with the war, is
about as follows : During the years 1862 and 1863, the people raised,
by voluntary subscription, the sum of $4,000, which was paid out to
volunteers and for the benefit of their families. In 1863, 1864, 1865
and 1866, there was levied, collected and paid out to volunteers and
their families, as appears from the treasurer's books, the sum of $12,120 ;
making a total raised in this township, by taxation and otherwise, of
$12,520.
"This town had quite a large per cent, of its men in the army, but did
not get credit for all of them. Other places picked up many of our
298 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
young men and secured credit for them. They understood the 'game.'
"Under the first call for volunteers, twenty young men enlisted from
this township without bounty or aid from any one. They were our first
offering, and comprise
" vasa's roll of honor.
" They sought no reward but the reward of soldiers. They loved their
adopted country, and offered their lives in defense of its honor, integ-
rity and unity."
Olof Anderson, Olof Fahlin, Nils Ringdahl,
John A. Anderson, Peter Johnson, Charles Roos,
Nils Abrahamson, John Johnson, Gustav Swenson,
Frank Carlson, John Monson, Charles J. Sundell,
Victor Freiman, John P. Ofelt, Jonas Swan,
Charles R. Charleson, John F.Olson, John Larson.
Halvor Ekeland, Paul Paulson,
Mr. Joseph S. Thompson, the first settler in Belvidere township, a
gentleman of integrity and intelligence, and one who has occupied
several places of trust conferred by his fellow-citizens, took some
trouble to gather up the war history of his township. He reports that
about $3,500 were raised and paid out for bounties, etc., and that the
township furnished nearly sixty men for "the army of the Union. He
exercised a good deal of care in gathering these items, showing an
enterprise that is a credit not only to himself, but to the township he
has seen grow out of a wilderness into a garden of beauty and produc-
tiveness.
The publishers would gladly make a similar record for each of the
other townships in the county, but the data has been denied them, and
hence through no fault of theirs, they are compelled to submit to the
inevitable. The responsibility, however, rests with others. Facts and
figures were requested, but they were not furnished. The record is
acknowledged to be incomplete, but no one regrets its incompleteness
more than the publishers. The friends and patrons of this undertaking
in the several townships that are omitted from this report, are referred
to their clerks and treasurers for the causes of the omission. With
them rests the responsibility.
Having thus noticed the spirit of patriotism that fired the hearts of
the sons and daughters of Goodhue, the sacrifices and readiness of the
wealthier classes, and of the tax-payers to sustain the Union, we come
now more directly to the volunteer soldiery. And of these what can
we write? What words can the pen employ that would do justice to
THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
299
their heroic valor — their unequalled and unparalleled valor? Home
and home comforts, wives and little ones, fathers, mothers, sisters,
brothers, were given up for life and danger on tented fields of battle,
for exposure, disease and death at the cannon's mouth. They reckoned
none of these, but went out with their lives in their hands to meet and
conquer the foes of the Union, maintain its supremacy and vindicate its
unity and integrity. We can offer no more fitting tribute to their
patriotic valor, than a full and complete record, so far as it is possible
to make it, that will embrace the names, the terms of enlistments,
the battles in which they engaged, their promotions, etc. It will be a
wreath of glory encircling every brow, and a memento which each
and every one of them earned in defense of the most righteous cause
that ever incited a people to arms.
WAR RECORD OF GOODHUE COUNTY
TAKEN FROM THE ADJUTANT GENERAL'S REPORT.
ABBREVIATIONS.
Adjt. Adjutant.
Art Artillery.
Bat Battle or Battalion.
Col Colonel.
Capt Captain.
corpl corporal.
Comsy Commissary.
cav Cavalry.
captd captured.
desrtd deserted.
disab disability.
dischd discharged.
e enlisted.
excd exchanged.
inf. infantry.
inv invalid.
M. V. I... Minnesota "Volunteer Infantry.
Lieut Lieutenant.
Maj Major.
m. o mustered out.
mus musician.
pro promoted.
Regt Regiment.
re-en re-enlisted.
res resigned.
sergt sergeant.
trans transferred.
vet veteran.
V. R. C Veteran Reserve Corps.
wd wounded.
SKETCH OF FIRST INFANTRY.
Organized April, 1861; went into camp at Fort Snelling; mustered by
Captain Anderson D. Nelson, U. S. A., on the 29th; ordered to Washington,
D. C, June 14, 1861.
The following is a sketch of the marches, battles, sieges and skirmishes in
which this regiment participated: First Bull Run, July 21, 1861; Edwards
300 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Ferry, Oct. 22, 1861; Yorktown, May 7, 1862; Fair Oaks, June 1, 1862;
Peach Orchard, June 29, 1862; Savage Station, June 29, 1862; Glendale, June
30, 1862; Nelson's Farm, June 30, 1862; Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862; Vienna,
Sept. 2, 1862; Antietam, Sept. IT, 1862; First Fredericksburg, Dec. 11, 12
and 13, 1862; Second Fredericksburg, May 3, 1863; Gettysburg, July 2 and
and 3, 1863, and Bristow Station, Oct. 14, 1863. Discharged at Fort Snel-
ling, May 5, 1864.
Company F.
Col. William Colvill, enlisted and commissioned Capt. April 29, 1861; pro-
moted Major Aug. 28, 1862; Lieut. Col. Sept. 26, 1862, and Col. May 6,
1863. Discharged with regiment May 5, 1864.
Maj. A. Edward Welch, commissioned 1st Lieut. April 29, 1861; promoted
Maj. Nov. 5, 1861, and died at Nashville, Tenn., Feby. 1, 1864.
Lieut. Mark A. Hoyt, commissioned 2d Lieut. April 29, 1861; promoted
1st Lieut. Jany. 8, 1862; resigned July 18, 1862.
Capt. Martin Maginnis, enlisted April 29, 1861; promoted 2d Lieut. Sept.
IT, 1862; 1st Lieut. Sept IT, 1862, and Capt. July 28, 1863. Discharged
with regiment May 5, 1864.
Lieut. Hezekiah Bruce, enlisted April 29, 1861; promoted 2d Lieut. July 28,
1863; 1st Lieut. July 28, 1863. Discharged with regiment May 4, 1864.
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.
Calvin V. Clark, 1st sergt. e. April 29, '61; no record.
Henry T. Bevans, sergt., e. April 29, '61; dischd. for promotion Sept. 9, 1863.
Charles N. Harris, e. April 29, '61; dischd. for disab. Dec. '62.
John Barrow, corp., e. April 29, '61; dischd. for disab. Feb. 14, '63.
Amos G. Schofield, corp., e. April 29, '61; died Aug. 18, '61, of wounds
received at Ball Run, July 21, '61.
William D. Bennett, corp., e. April 29, '61; dischd. for disab. Feb. 14, '63.
Theodore A. Wood, corp., e. April 29, '61; no record.
John Williams, corp., e. April 29, '61; no record.
Phillip Hamblin, corp., e. April 29, '61; pro. sergt., killed July 3, '63, at
Getty sburgh.
James A. Wright, e. April 29, '61; pro. 1st sergt., dischd. with regt.
Frederick C. Miller, corp., e. April 29,61; pro. sergt. and capt. colored regt.
Charles W. Merritt, mus., e. April 29, '61; pro. corp., dischd. with regt.
Olis W. Ludden, mus., e. April 29, '61; dischd. for disab. Aug. 1, '61.
John H. Brown, wagoner, e. April 29, '61; dischd. with regt. May 5, '64.
PRIVATES.
Abbott, Marion, e. April 29, '61; dischd. for disab. Nov. 1, '63.
Abbott, David P., e. May 18, '61; killed at Antietam.
Adams, Charles, e. April 29, '61; died May 2T, '63, Washington, D. C.
Baker, Abraham P., e. April 29, '61; dischd. with regt. May 5, '64.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 301
Bamber, Archibald, e. April 29, '61; dischd. with regt. May 5, '64.
Barber, Horatio, e. May 24, '61; dischd. with regt. May 5, '64.
Bachelor, James F., e. April 29, '61; dischd. with regt. May 5, '64.
Barnes, Randolph, e. April 29, '61; dischd with regt. May 5, '64.
Benner, Jeflerson, e. April 29, '61 ; pro. mus. and m. o. May 5, '64.
Bevans, Milton S., e. May 22, '61; no record.
Brooks, Cyrus A., e. May 22, '61; trans. IT. S. cav. Oct. 24, '62.
Burnett, Henry, e. April 29, "61 ; dischd. with regt.
Burtruif, Henry, e. May 15, '61; dischd. for disab. Dec. 18, '61.
Cannon, Lewis, e. April 29, '61; pro. corp. and sergt., dischd. with regt.
Childs, Henry B., e. May 31, '61; pro. corp. and sergt. and dischd. with regt.
Clausen, John, e. May 15, '61 ; dischd. for disab. Feb. 10, 1863.
Cox, Edwin, e. May 22, '61 ; pro. corp. ; killed Sept. IT, '62, at Antietam.
Davis, Edward E., e. May 29, '61; died Aug. 31, '62, of disease.
Davis, Edward L., e. April 29, '61 ; dischd. for disab. July 6, '62.
Davis, Jonas P., e. April 29, '61; dischd. with reg.
Davis, Almeron, e. May 22, '61 ; absent wounded on discharge of reg.
Duling, William, e. April 29, '61; no record.
Ducher, Geo. F., e. May 15, "61; trans, to invalid corps Dec. 1, '63.
Eastman, Christopher, e. April 29, '61; trans, to U. S. Cav. Oct. 24, '62.
Eastman, Alva H., e. May 29, '61; dischd. for disab. June 26, '62.
Garrison, William H. e. May 16, '61; no record.
Glazier, Aaron, e. April 29, '61; re-en. March 24, '62.
Gordon, William, e. April 29, '61; dischd. for disab. Aug. 20, '62.
Grinnell, Geo. W., e, May 24, '61; trans, to U. S. cav. Oct. 24, '62.
Grow, Enas F. e. April 29; dischd. with regt.
Hubbs, Charles L., e. May 29, '61, dischd. with regt.
Howe, Asa, e. April 29, '61; no record.
Halstedt, Hans, e. April 29, '61; dischd. for disab. Aug. 31, '62.
Herbert, William M., e. May 22, '61; trans, to inv. corps Dec. 19, '63.
Hammer, Nicholaus, e. May 15, '61; killed May 31, '62, at Fair Oaks, Va.
Hudson, Charles E., e. April 29, '61; desrtd. Sept. 17, '63.
Hoffstetter, John W., e. May 23, '61; no record.
Jackson, Elisha A., e. April 29, '61; dischd. for disab. Aug. 1, '61.
Jacobs, Romulus E., e. April 29, '61; absent wd. on discharge of regt.
Johnson, Ferris, e. April 29, '61; pro. corp., killed June 29, '62, at Savage
Station.
Johnson, Ole, e. April 29, '61; dischd. with regt.
King, Levi, e. April 29, '61; no record.
Leeson, Robert W., e. April 29, '61; killed June 30, '62; in battle of Glen-
dale, Va.
Leighton, Gardner D., e. April 29, '61; dischd. for disab. March 10, '63.
Lindquist, John, e. April 29, '61; no record.
Lee, John M., e. May 24, '61; no record.
Lewis, George L., e. April 29, '61; trans, to signal corps Aug. 18, '63
302 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
McLanathan, Ira, e. April 29, '61; trans, to gunboat service Nov. 16, '63.
McGee, Richard, e. April 29, '61; re-en. and trans, to 1st. Minn. Batl'n.
Milliken, Marcellus B., e. April 29, '61; killed at Antietam.
Miles, Charles W., e. April 29. '61; dischd. for disab. Feb. 20, '63.
Marshall, David, e. April 29, '61; dischd for disab. July 6, "62.
McKinley, George, e. May 23, '61; mortally wd. July 21, '61, at Bull Run.
Matt, Ransom, e. May 27, '61; dischd. for disab. Feb. 17, "63; arm amputated.
Olson, Butler, e. April 29, '61; trans, to U. S. cav. Oct. 24, '62.
Oscar, Ole, e. May 27, '61; dischd. for disab. March 12, "63.
Pitcher, Eli F., e. April 29, '61; trans, to U. S. cav. Oct. 24, '62.
Peterson, Thomas, e. May 29, '61; dischd. with regt. May 5, '64.
Richardson, Josiah, e. May 24, '61; dischd. with regt. May 5, '64.
Rush, Hiram I., e. April 29, "61; killed July 21, '61, at Bull Run.
Riddle, William C, e. April 29, '61; dischd. with regt.
Sallie, James F. ; e. May 23, '61; killed July 21, '61, at Bull Run.
Schweiger, David, e. April 29, '61 ; dischd. with regt.
Smith, John EL, e. April 29, '61; dischd. for disab. Oct. 2, '61.
Season, Edwin, e. May 23, '61; no record.
Skinner, Hiram A., e. May 29, '61; no record.
Shay, Michael, e. May 24, '61; trans, to U. S. cav. Oct. 24, '62.
Squires, Leonard I., e. April 29, '61; killed July 3, '63, at Gettysburg.
Scurry, James, e. May 24, '61; trans, to U. S. cav. Oct. 24, '62.
Syverson, Amos, e. May 17, '61; trans, to U. S. cav. Oct. 24, '62.
Thomas, Elijah F., e. April 29, '61; died Sept. 6, '61, while a prisoner at
Richmond, Va.
Underwood, James M., e. April 29, '61; killed at Bull Run, July 21, '61.
Webb, Lester, e. May 15, '61; trans, to U. S. cav. Oct. 24, '62.
Willmar, Martin, e. May 15, '61; pro. corp., killed June 29, '62, at Savage
Station.
Williams, Oscar E., e. April 29, '61; trans, to U. S. cav. Oct. 24, '62.
Wood, Theodore A., e. April 29, '61; pro. Q. M. Sergt., dischd. with regt.
RECRUITS.
Berg, Peter, e. Feb. 11, '62; re-en.
Bond, Daniel, e. Aug. 22, '61 ; no record.
Flynn, Jonathan, e. Sept. 12, '61; trans, to inv. corps June, '64.
Garrison, Joseph P., no record; died of wounds at Richmond, Va., Aug. 10, '61.
Hoyt, William H., e. Sept. 9, '61; dischd. with regt.
Leamans, David H., no record; dischd. for disab. Feb. 13, '62.
Peterson, Hans, e. Feb. 14, '62; killed Oct. 15, '63, at Bristol Station, Va.
Shadinger, William, no record; dischd. for disab, March 25, '63.
Skinner, William J., died Aug. 10, '61, at Richmond, Va., of wounds.
Company G.
Bondorant, Cyrus, e. April 29, '61; trans. Sept. 10, '61.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 303
SKETCH OF SECOND INFANTRY.
Organized July, 1861. Ordered to Louisville, Ky., Oct. 1861, and assigned
to the Army of the Ohio. The following embraces a sketch of the marches,
battles and skirmishes in which this regiment participated: — Mill Spring,
Jan. 19, 1862; Siege of Corinth, April, 1862; transferred to the Army of the
Tennessee. Bragg 's Raid; Perry ville, Oct. 8, 1862; skirmishes of the Tul-
lahoma campaign; Chickamauga, Sept. 19 and 20, 1863; Mission Ridge, Nov.
25, 1863. Veteranized January, 1864. Battles and skirmishes of the Atlanta
campaign, viz.: Resaca, June 14, 15 and 16, 1864; Kenesaw Mountain,
June 27, 1864; Jonesboro; Sherman's march through Georgia and the Caro-
linas; Bentonville, March 19, 1865. Discharged at Fort Snelling, July 11,
1865.
William Brown, assistant surgeon; commissioned Sept. 5, 1862; pro. surgeon,
Sept. 5, 1862; no record.
Company B.
Lieut. William W. Wilson, e. June 26, 1861; pro. 2nd Lieut. April 1, 1862,
and 1st Lieut. July 19, 1862; res. Sept. 12, 1864.
Corning, Smith P., e. June 26, 1861; dischd. June 25, 1864.
Summers, Christopher A., e. April 26, 1861; died at Lebanon, Ky., Feb. 20,
1862.
Company C.
Burkhardt, John F., e. June 20, 1861; pro. corpl., dischd. June 28, '64.
Kirkpatrick, Chauncy, e. June 20, '61; died near Corinth, Miss., June 9, '62.
Wiehl, Mathew, e. June 29, 1861; dischd. June 28, '64.
RECRUITS.
Oleson, Marse, drafted Sept. 28, 1864; dischd. by order June '65.
Oliver, Aaron P., drafted May 27, 1864; pro. corpl. and dischd. with regt.
Turner, Jacob, drafted Sept. 8, 1864; dischd. by order June 16, '65.
Company F.
Fremith, David, drafted Sept. 28, '64; dischd. June 11, '65.
Company G.
Witle, Gustav, e. July 8, '61; dischd. for disab. Nov. 20, '61.
Company I.
Capt. John Foot, mustered July 30, 1861; res. March 9, 1862.
1st Lieut. William S. Grow, mustered July 30, 1861; appointed Q. M.
Corpl. Alfred Bachelor, e. July 30, 1861; dischd. for disab. Sept. 23, '62.
Corpl. Samuel Buckman, e. July 30,61; re-en. Dec. 19, '63; dischd. with
regt.
304 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Mus. Frank E. Patterson, e. July 30, '61; died at Louisville, Ky., March 25, '62.
Solomon 0. Davis, wagoner, e. July 30, '61; dischd. for dis. Oct. 1, '62.
Adams, Francis, e. Aug. 22, '61; died at Lebanon Junction, Ky., Nov. 13, '61.
Bachelor, Byron, e. July 30, '61; re-en. Dec. 19, '63; pro. corpl. ; dischd.
with regt.
Bushard, John B., e. July 30, '61; dischd. for dis. Aug. 10, '62.
Carrier, John D., e. Aug. 31, '61; died at Louisville; Ky., Dec. 9, '61.
Eggleston, Harlan P., e. Aug. 28, '61; dischgd. Aug. 28, '64.
Hardy, Charles C, e. July 31, '61; dischgd. July 29, '64.
Hardy, John T., e. July 31, '61; trans. Co. I, 4th U. S. Art. Dec. 23, '62.
Leison, James A., e. Sept. 8, '61; dischd. July 29, '64.
Mungerson, John F., e. Sept. 8, '61; desrtd. June 8, '63.
Miller, Stephen W., e. Sept. 11, '61; dischd. Sept. 12, '64.
Sutton, Ellsworth, e. July 30, '61; dischd. by order, '63.
Tillotson, Ira, e. July 30, '61; re-en. March 31, '64; pro. corpl.; dischd. with
regt.
Wright, William H., e. July 31, '61; re-en. Dec. 9, '63; dischd. with regt.
Whipple, Harrison F., e. July 30, '61; wd. at Chicamauga; dischd. July
29, '64.
RECRUITS.
Thompson, Martin, e. March 25, '65; dischd. with regt.
Wells, William, e. Oct. 5, '61; dischd. with regt.
Company K.
Bombach, Henry, e. March 8, '65; dischd. with regt.
Houghton, Augustus, e. Mar. 29, '64; dischd. with regt.
James, Conroy, e. May 27, '64; dischd. with regt.
Martin, Henry, e. May 27, '64; dischd. from hosp., '65.
Strateman, Henry, drafted May 27, '64; dischd. with regt.
Westendorf, Fred., drafted March 9, '65; dischd. with regt.
Zimmerman, Casser, drafted May 30, '64; dischd. with regt.
SKETCH OF THIRD INFANTRY.
Organized October, 1861. Ordered to Nashville, Tenn., March, 1862. Cap-
tured and paroled at Murfreesboro, July, 1862. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo.,
thence to Minnesota. Engaged in the Indian expedition of 1862. Partici-
pated in the battle of Wood Lake, September, 1862. Ordered to Little Rock,
Ark., November, 1863. Veteranized January, 1864. Engaged in battle of
Fitzhugh's Woods, March 30, 1864. Ordered to Pine Bluff, Ark., April,
1864, and from there to Du Vall's Bluff in October, 1864. Mustered out at
Du Vall's Bluff, September 2, 1865. Discharged at Fort Snelling.
Col. Hans Mattson, commissioned Capt. Co. D., Oct. 22, 1861: pro. Major
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 305
May 29, 1862; pro. Lieut. Col. July 15, 1863, and Col. April 15, 1864;
dischd. with regt. Sept. 2, 1865.
Bonde Olsen, Q. M., enlisted Co. D. Oct. 3, '61; pro. corp. sergt.; re-en.
Jan. 1, "61; pro. 1st. Lieut. Co. K. Oct. 1, '64, and Q. M. May 3, '65.
Chauncy Hubert, Chaplain; commissioned March, 1862; res. April 13, '62.
Company B.
Getnian, Jerry E., e. Sept. 26' 61; deserted Jan. 10, '63.
Ives, E. S., e. Oct. 11, "61; dischd. for disab. March 28, '62.
Woodbury, John P., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. Nov. 15, '64.
RECRUITS.
Hendrickson, Ole, e. Aug. 29, '64; disch'd July 23, '65.
Company D.
Capt. Hans Mattson, promoted as above.
1st Lieut. Lars K. Aakers, commissioned Oct. 3, '61; res. March 30, '62.
2d Lieut. Hans Enstrom, commissioned Oct. 16, '61; pro. 1st Lieut. March
30, '62, and Capt. May 30, '62; res. Aug. 2, '62.
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.
John Vanstrom, 1st Sergt., e. Oct. 19, '61; pro. 2d Lieut. March 30, '62; 1st
Lieut. May 30, '62, and Capt. Aug. 2, '62.
John G. Gustofson, sergt., e. Oct. 3, '61; pro. 2nd Lieut. May 30, '62, 1st
Lieut. Aug. 2, '62, and Lieut. Col. 112th U. S. col'd. inf. Nov. 16, '64.
Hans Johnson, sergt., e. Oct. 8, '61; died at Murfreesboro, Tenn., July 5, '62.
Olof Falin, sergt., e. Oct. 3, '61; dischd. for disab. March 29, '62.
F. T. Sandborg, corpl., e. Oct. 11, '61; pro. sergt.; dischd. for disab. July
5, '62.
Niles B. Johnson, corpl., e. Oct. 3, '61; pro. sergt.; re-en. Feb, 2, '64, and
pro. 1st Lieut. Co. I, July 28, '65; dischd. with regt.
John P. Ofitt, corp., e. Oct. 3, '61; re-en. Feb. 3, '64; died at Duvall's Bluffs,
Ark., Dec. 31, '64.
Peter A. Holm, corp., e. Oct. 13, '61; died at his home in Minn., March
17, '63.
Ole O. Huss, mus., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. March 29, '62.
Christopher Patterson, mus., e. Oct. 3, '61; dischd. Nov. 14, '64.
Human A. Hoisted, wagoner, e. Oct, 3, '61; died at his home in Minn., 1862.
PRIVATES.
Anderson, Charles J., e. Oct. 3, '61; re-en. Feb. 3, '64; pro. corpl., dischd.
with regt.
Abrahamson, Nels, e. Oct. 3, '61; re-en. Feb. 3, '64; pro. corpl., dischd.
with regt.
Anderson, Olof, e. Oct. 3, '61; re-en. Feb. 3, '64; dischd. with regt.
21
306 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Anderson, John A., e. Oct. 16, '61; dischd. Nov. 14, '64.
Anderson, Gustavus, e. Oct. 3, '61; died at Ft. Snelling, Feb. 1, 63.
Anderson, German, e. Oct. 23, '61; re-en. Feb. 3, '64; died at Pine Bluff,
Ark, Sept. 14, '64.
Berg, Jonas, e. Oct. 22, '61; died at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., Oct. 15, '63.
Carlson, Carl R., e. Oct. 3, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '65; dischd. with regt.
Eckland, Halfoor, e. Oct. 3, '61; died at Red Wing, Jan. 2, '62.
Erickson, John, e. Oct. 11, '61; re-en. Feb. 11, '62; dischd. with regt.
Erickson, Jacob, e. Oct. 22, '61; dischd. for disab. March 29, '62.
Erickson, John, e. Oct. 22, '61; died at Belmont, Ky., Feb. 26, '62.
Erickson, Charles, e. Nov. 1, 61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; dischd. with regt.
Froja, Peter, e. Oct. 9, '61; dischd. for disab. March 15, '62.
Goranson, Peter, e. Oct. 9, '61; trans, to V. R. C. April 28, '65.
Green, August L., e. Oct. 3, '61; pro. corp., re-en. Jan. 1, '64; dis. Decem-
ber 26, '64.
Halfverson, Ole, e. Oct. 3, '61; dischd. Nov. 14, '64.
Harrison, William, e. Oct. 6, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; died at Pine Bluff, Ar-
kansas, '64.
Hokanson, John, e. Oct. 9, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; dis. with regt.
Hamilton, M. S. S., e. Oct. 9, '61; died at Nashville, Tenn., March 31, '63.
Hanson, Andrew, e. Oct. 11, "61; re-en. Jan. '64; dischd. Sept. '65.
JohnsoD, Olans, e. Oct. 3, '61; dischd. for disab. March 18, '63.
Johnson, Andrew, e. Oct. 9, '61; dischd. for disab. July 12, '62; re-en. Feb.
5, '64; dischd. with regt.
Johnson Carl. e. Oct. 9, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; dischd. with regt.
Johnson, Andrew, e. Nov. 2, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; dischd. with regt.
Johnson, Lorentz, e. Nov. 4, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; dischd. for disab. May
4, '65.
Kroon, Peter, e. Oct. 9, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; died at Little Rock, Ark.,
Oct. 30, '64.
Knudson, Thomas, e. Nov. 4, '61; died at Little Rock, Ark., Jan. 11, '64.
Lindall, Jonas, e. Oct. 9, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; pro. 2d Lieut. Sept. 27, '64,
and 1st Lieut. Co. H, April 1, '64; dischd. with regt.
Lindberg, Peter, e. Oct.3, '61; re-en. Jan. 1,'64; pro. sergt., dischd. with regt.
Larson, Oliver, e. Oct. 11, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; dischd. with regt.
Linderroat, Nels L., e. Oct. 16, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; pro. corp. sergt., dis-
charged with regt.
Linglof, Erick, e. Oct. 16, '61; died at Fort Snelling Nov. 23, '62.
Lind, Olans, e. Oct. 13, '61; died at Red Wing Oct. 15, '62.
Miller, Frederick, e. Oct. 22, '61; dischd. Nov. 14, '64.
Nelson, JohnE., e. Oct. 6, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; pro. corp., died at Cairo,
111., Jan. 1, '65.
Nelson, Niels, e. Oct. 16, '61; dischd. for disab. March 14, '63.
Nelson, Nicholas, e. Oct. 16, '61; died at Columbus, Ky., June 29, '63.
Nelson, Peter, e. Oct. 22, '61; trans, to inv. corps Oct. 3, '63.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 307
Nelson, Gustavus, e. Oct. 22, '61; clischd. for di sab. July 5, '62.
Olson, Aslak, e. Oct. 3, '61; dischd. for disab. June 29, '62.
Oleson, Bond. e. Oct. 3, '61; pro. corp. sergt. ; re-en. Jan. 1, '61; pro. 1st
Lieut. Co. K, Aug. 27, '64; pro. Q. M. May 3, '65; dischd. with regt.
Sept. 2, '65.
Ockerberg, Halver, e. Oct. 10, '61; died at Nashville, Tenn., April 22, "62.
Oleson, Evin, e. Nov. 1, '61; dischd. for disab. Aug. 21, "63.
Oleson, Gabriel, e. Oct. 1, "61; dischd. for disab. Feb. 7, '62.
Paulson, Paul, e. Oct. 3, '61; pro. corpl.; re-en. Jany. 1, '61; dischd. with
regt.
Pfieffer, John, e. Oct. 3, '61; pro. corp.; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; dischd. with regt.
Porter, John G., e. Oct. 9, '61; pro. corp. ; re-en. Jan. 1, '61; dischd. with
regt.
Peterson, Swan, e. Oct. 9, '61 ; dischd. for disab. March 27, '62.
Peterson, Hans P. A., e. Oct. 12, '61; re-en. Jany. 1, '64; dischd. with regt.
Qwain, Peter, e. Oct. 3, '61; re-en. Jany. 1, '64; died at Duval's Bluff, Nov.
13, '64.
Quist, Charles P., e. Oct: 9, '61; re-en. Jany. 1, '64; dischd. with regt.
Ross, Carl., e. Oct. 6, '61; dischd. for disab. Dec. 2, '63.
Rasnison, Sofus, e. Oct. 3, '61; dischd. for disab. Nov. 30, 63.
Ringdahl, Nils, e. Oct. 25, 61; re-en. Jany. 1, '61; dischd. with regt.
Sanberg, Peter M., e. Oct. 3, '61; dischd. Nov. 14, '64.
Swenson, Gustaf, e. Oct. 3, 61; dischd. Nov. 14, '64.
Strand, Charles J., e. Oct. 9, '61; re-en. Jany. 1, '61; pro. corpl., sergt.;
dischd. with regt.
Sjoberg, Charles P., e. Oct. 16, '61; re-en. Jany. 1, '61; dischd. from hospital
Sept. 4, '65.
Sunbald, John, e. Oct. 16, '61; trans, to inv. corps Oct. 1, '63.
Thorenson, Lorents, e. Oct. 3, '61; re-en. Jany. 1, '64; dischd. with regt.
Thellander, John P., e. Oct. 9, '61; re-en. Jany. 1, '64; dischd. with regt.
Viden, John P., e. Oct. 9, '61; died at Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 31,63.
Wing, Halsten, e. Oct. 3, '61; dischd. for disab. May 26, '63.
Wilberg, Charles, e. Oct. 22, '61 ; dischd. Nov. 14, '64.
RECRUITS.
Bolander, Charles E., e. Feb. 11, '64; pro. hospital steward, June 13, '64.
Bong, Elias, e. May 11, '64; dischd. July 28, '65.
Bergland, Erick, e. Sept. 5, '64; dischd. July 28, '65.
Carlson, Frank A., e. Jan. 22, 64; dischd. July 28, '65.
Dahlberg, Swan, e. Sept. 5, '64; dischd. July 28, '65.
Eisburg, Nels, e. Nov. 15, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; pro. corpl., sergt.; dischd.
Sept. 2, '65.
Framan, Victor, e. Jan. 22, '64; died at Little Rock, Ark., Oct. 20, '64.
Gustafson, Charles, e. Jan. 22, '64; died at Duvall's Bluff, Ark., Dec. 9, '65.
Hakinson, John, e. Jan. 22, '64; dischd. with reg,.
308 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Johnson, Ake, e. Aug. 29, '64; died at Pine Bluff, Ark., Sept. IT, '64.
Johnson, John A., e. Jan. 22, '64; dischd. with regt.
Norelius, Lewis, e. March 11, '64; dischd. with regt.
Company E.
Capt. Clinton Gurnee, enrolled Oct. 23, '61; dismissed Dec. 1, '62.
1st Lieut. Edward L. Baker, enrolled Oct. 10, '61; pro. Capt. Dec. 1, '62;
res. Feb. 10, '64.
2nd Lieut. Willit W. DeKay, enrolled Oct. 23, '61; pro. 1st Lieut. Dec. 1,
'62, and Capt. Feb. 11, '64; res. Jan. 9, '65.
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.
George W. Knight, 1st sergt., e. Oct. 10, '61; pro. 2nd Lieut. Oct. 18, '62,
1st Lieut. Feb. 11, '64, and Capt. Nov. 13, '64; dischd. with regt.
Crydon D. Bevans, sergt., e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; killed at battle
of Fitzhugh's Woods, Ark., April 1, '64.
William D. Hale, sergt., e. Oct. 11, '61; pro. sergt. maj. Jan. 9, '62.
Harvey Miller, sergt., e. Oct. 16, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; pro. 2nd Lieut.
June 8, '64, 1st Lieut. Nov. 13, '64; res. June 19, '65.
Edward G. Bailey, sergt., e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. with regt.
John A. Graham, corpl., e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '65; pro. sergt.,
dischd. for pro. Sept. IT, '64.
Thomas A. Baker, corpl., e. Oct. 10, "61; pro. sergt.; dischd. for pro. July
2, '63.
Lyman J. Barris, corpl., e. Oct. 10, '61; desrtd. Jan. '62.
Martin L. Knox, corpl., e. Oct. 11, '61; died at Murfreesboro, Tenn., June
10, '62.
Rudolph Kruger, corpl., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. Nov. 14, '64.
Lucius A. Hancock, mus.,e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; pro. to non-
com, staff, Fed. 9, '65; dischd. with regt. Sept. 2' 65.
Charles Clock, wagoner, e. Oct. 11, '61; dischd. for disab. April 26, '62.
PRIVATES.
Abel, Joseph, e. Oct. 10, '61; died at Belmont, Ky., Dec. '61.
Akers, Wm. G. J., e. Oct. -11, '61; pro. corpl., sergt., and sergt. maj.; trans.
to non-com. staff Oct. 5, '63; pro. R. Q. M. April 15, '64.
Adams, William H., e. Nov. T, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. with regt.
Bruce, William H., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. March 18, '63.
Battey, James L., e. Oct. 10, '61; died at Pine Bluff, Ark., Sept. 3, '64.
Barr, Andrew, e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab., Dec. '62.
Banker, James F., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd Nov. 14, '64.
Britton, Joseph M., e. Oct. IT, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. with regt.
Bryant, William D., e. Oct. 11, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. for pro.
Nov. T, 64.
Bevans, Solon A., e. Oct. 19, '61; desrtd. Nov. '61; supposed himself dischd.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 309
Chandler, John W., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. April 29, '62.
Curry, Henry, e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. with regt.
Cook, Geo., e. Oct 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. with regt.
Chase, Edgar E., Oct. 30, 61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. with regt.
Drudy, Patrick, e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; pro. corpl.; dischd. with
regt.
Day, James, e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; pro. corpl.; dischd. with
regt.
Dewey, William F., e. Oct. 10, '61; died at Helena, Ark., Aug. 27, '63.
Doyle, Walter W., e. Oct. 17, '61; dischd. for wounds received at Murfrees-
horo, Jany. 15, "63.
Densmore, Benj., e. Oct. 22, '61; pro. Q. M. sergt. Sept. 25, '63.
Ecker, Tilden, e. Oct. 24, '61; died at Louisville, Ky., June "62.
Eldridge, Samuel A., e. Nov. 1, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; died at Pine Bluff,
Aug. 7, "64.
Flint, Geo. W., e. Oct. 10, 61; dischd. for disab. June, '62.
Fogleson, Joseph, e. Oct. 17, '61; dischd. for disab. Feby. 5, '63.
Fearnside, James, e. Nov. 2, '61; dischd. Nov. 11, '61.
Gilbert Henry L., e. Oct. 17, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. with regt.
Hartman, John, e. Oct. 10, "61; dischd. Nov. 11, "61.
Hoffstatter, Hiram, e. Oct. 11, '61; dischd. for disab. April 9, '62.
Jordon, John, e. Nov. 2, '61; pro. corp. Dec. 1, '63; dischd. Nov. 1, '64.
Knox, James H., e. Oct. 11, '61; dischd. Nov. 11, '61.
Littlefield, L. B., e. Oct. 10, 61; dischd. Nov. 11, '61.
Lauver, Isaac, e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '61; pro. corp. sergt., dischd.
with regt.
Lowater, Harry P., e. Oct. 29, '61; trans, to company C June 1, '62.
Leach, Albert G., e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '61; wd. at Fitzhugh's
Woods; dischd. Sept. 2, '65.
Mallory, Patrick, e. Oct 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; pro. corp. sergt., dis-
charged with regt.
Mitchell, James, e. Oct. 10, '61; deserted Jan. 10, '63.
Morrell, Abraham, e. Oct. 10, '61; died at his home Jan. 8, '63.
McGrath, James, e. Oct. 17, '61; deserted Aug. 8, '62.
Miller, Cecil, e. Oct. 17, '61; died at Nashville, Tenn. May 16, '62.
McGoughy, Horatio K., e. Oct. 28, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. for pro.
April 12, '61.
Morrell, James, e. Oct. 16, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. for pro. Nov.
7, '61.
Neff, Geo., e. Oct. 11, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. for disab. April 21,'65.
Philleo, Edward B., e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Feb. 29,61; pro. corp. sergt.;
dischd. with regt.
Pitts, Geo. J., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. March 11, '61.
Petty, David, e. Oct. 17, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. with regt.
Rees, Morris, e. Oct. 5, '61 ; dischd. for disab. July 30, '63.
310 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Scofield, Charles M., e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 23, '63; died at his home
Sept. 29, '64.
Schwiger, James, e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; pro. corp. ; dischd. with
regt.
Smith, Stephen J., e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. Nov. 12, '65.
Suiter, John, e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. Jany. 19, '63.
Stahler, Michael, e. Oct. 15, '61; dischd. Nov. 11, '61.
Sandford, Otis, e. Oct. IT, '61 ; dischd. for disab. June 28, '62.
Taylor, Elias B., e. Oct. 17, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. May 29, '65.
Toms, Jonithan, e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Feb. 18, '61; dischd. with regt.
Toms, William, e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. with regt.
Winchell, John, e. Oct. 10, '61: dischd. Dec. '62; re-en. Feb. 18, '64; dischd.
with regt.
Washburn, Jesse, e. Nov. 1, '61; died on hospital steamboat Miss. Riv., Oct.
4, '63.
RECRUITS.
Bartron, Geo., e. Sept. 20, '64; dischd. June 23, '65.
Britton, Thomas H., e. Mar. 2, '64; dischd. with regt.
Brownson, Sidney, e. Feb. 26, '64; dischd. with regt.
Brown, Isaac, e. March 31, '64; trans, to Co. C, Oct. 18, '64.
Barton, James, e. Sept. 3, 64; dischd. July 28, '65.
Cassady, James, e. Jany. 5, '64; died at Pine Bluff, Ark., July 31, '64.
Chase, Justus, e. Feb. 19, "64; dischd. with regt.
Carmyer, William, e. Mar. 31, '64; died at Memphis, Tenn., Aug. 18, '64.
Crary, Williamson, e. Nov. 15, '61; dischd. for disab. May 6, '62.
Doudy, James M. ; e. March 17, '64; dischd. with regt.
Eldridge, Joseph C. ; e. Feb. 18, '64; died at Pine Bluff, Ark., Aug. 27, '64.
Erickson, John, e. Sept. 5, '64; died at Helena, Ark., Oct. '64.
Hartman, Michael, e. Sept. 5, '64; dischd. July 28, '65.
Henigs, Christ., e. Nov. 15, '61; dischd. Mar. 14, '65.
Harkness, Daniel C, e. Dec. 2, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. for pro. Oct.
14, '64.
Mallory, James, e. Dec. 11, '64; dischd. Nov. 18, '65.
Phinney, Geo., e. Dec. 11, '64; dischd. with regt.
Newberg, Peter, e. Aug. 26, '64; dischd. July 28, '65.
Pierce, Geo. N., e. Feb. 25, 64; dischd. for disab. Sept. 17, '64.
Perry, Corydon W., e. Feb. 26, '64; trans, to company C Oct. 8, '64.
Pendergass, John W., e. March 15, '64; trans, to company C Oct. 8, '64.
Dewey, John J., drafted June 24, '64; dischd. with regt.
Company F.
Charles, Joseph E., e. Sept. 27, '67; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; died at Pine Bluff,
Ark., Oct. 16, '63.
Harrington, Loyal M., e. Sept. 27, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '62; dischd. for disab.
March 27, '65.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 3 11
Hill, Corbin C; e. Oct. 23, '61; disclid. for disab. April 12, '62.
Mills, Silas, e. Oct. 17, '61; disclid. for disab. June 29, '62.
Martin, Joseph N., e. Nov. 11, '61; re-en. Dec. 25, '63; pro. corpl. sergt.;
dischd. with regt.
Williamson, David W., e. Sept. 27, '61; re-en. Dec. 20, '63; dischd. with regt.
Company G.
Marsh, Israel M., e. Oct. 12, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, "61; dischd. with regt.
Hunt, Warren, e. Jan. 5, '64; dischd. with regt.
Company H.
Millie, Robt., e. Sept. 5, '61; dischd. with regt.
Company K.
Hancock, David, e. Nov. 1, '61; dischd. for disab. June, '62.
SKETCH OF FOURTH INFANTRY.
Organized Dec. 23, 1861. Ordered to Benton Barracks, Mo., April 19, 1862.
Assigned to Army of the Mississippi, May 4, 1862. Participated in the fol-
lowing marches, battles, sieges and skirmishes : Siege of Corinth, April,
1862; Iuka, September 19, 1862; Corinth, Oct. 3d and 4th, 1862; siege of
Vicksburg, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills, assault of Vicksburg, cap-
ture of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863. Transferred from 17th corps to 15th corps.
Mission Ridge, Nov. 25, 1863. Veteranized January, 1864. Alatoona,
July, 1864; Sherman's march through Georgia and the Carolinas; Bentons-
ville, March 20, 1865. Mustered out at Louisville, Ky., July 19, 1865.
Discharged at Fort Snelling.
Major A. Edward Welch, commissioned Nov. 5, 1861. Died Feb. 1, 1862,
at Nashville, Tenn.
Company D.
2d Lieut. Harrison M. Stanton; enrolled Oct. 10, '61; died at Benton Bar-
racks, St. Louis, Mo., June 8, '62.
Geo. W. Vansyckle, 1st sergt., e. Oct. 10, '61; died at Hamburg, Tenn., May
17, '62.
Solomon F. Brown, e. Oct. 8, 61; promoted 2d Lieut. June 9, '62; 1st Lieut.
Nov. 4, '62; resigned by reason of wounds, March 16, '64.
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.
Samuel A. Kirkham, sergt., e. Oct. 10, "61; dischd. for disab. March 16, '64.
Salem W. Miller, corpl., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. before returns were made to
Washington.
Joel E. Sampson, corpl., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for wounds received at Iuka,
Sept. 19, '62,
312 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Edward Dowling, corpl., e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Jany. 1, '64; pro. sergt., and
disclid. with regt.
Aaron Schribner, corpl., e. Oct. 8, '61; dischd. for disab., '62.
Joseph G. Miller, corp., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. Aug. 4, '63.
Geo. W. Smith, e. Oct. 10, 61; dischd. Oct. 11, '64.
Hezekiah G. Perkins, musician, e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. Oct. 3, '62.
PRIVATES.
Ash, Edward, Sen., e. Oct. 8, '61; dischd. for disab. Sept. 14, '62.
Amos, Emanuel, e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. Oct. 11, '64.
Bunker, Enos A., e. Oct. 10, '61; trans, to company E Feb. 28, '62.
Douders, Andrew, e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. July 24, '63, for wds. in battle at
Vicksburg.
Fallett, Frederick, e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; dischd. with regt.
Haskins, William S., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. Oct. 15, '62.
Hockstettler, Conrad, e. Oct. 8, '61; died June 28, '62, at Farmington, Miss.
Henry, John, e. Oct. 8, '61; died June 10, '62, at St. Louis, Mo.
Kenney, Geo. W., e. Oct. 10, '61; died June 29, '62, at Clear Creek, Miss.
Kellogg, Augustus H., e. Oct. 8, '61; dischd. Oct. 11, '64.
Kenny, Joseph E., e. Oct. 8, "61; killed May 22, '63, in battle at Vicksburg.
Lent, Charles C, e. Oct. 10, '61, died Aug. 12, '62, at St. Louis.
Miller, Robert B., e. Oct, 8, '61; dischd. Oct. 3, '63, for wds. at Vicksburg.
Mameny, Samuel L., e. Oct. 10, '61; died Sept. 22, "62, from wds. received
in battle of Iuka.
Marble, Nelson, e. Oct. 8, '61; dischd. before returns were made to Wash-
ington.
Perkins, Jeremiah, e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. Oct. 11, '64.
Perkins, William, e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. Sept. 19, '62.
Perkins, Harmon A., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. Sept. 19, '62.
Perkins, Andrew N., e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Jan. 1, '64; dischd. with reg.
Reith, Eugene, e. Oct. 8, '61; dischd. for disab. Dec. 6, '62.
Rice, Silas W., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. Oct. 15, '62.
Rions, Geo. W., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. Oct. 11, '64.
Snider, John, e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Jany. 1, "64; pro. corpl. sergt.; dischd.
with regt.
Severns, De La Fletcher, e. Oct. 10, '61; died Aug. 20, '63, at Vicksburg.
Scofield, Geo. S., e. Oct. 10, '61; died Dec. 8, '63, at Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Shelton, Oliver P., e. Oct. 10, '61; re-en. Jany. 1, '61; pro. sergt.; dischd.
with regt.
Willoughby, McD. W., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. Oct. 11, '64.
Ward, Lyman T., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. Aug. 11, '62.
Ward, William F., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. Sept. 19, '62.
Waterman, Richard, e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. Oct. 11, '64.
Webb, Martin L., e. Oct. 10, '61; dischd. for disab. July 31, '62.
Williams, James L., e. Oct. 10, '61; died Oct. 4, '62, of wds. received in
battle at Corinth.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 313
Wilson, Frank, e. Oct. 10, '61; died Oct. 4, '62, of wds. received in battle at
Corinth.
Warrell, John A., e. Oct. 10, '61; died at Memphis, Tenn., March 15, '63.
Company F.
Clock, Edward, e. March 9, '65; dischd. with regt.
SKETCH OF THE FIFTH INFANTRY.
Organized in May, 1862. Ordered to Pittsburg Landing May 9th, 1862.
A detachment of three companies remained in Minnesota, garrisoning fron-
tier posts. Participated in the following marches, battles, sieges and skirm-
ishes : Siege of Corinth, April and May, 1862. The detachment in Min-
nesota engaged in battle with Indians at Redwood, Minn., August 18, 1862.
Siege of Fort Ridgely, August 20, 21 and 22, 1862: Fort Abercrombie, D.
T., August, 1862. Regiment assigned to 16th army corps. Engaged in the
battles of luka, September 18, 1862, Corinth, October 3 and 1, 1862, Jack-
son, Tenn., May 14, 1863. Siege of Vicksburg; assault of Vicksburg, May
22, 1863. Mechanicsburg, June 3, 1863. Richmond, June 15, 1863. Fort
De Russey, La., March 14, 1864. Red River expedition, March, April and
May, 1864. Lake Chicat, June 6, 1864. Tupelo, June, 1864. Veteranized
July, 1864. Afcbeyville, August 23, 1864. Marched in September, 1864,
from Brownsville, Ark., to Cape Girardeau, Mo., thence by boat to Jefferson
City; thence to Kansas State line; thence to St. Louis, Mo. Ordered to
Nashville, Tenn., November, 1864. Engaged in battles at Nashville, De-
cember 15 and 16, 1864. Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, April, 1865. Mus-
tered out at Demopolis, Ala., Sept. 6, 1865. Discharged at Fort Snelling.
Company A.
Gen. L. F. Hubbard, enlisted as a private Dec. 19, 1861; pro. Capt. Feb. 20,
1862; Lieut. Col. March 25, 1862; Col. Oct. 1862, and Brigadier General
Dec. 16, 1864.
1st Lieut. Andrew A. Teele, enrolled Dec. 19, '61; pro. Capt. company I,
Nov. 18, '62; resigned April 3, '63.
2d Lieut. William Arkins, enrolled March 24, '62; pro. 1st Lieut., Nov. 10,
'62; Capt. April 12, '63; resigned Aug. 22, '64..
Norris H. Dorsey, 1st sergt., e. Dec. 19, '61; pro. 2d Lieut. Nov. 18, '62; 1st
Lieut. April 12, '63, and Capt. Aug. 22, '64; dischd. with regt.
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.
Abner N. Lee, sergt., e. Dec. 19, '61; pro. Sergt. Maj.; dischd. to accept.
pro. in U. S. C. Inf. April 7, '64.
Rosco Hilton, e. Dec. 19, '61; pro. 2d Lieut.
Beverly M. Wright, corpl., e. Dec. 19, '61; died on steamer on Miss. Riv.
Sept. or Oct. '62.
314 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
George W. Davis, corpl., e. Dec. 19, '61; pro. sergt. ; discM. Dec. 28, '64.
William 0. Stranahan, corpl., Dec. 28, '61; destd. March 7, "63.
Charles L. Littlefield, corpl.; e. Jany. 4, '62; pro. sergt. and comsy. sergt.;
died July 18, '65, at Demopolis, Ala.
Noah Webster, corpl., e. Dec. 19, '61; dischd. for disab. Sept. 27, '62.
Pulaski Miller, corpl., e. Feb. 4, '62; pro. sergt.; killed in battle, Dec. 15, '64.
Americus V. Hoyt, corpl., e. Jany. 25, '62; dischd. June 25, '65.
Salmon N. Dartt, corpl., e. Jany. 4, "62; dischd. for disab. Jany. 13, '63.
Ephraim A. Bard, musician, e. Dec. 19, '61; dischd. for wds. received in
battle at Corinth, Aug. 22, '62.
PEIVATES.
Akins, John, e. Dec. 19, '61; pro. corpl. and sergt.; dischd. Dec. 28, '64.
Arden, John, e. Dec. 19, '61; re-en. Feb. 13, '64; taken prisoner at Eastport,
Miss., Jany. 15, '65; dischd. Aug. 9, '65.
Bondurant, C. G., e. Dec. 19, '61; re-en. Feb. 13, '64; taken prisoner April
10, '64; paroled May 27, '65; pro. corpl.; dischd. with regt.
Bury, David B., e. Dec. 19, '61; re-en. Feb. 13, '64; dischd. with regt.
Bury, John, e. Dec. 19, '61; dischd for disab. Oct. 17, '62.
Collamore, F. F., e. Jan. 14, '61; dischd. for disab. Sept. 2, '63.
Druse, Edward H., e. Dec. 19, '61; re-en. March 13, '64; pro. corp. sergt.;
dischd. for disab. June 30, '65.
Edwards, Patrick A , e. Dec. 19, '61; re-en. Feb. 13, '64; wd. at Spanish
Fort, Ala.; pro. sergt.; dis. with regt.
Engebretson, Ole, e. Jan. 25, '62; died July 12, '63, at Young's Point, La.
Engebretson, Elling, e. Jan. 25, '62; re en. Feb. 13, '64; pro. corp.; disch.
with regt.
Esterly, Harmon, e. Feb. 4, '62; died June 30, '62, at Young's Point, La.
Felt, Austin P., e. Jan. 25, '62; died July 18, '63 on hospital boat at Vicks-
burg.
Gregg, Henry H., e. Oct. 19, '61; deserted May 11, '63.
Holland, Stanford C, e. Dec. 19, '61; dischd. Dec. 28, '64.
Hamlin, Jesse S., e. Dec. 19, '61; died March 11, '63, at Germantown, Tenn.
Hanson, Carl, e. Jan. 1, '62; re-en. March 11, '64; pro. corp. sergt.; dischd.
with regt.
Hudson George, e. Jan. 14, '62; dischd. April 29, '65.
Jordt, Hans, e. Dec. 19, '61; re-en. Feb. 13, '64; pro. corp,; killed Dec. 16, '64.
Johnson, Frank, e. Dec. 24, '61; dischd. for disab. March 4, '63.
Jordon, Nathaniel, e. Jan. 27, '62; killed in battle of Corinth, Oct. 4, "62.
Kuhns, J., e. Dec. 19, '61; killed in battle of Corinth, Oct. 4, '62.
Kuhns, Henry, e. Dec. 19, '61; re-en. Feb. 13, "64; dischd. with regt.
Kulker, Henry, e. Dec. 19, '61; re-en. Feb. 13, '64; captured at Corinth;
dischd. with regt.
Killmortin, Patrick, e. Feb. 10, "62; re-en. Feb. 27, '64; dischd. Sept. 5, '65.
Otterson, Knut, e. Jany. 7, '62; destd. Nov. 24, '64.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 315
Otterson, Albert E. ; Jany. 25, '62; dischd. for disab., Jany. 17, '63.
Patterson, Hiram B., e. Jany. 1, '61; re-en. Feb. 13, '64; dischd. with regt.
Quinnell, Thos., e. Jany. 7, '61; died June 3, '64, at Memphis, Tenn.
Reade, H. S., e. Dec. 19, '61; dischd. June 12, '65.
Reade, H. M., e. Dec. 24, '61; dischd. for disab. Sept. 23, '62.
Root, Leander, e. Jany. 4, '62; killed Oct. 4, at Corinth, Miss.
Shaw, James, e. Dec. 9, '61; dischd. July 30, '64.
Stranahan, Oscar L., e. Feb. 12, '62; trans, to Sig. Corps, Oct. 1, '63.
Stranahan, Henry M., e. March 15, '62; dischd. for disab. Oct. 6, '62.
Truesdell, Gilbert, e. Feb. 27, '62; died July 20, '63, at Fort Snelling.
Company D.
Hendrickson, Louis F., e. Dec. 31, '61; trans, to Co. F.
Company G.
Oleson, Ole, e. Feb. 5, '62; dischd. for disab. Nov. 14, '62.
Peterson, Peter, e. Feb. 2, '62; died Jany. 1, '63, at Memphis, Tenn.
Peterson, John J., e. Feb. 2, '62; died July 16, '63, at Vicksburg.
Company H.
Capt. Otis S. Clark, enrolled March 31, '62; res. July 7, '63.
1st Lieut. Alonzo Morehouse, enrolled Jany. 23, '62; pro. Capt. Sept. 2, '63;
dischd. with regt.
1st Sergt. Jeremiah Howell, e. Jany. 15, '62; pro. 2d Lieut. Dec. 11, '62;
died June 14, '63, at Young's Point, La.
Sergt. George F. Hatch, e. Jany. 5, '62; pro. 1st Lieut. July 11, '63; dischd.
with regt.
Sergt. Ira Bateman, e. Jany. 8, '62; dischd. for disab. Nov. 27, '62.
Corp. Benj. H. Briggs, e. Feb. 15, '62; re-en. Feb. 28; dis. with regt.
Corp. George Tilden, e. Jan. 8, '62; pro. sergt.; re-en. March 20, '64; dischd.
with regt.
Corp. William Aberdien, e. Dec. 24, '61; pro. sergt.; re-en. March 20, '64;
dischd. with regt.
Corp. Benj. Struthers, e. Feb. 19, '62; dischd. for disab. Feb. 3, '63.
Musician Norval Bishop, e. Jan. 15, '62; died Aug., '62, at Camp Clear Creek.
Wagoner Abram Hubbs, e. March 31, '62; re-en. March 31, '64; dischd.
with regt.
Auloff, Julius, e. Dec. 24, '61; re-en. Feb. 28, '64; dischd. for disab. July
11, '65.
Ackerman, William C, e. March 31, '62; dischd. for disab. April 27, '63.
Albertson, Eleck, e. March 27, '62; re-en. March 28, '64; dischd. with regt.
Bartholomew, Geo. S., e. Jan. 28, '62; re-en. Feb. 28, '64; dischd. Aug. 19,
'65, while a prisoner.
Bateman, James F., e. Feb. 14, '62; re-en. Feb. 28, '64; dischd. Aug. 19,
'65, while a prisoner.
316 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Bailey, James E., e. March 12, '62; died Nov. 5, '62, at Jackson, Tenn.
Chase, Cyrus B., e. March 7, '62; re-en. March 7, '63; dischd. with regt.
Frankauser, John, e. Jan. 22, '62; died Dec. 28, '62, at St. Louis, Mo.
Farnsworth, A. W., e. Jan. '28, '62; re-en. Feb. 28, '64, wd. at Spanish
Fort. Absent on discharge of regiment; was dischd. Sept. 27, '65.
Gove, Horace H., e. Dec. 24, '61; re-en. Feb. 28, '64; dischd. with regt.
Galloway, Win. D., e. Dec. 24, '61; dischd. April 3, "65.
Hickock, Marshall, e. Jan. 28, '62; pro. corp., re-en. Feb 28, '64; dischd.
with regt.
Halstead, Wm. H., e. March 7, '62; pro. corp., re-en. March 8, "64; dischd.
with regt.
Kirkani, James, e. Dec. 24, '61; dischd. for disab. Nov. 18, '62.
Kirkam, Allen H., e. Jan. 15, '62; died March 19, '63; at La Grange, Tenn.
McGee, Wm. H., e. Dec. 24, '61; re-en. March 28, '64; dischd. with regt.
Maynard, Edwin W., e. Jan. 15, '62; dischd. for disab. Dec. 5, '62.
Morel and, Wilson, e. Jan. 15, '62; re-en. Feb. 28, '64; dischd. with regt.
McDonough, Patrick, e. Feb. 19, '62; re-en. Feb. 28, '64; dischd. with regt.
Ressiegne, David C, e. Feb. 19, '62; re-en. Feb. 28, '64; dischd. for disab.
May 10, '65.
Rowe, Simeon W., e. Feb. 19, '62; trans, to 3d Mich. Battery, Dec. 31, '63.
Rollo, Thomas, e. March 30, '62; dischd. April 3, '65.
Stramberg, Andrew, e. Jan. 10, "62; re-en. Feb. 28, '64; wd. Dec. 16, '64, of
which he died at Nashville, Jan. 4, '65.
Severn, Jesse, D., e. Jan. 15, '62; deserted Oct. 4, "62; captured at Corinth.
Struthers, Tacitus, e. March 7, '62; re-en. Feb. 28, "64; dischd. for disab.
July 19, '65.
Seag, William, e. Feb. 20, '62; deserted May 13, '63.
Treue, John A., e. Dec. 24, '61; re-en. Feb. 28, '64; dischd. with regt.
Thompson, Jerome C, e. Jan. 15, '62; trans, to N. C. S. March 1, '63.
Warring, Cornelius V., e. Feb. 27, '62; dischd. for disab. March 4, '63.
SKETCH OF SIXTH INFANTRY.
Organized August, 1862, and ordered on the expedition against the Indians.
Detachment of 200 engaged in battle at Birch Cooley, September 2, 1862.
The regiment participated in the battle at Wood Lake, September 22, 1862,
and garrisoned frontier posts from November, 1862, until May, 1863, when
ordered upon Indian expedition; engaged with Indians July 24, 26 and 28,
1863. Stationed at frontier posts from September 18, 1863, to June 5, 1864,
when ordered to Helena, Ark. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., November, 1864,
to New Orleans, January, 1865. Assigned to the 16th Army Corps. Parti-
cipated in engagements of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, April, 1865. Dis-
charged at Fort Snelling, August 19, 1865.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 3l7
Col. Robert N. McLaren, commissioned Major August 22, 1862. Promoted
Colonel 2d Cavalry, January 12, 1864; dischd. Nov. 17, '65.
Company C.
Corp. Earnest Senipf, e. July 16, '62; pro. sergt., 2d Lieut. ; dischd. with regt.
Grann^ Charles T. C, e. July 24, '62; disch. with regt.
Main, Samuel, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. Aug. 19, '65.
Company F.
Capt. Horace B. Wilson, mustered Oct. 1, '62; dischd. with regt.
1st Lieut. George W, Parker, mustered Oct. 1, '62; dischd. with regt.
2d Lieut. Joseph F. Pingrey, mustered Oct. 1, '62; dischd. with regt.
Sergt. John Rennund, e. Aug. 13, '62; dischd. with regt.
Sergt. Ole Nelson, e. Aug. 11, '62; dischd. June 27, '65.
Sergt. William H. Featherstone, e. Aug. 10, '62; dischd. for disab. June
27, '65.
Sergt. Joseph Lockey, e. Aug. 10, '62; dischd. Oct. 20, '63.
Corpl. Charles R. Brink, e. Aug. 13, '62; pro. sergt.; dischd. with regt.
Corpl. Joseph A. Woodbury, e. Aug. 13, '62; pro. sergt. and 1st. sergt.;
dischd. with regt.
Corpl. Andrew J. Johnson, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. with regt.
Corpl. Oliver M. Sprake, e. Aug. 13, "62; dischd. for disab. Nov. 8, '64.
Corpl. William H. Wellington, e. Aug. 13, '62; trans, to V. R. C. Jany.
13, '65.
Corpl. Hubert H. Eggleston, e. Aug. 11, '62; dischd. May 2, '65.
Corpl. William S. Kinney, e. Aug. 10, '62; pro. sergt.; dischd. with regt.
Corpl. Chas. W. Newell, e. Aug. 10, '62; died Sept. 14, "63.
Mus. Bennet Benson, e. July 18, '61; trans, to Co. A; dischd. for disab.
April 17, '63.
Mus. Edward A. Hodge, e. Aug. 12, '62; trans, to V. R. C. April 1, '65.
Wagoner Samuel Jones, e. Aug. 9, '62; dischd. for disab. Aug. 23, '63.
PRIVATES.
Akers, Robert N., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. Dec. 15, '64.
Arnold, Samuel, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. with regt.
Boyd, Robert K., e. Aug. 18, '62; dischd. for disab. Mar. 20, "63.
Buchholz, August, e. Aug. 11, '62; dischd. with regt.
Bartron, Reynolds, e. Aug. 11, '62; dischd. with regt.
Brannan, Eugene A., e. Aug. 11, '62; dischd. with regt.
Bennett, King B., e. Aug. 13, '62; dischd. for disab. April 23, '63.
Bunch, Baker A., e. Aug. 13, '62; trans, to 3d Battery, April 27, '63.
Bruber, Frank, e. Aug. 13, '62; dischd. for disab. Feb. 9, '63.
Bullock, Franklin, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. July 19, '65.
Boothroyd, George, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Baker, Grant B., e. Aug. 13, '62; dischd. for disab. May 7, '63.
Chase, Benjamin, e. Aug. 9, '62; dischd. for disab. Oct. 27, '63.
318 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Cady, Henry W., e. Aug. 10, '62; died Oct. 23, '64, in hospital at Helena,
Ark.
Cook, George, e. Aug. 11, '62; dischd. May 27, '65.
Catlin, Reiel, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. with regt.
Cobb, Alonzo W., e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. for disab. Nov. 2, '64.
Cattin, Wni. Jr., e. Aug. 12, "62; destd. Sept. 5, *62; captured Nov. 26, '63.
Devare, Richard W., e. Aug. 11, '62; dischd. with regt.
Eastman, Alfred, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. with regt.
Eagan, Thomas, e. Aug. 11, '62; dischd. with regt.
Gustaveson, Peter M., e. Aug. 13, '62; trans, to inv. corps Oct. 11, '63.
Geil, David B., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. for disab. Sept. 15, '64.
Hallman, Frederick, e. Aug. 9, '62; trans, to inv. corps, Oct. 1, '63.
Hill, James D., e. Aug. 11, '62; died June 23, '63, at Ft. Ridgely.
Hilton, Latt C, e. Aug. 12, '62; trans, to inv. corps, Oct. 1, '63.
Hobart, John S., e. Aug. 15, '62; trans, to 3d Battery, April 27, '62.
Hallman, Arnold, e. Aug. 9, '62; dischd. with regt.
Jewell, Whitney, e. Aug. 9, '62; dischd. for disab. March 23, '63.
Johnson, Lewis, e. Aug. 13, '62; dischd. for disab. Jan. 26, '64.
Johnson, Charles, e. Aug. 10, '62; dischd. by Judge Atwater on writ of
habeas corpus, April 20, '63.
Johnson, Gustave, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. with regt.
Jensen, Peter, e. Aug. 12, '62; trans, to inv. corps, Oct. 1, '63.
Kimball, Elias F., e. Aug. 11, '62; dischd. with regt.
Lewis, Eli N., e. Aug. 10, '62; pro. corpl. ; dischd. with regt.
Luchan, William, e. Aug. 11, '62; dischd. with regt.
Leeson, James, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. on writ of habeas corpus, March
9, '63.
Leeson, John, e. Aug. 12, '62; pro. corp. Oct. 3, '63; sergt. June 27, '65.
Halmborg, Niles P., Aug. 10, '62; dischd. with regt.
Miner, Joseph H., e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. with regt.
Nasland, Gudman, e. Aug. 15, '62; died Sept. 22, '64, at Memphis, Tenn.
Nesson, John, e. Aug. 11, '62; pro. corpl.; dischd. with regt.
Nesson, Henry, e. Aug. 12, '62; pro. corpl.; dischd. with regt.
Osky, Ole O., e. Aug. 10, '62; dischd. with regt.
O'Kane, Henry, e. Aug. 12, '62; died Sept. 26, '64, at Jeiferson Barracks, Mo.
Prince, Benj. R., e. Aug. 13, '62; pro. corpl.; dischd. with regt.
Peterson, Christian, e. Aug. 10, '62; trans, to inv. corps, Oct. 1, '63.
Peterson, Hans, e. Aug. 10, '62; dischd. May 18, '65.
Peterson, August, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. with regt.
Perley, William, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. with regt.
Pettibone, John H., e. Aug. 15, '62; died Aug. 2, '64, at Helena.
Pickering, Joseph, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. with regt.
Rice, Wm. E., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. for disab. Nov. 3, '63.
Shoemaker, Ferdinand, e. Aug. 7, '62; dischd. with regt.
Swartout, N. B., e. Aug. 9, '62; dischd. April 22, '65.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 319
Simmons, George, e. Aug. 11, '62; pro. corpl., dischd. with regt.
Swan, Allen, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. with regt.
Sherwood, Climer, e. Aug. 12, '62; deserted April 1, '63.
Smith, Daniel C, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. with regt.
Schwetscher, Peter, e. Aug. 15, "62; dischd. with regt.
Tubesing, Peter, e, Aug. 11, "62; dischd. with regt.
Tillotson, D wight, e. Aug. 11, "62; dischd. with regt.
Turgart, Ludwing, e. Aug. 11, "62; trans, to inv. corps, Nov. 18, '63.
Todd, David E., e. Aug. 11, '62; died Dec. 17, "64, at Helena, Ark.
Taylor, Benj. T., e. Aug. 10, '62; dischd. for disab. July 21, '64.
Thompson, Terrence, e. Aug. 12, "62; trans, to 3d Battery April 27, '63
Van Ankers, Harvey, e. Aug. 10, '62; dischd. for disab. July 6, '65.
Wakefield, Josiah, e. Aug. 11, "62; dischd. with regt.
Wakefield, Alonzo, e. Aug. 10, '62; pro. corpl.; dischd. with regt.
Wood, John R., e. Aug. 10, '62; dischd. with regt.
Watson, Charles H., e. Aug. 13, '62; dischd. with reg.
Gould, Silas H., e. Aug. 13, '62; deserted Sept. 10, '62.
Farrow, William D., e. March 11, '63; deserted Sept. 10, '63.
Godfrey, Rinaldo, e. May 25, '63, dischd. for disab. June 12, '65.
RECRUITS.
Bevers, Geo. E., e. Feb. 20, '64; dischd. with reg.
Simpson, Charles, e. Aug. 12, '62; deserted Sept. 3, "62.
Olin, Bert. E., e. Feb. 27, '64; died Sept. 28, '64.
Ohlstrom, Nicholas S., e. March. 23, '64; dischd. May 25, '65.
Company I.
Nelson, John, e. Aug. 18, '62; dischd. with regt.
SKETCH OF THE SEVENTH INFANTRY.
Organized in August, 1862, and ordered on expedition against the Indians.
Engaged in battle of Wood Lake, September 22, 1862. Stationed at frontier
posts until May, 1863, when again ordered on an Indian expedition. Engaged
with Indians July 24, 26 and 28, 1863. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., October 7,
1863— thence to Paducha, Ky., April, 1864 — thence to Memphis, Tenn., and
assigned to 16th Army Corps, June, 1864. Participated in the following
marches, battles, sieges and skirmishes: Tupelo, July, 1864; Tallahatchie,
August 7, and 8, 1864. Marched in pursuit of Price from Brownsville, Ark.,
to Cape Girardeau — thence, by boat, to Jefferson City — thence to Kansas
line — thence to St. Louis, Mo. Battles of Nashville, Tenn., December 15
and 16, 1864; Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, April, 1865. Discharged at
Fort Snelling, August 16, 1865.
320 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Company F.
Boles, John S., e. Feb. 7, '65; dischd. with regt.
Steele, Robert, e. Feb. 28, '64; dischd. with regt.
Company G.
Capt. William C. Williston, enrolled Aug. 13, '62; res. Jan. 20, '64.
1st Lieut. Herman Betcher, enrolled Aug. 14, '62; pro. capt. Feb. 6, '64;
dischd. with regt.
2d Lieut. Daniel Densmore, enrolled Aug. 14, '62; pro. 1st Lieut. Feb. 6, '64;
commissioned Maj. in 68th U. S. C. Inft.
1st Sergt. James A. Owens, e. Aug. 15, '62; pro. 2d Lieut. April 18, '64; res.
Oct. 5, '64.
Sergt. Manville Comstock, e. Aug. 13, '62; pro. 2d Lieut. Oct. 6, '64; 1st
Lieut. Nov. 17, '64; dischd. with regt.
Sergt. William M. Philleo, e. Aug. 13, '62; pro. 2d Lieut. Feb. 16, '65; dis-
charged with regt.
Sergt. Abraham L. Jackson, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with reg.
Sergt. Jacob Christ, e. Aug. 14, '62; pro. 1st sergt.; dischd. with regt.
Corpl. John W. Jefferson, e. Aug. 14, '62; pro. sergt.; dischd. with regt.
Corpl. Frederick Rimshardt, e. Aug. 14, '62; pro. sergt.; dischd. with regt.
Corpl. Daniel W. Mallory, e. Aug. 15, '62; deserted May 30, '63; arrested,
sentenced to be dishonorably dischd., imprisoned for three years at hard
labor.
Corpl Orrin C. Leonard, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Corpl. William G. Allen, e. Aug. 14, '62; trans, to 3d battery, returned to
company; dischd. July 12, '65.
Corpl. Ole E. Strand, e. Aug. 15, '62; died Nov. 26, '64.
Corpl. Henry P. Mclntyre, e. Aug. 13, '62; pro. sergt.; dischd. with regt.
Corpl. Ole T. Berg, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. for disab. June 7, '65.
Musician William R. Wray, e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. with regt.
PRIVATES.
Ackerman, Michael, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. May 22, '65.
Anderson, Arm., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Anderson, Andrew, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. May 31, '64.
Brown, Arthur, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Brettell, Harry, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. July 10, '65.
Benson, Ben., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Bergman, Frank, e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. as pr. habeas corpus, Nov. '62.
Budd, Samuel, e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. with regt.
Bergh, Nelson, e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. with regt.
Barnes, James, e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. July 10, '65.
Beers, Truman E., e. Aug. 13, '62; dischd. with regt.
Beers, Truman T., e. Aug. 13, '62; dischd. with regt.
Cad well, Hiram, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. with regt.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 321
Carson, Henry R., e. Aug. 13, '62; dischd. for disab., March 20, '65.
Cook, Jacob, Jr., e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Cady, Stephen G., e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Cavanaugh, Timothy, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Danielson, Henry, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. in hospital, 1865.
Danielson, John, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. May 12, '65.
Engberg, Peter, e. Aug. 12, '62; dischd. for disab., June 5, '65.
Ehlert, Ferdinand, e. Aug. 16, '62; died July 9, '65.
Edwards, Martin, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Falls, James, e. Aug. 13, '62; dischd. for disab. Jan. 16, '63.
Ferry, Patrick, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Foley, Timothy, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Fadland, Peter E., e. Aug. 15, '62; died Aug. 6, '64, at Pine Island.
Goodman, Francis M., e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. for disab. March 14, '63.
Green, Isaac, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. tor disab. March 25, '63.
Hempling, Herman, e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. for disab. Jan. 27, '63.
Hempling, Ferdinand, e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. with regt.
Hilling, August G., e. Aug. 14, 62; dischd. with regt.
Hilton, Isaac P., e. Aug. 14, '62; pro. corpl., dischd. with regt.
Herder, Chas. F., e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. for disab. April 11, '63.
Hamlin, Jacob L., e. Aug. 14, '62; died Dec. 23, '64, of wds.
Havelson, Hans, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Hubbard, Clark V., e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. with regt.
Hutchinson, John F., e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. for disab. March 28, '65.
Haller, Englebert, e. Aug. 16, '62; pro. corpl.; dischd. with regt.
Johnson, John, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. with regt.
Johnson, Peter, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Johnson, John A., e. Aug. 15, '62; died Oct. 5, '64.
Johnson, Toller, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
King, William, e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. with regt.
Koch, Casper, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Larson, John, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. in '65.
Magear, Nickolas, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Monson, John, e. Aug. 15, '62; pro. corpl.; dischd. with regt.
McMahan, Francis, e. Aug. 18, '62; dischd. with regt.
Manion, John, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Olson, John R., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Olson, John A., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Olson, Ole., e. Aug. 15, '62; died Oct. 29, '64.
Peterson, John F., e. Aug. 21, '62; died Oct. 16, '64.
Percival, Robert, e. Aug. 15, '62 ; dischd. with regt.
Pallas, Thomas, e. Aug. 18, '62; trans, to V. R. C. April 1, '65.
Park, Sidney W., e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. with regt.
Peck, Elisha J., e. Aug. 16, '62; died Dec. 22, '62.
Swan, Jonas, e. Aug. 12, '62; died July 6, '65.
22 «
322 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Sundell, Chas. J., e. Aug. 12, '62; died Aug. 17, '64.
Snell, Russell E., e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. for disab. Jan. 11, '64.
Sidmore, Matthew, e. Aug. 16, '62; desrtd. May 30, '63.
Scherer, John, e. Aug. 14, '62; trans, inv. corps Nov. 20, '63.
Strand Ole A., e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Schneider, Jacob, e. Aug. 16, "62; dischd. with regt.
Thurgen, Frederick, e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. May 19, '65.
Weever, Patrick, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. for disab. March 25, '63.
Wagner, Peter, Jr., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
RECRUITS.
Boatman, Charles, e. Feb. 25, '64; dischd. with regt.
Banling, Sebastian, e. Feb. 26, '64; killed Dec. 16, '65, in battle at Nash-
ville.
Betcher, John, e. Feb. 26, '64; dischd. with regt.
Crane, Andrew M., e. Feb. 25, '64; dischd. for disab. May 29, '65.
Dobereng, Charles G., e. Feb. 26, '64; desrtd. Aug. 30, '64.
Downey, Richard, e. March 16, '64; died Jan. 15, '65.
Holehouse, Geo., e. Oct. 16, 63; dischd. with regt.
Hailling, Ameal, e. Feb. 25, "64; died April 25, 65.
Robinson, Frank N., e. Jan. 26, '64; dischd. with regt.
SKETCH OF EIGHTH INFANTRY.
Organized August 1, 1862. Stationed at frontier posts until May, 1864,
when ordered upon Indian expedition. Engaged in the following battles,
sieges, skirmishes and marches: Tat-cha-o-ku-tu, July 28, 1864; battle of
the Cedars and Overall's Creek. Ordered to Clifton, Tenn. ; thence to Cin-
cinnati, Ohio; thence to Washington; thence to Wilmington; thence to
Newbern, N. C. Battles of Kingston, March 8, 9 and 10, 1865. Mustered
out at Charlotte, N. C, July 11, 1865. Discharged at Ft. Snelling.
Company F.
George L. Baker, 1st sergt., e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. for com. in 2d Tenn.
Heavy Art., Feb. 9, '64.
Elijah L. Clark, e. Aug. 16, '62; pro. sergt., and dischd. for pro. in 123d U. S~
C. Inf., Jan. 14, '65.
Ridgeway, Benjamin, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Trusdell, Sylvester, e. Aug. 20, '62; dischd. with regt.
Wilson, Matthew, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Company G.
Harrison, Baker, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 323
Company H.
Capt. George G. McCoy, enrolled Aug. 29, '62; res. March 16, '65.
1st Sergt. Henry L. Holmes, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischcl. with regt.
Sergt. William L. Snell, e. Aug. 14, '62; dischd. with regt.
Sergt. Loran G. Thompson, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Sergt. Jessie E. Smith, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. May 30, '65, for pro. in U. S.
C. inf.
Corpl. Milo Parker, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. for disab. Nov. 9, '64.
Corpl. Tallman Decker, e. Aug. 13, '62; dischd. Aug. 5, '64.
Corpl. Marcellus Glazier, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Corpl. Robert R. Evans, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. with regt.
Corpl. Elias P. Kinkaid, e. Aug. 18, "62; dischd. for disab. April 22, '63.
PRIVATES.
Condin, Emory S., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. March 21, '63.
Dickey, Jasper W., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Dickey, William B., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. Oct. 25, '64, for pro. in U. S. C.
inf.
Dickson, N. L., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Dickinson, Perry L., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Dettmering, Henry, e. Aug. 15, '62; died March 11, '65.
Fales, Granville, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. with regt.
Fox, Sylvester, e. Aug. 15, '62; died February 5, '65.
Goodman, John, e. Aug. 27, '62; dischd. with regt.
Hart, William, e. Aug. 13, '62; dischd. for disab. July 2, '64.
Hardy, Newel N., e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Hastetter, Manassus, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Krapp, William, e. Aug. 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
Lake, David N., e. Aug. 19, '62; dischd. for disab. Aug. 4, '63.
Lathrop, Josiah, e. Aug. 15, '62; pro. corp. ; dischd. with regt.
McManus, Lafayette, e. Aug. 16, '62; dischd. June 5, '65.
Merrifield, 0. P., e. Aug. 17, '62; dischd. May 20, '65.
McHenry, Robt. I., e. Aug. 18, '62; no record.
Parker, Elton C, e. Aug. 15, '62; pro. corp.; dischd. with regt.
Schofield, David B., e. Aug. 15, '62; pro. sergt.; dischd. with regt.
Sheldon, Joel D. 3 e. July 14, '62; dischd. for disab. January 16, '65.
Smith, Samuel E., e. July 17, '62; pro. corp.; dischd. with regt.
Summers, Langford, e. July 30, '62; dischd. with regt.
Townsend, Joseph, e. July 13, '62; dischd. with regt.
Trett, George, e. July 15, '62; dischd. with regt.
SKETCH OF ELEVENTH INFANTRY.
Organized August, 1864. Ordered to Nashville, Tenn. Engaged in guard-
324 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
ing railroad between Nashville and Louisville, until muster out of regiment,
June 26, 1865.
Maj. Martin Maginnis, enrolled Aug. 13, 1864, as Qr. -Master; pro. Maj. Sept.
13, '64. Dischd. with regt.
SKETCH OF TENTH INFANTRY.
Organized in August, 1862. Stationed at frontier posts until June, 1863,
when ordered upon Indian Expedition. Engaged with Indians July 24,
26 and 28, 1863. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., October, 1863; thence to
Columbus, Ky., April, 1864; thence to Memphis, Tenn., June, 1864, and
assigned to the 16th Army Corps. Participated in the following battles,
marches, sieges and skirmishes: Battle of Tupello, July 13, 1865; Oxford
Expedition, August, 1864. Marched in pursuit of Price from Brownsville,
Ark., to Cape Girardeau; thence by boat to Jefferson City; thence to Kansas
State line; thence to St. Louis, Mo. Battles of Nashville, Tenn., December
15 and 16, 1864; Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, April, 1865. Discharged
at Fort Snelling, August 19, 1865.
Principal Musician Geo. A. Todd, e. Oct. 9, '62; dischd. with regt.
Company A.
Hammon, Charles, e. March 30, '64; dischd. with regt.
Company D.
Capt. William W. Phelps, e. Sept. 8, '62; res. Nov. 8, "62,
1st Lieut. Charles L. Davis, enrolled Aug. 27, '62; pro. capt. Feb. 16, '64;
dischd. with regt.
2d Lieut. William B. Williams, enrolled Sept. 8, '62. pro. 1st lieut. Feb 16,
"64; dischd. with regt.
1st Sergt. Henry A. McConnell, e. Sept. 10, '62; dischd. March 31, '64,
for pro.
Sergt. Theron B. McCord, e. Sept. 10, '62; dischd. with regt.
Sergt. William R. Thompson, e. Sept. 10, '62; dischd. May 24, '65.
Sergt. John Winter, e. Sept. 10, "62; dischd. Aug. 1, '65.
Corpl. Peter J. Johnson, e. Sept. 10, '62; pro. sergt.; dischd. with regt.
Corpl. Henry H. Brown, e. Sept. 10, '62; trans, to V. R. C. Sept. 14, '64.
Corpl. Charles W. Beers, e. Sept. 10, '62; dischd. absent in '65.
Corpl. William E. Barns, e. Sept.* 10, '62; no record.
Corpl. Joy E. Wright, e. Sept. 10, '62; dischd. April 6, '65.
Musician Charles P. Miller, e. Sept. 10, '62; dischd. with regt.
Musician John H. Miller, e. Sept. 10, '62; pro. corpl.; dischd. July 16, '65.
Wagoner Ira E. Eggleston, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
PRIVATES.
Abel, Morgan, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. for disab., Feb. IT, '64.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 325
Aman, Edward, e. Aug. 19, '62; dischd. with regt.
Anfinson, Bour, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Aspen, Henry, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. July 14, '65.
Axsel, Charles, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. for disab., May 18, '62.
Banks, John, e. Aug. 21, '62; pro. corpl. ; dischd. with regt.
Barnes, Walter S., e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. May 16, '65.
Berg, Ulrick R., e. Aug. 22, '62; died Oct. 1, '64.
Bonney, Joseph, e. Aug. 21, '62; died Dec. 23, '62.
Christopherson, Seven, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Da3'ton, Asa H., e. Aug. 20, "62; dischd. with regt.; pro. corpl.
Dalaker, Anfind, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. for disab., Sept. 14, '63.
Eggleston, Henry K., e. Aug. 19, '62; dischd. July 14, '65.
Erickson, Henry, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Everson, Ole, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Fells, Charles, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Fessenden, Edward A., e. Aug. 22, '62; died Dec. 23, '62.
Freeman, Oscar H., e. Aug. 18, '62; pro. corpl., sergt. ; no record.
Frederick, Emory, e. Aug. 18, '62; dischd. for disab., Aug. 7, '63.
Gallager, Owen, e. Aug. 21, "62; dischd. Aug. 1865.
Hart, James R., e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Herbert, Lemuel, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. May 20, '65.
Hus, Ole 0., e. Aug. 22, '62; died Oct. 18, '64.
Johnson, George, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Kellor, Gunder, e. Aug. 22, "62; deserted Oct. 8, '63.
Larsen, Battal, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. with regt.
Larsen, Ole, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Larsen, Yars, e. Aug. 21, '62; died Jan. 22, '65.
Lewiston, Lewis, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. July 28, '65.
Little, Thos. J., e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. for disab., May 13, '63.
Lysing, John R., e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Merrill, John R., e. Aug. 22, '62; pro. corpl., sergt.; dischd. with regt.
Mooers, Leonard B, e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. March 21, '65.
Nelson, Charles, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. May 22, '65.
Nelson, Lars, e. Aug. 18, '62; dischd. for disab. May 13, '63.
Nelson, Ole, e. Aug. 22, '62; died at Nashville of wounds, Dec. 17, '64.
Nickels, John, e. Aug. 19, '62; pro. corp. ; dischd. with regt.
Noble, Charles B., e. Aug. 21, '62; dischd. July 14, '65.
Olsen, Edwin, e. Aug. 22, '62; pro. corp.; dischd. with regt.
Olesen, Mons, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Olsen, Olans, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Olesen, Peter, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. for disab. April 11, '63.
Opdahl, Thurston, e. Aug. 22, '62; pro. corp., sergt.; dischd. with regt.
Peterson, John, e. Aug. 22, '62; deserted Oct. 8, '63.
Reeves, John, e. Aug. 22, '62; died at Nashville Dec. 18, '64, of wounds.
Richards, John, e. Aug. 20, '62; dischd. for disab. April 11, '63.
326 THE HISTOKY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Ryalan, Cornelius R., e. Aug. 20, "62; disckd. with regt.
Shakespeare, Geo., e. Aug. 18, '62; pro. corp. ; dischd. with regt.
Smith, Cyrus K., e. Aug. 18, "62; dischd. July 19, '65.
Sanderson, Halver, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Swendsend, Torkel, e. Aug. 21, "62; dischd with regt.
Thoreson, Ingval, e. Aug. 22, '62; dischd. with regt.
Topper, Joseph, e. Aug. 20, "62; pro. corp., sergt. ; dischd. with regt.
Vasburg, Barnet, e. Aug. 18, '62; dischd. at Fort Snelling.
Wallower, David, e. Aug. 19, "62; dischd. June 5, '65.
Wallower, Peter, e. Aug. 22, "62; dischd. June 1, '65.
Watson, Leander H., e. Aug. 21, 62; dischd. May 29, '65.
Yates, Charles M., e. Aug. 20, "62; died Feb. 1, '65.
SKETCH OF FIRST MOUNTED RANGERS CAVALRY.
Organized March, 1863. Stationed among frontier posts until May, 1863,
when ordered upon Indian expedition. . Engaged with Indians on July 24,
26 and 28, 1863. Stationed at frontier posts upon return of expedition until
mustered out, between Oct. 1, 1863, and Dec. 30, 1863.
Maj. John H. Parker, com. Nov. 20, 1862; dischd. with regt.
SKETCH OF BRACKETT'S BATTALION CAVALRY.
Originally 1st, 2d and 3d companies of this cavalry organized October and
November, 1861. Ordered to Benton Barracks, Mo., Dec, 1864. Assigned
to a regiment called Curtis' Horse. Ordered to Fort Henry, Tenn., February,
1862. Name of regiment changed to Fifth Iowa Cavalry, April, 1862, as
Companies G, D and K. Engaged in siege of Corinth, April, 1862. Ordered
to Fort Herman, Tenn., August, 1862. Veteranized February, 1864. Ordered
to Department of Northwest, 1864. Ordered upon Indian expedition.
Engaged with Indians July 28, and August, 1864. Mustered out by com-
panies between May and June, 1866.
Company A.
Olson Torry, e. Feb. 20, '65; dischd. for disab. July 20, '65.
Day, Frederick T., e. Nov. 6, '61; dischd. for disab. Nov. 1, '62.
Company C.
Hobart, Joseph C. F., e. Nov. 21, '61; re-en. Dec. 31, '62; dischd. with com-
pany.
Company D.
Capt. Ira Barton, com. Dec. 4, '63; dischd. with company.
McAlonan, Daniel, e. Nov. 13, "63; dischd. with company.
Rulgeway, Francis J., e. Dec. 21, '63; dischd. for disab.
THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY. 327
SKETCH OF SECOND CAVALRY.
Organized January, 1864. Ordered upon Indian Expedition May, 1864.
Engaged with Indians July 28, 1864— August, 1864. Stationed at frontier
posts until muster out of regiment by companies between November, 1865,
and June, 1866.
Col. Robert N. McLaren, commissioned Jan. 13, 1864; dischd. with regt.
Company A.
Kopler, Edward, e. Feb. 16, '63; dischd. Feb. 13, '65.
Zimeo, William, e. Feb. 16, '63; dischd with company.
Heath, Lionel, e. Feb. 18, '64; dischd. for disab. Oct. '64.
Company F.
Christopherson, Ole, e. Dec. 12, '63; dischd. with company.
Company C.
Coburn, James, e. Feb. 22, '64; dischd. with company.
Ellsworth, Sewel, e. Feb. 24, '64; dischd. with company.
Jones, Henry, e. Feb. 24, '64; dischd. with company.
Lowe, Ole, e. Feb. 10, '65; dischd. with company.
Melchior, Joseph, e. Feb. 16, '65; dischd. with company.
Murray, John A., e. Feb. 24, '64; dischd. with company.
McDonough, James, e. Feb. 15, '65; dischd. with company.
Nourse, William C, e. Feb. 24, '64; dischd. with company.
Record, Leonard S., e. Feb. 22, '64; pro. corpl.; dischd. with company.
Company I.
Oliver, Joshua, e. May 9, '64; dischd. with company.
Company K.
Gilmore, Perry, e. Feb. 24, '64; dischd. with company.
Mayhew, Geo. W., e. Feb. 25, 64; dischd. with company.
Company M.
Sergt. Franklin Kelley, e. Dec. 22, '63; dischd. with company.
Corp. Theodore E. Freeman, e. Dec. 19, '63; dischd. with company.
Cates, Jefferson, e. Jan. 1, '64; dischd. with company.
Connelly, Peter, e. Dec. 16, '63; dischd. with company.
Doyle, Michael, e. Dec. 7, '63; dischd. with company.
Ingham, Jonathan A., e. Dec. 22, '63; dischd. with company.
Morehouse, James B., e. Dec. 24, '63; dischd. with company.
RECRUITS.
Ferrin, John, e. Feb. 22, '64; pro. corp.; dischd. with company.
328 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Ferrin, Uriah, e. Feb. 22, '64; pro. wagoner; disclid. with company.
Morehouse, Albert, e. Dec. 31, '64; dischd. with company.
Perly, Geo. R., e. Jan. 2, '65; deserted Oct. 18, '65.
Shebonde, Joseph M., e. Jan. 2, '65; dischd. with company.
SKETCH OF INDEPENDENT CAVALRY.
Organized July 20, 1863. Ordered to Pembina, D. T., Oct., 1863. Ordered
to Fort Abercrombie, D. T., May, 1864. Stationed at above Fort until
mustered out in April and June, 1866.
Company A.
2d Lieut. William F. Crass, com. July 10, 1863; pro. 1st Lieut. June 5, '64;
dischd. with company.
Sergt. Thomas J. Leeson, e. July 20, '63; dischd. June 10, '64.
Corpl. William Tupp, e. July 20, '63; dischd. May 3, '65.
Corpl. Harmon A. Perkins, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Corpl. Melville A. Tucker, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Corpl. Allen Adams, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Wagoner Lyman T. Ward, e. July 20, '63; desrtd. Sept. 26, "63.
PRIVATES.
Ecker, Byron A., e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Ecker, Ruben, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Greene, Francis, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Gates, William, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Johnson, John P., e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Little, Thos. J., e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Meacham, John B., e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Peterson, John, e. July 20, '63; dischd. with company.
Perkins, William, e. July 20, "63; desrtd. Sept. 26, '63.
Richards, John, e. July 20, '63; desrtd. Sept. 30, '63.
Turner, John, e. July 20, '63; died Sept. 2, '63.
Ward, William F., e. July 20, '63; desrtd. Sept. 26, '63.
William, John, e. July 20, '63; dischd. per order.
RECRUITS.
Philleo, Eugene, e. Sept. 7, '63; pro. corpl.; dischd. with company.
Shiels, William, e. March 26, '64; dischd. with company.
Company C.
Beers, Emerson P., e. Aug. 10, '63; dischd. with company.
Cary, Marvin, e. Aug. 19, '63; died Oct. 8, '63.
Giles, James H., e. Aug. 19, '63; dischd. with company.
Kirby, James T., e. Aug. 17, '63; frozen Dec. 10, '63.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 329
Mullinger, Antoine, e. Aug. 26, '63; dischd. with company.
Noble, Frederick, e. Aug. 10, '63; dischd. with company.
Pugh, Evan E., e. July 25, '63; desrtd. Feb. 11, '64.
Rosenfield, Joseph, e. July 28, '63; dischd. with company.
Strange, James, e. Aug. 31, 63; dischd. for disab. March 14, '65.
Struthers, Tacitus, e. Sept. 11, '63; desrtd. April 25, '64.
Van Vleet, Harlo, e. Sept. 11, '63; dischd. with company.
Drum, Theodore, e. Feb. 25, '64; dischd. with company.
Company D.
Cartland, Bernett, e. July 21, "63; dischd. with company.
Beck, John, e. Sept. 7, '63; dischd. with company.
Bernett, Lewis J., e. July 21, '63; dischd. March 26, '65.
Flinn, James C, e. Sept. 7, '63; dischd. with company.
Hoffetler, John W., e. Aug. 5, '63; desrtd. Nov. 23, '65.
RECRUITS.
Brooks, William, e. Feb. 27, '64; dischd. with company.
Card, Sherman, e. Feb. 28, '64; dischd. with company.
Rogers, Jarvis A., e. Feb. 29, '64; dischd. with company.
Struthers, James B., e. Feb. 28, '64; desrtd. Aug. 1, '65.
SKETCH OF FIRST REGIMENT HEAVY ARTILLERY INFANTRY.
Organized April, 1865. Ordered to Chattanooga, Tenn., and stationed at
that post until muster out of regiment, September, 1865.
Col. William Colvill. Commissioned Feb. 25, 1865. Discharged by order
May 6, 1865.
Company C.
Wilson, Ole, e. Sept. 29, '64; dischd. June 26, '65.
Company G.
Allen, Chauncey L., e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. with regt.
Boyce, David, e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. Aug. 9, '65.
Robertson, Henry C, e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. with regt.
Ritter, John, e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. 1865 — absent.
Stowell, Francis A., e. Feb. 9, '65; sergt. ; reduced Aug. 26, '65.
Summers, Sylvester, e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. with regt.
Taft, Andrew J., e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. with regt.
Washburne, Henry B., e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. Aug. 3, '65.
Company H.
Buckholz, William, e. Feb. 3, '65; dischd. with regt.
Dibble, Jonathan, e. Feb. 1, '65; dischd. with company.
330 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Van Gilder, Stephen, e. Feb. 1, '65; dischd. with company.
Williamson, William, e. Feb. 9, '65; dischd. with company.
Company I.
Capt. Thomas Carney, commissioned Feb. 10, '65; dischd. with company.
Sr. 2d Lieut., James H. Carney, commissioned Feb. 10, '65; dischd. with
company.
SKETCH OF SECOND BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY.
Organized December, 1861. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., April, 1862;
thence to Corinth, May, 1862. Participated in the following marches,
battles, sieges and skirmishes: Siege of Corinth, April, 1862. Bragg's raid.
Assigned to Army of the Tennessee. Battle of Perryville, October 8 and 9,
1862; Lancaster, October 12, 1862; Knob Gap, December 20, 1862; Stone
River, December 30, 1862;Tullahoma. Marched to Rome, Ga., via Stephen-
son, Ala., Caperton's Ferry and Lookout Mountain; Chickamauga, Septem-
ber 19 and 20, 1863; Mission Ridge; Ringgold, Ga. Marched to relief of
Knoxville, Tenn.; Buzzard's Roost Gap. Veteranized, March, 1864. Nash-
ville, December 15 and 16, 1864. Mustered out July 13, 1865; discharged at
Fort Snelling.
Artificer, Harrison Harris, e. March 13, '62; re-en. March 22, '64; dischd.
with battery.
Bergman, Andrew, e. Feb. 22, '62; dischd. for disab., Oct. 3, '62.
Lewis, Frank, e. Feb. 21, '62; re-en. March 22, '64; dischd. with battery.
HISTORY OF RED WING.
THE CITY OF BLUFFS AND CHURCH SPIRES.
The honor of planting the standard of civilization on the site of the
present city of Red Wing belongs to Rev. S. F. Denton and Gavan,
who came here in 1838 as missionaries from the Evangelical Society of
Lausanne, Switzerland, to the Dakota Indians. Previous to that time,
the entire country west of the Mississippi River was a savage wild,
which had never been disturbed by the presence of civilized mortality.
In all that region of country, now so full of intelligence and industry,
of cities, towns, churches, schools and colleges, railroads and telegraphs
and all their attendant accomplishments, far away westward to the
Pacific Ocean, the voice of prayer and praise had never been heard,
unless the songs the birds sang were offered as tributes ot praise to the
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 331
glory of the divine architect, who reared the grove-covered hillsides
and rock-covered mountain crests, unfolded at their base the beautiful
prairie lands, and fashioned the courses and resting places of the sky-
tinted waters. Now, when forty years have been added to the pages
of time, millions of people
" SiHg of God, the mighty source
Of all things, the stupendous force
On which all things depend ;
From whose right arm, beneath whose eyes,
All period, power and enterprise
Commence, and reign, and end."
In 1846, in consequence of the failure of Denton's health, the mis-
sion work was given up, and remained unoccupied until 1848, when it
was re-occupied by the American Board of Christian Missions, who
commissioned Rev. John Aiton and Rev. J. W. Hancock to take up the
work of educating and Christianizing the Indians where Denton and
Gavan had left them. Denton came on in 1848, and Hancock in June,
1849.
Mr. Hancock and his wife arrived at Red Wing village on the 13th
day of June, 1849. At that time there were about three hundred native
inhabitants in the village. A school for the Indian children was com-
menced soon after Mr. Hancock's arrival, which was at first well
attended, but the novelty of " going to school " soon wore off and the
attendance grew less and less. Towards the end of the summer the
school became unpopular with a part of the Indians, and the mission-
aries became somewhat discouraged. About this time a difference of
opinion in regard to the management of the school sprang up between
Mr. Hancock and Mr. Aiton, which, together with the small number of
children disposed to attend the school, resulted in a dissolution of the
missionary partnership. After the separation Mr. Aiton engaged in the
Winnebago school at Long Prairie, one hundred and fifty miles north-
west from St. Paul, and Mr. Hancock was left in sole charge until the
Indians were removed, since when he has maintained a continuous
residence at Red Wing, where he has seen the two log mission buildings
erected under the direction of Denton and Gavan give way to a city of
thousands.
While Mr. Hancock was teaching the young Indian idea how to shoot,
he was also taking lessons himself — studying the Dakota language,
which had, in part at least, been reduced to writing. Some books had
also been printed in that tongue. Mr. Hancock was a close student
and an apt scholar, and with the aid of these books and the presence of
Indians to assist him in the proper pronunciation of the words, his under-
332 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
taking was comparatively easy, and it was not long until he was so far
master of the language as to be able to speak it with a reasonable
degree of accuracy. He commenced the compilation of a dictionary of
Dakota words soon after his arrival, which contains 409 closely written
pages of MSS. It was completed July 29, 1851, two years after it was
commenced.
Martha Maria Hancock, the wife of Rev. J. W. Hancock, did not live
to share the missionary labors of her husband quite two years, departing
this life on the 21st day of March, 1851, at the age of thirty-one years.
At the beginning of life's young dream, this estimable woman left
her eastern home, parents, friends, all that was dear to her girlhood's
memory, to join her husband in his mission of the cross among the
untutored red men of the Minnesota wilds, to share his labors, his
exposures, his dangers and his triumphs, if triumphs came — to live and
to die among a heathen people. If an artist had desired a model of
models to picture a true heroine, or if poet or novelist had desired a
character to represent a brave and fearless, yet modest and unassuming
chief of heroines, they might have secured that model and that char-
acter when, with her husband, the subject of this sketch landed at
Red Wing's village, where she was at once surrounded by several hun-
dred savages, who were henceforth to be her principal society associates.
She was not to be molded to their habits and customs, but they were
to be educated and emancipated from the errors and superstitions,
habits and customs of many generations, and brought to see the better
way. What a courage she displayed! weak, yet strong; bold, yet
modest and shrinking. Bravely she met the work of a missionary;
faithfully she discharged every duty, carrying the presence of the
Master wherever she went, and subduing the wildest savage by her
presence, until the Father saw, and called, "Enough ! come up higher.
Enter into my joy, and sit down on my throne."
At her own request she was buried on Indian ground — beneath the
shadows of the towering bluff at whose base her life had gone out, and
where the wild flowers grew and bloomed in pristine beauty, when the
spring times and summers came.
Before her death, and when all knew she must die, and her husband
asked her if she desired her remains to be taken back to the home of
her childhood and parents for sepulture, she answered, "No. I came
to live among the Indians, to help teach them there was life after death ;
that the body was mortal, but that the spirit was immortal; that it
mattered not what became of the body, the spirit would ascend to (iod
the Father, who gave it. Bury me here, that our people may see and
realize our belief in the truths we have sought to teach them."
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 333
When her spirit bad winged its flight where angels dwell, a grave
was prepared on the mission grounds into which her mortality was low-
ered by kindly hands. As the dusky sons and daughters of the mission
stood around the open receptacle of the dead, more than one tall savage
was seen to weep over the earthly departure of one they had learned to
love, and whom they had come to call Washte-Ween — the Good Woman.
When more advanced civilization came to found a city on the site of
Red Wing's Indian village, and the ground was asked for stately
business blocks ; when the bark wigwams were made to give way to
houses for white men, — a city for the dead was platted on the summit
of one of the southern bluffs that overlook the city, and Mrs. Hancock's
remains were carefully raised and as carefully removed to a new resting
place in Oakwood Cemetery.
Many years before Denton and Gavan came to found the mission
already frequently mentioned, Hhoo-pa-hoo-doo-ta, or Scarlet Wing, the
head chief of a party of Indians that had split off from the Wabasha
band, selected this place and called it Hham-necha, meaning a place of
hill, wood and water. Non-resident Indians called the place Hhoo-pa-
hoo-doo-ta, after the chief of that name, " who was probably so named
from the color of his robe, and the celerity with which he swept over
hill and prairie, through forest and fen, to surprise and conquer his
enemies." When the whites began to come in and occupy the country
the place came to be universally called Red Wing.
In number two of a series of letters pubilshed in the "Argus" by
Mr. Hancock, relating to the condition of affairs at Red Wing, when
he arrived here in June, 1849, and for thre'e or four years afterwards,
Mr. Hancock related that the Dakota had no word in their language
corresponding to our English word home. Such was their mode of life,
they had, in fact, no use for such a word. Their teepes, or dwelling
places, were frequently changed. Each band had its own planting
ground, however, and to that place it was confined a portion of every
year. This town of Red Wing was the planting ground of the Red
Wing band. The places now covered with dwellings, streets and
gardens were then chiefly occupied with Indian cultivators of the soil.
From about the first of May till the middle of September, the labor-
ing classes were busy in their fields. Corn was their chief article of
production. Their cornfields were fenced neatly with rows of stakes
driven into the ground and interwoven with willows tied to the stakes
with withes and bark. The labor of the field was performed by the
women, assisted by the children and very old men. They planted, cul-
tivated, harvested and prepared the corn crop, with much toil, and
334 . THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
without the aid of modern implements of husbandry. A woman once
came to the mission house, looking weary and toil-worn, and, addressing
the missionary's wife, said she, " I feel glad to tell you that I have my
field all planted at last. It was very hard, for I had no one to help me
this year.'- On being asked why her husband did not help her in the
field, she replied, " O, I should be very much ashamed to have ray hus-
band seen in the field at work. They would call him a woman."
While the women were thus employed, they also did all the cooking
— furnishing themselves with fuel for the purpose from the neighboring
woods. The men were engaged, sometimes hunting and fishing, and
occasionally on a war party against the Chippewas, but chiefly in the
summer in dancing, feasting and drunkenness, or lounging in idleness.
Their domestic animals consisted of a few ponies, and many dogs.
Their wigwams were constructed of poles for a frame work, and the bark
of large trees for a covering. There were between twenty and thirty
such structures arranged along the bank of the river, between Plumb
and Franklin streets, east and west, and none standing further back
than where Main street is from the river. The whole population of the
village was set down at 300. I think the real number some less at the
time I first visited them. It is very hard to count Indians correctly.
From the above description of their dwellings one will see that they
must have been cool in winter. They were so, indeed, but the Indians
made no use of these houses in the winter. After the corn was har-
vested and dried, they dwelt in tents till spring returned. Their tents
were made of skins of buffalo and other animals dried and sewed
together. These could be easily rolled up and carried on their journeys
from place to place. A few poles were set up six or eight feet apart
and fastened together at the top, and the tent cloth or skins drawn over
them was the family residence for the time being. Such a dwelling
was often constructed after a day's journey on foot, by the matron who
had carried the tent, with perhaps a number of other houshold utensils,
all day, on her back. These houses were always cone-shaped. The fire
was built on the ground in the center, with an opening at the apex for
the smoke to escape. The advantage of these dwellings in the coldest
weather was, that they could be set up in the woods where they were
sheltered from the winds. But in these, the poor Indians often suffered
much in cold weather. I was told that it was necessary for one to sit
up and keep the fire in order while the rest of the family slept around
it, every cold night, to prevent freezing.
Whenever any of the band were camped near the village in the
winter, the mission house was thronged with visitors, who came chiefly
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 335
to visit the stove. They used to call January the " Hard Moon," and I
presume the reader who now lives in Minnesota will consider the name
quite appropriate. Their divisions of the year into months, or moons
literally, was quite significant, and nearly corresponding with our
months, as follows :
January, Hard Moon. July, Choke cherry Moon.
February, Racoon Moon. August, Harvest Moon.
March, Sore eye Moon. September, Drying corn Moon.
April, Goose laying Moon. October, Drying rice Moon.
May, Planting Moon. November, Deer Moon.
June, Strawberry Moon. December, Moon when the deer
shed their horns.
Wacoota, or the Shooter, was the last reigning chief of the Indians
who inhabited Red Wing. " Physically," says Mr. Hancock, " he was a
noble specimen of his race." His height, I should suppose, was six feet
and a few inches. Straight and well proportioned, he used to walk
about among his people, with all the grace and dignity of a becoming
monarch. He obtained the position of head chief partly by personal
prowess, and partly through hereditary right. Iron Cloud and Good
Metal were subordinate chiefs. Iron Cloud was quite an orator, and
very fond of telling what great deeds he had done in former days. He
died at Red Wing in August, 1852, before the removal of the Indians,
and Good Metal died soon after.
" Wacoota was never accustomed to boasting. He was a man of
good sense and sound judgment, considering his circumstances.
Doubtless in his younger days he distinguished himself as a warrior
and hunter, as his name indicates; but he was a keen observer of men
and things, and understood human nature better than many who are
born under the light of civilization. The only advantage he ever had
over a common heathen was a visit to Washington in company with a
delegation of the chiefs of his tribe ; and from this visit he obtained a
very correct understanding of the strength and superiority of the
people of the United States. Being convinced that it was education
and industry that made the whites superior, he labored to promote these
interests among his people. It was through his personal solicitation
that a second mission was established in his village in 1848. He used
to say that the old Indians could never be made white, but he had hope
for the children, and was anxious that they should be taught to read
and write. His own family were always required to attend the mission
school. During his later years he would often labor in the field in spite
of opposition from his braves and time-honored customs. Sometimes
336 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
he appeared to lack firmness, but in every other essential quality he
was a chief worthy the name.
" Wacoota died a few years after the removal to the reservation on
the Minnesota River, a good providence sparing him from the scenes
of 1862."
In the fall of 1850, a man named Snow, secured an Indian trader's
license, and built a trading house near the present steamboat landing,
where he kept a stock of Indian goods. In 1851, Calvin Potter became
a partner with Snow. Soon after the partership was commenced, Mr.
Snow died of cholera in St. Paul, and Mr. Potter succeeded to the entire
management of the business, which he continued until the Indians were
removed. The building used by Mr. Potter as a trading house, was
afterwards converted into a hotel and called the Eastern House. It
was subsequently (in 1857 or 1858) included in the Metropolitan hotel
building, and was used as the kitchen of that hostelry. The Metropoli-
tan was built by A. A. and E. L. Teele. It was destroyed by fire.
Early in the spring of 1852, John Day came over from Diamond Bluff,
Wisconsin, and made a claim in the upper part of town, and not far
from his present residence. Mr. Day has the honor of being the first
white man to come to Bed Wing's village, with a determined purpose
to make it a permanent home.
John Bush, U. S. farmer for the Indians, and Calvin Potter, made a
claim to the land included in and occupied by the Indian village and
their cornfields. Early in the spring of 1852 — about the middle of May
— William Freeborn and Dr. Sweeney became interested in building a
town on the site of the Indian village, and Freeborn purchased the claim
right of Bush and Potter. Dr. Sweeney purchased a claim held by a
French half-breed named Young, adjoining the Bush and Potter claim,
on the west or upper side.
Says Mr. Hancock in his reminiscences: "Troops of claim hunters
came in this season (1852) and many and amusing were the strifes
about who should hold this or that favored claim in the surrounding
county. At that time there had been no United States survey, and each
man was permitted to mark off his own one hundred and sixty acres.
It was astonishing to see how long some men could pace. Then, every
one had a host of friends coming after, for each of whom he must have
a claim selected, and in duty bound must see that their rights were pro-
tected. All this made business quite lively in our embryo city. Arbi-
trations and appeals to the court of Justice Lynch were every day
occurrences. A slight skirmish was not unfrequent; but to the honor
of the first settlers of Red Wing, no lives were lost and none to our
knowledge was seriously injured.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 337
Very few of the first claim hunters remained as permanent residents.
They had come too soon. It was dull business to wait until the land
could be surveyed and brought into market, boarding one's self in a
log cabin eight or ten feet square, without any floor or window.
Nobody thought of raising wheat at that time. Our flour, pork and
butter all came from down the river.
One circumstance that occurred in the spring of 1852, is thus related
by Mr. Hancock: Two men found their claims were overlapping each
other to such an extent that both could not have enough for a farm. An
angry dispute began which seemed likely to end in a regular battle.
Each party had some friends, so that the strength of each was nearly
equal. A large party of the Indians were still here, and in no very
mild mood in regard to the new comers. The Indians were, in fact, still
in possession, as they had not received notice of the ratification of the
treaty.
Mr. Hancock, who had learned to speak the dialect of the Indians,
and being a peace man, told the belligerents that if a fight ensued he
would tell the Indians to take a hand — to '-pitch in" and "pitch the
disputants across the river into Wisconsin." The threat was not without
force and effect. The difficulty was settled. The angry elements were
quieted, and peace reigned once more in the village.
In 1850, Mr. Sibley, the territorial delegate to Congress, secured the
establishment of a postoffice at Red Wing, but the gentleman appointed
to be postmaster had removed from the village, and as candidates for
public places were not as numerous then as they are now, the office
was not opened until 1851. The first incumbent, Rev. J. W. Hancock,
had to go to St. Paul at his own expense to be " sworn in." The salary
the first year was less than five dollars. In the winter the mail was
carried between Prairie du Chien and St. Paul with a one-horse cutter.
The route was the icy bed of the Mississippi River. Towards spring
this method of traveling was attended with some danger. Sometimes
a horse was drowned, and the mail was frequently wet. On one occa-
sion Mr. Hancock spent a whole day in drying the mail which had lain
five or six hours in the river. Sometimes the office was three weeks
without a mail, and for that length of time Red Wing's village was
without communication with the rest of the world. Such failures to
receive the mail were occasioned by the perils and dangers of traveling
before roads and bridges were constructed.
After the first election in the fall of 1852, other signs of approach-
ing civilization began to appear. A large raft of lumber had been
landed, which was taken out of the water and hauled up the bank.
23
338 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Several carpenters came to reside here. Heretofore bark-lodges or
log-cabins had been the only dwellings for both rich and poor. Ceiled
houses were now aspired after. The sounds of saw, hammer and plane,
began to be heard in the land.
Social enjoyments pertaining to civilization were also introduced.
A lyceum and a singing school were organized and well attended in
the winter of 1852-3. Hiram B. Middaugh was leader of the choir, and
first teacher of vocal music.
The first building commenced, was the hotel called the Red Wing
House. This was completed early in the spring of 1853; and imme-
diately opened for boarders and the accommodation of travelers. The
first landlord was Andrew Durand, who also opened the first hotel at
Cannon Falls. The Red Wing House was afterwards purchased and
kept by Jacob Bennett, Esq , and was destroyed by fire in 1865.
Several frame dwelling houses were built in the summer of 1853 ;
among which were those erected by Wm. Freeborn, Dr. Sweeney, Wm.
Lauver, James Akers and Warren Hunt.
A building was also erected for a store on Main street, which was
filled with goods and kept by Henry L. Bevans.
The town was surveyed and platted as now recorded, by J. Knauer,
during the same summer. A partial survey had been made the year
before, a few stakes had been driven ; but the whole plan was changed
by Mr. Knauer.
Some farming was done this season. Wheat, oats, corn, potatoes and
ruta-bagas, were grown within the limits of the present city. Probably
the first wheat raised in Minnesota south of the Minnesota river was
raised here at that time.
In the last of April, 1853, just before the Dakotas were accustomed
to return from their winter wanderings to re-occupy their bark lodges,
an event occurred which, more than anything else, served to emanci-
pate the place from a savage to a civilized village.
The day was serene and cloudless. The sun had reached the meridi-
an. The noise of the busy carpenters had ceased. That death-like
stillness which forebodes the coming earthquake seemed everywhere
to prevail. All at once the cry of fire was heard. It was no false alarm.
Flame and smoke were seen to roll up at that instant from the roof of
every Indian wigwam. No engine, no water, no — nobody to put out
the fire. In less than an hour, every bark house had disappeared. This
was the most extensive fire that ever occurred in Red Wing. Supposed
to have been the work of incendiaries; but the perpetrators of the
deed were never discovered and brought to justice. We can imagine
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 339
the feelings of the poor Indians, who came on in a few days, to witness
the changes that had taken place at their old home. They doubtless
began to realize that they had sold their country.
Another event worthy of record this year was the first social
Christmas dinner. It was a good time. Everybody was invited, and
everybody was there. This gathering took place at the house now
occupied by T. B. Sheldon, Esq., then the residence of William Freeborn.
The house was well filled. The company all that could be desired.
This was the first and last time, when the whole people of Red Wing
met together and took dinner under the same roof — when they were all
with one accord in one place.
In the fall of 1853, Dr. W. W. Sweeney was appointed postmaster.
His appointment being dated November 23d of that year.
Among the incidents of 1853 was the following: A number of
Indian families were encamped in the vicinity of Red Wing, a few miles
up the river, on the Minnesota side. A man named Hawley had a
whisky shanty on the Wisconsin side, just above the site of the present
village of Trenton. Some trouble occurred between Hawley and
Ta-sha-ka (Deer Hoof,) in which Ta-sha ka received a fatal stab with a
knife. Word was brought to the few settlers at Red Wing that Hawley
had killed an Indian, and the settlers were seriously alarmed, for it had
been the boast of Red Wing's people that none of that band had ever
killed a white person, consequently, if Hawley had killed one of their
number, it was naturally expected the " true inwardness'" of the Indian
character would assert itself and seek retaliation in vengeance on the
whites. Some of the settlers went up to the Indian encampment and
assured them that Hawley should be punished as he deserved, and they
were satisfied, and manifested no desire to wreak vengeance on the
innocent settlers. Hawley fled from his shanty and was never after-
wards seen in the country. A report subsequently came back that he
had been shot and killed by an Iowa sheriff.
The spring of 1854, continues Mr. Hancock, brought a large number
of immigrants. Many came to take up land and become permanent
residents at Red Wing and vicinity. The county of Goodhue had been
organized the winter previous by the Territorial Legislature, and Red
Wing designated as the county seat.
Among the business houses opened this year was Mrs. Allen's board-
ing house, afterward called the American House, J. C. Weatherby's dry
goods and grocery store, E. P. Lowater's shoe store, and Hoyt & Smith's
warehouse, on the corner of Levee and Broad streets.
Rev. Jabez Brooks arrived this year, and opened a school in the hall
340 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
over Hoyt & Smith's store. This was the beginning of Hamline Uni-
versity.
The prevalence of the cholera on the river during the summer months
retarded the growth of the town very materially this season. Persons
were frequently landed here from boats, who were infected and died
soon after. Five deaths occurred in one week from this disease.
The Indians had been formally removed by the government in the
fall of 1853 to their reservation, but many stragglers came back again
and encamped near the place during the following season. So much
attached to their old home, and so dear to them were the graves of
their dead, this was not at all surprising. No danger was apprehended
by those who were well acquainted with them, but some of the new
comers were not without their fears. It would have been very easy for
the Indians to have taken the place by surprise, and murdered all the
inhabitants in a single night, at that time, had they been so disposed.
The distance between Red Wing and their new home was not great.
Very few white settlements then intervened. The Indians were fully
acquainted with the country, and greatly dissatisfied with the change
they had been compelled to make. But their patience was not quite
exhausted, and the settlers were not molested. One man was badly
scared, however. Awakened suddenly in the night by a hideous noise,
he thought the Indians had certainly come, and that the work of death
was going on at his neighbors' houses, and that all was lost, he deter-
mined to sell his life as dearly as possible. Snatching his revolver,
which was ready loaded, he bounded into the street in his night dress,
and rushing to a clump of bushes which stood between his house and
the others he awaited the attack, hoping to kill at least three or four
Indians before they should kill him. An interval occurred in the noise,
revealing the sound of familiar voices among those who were imitating
the savage war whoop, and he was convinced of his mistake. It was
only a party of the boys paying their respects to a newly married couple.
The winter of 1854-5 was mild for this latitude, and the usual intel-
lectual and social enjoyments of the season were passed with all the
pleasures incident to such scenes. As spring approached there began
to be a sense of want. The first boat of the season was never more
anxiously waited for than at this time. With a large majority of the
inhabitants of Red Wing this was their first year in Minnesota. Not
knowing how much better appetites were enjoyed here than anywhere
else in the United States, the supply of meat and bread fell short.
Money was plenty enough, but pork and flour could not be bought for
love or money. No one was in danger of starvation, for fish were plenty
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 341
and easily taken, and as soon as the ice began to melt, ducks came to
the rescue ; but still the settlers craved a change of meat, and wanted
more bread. The old settlers remember how the proprietor of the Red
Wing House was put to his trumps to provide tor his voracious guests.
He took his pail and went to this and that private family to borrow a
little flour, promising to return it as soon as the boats came. At last
the long wished and waited for boat arrived. Messrs. Jackson & Enz
brought up a stock of groceries and provisions. A hogshead of hams
and shoulders and eleven barrels of flour!! All these came on Friday
evening, April 25th, and by the next Monday morning were all sold
out. As soon as it was noised abroad that there was flour and smoked
meat at Jackson & Enz's, people could be seen in rows following each
other to and from their store, carrying hams, and pails or sacks for
flour. Settlers on claims far out of town came in so late on Saturday
that they were obliged to buy food on Sunday to take home to their
families. No one family could have a whole barrel of flour or more
than a single piece of meat. It must be divided. Thus the firm of
Jackson & Enz started with great promise of success. They then occu-
pied the building next door north of the Argus printing office.
The United States Land Office for the Red Wing Land District was
opened here about the beginning of the year 1855; W. W.Phelps,
register, and C. Graham, receiver. They first occupied the office of P.
Sandford, Esq., and were kept very busy in filing the declaration of
intention for pre-emptors, and "proving up," until the time of the first
public sale.
The same year, some time in the summer, the Red Wing " Sentinel,"
the first weekly newspaper, made its appearance. It was a very cred-
itable appearing sheet, published by Merritt & Hutchins. The printing
was in a building on Main street which had been used as a carpenter's
shop, and a house of religious worship, and afterwards "reconstructed"
and used as a private residence.
The most remarkable event of this year was the advent of whisky.
The town proprietors and nearly all the early settlers were professedly
temperance men. Liquor selling was to be forever prohibited. But as
in Job's time, so then. When a number of good people are gathered
together, Satan makes his appearance. He came in the form of evil
spirits to Red Wing, on the sly. Nobody suspected any danger. The
building where the "Argus" is now published, had been erected by
Jared Boughton, Esq., and was rented by a dry goods merchant named
Parish. This store began to be a place of frequent resort by those who
loved to talk. After a while it was told one of the unsuspecting citizens
342 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
that this dry goods merchant kept hardware in his cellar. Means were
instituted to find out what this hardware meant, which resulted in the
finding of a barrel of the crathur already tapped. A pail of water
and a glass stood in close proximity. No whisky was actually sold,
but a "thirsty" individual could enter the "hardware department,"
leave his dime on the barrel-head, take a drink, wipe his mouth, and
return with a " brick in his hat." How that barrel of whisky got into
the cellar was a great mystery. The people became somewhat excited
and an indignation meeting was called, which resulted in a fixed deter-
mination to drive the evil from the village at whatever cost. Mr.
Hancock relates :
The advent of whisky as an article of trade caused great commotion.
More than two years had passed since the town was laid out, and no
spirituous liquors had been kept for sale. But this ubiquitous evil
found its way here also. It crept like a snake — first in the cellar. As
it first lifted its hydra head into the light of an upper story, it was
dashed out of the window by an indignant hotel keeper. It appeared
as if no one could tolerate its presence in open day. At last it succeeded
in charming a few into the cellar where they were evidently bitten, as
they returned with visages marred by the effects of poison in the blood.
This was soon noised abroad. A public meeting was called. Men of
all trades, professions and creeds met together to express their indigna-
tion at the outrage. Long and powerful speeches were uttered ; some
advised that summary measures be taken with the offenders. Others
counseled more moderate proceedings, but all were unanimous in
having the evil removed as soon as practicable.
The result of the meeting was that a committee of five were appointed
to wait on the merchant who kept whisky under the name of hardware
in his cellar, and inform him that the traffic in intoxicating drinks could
not be allowed. This committee was instructed to do all in its power to
dissuade the dealer from his unpopular and pernicious trade. The com-
mittee performed their duty by going in a body to his store, stating the
purposes of their visit, and the authority under which they acted.
The man winced somewhat under the influence of popular feeling
thus boldly expressed, and denied the charge of selling liquor to be
drank on his premises, but would not promise to abandon the traffie at
once. His great object of life was to make money as fast as possible,
and like many others, he was ready to sacrifice almost everything else
to attain his desire. The committee therefore failed to accomplish the
object of the meeting.
Another public meeting was held, and after much debate as to what
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 343
measures should be adopted, it was proposed that a committee be
appointed to raise money by voluntary subscription to purchase all the
whisky on hand and destroy it, providing that no more should ever be
landed or brought to the place for sale.
This proposition received a hearty and almost unanimous support.
The paper was immediately circulated and $200 soon raised, that being
the amount understood to be necessary. For some reason the measure
was not fully carried out. The money which had been paid to the com-
mittee was refunded, and the excitement for a time subsided.
There was a lull in the storm. But like the war of the elements which
sometimes intermits its warmth onty to increase its strength, the war
against the whisky traffic was again renewed with augmented energy.
Red Wing had acquired a good reputation abroad for morals and
sobriety. No town on the upper Mississippi had commenced with fairer
prospects. It seemed a pity that this enviable position should be lost
through inaction.
The friends of order and sobriety were called to meet in the hall over
Smith, Hoyt & Oo's. store. This was the common hall for all public
meetings at that time. A strong temperance organization was effected.
The total abstinence pledge was taken, regular meetings appointed, and
lecturers engaged for the time to come. All this was done with a
special object in view, namely, to nip the growing evil in the bud.
Besides the regular addresses on the subject of temperance in general,
there were grave questions of policy discussed. Such as whether it was
not the duty of the friends of order to " beard the lion in his den:" to
go in a body and destroy all the whisky to be found in places where it
had been stored for sale. It was suggested that the ladies might turn
out and accomplish the work, if men could not. Some of these meas-
ures would doubtless have been adopted, had those who advised them
been as ready to act as they were to speak.
There was a weighty lawyer here in those days, who threw his influ-
ence into the temperance scale. Mob law was not the best way in his
opinion. There was already a strict prohibitory law. Whisky was
contraband as an article of trade. All that was needed to conquer a last-
ing peace, and gain a complete victory for the temperance cause, was to
put this law in force. At that time the county was under the jurisdiction
of the United States law as a territory. The prohibitory law extended over
all that portion of the territory lately occupied by the Indians. It was
therein provided that any officer of the United States Government
could destroy all the intoxicating liquors that he could find, brought for
sale or otherwise to this forbidden ground.
344 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
This advice was taken, and two barrels of whisky, at least, and
several marked vinegar (so reported,) were forced open by the ax, and
their contents poured out to mingle with the waters of the Mississippi.
This was a triumph, but, alas for human laws and lawyers ! our pro-
hibitory law had been repealed by the trickery of a St. Paul lawyer,
who had been sent to the territorial legislature. In those days laws
were made for special purposes, under other titles than belonged to
them. The victory was, after all, on the side of the liquor dealers.
They not only received damages from the friends of temperance, for
losses sustained, but thenceforth began to sell openly the intoxicating
draught.
It would be interesting to some at this day, to know why that first
dry goods merchant who kept whisky on the sly, did not remain in Red
Wing after the close of the struggle. All the reason that can be given
is the following : At the close of an eloquent speech by a noted divine,
this important, though somewhat mysterious advice, was given : That
a hot stone he put in his nest. Perhaps that stone was too warm.
At the time of the events herein narrated, the foundations of Red
Wing were well established. The village of a few hundred inhabitants
grew in population year by year, until a city of thousands marks the
favorite camping place of Hhoo-pa-hoo-doo-ta and his band of people.
The old Indian cornfield and village plat is occupied with stately
mansions, beautiful grounds, large business houses, and busy manufac-
tories. The zigzagging Indian paths are blotted forever, and remain
only in the memory of a few — J. W. Hancock, Dr. W. W. Sweeney,
John Day, E. C. Stephens and a few of their surviving contemporaries
of 1852-3 — of the times that tried the pluck and nerve of the pioneer
settlers of the city of bluffs and church spires. Soon they will follow
their fathers to the shores of the everlasting beyond.
The situation of the city is a charmingly romantic one. For beauty
of location, pleasant surroundings and charming prospects from the
various points of observation, Red Wing is remarkble. This accounts
for its having long been the chosen dwelling place of the Indians, the
sites of their villages always displaying a taste for the beautiful in
nature. The many mounds that were seen within and around the town-
site by the settlers of 1852-3-4, but obliterated many years since by
the plow, gave evidence of the country having been inhabited by some
tribe of the human race, long, long before Hhoo-pa-hoo-doo-ta and his
band erected their lodges along the banks of "Jordan," and cultivated
their " patches" of corn on the ground now overlooked by the local
temple of human justice and various houses dedicated to the worship
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 345
of the ever-living Jehovah. Here a band of the Dakotas had had their
homes for full fifty years before the avarice of white men sought and
claimed the land as the possession of civilization. Nestled down in a
beautiful little valley, or rather in a series of connecting valleys, and
encircled by a mighty river and mountainous bluffs, that rise hundreds
of feet towards the clouds, the location is one to enlist the admiration
of the most indifferent to beauty of scenery.
The grandest of these bluffs is La Grange, or Barn Bluff. It was
named La Grange (The Barn) by the early French voyageurs, because
of its fancied resemblance to a large barn.
From the summit of this bluff a grand prospect opens out before the
visitor. Across the majestic river is the State of Wisconsin, with farms,
herds, golden fields of grain, neat tasty residences, abodes of wealth
comfort, contentment and happiness. Between the Mississippi and the
Wisconsin bluffs a handsome lake spreads its waters over an expanse of
several acres. Turning to the right and looking eastward and south-
ward, the Father of Waters is lost in the silvery-shining Lake Pepin,
whose beauty and grandeur can never be truthfully touched by poet
pen or artist pencil. In the distance, where the pure waters of the lake
dance " forward and back " to Wisconsin's shore, Maiden Rock, rendered
immortal in song and story, lifts its summit as if to meet the clouds and
catch the first drippings of heaven's dew or kiss Aurora's cheek as she
unbars the gate of light. Turning still farther to the right, the eye
reaches far out and takes in a range of hills, and valleys, and timber,
and streams, that, reflected in summer's sun or winters snow, presents
a scene that would have coquetted with the fancies of the old masters
whose paintings have enlisted the enthusiastic admiration of art con-
noisseurs everywhere. Beneath, the valleys teem with life, with homes
of happiness, culture and refinement; handsome houses and well-kept
grounds, blooming with flowers that fill the air with perfume and richest
incense; golden fields of ripening grain, the wealth and support of
nations; busy husbandmen, smiling, contented matrons, gleeful, hope-
ful maidens, and laughing, joyous children as they trip along to or from
the white school houses (America's sentinel posts) that dot the valleys
or hillsides. Rivulets, creeks and rivers shimmer in the sunlight like
ribbons of silver, and chassey along between the bluffs, one ripple
chasing another over smoothly-worn gravel beds, or leaping over time-
worn rocks, hurry on to kiss the hem of their great father and on to
the gulf in the land of orange groves. Anon a church steeple points
to the skies the home of God and the city of golden-paved streets.
Here and there nestles a village with its stores, and shops, and mills
346 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
and manufactories, and their busy sons and daughters of toil, whose
strong arms and deft fingers fashion the useful and the beautiful, and
add to the wealth of the country in which they dwell.
Tracing the distant horizon, the eye catches the rising, curling smoke
as it is discharged from the throat of the ponderous steam-driven loco-
motive, that laughs at space and shortens time. By-and-by the ear
receives the distant rumble of long trains of cars laden with merchan-
dise, the product of the farm, the " fruit of the loom," the mill, the
mine, the spices of Arabia, the tea-plant of China, the offerings of
Brazil, or the cotton of the sunny South, or, may be, freighted with
human souls, intent upon business or pleasure, but all infused with new
life as they inhale the exhilarating atmosphere that rises only along
the sources of the upper Mississippi. Nearer and nearer, louder and
louder, come the rushing, roaring, rumbling trains, away down, down,
down, so far below us that they seem as but a long strip of dark cloud
driven before a huricane of wind, from the apex upon which the
visitor stands. On, on they go, and are soon lost behind the curves of
the great river whose course they follow towards Itasca — far up in the
direction of the dominions of England's queen — or down towards the
gulf where the Father of Waters is lost in the mighty ocean. Scarcely
beyond the river curves, and the eye is relieved by the appearance of
a steam floating-palace, gliding smoothly along on the peaceful bosom
of the majestic river that unites the States of the American Union from
the lakes to the sea, and divides them almost equally between the
Atlantic on the east, where " the waves of ages" roll, and the golden-
sloped Pacific on the west.
What a grand picture, and yet the subject is scarcely touched. The
pen is powerless and words are vain. It was the hand of a divine archi-
tect that unfolded this garden of beauty, that spread out these pictu-
resque valleys, that fashioned the courses of the brooklets and stream-
lets and rivers; that hollowed out the basin of Lake Pepin, and supplied
the never-failing fountains from which its depth of water is economized,
and the unique range of mountain-like bluffs that hem them in like a
cordon of forts are monuments to His superlative greatness and incom-
prehensible wisdom.
In the center of this prospect is the city of Red Wing with a popula-
tion of seven thousand busy people, whose intelligence and wealth
will bear favorable comparison with any city of equal population on the
continent, and far surpass many others of greater pretensions. The
several school buildings, with their accomplished and experienced
teachers, and the numerous elegant church edifices, large congregations
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 347
and learned and devout ministers, bespeak a refined and desirable con-
dition of society.
GOODHUE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
This organization took place December 4, 1863, with a membership
of fifty-seven. The first officers were W. S. Grow, president ; E. A.
Sargeant, vice president ; J. A. Marvin, secretary, and William Feath-
erstone, treasurer, and one director from each township. The first fair
was held at Red Wing, in the fall of 1864. Fairs were held at that
place each fall until 1870, when it was moved to Hader, where the
receipts were $445.20. The following year they were $351.95.
In 1874, it was removed to Zumbrota, when the receipts amounted to
$694.45. In 1875-6-7, the receipts were $724.12, $731.20, $825.54. The
fair is now being held in Zumbrota, with A. J. Grover, president; H. E.
Perkins, vice president; D. B. Schofield, secretary, and B. C. Grover,
treasurer. The present executive committee are S. C. Hall, H. B. Car-
penter, G. G. McCoy, Ole A. Strand and Henry Ahneman. The society
it will be observed, is in a prosperous condition, and a valuable enter-
prise to the county.
RED WING CITY GOVERNMENT.
Red Wing became an incorporated city under a special act of the
legislature, approved March 4, 1857. Since then there have been
numerous amendatory enactments, the last one being passed by the
legislature of 1878, under which the city was divided into four wards.
From the time of the first act of incorporation to the passage of the
last amendatory act, there was but one ward.
The first election for city officers was held in April, 1857.
The first meeting of the city board was held on the evening of the
25th of May, following. Present: Mayor Weatherby, and Councilmen
Hoyt and Beers. S. A. Bevans was elected city clerk, and William
Colvill was elected city attorney.
At the next meeting, June 8th, Councilman Lauver, who did not
appear at the first meeting, was present and tendered his resignation,
which was accepted. James Lawther was appointed to the vacancy.
The following names embrace a full list of the first board of city
officers as constituted June 8, 1857 : Mayor, J. C. Weatherby ; council-
348 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
men, F. F. Hoyt, Charles W. Beers, James Lawther ; city clerk, S. A.
JBevans ; city attorney, William Colvill ; surveyor, William Rock;
assessors, I. W. Brant and Volney Brundage ; printer, Dan. S. Merritt ;
treasurer, James T. Chamberlain ; marshal, F. F. Philleo.
MAYORS IN ORDER OF SUCCESSION.
1857, J. C. Weatherby ; 1858, William 1'reeborn, (resigned September
30, and F. F. Philleo appointed to the vacancy;) 1859, C. H. Conley ;
1860, P. Vandenberg ; 1861, E. L. Baker, (resigned November 5, to enter
the army as a soldier in defense of the Union, and James Lawther was
appointed to serve out the unexpired term;) 1862, C. C. Graham; 1863,
W. T. Hastings; 1864 and 1865, W. W. Phelps; 1866, William Howe;
1867, E. L. Baker; 1868, J. M. Hodgman ; 1869 and 1870, William P.
Brown ; 1871, E. H. Alley ; 1872, Charles McClure ; 1873, 1874 and 1875,
William P. Brown ; 1876 and 1877, F. R. Sterrett; 1878, J. M. Hodgman.
RELIGIOUS INTERESTS.
THE PIONEER MISSIONARIES.
In no county of any of the States of the great Northwest, have relig-
ious interests been more carefully nurtured than in the county whose
history we are writing. And it is very questionable whether there is
any county in the entire country, away from the large cities, of equal,
or even greater population, that can boast the same number of neat,
tasty, church edifices, or more attentive, devoted, prosperous and well-
organized and well-to-do religious congregations.
The foundations of this desirable condition of affairs were laid under
the direction of the Christian people of Lausanne, Switzerland. In
1837, that community sent Revs. Denton and Gavin, to found a mission
among the Indians at Trempeleau, Wisconsin. In 1838, the mission was
removed to Red Wing's village, where the founders continued to labor
until Mr. Denton's health failed in 1846, when it was given up to the
American Board of Missions. After Denton and Gavin \ gave up the
work, the mission remained unoccupied until the fall of 1848, when the
American Board commissioned Rev. Joseph W. Hancock and Rev. John
Aiton,to take up the work where Denton and Gavin had left it. Hence,
it may be said that the soil of Goodhue was consecrated to the teachings
of the meek and lowly Jesus, long before white people ever thought of
claiming the country as an abiding place, and converting the Indian
wild into a very paradise of beauty and remunerative productiveness.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 349
The seeds scattered by Revs. Denton and Gavan, and industriously cul-
tivated by Rev. Joseph W. Hancock, were not without reward. A
bountiful harvest has ripened into fullness, and blessed their labors as
missionaries of the Cross.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
ZEAL AND EARNESTNESS OF METHODIST WORKERS — ORGANIZATION OF THE
SOCIETY AT RED WING.
Where has Methodism not been carried ? From a little class organized
by John Wesley, in London, England, in 1739, persecuted and hunted
from place to place, their numbers increasing from month to month,
from year to year, they now rank first in point of numbers among the
civilized people of the world. There is no limit to the industry and
earnestness of this people. Wherever it has been possible to reach
mankind, at home and abroad, there the truths taught by the followers
of John Wesley have been carried. It has made the dark places light,
and opened the pathway of peace to millions of benighted souls. No
sluggard can be a Methodist. That organization tolerates no drones,
and its system is so perfect that each part of its working machinery is in
full harmony with the other. These people follow their plan of evan-
gelization as regularly as the sun follows its orbit. No plummet was
ever truer to the line than are the Methodists to their work. Not only
is industry a prerequisite to a good Methodist, but courage as well,
particularly to the ministry. When once one's mind is made up to enter
that sacred calling, friends, kindred, home, and if needs be, country,
must be sacrified to the duty embraced, and wherever work is to be
done, there must he go. It may be to missionary service in the remotest
islands of the sea — a backwoods or prairie mission or circuit, with
perhaps the appointments a day's journey or a week's journey apart —
the settlements sparse, the labor great, and the prospect of earthly
reward exceedingly small. Hunger, exposure, persecution, are in the
way, but Methodism smiles at these and sings its hosannas of praise
and shouts its pasans of defiance at the bulwarks of the tempter. In
the character of the pioneer Methodist minister — circuit riders, like
Peter Cartwright or Kentucky's Findley — there is something grand and
touchingly sublime. But these are only two of tens of thousands, the
memories of whose character, courage, self denial, and devotion to the
cause of the Master and the salvation of souls, lives as a monument in
the minds of true followers of the author and finisher of men's faith.
350 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Early in the field everywhere, they followed close on the heels of the
early immigrants to the land of the Dakotas, chanting their songs of
praise, and shouting defiance at all obstacles between them and the
accomplishment of the work they were commissioned to do.
As a general rule, their missionaries go ahead to spy out the land and
look after the spiritual needs of the early pioneers. Later comes the
circuit rider, with his saddle-bags, Bible, and hymn-book; and thus,
step by step, their good work is prosecuted.
The history of Methodism in Minnesota shows that missions were
established by that branch of the Christian church as early as 1837, by
the Rev. Alfred Brunson and Rev. David King, at Kaposia and St.
Peter's, among the Sioux. On the 31st day of December, 1848, a Meth-
odist church was organized at St. Paul, and in October of the following
year, a similar organization was accomplished at St. Anthony's Falls.
Services were also held at Stillwater and Point Douglas in 1850.
White settlements commenced at Red Wing's village in June, 1852.
At that time this district of country was included in what was then
known as the St. Peter's Mission, and the year just mentioned Rev.
S. L. Leonard was appointed to be pastor at Red Wing.
In 1853 a class was organized, out of which has grown the present
prosperous congregation. In 1854 the society formally organized by
the election of a board of trustees.
The first pastor sent to Red Wing as a separate and independent
appointment, was Rev. Jabez Brooks, in 1854. He was also principal
of the preparatory department of Hamline University. At that time
the congregation only numbered twenty-two members. During that
conference year the membership increased to ninety-five.
Regular services were first held, and for a little more than a year, in
the schoolroom of the University, in C. I. F. Smith's store-building, near
the river. When the University building was completed, services
commenced and were continued in the college chapel until the
present church edifice, costing $11,000 was completed and dedicated in
the summer of 1858. On the 2d of June, 1859, the tower, nearly one
hundred feet in hight, blew down, falling lengthwise, and carrying to
the ground nearly the whole building with it. It was immediately
rebuilt, at a cost of $1,400, making the entire cost of the building
$12,400.
The two-story brick parsonage belonging to the church, was erected
under the superintendency of Rev. J. H. Macomber, pastor, in 1877, at
a cost of $2,200. It is partially furnished by the congregation, which
obviates the necessity of the preachers sent to the work from time to
time, removing heavy articles of furniture with them.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 351
In 1875, the citizens had the honor of entertaining the annual Con-
ference. Every house was thrown open to the members and visitors of
the Conference, and for once sectarian differences were ignored. On
the Sunday that intervened during the session of the Conference, most
of the other church pulpits were occupied by members of the Conference.
The pastors in succession since the first appointment in 1852, have
been as follows :
1852, S. L. Leonard ; 1853, M. Sorin ; 1854, Jabez Brooks ; 1855 and
1856, C. Hobert; 1857, Peter Akers; 1858, J. W. Stogdell ; 1859, Jabez
Brooks; 1860, Silas Bolles ; 1861 and 1862, E. Tucker; 1863, G. W.
Richardson ; 1864, P. Akers, from May to September, (in September Mr.
Akers was succeeded by Thomas M. Gossard ;) 1865, A. J. Nelson, from
June to September, (September 25, Mr. Nelson was succeeded by C.
Brooks;) 1866 and 1867, C. Brooks; 1868, John Kerns; 1869 and 1870,
Thomas McClary ; 1871, E. Lathrop; 1872 and 1873, C. Griswold ; 1874
and 1875, S. A. Windsor; 1876 and 1877, J. H. Macomber; 1878, W. C.
Rice.
In 1868, the Conference commenced in September; in 1869, '70, '71,
'72, '73, '74, '75, it commenced in October ; in 1876, '77, '78, it commenced
in September.
SABBATH SCHOOL.
The Sabbath School was organized in the fall of 1854, and has been
steadily maintained ever since. The principal school now numbers
two hundred scholars. Besides this school there is a mission school in
the upper part of the city, with a recorded scholarship of one hundred.
The church here also has supervision of a school at Lewis' school house,
in Wacoota township, and one on Wells Creek, representing an aggre-
gate enrolled membership of 420, the average attendance of which is
350. Forty-eight officers and teachers were employed at the date of
Mr. Macomber's last report to Conference.
A. J. Meacham is superintendent of the parent school ; William
Robinson of the mission school, and James Sutherland of the Wells
Creek school.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The next church in the order of organization is the First Presbyterian.
For a period of time involving nearly three years from the date of the
first settlement by white people at Red Wing, the only regularly
organized religious services were conducted under the auspices of the
352 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
Methodist Episcopal people, but the services, as is always the rule with
that branch of the Christian church, were open to all, and no member
of any other church organization declined to attend because the services
were of the Methodist order.
As immigration increased, so increased the adherents to the different
forms of worship. Presbyterianism, as industrious, earnest and zealous
as the Baptist or the Methodist — always jealous of the tenets of its
faith, and true to the spirit of its founder — had representatives among
the immigrants, and as time grew apace, and their numbers increased,
they, too, determined upon establishing a church. Their first services
were held at the old mission house. At first, like their Methodist
co-laborers, their congregations were small, but their earnestness and
religious ardor were none the less sincere. The same zeal and devotion
that had been the governing principles of the fathers of that branch of
the church — that. had carried its tenets and truths wherever man had
an abiding place ; that, through evil report as well as good, had enabled
it to build churches, found schools and seminaries and colleges — was
present in these pioneer meetings, and sustained and encouraged its
believers. Years of trial and persecution, as all Christian people were
persecuted in the earlier days of the Christian era, had only tended to
purify and strengthen their faith. While acknowledging all religious
organizations as co-laborers in one common field, and ready to bow
with them in the presence of the Most High, there is yet an independ-
ence in a true Presbyterian that will accept no compromise of his
church articles of faith, or to depart therefrom and give up its individ-
uality by becoming a part of any other church organization, unless for
reasons beyond possible control, such as inaccessibility to their own
churches and houses of worship. Love of order and home enter largely
into the hearts of Presbyterians everywhere, as much in the Minnesota
wilds as in the densely populated cities. No matter where Presbyteri-
ans may go, they carry these attributes with them, and never feel that
they are at home until worshiping beneath their own vine and fig-tree —
their own roof, and that free from debt.
First assembled as a little band of true and steadfast worshipers, at
a rude log cabin, erected in 1838 as a Swiss mission house, without
organization, we trace the history of this society, its success and pros-
perity, down to the present. In the compilation of this summary, we
are much indebted to the Rev. Joseph W. Hancock, the first pastor of
this congregation.
This church society was organized at the old log mission, heretofore
frequently quoted, in January, 1855, with seven members, and was
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 353
subject to the Presbytery of Minnesota, on the records of which it was
designated as the First Presbyterian Church of Red Wing. Since that
time the territory then included in the Minnesota Presbytery has been
several times divided, and Red Wing is now included in what is known
as the St. Paul Presbytery.
The first seven members of the church were Rev. Joseph W. Hancock,
Mrs. Sarah R. Hancock, C. J. F. Smith, Otis F. Smith, W. H. Wellington,
Rachel Van Denbergh, and Margaret Culbertson.
At the organization, Rev. Joseph W. Hancock officiated, and C. J. F.
Smith was elected elder and clerk.
On the 11th of February, 1855, the sacrament of the Lord's supper,
was administered to this church for the first time.
Rev. Joseph W. Hancock, who had been laboring for several years as
a missionary in connection with the Am. B. C. Foreign Missions, among
the Dakota Indians of Minnesota, was engaged as minister of the church
from its organization until about Sept. 1st, 1861. For sometime the
congregation worshipped in a log cabin about 16 feet square, with a
sort of rude table made of rough boards, and supported by legs cut with
the axe from the neighboring forest, for a pulpit. The village of Red
Wing was just being commenced. Only two or three houses had been
erected. The Indians were still here, and the unearthly noise of their
war dance was mingled with the songs of praise that went up from the
little cabin.
Their next place of worship was a carpenter shop. The shavings
were carried out every Saturday evening, the tools packed away in the
chests, a few benches carried in, and there they assembled to hold
their Sabbath meetings ; but as they could not use it for week day
meetings, they proceeded to rear a tabernacle for the express purpose.
This was accomplished at an expense of about one hundred dollars.
It consisted of a shanty of rough boards and joists, 18x35 feet, and was
the first house built for public worship in Red Wing. They occupied
this for one summer only ; it being too open for the winter, they removed
to the village school house, which had been erected during that summer,
and there continued to worship until the following spring, when they
rented and occupied Philleo Hall. This was the last place occupied by
them until the completion of their present place of worship, which
was dedicated August 19, 1857, the Rev. Mr. Mattox, of St. Paul, offici-
ating, selecting his text from Eccl., 19th chapter and 13th verse.
The contrast between the organization of the church, and the dedi-
cation of their spacious and elegant building, was most striking, and
was alluded to in the most touching tones by Mr. Hancock. He truly
24
354 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
had reason to rejoice, for, from such small beginnings, in one year this
society had become one of the most flourishing in the territory, and
with the edifice was the fruit of his own pious zeal and toil. He then
in a solemn and eloquent prayer, dedicated the church. The services
were deeply interesting, and were attended by a large and intellectual
audience.
The church is a very handsome edifice, 38x66 feet, with tower and
bell attached. It contains sixty slips, and will seat three hundred
persons. It occupies a very eligible situation at the corner of East
avenue and Sixth street. The lot of ground on which the church edifice
is situated was given to the congregation by the town proprietors ; the
adjoining quarter of the block of lots on which the church is situated
was purchased for a parsonage, on which a very neat and commodious
building has been erected.
During Mr. Hancock's ministry, one hundred persons were added to
the church by profession of faith, and by letter from other churches.
Rev. P. H. Snow, of Wisconsin, succeeded him, and supplied the pulpit
for one year. Rev. S. H. Smith, of Morristown, New Jersey, was the
next minister, and the first installed pastor of the church. He com-
menced his labors August 1st, 1863, and resigned the pastorate in
February, 1866. Rev. James Thomson, of Mankato, and President
Jabez Brooks, D. D., of Hamline University, have supplied the pulpit
at different times when the church has been without a pastor. July
1st, 1866, Rev. J. A. Annin, of Cedarville, New Jersey, became the
regular minister of the church, and continued the labors until November
21th, 1867. On the 1st of January, 1868, Rev. D. E. Wells, of Monroe-
ville, Ohio, took charge of the congregation, and was unanimously
elected pastor of the church on the 27th of February, 1868.
PASTORS IN SUCCESSION.
From date of organization in 1855 to July 1, 1861, Rev. J. W. Han-
cock. ■
From July 1, 1861, to November 1, 1862, Rev. P. H. Snow.
From November 1, 1862, to April 20, 1866, Rev. Sanford Smith.
From April 20, 1866, to November 24, 1867, Rev. J. A. Annin.
From November 24, 1867, to September 22, 1873, Rev. E. H. Wells.
The present pastor, Rev. R. F. MacLaren, succeeded Mr. Wells.
The following list contains the names of those who have served as
elders in the order of their election :
Messrs. J. C. F. Smith, Moses Bryant, William Libby, S. S. Grannis,
Philander VanDenbergh, E. W. Brooks, Peter Daniels, P. Sprague.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 355
SABBATH SCHOOL.
In the spring of 1854, says Mr. Hancock, we organized a Union Sab-
bath School at the old mission house, and I think W. H. Wellington
was selected as superintendent. We took up a collection for a library,
amounting to about $6.00. I was delegated to take the money to St.
Paul to buy a library. I found Rev. E. D. Neill, who had a few ten
dollar libraries which had been sent out from the American Sabbath
School Union for the purpose of supplying new schools. He received
the sis dollars and gave me one of the libraries, carrying it on his
shoulders, case and all, from his own house to the steamboat landing.
That was our Sabbath School beginning.
As the village grew in population, and the church society increased
in numbers, the Sabbath School increased in corresponding proportion,
until in 1878 it numbers 300 enrolled scholars, with an average attend-
ance of 250, and twenty-eight teachers. Ed. B. Philleo was selected
superintendent of the school in 1871. At the date of the compilation
of this history the Presbyterian Sabbath School library contained 500
volumes.
GERMAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
This church society was organized in October, 1855, with Rev. Gustav
Zellman as pastor, and Gottleib Sulrasse as local preacher, and the
following named persons as members of the congregation : A. Koch,
Frederick and Mary Koch, William and Katherina Koch, Margaretta
Koch, Lena Hoffman, Otto Kaschube and Katherine his wife, Henry
Banze, Frederick William Siebrasse, Margaretta Siebrasse, Anna M.
Siebrasse, Anna W. Siebrasse, Herman Kalterjohn, Gotthilf Post, Anna
Post, Conrad Singuistria, Charles Ahlers, Sen., Louisa Ahlers, and
Charles Ahlers, Jr.
After the organization of the society, and until the erection of a
house of worship, their meetings were held at the residence of A.Koch.
In the summer of 1856, the Red Wing town proprietors donated the
society a lot for a church building at the corner of West avenue and
Seventh street. The erection of a small frame church building, which
is still standing, was commenced and completed at a cost of $400 in
that year. The church was dedicated in November, 1856, and was the
first church to be built and dedicated in the city of Red Wing. The
dedicatory services were conducted by the presiding elder of the district,
Rev. H. Roth. The building is small (24x36 feet) and old, and must
soon give way to a larger and better one — one more in keeping with
356 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
the progress of the times and increase of the congregation, and arrange-
ments are now on foot looking to that end. The following named
pastors have served this congregation :
1855 to 1856, Rev. Gustav Zollmann ; 1856 to 1858, Rev. Phillip
Funk; 1858 to 1859, Rev. Henry Kolbe ; 1859 to 1861, Rev. Charles
Hollman; 1861 to 1863, Rev. John G. Speckmann; 1863 to 1865, Rev.
August Lamprecht; 1865 to 1867, Rev. Henry Bcettcher ; 1867 to 1870,
Rev. Henry Schnittker; 1870 to 1873, Rev. Charles Hollman; 1873 to
1875, Rev. G. Haeger; 1875 to 1876, Rev. Adam Muller; 1876 to 1878,
Rev. George Hartunt, who is still serving.
Church Officers. — Local preacher and class leader, W. H. Meyer;
trustees, William Tubersing, William Siebrasse, George Cook, Peter
Tubersing, Henry Gross; stewards, William Tubersing, William
Siebrasse.
SABBATH SCHOOL.
This school was organized March 18th, 1856, by Rev. Phillip Funk,
with John Pfoffenberger sts superintendent. There is now an enrolled
membership of forty scholars, with nearly an equal average attend-
ance; eight teachers, and a library of 150 volumes. W. H. Meyer,
superintendent; Henry Gross, vice-superintendent.
SWEDISH METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
This church society organized as a class in 1870, under the direction
of Rev. C. F. Lindquist, presiding elder of the Swedish district of the
Minnesota M. E. Conference. The class consisted of eight members, as
follows : Ole Larson and wife, Sorin Everson, Aton Olin and wife,
Andrew Lus, aiid N. Peterson and wife. Ole Larson and Soren Everson,
were elected trustees. The class was embraced in the Yasa charge.
Soon after the class was formed, preparations were commenced for
building a church. A lot was secured, and the collection of money to
build a house of worship was undertaken by Rev. Mr. Lindquist. His
undertaking was blessed with success, and the erection of a house was
undertaken, and so far completed that it was occupied the same year.
The society was not able to finish it entirely, and for seats some old
boards were brought into use, which were placed on blocks. When
night meetings were held, some one or more of the members carried
lamps from their residences. The members always kept their lamps
trimmed and ready to burn if not burning.
Rev. Mr. Lindquist supplied the services until 1872, when Rev. P.M.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 357
Johnson was appointed by Conference to take charge of the work. On
the 11th day of April, 1874, the first quarterly conference was held in
this church building, Rev. O. Gunderson, presiding. In 1874, at the
beginning of the conference year, Rev. Mr. Johnson was succeeded by
Rev. A. G. Wickland, who remained until 1876, when Conference
appointed Rev. L. Dahlgren to the charge. Mr. Dahlgren remained
until the close of that conference year, when Rev. C. G. Nelson suc-
ceeded to the pastorate.
The society prospered, and having bought a lot at the corner of
Seventh street and East avenue, the erection of a new church building
was undertaken and completed in 1877. The lot for the new church
edifice cost them $1,250. A part of the lot was sold, and the proceeds
applied to the erection of their new building. The most of the money
necessary for the payment of the lot and cost of building, was raised
within. the society. It was dedicated July 1, 1877, by Rev. O. Gunder-
son, of Chicago.
Mr. Nelson, who was appointed to the charge in 1877, remained
during that conference year, and was succeeded by Rev. O.J. Stead, in
September, 1878.
Officers of the Church. — Trustees, C. Youngquist, Germand Johnson,
G. P. Peterson, Nels Dahlburg, Ole Johnson ; class leader, Germand
Johnson ; steward, Nels Dahlberg ; recording steward, C. Youngquist ;
district steward, Fuman.
SABBATH SCHOOL.
The Sabbath School was organized in 1874, by Rev. A. J. Wickland.
Mr. Wickland was chosen as superintendent. The school has an enrolled
membership of forty scholars, an average attendance of thirty-six,
six teachers, and a library of one hundred volumes. Nels Dahlburg
superintendent in 1878.
f
SWEDISH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONARY CHURCH.
This society held its first meeting in September, 1868, at the house
of Nels Nelson, who then lived near the present location of the depot.
The services were conducted by Mr. Nels Selvander, who had arrived
in this country from Sweden only two weeks previous. After this they
continued to convene for worship every Wednesday night, at the house
of some of the brethren in different parts of the town. The services
were generally conducted by the brother above named; but in case of
his absence, they were conducted by P.Johnson and others, as the case
358 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
might require. This mode of worship was continued, with an occasional
sermon by Rev. P. Undeen, of Illinois, who, at the invitation of Mr.
Selvander, would come and preach for them when his duties would
permit, being two or three times a year. They were also frequently
favored, in those times, with an occasional sermon by Rev. J. M. San-
gren, their present pastor, who was then stationed at Chicago. The
society was incorporated some time in the early part of 1874, and they
immediately began the erection of a suitable building for missionary
services. It is a frame building, 30x40 feet, situated on Sixth street,
near West Avenue, and cost $1,200. As soon as the building was
inclosed, the society commenced holding meetings, in it. It was finished
and dedicated in the spring of 1875.
Previous to June, 1877, services were supplied once a month by the
missionary synod.
In that month the Rev. G. M. Sangren became the regular pastor,
since when there have been regular services every Sabbath. The seats are
all free, and the services are conducted with a true spirit of Christianity.
The society is governed by a board of eleven persons, consisting of
one superintendent, one secretary, one cashier, four trustees and four
deacons, who are chosen annually at an election held for that purpose.
These officers are chosen for their known Christian zeal and earnestness,
liberality and devotion to the society's professions of faith.
This is one of the very few church buildings in Minnesota that is free
from debt, a fact that speaks volumes for the economy of the society.
SABBATH SCHOOL.
The Sabbath School was organized immediately after the completion
of their church building, with F. G. Kelstrom as superintendent. The
school now has an enrolled membership of fifty scolars, with an average
attendance of thirty, and eight teachers. In addition to the regular
Sabbath School they maintain a Bible class that meets at three o'clock
every Sabbath afternoon.
GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH.
This church society was organized in the spring of 1861, with F.
Heyer, of St. Paul, pastor. At the time of organization the society,
consisted of sixteen members. The first services were held in the old
Swedish Lutheran Church. Their present church edifice was built in
the same year after their organization, and cost $1,500. It was dedi-
cated by Rev. Mr. Heyer, December 6th, 1861. Mr. Heyer remained as
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 359
pastor of the society until July, 1865, when he was succeeded by Rev.
C. H. Becker, who filled the pulpit until the spring of 1867, when he in
turn was succeeded by Rev. August Smith, until December of the same
year, when the present pastor, Rev. Christian Bender, assumed pastoral
charge of the congregation. The society now numbers fifty-five
members.
Trustees. — Fred. Seebach, John Hesler and Ernst Rider.
The society are now (October, 1878,) completing a very graceful
brick church edifice, 36x56 feet, at the corner of East avenue and Fifth
street, the cost of which will be $9,000.
A Lutheran school has been maintained in connection with the
church for ten years, of which Mr. Christian Bender has been the con-
stant and regular teacher.
SABBATH SCHOOL.
The Sabbath School was organized in 1866, with Rev. Charles Bender
as superintendent. The school now has an enrolled membership of 106
scholars and twelve teachers — seven males and five females, and a
library of 150 volumes. F. Hsempfling is the present superintendent.
ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC CHURCH.
In 1853 the Catholic people were represented at Red Wing bv fifteen
families. They were visited occasionally and spiritual consolation
administered to them by the Rev. F. Tissot, then local missionary at
Wabasha, Wabasha county, and now the pastor of St. Anthony's Church,
at St. Anthony, Minn.
For some seven years services were held at Mr. Thomas Taylor's
private residence by Rev, Father Tissot, but in 1859-'60, at a meeting
called to order by Father Tissot, the few families unanimously agreed
to build a frame church edifice at the corner of Park and Fifth streets.
The building was completed as soon thereafter as practicable, in which
services were continued until June, 1878.
The first resident pastor was C. J. Knauf, who was appointed by
Right Rev. Thomas L. Grace, Bishop of St. Paul. Rev. Mr. Knauf
remained in charge of the parish for several years, during which time
he also conducted services at the several missions of the county — at
Belle Creek, Belvidere, Cherry Grove and Mazeppa — and wherever
there were Catholic people in Pierce county, Wisconsin.
In 1872 a change was made by Right Rev. Bishop Thomas L. Grace,
360 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
and Rev. J. N. Stariha, the present pastor, succeeded to the charge.
During his pastorate the number of families increased to 150, and thus
the congregation was enabled to make many improvements. The first
work of the present pastor was the building of a Catholic school in
1873, which is conducted by the School Sisters of Notre Dame,
Milwaukee.
The mission places required more attention than the resident pastor
here could render, and Revs. C. Walter, A. Holzer and J. Meyer were
assigned as assistants to Rev. Father Stariha.
In the meantime three new church edifices were erected in different
parts of the county as follows: At Belvidere, a stone building, 50x90
feet, in 1878 ; at Mazeppa, a frame building, 30x60 feet; at Cherry
Grove, a stone structure, 28x46 feet. The Bell Creek Catholic church
edifice was erected in 1860.
In 1877, an elegant stone church, with all modern improvements, was
built at Red Wing, at the corner of Sixth and Park streets, the site on
which the edifice was built being purchased from the M. E. Church
society.
In the early fall of 1878, the missions of Bell Creek and Belvidere
were assigned regular pastors. Rev. W. T. Roy is in charge at Bell
Creek, and Rev. J. Meyer at Belvidere. Rev. Mr. Roy was directed to
officiate at Cherry Grove and Cannon Falls also, and Rev. Mr. Meyer's
charge included Mazeppa.
The Red Wing parish is in charge of Rev. N. J. Stariha, who says :
"Judging the young church by the past, we may expect a glorious
future."
BAPTIST CHURCH.
The first meeting to organize a Baptist society in Red Wing, was held
at the residence of Mr. Cressey, on Fourth street, between East avenue
and Bush street, on the 21st day of January, A. D. 1855. Rev.T. R.
Cressey presided, and W. S. Grow acted as secretary. At that meet-
ing the organization was fully completed, under the name of the First
Baptist Church of Red Wing. The following named persons having
church letters were the constituent members :
W. S. Grow, Martha M. Grow, Mary A. Whelan, and Cecelia A. Brown.
Jeremiah Fuller and Hannah Fuller were received on their Christian
experience.
W. S. Grow, was elected clerk at the close of the meeting. Rev. Mr.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 361
Cressey extended the right hand of fellowship, after which the meeting
adjourned.
Mr. Cressey became the first pastor of the church, and continued to
officiate in that capacity until the 30th of April, 1857, when the Rev.
Enos Munger was called to the pastorate, and continued with the society
until March 9, 1858.
Up to the date last quoted, the society held its services in the district
school house, at the corner of East avenue and Fourth streets — the build-
ing now used as a laundry by Mrs. Fogg. From this time until 1867,
the society was without a pastor. On the 10th of June, 1866, however,
a meeting was held at the court house, to consider the necessity of
re-establishing the church, and a resolution was passed looking to that
end, but it was not carried into immediate effect. On the 3rd of Feb-
ruary, 1867, a series of meetings were commenced and continued until
the first of April. These meetings re-kindled the Baptist zeal, and on
the 19th of August of that year, Rev. W. W. Whitcomb, of Oshkosh,
Wisconsin, was called and accepted the charge, and remained as pastor
to the society until April, 1869. Under his pastorate, the present church
edifice, 40x60 feet, at the corner of East avenue and Fourth street, was
commenced and completed at a cost of $5,000. The building was dedi-
cated on the 3rd of February, 1869, the dedicatory services being
conducted by Rev. Dr. Abbott, of Rochester, who preached the dedica-
tory sermon.
November 26th, 1870, Rev. Gideon Cole was called and accepted the
pastorate, which he continued to fill until the spring of 1876, preaching
his farewell sermon on Sunday, the 23d of April. Mr. Cole was suc-
ceeded by the present pastor, Rev. William E. Stanley, who preached
his first sermon to the society on the 4th of May, 1876. Mr. Stanley
came to Minnesota on the 4th day of July, 1873, at the call of the Bap-
tist society of St. Cloud, who had just completed a very handsome
church edifice. He is yet a young man, but a very able speaker, close
student, full of Christian zeal and energy, and untiring in good works.
The society numbers fifty-three members.
Deacons. — George Post and John Thomas. Mr. Post served as deacon
from the time the society was organized until his death.
Clerks. — W. S. Grow, from date of organization in 1855 to 1867 ; E.
F. Grow, from 1867 to 1868; W. A. Orser, from 1868 to 1872; E. F.
Grow, from 1872 to 1874; G. S. Elwell, from 1874 to 1875; L. D. Camp-
bell, from 1875 to 1878. The present clerk, G. E. Gates, was elected in
January, 1878.
SABBATH SCHOOL.
The Sabbath School was organized in the spring of 1867. The first
362 THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY.
superintendent was W. P. Hood ; the present superintendent is D.J. M.
Higgins. Number oi" scholars, 100 ; average attendance, 80 ; teachers, 7 ;
No. of volumes in library, 150.
FIRST NORWEGIAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH.
FAITHFUL WORKERS AND PATRONS OF MARTIN LUTHER.
For several years this society consisted of only eight members, with-
out regular church organization. They consistently maintained their
faith, however, and met for worship every Sunday. Sometimes their
meetings were held in Indian Hall, sometimes in the court house,
sometimes in the Swedish Lutheran Church, but most frequently at the
house of some of the brethren. At these meetings and until they
formally organized as a church society, their principal speaker and
religious instructor until the arrival of Rev. B. Muns, was Prof. L.
Larson. A permanent church organization was effected at the German
Lutheran Church, on Sunday, the 18th day of February, 1864, with Rev.
Mr. Muns as pastor. Mr. Muns had been pastor of a church at Holden,
and rendered missionary services in several of the adjoining counties.
The organization represented nine families. Ole K. Simmons, C. Bergh
and O. A. Indsith were chosen as trustees.
In 1866 the society undertook and completed the erection of their
present house of worship, at the corner of Sixth and Bush streets.
The building is 30x42 feet on the ground, with chancel 14x16 feet, and
surmounted with a tower, 12 feet square at the base, and rising to a
heighth of 96 feet. The building cost $4000.
Having no place of worship, they took possession of the basement of
their church building some two years before the building was entirely
completed, holding their first meeting in the basement on Sunday, the
16th day of October, 1866. The building was fully completed in the
fall of 1868, and was dedicated on the 18th day of October in that
year. The dedication sermon was preached by Rev. J. A. Ottesen, of
Dane county, Wisconsin. On the evening of their dedication day, Rev.
H. A Preus, president of the Norwegian Synod, ordained Nels Th.
Ylvisaker as a minister of the gospel, and commissioned him to preach
the glad tidings of great joy according to the faith of the Norwegian
Lutheran church. The sermon delivered on the following Sunday by
Rev. Mr. Ylvisaker was the first sermon delivered by him after his
ordination, and the first he ever preached in America, he having just
arrived from Norway to take charge of this congregation in place of
THE HISTORY OP GOODHUE COUNTY. 363
Rev. Mr. Muns, whose duties called him elsewhere. Mr. Y. continued
as preacher to this congregation until 1874, when he was succeeded by
Rev. R. Larson, and November 12, 1876, Mr. Larson was succeeded
by Rev. K. Berven, the present pastor. The membership now numbers
about 140. The trustees are C. C. Claussen (who is also treasurer,)
Peter Nelson, Christian Peterson and John Nelson. U. C. S. Hjermstad
is secretary. •
SABBATH SCHOOL.
The Sabbath School was organized in the fall of 1869, with O. A.
Indsith as superintendent. The school now has an enrolled member-
ship of 65 scholars, with an average attendance of 35, and twelve
teachers. The S. S. library contains about 250 volumes. U. C. S.
Hjermstad is the present superintendent.
SWEDISH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF RED WING.
This church was organized by Rev. Erick Norelius on the 4th day of
September, 1855. Number of members at the time of its organization
was fifty-four.
The first services were held in a small frame building, used as a store,
situate at the corner of 4th and Plumb streets, where now John Lyon's
boarding house stands, and services were held there until the first
church was built in 1856.
In the winter of 1856-1857 its first church edifice (a frame building
26x30 \ feet) was built at the corner of 5th and Franklin streets, at a
cost of $ 1,000, which building was afterwards, when the brick church
was built, changed into a parsonage at an additional cost of about $700.
The new church edifice (brick, 36x60) on the corner of 5th and West
avenue was begun in 1866, and completed in 1875, at a cost as it stands
with the lots of $12,000.
The parish school building was built in 1874, near the new church, at
a cost of $600.
The pastors of said church were as follows : 1855-1860, Rev. Erick
Norelius; 1860-1861, Rev. J. P. C. Borsen ; 1861-1869, Erick Norelius;
1869 to the present time, Rev. P. Sjoblom.
Present number of communicants, 554; the whole population belong-
ing to the church, 1018.
The Sabbath School was organized in 1857; first superintendent,
Hawkin Olson; number in attendance at that time, 30; present super-
intendent, Nels Peterson ; teachers now number 20 ; children in attend-
ance, 200.
364 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
ST. PETER'S NORWEGIAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH,
HAUGES SYNOD.
This church society first began to hold meetings in 1863, their meet-
ings being conducted by O. O. Hagna. The society was formally
organized on the 15th of March, 1864, with O. O. Hagna, N. Jakobson
and L. Sivertson as trustees. The society was incorporated April 16,
1866. A house of worship, 24x40 feet, was erected on Bluff street, near
Sixth, in the spring and summer of 1866, at a cost of $1,200. It was
dedicated by Rev. A. Hanson, who was the pastor of the congregation
up to 1875, when he was succeeded by Rev. C. 0. Brohaugh, the present
pastor.
Church Officei's, 1878. — Trustees, G. Isackson, H. Larson, O. Bugge ;
deacons, O. Jystad, H. Rohne, C. O. Peterson.
Total membership, 120 ; communicants, 165.
SABBATH SCHOOL.
The Norwegian branch or division of the Sabbath School was organ-
ized by O. O. Hagna, at his residence, in 1865, and was held there until
the church building was completed and ready for occupancy.
An English branch or division of the school was commenced in 1867,
and continued until 1877, when it was suspended, the society preferring
that the exercises should be conducted in the Norwegian language.
Very often during the time the English school was conducted there was
an attendance of one hundred scholars, with an average attendance of
forty. Since the suspension of the English school the number has
decreased to about seventy-five scholars and eight teachers. The
library contains 150 volumes. A. Ellenger, superintendent.
SWEDISH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH.
This church was organized on the fourth day of September, 1855, by
Rev. Eric Norelius, with fifty-four members.
The first services were held in a small frame building, used as a store
room, at the corner of Fourth and Plumb streets, on the ground now
occupied by John Lyons' boarding house. Services were continued
there until the first church was built. The building was afterwards
used as a saloon. Their first house of worship, a frame building 26x30
feet, was erected at the corner of Fifth and Franklin streets, in the
winter of 1856 or 1857, at a cost of $1,000. When the new brick church
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 365
was built in 1866, the old frame structure was " reconstructed " for a
parsonage at an expense of $700. The new church, 36x40 feet, is
situated at the corner of Fifth street and West avenue, and cost $12,000.
The parish school house near the new church was built in 1874, at a
cost of $600.
The pastors of the church have been as follows: 1855 to 1860, Rev.
Eric Norelius; 1860 to 1861, Rev. J. P. C. Borsen ; 1861 to 1869, Rev.
Eric Norelius , from 1869 to the present time, Rev. P. Sjoblom.
Number of communicants, (Oct., 1878,) 554 ; total population repre-
sented by the church, 1,018.
SABBATH SCHOOL.
The Sabbath school was organized in 1857 with thirty scholars, and
Hawkin Olson as superintendent. There is now (Oct., 1878) an enrolled
membership of two hundred scholars and twenty teachers ; Nels
Peterson, superintendent.
CHRIST CHURCH— EPISCOPAL.
STRUGGLES AND TRIUMPHS — A RECORD OF GOOD WORKS.
This people were among the first to obtain a footing in Minnesota,
and with that zeal, earnestness, dignity and industry that characterizes
them everywhere, have kept pace with the growth and prosperity of
the country.
In the summer of 1850, Rev. Messrs. Breck, Wilcoxson and Merrick
were located at St. Paul as missionaries of this branch of the Christian
church to the Territory. They visited every neighborhood, from Fort
Ripley to Point Douglas, and thence to the Falls of St. Croix, on foot,
once in three weeks, besides maintaining regular services in St. Paul.
From that time to the present a faithful watch has been exercised over
the growth and development of the truths and religious principles dis-
seminated by these faithful missionaries in the primitive days of
Minnesota.
On the 19th day of December, 1871, Right Rev. H. B. Whipple, D. D.,
Bishop of Minnesota, consecrated the present elegant and commodious
church-building, situated on the block of ground between Third and
Fourth streets and East and West avenues. On the next day (the 20th)
Rev. Dr. Wells, now Bishop of Wisconsin, preached his thirteenth
anniversary sermon. His text was taken from 1 Samuel, vii, 12:
" Hitherto the Lord helped us."
In that discourse Dr. Wells took occasion to review the history of the
366 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
society — its struggles and triumphs, from the date of its organization
to that time, from which the following facts are collated:
The history and growth of the parish is mainly connected with a sin-
gle pastorate ; but the first services of the church in Red Wing were
given by the faithful missionary, the Rev. Timothy Wilcoxson, on the
17th day of November, 1855. The building occupied was the law office
of Co]. William Colvill, at the foot of Broad street, near the present
site of the Chicago and St. Paul Railway station. Occasional services
by Mr. Wilcoxson extended over a period of one year from this time,
mostly given in the schoolhouse on the northeast corner of Fourth street
and East avenue, now occupied as a laundry by Mrs. Fogg, and at the
residence of Mr. Warren Bristol, on the southwest corner of Main and
Broad streets. The first administration of holy baptism in Red Wing,
according to the office of the Prayer Book, was by Mr. Wilcoxson, when
a child of Mr. and Mrs. Newell, now living in Pine Island, was
baptized.
In the course of his visitations of the immense district which formed
his missionary jurisdiction, the apostolic Kemper preached in Red
Wing on the 28th day of April, 1858. Mr. Wilcoxson accompanied the
bishop at this time, and baptized two children, Mary Elizabeth, daughter
of P. M. and Clara Wright, and Mary Hereford, daughter of Nehemiah
V. and Sarah A. Bennett.
In June, 1858, Dr. Wells made his first visit to the parish and held
his first service. This service was in the Presbyterian house of worship,
the use of which was kindly granted for the occasion by its pastor, the
Rev. J. W. Hancock.
The record which Bishop Kemper made of his visit to Red Wing was,
that he u found here a few zealous members of the church preparing to
organize a parish and to build a church." The preparatory work to
which the bishop referred in that record was a meeting of those friendly
to the church, held in Judge Wilder's office on Christmas Day, 1857.
The notice for this meeting was circulated by Judge Wilder and Dr.
Hawley, and beside them there were present W. C. Williston, Dr.
Sweeney, Warren Bristol, Geo. Wilkinson, H. C. Hoffman, W.W. Dekay,
Judge Welch, Col. Colvill, Jas. Hamilton, Ira McClenthen, Wm. Free-
born, P. M. Wright, N. V. Bennett and Isaac Green.
On the occasion of Dr. Wells' visit in June, arrangements were made
for perfecting the organization of the parish, and for his return in the
early autumn to be its pastor. In the course of the sermon from which
we are quoting, Dr. Wells remarked: " Of those who had taken part
in the Christmas meeting, there was but one communicant of the
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 367
church ; his words and influence had turned my attention to Red Wing,
and the thought that he was to be a fellow-helper in the work of this
mission for the church was to me an assurance, based upon the experi-
ences of an acquaintance running back to college days, that so long as
our motto was ; Pro Ecclesia Dei'' he would be a faithful and unflinch-
ing worker. The 3d day of October, 1858, the Sunday of our first
service in Philleo Hall, was one of those kingly days which always call
to mind the oft quoted lines of holy George Herbert. " We thought and
spoke of its brightness as propitious, and in God's good providence
our hopes have been to a certain extent blessedly realized."
" The arrangements of the hall for our services were extremely simple
— a melodeon was provided for our use, which we retained until the
present cabinet organ was purchased by the parish, and a desk, which
served as a prayer desk, lectern and pulpit, was, upon our removal to
the church building, transferred to the parish school room, and is still
in use as the teacher's desk.
"The salary of the rector was fixed at $700 for the first year. No
missionary aid of any kind was ever given to the parish. During the
winter, the matter of church building was thoroughly canvassed; plans
were examined, a church lot secured at the head of Broad street, one-
half of which was the generous gift of Dr. Sweeney ; and on Wednesday,
the 1st day of June, 1859, the Vestry entered into a contract with
Messrs. Whitney and McOlenthen, to build a church edifice for the
parish.
" The first episcopal visitation of the parish, was on the 26th day of
June.
" At the service that morning, the venerable Bishop Kemper preached,
and confirmed ten persons ; one kept by sickness from attending the
public service was confirmed in private. At six o'clock, p. m., evening
prayer was read, and directly after, the bishop, rector, warden, and
vestrymen, and a large congregation, proceeded from the hall to the
church lot.
" We have always spoken of this service as the ; laying of the corner
stone.' There was no corner stone, as such, prepared for deposits ; but
it was rather a service of prayer — commending our labors to God's
good favor, and asking his blessing on them.
"The bishop's address was full of words of sympathy and encourage-
ment ; and there is no memory of this noble missionary prelate which
I retain with more pleasure than the truly apostolic presence and kindly
Christian greetings of the venerated pastor ; as gathered there in the
golden sunlight, we listened to his words of wisdom, and felt that a
368 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
blessing would be theirs upon whom Tie invoked that ' Peace of God
which passeth all understanding.'
"At this time there were no services of the church in Wabasha
county, and, with the exception of the Rev. Mr. Wilcoxson's services at
Cannon Falls, none in Goodhue county outside of Red Wing.
"On Tuesday, the 29th of November, 1859, Bishop Whipple (who
was consecrated bishop in St. James Church, Richmond, Virginia,
October 13th, A. D. 1859, and the first bishop of Minnesota) made his
first visitation of the parish. In his convention address in the following
June, he said of this visitation: 'On November 29th, I consecrated to
the worship of Almighty God the new and beautiful edifice of Christ
Church, Red Wing, on which occasion I preached, confirmed twelve
persons, delivered an address, and administered the holy communion.
St. Andrews. November 30th : Preached both morning and afternoon,
and catechized the children at the second service. In the evening I
met the members of the parish at the residence of Mr. Wilkinson. On
Thursday, December 31st, I confirmed one sick person in private. I
gladly place on record the fact, that this free church, which now has its
daily service, its parish school, its candidate for holy orders, its well
ordered and beautiful parish church, was planted by its rector and his
faithful parishioners without missionary aid.'
" In addition to the bishop there were present at these services, the
Rev. Dr. Paterson, of St. Paul ; the Revs. Fitch and Knickerbocker, of
Minneapolis ; Wilcoxson, of Hastings ; Williamson, of Point Douglas ;
and Gray, of Shakopee. The entire cost of the church, church lot,
furnishing, etc., was $2,967. Of this amount $401 were contributed by
friends at the East, for the purchase of the windows, a bell, and com
munion linen. It was a very happy day for us, which witnessed the
consecration of our church. The sittings in it were to be free to all."
The services in the old church, now used as a parish schoolhouse,
were of more than ordinary interest on the ordination of the Rev. C. P.
Dorset, in 1860 ; the convention services in 1861 ; the ordination, in
1865, of the Rev. H. G. Batterson to the priesthood, and of the Rev. S.
P. Chandler to the deaconate ; and the service for the first company of
volunteers that enlisted in Red Wing for the war.
In the summer of 1868, it was felt that the growth of the parish, and
claims of a spreading and deepening influence, made some action on
the part of the congregation, in the way of enlargement or by building
anew, an absolute necessity. In the autumn of that year work was
commenced on the new building in accordance with plans furnished by
Henry Dudley, of New York. Mr. D. C. Hill contracted to do the car-
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 369
penter work, except the seats, the contract for which was let to Mr. E.
Simmons; and Mr. George Carlson to do the stone work. The wood-
work, (seats, columns, tracery, wainscotting, &c.,) is of butternut, fin-
ished in oil, by Mr. George H. Davis. The windows were furnished by
Mr. Sharpe, of New York. The corner stone was laid on the 24th day
of June, 1869, on which occasion, in addition to Bishop Bishop and a
number of the clergy of the diocese, the Right Rev. Dr. Armitage, of
Wisconsin, was present and made an address, of which the "Argus"
report of the ceremony said that " manj^ of those who heard it were so
won by its fitness and beauty, that they would be glad to have a full
report of it."
There are many tokens of love and kindly interest in the fitting and
complete appointments of the church. The beautiful altar cloth, with
the cross and book rack for the altar, were the generous gifts of a kind
friend in Philadelphia ; personal friends, mostly in St. Paul's Parish,
Waterloo, Central New York, contributed largely for the altar fittings.
The windows in the chancel, although not memorial windows in their
character, were placed in the church in memory of the departed. The
only proper memorial window is the one in the nave, which through
the efforts of Mr. John Wilkinson was placed there by the friends of
the late Major Welch, of the " Fourth Minnesota," although originally
of the First Regiment ; and among all the gifts and sacrifices of the
commonwealth in the hour of the nation's sorest needs, Minnesota did
not send to the field of battle a youth of more peerless honor, unques-
tioned courage, and long enduring fortitude, than the brave soldier
whom this window commemorates. The entire cost of the church,
every indebtedness thereof being paid, or provided for by pledged
notes, at the time of the consecration, was about $23,000.
SABBATH SCHOOL.
The Sabbath School was organized in Philleo Hall, on Sunday, the 3d
day of October, 1858, with Dr. E. Wells, the rector, as superintendent.
Present Statistics.— Scholars, 210 to 215 ; teachers, 23 ; No. of vol-
umes in library, 350.
In addition to the Sabbath school library, there is a parish library
consisting of over 500 volumes.
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.
The Young Men's Christian Association was organized on the 23d day
25
370 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
of April, 1868, with seventy members. The rooms of the Association
are located on Bush street, in the second story of the postoffice' block,
and are kept in excellent order. The annual election of officers is held
in October. Daily prayer meetings are held during the winter seasons,
and are liberally attended. The present membership is about one hun-
dred. The rooms were first opened on the first Wednesday in October,
1868.
EDUCATIONAL.
Mention of the first schools, names of the first teachers, location of
school rooms, and description of the first school houses, with other
school statistics, etc., is made in a general educational chapter, to be
found elsewhere within these pages.
HAMLINE UNIVERSITY.
This institution of learning, originally located at Red Wing, was
chartered by the Territorial Legislature of 1853-4. It originated under
the patronage of the M. E. Church, and was named in honor of Rev. L.
L. Hamline, D. D., one of the bishops of that church, and who, through
the influence of Rev. David Brooks, made a donation of $25,000 to the
institution.
The preparatory department of the university was opened by Rev.
Jabez Brooks, A. M., as principal, on the 16th of November, 1854, with
thirty-three students. The room occupied was in the second story of
the store-building of Smith, Hoyt & Co., at the foot of Broadway.
In August, 1854, the erection of a University building was com-
menced. The site selected, was on the block of ground between Fourth
and Fifth streets and East and West avenues, which had been donated
by the town proprietors. The building was never fully completed, but was
formally opened on the 10th of January, 1855. In 1857 Jabez Brooks
resigned the management, and was succeeded by Rev. B. F. Crary. In
1861 Mr. Crary resigned, and Mr. Brooks was re-elected to the presi-
dency, which position he maintained until 1869. About that time it
was found that the University could not be successfully maintained
here, and it was determined to remove it to a point nearer the capital
of the State, and thus secure the patronage and influence of St. Paul
and Minneapolis. The property was sold to the city for $5,000, the
transfer papers bearing date February 24, 1872. The building was torn
down, and the material sold wherever purchasers could be found. The
ground is still owned by the city, and dedicated to the uses of a public
park.
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 371
RED WING COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE.
This institute was organized and incorporated Aug. 28,1870, with the
following board of officers: president, Lucius F. Hubbard; secretary,
Charles C. Webster; treasurer, F. A. Cole.
Directors : James Lawther, Peter Daniels, Lucius F. Hubbard, Charles
C. Webster, F. A. Cole, and W. P. Hood.
The grounds were donated by Edward Murphy, of Minneapolis, and
funds raised for building purposes by issuing stock certificates to the
amount of $12,500. Daniels & Simmons took the contract for a consid-
eration of $14,800, and to complete it a mortgage was given to Joseph
Averill, of Danvers, Massachusetts, who advanced $5,000.
The institute was successful for about three years, when, for want of
funds it was sold to Joseph Averill, to satisfy the above noted mortgage.
January 8, 1878, it was purchased by Hans Marcuson, in trust for the
Hauges Norwegian Evangelical Synod, and afterwards deeded to a
board of directors, viz. : Hans Marcuson, Gunelf Tollefson, Gnut John-
son, O. H. Fames, O. E. Boyum, Ingebret Anderson, C. Krogh, N.
Stangeland, and Andrew Ellingson, with the design of making it a
Lutheran Theological Seminary.
TEMPERANCE MOVEMENTS.
The first temperance movement in Red Wing was made by Rev. J.
W. Hancock while the place was known as " Red Wing's Indian
village," and dates back to the 10th of February, 1851. The pledge
was drawn up for the benefit of the Indians, and bears the names and
the X's of a number of the Indian notables. The first name on the
pledge is that of "Wacoota," who signed the pledge for "seven
months." One of them signed it for two years, one of them for one
year, and the remainder of the nineteen signed it for various periods,
ranging from two to seven months.
In referring to the habits and disposition of the Indians, and the
difficulties he had to battle against in trying to conquer their appetite
for strong drink, Mr. Hancock relates the following :
" The Red Wing Indians were generally peaceable, but occasionally
we had a row which set the whole village in commotion. Whisky could
be obtained over on the Wisconsin side for money, blankets, or any-
thing valuable which the Indians could spare. Moderate drinking was
not their custom. They must have enough to make ' drunk come,' or
372 THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY.
none at all. Several of them would put their ' mites ' together, and go
over and buy two or three gallons at a time, which, being brought
home, was drunk up in a short time. This was followed by all the
noise and quarreling imaginable, and usually resulted in somebody
being either killed or badly wounded.
"Shortly after a row of this kind had taken place, and while there
were a number of very sick children in the village, whom I was
visiting at the time, I heard a woman cry out, ' Now they are com-
ing with it' 'With what?' said I. She immediately pointed to the
river, and answered, ' Minni-wakun" 1 (spirit- water, or whisky.) I saw a
canoe approaching from the other shore, in which were five or six
young braves, who soon landed. I placed myself where the path led
up the bank, ready to meet them. The leader carried a tin pail with a
cover, holding, I should think, about two gallons. I asked what he
had in the pail, and he replied, ' Minne-wakan.' Snatching it from him,
it was the work of a moment, and the contents of the pail were soak-
ing into the ground.
"Loud talk followed on both sides. I tried hard to convince them
that whisky was contraband on the Minnesota side of the river, and
advised them not to bring over any more. After leaving them I under-
stood that one of the braves boasted that he would bring whisky here
and drink it, and defying me to spill it.
"But a few days had elapsed before he made the trial. The first
intimation I had of it was when an Indian called at my house and
wished me to come to the door. I looked out and saw the young braves
coming single file, singing as they marched along. The first one carried
a two gallon stone jug, which he was anxious that I should notice —
affirming at the same time that it was whisky. I went for him; got
hold of his jug, but could not wrest it from his grasp, for the reason
that he had it tied to a strong cord which passed around his neck and
over one shoulder, but I managed to pull out the cork and to overturn
the jug, when the liquor commenced to run out. He let go the jug and
clenched me by the hair with both hands, and used me rather roughly
until the whisky had all run out, as it took both my hands to keep the
jug inverted while he was dragging me about. Well, I had but partially
conquered. There were many witnesses and he did not like to give up
as entirely beaten, so he stretched himself out at full length on the
ground near the door of the mission house. I entreated him to leave
and go to his wigwam. He declared that he would not. Alter waiting
for some time for him to go voluntarily, and fearing that he might stay
there all night, I took a piece of rope, and slipping it around his ankles,
THE HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY. 373
tied his feet together, took the other end over ray shoulder and dragged
him towards his home. After being drawn five or six rods he begged
me to let him get up, promising that he would not trouble me any
more. He threatened some after he got out of my reach, but never
did me any harm. The prohibitory law was triumphant at that time."
Reference is made elsewhere to another " whisky war," that occurred
after the whites came to occupy the favorite camping places of Red
Wing and his band, so that, whatever the opinions and practices of the
people in later years, the first settlers were a strictly temperate people,
and determinedly opposed to the traffic in ardent spirits. A number of
temperance organizations were started from time to time, such as I. O.
G. T., Temples of Honor, S. of T., etc., etc., that flourished for a while
and then went clown.
The last movement, resulting in the organization of a Reform Club,
was inaugurated in September, 1877. On the 17th of that m 
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