Full text of "Illustrated history of Minnesota, a hand-book for citizens and general readers"

See other formats

Gc M. L.

977.6

K63i

1727300

REYNOLD^ HISTORICAL
QSNEALOGY COLLECTION

:OUNTY PUBLIC,UBRARY

3 1833 01053 1983

ILLUSTRATED

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

A HAND- BOOK FOR

CITIZENS AND GENERAL READERS.

T. H. KIRK, M. L.,

Minnesota State Institute Conductor of the Winona Normal School.

St. Paul:

D. D. MERRILL,

iSS;'.

i-/;^7300

PREFACE

This edition of the Illustrated History of Minnesota has been ar-
ranged for the benefit of the general reader, whose attention at the
outset is specially called to the complete and accurate set of notes
and statistical tables which add greatly to the value and interest of
the main text.

In preparing it, I have found some difficulties in my way. The
greatest grew out of the complex nature of the book itself; because
it seemed necessary to make it a reasonably complete work of ref-
erence, and yet bring it within brief space; to make it interesting
to younger readers, and still vigorous enough for the older. It is
plain to see the position of compromise into which these opposing
elements forced me. Some annals, for example, useful as refer-
ences, but in themselves not of the highest historical value, had to
find place at the risk of sacrificing the force of the main narrative.
Then, too, there are some details of interest to young people which
to an older person might in some degree seem trivial. The labor
of verifying facts where conflicts existed among authorities has
been another great difficulty, and one hardly to be appreciated by
any save those who have undertaken such a task as this.

Nevertheless, I have had some peculiar advantages. Most of the
scenic ground had become fan\iliar to me through frequent visita-
tions before the thought of writing this outline entered my mind.
Since then, no opportunity for exploration has been thrown away.
It has been of inestimable profit, aUo, to meet and converse with
many of r.hc historic characters, some of whom have since passed
to their r-.-t without loavin^^ any written records. Moreover,
throughout my labor, I have had free access to the rich collections
of the Minnesota Historical Society.

PREFACE.

I cannot do less here than express my gratitude to the many old
scouts, soldiers, and settlers -who have aided me freely. In particu-
lar, thanks are due the living governors for facts bearing upon their
administrations; to the late Dr. Stephen R. Riggs, to his son Al-
fred L. Riggs, of Santee Agency, Nebraska, to his daughter, Mrs.
M. R. Morris, of Sisseton Agency, Dakota, and to the venerable
missionary W. T. Boutwell, of Stillwater, all for information re-
specting Indian life; to J. Fletcher Williams, secretary of the His-
torical Society, for numerous courtesies; and to Dr. Edward D.
Neill, the historian, who read most of the manuscript, and by
personal counsel and hearty appreciation lent good cheer to my
endeavor.

T. H. K.

Icon TENTS. '#5^

PAGE.

Days of the Voyageurs —

Physical Features iS

The Dakotas I9

First Explorers 2$

Groselliers and Radison 26

Rene Menard 28

The Fur Traders 29

Nicholas Perrot 29

Du Luth 30

Hennepin 32

Ft. St. Antoine 37

La Hontan's Long River 38

Ft Le Sueur 39

Ft. Le Huillier 40

Ft. Beauharnois 4^

The Northwest Passage 45

French and English Supremacies 47

Carver's Expedition 47

Indian Wars 5°

Wabasha's Mission 5^

The Northwest Company 54

Before the Territory —

Territorial Changes 5^

Pike's Expedition 57

Minnesota Indians in War of 1S12 60

Traders and Selkirkers 62

Expedition of 1817 63

FL Snelling 6$

Crawford County 69

Lewis Cass's Expedition ■ . ■ . 69

The Fur Companies 'JO

7 .

8 ^ CONTENTS.

PAO&..

The First Mills 72

Selkirk's Colonv 72

First Steamboat 77

Cass Treaty Broken 74

Long's Explorations 74

Source of the Mis>issippi 75

Count Beltrami 80

Indian Treaties 80

Border Wars 81

The Swiss Settlers 82

Schoolcraft's Expedition 82

Featherstonhaugh 85

Catlin 85

Dred Scott 88

Nicollet 88

First Protestant Missions 94

Events of 1S37 95

Removal of Swiss Settlers 97

Battle of Pokefruma.

St. Croix County 100

Settlement of St. Paul joo

Resume 102

The Territorv —

Organization 104

First Newspaper ; 106

Governor Ramsey 106

Judicial Districts 106

Council Districts 107

Notes of Interest

Immigration

First Legislature

The Historical Society

First Public School .'.

The Great Seal 109

Initial Treaties no

Na\ igating the Minnesota m

Growth of St. Paul 1 1 1

Second Legislature 112

107
107
107
109
109

CONTENTS.

PAGK.

Partisan Disputes 112

Spirit of the Press 114

Public Buildings 114

Territorial University 114

Ojibwa Famine ' 114

Traverse des Sioux Treaty 114

Mendota Treaty 115

Political Parties 116

Third Legislature 116

Material Development 116

Settlements 116

The St Peter River 117

Change of Chief Justices 117

Fourth Legislature 117

Governor Ramsey's Message 117

Prohibition 119

Proposed Division of School Fund 119

Governor Gorman 119

Removal of the Sioux 120

Delegates to Congress 120

Fifth Legislature 120

Governor Gorman's message 1 20

Northwestern Railroad Company 120

President Fillmore's Visit 121

Land Grants 121

Congress Interferes 121

Sixth I>egislature 122

Gorman's Veto 122

The Charter Annulled 122

Republican Party Organized 123

Ilazehvood Republic 123

Seventh Legislature 1 24

Governor Gorman's \'ie\vs 125

Popular Themes 125

Eighth Legi-Iaturo 125

Attempted- Change of Capital 1 26

InkpadooLa Massacre 1 26

lO CONTKNTS.

PAGE.

The Enabling Act 1 29

Governor Medary 129

Constitutional Conventions 130

Act of Admission 130

The State —

I. — Siblej's Administration 131

Governor Sibley 131

The New Era 132

Issuing the Bonds 133

Normal Schools 133

International Transit 133

11. — Ramsey's Administration 136

Governor Ramsey 136

Ramsey's Inaugural 137

The State University 137

Third Legislature X37

The Rebellion 137

Military Record of 1S61 13S

Military Record of 1S62 139

The Sioux Massacre i^.O

III. — Ramsey-Swift Administration 153

Ramsey's Re-election 1 153

Governor Swift 153

SuUy-Siblcy Campaign 153

Military Record of 1S63 15^

IV. — toiler's Administration 156

Governor Miller 156

Military Record of 1S64 156

Military Record of 1S65 159

Material Progress 160

V. — Marshall's ist Administration 160

Governor Marshall 160

Administration Notes 161

VI. — Marshall's 2d Administration 162

Re-election 162

Reform School 162

Capital Removal 162

Northern Pacitic Railroad 163

Marshall's Last Message 163

CONTENTS. 1 1

PAGE.

VII. — Austin's 1st Administration 163

Governor Austin 163

Great Ci^ il Topics 164

University Lands 166

Internal Improveinent Lands 166

Administration Notes 166

VIII. — 'Austin's 2d Administration 167

Re-election 167

Biennial Sessions Proposed 167

Amendments Adopted 167

Secger's Irnpoachment 16S

The Grangers 168

IX. — ^Davis's Administration 169

Governor Davis 169

Railroad Legislation 169

The Locusts 172

Administration Notes 173

X. — Pillsburv's ist Administration 174

Governor Pillsbury 174

Status of the Railroad Bonds 175

Bond Settlement Rejected 175

Constitutional Amendments 175

XI. — Pillsbury's 2d Administration 175

Re-election 175

Review of June Election 175

Page's Iriipeachment 176

XII. — Pillsburv's 3d Administration 177

Second Re-election 177

First Insane Hospital Burned 177

Burning of the Capitol 177

Final Settlement of Bonds 17S

Co.\'s Impeachment 178

Constitutional Changes 17S

XIII. —Hubbard's ist Administration 179

Go\ernor Hubbard 179

Completion of the Northorn Pacific 180

Biennial Sessions Adopted iSo

Material Progress iSo

XIV. — Hubbard's 2d Administration 1S2

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

' ■ Hubbard's Re-election 182

Economic Growth 182

Public Institutions 184

Civic Problems 1S4

XV.— McGill's Administration 185

Governor McGill 185

Explanatory Notes 187

Reference 'Tables 227

Index 237

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Days of the Voyageurs i5

Dakota Tipis . ." ^9

St, Anthony Falls of Old 34

Near Lake City 38

Maiden Rock .' 38

Frontenac 44

Pointe au Sable 44

Carver's Cave, looking in 49

Fountain Cave, looking out 49

Looking up the St. Pierre 5^

Ojibwa House 5^

The Falls of Minnehaha 53

Before the Territory 5^

Captain Carver 6i

Z. M. Pike 61

William Morrison 61

S. H. Long 61

Lewis Cass 61

H. R. Schoolcraft 61

Mrs. Snelling 65

Colonel Sncliing 65

Looking down the Mississippi 67

Looking across the Minnesota 67

Round Tower ' 68

Polygon Tower 68

St. Peter's or Mendota 7^

American Fur Company's Post at Fond du Lac 73

Chart of Lake Itasca 78

\Viimcba<.'0 Cheracks 81

Dalles of^he St. Louis 84

Tracking 86

Crossing a Portage 86

Camping on a Long Portag-e 86

ILLUSTRATIONS. 1 3

PAGE.

Catlin Painting an Indian Chief §7

Pictographs at Pipestone §9

Pipestone Falls, m et season 91

Pipestone Falls, drv season 9^

The Maidens ". 91

The Manito 91

Dakotas Digging Pipestone 92

Castle Rock 93

The Missionaries 9^

The Chapel of St. Paul loi

Old Post-office loi

New Post-omce loi

The Territory 104

First Capitol'of Minnesota loS

Hole-in-the-dav II ixi

St. Paul in 1S52 "3

Governor Gorman 119

Little Paul 123

Minneopa Falls 127

Governor Medarv 129

The State ' i3i

Governor Siblev 132

The Night Canip i34

Ready to start from St. Paul 134

Homeward Bound i34

At St. Paul 135

On the Prairie I3S

Governor Ramsev 136

The Settler's Fate 142

Acton Monument 144

Other-day H^

Within the Quadrangle 14S

The Indians' Ravine 148

Little Crow 15°

The Ford 151

Ruined Warehouse 15^

Upper Agency House 15^

Governor Swift I53

Governor Miller 15^

Governor Marshall 160

Governor Austin 164

Governor Davis 169

Governor Pill-^hury 174

Governor IIi;bbard 179

Bridge and Mills at St. Anthonv Falls iSi

Glimpse of St. Paul to-day . . . .' 183

Governor McGill 185

ILLUSTRATED

History of Minnesota.

OAyS^'b^^VoyAGElTl^

ii-'it.

^' ik:-'''iJ

.,^a>-:.

Physical Features.— The physical features of a coun-
try are very closely related to the history^ of its people ;
if the earnest student, therefore, will consider all those
here given, carefully and far more broadly than stated,
he will discover in them a key to interpret some part of
every page recording the beginning and growth of the
great commonwealth of which the Minnesota region has
become the seat. .

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Positio>i and Surface. — Minnesota for the most
part may be considered as a plain of diversified surface
varying in elevation^ above the level of the sea from the
six hundred tAvo feet of its lowest valley to the twenty-two
hundred of its highest hill summit. The crown of cen-
tral North America lies within its boundaries. The
united areas of its land and water surfaces, carefully esti-
mated, are above eighty-four thousand square miles.

Ilivcrs. — It has four principal river svstems : the St.
Lawrence represented by the northern chain of lakes and
the St. Louis river, all emptying into Lake Superior ; the
main 2^Iississippi with innumerable branches large and
small ; the Red River of the North draining into Lake
Winnipeg ; and the Missouri represented by one of its
indiiect affluents the Rock. ^*Luiy of these rivers^ run
through deep narrow vallcvs walled in by ranges of one-
sided hills, or bluffs, from whose summits the country
extends backward at its general level. This is also true of
their tributary streams ; but approaching the ultimate
sources of the systems, the bluffs become lower and lower
until they finally disappear. Numberless small courses,
traced by the periodic streams of wet seasons and spring
cut through the bluff ranges of the larger channels.
These, properly called ravines, add greatly to the pict-
uresqueness of the scenery.

Lakes. — According to survevs, the State has nearly
ten thousand lakes varying in size from the miniature tarn
to Red Lake three hundred forty square miles in extent.
The shore lines present all the phases of cove, bay, low
cape, lofty promontory, and far -extending peninsula,
while islands here and there stud the out-lying waters.
Some are marshy and shallow, but common characteris-

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS. 17

tics are great depth of water and bottoms of sand and
rock. The water is usually clear and wholesome, but in
a few limited sections of the west somewhat alkaline.

Climate. — While its snows of winter and rains of
summer are copious, the atmosphere of Minnesota is dry
and healthful by reason of its excellent drainage and com-
paratively great elevation above tide water. The winters,
somewhat long and severe, are followed bv brief springs
which merge cpiickly into hot summers.^ These, in turn,
are usually prolonged by mauv weeks of warm autumn
weather known as the Indian summer. Bright days are
the rule and cloudy the exception throughout the year;
and the nights of summer are almost invariably cool.

Soil. — The soil of the State consists in the main of rich
sandy and clayey loams remarkably free from stones, and
therefore it is generally arable or suitable for grazing.

Flora. — Winchell estimates that, including their water
surfaces, there are fifty-two thousand square miles of
native forests in Minnesota. The greater part of this area
lies east and north of a line drawn from St. Vincent to
Fergus Falls, from there to St. Cloud, thence to Mankato,
and finally to Hastings. The forests within the great tri-
angle formed by the northern boundary. Lake Superior,
and the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers are composed
chiefly of white pine, Norway pine, tamarack, balsam,
and white cedar. The remaining forests, besides certain
narrow belts girting the lakes and fringing the rivers of
the prairie regions, are made up of numerous species of
deciduous shrubs and trees among which are the several
varities of oak, a-h, elm, birch, and maple. The most
noted body of timber in this last section extends a hundred
miles from north to south and fifty from east to west, thus

l8 , . HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

having an area of five thousand square miles. Its south-
ern line is found in the counties of Blue Earth, Waseca,
and LeSueur. It is called the Big Woods.

The prairies produce manv nutritious grasses of luxuri-
ant growth which of old made them the favorite haunts of
wild herds seeking pasturage. Among the species in two
typical prairie counties, Prof. Warren Upham locates the
beard-grass, or blue-joint, Indian-grass, muskit-grass, and
porcupine-grass upon intermediate uplands ; another spe-
cies each of beard and muskit grasses on dry knolls ; fresh
water cord-grass and rice cut-grass in sloughs. Among
the flowers, which are seemingly of every form and color,
he enumerates the aster, golden-rod, blazing-star, rose,
lily, harebell, phlox, and fringed gentian.

Fauna. — The native fauna once included many fur-
bearing animals ; but not a few of these, as the elk and
bison, have vanished on the approach of civilization.
Most worthy of mention among those still remaining in
the remote forests are the otter, beaver, bear and deer.
Many kinds of the wild duck and goose frequent the
lakes, the partridge and pheasant are found in the woods,
and grouse upon the prairies. Both lake and river
abound in the varieties of tish common to the inland waters
of the temperate zone. Worthy of note are the brook
trout, pickerel, perch, rock bass, and wall-eyed pike.

Minerals. — Fine grades of limestone, sandstone,
quartzite, and granite, tit for both plain and ormimental
building, are found in large cpiantities throughout the
State. Extensive beds of brick and pottery clays are of
frequent occurrence. Lead and silver crop out to some
extent in both the eastern and northeastern sections, but in

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS.

the latter rich, inexhaustible veins of iron and copper have
also lately been discovered.

Tlie Dakotas. — The territory now included within the
boundaries of Minnesota was originally occupied by the
Dakotas,! one of the great families of American aborig-
ines. This family, or nation, had three great divisions:
the Santees,2 who
formerly dwelt in
the section adjacent
to Lake Sujjerior

':i''r'"r^

^■■:V^^^:

'^i^-^'^^'

_ '*■• .^

. ; \- 1 '

'rr^^^:\\\

-^^^'V

y- '- 'i '■'--,

, ..■ --4:.;^ V a

fim^

.^fV:4

A ^ I- •

^\;|"':K^

'^' ■'■^■%'^

'-0- ..

;;/ jA

' '' J .

' 'V '' i

f ''"'.-

3^" ■ '■ '

■■ ' " \' ,'

■ ;.').V'";;

'f'-yX

; . - \- /;"■

and the head waters
of the ^Iississippi;3
the Yanktons,4 who
occupied the region
north of the Min-
nesota ;5 and the
T e e t o n s,6 av h o
roamed over the
vast j^rairies along
the Avestern border,
and had their, prin-
cipal villages at Lac
qui Parle? and Big
Stone Lake.s The
division first men-
tioned was com-
posed of four bands,

the next of two, the last of seven, and all of these were still
further sulxlivided. Moreover, the Assinibolnes,^ supposed
to be an ancient offshoot of the Yanktons, were found estab-
lished near the chain of lakes which form part of the north-
ern boundary ; and various tribes, among whom were the

PAKOT.V TH

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

lowas^o and Omahasii, hunted far to the southward, par-
ticularly in the celebrated pipestone region and along the
Blue Earthi- and Dcs Moines^s rivers. But, whether by
conquest or ancient heritage, Minnesota was peculiarly
the land of the Dakotas, in which the other tribes men-
tioned were but the sojourners of a day. Nomadic in
their habits, yet deeply attached to the land of their
fathers, on the one hand they were engaged in continual
conflicts with the neighboring tribes, especiallv the
Ojibwas-^ their traditional enemies ; on the other, with a
growing spirit of aggressiveness, were opposing them-
selves to the onward march of civilization. Passionate in
temperament and restive under restraint, they were quick
to perceive a wrong ; fierce, revengeful, and relentless,
they were ever ready to strike the blow of retaliation;
hence, as we shall see hereafter, bloody massacres stand
like grim sentinels along the whole course of their historv.

The eminent Dakota scholar, Dr. Stephen R. Riggs, in
his dictionary of the language of this nation, published by
the Smithsonian Institution, gives an excellent account of
them. It is here given with slight adaptations : —

Origin. — "The Dakotas sometimes speak of themselves
as the seven council fires. These are the seven bands:

1. Mdewakantonwansi"' ^

2. \Vapekutesi<5 P

3. Wahpetonwansi- [" L^^-i'-tees.]

q. Sissitonwans^*' J

5. Ihanktonwana ) r" 1 -.

6. Ihanktonwans ^- [ 1 anktons]

7. Titunu-ans J_ [Teetons.]

Questions of priority and precedence aniong these bands

are sometimes discussed. The Mdewakantonwans think
that the mouth of the ^vlinnesota river Is precisely over the

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS.

center of the earth, and that thev occupy the gate that
opens Into the western Avorkl. These considerations seem
to give them importance in their own estimation. On the
other hand the Sissitonwans and Ihanktonwans allege,
that as they live on the great water-shed of this part of
the continent, from whicli the streams run northward and
eastward and southward and westward, thev must be
about the center of the earth; and they urge this fact as
entitling them to precedence. It is singular that the Ti-
tonwans, who are much the largest band of the Dakotas,
do not appear to claim the chief place for themselves, but
yield lo the pretensions of the Ihanktonwans whom they
call by the name of lllcivc/a,'^^ which, in its meaning,
may be regarded as about equivalent to 'They are the
people.'

Language. — "In the arrangement of words in a sen-
tence, the Dakota language may be regarded as eminently
primitive and natural. The sentence 'Give me bread,' a
Dakota transposes. .. .'Bread me give.' Such is the
genius of the language, that in translating a sentence or
verse from the Bible, it is generally necessary to com-
mence, not at the beginning, but at the end; and such,
too, is the common practice of their best interpreters.
AVhere the jx-rson who is speaking leaves off, there thev
commence and pronounce backwards to the beginning.
In this way the connection of the sentences is more easilv
retained in the mind and they are more naturally evolved.

CoiDiting. — "Counting is usually dune by means of
their fingers. If you ask some Dakotas how many there
are of any thing, instead of directing their answer to ^•our
organs of hearing, they present it to yuur sight, bv hold-
ing up so many fingers. When they ha\ e gone over the

22 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

fingers and thumbs of both hands, one is temporarily
turned down for one ten. Eleven is tcn-more-one, or more
commonly again-one ; twelve is again-two, and so on ;
nineteen is the other-nine. At the end of the next ten
another finger is turned down, and so on. Twenty is two

tens, thirty is three tens, etc., Opo~j:ingc^ one

hundred, is probably derived from fo-vhtga^ to go around
in circles. . . .as the fingers have all been gone over again
for their respecti\e tens. The Dakota word for a thous-
and, keptopa-i-'nigt\ may be formed of ake and opavjinge^
hundreds again, having now completed the circle of their
fingers in hundreds, and being about to commence again.
They have no separate word to denote any higher num-
ber than a thousand. There is a word to designate one-
half of any thing, but none to denote any smaller aliquot
part.

Count hi g 7'/wc'.-~"The Dakotas have names for the
natural divisions of time. Their years they ordinarily
count by winters. A man is so many winters old, or so
many winters have passed since such an e\'ent. When
one is going on a journey, he does not usually say he will
be back in so man}- days as we do, but in so many nights
or sleeps. In the same wav they compute distance bv the
number of nights passed in making the journey. They
have no division of time into weeks. Their month.s are
literally UK^ons. Wi'-^ signifies moon or lunar month.
The popidar belief is that when the inoon is full, a great
number of very small mice commence nibbling one side of
it, which they continue to do until they have eaten it all
up. Soon after tins ai^olher moon begins to grow, which
goc? on increasing until it ha?« reached its fidl size only to
share the fate of its predecessor; so that with them the

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS. 23

new moon is really new, and not the old one re-appearing.
To the moons thev have given names, each of which refers
to some prominent physical fact that occiu-s about that time
in the year. These are the meanings : —

January — the hard moon.

February — the raccoon moon.

^larch — the sore-eye moon.

April — the moon in which the geese lay eggs, or the
moon when the streams are again navigable.

May — the planting moon,

June — the moon when the strawberries are red.

July — the moon when the choke cherries are ripe, or
when the geese shed their feathers.

August — the harvest moon.

September — the moon when the rice is laid up to dry.

October — the drving rice moon.

November — the deer breeding moon.

December — the moon when the deer shed their horns.

" Five moons are usuallv counted to the \vinter, and five
to the summer, leaving only one each to the spring and
autumn ; but this di>tinction is not closely adhered to.
The Dakotas" often ha\e very warm debates, especially to-
ward the close of the winter, about what moon it is.
The raccoons do not always make their appearance at the
same time every winter ; and the causes which produce
sore e^-es are not developed at precisely the same time in
each successive spring. All these variations make room

for strong arguments in a Dakota tent But the

main reason for their frequent difference of opinion in re-
gard t.> this matter, vi/.. that twelve lunations do not
bring them to the point from which they commenced
counting, never appear;

24 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

order to make their moons correspond with the seasons,
they are obliged to pass over one every few years.

Poetry. — " The Dakotas can hardlv be said to know
any thing about poetry. A few words make a long song,
for the Hi-hi-hi-hi-hi is only now and then interrupted by
the enunciation of the words. Sometimes their war songs
^re so highlv figurative that their meaning is just the op-
posite of what the expression used would naturallv con-
vev. To the voung man who has acted verv bra^■elv, In-
killing an eneniv and taking his scalp, thev sav, 'Friend,
thou art a fool, thou hast let the Ojibwas strike thee.'
This is understood to be the highest form of eulogy.

Sacred Language. — " The Dakota conjurer, the war-
prophet, and the dreamer experience the same need that
is felt bv more elaborate performers among other nations,
of a language which is unintelligible to the common
people, for the 2:>iirpo-c of impressing upon them the idea
of their superiority. Their dreams, according to their
own account, are revelations made from the spirit world,
and their prophetic \isions are what thev saw and knew
in a former state of existence. It is, then, onlv natural
that their dreams and visions should be clothed in words
many of which the multitude do not understand. The
sacred language is not verv extensi\-e, since the use of a
few unintelligible Mords sutlices to make a whole speech
incomprehensible. It mav be said to consist first, in em-
ploving words as the names of things \vhich seem to have
been introduced from other Indian languages ; as, nide.^
water : pazo., \vood ; etc. In the second place, it consists
in cmi->l')ying descriptive expression^, instead of the ordi-
nary names of things ; as in calling a man a biped, and
the W(.)lf a quadruped. And thirdlv, words which are

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS. 25

common in the language are used far out of their orclinary
signification ; as, hepau^ the second child, if a boy, is used
to designate the otter. When the Dakota braves ask a
white man for an ox or cow, they generally call it a dog ;
and when a sachem begs a horse from a white chief, he
does it under the designation of moccasins. This is the
source of many of the figures of speech in Indian oratory ;
but they are sometimes too obscure to be beautiful.

Religion. — " The Dakotas have, indeed, 'gods many'
— their imaginations have peopled both the visible and
invisible world with mysterious or spiritual beings, who
are continually exerting themsehes in reference to the
human family, either for weal or woe. These spiritual
existences inhabit every thing, and, consequently, almost
every thing is an ol)ject of woiship. On the same oc-
casion, a Dakota dances in religious homage to the sun
and mo(in, and spreads out his hands in prayer to a painted
stone ; and he finds it necessary to offer sacrifices more
frequently to the Bad-spirit than to the Great-spirit. He
has his god of the north and god of the south, his god of
the woods and god of the prairie, his god of the air and
god of the waters. "

First Exjilorers. — In the days of Champlain, a
brilliant young Frenchman, Jean Xicolet, was interpreter
for a Canadian fur company. The 4th of July, 1634, he
departed froni Three Rivers to explore the regions of the
far west. He spent the next winter among the Indian
tribes who then lived in the valley of the Fox River, Wis-
consin. When summer came again, he retraced his steps
to Canada, and was the first to give reliable information
to the keen traders and devout missionaries concerning the
tribes whose coimtrv lay to the westward of Lake Michi-

26 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

gan2. One would infer from a letter written in 1640 by
Paul Le Jeune-' that Xicolet at that time, 1634, had heard
of the Dakota- and described them among the rest.

In 1641, a centuiy after the disastrous adventures of Dc
Soto on the lower Mississippi, Jourges^ and Raymbault,^
after a perilous lake voyage, reached Sault Ste. ^Marie,^
and learned of a great nation dwelling eighteen days' jour-
ney to the westward near the head waters of a large river.

It was not l')ng before fabulous stories were carried
back to France of the great wealth to be acquired in the
far northwest. Green Bav was said to be only nine days
journey from the sea separating China from America.
Fired bv these tales, an expedition was fitted out at
Quebec" in 1656 ; but, attacked bv the Iroquois,** it never
reached its destination. The killed included Father Gar-
reau^, who moved by compassion for the Nadouessioux^o^
or Dakotas, had volunteered to establish a mission among
them.

(Troselliors jind Radisson.— Medard Chouarti, a
native of }vlcaux-, and Pierre D'Esprit,3 a native of St.
Mario-*, the former better known as the Sieur Groselliers,3
the latter as the Sieur Radis^on'^, \isited the region of
Green Bay in Jmie, 165S. There were twenty-nine
Frenchmen and six Indians in the party. They went to
Sault Ste. Marie iii October, 1659, and spent the winter
trading with the Indians, but returned to Green Bay in the
spring, and exploring the country southward, found a
large river. This, doubtless,' was the Wisconsin. The
month of Au-^Hist saw them in Canada,^ and the reports
they gave i-.'-ti-'Usified the old desire to know something of
the countrv near and beyond Lake Superior.
' Not manv weeks elapsed before they again turned their

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS, 2*]

faces toward the west, taking with them the pious Father
Rene Menard^. Leaving him at Keweenaw Bay, they
passed hcvond the point of that name by way of Portage
River, and in about six days came to a long narrow point
jutting into the lake. This is now called La Pointe. Here
they entered Chegoimegon Bay^, at whose 0])posite ex-
tremities the towns Ashland and Bayfield are to-day
situated. At the lower end of the bay, they erected a
rude trading post, the first dwelling of white men on the
shores of Lake Superior. It was built of logs, in the
form of a triangle with its base toward the lake. On
that side the door was situated, enabling them in case of
necessity to retreat to their boats. In the centre stood the
fire-place, and in one of the angles were the inmates'
couches. The building was entirely girt by branches of
trees set in the ground, and to these were attached a con-
tinuous string of bells which would always ring when an
intruder pu>hed aside the branches, and so warn the in-
mates of danger.

Soon they began to visit the neighboring tribes, and in
the spring came to an encampment of Dakotas who be-
longed to the Tetangai*^ or Buffalo band. They went
with these Indians seven days' journey to their summer
lodges on the prairie, some distance southward from their
winter homes in the northern woods. This was in Min-
nesota. The Frenchmen remained six weeks. ^Vfter re-
turning to their post, they made explorations in other
directions. As a result they found Isle Royal'i and its
copper mines, and learned uf a clialn of lakes far to the
northward, which, however, they did not see. This, in
brief, is the account given bv earl\- authorities of the first

28 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

white men who explored the shores of Lake Superior and
entered Minnesota.

It is \\ orthy of mention that tliis same Groselliers after-
ward deeply interested Prince Rupert^- and the English
men of science in a project for finding a northwest pas-
sage. The outcome of his voyage to Hudson Bay in the
Nonesuch was the founding of the old Hudson Bay Com-
pany in 1670.

Koiio' Menard.— Not discouraged by Garreau's un-
happy fate, the heroic Rene Ivlenard, his hair already
whitened by the frosts of age, still further courted the
dangers of an unknown land. About 1650, the Iroquois
expelled the Huronsi from New York, and at this time
were pushing them farther into the remote west. In
1661, according to Nicholas Perrot-, ^Menard with onlv
one companion, a faithful Frenchman, followed the trail
of a band of these fleeing Hurons from Lake Michigan
to a point on the Mississippi above the Black River^, He
then crossed the former stream in the wake of the Indians,
and thus floated his canoe upon its waters many years be-
fore the authenticated explorations of ^Marquette,'* to whom
has hitherto been given the honor of discovering its upper
course;

Menard, too, finally perished by the way, and the
Dakotas and other tribes, all unconscious of the struggles
put forth in their behalf, still continued in the supersti-
tions of their fathers. His cassock and breviar\', found in
a camp of the natives, were the only relics of his mel-
ancholy f.ilc.

^fenard's example, however, was not without effect ; in
1665, Father Claude Allouez^, burning with zeal, came to
Lake Superior with a returning party of traders and

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS. 29

Indians. He established the Mission of the Holy
Spirit at La Pointe. There he met not only Hurons and
Ojibwas but the Dakotas, whose country thenceforth was
to become memorable in history.

The Fur Trailers. — The advance guards of civiliza-
tion in the Northwest were the fur traders. France
orauted twcntv-five licenses annually to military ot^cers
and descendants of the nobility, allowing them the ex-
clusive privilege of trading with the natives of her Amer-
ican possessions. The holders of these licenses, when
they did not 'sell them, entrusted the direct supervision of
the fur trade to their agents, who, in turn, employed the
Canadian boatmen to navigate the large streams and their
tributaries in search of pelts. These boatmen constituted
that daring cla?s of men known as the conrcurs des bois^i
or voyageurs.- Undaunted by the power of the elements
and the manv additional perils of boundless prairies and
primeval forests, they forced their birch canoes and
bateaux^ up every stream to the remotest Indian villages,
bearing with them, as mediums of exchange, the few-
things most prized by the natives. A few years of this
wild life not only imbued them with something of the
free and Impetuous spirit of the Indian, but often led them
to unite themselves to the latter by the ties of marriage. The
offspring of such alliances, called the bois brule^^ were
numerous. The blood of two races flowing in their veins
seemed to meet like contending streams of civilization and
barbarism. In them the higher race found its degrada-
tion, but the lov.-er was not raised to a more exalted posi-
tion. Thus, as a class, the hois brulc became one of the
most discordant elements in the history of the settlements.

NiellolilS I'errot. — One of the first explorers of Minne-

30 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

sota of whom we have definite record was NicholasPerrot,
who, while in the employ of the Jesuits,! had become quite
familiar with the languages of various tribes of Indians.
The French authorities, recognizing his indomitable energy
and courage, sent him to summon the tribes to meet at Saiilt
StcA-Iarie. This mission he performed with wonderful
expedition. In the meantime, Talon,2 Intendant^ of Can-
ada, had dispatched St. Lusson to search for copper and
other mines in the country adjacent to Lake Superior, and
to take possession, in the name of France, of all the regions
through which he should pass. The assembling of the
tribes occurred in May, 167 1, and St. Lusson,* Perrot,
Father Allouez, the celebrated explorer Joliet, 5 and many
other noted personages were present. The French did all
within their power to heighten the brilliancy and pomp
of the attendant ceremonies. Deeply impressed by so much
dignity and splendor, the Indians entered into a solemn com-
pact relative to trade and other matters pertaining to the
welfare of the two races. Perrot was free after this to
prosecute his explorations at will, and visited the Nadou-
essioux and other remote tribes. Thus he opened and
made clear the way for those who were destined to follow.
I)ll Luth. — Daniel Greysolon DuLuthi was born at St.
Germain en Lave- near Paris, or, according to some
authorities, at Lyons. He was at one time a soldier, and
states in his \\ritings that he made several voyages to New
France.3 Determined to open communications* between
the settlements of Canada and the Xadouessioux, an under-
taking which up to this time had been imsuccessful, we
find him struggling bravely amid the dangers of a strange
country. Having previously established a post at the
Kamenistagoia,5 north of Lake Superior, he at length

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS.

entered Minnesota, in all probability ascending the St.
Louis^ river. Of his journey he speaks as follows: —

"On the 2d of July, 1679, I had the honor to plant His
Majesty's arms' in the great village of the Nadouessioux,
called l7,atvs,s where never had a Frenchman been, no
more than at the Sangaskitons and llouetbatons^ distant six
score leagues from the former, where I also planted His
Majesty's arms in the same year, 1679.

On the 15th of September, having given the Assiniboines
as well as all the other mirthern nations a rendezvous at
the extremity <>f Lake Superior, to induce them to make
peace with the Nadouessioux, their common enemy, they
were all there, and I was happy enough to gain their
esteem and friendship to unite theni together."

At this time also, he visited Mille Lacs.!*"' Not satisfied,
however, with what lie had thus far accomplished, Du
Luth, accompanied by an Indian guide and four French-
men, ascended the Bois Brule^^ ri\er to its source, and
made a portage to the head waters of the St. Croix,i2
which he descended to its junction with the Mississippi.
There he learned of Father Hennepin's imprisonment
among the Dakotas, and succeeded in securing his release.

DuLuth was accused both by LaSalle and DuChesneau,i3
Intendant^-* of Justice, of having engaged in the fur trade
in connivance with Count Frontenac^'J then governor of
Canada; for to trade without a license was contrary to the
orders of the French king. LaSalle also claimed that
the honor of the first explorations in the land of the Dakotas
belonged to Hennepin and ^Michiel Accault; but it must be
remembered that he was in some measure the rival of
the man v/hose name he sousrht to tarnish. DuLuth died

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

in the winter of 1709-10 at Ft. Frontcnac, now Kingston,
Ontario.

ileiiueinil. — Among the most noted of the early explo-
rers was Louis Hennepin, a priest of the Recollect order
of Franciscan! friars. He was born at Ath- in the Nether-
lands, and seemed even in his earlier years to possess
that romantic and adventurous spirit which afterwards
nded his life. At one time we tind him at Artois,^ to
which place he had been ordered by his superiors; again,
at Dunkirk! and Calai?,^ where he led the life of a mendi-
cant, and spent his days in the company of rude sailors
who recounted to him their strange adventures in other
lands. Inflamed bv their stories, he harbored ambitious
desires hardly in accord with his priestly profession, antl
obeyed with alacrity an order commanding him to set sail
for Canada,

Hennepin embarked on the vessel that carried the
Sieur Robert Chevalier de La Salle,'' a native of Rouen,^
%vho under the patronage of Seignelay,^ the French
minister of marine, was about to seek a discoverer's wealth
and fame. xV common impulse caused them for a tinie
to unite their fortunes. We fmd Hennepin therefore
spending the winter of 167S at Niagara, where La Salle's
workmen were con>tructing a sixty-ton bark called the
GrilTin, and embarking in company with him and his de-
pendents August 7th, 1679. The expedition reached Green
Bay on the 2d of September, after a stormy and dangerous
voyage. Here leaving the vessel, they coasted in bark
canoes along the shores of Lake Michigan, and in due time
ascended the St. Joseph^ river. From this they made a
portage to the Kankakee.^ and floated down to the site of
Peoriait on the Illinois.

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEUKS. 33

Disheartened by the fruitless toil he had undergone not
less than by gloomy financial reports from Canada, La
Salle named the fort which he built at this place, Crcvc-
cixur^- or Ileart-brcak. This was in January i6So; and
the following month he chose Michael Accault,^^ Henne-
pin, and Picard du Gayi-^ to explore the upper Mississippi.
Hennepin's ardor had not been cooled by the hardships
already endured, and with his companions he bade the
fated La Salle a hopeful farewell. So in ^vlarch these
three bold voyageurs began the first European ascent of
that noble stream which, in the far future, was to become
one of the world's great arteries of communication, throb-
bing in response to the heart beats of the hurrying ships
of commerce.

On the iith of April, they were taken captive by a
party of Mdewakantonwans,''^ one of the four bands of
the Santees. After speaking of the Black riyer, Henne-
pin continues as follows: —

" Thirty leagues higher up you find the Lake of Tears, '*^
which we so named because some of the Indians who
had taken us, wishing to kill us, wept the whole night,
to induce the others to consent to our death. Forty
leagues up is a riyer full of rapids^'^, by which striking
northwest, you can proceed toward Lake Conde.18 Con-
tinuing to ascend ten or twelye leagues more, the na\iga-
tion is interrupted by a cataract which I called the Falls
of St. Anthony of Padua, i'^ in gratitude for the favor
done me by the Almighty, through the intercession of
that great saint whom we h;'-d chosen patron and protector
of all our enterprises. Haying arrived on the nineteenth
day of navigation, five leagues below St. Anthony's Falls,

ni'?ir:i'i

<■.«:+> ~-i

'■ l^v ''It'

•t- Tv '

^ -1 ■ ;Hi *i

' .' ■;

- 'V'^V^I

'• «*'

A". %5 .

-■'.'

; i ■'■ ■ ' ' 'v

-rj- - ;''.

' , : 1 ^.

' •' f '

' ')' ■ J ■

■^^ i:l=

:, V, ^^

"< .„ '■ - '■

:.*0^'

•e-'f'^\'y::

' '^ &■-■'' '

-. . 1 .*■ f

t -

r s.

:' V:.

•' *■*> -

->. ', ,^ ■ ■ .

i^ • "

^y W'

|l||i:'''' '^2r...-^^}M^i^^m*ii'

i^S"'-

17S7300

DAYS OF THK VOYAGEURS. 35

the Indians landed us in a bay, broke our canoe to pieces,
and secreted their own in the reeds."

The place mentioned is supposed to be the one opposite
Red Rock'-^ a few miles below St. Paul, where the Indian
village of Kaposia'-i afterwards stood. Thence they jour-
neyed by trail to Mille Lacs. Hennepin and his com-
panions were prostrated by fatigue caused by the hard-
ships of this last journey made more unbearable by
cruel treatment. Carried off to different villages, and thus
compelled to endure a prolonged period of separation,
their misery was complete. The following incident of
Hennepin's captivity, taken from his journal, shows how
vague a notion of American topography was possessed by
the Europeans of that day: —

"During mv stav among the Indians, there arrived four
savages, who said thev were come alone five hundred
leagues from the west, and had been four months upon
the way. Thev assured us there was no such place as the
Straits of Anian,— and that they had traveled without
resting, except to sleep, and had not seen or passed over
any great lake, bv which phrase they always mean a sea.
They further assured us there were very few forests in
the countries through which they passed. All these
things make it appear that there is no such place as the
Straits Anian, as we usually see them set down on maps.
And whatever efforts have been made for many years
past by the English and Dutch to find a passage to the
Frozen Sea, they have not yet been able to effect it; but
by tile lu'Ip of n:y discovery, and the assistance of God, I
doubt iu)t but a j^assage may still be found, and that an
easy one, too. For example, we may be transported into
the Pacific Sea bv rivers %vhich are large and capable of

36 HISTORV OF MINNESOTA.

carrying large vessels, and from thence it is very eas}- to
go to China and Japan without crossing the equinoctial
line, and, in all probabilit), Japan is on tlac same continent
as America. "

Thus did Hennepin in his vanity magnify the impor-
tance of his discoveries, or, at all events, allow his judg-
ment to drift awav in the current of his desires.

The Indians were about to start on a hunting expedition
at this time, and informed l\v Hennepin that he expected a
relief part}- from La Salle to meet him at the Wisconsin
they were persuaded by the hope of gain to journev there.
They descended Rum river, called by Hennepin the St.
Francis,23 and camped at its mouth. Here they nearly
perished of famine, and vielding to his earnest solicitations
they allowed him to depart. In July, 16S0, he came to
the Falls of St. Anthony, which he then saw probably for
the first time, and named as already described in his account
of the ^Mississippi. Continuing his journey to the vicinity
of the Black river, he was suddenly overtaken bv the
Indians whom he had left far to the northward. There,
too, he was found by Du Luth, who claims to have freed
him from the restraints of captivity, although Hennepin
himself does not acknowledge the fact. Be that as it may,
in Du Luth's company lie ascended once more to the Santee
villages in tlie month of August, but in September returned
again to the mouth of the Wisconsin, and proceeded to
Green Bav by way of that river and the Fox. We next
hear of him in Europe, \vhere he wrote some books relating
his discoveries in ^vliimebOta, and where, after a few years,
he closed his strange career.

Hennepin's experience, in conjunction with that of Gar-
reau, Menard and others, showed conclusively that it was

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS. 3/

not the adherents of the church appealing to the spiritual
side of the Indian's character who were to pave the way
for civihzation to enter the prairies and woods of ]\Iinue-
sota, but that the traders, such as Perrot, appealing to their
selfish desires were to be, as elsewhere stated, the potent
forerunners of the new era.

Ft. St. Alltoilie.— In the spring of 16S5, Nicholas Per-
rot was commissioned Commandanti of the West by De
La Barre,2 governor of Canada. With a small party of
Frenchmen, he spent the foUosving winter above the Black
River in the vicinity of Trempeleau,^ and traded with the
Indians of the jVIinnesota region. When the warm spring
months of 16S6 had come, he seems to have ascended the
^Mississippi and erected Ft. St. Antoine-^ on the Wisconsin
side above the entrance of the Chippewa. Shortly after
this he was called eastward by Denonville,5 the new gov-
ernor of Canada, for the purpose of assembling at Niagara
the Miamis'' and other tribes. From this expedition he
returned just in time to save the fort from destruction at
the hands of the Foxes'? and their allies, who were bent on
going to war with the Sioux. In 16S7, he was again ab-
sent, fighting the Senecas^ of New York; and this time the
Sioux endeavored to pillage the fort. However, he was
warmlv received by them on his return, and informed that
the nation as a whole had not sanctioned the attack.

Now it was that the famous Proces-Verbal,^ the first
official document relating to Minnesota, was drawn up and
signed. It is couched in intricate legal terms; yet, ^vithal,
is somewhat unique. In the beginning it recites the origin
and limits of Perrot'^ authority; tlien tell> how he and his
companions entered the country; enumerates the tribes
encountered on the banks of the uj^per Mississippi and its

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

branches, the Wisconsin, St. Croix, and St. Pierre ;io takes
possession of the whole reigon in the name of the king;

and finally, names
many of its own wit-
nesses, among whom
are Le Sueur^iand the
Reverend Father
]Maresti2of the Society
of Jesns.^3

La llontaii's Long

Bivcr. — In the winter
.; of i6SS— S9, Baron La
] Ilontan, a young Gas-
con,! made a voyage

■i--^"^
^^%^.

"v^

t^.^

.AS^-3if

:v-v-y5S:J

NKAK I.AKK ( irv. I.AKK I'Kl'IN. >rAinK.>' KOCK.

up a stream which he called Long River. By different
authorities it has hccn likened to the ^Minnesota, the Cannon,
and the Root, with some evidence strongly in favor of

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS. 39

the latter stream. Yet it seems strange that he should have
been able to ascend it by boat in January.

La Hontan's story of what he saw is a fabulous account
of great chiefs and powerful tribes. He found, so he says,
some strange captives at one of the villages. They wore
clothing and had long hair and beards. At first he thought
thev were Spaniards. They told him their nation dwelt
in a land one himdred and fifty leagues awav ; that its
principal river emptied into a great salt lake; that the
mouth of this river \vas two leagues broad; and that its
banks weie adorned by six noble cities surrounded by stone
walls.

The historians and geographers of Europe for a long
time credited La Hontan's story, and gave his Long River
a place on their charts. It will be remembered that Hen-
nepin conceived the idea of finding a large river by means
of which Europeans would be able to enter the western
ocean; whether on account of his views and La Hontan's
story or not, it is certain that for generations after, the hope
of discovering such a stream remained universal.

Ft. Le Sueur. — In 1693, Pierre Le Sueur, one of the
witnesses of the Proccs- Verbal, was sent to La Pointe
charged with the important undertaking of keeping open
the communication with the Sioux by way of the I>oIs
Brule and St. Croix rivers; for at this time the Foxes and
Mascourins of the Wisconsin valley were so hostile that it
was found impossible to transport goods by that route to
the upper Mississippi. For the better carrying out of his
purpose, as well as to j)lace a barrier between the con-
stantlv warring Sioux and Ojibwas, LeSueur established a
post on one of the islands not far from the present town of
Red Wing. Charlevoix,! the Jesuit historian, describes it

40 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

as a beautiful prarie island which one encounters above the
head of Lake Pepin in ascending the stream, and which
the French Canadians made the center of their trade in
these western regions so well fitted for the pursuit of the
chase. He says it is named Isle Pelee^ because of its tree-
less condition — the word fclcc being the French for bald.
All the evidences yet brought to light indicate that this was
the firsts French establ;^5hment on what is now the soil of
^Minnesota.

Ft. L'Huillier. — After some years of misfortune, dur-
ing which he suffered a period of captivity in England and
was subsequentlv hindered in carrying out his projects by
Frontenac, we find LeSueur at the court of France meet-
ing with favor on the part of the king and the minister of
marine. At this juncture D'Iberville,i his wife's cousin,
was appointed the first governor of Louisiana, and in him
he found a sympathetic patron. Acting also under the
direct orders of the king, D' Iberville transported LeSueur
with his boatmen, laborers, and munitions to the Bay of
Biloxi.2 In the month of April of the year 1700, with a
canoe, a felucca, and about thirty men, he began his mem-
orable and eventful voyage. The frosty days of Septem-
ber came ere he entered the St, Pierre. Penicaut,^ one of
the party, thus speaks of their sub-^cqunt movements: —

" We took our route up the St. Pierre, and ascended it
twenty leagues, where we found another river falling into
it, which we entered. We called this Green River* because
it was of that colur bv reason of an earth which loos-
ening itself from the copper mine becomes dissolved
in the sv:ilcr. .V Ica^-uc up this ri\e?' we found a point
of land a quarter of a league di-^tant from the wood^,
and it was upon this point^' M. LeSueur resolved to l>uiid

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS. 4I

his fort, because we could not go any higher on accountof
the ice, it being the last of September. Half of our peo-
ple went hunting while the others worked on the fort.
We killed four hundred buffaloes, which were our provis-
ions for the winter, and which we placed upon scaffolds in
our fort after having skinned, cleaned, and quartered them.
We also made cabins in the fort, and a magazine to keep
our goods. After having drawn up our shallop within
the enclosure of the fort, we spent the winter in our cab-
ins. When spring came we went to work in the copper
mine. This mine is situated at the beginning of a long
mountain, which is upon the bank of the river, so that
boats can go right into the mouth of the mine itself. This
was the beginning of April of the year 1701. We took
with us twelve laborers and four hunters. The mine \vas
situated three quarters of a league from our post. We
took from it in twenty days more than twenty thousand
pounds, of which we selected four thousand pounds of the
finest, which M. Le Sueur, who was a very good judge of
it, had carried to the fort, and which has since been sent
to France, though I have not learned the result."

Le Sueur named the fort L' Ilulllier'! in honor of the
Farmer General of Paris. It was situated, according to
the di-cription, near the mouth of tlie St. Remi.' In May,
Le Sueur, having loaded the boats with furs obtained in
trade with the Indians, set out on his return to Ft. Biloxi.
M. I.)' Evaque^ and twelve men were left in charge of the
post, and Le Suein- promised to send them supplies from
the countrv of the H'iinois.f He endeavored to do so, but
the boat in \vliiol-; the\- wcvv carried sunk near the lead
regions c)f the Missi>sippi. Consec[uently, the little garri-
son was sixMi init to groat straits, and to add to their

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

troubles they were attacked by the Foxes and Mascoutins,^^
who killed three of their number while at work near the
post. Thus was ]M. D'Evaque compelled to abandon it,
and hastening southward with those who survived, he
reached Ft. Biloxi in March, 1702. Such is the history of
the second French establishment; and it shows plainly how
difficult was the task of gaining a permanent foot-hold in
the far northwest.

Ft.Beailliarnois.— D' Iberville, in a memorial addressed
to the French go\ ernnicnt, says the Sioux are too far re-
moved for trade while they remain in their own country,
and suggests a plan fur their removal to the Missouri. He
also mentions the tendency of the voyageurs to become
roaming hunters and the interference of Canadian traders
with those of Loui'^iana as great difhculties in the way of
securing a stable system of commerce between the tribes
and the latter c(>l<Miy. However, the French government
heeded neither the advice of D' Iberville nor the schemes
of others; but, discouraged by its ill success, abolished the
system of licences, and withdrew its garrisons from all the
posts west of Mackinaw.i This condition of affairs existed
for ncarlv twenty vcar>; but a disturbing factor in the
problem of colonization wa>^ soon to restore the old order
of things. The interest of the Canadian^, it is true, had
been somewhat revived in 1717 by the attempt of Van-
dreuil"- and La Ntuie^ to find a northwest passage to the
Pacific; but it became fully aroused only when it was dis-
covered that the English were making every effort to
extend their tlomain. A French d(-vcument of the day thus
<;poak< in reference to ll:o matter: —

"It is more and more ob\-ious that the English are
endeavoring to interpolate among all the Indian nations,

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS. 43

and to attach them to themselves. They entertain con-
stantly the idea of becoming masters of North America,
persuaded that the European nation which will be possessor
of that section, will, in course of time, be masters of all,
because it is there alone that men live in health and have
strong, robust children."

Thus it came to pass that the song of the Canadian
boatman was heard again on the streanis and lakes of
!Minne->ota, and the fathers of the missi')n once more per-
formed their sacred ministrations within its borders, pjut
priest and vovageur were not left to battle alone; for the
French authorities instituted means for the re-establishment
of the deserted po-^ts and the building of new ones.
• , Linctot,* the C'immandcr at La Pointe, made presents to
the Dakota-^, and promisetl to send priests^ among them.
It was his purpose also to break the alliance between the
Foxes and Dakotas, and to make peace between the latter
and the Ojibwas. The 17th of September, 1727, as it
were in answer to his promise, a party of traders and two
priests, Fathers Guignas*^ and De Gonor,'^ arrived opposite
Maiden Rock** at the peninsula called Pointe an Sable.^
Capt. Rene De Pouchcr,!'* notorious becau'^e of his mis-
deeds at the sacking of Havcrliill, Massachusetts, was the
commander. Tlicv immediatelv built a fort on the penin-
sula. The enclosure, a hundred feet square, was protected
by a high stockade. ^Vithin \vere three large buildings
designed, it is thought, for a chapel, store, and quarters.
Resides these, there were two bastions surrounded by pick-
ets. The fort was called PeauharnoisH in honor of the
governor of Canada; and the mission was consecrated to
St. Michael the Archangel.

r^'^^?^^-;:5^— -.^^^>"v;;'-- -^ :^

^^ -WJ^.^U!."

s •■-■■ ■

f --'^ ?■> ::>

"^M^^Mi^

I:...^*r. M^.

.-1

^:W Mt^-

. ^.^ ■ .

Wm-:^ »a|fe.:

.i)..V;--

-.•#v1

^.<.-i^^;^: -.K*|S4^^ir

'^■4^^v:^

#- 1

ISiS ..*.-n, :!^'

% • --

^^ i

f>'--'' '?"'..>-- .' -^ 4 •^Ji'

,-' V

^ -ill

Iv^"^^' . ■ f^- ■ rtj

^;i^ ■;--■:: -^^^ | 5-"

lli^*^" ill

>=rtV--:fTA ■ ':,?

,: V

'■'''■ '''''■■i

-- --v.-^- %-.V -^CnV

• "^1

>:'

■.*'.-

iv, ., ' '■ " ■■". ■ .

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS. 45

As mav be inferred from what has already been said,
the purposes to be subserved by this post were prob-
ably four-fold: it would serve as a center of trade and a
starting point for the missionaries; it would hel^o to check-
mate the cncro:ichment> of the English; it would cut off
the retreat of the Foxes to the country of the Dakotas
should the French see fit to approach the former nation
from the eastward, as they afterwards did, in order to
carry on a war of extermination provoked by unabated
hostility; and, tiiudh, it would form the initial post of a
number to be built as bases of supplies in the endeavor to
find a northwest passage, that alluring dream of the early
navigators which at this day had lost none of its first vivid-
ness.

In the year 172S, the fort was flooded, and the garrison
compelled to canip out. The hostility of the Indians in-
creased, and in sheer necessity the French deserted it alto-
gether. It was afterwards rebuilt above the high-water
line. Subsequent to the confirming of peace with the
Foxes, the post w^as commanded by Capt. Legardeur St.
Pierrei2 to whom Washington made the meniorable otiicial
visit at Ft. Le Boeufi^ on the eve of the French and Indian
war. This was about 1736. Ten years later the post was
still occupied by traders, but Carver ascending Lake Pepin
in 1766 beheld nothing but a crumbling ruin.

The Northwest rassa2:e. — At this stage of events, a
gallant Canadian soldier, Verandriei by name, matured a
plan for forcing a way to the Pacific. After earnest solic-
itation Go\-. Peauharnois C'^poused his cause, and fitted out
an expedition. It left Montreal in 1731 under the leader-
ship of Verandrie's three eldest sons and his nephew De
Jemerayc,2 who had been one of the garrison at Ft. Beau-

^6 HISTOIIV OF MINNESOTA.

harnois in 172S. They entered tlie country by way of
Pigeon River, and built Ft. St. Pierre near the southwest
shore of Rainy Lake. The next year another post was
bcrrtt nt the we^tcmfextremity of the Lake of the Woods.
In 1736, a party of twenty-one belonging to the expedition
were encamped on an island of the lake last mentioned,
when they were surprised by the Dakotas and massacred.
The youngest of the \'erandrie brothers was one of the
partv. But far from being overwhelmed by their manv
misfortunes, the other brave explorers continued to push on.
Ft. La Reine-' was built at the Assiniboine in 173S. Ascend-
ing that river to the Mouse, they traversed the country to
the Missouri, reaching the vicinity of the Yellowstone in
1742. The following year, the eldest Verandrie brother
scaled the Rocky Mountains. Further progress was pre-
vented by the warfare going on between the Arcs and
Snakes; the expedition therefore returned to the Lake of
the Woods.

Beauharnois, through tiie misrepresentations of others,
became prejudicetl against Verandrie, the father, and with-
drew all further patronage; but Gallissonniere,^ the suc-
ceeding governor of Canaila, who was a man of science,
plaimed an expedition to go out in 1750 with Verandrie as
its leader. Before that time the hatter died, and the kind-
hearted Gallissonniere was superseded by the selfish Jon-
quiere,5 who ignored the claims of Verandrie's sons to
recognition, and chose LamarqueDe ^Larin*' andLagardeur
St. Pierre as leaders of two expeditions, the former to go
by way of the Missouri, the latter by the Saskatchewan'^ in.
search of a ivnthwest passage. Some of St. Pierre's men
forced their way to the Rocky ^sloimtains and built Ft.
Jonquierc in 175- ; but the trump of war called them to

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS. 47

more stirring scenes, and the existence of the great lake of
the Indian's fable, which seemed to the explorer's burning
fancy to lie just beyond the mountains, still lay shrouded
in mystery.

But all these efforcs were effective in another direction:
they dispelled in part the mists of ignorance which had
huno- so long over the Minnesota region, and gave to the
French and English a somewhat adequate conception of
the boundless resources of that natural empire of which it
formed a part,

French and Knglisli Supremacies.— In spite of the
counteracting efforts of the French, the English had sufli-
cient influence to in a certain measure disaffect the Indians;
but through the strenuous, endeavors of the wise 3t. Pierre
and other otlicers stationed in the west, they were once
more won over to the French alliance in the years subse-
quent to 17.16 and prcvi.nis to the breaking out of the
French and Indiaii war. In the year 1 761, when the French
power in America was fast waning, the English occupied
the fort at Green Bay ; and in the year 1763, after the treaty of
Versailles,! thcv came into full possession of all the western
posts. In March of that year, a small party of Dakotas
came to Green Bay offering friendship to the garrison.
The French, however, by reason of their firm hold on the
tribes acquired through the religious and commercial rela-
tions of a century, which were further strengthened by
frequent intermarriages, kept the English for many years
from gaining a permanent foot-hold. This being true, and
because the latter could not profitably compete with the for-
mer in trad-, the English <:overument sought to establish
no posts west of Mackinaw.

Carver's Expedition.— Jonathan Carver, a native of

48 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Connecticut, who for many years had been an officer of
the English armv of America, at the close of the French
and Indian war dcvi>ed a phm for exploring the North-
west. Assisted by Major Rogers, commandant at Macki-
naw, he started from Green Bay with a party of French
and English traders in September 1766. Thence, by wny
of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, he came to Prairie Du
Chien,! at this time the great central fur mart of the west.
Accompanied only by a. Canadian boatman and a Mo-
hawk2 Indian, he ascended the Mississippi. He discovered
on the way some of those ancient mounds which since his
day have been objects of patient research and speculation
on the part of archaeologists the world over, and which
have thrown some light on the character of the prehistoric
races of America.

Carver speak> of the Dakotas as the River Bands, their
villages at this time being near the Mississippi. This
shows conclusively the nomadic character of that nation;
for, it will be remembered that in the days of Hennepin
and the earlier voyageurs they dwelt far to the north and
west.

Near the site of St. Paul, Carver found a strange sand-
stone cave which still bears his name. He describes it in
exao-gerated terms as a place of awful depths whose outer
walls were covered with strange characters and picto-
graphs. He made a pilgrimage to St. Anthony Falls in
company with a Winnebago chief, and these too he pic-
tured in the glowing colors of his quick imagination. Re-
turning to the mouth of the St. Pierre, which he had
previously noticed, he ascended that stream for a long
distance, bearing with him the British flag. He even
claims to have penetrated the interior two hundred miles.

frr

..^'

^■^

'^A.

^&^-
^^^'

CARVER 8 CAVE, LOOEINa IN.

FOCNTAIX CAVE, LOOKING OUT.

HISTORV OF MINNESOTA.

This, if he followed the course of the stream, would have
brought him to the vicinity of Lac qui Parle. Greatly
impressed by ttie resources of the country and its water
routes, he entertained schemes for its settlement, and be-
lieved also that a water route to China and the East Indies
could be found by way of the St. Pierre. Of this scheme
Neill gives the following account: —

"Carver having returned to England, interested Whit-
^vorth, a member of Parliament, in the Northern route.
Had not the American Revolution commenced, they pro-
posed to have built a fort at Lake Pepin, to have proceeded
up the Ivlinnesota, until they had found, as they supposed
they would, a branch of the Missouri, and from thence
journeying over the summit of lands, until they came to a
river which they called the Oregon, they expected to de-
scend to the Pacific."

Carver's heirs^ strove to establish their rights to a large
tract of country in the vicinity of St. Anthony's Falls,
basing their claims upon a supposed transfer made to him,
by two Dakota chiefs, at the great cave above mentioned;
but neither the English government, while eastern Minnc-
sota remained in the possession of the crown, nor that of
the United States, when it had established its supremacy,
would recognize the validity of so vague a claim as this
proved to be.

Indian AVars. — As previously stated, the Ojibwas were
the traditional enemies of the Dakotas. For generations
they had waged with one another a ceaseless and deadly
warfare of varying results; but in the end the glory of
Dakota prowess paled somewhat before that of their ene-
mies. Through bloody strife, the Ojibwas gained Sandy
Lake, their first abiding place in Minnesota, and in time a

, . '

A ^^^X5^^V•^^.,

-^-*-.^.

£v

-.-■^

^».

■^

-■^-,

U '

\ .

it > V

^^*.

r X

*^« 't*^^ ^^da>^ i.>^

IIISTOIIV UF MINNESOTA.

band df thcni, >i:b<cquently called the Pilla;_^ers,i estab-
lished thcmsclvc- at Leech Lai;e,- where the descendauts
(jf the ti"ibe reaiaia lo ihis day. Two tierce conlTicts are
iL<:oukd, ( ue ocLiiied ne u the moutli rf the Crow W'iric;-

the

< \

. i\.

between
Dakotas and
I Ojihwas; the
other at the
1 Dalles of the
I St. Croix be-
tween the lat-
ter nation and
the allied for-
ces of the Fox-
es and Dako-
tas. The Ojib-
was were vic-
torious in both
engagements,
and after the
last, about the
time of the Engli-h possession, were Me\er molested by the
Foxes, and coiitiiuied to maintain their position on the
hunting grounds of the Dakotas.

Wabasha's Mission.- -An event occurred about the
time of the devolution which shows clearly what changes
had, after the aiKent of the fur traders, been made in the
Indian's mode of gaining subsistence. It seems that one
of the Mtlewakantonwans murdered a trader at Mendota.
To punish the tribe, the English cut off all trade with them
at the beginning of winter. No longer self-reliant, they
were in conseciuence driven to the verge of starvation. The

iki^.^:LHjE£Lk.

.■%\jt^^\>t

iT^^F^S^

\!^I^^^^^^^^E^^p^^^^'

'Vf

^s-

THE y^L'LS OF :^^

Still (li>sun.Hu£r Fru.l Nokomis:
"Brintr unt to inv h'Ac- ;i j-trauser
Fr.mi tlii-1-iii.l..f t!,.- Dacutahs!
Very fi.Tc- are tliu l>ac-..tali^.
Oftt-n is thi'if war U'twctn us,
Ttiore arK fc'\iil- .vft iiiifnrirottPii,
Wouiulsfhatachcand still may uj.t^nr
Liniihimr iiuswt timI lliawatlia :
■"l-'or tliat n-a-i.a. if li'> cithi-r,
\V..ul,l [ w..,lll,.-fMrDa.otali.
Tiiat our tril>.s laiirlit !.•> iinittil.
That old finds nii-lit Ix- fort'otttMi!"
Tbusd-'part.-.! Hiawatha
To tho laud of the Da<-utalis,

SEHAHA.

To the land of handsome -women;
Stridinir over moor ami nii-ado-w,
Thn.nchint.Tuuiial.i." for.-ts.
Throiiirh uniatornii.t.Hl silence.
With his niocca>iii-- of matric.
At eacli stride a mile he measured; _
Yot the way secin.d loiiiz l>fore him.
Anil his heart outrun his foi>tsrops;
And lie journeyed without restintr.
Till he heard the cataract's lau*,'hter.
Heard the Falls of Minnehaha
(."allinj; to him through the silence.

53 — Hexry W. Longfellow.

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

brave chief Wabashai and a large party of warriors took
the murderer and started for Canada, in order to plead
with the English authorities for niercy and the restoration
of the trading posts. Deserted by all save a few faithful
friend^, Waba-ha at last reached Quebec, and offered to
sacrifice his life for the good of his perishing subjects.
Struck by the nolnlity of a character so self-forgetting, the
English received him cordially, and granted his request
without the offered sacrifice.

Tlie Northwest Company.— The Northwest Company
of fur traders came into existence in the year 17S3 and
established its headquarters at Montreal. Large cargoes
of goods were purchased by it in Englandi and shipped to
that citv, from which they were taken to its western sta-
tions for distrilnition. Its business was greatly multiplied
after its reorganization in 179S. It had over forty clerks,
tiftv interpreter*^, and six hundred canoe-mcn in Minnesota
and the regions beyond, to say nothing of those just to the
eastward. Surely a century had wrought great changes;
at the beginning, a solitary boatman's canoe ruffled the
surface of the stream : at the close, whole fleets were seen,
and in every thicket, on every plain were heard the foot-
falls of a restless civilization that was one day destined to
accomplish marvelous things.

By the treatv of Paris,2 that portion of Minnesota lying
east of the Mississippi came under the United States' su-
premacv, but the English for several years retained their
garrisons in the frontier forts. Even as late as 1794 the
Northwest C-'-mpany, under British protection, built a
strongly fortified po>t at Sandy Lake; and during the year
of immunity from United States interference, stipulated by
Jay's treaty of 1796, it did not fail to erect numerous posts

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS. 55

throughout Minnesota and to float the EngHsh colors above
their walls, while its agents endeavored to hold the Indians
loyal to the British rule.

ILLUSTRiLXED

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

••..■.:..rj.,yu^:-^

Territorial Changes. — The French- American posses-
sions originally ceded to Spain in 1763 were returned to
France in iSoo by a secret clause in the treaty of San
lldefonso.i The adroit Xaj^olcon, fearing his ability to
hold the ncwlv acquired domain, hard pressed as he was
by Britian, cidcd it to the Americans, who were also eager
to withstanil I^lnglish encr(jacha^cnts. Thus, during the
period of history upon which we are about to enter, that
part of Mlnncbota l}ing west of the 2slississippi came sue-

beforp:: thk territory. 57

cessivcly uMCier the jurisdiction of Louisiana Province in the
year 1S03, Louisiana District in 1S04, Louisiana Territory
in 1S05, Missouri Territory in 1S12, :vlichi^an Territory in
1S34, Wisconsin Territory in 1S36, and Iowa Territory in
1S3S; while the part lying east of the same river, secured
to the United States, as previously stated, by the treaty of
Paris, belonged to the Northwest Territory in 17S7, Indiana
Territorv in iSoo, Illinois Tcnitor_\- in 1S09, ]Michigan
Territory in 1S34, Wi-consin Territory in 1S36.

Pike's Exiieditiou.— The provisions of J^^y'^ treaty did
not put an end to the unlawful intrigues of the British trad-
ers In Minnesota, and the United States authorities at last re-
solved to take more active measures for the suppression of
their autocratic powers. Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike,i acting
under the orders of Gen. \Vilkinson3 left St. Louis on the"
7th of Augu-t, 1S05, for the triple purpose of exploring
the upper Mis'-issippi region, curbing the insolent spirit of
the traders, and making treaties of friendship with the
Indian tribes, who untler the intluence of such men as
Dickson had learned to despise and ignore the authority of
the new republic.

Pike was onlv twenty-six vears of age at this time, but
a bra^•e, energetic, ambitious otiicer, and withal a man of
sterling integritv. He was accompanied by a detachment
of only seventeen privates and three non-commissioned
officers, but, nevertheless, turned his face resolutely toward
the unknown dangers and hardships of a hostile wilderness.
On the Sth of September, he made a new start from Prairie
Du Chien, w here he had obtained two batteaux and two
additional men, who were to act as interpreters. Every
day's journey was one of interest, and its events he faith-
fully recorded. In due time La Crosse,^ Pointe au Sable,

5«

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Kaposia, and other places now familiar to the reader, were
successively passed, and on the 2ist of the month he en-
camped at the mouth of the St. Pierre on the large island
which still bears his name.

Here Little Crow and his band from Kaposia assembled
on the bluff now occupied by Ft. Snelling, and Pike
entered into counsel with them on the 33d. As a result,
the Indians ceded two tracts of land for military purposes:
one nine miles square at the mouth of the St. Croix; the
other extending nine miles along the course of the ^lissis-
sippi from below the mouth of the St. Pierre to above St.
Anthony's Falls and lateially nine miles back from either
bank.

September 26th, Pike resumed his upward course, and
from that time on for many days he and his little band
endured toils and hardships sufficient to try the sturdiest
soldier. On the i6th of October, snow began to fall, and
the ice was forming in the streams. Impeded on this ac-
count. Pike built a block iiousc^ near the mouth of
Swan river, and drawing up the larger boats within the
protection of the stockade, ordered some of his soldiers into
winter quarters under the command of the sergeant. With
a corporal and a few privates he pushed on. Now they
were forced to attach themselves to sleds like beasts of
burden, and draw their canoe over bleak prairies in some
places bare of snow ; anon were plunged with their effects
into the chill waters of the river. For subsistence, they
depended in great measure on the game taken by the way,
and some days this was quite scarce. They occasionally
met small parties of Indian-, wlio informed them of the
movements of the traders and the temper of the different
tribes.

BEFORE THE TERRITORY. 59

Feeling that he must now be near Sandy Lake, Pike on
the Sth of January left all his men in camp save Corporal
Bradly, and struggled forward on foot through the long
hours of that cold winter day. At dusk, they were still
several miles from tlie lake, but did not waver until their
eyes were rewarded by its broad expanse stretching out
before them. Thinking they could catch the dim outlines
of the farther shore, with renewed courage they plodded
toward it through the deep snow that had completely ob-
literated the trail across the ice. The glimmering lights
of the Northwest Company's stockade soon appeared and
cheered them on. When they reached it, they were re-
ceived with rare hospitality by !Mr. Grant the English
trader in charge.

Pike and his detachment marched from this place to
Leech Lake, where he hoisted the American flag. In the
month of February, he called together the Sauteurs^ of
that place and Red Lake. The fruits of this council were
threefold; the Sauteurs gave up their British flags and
medals,6 promised to make peace with the Sioux, and al-
lowed two of their most noted warriors to accompany
Pike to St. Louis.

On the 5th of ^Larch, on his downward journey, Pike
came to the.winter quarters at Swan river, and found to
his chagrin that the sergeant had been holding high revel-
ry, squandering the stores while he had sometimes been
suffering through lack of necessaries. A blinding snow
storm was raging on the iith of April when he arrived
again at the mouth of ilic St. Pierre. Here he found the
Sioux who had assembled at his request. Of the council
he speaks in these terms: —

"About sundown I was sent for and introduced into tlis

6o HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

council house, where ■! found a great manv chiefs of the
Sussitongs," Gens dcs Feuilles,^ and tb.c Gens du Lac.^
The YanctongsiOhad not yet come down. Thev were all
awaiting my arrival. There were about one hundred
lodges, or six hundred people; we were saluted on our
crossing the river with balin as usual. The council-house
was two large lodges capable of containing three hundred
men. In the upper were forty chiefs, and as manv pipes
set against tiie poles, along side of wliich I had the Sau-
teurs' pipes arrangetl. I then informed them, in short de-
tail, of my transactions with the Sauteurs; but my inter-
preters were not capable of making themselves fully un-
derstood. The interpreters, however, informed them that
I wanted some of their principal chiefs to go to St. Louis;
and that those who thought proper might descend to the
Prairie, where we would give them more explicit informa-
tion. They all smoked out of the Sauteurs'^ pipes, except-
ing three."

Pike arrived at Prairie Du Chien on the i8th of April;
but, as hereafter seen, his nine wearv mouths of labor
proved to be almost fruitless in the attempt to accom-
plish the chief objects of the expedition.

iMiiinesota Iiuliaus in War of ISTi. -The hospitable
reception of Pike by the British traders of Minnesota was
like that of the Arabs, who treat a stranger with lavish
kindness while he remains within their tents but become
his sworn enemies when he has departed ; for in the sel-
fishness of their hearts they feared the results of the new
policy of trade adopted by the United States. Once more
with sul-itle daring they began to win back the partly
alienated tribes, and on the eve of hostilities between England
and America, furnishetl the Indians with munitions of war.

62 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

About this time the celebrated Shawnee chie! Tecum-
sehl and his brother Elskwatawa, the Prophet, kindled
the fires of a general Indian war, and Dickson, the British
superintendent of the western tribes, who seemed to cher-
ish toward the Americans a lasting and bitter hatred, spared^
no pains to fan the flame of discord. Besides Dickson,
Askin, Renville, and Rolette were some of the traders who
led the Dakotas and Ojibwas of Minnesota against the
fortifications of [Mackinaw in 1812, Ft.:Meigs3 in 1S13, and
Ft. Shelby at Prairie Du Chien in 1S14. Tahamie,^ of
whom valorous deeds are recorded, and Hay-pee-dan' were
the only Dakotas who remained faithful to the Americans.
By the treaty of Ghent,^ the Indians' wild dreams of con-
quest were dispelled, and Little Crov/, Wabasha, and other
chiefs, eloquently upbraiding the English for treachery in
the non-fulfillment of their golden promises, returned to
their people disappointed and sad at heart.

Traders and Selkirkers.— After the war of 1S12 had

closed, American citizens supported by wise provisions of
the government began to trade extensively in Minnesota.
While the Dakotas and Ojibwas engaged in bloody con-
flicts like that on the Pomme de Terrel in 1818, seemingly
by tacit consent they left the Americans free for a time to
pursue their plans in peace. But it is not to be supposed
that the spirit of the old British traders was less aggressive
than formerly. Dickson,2 -who resided at Lake Traverse
for several years after the war, was one of those who still
carried on the same secret machinations. Nor were all their
deeds the outgrowth of political principles; for, their treat-
ment of those near to them by the tics of race was cruel in
the extreme.

In the years immediately following iSii, Lord Selkirk^

BEFORE THE TERRITORY. 63

endeavored to e:?tablish a Scottish settlement at the mouth
of the Assiniboine. Again and again the power of the ele-
ments left them desolate and broken-hearted far from the
homes of their childhood; and repeatedly the harsh emis-
saries of the Northwest Company, as if imbued with the
spirit of fiends rather than that of humanity, massacred
them outright, or applied the torch to their humble habita-
tions and compelled them to seek shelter in the wilds of
Minnesota, where they nearly perished of hunger and cold.
In considering their sorrows, the dispersion of the Acadl-
ans^ seems robbed of its terrors, and the pages of American
history scarce furnish another parallel to the mournful
annals of these unhappy colonists. But through it all thev
preserved a bearing of bravery, a spirit of noble sacrifice
whose glorv can never fade.

Expeditionof 1S17.— July9th, iSi 7, Stephen H.Long,
of the U. S. Corps of Engineers, determined to ascend the
Mississippi to St. Anthony Falls. Gov. Clark of St.
Louis gave him a six-oared skiff in which to make the
journey. His party consisted of a friend named Hemp-
stead, seven soldiers, and Roquet a half-breed interpreter.
They were accompanied by a bark canoe in which were
Messrs. Gun and King, grandsons^ of Jonathan Carver,
whose claims to territory they were anxious to make good.

On the way, the party ascended Montague Trempe el
Eau,3 which they designated as Kettle Hill, a name given
to it on account of the peculiar shape the rocks upon its
side appear to have when viewed from a distance. Long's
descriptioii of the scenery in its vicinity is in some partic-
ulars florid but in the mi'.iu truthful, as here seen: —

•'Hills marshaled into a variety of pleasing shapes some
of them towering into lofty peaks, while others present

64 lIISTOltV OF MIXXESOTA,

broad summits cml-icllished with contours aiul slopes in the
most pleasing manner; champaic^-ns and wa\"inq- vailevs;
forest lawns and iiarks alternatini:!- Avith each other; the
humble Mi-^is'-ippi meanderin;^ far below and occa>iuna!ly
lo'^ing' itself in nundierless islands; ;dl these g'ive \'arietv and
bcautv to the j)icture, while rug-c,'-ed cliffs and stupendous
precipices here and there pre^ent themselves as if to add
boldness ami majesty to the scene. In the midst of this beau-
tiful scenery is situated a village of the Sioux Indians on
an extensive lawn called the Aux Aisles* Prairie, at which
we lay by for a short time."'

The name of the chief was W'apashaw.o The Indians
at the time had just finished the Bear Dance.*'

Long speaks of a block house \\hich commanded the
passage of the river at Kaposia; Aisits Carver's CaA-e
now rapidlv filling with sand; farther up enters the much
larger Fountain Cave; and finally camps at the foot of vSt.
Anthonv Falls. It seems to have been his purpose to make
a cursory sur\ey to find groimds suitable for a fort. lie
speaks thus of the [josition now occupied by Ft. .Snelling: —

" A militar\- work of considerable magnitude might be
constructed upon the point, and might be rendered suffi-
cientlv secure by occupying the commanding height in the
rear in a suitable manner, as the latter would control not
onl\- the point, but all the neighboring heights, to the full
extent of a twehe pounder's range. The work on the
point would be necessary to control the navigation of the
two rivers. l>ut without the commanding works in the
rear, it would be liable to be greatly annoyed from a height
situated directly opposite on the other side of the Missis-
sippi, which is here no more than ab<nit t\yo hundred and
fifty yards wide. This latter height, however, would not

BEFORE THE TERRITORY.

be eligible for a permanent post, on account of the numer-
ous ridges and ravines situated immediately in its rear."

Ft. Snelling. — Alarmed by the movements of Lord
Selkirk and the Hudson Bay Companv near the northern
border, the far-seeing Calhoun,! then secretarv of war, took
active steps toward a more permanent militarv occupation
of Minnesota than had hitherto been made. Cold Water

MBS. BNELLINQ. COL. S:fELLJNG.

Cantonment2 was established at Mendota^ in 1S19, Col.
Leavenworth commanding, and in September of the fol-
lowing year the first stone of a fort was laid on what was
then the far frontier — Prairie Du Chien, 200 miles away,
being the objective point of all wagon trains, boat fleets,
and the traveler in moccasins. The pu>t was at first
called Ft. St. Anthony, but the name was changed through
the influence of Gen. Winfield Scott, who was there on a

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Visit of inspection in 1S24. The following is taken from
his report made at that time:—

"This work, of which the war department ism the pos-
session of a plan, reflects the greatest credit on Col. Snell-
inc his ofHcers and men. The defenses and for the most
part the public store houses, shops and quarters, bemg con-
structed of stone, the whole is likely to endure as long as
the post shall remain a frontier one. I wish to suggest to
the -eneral-in-chief, and through him to the war depart-
men", the propriety of calling this work Ft. Snelling, as a
just compliment to the meritorious officer under whom it
has been erected. The present name is foreign to all^^our
associations, and besides it is geographically incorrect.

All the romance of border history and the tragic story
of Indian warfare cling to Snelling's time-stained walls,
and the names of countless gallant soldiers and noble wo-
men have become associated with its own in the sixty years
its quaint old battlements have towered aloft in the pictur-
esque vallev, as inspiring as any Drachenfels* by the Ger-
man Rhine ; and it stands yet, in the evening of the nine-
teenth centurv, like a sentinel rehearsing in silent language
tales of the b^ld voyageurs and the self-sacrificing fathers
of the mission, who passed within range of its guns or
rested beneath its sheltering roofs.

The plan of the original fort seems to have been that of
a rhomboid, one of the acute angles lying on the cliffy and
the adjacent sides cresting the banks of the Mississippi and
Minnesota respectively. These sides were protected by
castellited wall>, terminating in a half-moon bastion at the
anc^le and that on the south or ^linnesota side having its
other'extren.ity in a polygon tower still standing. These
walls, for the most part, and the half-moon bastion have

JX)RT BNTLLINQ LOOKING DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI.

SAME LOOKIN-Q ACKOS3 THK MINNESOTA.

Kr'

-OUND JO',

-c^,.;;?;':-

— ' — ►■<

\ 1

i:>%4

■;??^;

SCEN'KS AT FT. SNKLLI>'<

BEFORE THE TERRITORY. 69

lately fallen sacrifices to the spirit of change; the arched
gateway and walls of the inner angle of the fort have also
vanished; but the old round tower, with its embrasured
parapet and loop-holed wall, remains a landmark of by-
gone days.

Craufoi'd County. — Eastern Minnesota, then a part of
Michigan Territory, was organized as Crawford^ county
in 1S19. The officers of the county were a chief justice,
two associate justices of the county court, a judge of pro-
bate, clerk of court, and sheriff. It was so sparsely inhab-
ited that it was difficult to find suitable persons to fill these
positions.

Lewis Cass Expedition. — Lewis Cass, who afterward
became a very prominent character in national politics,
made arrangements with the secretary of war in 1S19 to
lead an exploring expedition into Minnesota; for Cass was
then governor of Michigan. The objects of the expedition
were both commercial and scientific. Capt. Douglass was
engineer, 11. R. Schoolcraft mineralogist, and C. C. Trow-
bridge topographer. Dr. Wolcott, Indian agent at Chicago,
was also one of the party, which in the main was com-
posed of Indians and vovageurs.

Nearly six weeks were consumed in the lake voyage
from Detroit to the mouth of the St. Louis river, which
they entered on the 5th of July, 1S30. After visiting an
Indian village of the Ojibwas and a trading post of the
American Fur Company, both on the river, they proceeded
to Sandy Lake. The Northwest Company was there no
longer, Init instead the American Fur Company was ac-
tively engaged in trade. Before descending the ^Missis-
sippi, Cass and about half of his party endeavored to find

70 HISTORY OF MIN^XESOTA.

its ultimate source, and incorrectly decided that it was the
lake which now bears his name.

Like Pike, Cass endeavored to bring about peace be-
tween the Ojibwas and Dakotas, and followed the same
plan, persuading some of the chiefs of the formernation to
visit the agency at Mendota for the purpose of holding a
council with the Sioux. Having made a rapid descent of the
river, he was enabled on the first of August to convene the
Indian council in the agency house at Mendota. The United
States Indian agerit of that time was Major Lawrence Tal-
iaferro,! a man of energy and tact. He was the first Indian
agent in Minnesota, and remained in that position for
twenty-one vears. He speaks in warm terms of the con-
duct of the Dakotas, claiming that in all that time they did
not shed a drop of American blood, while the Chippewas,
Winnebagocs, Sacs,^ and Foxes annually committed the
foulest murders. But the well meant efforts of Gov. Cass
were practicallv frustrated on this occasion by the indiffer-
ence of the Dakotas, who had the chief Shakopee^ with
them for spokesman.

The remaining davs of the expedition in ^Minnesota were
partly spent at the villages of the chiefs Little Crow, Red
Wing, and Wabasha. Those of the last two were situated
where the cities of Red Wing and Winona now stand.
Col. Snelling was met at Prairie Du Chicn on his way to
relieve Col. Leavenworth at Ft. St. Anthony and to pros-
ecute with greater zeal the building of the post, which
still existed more in name than fact.

The Fur Coillpiiuies.^ — Having learned by long experi-
ence how ruinous their policy of contending with each
other had been, the Northwest and Hudson Bay Com-
panies united in 1S31. This left a number of the old

"•'•»-Tr* -^- TF^-

{■■'

: 7.

"if

--'-—^-^- ■!'**■

^2 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

traders free to form new associations; and Renville, IMc-
Kenzie and a few others united with some American
traders in furminjj^ the Columbia Company with head-
quarters at Lake Traverse.^ At this time, also, the Ameri-
can Fur Company, first organized by Astor^ in 1S09, had
become a powerful and wealthy corporation whose influ-
ence in Minnesota was exceedingly great.

To-dav, standing in t)ne of the ancient fortifications of
the mound-builders which surmounts an eastern bluff of
that lake, one looks forward to the blue hills of Dakota
beyond the farther shore, to the right and downward over
"liquid miles" to where wooded points jut out by Mordada
toward the west, to the left, a mile away, close by the
water's edge, upon the Columbia Company's building site
now distinguishable only by pits and mounds of earth and
rocks. Thus the horizon alone girts their ancient domain,
and the glory of the landsca])e is unchanged, but the com-
panies have vanished and left scarcely a trace behind.

The Fil'st 3Iills.- I'he first mills erected in Minnesota
were t\\ o built by the I'nited States government at St. An-
thonv Falls in 1S21 and 1S23. They made flour and lum-
ber for the garrison at Ft. Snelling.

Selkirk's Colony. — LcmxI Selkirk still continued to
work for an enduring settlement of his colony in spite of
the failures of so manv }ears. He persuaded a number of
Swiss to emigrate from Europe and settle inthecolonv;
but discouraged by its hardships, some deserted it in 1S23,
and after a l<Mig, toilsome journey by the wav of Pem-
binai and tl.e Red River,- reached Ft. SncIIing in a con-
dition I'f ^l:i: \-aliim.

First Sleamhoat. — In the summer of the last men-
tioned year, a large steamer named the Virginia arrived at

PflM:'

' : • '^3 ? ^,?^,^—i;^^^'m

''; ■''■'

/ ' / \ ':\5>;- -■-''"'. :A

':■ - v' ■ :^^ '.-- ' V- «: ^M

."- - _' ,■ : 'ij^') '^\ '■^- *• ^..v. .^/!^

',^ -.*■-. " •?-' ;■ "■ 'J --.J "c- " -^-a

"'•■■■' --'-■:.!; ..' - "f" <^-- -< ■'. • "^ "1

' ■ ''/ ' '.-^^ ,' V ' 1

'" ' > -' . ^ ■'. ' ( ',- ' ^ v>'"".' ' '-^-.^ M

^"''44 '^4r.>4'-'l "M

\ ■ :, ; i ■ ;, ':.::V;f ■ / .■• ^ ..^fi

"s -r" >U. •--'{':,; :^- .r^V'''^ ■^•■f

^^ -V:'fi^-a^^ .

_. - • '..

"-^i| V --■• ; ^

\ .? }-3 '■■-'-' . > i '"^'i

•■■;^':'^ ■/•,-:/ 1

y^. . •■ '•'^ '■'■ •'< C ■

•, (: --^ '/ .,■ '^•:' 1

:^ '■-^.mS:

- <.. ..■-■', -X .

^''^ rr-M^

ihi-M I

' {-m '.:-t%::.-.:::.i

;■■■ '

, •■■■■ \ ■ --a 11

''■ - .■ ' '^ ,' '" ' ' . , -' '■ '' ]'■ : J _i _ ,,»

1. . '- " • ' ■ ■• 1 '^ . '. ■'■S^

j. ; , 1 i ' '

: ^j l.--i^"i^^::^'^ ■■'.■:// ^.L^..^^^^

HISTORY OF MIXXESOTA.

Ft. Snelling. This was the beginning of steam naviga-
tion on the upper waters of the ^Mississippi; before this it
had been deen-icd useless to attempt passing the rapids at
Rock I^hmd and other barriers.

Cass Treaty i>rokoii.— The treaty made between the
Dakotas and Ojibwas at the solicitations of Cass was soon
broken, and Islaj. Taliaferro endeavored to bring about a
more abiding friendship; but they had hardly left the
council house before an Ojibwa chief precipitated a quarrel,
■and the military at the fort were compelled to restrain the
Dakotas from entering into a sanguinary contest.

Long's Explorations. — In compliance with an order
of the government, Maj. Stephen H. Long led an explor-
ing expedition up the Minnesota. His assistants in this, the
first distinctively scientific expedition to enter [Minnesota,
were Samuel Seymour, artist; Prof. W. H. Keating of the
Pennsylvania University, mineralogist and geologist; and
Thos. Say,oneof the founders of the Philadelphia x\cademy
of Sciences, zoologist and antiquarian. Keating also acted as
the historian of the party, carefully collating their manu-
scripts, which were afterwards published in two volumes.
Joseph Renville, a bols bruld^ acted as intrepreter; and Jos-
eph Snelling,! i^on of the commandant of the fort of that
name, was assistant interpreter.

On the 9th of July, 1S23, the expedition left ]Mendota
in two detachments, one by land the other in canoes by
way of the river. The river party foimd most of the In-
dian villages deserted, the Sioux- havmg gone out on the
chase. Oy the fourth day of the journey, the two detach-
ments imited a.:iiia at Traverse dcs Sioux.- Reducing their
number and leaving the canoes, they mounted horses and
cut across the great bend of the river to the vicinity of the

BEFORE THE TERRITORY. 75

present town of New Ulm, where they once more began
to follow its course. July 22d, they came to Big Stone
Lake and visited the lodges of a Dakota band on one of
its lower islands. Farther up the}- were entertained at a
post of the American Fur Compan}-, and passing onward
were as hospitably received at the station of its rival the Co-
lumbia Company, situated on Lake Traverse. From here
the march was down the Red River of the North to Pem-
bina, where several days were spent in determining the lo-
cation of the boundar^■ llne^ bet\veen British America and
the United States. Thence going to Winnipeg,-* crossing to
the Lake of the Woods, following the northern chain to
Sturgeon Island in Rainy Lake, and finally by a northeast
overland course reaching Ft.Wiliiams on the Kamenlstagoia,
the expedition practically completed the objects of its labor.
The scientific observations, though rapidly taken, were of
great value. The geological and geographical descriptions
of the ^linnesota and Red rivers were particularly inter-
esting, and to these some information was added relative
to the faunas and floras of those valleys.

Source of tlie MiSSissil)pi. — Great confusion existed in
the minds of both the early and later explorers relative to
the source of the Mississippi. In 1S05, Pike, misinformed
by those who were ignorant or who wished to deceive him,
supposed Cass Lake to be the true source. It will be seen
later that Schoolcraft claimed the honor of its discovery
in the finding of Lake Itasca. Then came Nicollet trust-
ing in Schoolcraft's claim, but modestly asking recogni-
tion of his own services in tracing the inlets of Itasca to
their remotest springs. Those unworthy of honor, but
vigorous in pleading for it, assert that they, in the present
decade, have found the source in Elk Lake.i There need

76 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

be no error so far as the question is one of this century ;
the existing- historical records relating to it are for that
length of time both definite and reliable.

William Morrison, one of the most noted of the early
fur traders, came to Leech Lake in October, 1S02, from
Grand Portage on the north shore of Lake Superior. A
year later, he followed the course of the river through
lakes Cass and Pemidji^ to Lake Itasca, and saw the five
small streams which flow into it. He discovered no indi-
eations of Avhite men having preceded him, and to him is
doubtless due the honor of its discovery. Crossing the
portage of the Heights of Land,^ he wintered at Rice Lake,
the upper source of the Red River. He repeated this
journey and again wintered at Rice Lake in iSii— 12.
There he met a trader of ^Mackinaw, named Otesse, wha
in the spring, when ^Morrison returned to Ft. William, ac-
companied him as far as Fond Du Lac. The ^Minnesota
Historical Society Annals of 1S56 contain a letter which
Jvlorrison addressed to his brother, Allan Morrison, who
also was a well known trader. In this letter, referring to
the facts given above, he says: —

" This will explain to you that I visited Itasca Lake, then
called Elk Lake, in 1S03-4, and in 1S11-12, and five small
streams that empty into the lake, that are short, and soon
lose themselves in the swamps.
****** **

"Cass Lake receives the waters of Cross Lake, and Cross
Lake those of Itasca Lake, and five small streams that
empty into Itasca Lake, then called Elk Lake. Those
streams I hiu-c rv-'tcd l->cforc; no white man can claim the
discovery of the source of the Mississippi before me, for I
was the first that saw and examined its shores."

BEFORE THE TERRITORY. 77

Nevertheless, Morrison did not seek to explore these
streams, that arduous task was left for the brave Nicollet,
and with him truly rests the repute of its accomplishment.
Writing in 1S36 of his explorations in the summer of that
year, he says:—

« The Mississippi holds its own from its very origin; for
it is not necessary to suppose, as has been done, that^ Lake
Itasca may be supplied with invisible sources, to justify the
character of a remarkable stream, which it assumes at its
issue from this lake. There are five creeks that fall into
it, formed bv innumerable streamlets oozing from the clay
beds at the bases of the hills, that consist of an accumula-
tion of sand, gravel and clay, intermixed with erratic frag-
ments; being a more prominent portion of the erratic de-
posit previously described, and which here is known by
the name of Hauteurs des Terrcs, heights of land.
*** *****

"The waters supplied by the north tlank of these
heights of land, still on the south side of Lake Itasca, give
origin to the five creeks of which I have spoken above.
These are the waters which I consider to be the utmost
sources of the Mississippi. Those that flow from the
southern side of the same heights, and empty themselves
into Elbow Lake, are the utmost sources of the Red River
/)f the North; so that the most remote feeders of Hudson
Bay and the Gulf of :Mexico are closely approximated to
each other.

« Now, of the five creeks that empty into Itasca Lake
(the Omoshkos Sagaigon, of the Chippcwas, or the Lac
a la Blchc, of the French, or the Elk Lake of the British)
one empties into the east bay of the lake; the four others
into the west bay. I visited the whole of them; and

LAKE ITAbCA

ASD \ICINITY
rngrarea f'o^vi far Je tTacIr?t>f Mco let J
M?p (S'-rsr t\ T i i„ t! e Off t, of the

CiuefollJiE'i; cr- L ' V ^ h "^"oj D C

Sra2c eoT^csor^ iuLttmo,

Chxpeway l,ahe I
Traicrs or ,"

Pemidji L \

--^^^^l

'~T"

"?1 -

)i'

BEFORE THE TERRITORY. 79

among the latter there is one remarkahle above the others,
inasmuch as its course is longer and its waters more abund-
ant; so that, in obedience to the geographical rule 'that
the sources of a river are those which are most distant from
its mouth,' this creek is truly the infant Mississippi; all
others below, its feeders and tributaries.

"The day on which I explored this principal creek,( Aug-
ust 29, 1S36) I judged that, at its entrance into Itasca Lake,
its bed was from fifteen to twenty feet wide, and the depth
of water from two to three feet. I stemmed its pretty brisk
current during ten or twenty minutes; but the obstructions
occasioned by°the fall of trees compelled us to abandon the
canoe, and seek its springs on foot, along the hills. After
a walk of three miles, during which we took care not to
lose sight of the Mississippi, ray guides informed me that
it was better to descend into the trough of the valley;
where, accordingly, we found numerous streamlets oozing
from the bases of the hills.

** ******

"As a further description of these head waters, I may add
that they unite at a small distance from the hills whence
they originate, and form a small lake, from which the Mis-
sissippi flows with a breadth of a foot and a half, and a
depth of one foot. At no great distance, however, this
rivulet, uniting itself with the streamlets, coming from
other directions, supplies a second minor lake, the waters
of which have already acquired a temperature of 48.°
From this lake issues a rivulet, necessarily of increased
importance— a cradled Hercules, giving promise of the
strength of his maturity ; it transports the smaller branches
of trees; it begins to form sand bars; its bends are more
decided, until it subsides again into the basin of a third

So HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

lake somewhat larger than the two preceding. Having
here acquired renewed vigor, and tried its consequence up-
on an additional length of two or three miles, it finally
empties itself into Itasca Lake, which is the principal reser-
voir of all the sources, to which it owes all its subsequent
majesty."

Count Beltrami.— On the arrival of the steamer Vir-
ginia at Ft. vSnelllng, there appeared in the company of
Maj. Taliaferro an educated Italian exile sometimes called
the Count Bcltrami.i He soon ingratiated himself among
the officer:, of the garrison, and being of an extremely ro-
mantic, adventurous turn of mind, obtained permission to ac-
company Long's expedition. Having quarreled with that
officer and by his eccentricity made himself disagreeable to
the others, he separated from them at Pembina, and resolved
to accomplish great things by himself. With unbounded
courage and hope, and at times with no one to guide him
throuo-h a trackless country, he managed to tind Red Lake.
From this he traveled by way of Grand Portage river and
across country to a small lake which drains into Turtle
Lake. This small lake he called Julia,2 and supposing it
to be a source of both the Mississippi and Red, termed it
the Julian source of those rivers. While his adventures as
portrayed by himself are as fantastic and exaggerated as
those of an ancient knight-errant, his statements are not
altogether valueless.

Indian Treaties.— On the 19th of August, 1S35, a great
convocation of the northwestern tribes was held at Prairie
- Du Chien. The United States government was repre-
sented bv Lc\^'i> Ca^s of Michigan and Gov. Clark of
Missouri. The Dakotas and Ojibwas consented at that
time to have a definite boundary placed between the hunt-

BEFORE THE TERRITORY.

ing grounds of the two tribes to prevent further contention.
The following yeav, Gov. Cass attended a meeting of the
Ojibwas at Fond Du Lac,i ^Minnesota. All of the bands
were represented, and a treaty was sealed on the 5th of
August. This was the tirst formal one made in ^linne-
sota. Among other things the Ojibwas promised to sever
all allegiance to Great Britain, and to acknowledge at all
times the United States sxipremacy.

IJorder Wars. — Early in the summer of 1S27, a small
party of Ojibwas from Sandy Lake were treacherously

WINJTEBAGO CHERACKS OR BARK HTJTS.

attacked, just without the walls of Ft. Snelling, by a party
of Dakotjs whom they h;id entertained. It was an occur-
rence n-iost unfortunate in its results; for the two nations
kept up a continual contest for several years, during which
the stipulations of the treaty made at Prairie Du Chien

g2 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

were violated. The Winncbagoes,i too, becoming exas-
perated through a mistake in regard to this same affair at
SneUin-, attacked some supply boats descending the ?vlis-
sissippil rom that post, and began to prey upon the white set-
tlers themselves. The whole border was in a fever of alarm,
and the government began to concentrate its forces at
Prairie Du Chien in order to quell the spirit of rebel-
lion. The Winnebagocs were forced to succumb, and yield
their famous chief Red Bird as a hostage.

The Swiss Settlers.— The Selkirk settlement, whose
history from its inception had been one long record of suf-
fering and death, was destined to never feel the ministra-
tions^of a milder fate. The fearful winter of 1S25-6 was
followed by a summer of tlood which swept everythmg
before it, leaving the Red River valley one vast waste of
desolation. Tlie Swiss settlers who had remained behind
their neighbors in the exodus of 1S23 could endure their
troubles no longer, and entering :SIinnesota settled in the
countrv surrounding Ft. Snelllng. Thus it came to pass
that the star of empire had not guided the eastern emi-
grants to the wilds of Minnesota before this discomfited
band of the "far north built their habitations within its
borders, and so became its first permanent settlers.

Schoolcraft's Expeaition. — Henry Rowe School-
craft, the celebrated author of various works on the history
and life of the American aborigines, was for many years
the United States agent of Indian affairs at Sault Ste.
Marie. While he still occupied that position, and after he
had become (piite well versed in the character of the natives,
Schoolcraft was sent out by the government, in 1S31, to visit
the Indians of the upper ^vlississippi. By way of Lake
Superior, Bad River, and the head waters of the St. Croix,

BEFORE THE TERRITORY. S3

he entered the country in the vicinity of Shell and Ottawa
lakes, Wisconsin, and made a futile attempt to persuade the
Ojibwas of that region to be at peace with the Dakotas of
Ivlinnesota.

In 1S32, the crovernment instructed Schoolcraft to visit
the tribes toward the sources of the Mississippi. Lieut.
Jas. Allen was in charge of the military part of the expedi-
tion, which was accompanied b}' Dr. Douglass Houghton,
scientist, and Rev. W. T. Boutwell, missionary. On the
2 2d of June, following the route of the Cass expedition,
they began the ascent of the St. Louis, from which they
made a portage^ to the Savanna^ and descended to Sandy
*Lake. Thus far their labors had been intense on account of
the difficulty of the portages, a difficulty greatly increased by
heavy rains through which they were forced to march.

The partv entered Cass Lake on the loth of Jul}-, and
from thereto Lake Itasca^ their route was that of Morrson
in 1S04. It was many years after this that the explora-
tions of the latter were made known; therefore, School-
craft supposed that he himself was the discoverer of the
Ivlississippi's ultimate source, and the mistake everywhere
passed current. Returning southw«rd to Leech Lake, a
portage was made to the head of the Crow Wing, and this
led them to the ^lississippi.

Schoolcraft conversed with three or four of the Dakota
chiefs at Ft. Snclling, voicing to them the complaints of
the Ojibwa'*, who said the Dakotas had been guilty in
breaking the treaties of Fond Du Lac and Prairie Du Chien.
Little Cruw I ;uid IJIack Dog'' made the hackneyed state-
ments of tlicir desire fur peace. It was not long after this
that John Marsh» enlisted the Dakotas as allies of the
United States in the Black Hawk war? then raging.

i-^^^-*^?^

\^^f.i:yy^,:< ' r

;>■ t- ' ^' ~^' ■*"'-J

•\t^'

•,.-^^^e->r^,

D.UXES OF THE ST. LOCIS OB lUE LONG PORTAGE.

BEFORE THE TERRITORY. 85

Schoolcraft for some cause deseited Lieut. Allen at this
point, and the latter expressing great indignation ascended
the St. Croix alone.

The reports of the different members of the party
abound in interesting descriptions of the country traversed
by them. Lieut. Allen clearly observed its geographical
features, particularly the water courses, and made a map
of the whole northern section. A number of valuable
scientific papers from the pens of Cooper, Houghton, and
Schoolcraft sum up the results of the expedition.

Feathorstoniiailgll. — During the summer of 1835,
G. W. Fcatherstonhaugh,! an Englishman employed by
the United States department of topographical engineers,
made a geological survey of the ^Minnesota valley. He
describes some of the afliuents of that stream. Stemming
the Blue Earth and Le Sueur rivers to a point about two
miles up the latter, he eagerly ascended to the prairie be-
tween the Blue Earth and Maple, hoping to catch sight of
the Coteau dcs Prairies;"- but failing to find it, he hastily
concluded that the Le Sueur story of a copper mine at the
*'foot of a long mountain " was nothing but a fable. The
Frenchman Penicaut, by the term mountain, evidently re-
ferred to the bluffs. Featherstonhaugh ascended the Min-
nesota from the great south bend, and was gratified at last
by seeing the blue line of the Coteau rising in the distance.
On his return he published a geographical account of his
trip; also another \olume entitled, a " Canoe Voyage up
the Minnesota."

Clltlin. — The same year that Featherstonhaugh was en-
gaged in the vallcv of the ^Minnesota, George Catlin, the
artist and renowned delineator of Indian manners and
customs, determined to carry out his long cherished plan

''^"•''^i~. -"■'^5^ ■->->.

^
^•"'"

t^-*-^"-'"" «** Z-^"*' --^ '.

:;: -.^M^^

,v f ; *^ -.^••'.

^^:^':

..-ri-'

illlfi;

^--d

1 i

TBACKINO. CBOSSIXO A POETAGE, CAJIPINO ON A LUNQ POBTAGE.

BEFORE THE TERRITORY.

§7

of visiting the pipcstone quarry ,i since famous in the pec - •
Hiawatha. A friend and an Indian guide were his c.-:\r^

panidus. The journey was made on horseback.

Mlh

S(%l^t?!

^ .f^:^ Vtei

''^-<.^.

'^^y-^'a<^a/^^^^^^/^^f^

(,/J(^

:r>'^-

Like Long, Catlin ascended the Minnesota, and cros^evl
the bend from Traverse des Sioux to the month of the IV,;.;
Cottonwood.2 Then proceeding across the western pi.ii-
ries, he came to the Coteaus; and these he followed sDUth-

SS HISTORY OF MINXESOTA.

ward to the quarry- I'^is enthusiasm kindled when he
beheld the place to see which he had journeyed t\venty-fi\^
hundred miles, the place for countless generations sacred
to the Indian tribes, and above whose scarred and shat-
tered cliffs, or towering form of the flinty IManito,^ their
legends seemed to hover like guardian spirits.

Catlin's descriptions are accurate and spirited, and his the-
ories'* in regard to the erratics, scattered far and wide, and
the polished surfaces of the rocks, are unique and sugges-
tive. He speaks of the ancient fortifications^ and the won-
derful 'Olaldens.'"'^ but does not notice the pictographs'
made long ages ago upon the time-worn surfaces of the
red-stone where those huge bowlders have found a resting
place.

I)rO(l Scott. — Few slaves were kept in Minnesota, but
of those few two were destined to have their names go
down to posterity on one of the most noted pages of na-
tional historv. One was a girl named Harriet, the proper-
ty of Maj. Taliaferro, the other a man owned by Surgeon
Emerson, of Ft. Snelling. In 1S35, Taliaferro sold Harriet
to Dr. Emerson, and the year following she was united in
marriage to the other slave. Dr. Emerson removed them to
Missouri In iS3S,where many years after,when their master
was dead, they claimed their freedom. Their case brought
forth the celebrated declsionl of Chief Justice Taney2 that
made the name of the man, Dred Scott, as familiar to all as
a household word.

Nicollet. — Among tne most noted names of Minnesota's
later explorers stands that of Jean Nicolas Nicollet.i He
was a native of Cluses2 Haute Savoie.3 His early years
were studious yet full of struggles with adversity. In
early manhood he came under the scholarly influence and

hrrfv^ II mini

-0 <3-

7v>

PICTOOEAFHS AT PIPESTONE.

90 HISTORY OF MIXXESOTA.

tuition of such men as La Place,* and suhsequently achieved
notable distinction as an astronomer, having conferred
upon him the decoration of the Lej^ion of Honor.5 F^
nancial embarrassment finally drove him to the United
States.

The 26th of July, 1S36, accompanied by the French
trader Fronchet,*^ he started to explore the region of the
upper ^Mississippi, carr_\ ing- with him a telescope and some
other portable scientific instruments. At Leech Lake he
added to his escort a Canadian trader named Francis IJrunet^
and an Indian guide. On reachi'.ig Ita<ca Lake, he spent sev-
eral days in examining the course of its inlets. In the au-
tumn he was again at the Mendota Agency, pursuing his
studies and investigation'^ \\ ith unrelaxing assiduitv.

The next season Nicollet went to Washington, and was
commissioned to examine th.e northwest territories and re-
port on their resoinces. Ills principal aid was John C.
Fremont, at this time a lieutenant. The party ascended
the Missouri to the vicinity of Ft. Pierre, and traveled east-
wartl to Minnesota. Passing over the Coteau des Prairies,
which he lucidly descrilies, Nicollet came to the pipestone
quarry. Conce'rning this freak of nature he furnished some
interesting iacts; for his were the careful researches of a
keen scholar in love with nature. The whole surroimdings
inspired him as standing on the jagged cliffs he gazed out
over a rich countrv rolling awav like the green billows of
a sea, limitless save where it seemed to dash against the blue
hills far to the northward. There the tourist mav read his
name*^ to-dav chiseled on the crest of the jasper wall where
the waters of Pipe-tone Creek dash over the precipice,and
where the solemn visaged Manito^ has kept its long vigil
of centuries beside the Leaping Rock. 10

fl?

■Iv-'!

\ /

N ,

:" ^

V'*--':-^;.

TUE M.UDENS.

PIPESTONE FALLS, \\"EV SEASON,

PU'ESTONE iALLS, PKY SEASON.

THE MANITO.

93 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Nicollet next explored the country farther east of the
Coteaus, payincj particular attention to the region drained
by the Blue Earth and its tributaries. The resources and
beauties of this section he pictured vividly, and because of
its abundant lakes and rivers, poeticayy named it the Un-
dine region after the water sprite of Fouque's^i legend. He

,,V'-— - --=^^=S; <.-■-_;-- :-=^;^^^= _ ,. . _.

■. .: ;.- - ■ ru-m-:,.

l^. .-^..^-v-t. :^.:: ■. ^ . ;■ . •.■-.- :v.^ -...-^-...:■^...• - ■ ---;

-iy-'.:-'; '■-.■--- ''V^-|

--%--..' -...i^^

-^•^.:^Ur ;. m Kir

■ 1

DAKOTAS OF TO-DAY DIOGINQ PIPESTONE.

also critically examined the Castle Rocki2 in the Cannon
valley and the Lone and Chimney Rocks of the Vermil-
lion, basing on the information gained some valuable and
interesting scientific opinions relative to the geological
cliangcs which he thought niust have occurred to denude
the surrounding country of its lighter formations and lea^'e
these great natural towers exposed. lie considers the fab-

BEFORE THE TERRITORY,

ulcus Loner River of Baron La Hontanis a verity, and
likens it tolhe Cannon, while he ascribes the Baron's ex-
aggerations to the spirit of the period.

^Like him of kindred life, Agassiz laboring "On the isle
of Penikesc,"ii Xicollet, child-like but earnest, stood humble
and reverent in the presence of truth. In closing an ac
count of this
remarkabl^e
man, it is fit-
ting to quote
a few words
from the elo-
quent tribute
of his friend
Gen. H. H.

Sibley. He

says: —
"Even when

he was aware

that his disso-

lution was

near at hand,

his thoughts

reverted t o

the days when j^^^^^^i^^^S^S^S^
he roamed

CASTLE KOCK

along the valley of the }vIinnesota river.

It was my for-
tune^to meet him, for the last time, in the year 1S42, in
Washington City. A short time before his death, I re-
ceived a\lnd but mournful letter from him, in which he
adverted to the fact that his days were numbered but at
the same time expressed a hope that he would have

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Strength sufficient to enable him to make his way to our
country, that he might yield up his breath and be interred
on the banks of his beloved stream.

« He sleeps beneath the sod far away, in the vicinity of
the capital of the nation, but his name will continue to be
cherished in ^linnesota as one of its early explorers and
one of its best friends. The astronomer, the geologist and
the Christian gentleman, Jean N. Nicollet, will long be re-
membered in 'connection with the history of the North-
west."

First Protestant 3Iissi011S. — About this period the
influence of the protestant missionary societies began to
make itself felt as a factor in the history of the Dakota
and Ojibwa nations. Rev. W. T. Boutwell, a member
of the Schoolcraft expedition, started a school and mission
among the Ojibwas of Leech Lake in 1S33. The next
year two brothers, S. ^V. and G. H. Pond, opened a
mission for the Dakotas, at Lake Calhoun, in which under-
taking they were cordially supported by Agent Taliaferro
and the officers at Ft. Snelllng. \\'Ith great labor they
built a primitive log cabin where the suburban residences
of Minneapolis now stand.

During this year Rev. T. S. Williamson, ^L D., visited
the country of the Dakotas to examine into the feasibility
of establishing missions. He came ^vest again in 1S35 with
a band whose members were Rev. J. D. Stevens and wife,
of Central New York, missionaries; Mr. A. W. Huggins,
farmer; and Misses Lucy C. Stone and Sarah Poage,!
teachers. Dr. Williamson scr\ed both as physician and
missionary. In Tune, a Presbyterian church was organized
in the cpiarters at Ft. Snclling. Mr. Stevens and family
moved to Lake Harriet and constructed a dwelling and a

BEFORE THE TERRITORY. 95

ggms

school of tamarack logs. Dr. Williamson, Mr. Hu

and Jvliss Foage located at Lac qui Parle, at which point

a church was organized in 1S36.

These pioneer missionaries were cheered in 1S37 by the
arrival of Rev. vS. R. Ri^gs and wife who were to be their
colaborers. After spending a few months at Lake Har-
riet acquiring some insight into the language of the
Dakotas, thev joined the mission at Lac qui Parle. At
this time Mr." G. H. Pond left his brother at the village of
CloudMian and Drifter2 near Lake Calhoun, and became
teacher and farmer at Lac qui Parle.

jSleanwhile missionaries ot the Evangelical Society,
Lausannc,3 Switzerland, located at the villages of the Red
Wing and Wabasha bands, and those of the Methodists at
Kaposia, from which place they subsequently moved to
Red Rock. Both of these missions were soon abandoned.
The lives of the missionaries were replete with toil,
danger, and sacrifice, and the only glimpse they had of the
civilization they had left behind was on coming in contact
with the militarv and traders.

Events of 1837.— The year 1S37 so eventful in the
financial history of the nation, was also remarkable in that
of Minnesota for more than the progress of missions. At
a council of the Ojibwas, held at Ft. Snelling, over which
Gov. Dodge of Wisconsin Territory presided, that tribe
cedcdi to the United States all the pine lands of the St.
Croix and its tributaries. Capitalists immediately began
to improve the water power at the falls of the St. Croix,
.and this was the beginning of the now extensive manu-
facturing of lumber so closely related to the commercial
welfare "of the State. The Palmyra, Capt. Holland ^com-
mander, the first steamer to navigate the St. C-'^'^

roix,

V-.-

X^^

\Q S.I^.r<l(-.(iS. .-B^ol ' V - — I G.H.POND. S.

LO aHU.S.\\ll.LIAM;;0\.l&.y' V^. V.T. H'o'UTWn.L.

MISSIONAKIi:S.

BEFORE THE TERRITORY. 97

brought the machinery for the projected mills. A dele-
gation of the Dakotas at Washington, also, ceded2 to the
government all their Minnesota lands east of the Missis-
sippi.

Removal of Swiss Settlers.— The national authorities
chose that portion of country on the east bank of the Mis-
sissippi opposite Ft. Snelling for a military reserve. The
Swiss of the Selkirk colony had squatted on these very
lands, and now objected strenuously to their removal. Oc-
tober 2 1st, 1S29, Poinsett, secretary of war, under the pro-
visions'of the act of 1S07 for preventing settlement on
public lands until the law authorized it, issued an order to
Edward James, United States marshal of Wisconsin Ter-
ritorv, to remove the Swiss settlers, and if necessary to call
out the military for that purpose. They still persisted;
therefore, the last clause of the order was carried out, the
troops of the Ft. Snelling garrison forcibly ejecting them
and burning their cabins to the ground. Poinsett's caution
to use due mildness throughout seems to have been wholly
io-nored. Thus for the second time the Swiss became home-
less and fricndk^s in a land where they had hoped to find
peace and plenty,

Battle of rokeiJ:illua.— Many were the frays between
the Dakotas and Ojibwas in these days, especially in the
year 1S39. The scalping knife never seemed to be sheathed,
and the war crv greeted every rising and setting sun. It
is only necessary to relate the history of one of these
frays to explain the nature of all and picture the life they
forced the Indians to lead.

Twenty miles up the Snake river from its confluence
with the St. Croix is a lake called Pokeguma.i It is .girt
by forests of tamarack and pine, and not far from one ?ido.

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

is a little island. Opposite the island, on the gently rising
slopes of the eastern shore, a band of the Ojibwas, fifty
years ago, had one of their villages. About that time the
missionary I'outwell and his colleague Mr. Ely went there
to reside. Knowing full well the bitter nature of the
feuds existing between this tribe and the Dakotas, the
former had made a secret compact promising to warn the
missionaries at Lake Calhoun when the Ojibwas premedi-
tated an attack upon the other tribe. They in turn were
to warn the Pokeguma mi>5ion when the Dakotas were
about to surprise the Ojibwas.

In the spring of 1S41, the message came to Pokeguma,
*« Be on your guard." It was enough. The missionaries
and Indians moved in haste to the island, and two young
braves were chosen to bear tobacco and pipes to their allies
at Mille Lacs, inviting them to lend succor. Before this,
the Dakota chief had divided his band of one hundred
thirty warriors into squads of five or more and secreted
them in the woods with strict orders not to fire upon the
Ojibwas for any reason whatever. lie believed the latter
would return to ihclv cabins when their fears subsided or
necessity compelled them, at which favorable time he in-
tended to raise the w ar cry and lead the onset.

The two messengers, now ready to start on the trail to
Mille Lacs, paddled their canoe from the island to the
farther shore. Two young girls went with them to bring
back the canoe. Where it landed, one of the parties of
the Dakotas was in ambush. Wild with excitement, they
for<'"ot tlie chiefs command and tired, wounding one of the
young nieii. !'"t!i of \slioni returned the fire and escaped
in the woocl.^. The assailants puisued the little girls into
•.riie* water, murdered them, and with savage ferocity cut off

BEFORE THE TERRITORY. 99

their head«; These they waved derisively in the sight of
the people on the island, all of whom had witnessed the
fearful deed.

The fathers of the children seized a canoe, and regardless
of danger pulled swiftly to the shore. A quick aim, the
sharp crack of a rifle, a murderer lying dead on the sands—
these were the events of a moment. There was not time
to scalp him, and snatching for a trophy his powder horn
besmeared with hlood, the revenged fathers fled from his
comrades. One threw hin.self prostrate in the canoe, the
other plunged into the lake, and while swimming with
on^hand held the canoe with the other and towed it away
,n safety. A ram of lead fell about them, but the bold
warrior, never relaxing his hold or ceasing to swim, when
he saw the foe take aim submerged himself until the
sound of the volley died aAvay.

The foiled Dakota chief withdrew. The Ojibwas,when
they dared venture to the shore again, cut off the head and
arms of the dead murderer and brought them into camp.
They dashed the head to atoms, but presented the arms to
a woman whose son had been killed by the same tribe the
year before, expecting her to dance and exult over them as
was their custom on such occasions. Instead, she came to
the mission and begged for some white cotton cloth and
while tears for the dead son dimmed her eyes, she tenderly
wrapped the arms in its folds and buried them with the
for^nvincr prayer of a Christian upon her lips.

The Ojibwas were greatly excited, and not knowing how
soon the enemy might return in force, struck their lodges
and with a few supplier of food in their bags fled toward
Mllle Lacs. " Go," said Boutwell to ^Ir. Ely, « follow
them, keep up your school each day and the services of

HISTORY OF MIXXESOTA.

Sunday. Soon they must return for food. Then I will
go with them to relieve you."

It was even so; for hunger is sure to bring boldness.
After Boutwell had joined them, they one day came
suddenly upon fresh tracks of moccasins, evidently made
by two men. As startled as a herd of the wild deer, they
dropped their packs and primed their guns anew. Mean-
while, an old warrior began to walk in a set of the foot-
prints, and with a quick, glad cry named the person who
made 'them, a member of their own tribe. That evening
the warriors fired off their guns one by one; for they were
wont to reload them with dry powder in anticipation of
night attacks. After the firing ceased, two guns answered
from a distance, and in a little while the person named by
the old warrior as the one who made the tracks came into
camp with his companion. Boutwell says one can hardly
conceive how great is the fear in which an Indian lives.
He is ever on the alert to discover signs of his enemy. A
broken twig, a faint rustling of leaves will set a whole vil-
lage in a wikl uproar.

^St. Croix County. — The country between the St. Croix
and IVIississippi rivers which had previously been under the
jurisdiction of Crawford county was,in 1S41, organized un-
der the name of St. Croix; but itii separation from the
former was not actually effected until 1S47. Stillwater, then
but a hamlet and the supply depot of the lumber districts,
was made the county seat, and a term of the United States
District Court was held there in June, Judge Dunn presid-
ing-. This was the first national court held within the lim-
its of the present State.

Settlement of St. raul.— The founding of new mis-
sions by Riggs at Traverse des Sioux and Ayer at Red

ST. PAUL, POST^FFICE OF TO-DAY.

I02 HISTOKV OF MINNESOTA.

Lake, in 1S43, and the removal of the WInnebagoes, much
against their will, from their ancient home in Iowa to a
reservation girt by the Crow Wing, Long Prairie, Sauk,
and Mississippi rivers were some of the additional note-
worthy events marking the last decade of this period. But
the one of greatest Importance was' the settlement of St»
Paul.i

A chapel2 of that name was erected in 1S40, and a ham-
let sprung up which became the nucleus of the future cap-
ital. Two \-ears later, Henry Jackson-' and a few other
traders built small stores above what is now the levee. Dr.
Williamson, who by invitation of Little Crow had left the
Lac qui Parle mission In 1S36 to reside at Kaposia, thus
writes of St. Paul as it appeared in 1S43: — ■

" jSIv present residence is on the utmost verge of civili-
zation, In the northwest part of the United States, within
a few miles of the principal village of white men in the
territory that we suppose will bear the name of Minnesota^
The village referred to has grown up within a few years
in a romantic situation on a high bluff of the ^Mississippi^
and has been baptized, by the Roman Catholics, with the
name of St. Paul. They have erected in it a small chapel,
and constitute much the larger portion of its inhabitants.
The Dakotas call it Im-ni-jas-ka (white rock), from the
color of the sandstone which forms the bluff on which the
village stands. This village contains five stores, as they
call them, at all of which intoxicating drinks constitute a
part, and I suppose the principal part, of what they sell. I
would suj)pose the \lllage contains a dozen or twenty
families ll\ing near enough to send to school."

Resuino'. — This may well be calletl the period of tran-
sition between the times of the voyageurs and settlements;

BEFORE THE TERRITORY.

103

of romantic adventure yielding to scientific research; of
slowly shifting scenes in the prologue of yet another great
drama of modern Amcric:in life, for which tlie forces of
civilization were steadily arranging themselves while the
outside world began to look with eyes of eager expectancy
for the opening of the first act.

ILLUSTRATED

History of Minnesota.

%■/ .

,r-

■-','■ .c-^ -^

■ .h-

'm^

,1 V

>^rJ-

.'-^'""'--;

> •

^IM

ritorv'

,-c;

J 'J

1 fi

'^. ':*.'' ' ■ -'

v'V.^V

;--4-^\

Ol'i^ailizatioil. — In 1848, Wisconsin was admitted into
the Union with its boundaries defined as at present. Pre-
vious to this time, a futile attempt had been made to
organize a new territory which sliould inchide all that
remained of the old Wisconsin Territory. Congress,
however, adjourned without making that provision for the
government of this section w hich seemed necessary under
the new condition of affairs. Already forecasting the
lOi

; THE TERRITORY. ' IO5

bright future of the region to which they had come, the
people were restless in their endeavors to establish a new
territorial government. Small groups of citizens might
now and then have been seen assembled at St. Paul de-
vising plans to this end. Later, in the month of August
of the year above mentioned, two public meetings were
held at Stillwater, at the latter of which sixty-two dele-
gates were present.

John Catlin, governor of the old Wisconsin Territory,
claimed that its government still remained in force over
the portion that had been excluded from the state of the
same name. Acting upon his advice, and sustained by his
proclamation, th*^ people hold an election October 30th to
choose a delegate to Congress in place of John H. Tweedy,
who had been requested to resign; for it was thought by
these means Congress would be compelled to judge of the
validity of the old government, and thus the organization
of the desired new territory would be hastened. H. H.
Sibley was the delegate chosen; and he was allowed to
take his seat, although a minority report of the Congress-
ional committee before whom the matter was laid opposed
his admission.

Ablv supported by other leading citizens, Sibley urged
the claims of the new territory so successfully that it was
organized under the name of Minnesota, ]SIarch 3d, 1S49.
Its boundary line coincided with the northern boundary of
Iowa and the v.-estern boundary of the same to its crossing
of the Missouri river; tlicnce extending up that stream
and its branch the White Earth to the British line; along
the British border to Lake Superior; out to the niost north-
westerly point of Wisconsin in that lake; and, finally, along

I06 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

the western boundary of Wisconsin to the place of begin-
ning.

One stormy clay in early April, the first packet boat of
the season plowed the icy current of the upper Mississippi
as if impatient to reach her moorings; for she brought
glad tidings of the territorial organization. The cliffs of
Imnijaska^ which a few moments before had echoed the
herald steamer's warning whistle, now answered back the
shouts of citizens almost wild with joy because their village
l\ad been proclaimed the seat of government.

First Newspaper. — A few days later a printing press
V\'as set up in this neAvest and strangest of capitals, and the
^publication of the first newspaper begun. It was called
2he Pioneer, and its editor was Jas. ]M. Goodhue, a man of
education and considerable native ability.

Gov, Kaiusey. — Alexander Ramsey of Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania, who had already attained a firm foot-hold in
national politics, was the first governor appointed. He ar-
rived before the close of this eventful mouth of April, and
June 1st issued a proclamation declaring the new govern-
ment duly organized, and warning all citizens to hold them-
selves obedient to its laws.

Judicial Districts. — Three judicial districts were
formed. The first was the old county of St. Croix; the
northeast section, or La Pointe countv, with the additional
country north of the ^vlinnesota and the right line drawn
westward from its headwaters to the ^Missouri constituted
the second; while the third comprised the remaining re-
gions to the south and westward of the former stream.
Aaron Goodrich of Tenuo-ce, Chief Justice, presided over
the first; Bradley B. Meeker of Kentucky, Associate Jus-
tice, over the second; and David Cooper of Pennsylvania,

THE TERRITORY. I07

Associate Justice, over the third. In the month of August,
in response to a call from the governor, courts were held
in these districts in the order indicated. Stillwater, St.
Anthony Falls, and :Mendota were the places of meeting.
The court room at St. Anthony was in the old government
mill; at Mendota in a stone warehouse belonging to one of
the fur comjoanies.

Council Districts,— In July, the governor also pro-
claimed the division of the Territory Into seven council
districts, and issued an order for the first election of mem-
bers of the Council, representatives of the House, and a
delegate to Congress, This election was held in August,
and resulted in the choice of H. H. Sibley for delegate.

Notes of Interest.— During this year two m^ore news-
papers, named the Register and the Minnesota Chronicle,
began publication at St. Paul, but before its close united
under the title of Chronicle and Register. A land office
was now established at Stillwater. The census of the
settlements in all this vast territory, taken by the sheriff
of St. Croix county, showed the population to be only 4,680.
Immi^Tiltion. — But while day by day events like these
were falling thicker and faster, the very air seemed to
prophesy the fulfillment of greater things; and hosts of
adventurous men eagerly turned their faces toward the
new land of promise the fame of whose resources had
been noised abroad.

First Legislature.— The 3d of September, 1S49, will
ever be memorable in the history of :MInnesota Territory
as the dav upon which Its first legislature convened. There
was something of qualntnos in this fir-^t meeting; for no
stately house of legislation with towering dome and deco-
rated chambers awaited Its members, but Instead they found

[oS

HISTORY OF MINXESOTA.

beneath the roof of a humble log hoteU food and shelter
for themselves and ample room in which to transact the
affairs of state.

The Council was composed of nine members, and the

, V.

E- -

A ■-:--- : -

11 ^\j t -

.. .-?

CENlBAIi HOUSE FIRST CAPITOL OF MINNESOTA.

House of eighteen. David Olmsted of the settlement of
Long Prairie, a native of Vermont and the youngest man
in the Council, was made its permanent president; and Jo-

THE TERRITORY. IO9

seph W. Furber,of the settlement of Cottage Grove, a na-
tive of New Ilatnpshiie, became speaker of the House.

The system of comnion school education \vas carefully
considered bv this legislature, and it organized the counties
of Itasca, Wabasha, Dakota, Wanata, Mankato, Washing-
ton, Ramsey, Benton, and Pembina, some of which re-
main in existence at this day.

The Historical Society.— During the legislative ses-
sion, the Minnesota Historical Society was incorporated.
Its purpose was to encourage the spirit of research, and
preserve the historic relics and records of the Conimon-
wealth, which it might from time to time collect. The
first meeting was held at St. Paul in January, 1S50. The
historian Edward Duffield Xeill delivered a scholarly ad-
dress in which he reviewed the history of the early French
missionaries and voyageurs. It was an auspicious begin-
ning of what has come to be a useful and influential society.

First Public School.— Before the close of November,
lS49,the citizens of St. Paul met to consider the matter of
establishing the first public school in the Territory, all
schools previous to that time having been of a private
character or under the charge of benevolent societies.

The Great Seal, — A device for the great seal of the
Territory was adopted about this time. It was substan-
tially the same as the present seal of the State, save in
place of the motto V Etoile dii Nord, Star of the
North, stood ^ue sursiim volo vidcrc^ I wish to see what
is above. The engraver, however, made the latter appear
in the unclassic form Slito siirsutfi veto -jidcrc, which fact
probablv led to its abandoiKiient; but oddly, yet suggest-
ively, the blazing sun of the escutcheon has been retained
for the new motto.

HISTORY OF ^MINNESOTA.

Initial Treaties. — It must be remembered that as yet
only a small portion of the vast domain of Minnesota Ter-
ritory had been ceded by the Indians to the United States;
namely, that triangular section of country bounded on the
east by the St. Croix, on the west by the Mississippi, and on
the north by a line running due east from the mouth of
the Crow Wing to the St. Croix. Steps were therefore
taken to provide for the rapidly increasing immigration.
Gov. Ramsey and Ex-Gov. Chambers of Iowa were com-
missioners appointed on the part of the United States to
purchase the native titles; but on repairing to Mendota in
the fall of the year, they found that the greater part of the
Indians were absent on ths chase, and succeeded in pro-
curing from the rest only a small tract of country adjacent
to Lake Pepin.

In the month of June, 1S50, a great council was held at
Ft. Snelling. The tents of the war-like Pillagers dotted
the plateau without the walls, and all was life and motion
within the garrison, the long lines of infantry filing out
into battle line. Por the Ojibwas' dread enemies, the Sioux,
were momentarily expected, and these troops were to act
as a foil between these always contending nations. Sud-
denly the Sioux war cry arose from the leafy slopes of Pi-
lot Knob beyond the Minnesota, and mighty in war paint
and feathers, they swept like a dusky cloud across the val-
ley and up the opposite slopes to the mouths of the frown-
ing cannon. Their turbulence, however, soon subsided.

The council tent witnessed all the pomp of Indian elo-
quence and ceremony. After Gov. Ramsey's address,
Hole-in-the-da}! responded on the part of the Ojibwas, and
Bad Hail for the Sioux. Commissioners from among the
whites were chosen by each tril>e to adjust its claims and.

THE TERRITOY.

settle its difficulties. As for the rest, they promised fealty
to the " Great
Father" at
Washington,
the hand of
friendship t o
the settler,
and cessation
of hostilities:
among them- '
selves. Thusj
^\'as the initial i
step taken that I
led to the more'
formal and im-
portant treaties
of 1S51.

Navigating
tlie Minneso-
ta,— In the
month of July,
the navigation
of the ^linne-
sota by large
steamers was
begun, the first
going as far as
the Blue Earth
River and oth-
ers far beyond
the great south

■t 1 EOLE-IN-THE-DAV II.

GrOAvtll of St, Paul.— Meanwhile, St. Taul was grow-

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

ing apace, and as its internal changes were typical of ter-
ritorial progress, it is well to note the condition in which
it now existed. The following words from the pen of
Fredrika Bremer, the Swedish novelist, will suffice for
this purpose: —

« 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 pos-
sessed of twenty-two thousand.

"As yet, however, the town is but in its infancy, and
people manage with such dwellings as they can get. The
drawing-room at Gov. Ramsey's house is also his office,
and Indians and work people, and ladies and gentlemen,
are all alike admitted.

« The city is thronged with Indians. The men, for the
most part, go about grandly ornamented, with naked hatch-
ets, the shafts of which serve them as pipes."

Second Legislature.— The second legislature met Jan-
uary ist, 1851. David B. Loomis, of iNIarine Mills, became
president of the Council, and M. E. Ames, of Stillwater,
speaker of the House.

Partisan Disputes.— Partisan feelings which were
only in their infancy when the first legislature was in
session had waxed stronger and stronger in the intervening
time, and now burst forth in a flood of bitterness. One
great cause of dispute was the apportionment bill based
upon the first census. Some claimed that the sections in
which scared v any land was under cultivation, and whose
inhabitants were for the most part Indians, had been given
equal representation in the territorial legislature with the
more densely settled and cultivated regions. They even

I ''■'■^- :' ■■^ ' ■'

r"- ' , ^■. . i'

[ • '" ^'^K--

;-~ '•','; ' '■'-<■■.

:' ^.I'-j,..- -

■•'-. ■^ •.:,... '-;.

;::■:■].'•-■:•,-;

- -'■■■)■ ■

1 ; ^ ■

-i!ir

fin'^isieS

!-W --^' .

f''«5i?>i;*'j,- l?^i

. - ■'-,'', '

. .-■/j :."■->,.;•?(!•

■^ ill ■sA

;• f^-\%/.'-

\ '.^•.-T,*' .,'": '''•

- .. ' ■■• .' -r ■' ■'

1 l:v '■'~--' ■

■ - -V J:

&tU;£2^i^S£^^^ii.,i^

X^:^;-».-^ W"

114 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

went further, and asserted tliat the territorial government
did not legally extend over that great domain nominally
within the Territory but which had not been ceded by the
Indians to the national government. The ground of this
argument was decided by high legal authority to be unten-
able, the bill pas-ed the legislature, and, in a rage, seven
members resigned.

Spiritof the Press. — The territorial press of the day
was tierce in its denunciation of individuals, and in conse-
quence of a feud brought on in this wav, the editor of the
Pioneer was stabbed in the street before the capitol, and
in turn shot his opponent.

Public Ullildilii^S. — The erection of a Capitol, for
which provision had been made in the 13th Section of the
Organic Act, created an exciting debate at the first legisla-
tive session. At the second session, a spirit of compromise
prevailed, making St. Paul the permanent seat of govern-
ment and locating the teiritorial prison at Stillwater.

Teri'itorial University. — As a part of the same com-
promise, a bill was also passed establi^hing the University
of ^Minnesota at or near St. Anthony Falls. Congress af-
ter a spirited discussion relative to the rights of squatters
on lands devoted to school purposes, finally denying the
same, granted two townships for the support of the new
university.

Ojibwa Faniiuo. — The Ojibwas of Red, Cass, Leech,
and Sandy lakes, in a great measure deprived of their an-
nuities, nearly perished of hunger and epidemics during
the cold months of winter, and the famous Ilole-in-the-dav
came to the capital to pleatl with Indian eloquence for his
perishing race.

Traverse des Sioux Treaty.— The month of June

THE TERRITORY. 1 15

had opened witli terrific thunder storms which greatly
swelled the ]Minnesota and its tributaries. Nevertheless,
Gov. Ramsey and Luke Lea, United Stales Commissioner
of Indian Affairs, acting as a special commission, ascended
that stream to Traverse dcs Sioux in order to treat with
the upper bands for the cession of lands l}'ing to the west-
ward of the ^Mississippi. For some reason the Indians were
slow in leaving their villages or tarried long by the way.
It was the iSth day of July before they had all arrived
and concluded their sacred dance to the " Thunder Bird" i
and other ceremonies which to them seemed important on
such an occasion.

On that day, the great council of Sissetons^ and Wah-
petons3 convened. The chiefs and commission smoked the
calumet,^ and the missionary S. R. Riggs explained to the
former the style of tlie treaty desired. It was signed on
the 23d, these bands ceding all the country east of the Big
Sioux and Lake Traverse and south of the head waters of
\Vatab5 river and the northern inlets of Otter Tail Lake,
save a reserve reaching ten miles back from each side of the
Minnesota, beginning at the mouth of the Yellow jSIedi-
cine^ and extending to Lake Tra\ersc. In addition, they
were to receive $1,665,000 of which $275,000 was to be
paid on their remo\'al to the reservation, and the remainder
placed at ii\tcrcst ^vas to pro\ide them with an annuity of
$98,000 for fift\' \ears, the same to be expended in cloth-
ing, rations, and for the promoting of their education and
civilization.

Hcildotil Treaty .— The 5th of August, the commission
also met tlie ^MdewakaiUouw an^ and Wapekute^ bands on
Pilot Knob,3 Mcndota. There were many chiefs joresent,
including Little Crow. The interpreter on this occasion

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

was the missionary G. II. Pond. These lower bands on
their part, cedcc) all their lands in Minnesota and lowa^
some four million acres ni all, and were assigned a reser-
vation bcginnm^- fifty miles above Traverse des Sioux and
extending to ib,c reservation of the upper bands at the
mouth of the Yellow Medicine. This reservation, like the
Other, extended ten miles back from the river on either
side. They were to receive $220,000 on their removal,
and $30,000 annually for fifty years to be expended for the
same purposes as in the case of the Wahpetons and Sisse-
tons.

Political Parties. — At the close of this legislative
period, two well defined political parties held the field —
the Democratic and Coalition. The Whig element started
a paper before the close of the year.

Third Leu:ishiture.— On the 7th of June, 1S52, the
third territorial legislature met, William PI. Forbes, of St.
Paul, presiding over the Council and John G. Ludden, of
Marine, over the House. This legislature created the
county of Hennepin, and parsed a prohibitorv liquor law.

Material Bevelopiueilt. — The opening of this period
was under different auspices than those attending the pre-
ceding legislatures. Then the excitement of establishing
a government and maintaining it according to his peculiar
political notions turned the citizen's mind away from self;
now, at the dawn of commercial and agricultural progress,
political passions slumbered, and each bent all his energies
to the furthering of his material prosperity. The broad
prairies and timber belts of the lately ceded lands of the
Sioux invited the hardy and the brave to make homes for
themselves and their children.

Settlements. — Among the first settlements were those

THE TERRITORY. II7

at Shakopee, Traverse des Sioux, Kasota,i and Mankato2
in the Minnesota valley, and one, the largest of all, in the
valley of the Rollingstone near Winona.s

The St. Peter River.— As the result of a memorial
presented to Congress, the United States Senate originated
a bill changing the name of the St. Peter river to that of
Islinnesota, and with the English the French form St.
Pierre, as the voyageurs had called and the children of the
bois bride lisped it for nearly two centuries, was soon
almost forgotten.

Change of Chief Justices.— Jerome Fuller had as-
sumed the duties of Chief Justice, before the close of 1851,
in place of Aaron Goodrich. In the latter part of this
year, 1S52, Hcnrv Z. Hayner was appointed to supersede
Fuller, whom the Senate failed to confirm for another

term.

Fourth Legislature.— The fourth legislature organized

January 5th, 1853, with Martin McLeod, of Lac qui Parle,
as president of the Council and David Day, of Long
Prairie, speaker of the House.

Gov. Ramsey's 3ressai?e. — In his annual message.
Gov. Ramsey vividly pictured the progress of the Territory
from the inception of Its government, and with almost
prophetic vision lifted the veil from before its future his-
tory. He thus speaks In the final paragraphs: —

"In concluding my last annual message, permit me to
observe that it is now a little over three years and six
months since It was my happiness to first land upon the
soil of Minnesota. Xot far from where we now are, a
dozen frame houses, not all completed, and some eight or
ten log buildings, with bark roofs, constituted the capital
of the new territory, over whose destiny I had been com-

Ilg HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

missioned to preside. One county ,1 a remnant from Wis-
consin territorial organization, alone afforded the ordinary
facilities for the execution of the laws; and In and around
its seat of justice resided the bulk of our scattered popula-
tion. Within this single county were embraced all the
lands white men were privileged to till, while between
them and the broad rich hunting grounds of untutored sav-
ages, rolled the River of Riverb,2 here as majestic in its
northern youth as in its more southern maturity. Emphat-
ically new and wild appeared everything to the Incomers
from older communities; and a not least novel feature of
the scene was the motley humanity partially filling these
streets— the blankets and painted faces of Indians, and the
red sashes and moccasins of French voyageurs and half-
breeds, greatly predominating over the less picturesque
costume ^of the Anglo-American race. But even while
strangers yet looked, the elements of a mighty change
were^worklng, and civilization with its hundred arms
was commencing Its resistless and beneficent empire.

« The fabled magic of the Eastern tale, that renewed a
pal.ace in a single night, only can parallel the reality of
this growth and progress.

« In forty-one months the few bark-roofed huts have
been transformed into a city of thousands. In forty-one
months have condensed a whole century of achieve-
ments, calculated by the old world's calendar of progress

a government proclaimed In the wilderness, a judiciary

organized, a legislature constituted, a comprehensive code
of laws digested and adopted, our population quintupled,
cities and towns springing up on every hand, and steam
with its revolving arms, in its season, daily fretting the

THE TERRITORY,

119

bosom of the Mississippi, in bearing fresh crowds of men
and merchandise within our borders."

Frolli])ition. — The prohibitory liquor law, previously
mentioned, having been adjudged unconstitutional by Chief
Justice Ilayner, a vain attempt was made to pass another
less objectionable.

Proposed Division of School Funds. — Bishop Cretin^

of the Roman Catholic church, ably supported by his fol-
lowers, endeavored to secure the passage of a bill provid-
ino- for a division of the public school funds that should al-
low part of them to be applied in the support of parochial
schools. The principal plea was that those who, by reason
of religious scruples, sent their children to the latter
schools, were still forced to support by taxation the public
schools from which they derived no direct benefit. Al-
though honorably submitted to the legislature, a bill so
undemocratic In its implied
doctrines caused no little ex-
citement and debate, and met
at last with failure.

Gov. Gorman. — Franklin
Pierce had now become Presi-
dent of the United States, and
following strictly the Jackson- j
ian principle,! removed Gov.
Ramsey and his colleagues and
appointed as governor Wdlis
A. Gorman of Indiana, a Ken-
tuckian bv birth, who had
served as an otliccr in the Mcx- ^^'^^ ^^^^-^^

ican war. The new Chief Justice was William II. Welch
of Minnesota, ami the Associates Moses Sherburne, of

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Maine, and Andrew G. Chatfield, of Wisconsin; but R.
R. Nelson and Charles E. Flandrau, both of Minnesota,
were the Associates during- the last year of the Territory.

Removal of the Sioux. — When the summer months
had passed, and the first frosts were tinging the forests,
the Sioux in compliance with their lately made treaties de-
serted the villages of their forefathers on the Mississippi
and lower Minnesota, and sought their reservations in the
upper valley of the last mentioned stream. Hard in their
wake flowed the tide of eager and happ\- immigrants.
Neither race mistrusted how near tlie days were at hand
when their mournful annals would darken the pages of
history, and all their jov be turned to sorrow.

Deleg'ates to Couu'ress. — In October of this year, Hen-
ry M. Rice was elected delegate to Congress. He was the
successor of Siblev, and therefore the second delegate of the
Territory. He held the positimi until the spring of 1S57,
and then gave place to W, ^\'. Kingsbury, the third and
last delegate.

Fiftll Legislature. — The territorial Capitol w as ready
for occupation when the fifth legislature met, January 4th,
1S54. S. B. Olmsted, of Belle Prairie, was elected presi-
dent of the Council, and N. C. D. Taylor,of Taylor's Falls
speaker of the House.

Gov. Gorman's 3lessage. — In his first annual message
Gov. Gorman urged speedy legislation in behalf of educa-
tion, and the construction of railroads to meet the constant-
ly increasing demands for transportation toward the eastern
sea-board.

Nortlnve^tern R. \\. Co, — The latter epiestion became
the all ah.st)rl)ing topic of tlie season, luit only in its last
moments, after the lunir of midnight, was a definite step

THE TERRITORY. 131

taken in the chartering of the Minnesota & Northwestern
Railroad Company, It pjroved to be in more senses than one
ii deed of night, whose baneful influence for years brooded
like a night mare over the seat of government, and on more
than one occasion aroused political passion to an intense
fever heat. Xevertheless, to the surprise of all, the gov-
•ernor signed tlie bill.

President Fillmore's Visit .—In the month of June

Ex- President Fillmore and a party of distinguished
scholars, among whom was the historian Bancroft, vis-
ited St. Paul and the scenes about St. Anthony Falls. Ev-
erything wore a gala day aspect, and the people gave them-
selves over to enjoyment. But hardly had their guests de-
parted, and thov themselves ceased to build air castles of
future greatness after the magnificent specifications laid
down in the polite and flattering speeches of the preceding
davs, ere trouble began to brew in the halls of Congress
over the railroad interests of Minnesota.

Land Grants. — Xow it must be understood that in their
anxietv to foster commercial and other interests the legis-
lature of the Territory had granted the Minnesota <fc North-
western Company powers of an extraordinary kind, and
had promised to grant it all lands which should thereafter
be given Minnesota by the national government to aid in
constructing 'railroads as well as all those lands of that
character then possessetl by the Territory.

Compress Interferes.— A bill had been wisely framed
in the United States House of Rcprrsentatives to prevent
such a monopolv, but citlier through fraud or careless
engro--;ing the altcratior. ■; f certain words destroyed its
whole tenor. The suspicions of Congress were aroused,
and in consequence the bill was repealed. The company

HISTORY OF MINXESOTA.

in question denied the right of Congress to repeal the act
after said company had complied with its provisions; and
shortly aftenvard when the United States authorities
entered into litigation with the company for alleged tres-
pass on that part of the national domain lying within
Goodhue county, the matter was decided by Chief Justice
Welch, of Minnesota, in favor of the defendants. The
whole question was finally submitted to the United States
Supreme Court, but was withdrawn hy the attorney-gen-
eral before a decision had been reached. So the company,
for the time being, held the field.

Sixth Lei;i.slature.— The sixth legislature convened
on the 3d of January, 1S55, and organized with William
P. Murray, of St. Paul, for president of the Council and
James S. Norris, of Cottage Grove, speaker of the House.
A year had not sufficed to quell the political storm aroused
by the railroad legislation, territorial and national, of the
preceding season, and it now raged with renewed energy.

Gorman's YetO. — Gov. Gorman, evidently awakened
to a full conviction of the serious dangers likely to ensue
in the future liistory of the Commonwealth should the acts
already passed not be hedged in by safeguards, was as
vigorous in his opposition to the new legislation shaping
itself in behalf of the ;Minne^ota & Northwestern Company
as he had previously been active in support of the old.
He promptly vetoed a bill which the legislature had passed
to amend the company's charter; but on the 21st of Feb-
ruary, it was carried over his veto by the required two-
thirds majority.

TllO Cliarter AuimlU'd.— Meanwhile, the railroad af-
fairs of Minnesota were being agitated in Congress. The
House of Representatives passed a resolution declaring the

THE TERRITORY.

123

charter of the Northwestern Company null, hut the Sen-
ate failed to concur. The people of the Territory, hlind
to all dangers, and thinking only of the great need for
lines of communication which would give impetus to its
settlement and commercial development, received the news
of this victory with triumphant demonstrations.

Kepuhlicaii Party Organized.— The 29th of March
witnessed the dawn in Minnesota of that new political
era fast hurrving the nation into the maelstrom of civil
conflict; for on that day the Republican party organized
in convention at 3t. Anthony. Subject to the call of this
convention, another convened on the 25th of July, at which
time \V. R. Marshall received the nomination of delegate
to Congress, He was opposed by the Democaatic nomi-
nee David Olmsted and the old incumbent Henr_\ ]M. Rice,
who in the subsequent election
won the position over both
competitors.
llazehvood K e p u b li c—

In 1S54, when the mi>sion
houses at Lac qui Parle had
accidently been consumed by
fire, the missionaries and In-
dians of that community set-
tled on the banks of Rush
Brook, or Hazel Run, which
enters the Minnesota from the
south-west tu e or six miles
from the Yellow Medicine
Agencv.

The world has known many strange governments, but
none stranger or more suggestive of possibilities in Indian

LITTLE PAUL.

124 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

civilization than that at this same n-iission on the banks of
Hazel Run. Dr. Riggs speaks of it in these terms : —

"We had such a rei-})ectahle community of young men,
who had cut off their hair and exchanged the dress of the
Dakotas for that of the white men, and whose wants now
were very diffcicnt from the annuity Dakotas generally,
that we took measures to organize them into a separate
band, which wc called the Hazclwood Republic. They
elected their P resilient for two years, and other needed of-
ficers, and Were without any dilliculty recognized by the
agent as a separate band. A number of these men were
half-breeds, who were, by the organic law of ISIinnesota,
citizens. The Constitution of the State provided that In-
dians also might become citizens by satisfying a court of
their progress in civilization.

"A few years after the organization of this civilized com-
munitv, I took eight or ten of the men to meet the court at
ISIankato; but the court deciding that a knowledge of Eng-
lish was necessary to comply with the laws of the State,
only one of mv men "was passed into citizenship."

Little Paul, Ma-za-koo-ta-ma-vc^ a noted sub-chief of
the Sissctons, still living, was the President of the little re-
public, lie it is who is spoken of later as one who helped
to ransom Miss Gardner from Inkj)adoota's band, and he
it is who spoke so eloquently for the captives in the great
massacre of 1S62. No shrewder diplomat or gifted orator
ever ruled more worthily, even over enlightened people.

SoTOnill Lei^islaturo.— John B. Brisbin, of St. Paul,
was the ])re>ident of the sc\ cnth legislative Council, and
Charles Gardiner, of \\'cvtcrvelt,i speaker of the House.

Again by far the greater part of the legislative session

THE TERRITORY. I25

was squanderetl in the never ending debate and intriguing
over the affairs of the Northwestern Raih'oad.

Gov. Gorman's Tiews. — The governor in his annual
message clearly laid the matter before the people. He
showed them that he had from the beginning been deeply
impressed bv the gravity of the situation, and while he
had sanctioned by his signature certain amendments which
were calculated to protect the intercuts of the Common-
wealth against the encroachments of a doubtful corpora-
tion, still lamented that other safeguards had not been pro-
vided. By the aid of earnest private and public citizens,
he had secured a reversion, to the future state, of two per
cent, on the gross receipts of the company, which if the
latter prospered would relieve the citizens from the bur-
dens of state taxation. On the oiherliand, if the company
failed to construct the road, and were made to forfeit in
consequence the lands promised to them, then, too, the
state would suffer no harm. >se\ertheless, he had little
faith in their professions of ability to build tlie road, nor
had the means employed by them to secure desired ends
met with his approval in an}- \vay, and he trusted such
means never would.

VopilliU" TliemOS. — In the brief intervals of this agi-
tation, the legislator found pastinie with the private citizen
in discussing another theme; namely, the division of Min-
nesota into two territories along the forty-sixth parallel
of latitude. But territorial days began speedily to \\-ane;
the advent in tlie summer months of a new and wide-spread
agitation of the question of admis'^ion Into the Union was
like the sudden appearing of a bright star of hope in the
settler's sky before ^vhich all oihers paled into insignificance.

Eiirlltll LCirislature. — The eighth legislature convened

126 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

on the 7th of January, 1S57. John B. Brisbin president of
the precedini^ council held the same position in this, and
Joseph W. Furbcr the speaker of the first territorial legis-
lature was now made speaker of the last.

Attempted Cliaiige of Capital. — The most exciting
bill of the session was one to remove the permanent seat
of government from St. Paul to St. Peter. It passed the
House, but when called for in the course of Council pro-
ceedings could not be properly reported by the committee
in charge; for the chairman of that committee, the Hon.
Joseph Rolette of Pembina, had absented himself, carrying
with him the only properly enrolled form of the bill. A
call of the Council was moved, and Rolette still being
absent, the president ordered the sergeant-at-arms to report
him in his seat. This was Saturday, February 2Sth; but
from that time on until the close of Thursday, March 5th,
all other business was suspended. Throughout the whole
time the members did not leave the Council chamber, but
ate and slept there like soldiers on the field of battle who
rest on their arms when danger is imminent. Wearied at
last, they adjourned for a day. On Saturday they met for
the hist time. Rolette was still absent, and warned that
the hours of the legal period of session were fast ebbing
away, the stubborn spirit of the Council yielded, the usual
course of business was resumed, and the famous bill was
lost.

Inlipadoota Massacre. — Five miles from ]Mankato in
a wild gorge surrounded by steep, rocky hills, are the
beautiful cascades of Miniieopa.t I>clow the large fall, at
the foot of a sandstone cliff where the hiU and forest shad-
ows make perpetual twilight, there is a little grotto which,
if the settler's story be true, witnessed the inception of one

THE TERRITORY. 127

of the darkest frontier tragedies. Here, he will tell you,
Inkpadoota,2 a roving Dakota chief of the Wapckute band,
planned the frightful massacre of Spirit Lake, Iowa, and
Springfield,3 ^linnesota.

In the earh' s]M"ing time, the j^eople of those settlements

'^•'v.',' ■ ■ ■ ' ■. " ■ ■■.. . •, '" -^C.--'

\ i >

&' '■■ "'.^ -.'■ -<;: ■.'■:'jy''-'"'^^-^ L'^^'i'

"\#--ix^^^

h'' ':■' ' ' " ■'■ ■

- .--:..: _.,^

?'- • ."• ' ■ ■ ' -

il-"--; --; . ■; x i ■

'-'if.'- ■■ .,■■;•.■ - • ■- ■' • ■

i: :::-■; ■■'^'^^i'E ■::'■:-■

'■ ■ "'■"^'

^^.,/: ■.. - ■ -■■■ ^ /J-^^ "

|^,:r:-'--;^p ;,:.■:;,.,[ ,,

-■• --• - M-r^' Ir^iH

■:■: "^l :^i

--■;■; ; ; . ,

;- ■. . , ,• 1, ,( t :' -} -

-. . - ._ ■;■ - ■* , i ■ )' J 1 il 1 , vi.

-. . .. . -■ -^ ' : ; ' : 1' ^

r- ■:::■:.. •^^■■:::7,H'v ''^•-'\i

>:-■ : ^"T' ~~ ^vv-^^

"^ y-^ '-J^ ,' ' ■ : \ 'y ■■•1 ; :^ '^^

'■-"'*-,- ''- -v^-,:^

■i. ^^ :- V

\- ; ; / n ^

-.. "'^. > '■ 1

aa:^:t^.MLii:^.Ai^:^^.:.t^u^^wJui^ ^v^:,..,.^

:^-.. . ^,,,^...:MB^.^

JIIN.NEOPA FALLS.

had offundetl Inkpadoota; and in the month of March he
sou'j:hl rc\cngc. The l';ii\(l first attacked a party of eleven
white men in a cabin, killing all as they fled from the burn-
ing structure. Then thev N\'ent successivelv to the homes

2S HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

of the Gardner, Thatcher, Nobles, and ^Marble families,
killing all save the mothers of the last three households
and ]Miss Abbie Gardner. This was on tlie shores of Spirit
Lake. A man by the name of ^larkham alarmed the set-
tlement of Spring-field, situated ten miles up the Des^Moines,
but without avail; for many of its Iiihabitants were mas-
sacred about the twentv-seventh of the month.

The whole frontier for a hundred miles to the eastward
was panic-stricken. The settlers gathered in groups, and
fortified themselves in their log cabins, or sought safety ia
the more densely populated communities. In the mean-
time, a military expedition from Iowa and another from.
Ft. Ridgely, Minnesota, hastened to the scene of slaughter^
where they found and buried over thirty persons.

Inkpadoota and his band were now far on their way to
the Missouri, bearing with them the captive women, whom
they treated most inhumanly. In crossing the Big Sioux.
they shot Mrs. Thatcher in the stream, where she had fall-
en through weakness; and not long after they murdered
Mrs. Nobles. Two young men, Sounding Heavens and
Grey Foot, of the Ilazelwood mission at Lac qui Parle
rescued Mrs. Marble; and two influential Indians, Paul-^^
and Otherdav,-^ who belonged to the same mission, traced
Inkpadoota to the James river and ransomed ]Miss Gardner,

About the month of July, Inkpadoota's son, who had
murdered Mrs. Nobles, pitched his camp on the Yellow
Jvledicine. Agent Flandrau was apprised of the fact, and
with a detachment of troops from Ft. Ridgely surrounded
the unsuspecting criminal Avho was shot in his endeavor to
escape. Maj. Sherman came up with a battery, and the
whole command pitched camp. Near by, several hundred

THE TERRITORY.

12^

Yanktons had also encamped with their friends of the Up-
per Agency.

The government insisted that the annuity^ Indians should
pursue and punish Inkpadoota on pain of losing their pay-
ments. This they did reluctantly, as many had sympathy
for the marauder. Bad feeling was engendered, and it
was increased by trouble that arose on account of a
young brave having deliberately stabbed one of the sol-
diers m Sherman's camp. The Indians struck their
tents, and their heated councils foreboded an outbreak.
Peace, however, was secured for the time being; but their
passions smouldered on, ready to be fanned into flame by
the least breath of discord; and the contempt they learned
to feel for the soldiers was a source of misfortune to the
whites in after days.

The Enabling Act.— On the 26th of February, 1S57,
the United States Senate passed an act enabling the people
of jVIinncsota to form a state
constitution previous to its ad-
mission into the Union. By
this act, the boundaries of the
State were defined as at present,
and it granted lands for the
support of schools and the erec-
tion of public buildings.

Gov. 3Ie(lary. — By another
act of the same session, alternate
sections of land were granted
for the construction of rail- ji!
roads within the State. To ap- qov. medary.

portion this grant, and to consider matters relative to the
new change of government, Gov. Gorman called an extra

130 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

session of the legislature; but before it convened, April
27th, he was superseded by Samuel Mcdary, an appointee
of President Buchanan.

Constitutional Conyentions.— On the first Monday
of June, delegates were elected to the constitutional con-
vention on the basis of two for each representative in the
territorial legislature. According to a further provision of
the enabling act, this convention was to meet on the second
"JMonday of July. Xo hour was specified; so both the Re-
publican and Democratic wings assembled in the Capitol
at midnight. As a leader of the former, J. \V. North en-
deavored to call the convention to order, while the secre-
tary of the Territory, Charles L. Chase, at the same mo-
ment tried to do likewise In the interests of the latter. The
Democrats finallv withdrew, and organized a separate con-
vention. Both carried on their deliberations in the Capitol
for weeks, and at la-^t, so courteous it is said had been the
spirit prevailing throughout, they agreed on the adoption
of the same constitution August 29th. It was ratified Oc-
tober 13th by an almost unanimous vote of the people. The
old territorial officers held over until the formal admission
of the State. '

Act of Admission. — In January, 1S5S, the final bill for
the admission of ^Minnesota was submitted to the United
States Senate, but was retarded In its passage by Southern
leaders. Nevertheless, it was successfully carried April
7th, and was signed by the President on the nth of ]May.
Thus the deed was done, and ^Minnesota entered a new
and bri'jfht star in the galaxv.

ILLUSXRA^TED

HISTORY OF llNNESOTA.

■■-•a ?:s^^s"; ^-l^:'-- '

.S!"^ imMJiim

^^'

■ i ■':/.' -'X-

I. SIBLEY'S ADMINISTRATION.

Gov. Sibley. — Ilcm-y II. Sibley was born of New Eng-
land parentage at Detroit, Michigan, Februar}- 20th, iSil.
At the age of eighteen he was a clerk at Mackinaw in the
service of the American Fur Company, and abont five
years later became its resident agent at jNIendota, !Minne-
sota, holding the position until the proposed organization

131

132

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

of the Tcnitory called him to Congress as a delegate of
Wisconsin Territory. In the constitutional convention he
__ --.^_ ■ -:.:-—,; presided over the Democratic
r^^" ' "^~% wing, and in 1S5S was declared

t governor of the State. His
^5 career as a delegate and mili-
i tarv commander are recorded
I "^ ''^!] :| elsewhere in the course of this

\ history. In later years he has
\ been honorably identified with
\ the regency of the University.
\ The New Era.— The be-
i ginning of the period upon
which we are about to enter
^f*ff^y was a critical time in the affairs
GOV. SIBLEY. of ^Minnesota, and demanded

a firm hand and thoughtful mind to guide well the ship of
state. The panici of 1S57 had caused great stringency in
the money markets of the United States, so that it became
no easy task to negotiate loans for a new and struggling
commonwealth whose future commercial status none could
with certainty predict.

Unscrupulous capitalists, through the short-sighted lib-
erality of the last territorial legislature, had secured all of
the four million five hundred thousand acres of land grant-
ed by Congress to aid in the construction of railroads. The
inability of these capitalists to carry out their promises was
soon proved; but the people through their representatives
again listened to specious pleas.
°In the legislature of 1S5S, the first in the history of the
State, the public credit was pledged to the amount of five
million dollars to further subsidize the delinquent railroad

THE STATE. I33

companies. As adopted, the Constitution forbade the loan
of the State's credit in behalf of individuals or corporation.-^;
but by an amendment ratified by the people April 15th,
this section was practically expunged. Thus no legal bar-
rier prevented the negotiation of the five-million loan.

Issuing the Bonds. — The governor having refused to
issue the pledged railroad bonds was compelled to do so by
a mandamus of the Supreme Court, Judge Flandrau dis-
senting. This was in November, 1S5S. More than two
million dollars worth were thrown upon a dull market,
and even then the projected lines of transportation were
but traceries on paper.

Normal Schools. — While the legislature and people
^vere thus apparently absorbed in material affairs, they
were not unmindful that the social advancement of a great
commonwealth must be established on a thorough system
of popular education; and they stood ready, to the extent
in which they foresaw the need, to found and cherish any
auxiliary Institution of such a system. It must be owned
that normal schools were not then in high repute. Yet an
act was pa.sscd August 2d looking forward to the estalish-
ment of three schools of that kind. These in due time
were located at AVInona, Mankato, and St. Cloud, those
towns having met the requirements of the act by each
donating five thousand dollars in money and lands to the
institution it sought to secure.

International Transit. — To palliate the Impetuous
spirit of the people shown in the bestowal of the State's
ncwl\- acquired domain anil the loan of its credit, and to
be fullv Impressed bv ihe great advancement in facilities of
travel and transportation made during the first quarter cen-
tury of this period, one must understand that at this time

3^'

.^£5

. "•

- - ^-^

.^^^

""^--^;

•^-'v,>:

;.:;--r;:'^

THEMOnTO.OII.. READVTOSTAUTFBOMST.PACL. HOMEWAUD BOUND.

THE STATE.

135

^^^mm

^-^^^- ■-r^y

^,-

the stage coach was the only passenger vehicle and the
heavy wagon the only means of carrying freight to interior
districts.

An overland route between St. Paul and Breckenridge on

the Red River
of the North,
was opened in
June of iS59^
From the latter
place a steamer
conveyed mer-
chandise to the
distant territory
of the Hudson
! Bay Company,
whose fur traf-
; fie was also car-
! ried on by this

I /

^S^f^

j?^:^

r .''v '

'mmm

W^^'w&M'<'^^

^:J'

^s-f-ia^cssgjgo.

y:r:::z

.^»;^l^i i_VD.-fCSii#/v'.»^

BED BIVER 0ABT3 AT ST. PAUL.

BESTING ON THE PRAIBIE.

136

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

route. But even before this could be accomplished the
machinery for the steamer had to be slowl}' carried by team
from the Mississippi to the Red River. On the journey,
the teamsters were obliged to spend many weary nights
•encamped in the deep snows of the western plains. This,
too, was scarcely beyond the davs of the dog train,i and Red
River cart trains^ that were wont to go lumbering along
the ever famous trail to the northward whose hollows,
<leep-worn by tlie footsteps of a past generation, can still
be ti'aced through the undcr-bush of many a forest and
over the sward of many a prairie.

IL— RAMSEY'S ADMINISTRATION.

Gov. Tlailisey. — Alexander Ramsey was born near Har-
risburg, Pennsylvania, September Sth, 1S15. He secured
an academic education at La-
fayette College, pursued a
i course of law at Carlisle, and
y-'^ was admitted to practice at the
bar of Dauphin county.

Besides holding minor offi-
cial positions in his native state,
he served it as United States
Representati\e in the 2Sth and
29th Congresses. Pi^esident
Taylor, as we have seen, ap-
pointed him first governor of
Minnesota Territorv, and the
f;i!l election of 1S59 made him
Sibley's successor. vSince his governorship of the State, he
has represented it twelve years in the United States Senate.

Ccn I VM^Vi

THE STATE. . 1 37

In the administration of President Hayes, he filled the va-
cancy made by the resignation of }vlcCrary, secretary of
Avar.

Ramsey's luailgural. — In his inaugural address, Gov.
Ramsey urged the legislature to provide some plan for set-
th'ng the outstanding railroad bonds, lest in future years
the holders should clamor ceaselessly at the doors of the leg-
islature for payment in full, and if not granted raise a cry
of repudiation which would be destructive to the State's
credit. It was a possibility whose realization proved to be
not far distant.

The state University. — This same legislature of 1S60,
the second In the history of the State, repealed the old act
establishing the Territorial University, and on the basis of
a new land grant from Congress, founded the State Uni-
versity of to-day.

Third Logishlture. — This legislature convened in Jan-
uary and adjourned in March, 1861. Its most important
acts related to the school system of the State. Among
these were laws to regulate the sale of public school
lands,! of which there were tv/o sections in each township
exclusively devoted to the support of the lower or common
schools besides the special grants made In favor of higher
education.

A bill was passed creating the separate office of Super-
intendent of Public Instruction, a position previously held
ex-otHcIo bv the Chancellor of the University.

Tlie Rebellion. — In the presidential election of 1S60, the
majority of the votes cast were for Lincoln; and now that
Sumter had fallen, and the other states of the North were
making speedv preparation for the conflict, ^Minnesota led
the van^ in the greatest and most heroic struggle of modern

138 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

times. Her brave frontier settlers whose forms were knit
by toil and hardship, and whose C}es were sharp and hands
quick in the use of the rifle, without hesitation left their
peaceful homes already enveloped in the shadow of an ap-
proaching calamitv, and hastened to the defense of the na-
tional capital. Gov. Ramsey was then in Washington, and
offered President Lincoln the immediate assistance of a
regiment. The offer was accepted; the message flew on
the lightning's swift wings to Minnesota's loyal capital; the
lieutenant governor at once i.-sued a proclamation calling
for troops, and on the 21st of June, the ist Regiment fully
organized and equipped started for the seat of war under
the command of Col. W. A. Gorman, and became a potent
factor in the great army then assembling on the banks of
the Potomac.

Military Kecord of 1S61.— The ist Regiment having-
gone into winter quarters at Alexandria,^ Virginia, was
subsequently joined to Franklin's brigade, which in turn
formed part of Heintzelman's division. The first memor-
able campaign of Bull Run crowned this gallant regiment
with laurels. Beyond Sudley Church, near Centerville, in
supporting Rickett's battery, they were exposed to a galling
fire of infantrv and artillery while themselves engaging a
portion of the enemy in a hand to hand conflict — never
flinching, said tlieir commanding oflicer, hut retiring in
good order after a loss of one-fifth of their niunber. Re-
cruitetl at Washington, they were joined to a brigade com-
manded by Gorman, now raised to the rank of brigadier-
general, and formetl a part of Stone's division, which was
posted on the upper Potomac. Col. N. J. T. Dana super-
seded Gorman in the immediate command of the regiment.

THE STATE. 1 39

It rendered efllcicnt service in the vicinity of Edward's
Ferry at the time of the battle at Ball's Bluff.

Meanwhile, the 2d Regiment had been organized under
the command of Col. H. P. Van Cleve and ordered in Oc-
tober to proceed to Louisville, to be united with the Army
of the Ohio. The same month, a company of sharp-shooters,
under Capt. F. Peteler, entered the 2d Regiment of that
branch of the regular United States service, but was after-
ward attached to the 1st Minnesota, with which it remained
until both were mustered out.

The 5d Regiment was mustered in about November and
moved south to Tennessee under the command of Col.
Henry C. Lester.

Besides these troops, a company of light artillery, known
as the 1st Battery, proceeded to St. Louis, and three com-
panies of cavalry were raised and united to the 5th Iowa.
These companies were commonly designated as Brackett's
Cavalry.

Military Eeconl of 1SG2.— In the spring of iS62,the

1st Regiment moved from its winter quarters to Harper's
Ferry, and crossing the Potomac joined Sedgwick's divis-
ion. Shortly after, Col. Alfred Sully superseded Dana,
who had been promoted. From Winchester, the regiment
was called to join the army centering at Fortress Monroe,
and afterward took part in the siege of Yorktown and
distinguished itself in the fierce contests at Fair Oaks,
Peach Orchard, and Savage Station. By order of Gen.
McClellan, the 2d Company of :Mlnnesota Sharpshooters
were permanently incorporated with the regiment at Fair
Oaks. When the base of ..pcrations was again changed to
the Potomac, the regiment played an important part at
Malvern Hill, x^ntietam, and Fredricksburg.

140 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

The 2cl Regiment in the month of January gallantly op-
posed the enemy at close quarters in the desperate encoun-
ter at jMill Spring, in April was at the siege of Corinth, and
finally, transferred to the Army of the Tennesee, engaged
in the hattle of Perryville.

The 1st Battery, fighting persistently, aided in turning
the tide of battle at Shiloh, and later was at both the April
and October battles of Corinth.

The 4th and 5th Regiments, now reported at the seat of
war, also won honorable distinction at these conflicts of
Corinth and the intermediate one of luka. Col. John B.
Sanborn commanded the 4th and Col. Lucius F. Hubbard
the 5th.

The year's history of the 2d Battery was the same as
that of the 2d Regiment as above recorded.

The 3d Regiment surrendered at ^Nlurfreesboro through
the timidity of its commander or his lack of judgment, and
after parole was sent home to serve in the war with the
Sioux.

The 8i0UX Massacre. — It is not necessary to inform
an intelligent Anglo-American as to the original character
of that race of aborigines which has ever receded be-
fore the westward march of civilization; much less is it
essential to dwell long on the changes it has undergone in
the lapse of centuries; for, from childhood, he has heard of
its good and evil traits and often beheld them with his own
eyes. Nevertheless, for our present purpose, it is fitting
to glance lirien\- at changes which took place in the life of
the Sioux after the settlement of ]\Iinnesota. We have
considered fr^m the advent of the voyageurs a growing
dependence up<jn traders and a corresponding neglect of the
chase; have noticed their transfer of broad territory to the

THE STATE. I4]

national government and their confinement within the nar-
row limits of two reservations. These two facts give us
the key to their subsequent history.

Heartless traders, and no less fraudulent government
agents, by presenting exorbitant and fictitious claims, de-
prived them of their annuities; avaricious settlers, not sat-
isfied with the fertile acres they already tilled, encroached
on the reserves; and to crown all, after an unsuccessful
hunt in the winter of 1S61-62, gaunt famine and the Sioux
stood face to face through many a bleak and weary day.
No wonder they looked back with longing hearts to the
plenteous days of the p:nglish and French alliances. If
spring in any measure appeased their hunger it did not al-
lay their passions, and when June came and the annuities
which should have then been paid were not forthcoming,
these passions waxed stronger and stronger. The traders
refused them further credit. Even government ofiicials
taunted them in a cruel manner when they sought aid or
redress.

The Indians of the Lower Agency organized the " Sol-
dier's Lodge,"! or council of young warriors. They were
ripe for conflict. "Have we not been forbidden to fight
with our enemies the Ojibwas ? Have we not been robbed
of our money and deprived of our lands ? Is there not a
great war in the south that takes the Great Father's
strength ? Plave not all the young men gone to fight and
left the old men and boys at home ? Did not Inkpadoota
escape, and shall not we ? Will not the English help us?
See the small garrisons at Ridgcly and Abercrombie !"
With these and other argumctits the Soldier's Lodge urged
the tribes to take tlic war ])al.h.

The golden harvest had just fallen before the settler's

[42

HISTORY OF MIXXESOTA.

Sturdy stroke, and he was about to gather in its bounteous
sheaves, when another reaper stood suddenly beside the

%^'

\7'7n

''>->-

-:::i- ■ ~-'_ '<:^i.

^r^>:^-<-.

THE SETTLER'S FATE.

cabin door "with his sickle keen," and the harvest that fell
before his withering stroke was the happiness and hopes

THE STATE. I43

of vears, the purity of womanhood, the innocence of child-
hood, and hfe itself.

Early in Auc^ust, a party of \yarriorshelonorinsr to Shako-
pee's band, whose yillagc \yas situated on Rice Creek
about scyen miles from the falls^ at the Redwood, started
on a foray or hunt in the Big "Woods.^ They were ac-
companied by four warriors of the Lower Agency. The
latter haying gotten into an altercation with the former
oyer some triyial matter, the two parties separated, each
eager for an opportunity to refute the taunting statement
of the other that they were cowards.

The four Agency Indians proceeded to the tayern of
Robinson Jones, at Acton^ near the present town of Litch-
field. He refused their demand for liciuor, and accused
them of keeping a gun preyiously borrowed from him.
They next went to the house of Howard Baker.5 Jones
and his wife followed them, and the quarrel was renewed.
Exasperated J^y this treatment, the taunts of the Rice Creek
Indians still ringing in their ears, they lost all control and
shot Jones and his wife, Mr. Baker, and Mr. Webster a
newly arrived settler. Then, returning to Jones's house,
they completed their bloody work by killing ]Miss Clara
D. Wilson.

After their passion had somewhat cooled, they were ter-
rified by thoughts of retribution, and fled to the home of
Little Crow two miles aboye the Lower Agency. Here a
council was held, and the Indians resolyed to stand by the
culprits. Little Crow, while not unmindful of the perils
which might result to himself and people from such a
course, nevertheless, determined to lead them on the war
path. This was the 17th of August. The following
morning, swift and sudden as a whirlwind, they fell upon

144 " HISTORY OF MIXXESOTA.

the Lower Agency, and with hands unstaid bv thoughts
of mercy, massacred the traders and government employes,
phmdered the stores, and appHed the torch to the dwell-
ings, warehouses, and mission.

Before noon, news of the outbreak had reached Fort

my.

- ^j

5=t~_

fc'--.:-^

: . liUJ

■4

i
1

- vj— --^ J - . ■ ,

■:,y V

■i'.:^'.;..,.....,.

-,;i, ...■,;>;., J., '-liJvVO^.,. ■' ' l-,-:, . ,; A.--

- iV, X-^ili..-.-'

■J

ACTON MONUMLNT. «.

Ridgely, a post situated on a commanding position fourteen
miles below on the opposite side of the Minnesota. Capt.
Marsh, with forty-eight men of the garrison, immediately
started for the scene of slaughter, and, with a bravery that

THE STATE. 145

could not be intimidated by the stories of the fugitives
whom he met by the way, pushed resohitely forward. He
fell into an ambuscade at the Redwood ferry opposite the
Agency. Half of his party were killed, and he himself
lost his life by drowning in attempting to retreat across
the stream.

I^Ieanwhile, Little Crow had sent messengers to apprise
all the bands of the beginning of hostilities, and the whole
country on both sides of the Minnesota from the Big Cot-
tonwood to the Yellow ^Medicine, especially in the yicinity
of Bcayer and Sacred Heart creeks, was the field of count-
less scenes of murder and deyastation. And when the
shades of night had fallen, the horrible ^vork still wen ton.
For countless miles, the prairies and fringing forests of the
river were lit up by lurid flames of burning habitations,
now the funeral pyres of once happy families. The flow-
ers and grasses of the prairie ^yere everywhei-e steeped In
the blood of the dying and the dead, and every thicket
shrouded a ghastly horror.

In vain did the friendly Other-day strive to persuade the
Yanktons, Sissetons, and Wahpetons of the Upper Agency
to shun the war path, but with daring braver}- led a party
of sixty men, \yomen, and children from their midst to the
safety of the settlements. Among those who escaped from
the vicinity of the Upper Agency, were the missionaries
Riggs and AVilllamson with their families.

Little Crow and his exultant warriors then moved to at-
tack Ft. Riilgely. But some trouble, it is saitl, having
ari>>en among them, the cliiof and only part (if tlie band
secreted'' them-«elvcs near the fort. Tlie delay caused by
this di-~pute gave an opportunity for a relief party under
Agent Galbraith to enter the post.

146

HISTORY OF MIXXESOTA.

In the meantime, the other faction of the band attacked
New Uhn Avith teiTible effect, and it was only saved from
utter destruction by the advent of the vanguard of a rehef
party from St. Peter. The squad Avas commanded by
Sheriff Boardman. At nine o'clock in the evening, the

main body a him-
dred strong, led by
Judge Charles E.
Fkmdrau, safely
entered the be-
sieged town. The
day following this
their number was
doubled by volun-
teers from IMan-
kato and Le Sueur.
The Indians, who
had withdrawn,
returned to Little
Crow. The forces
thus reunited sud-
denly attacked the
fort on the after-
noon of Wednes-
day. The two suc-
ceeding days they
made furious on-
set, but all their attempts to dislodge its gallant inmates
Were fruitles-.

Like the waves of an angry tlood tliey swept down the
valley, and once more laid siege to New Ulm. Its defend-
ers themselves applied tiie torch to tlie outlying buildings

OTHKR-DAY.

THE STATE. j 4/7

that they might not shelter their fierce enemies, and with
a courage born of desperation repelled every savage
attack.

While these events Avere passing, other warriors rode
swiftly and far on their bloody forays. Near Forest City,
the wild war-whoop of the savage and the despairing wail
of his victim rang out together in the clearings; and by the
shores of far off Shetek, the chiefs Lean Bear, White
Lodge, and Sleepy Eye,- laid waste the settlement, and
the names of many of its inhabitants were added to the
Still lengthening roll of the dead.

So closed a week of terror. More than eight hundred
settlers were lying mutilated and dead, and others were
suffering the horrors of a cruel captivity. Thousands of
crazed fugitives were fleeing for safety, and for hundreds
of miles the frontier was a scene of desolation where once
had reigned peace and prosperity,

Mlien news of the outbreak reached St. Paul, Gov.
Ramsey immediately aj^pealed to the national government
and the neighboring states for assistance. Private property
was appropriated to the use of the hard-pressed State, and
a hastily equipped force of 1400 men, including four com-
panies of the 6th :Minnesota temporarily stationed at Ft.
Snelling, was soon under way to the seat of conflict, Col.
n. IL SibleyS commanding. After some delay at St.
Peter, Col. Sibley reached Ft. Ridgely and threw up
strong entrenchments. From this point many of the citi-
zens returned to their homes; but shortly, Li'eut, Col. W.
R. Marshall with a portio-i of the 7th 'Regiment joined
the conimand.

The Indians, according to the report of the scouts, had
retired with their families above the Yellow Medicine.

'^'^.^iinj,.nii)'iin:!iniii^^.yji.v,-: ; ,3^iy-

..^

' ^Si--

^-7-*''-^-^ -^*.-.

-V

WITHIN- THE yCADB ANGLE

....:.hS A I FL. lilO-KLV. ^^^ ij,Di.vNS' RAVINE-

THE STATE.

149

But hearing that Xc\v Ulm was now deserted, and hoping to
find phmder there and successful conquests in the settle-
ments farther down the valley, a large war party once
more began the descent of the ^linnesota.

At this stage of affairs, ]Maj, J. R. Brown with a mixed
detachment of mounted men and infantry, about one him-
drcd fifty in all, marched to the Lower Agency, and buri-
ed those who had been killed both there and in the neigh-
boring count rv. At evening, Sundav, xVugust 31st, they
pitched camp on a level, low-lying sumntit near where
Birch Coolie debouches into the ^Minnesota opposite the
Agency. Here it "svas that the descending warriors fell
upon the unsuspecting camp in the gray of early dawn.
Twenty of the detachment of soldiers were killed, sixty
wounded, and ninety of their horses slaughtered by the
deadly rain of lead pouring ceaselessly down upon them
from a higher eminence. For thirty-one hours, without
food or water, these heroic troops, lying behind the dead
animals and the low mounds which they had thrown up
with their knives and bayonets, kept their savage foes at
bay.

The sound of the musketry^ was heard at the fort four-
teen miles away, and a detachment of fifty cavalry under
Col. Sam. McPhaill, over a hundred infantry under ]Maj.
McLaren, and a howitzer in charge of Capt. Mark lien-
dricks hastened to the relief. They engaged the enem.y
three miles from the coolie. The mufiled voice of the
howitzer, long continued, soon gave to the silent but anxious
inquiries at the fort answer of an ineffectual attack. At
sun-ct, a !nc-<enger confirmed it, and Col. Sibley with the
remainder of the garrison hastened forward in the uncer-
tain darkness of the night. The following morning, with

I50

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

a storm of shot and shell, the foe %vere driven from the be-
sieged camp and over the river. The dead were buried,
and the wounded carried Lack to the fort.

September 3d, Ft. Abercombie, which had been for
some days in a state of siege, was again vigorouly assaulted.
The same dav, a body of citizens, on the way to defend
Forest City, accidentally fell in with a large war party on
'"^ the slopes near Long
j Lake two miles from the
Baker homestead at-Ac-
ton. Little Crow led the
Indians, and Capt. Strout
the whites. A severe but
brief battle ensued, and
Strout's forces carrying
twenty - three wounded
fled before the hotly pur-
suing Sioux to Hutchin-
son. The people of that
LITTLE cKoTvT"' " ^ town wcrc gathered in a
strongly fortified stockade in the public square, and having
been partially beleaguered before this, they were upon the
alert. Ninety able bodied, courageous men, officered by
W. W. Pendergast, Lewis Harrington, Andrew Hopper
and Oliver Pierce, made a sortie from four sides and held
the new assailants successfully at bay.

As soon as supplies were obtained for the campaign,
Sibley's troops once more moved forward in force, and the
23d of Sop^tcmbor encountered the enemy on tlie high
prairies near Wood Lake, not fur from the Upper Agency
at the ford of the Yellow ]Medicine. The conflict was des-
perate. The Sioux were badly defeated, their hopes van-

K-
k

;:, ^A-

Jt-'j— j» a "

il- 'v ." " -''tLi-

rOBUOF THEYLLIUW MtUI INb RLINT- I) WARLIlOt bL. XTl 1 i-U AOLNLY HUCbi»

151

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

ished in the smoke of battle, and the more savage of their
number fled with Little Crow toward the British Posses-
sions, leaving the rest in camp with one hundred fifty
white captives.

The troops encamped at the site of the Hazlewood Mis-
sion, and CoL Sibley treated with the friendly Indians to
secure the freedom of the captives. This was accomplished
at a place to this day called Camp Release in commemora-
tion of the event. Jt was situated, as old rifle pits still
show, at the mouth of the Chippewa in the prcbcnt county
of Lac qui Parle.

Several hostile warriors were found lurking in the
camp, expecting clemency or hoping to avoid detection of
their crimes. To these were added many at first thought
to be innocent, and others belonging to small bands pur-
sued and captured by the soldiers.

All were tried before a military commission, and over
three hundred condemned to death. President Lincoln
forbade the carrying out of the sentence save in the case of
thirty-eight, who were hung at Mankato on the 26th of
December. 10 Thus closed one of the most mournful pages
of Indian history. Who that did not see shall fitly depict
the sufferings of those August and September days, the
fortitude of mothers bereft of their children, the self sacri-
fice of kmdred for kindred, and the heroic courage of citi-
zen and soldier in desperate siege and on weary marches
by night and day ? Alas for Minnesota ! The Star of the
North, which had so lately and proudly arisen, suddenly
waned and lingered wavering on the clouded horizon of
future events. . " ■ ■

THE STATE. I53

III.— RAMSEY-SWIFT ADMINISTRATION.
Ramsey's Re-election.— In the fall of 1S63, Gov.

Ramsey ^vas re-elected, but the tifth state legislature before
whom he delivered his annual address January 7th, 1S63,
conferred upon him the United States senatorship pre-
viously held by II. M. Rice.

Gov. Swift. — When Gov. Ramsey took his seat in the
Senate, Lieut-Gov. Henry A. Swift became the chief
executive. He was born at Ravenna, Ohio, March 23d,
1S23, and in due time gradu- ^;>_7--'
ated from the Western Re- \'-'^
servel College. He afterward 1^) (
studied law in his native town,
and was admitted to the bar in
1845. A few years later, he J

settled in St. Paul, but finally Jl ^ ^ ^ * ' '

removed to St. Peter. Between (^ < . ^ ' ' ^

the years 1S61 and 1S65 he -j ^^ - \

served with honor in the State '( '.

Senate. His death occurred \ \^

February 26th, 1S69, but his \^ -^^'' ^^ ^^h

memory lives as that of a noble ' '~^v^\\[tr "

man and ofHccr faithful to the trusts of his fellow citizens.
Sully-Sibley C'anipaigll.— In the summer of 1S63,
Gen. Sully commanding a large force of cavalry moved
up the Tvlissouri river, while Gen. Sibley with a regiment
of cavalry, three of infantry, and two batteries of light
artillery ascended the iSl innesota. Both commands were
to meet at Miime Wakan,! or Devil's Lake, in North Da-
kota; but it was hoped that the savage bands of Sioux
who had the previous season fled to the northwest might

154 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA,

be encountered and severely punished, thus preventing
their return to the settlements.

vSiblcy having learned of the whereabouts of the In-
dians, left part of his troops in a fortified camp on the
Sheyennc, and with the rest continued the pursuit. Sev-
eral brisk engagements ensued near the ^lissouri Coteaus,
and the tribes, broken spirited by loss of lives and plunder,
sought safety beyond the Missouri. Yet, at this very time
small marauding parties had stealthily slipped through
the lines of frontier fortifications, and ^vere preving upon
the sparse settlements of Minnesota. The famous Little
Crow, who had thus ventured back, was shot by a young
settler named Chauncy Lampson- near one of the Scat-
tered Lakes in the Big woods six miles from Hutchinson.

3Iilitarj Eecord of 1SG3. — The :Minncsota regiments
won marked distinction during this year. The ^th de-
parted from Memphis on the ist of ^NLarch, and after a series
of movements by way of Yazoo Pass, Grand Gulf, and
Port Gibson, took part in the battle of Raymond, the loth
of ALay, and four days later, in that of Jackson. On the
l6th, it captincd one hundred aud eighteen prisoners at
the battle of Champion Hill, and on the 22d, having taken
position in the rear of Vicksburg, Lieut. -Col. Tourtellotte
commanding, it gallantly assisted in the assault which
Gen. Grant had ordered should that day be made upon
the enemy's works.

The 5th Regiment, attached to the 15th Corps under
Sherman, participated in several important movements of
the campaign of Vicksburg and its culminating siege. In
particular, it w;is active in the engagements at Jackson and
the assault of Mav 2 2d.

The ist Re<';iment was at the second battle of Fredricks-

THE STATE. I55

burg, ISIay 3cl, and later hastened from Falmouth, Vir-
ginia, to take part in the great conflict at Gettysburg, Penn-
sylvania. Hancock's corps formed a curved line of battle
from Cemetery Hill to Sugar Loaf Mountain, and this
regiment was attached to Gibbon's division which held
the very centre of the line. In the terrible onsets of July
2d and 3d, bravest among the brave were these Min-
nesotians, and many a mound on that consecrated field
to-day tells the mute but eloquent storv of their heroic
deeds. Less than a hundred remained unscatlied out of
about three hundred thirty privates and officers who in re-
sponse to Hancock's despairing order threw themselves in
a Balaklava-like charge against the whole force of Long-
street's army. And yet, in the month of October, this shat-
tered host was again in the forefront at Bristow Station,
Virginia.

The 2d Regiment, commanded bv Col. George, on the
19th of September, rendered active service at Chica-
mauga, and, November 25th, helped to storm the enemy's
works on the crest of Mission Ridge.

In November, the 3d Regiment was ordered to Little
Rock, Arkansas,

But not alone in the South did the Minnesota troops
show their fidelity and gain renown. This year the Inde-
pendent Battalion of Cavalry was stationed at Pembina;
the Sth mfantry was also in garrison on the frontier; the
6th, 7th, 9th, and loth infantry, the 3d Battery, and the
Mountain Rangers were with Sibley on the Indian expe-
dition, and fought in the battles of Big Mound, Dead Buf-
falo Lake, Stony Lake aud the Missouri, the 24th, 26th,
2Sth, and 29th of July.

In October, the 7th and loth were ordered to St. Louis.

155

IIISTOY OF MINNESOTA.

IV.— MILLER'S ADMINISTRATION.

Got. Millor. — Stephen ISIiller was chosen governor in
the fall of 1S63, and was inaugurated January nth of the
following year. He was born at Perry, Cumberland
county, Pa., January 7th, 1S16. At one time he served as
clerk of courts for Dauphin
county, at another, was flour
inspector of Philadelphia. In
1S5S, he made jSIiunesota his
future home. During the re-
bellion, he served first as lieu-

^>^wgr^>y>^-xr<^:>N/^^

w.-^^

.^:

■<!

... 1

{''

I ^-^v^

■

j -"^

■y

lit

'■." .-^'r''

' '^.^

meritorious conduct in battle,
he was commissioned brigadier-
general, the 26th of October,
1S63. This brave old soldier
and loyal governor, in whose
GOV. JULLER. lif^ ^vere some dark pages of

misfortune, passed away from earth at Worthington,
Nobles county, August iSth, iSSi.

. Military Becord of 1S61.— Eaily in this year, the
■\var-scarred veterans of the regiments and batteries that
had enlisted in the beginning of the struggle came home
for a furlougli, niost of them having re-enlisted.

The 1st Battery and the 2d, 3d, and 4th Regiments
were veteranized in January, and the 5th Regiment in July.
Two new regiments were organized this year, the 2d
Cavalry in January and the nth Infantry in August.

In January, the 5th Regiment took part in the disas-
trous Red River expedition led by Gen. Banks, and fought
at Ft. DeRussy in the movement against Shreveport.

THE STATE. 157

The 3cl Regiment, moving southward from Little Rock
with Gen. Steele's army to co-operate with Banks on the
Red River, engaged jSIarch 30th in the battle of Fitz-
hugh's Woods near Augusta. The next month it was
ordered to Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

The Independent Cavalry was ordered in May to Ft.
Abercrombie, Dakota, and remained in garrison there
throughout the year.

The gallant ist Regiment was mustered out in May, the
remnant of ^vhat it hud once been. !Most of its survivors
were formed into a body called the Infantry Battalion, and
again joined the Army of the Potomac to add to their roll
of honor such names as Petersburg, Plank Road, Deep
Bottom, Ream's Station, and Hatcher's Run.

The 6th Regiment, which had been ordered south to
Helena, Arkansas, after the close of the Indian campaigns
of 1S63, was incorporated in June with the i6th Army
Corps. The 7th, c)th, and loth Regiments were likewise
at this time assigned to the same body.

The 5th Regiment, commanded by ISIaj. Becht and be-
longing to Hubbard's brigade, contended with the forces of
Gen. Marmadukeat Lake Chicot, Arkansas.

Parts of the 5th, 7th, 9th, and loth Regiments, in the
command of Gen. A. J. Smith, helped to defeat Forest at
the battle of Tupelo, ^Mississippi, July 13th. After this,
they fought at Tallahatchie, and pursued the retreating
rebels under Price.

Biith the 2d Regiment and ist Battery were engaged in
battles of tiic Atlanta campaign; the former at Resaca,
June 14th, 15th, and 16th, and Kcncsaw Mountain, June
27th; the latter at Kenesaw Mountain, and at Atlanta July
2 2d.

158 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

In the North, the 2d Cavalry, Brackett's Cavahy, the
3d Battery, and Sth Regiment were with the Sully expe-
dition in pursuit of the hostile Sioux. They participated
in a fierce engagement with the enemy in the Bad Lands,
Dakota, and took part in some skirmishing before the pur-
suit was abandoned at the Yellowstone. It had been Sul-
ly's purpose to proceed to Devil's Lake, where he had
sought to make a junction ^vith Sibley's troops the previ-
ous year; but it was reported that no enemy remained in
that quarter. Moreover, his horses v.ere jaded by the toil-
some and fruitless expedition just ended. These reasons
impelled him to break camp at Ft. Union, Montana, and
order the return march.

From the date of its organization to the end of the year,
the nth Regiment was engaged in guarding railroads.

After a series of movements through jSIissouri, the 5th
Regiment was ordered to Nashville in September.

In October, the 3d Regiment was ordered to Duvall's
Bluff, Arkansas, where it remained until the close of the
war.

The 4th Regiment formed a portion of Gen. Corse's
troops that routed the enemy under Gen. French in the
severe contest of Altoona, October 15th.

December 7th, the Sth Regiment in Gen. ^Milroy's com-
mand, shared in the victory of the Cedars near Murfrees-
boro.

In the memorable contest of Nashville, December 15th
and i6tli, between the armies of Thomas and Hood, the
2d Battery and :ill the regiments previouslv at Tupelo were
again activclv cngagcil. Cols. Hubbard and ^Marshall,
both commanding brigades, rendered such distinguished
service in the !7reat assault on the last da\- of the conflict

THE STATE. 15^

that each was honored with the rank of brigadier-general.
The ist Battery and the 2d and 4th Regiments accom-
panied Sherman on his march to the sea.

Military Record of 1805.— In the months of March
and April,'the regiments mentioned as present at the bat-
tle of Nashville were active in the siege of Mobile, notably
in the attacks on Spanish Fort and Blakely.

In Januarv, the Sth Regiment with the rest of Scho-
f^eld's comm'and, hitherto with Thomas in the West, was
ordered by Gen. Grant to report at Wilmington and New
Berne, North Carolina, and from thence to co-operate with
Sherman at Goldsboro.

Northward from Savannah with Sherman endeavoring
to unite with Grant against Lee, strong and courageous
came the Minnesota troops who had marched from Atlanta
to the sea; and when Johnston surrendered April 26th,
they went to Washington to fill an honored place in the
line of the last grand review.

The Infantry Ixitallion, too, the heroes in the first bat-
tles for national unity, were fittingly present in that last
great struggle with the Army of North Virginia which
ended with I.cc's surrender at Appomatox.

The days of civil strife, so full of mournful and heroic
deeds, we're now at an end, and the tattered, war-stained
baimers of the Minnesota troops were furled forever.
Twenty-five thousand and fifty-two, all told, they had
numbered v.lth their faces turned toward the foe. A few
came home with bronzed cheeks and rugged frames; some
crippled and scarred; m.any weary and sick; while thou-
sands slept in tlie quiet cemeteries of the State where loving
hands had borne them, or perchance still on the desolate
fields of conflict, far in the South, where to this day no eye

[6o

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

has marked their place of rest, save the compassionate eve
of the Father whose cause they fought in redeeming the
brotherhood of man.

Material Pro;jresS. — This administration, hke the two
preceding it, was not marked in the material advancement
of the Commonv.-eakh; it was rather a time of retrogression,
the great massacre at home and the prolonged struggle in
the South having depleted the State of men and means
and brought on other disastrous results which only the
patient labor of years could heal.

v.— MARSHALL'S 1st ADMINISTRATION.

Got. Marshall. — William Rainey Marxian, the fifth
governor of Minnesota, was born October 17th, 1S25, in
Boone county, ^Missouri. His
early ancestors were Scotch-
Ix-ish Presbyterians who settled
near Carlisle Pennsylvania.
The family moved to Bourbon
county, Kentucky, soon after
the Revolutinii. His grand-
fathers both served in the \Var
for Independence, and his fa-
ther in that of 1S12. The fam-
ily removed to Quincy, Illinois,
^Hji in 1S30, where \V. R. received
GOV. M\nsu\i.L. " a common school education.

At the age of -ixtccn, :Marshall went to tliC Galena lead
mines with his brother, and having acquired some capital
there, settled in the St. Croix valley, Minnesota, in 1S47.

THE STATE. l6l

He was elected to the first Wisconsin state legislature, but
on account of trouble arising from a change of boundaries,
was not allowed to take his seat. Two years later, he went
to St. Anthony Falls, and started the first store in what is
now Minneapolis. V/hile engaged as a surveyor, he plat-
ted St. Anthony and part of the west side, the Minneapolis
of that dav. For more than ten years subsequent to
1851, he was successively engaged at St. Paul in mercan-
tile affairs, banking, and newspaper publishing.

When President Lincoln called for 600,000 more volun-
teers in 1S62, Marshall enlisted and immediately began
active service in the Sioux campaigns, after which he was
ordered to the South. His record was brilliant, and promo-
tion rapid until he ranked as a brevet brigadier-general.
In September, iS65,thc Republican state convention nomi-
nated him for governor, he being the choice of the soldier
element. He was elected by a large majority over his
Democratic opponent, H. M. Rice.

Adiuillistnitioil Notes.— Gov. Marshall in his brief
inaugural gave special prominence to the needs of the
educational a;id charitable institutions of the State. The
founding of the First Hospital for the Insane at St. Peter,
the erection of buildings for the Institute of the Deaf,
Dumb and Blind at Faribault, and for the Normal School
at Winona, were secured.

Grants of land were obtained from Congress for the
Southern Minnesota and the Hastings cS: Dakota rail-
roads. Moreover, the right of the State to five hundred
thou-Naiid acres of land for internal Improvements, which
had been overlooked by Marshall's prei-lecessors, was estab-
lished through the governor's influence. He was also the
first executive after the practical repudiation of the railroad

^52 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

debt in iS6i to urge its liquidation, proposing that the
above lands should be devoted to that purpose.

The reco-niition of the right of the State to a second
grant of two townships of land for the endowment of the
University, a right implied in the organic act, was pressed
before the departments in Washmgton.

The word " white " in Sec. i, Article VII, which relates
to the elective franchise, was stricken from the Constitu-
tion November 3d, 1S6S, after having been threetm.es
persistently brought forward by the governor somewhat
at the peril of his re-election.

VI.-MAESHALL'S 2d ADMINISTRATION.

l!e-electiOU.-M.-..shaU -as reelected by au increased
majority in .S67 over Jndge Charles E. Flandreau

iefovm Scl,00l.-l!y the special rccommcnaafon of
the governor, the institution previously known as he
House of Refuse was taken under the full control of the
State and entitled the Minnesota Refornr Schoo . ^

Capital Ron.oval.-I« .S69, a bill passed t'ne legisla-
ture for the remov al of tl,e state capital to Lake Katrd.yoht
in the county of that name; but it was vetoed on the
around that the new site «-as not central to populat.on-
:nd probal,Iv never would be; neither had the people been
consulted in'tbe matter. The future proved the w.sdom

of the veto.

Nortlieril Pacific llailroad.-In the above year, a con-
tract was made with the house of Jay Cook & Co. bv- virtue
of which they became the financial agents of the Northern
Pacific Railroad. This gave the company the thirty mil-

THE STATE. 163

Hon dollars that started the road and formed the basis of
its completion.

MarsbalFs Last Message. — Gov. Marshall in his last
message thus sums up his administrations : —

« During that period, the population of the State has
almost doubled, its railroads have quadrupled. Its educa-
tional funds and facilities have increased manifold. Its
noble public charities— the highest mark of our civiliza-
tion— have most of tl:iem been founded, and all of them
advanced to high positions of usefulness. The resources
of the State, by the half million acres of internal im-
provement lands and other liberal grants for important
railroads, have been greatly augmented. I am profoundly
grateful to the Providence that connected me with the
State government during so interesting and prosperous
a period.

" I have practiced somewhat the maxim, that 'They are
governed best who are governed least.' I am profoundly
impressed with the belief, that evil lies in the direction of
too much legislation and governing, rather than too little.
The fewer, simpler and more stable the laws the better.
The less interference the better, with the ever present
natural laws that govern individuals and society."

VII.— AUSTIN'S 1st ADMINISTRATION.

Gov, Austin. — Horace Austin was born October 15th,
I S3 1, at Canterbury, Connecticut. He received a common
school educallon, aficr which, for a time, he worked at a
trade. He studied law at Augusta, ]Maine, then, in the
year 1854, removed to the West, finally settling at St.

164 HISTORY OP^ MINNESOTA.

Peter, Jklinnesota. In i S63, as a captain of cavalry, he took
active part in the Siblev campaign on the ]Msssouri. The
following- year he' l:»ecame judge
"^"^lll of the Sixth Judicial District.
; li In the fall of i S69, he was elect-
ed govenor by about 2,000 ma-
jority, and the following Jan-
uary assumed the duties of the
executive office.
Great Civil Topics.— There

\vas much excellent advice to
the legislature in Gov. Austin's
inaugural. He advocated, among
other things, a revision of the
<..uv. A1.511.N. criminal codc,^ whose intricacies

often led to injustice. Then, too, he thought such residue
of swamp lands- as should exist after present grants were
satisfied ought to Ije expended in founding public school
libraries. But we are to look to his message of 1S71 for a
^•ise and earnest review of questions agitating the people,
many of which'became of grave import in the next decade,
and some of which still remain as a heritage for future citi-
zens. They should fur both reasons be carefully noted by
the student of ci^■il affairs.

He proposed to di\-idc the internal improvement lands
among the counties of the State, to be used for such pur-
poses in accord %\ith their title as the citizens might elect;
or, instead of making the gift direct, to sell the lands at a
prescribed price and allow the counties to use the interest
on the permanent fund, so createel, for such specirtc works
as building bridges and making highways.

He advocated the improvement of Duluth harbor, bv

THE STATE. 165

the general government, on account of the great future
vahie it would have as a shipping port, especially for the
products of the State.

He asked for suitahle legislation to prevent railroads
from extorting unjust tariffs.

He regretted excessive special legislation; that is, such
as provided for individual schemes, the incorporating of
villages, and many other things suitably provided for by
statute. Such matters retarded and often crowded out
more important legislation; for example, appropriation
bills were left over to be acted upon in the final days of
the session, thus giving the executive no time to fitly weigh
their merits.

He recommended that elections of congressional and
state ofiicers should be arranged to come in the same year,
in order to calm occasionally the political strife that con-
stantly vexed the people in the midst of their private
affairs.

He recommended, further, the calling of a convention
to draft a new constitution in place of the one existing,
which he considered both natively weak and outgrown by
the needs of the State. It was wanted, he said, —

I St. « To forbid local or special legislation on many sub-
jects— including the creation of corporations and the sale
or mortgaging of the real estate of minors.

2d. " To pievcnt the granting to any corporation, asso-
ciation or person, any special or exclusive privilege, im-
munity, or franchise.

3d. " To limit local taxation.

4th. " To restrict municipal indebtedness.

5th. "To prevent the incurring of municipal indebted-
ness in aid of any railroad or private corporation.

l66 ■ HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

6th. " To regulate and restrict railways.

7th. " To abolish the grand jury systein.

8th. "For many other reasons not herein mentioned.'*

University Lands.— During the year 1870, Congress
finally granted the two additional townships of land for the
endowment of the University, thus placing it once more
on a f^rm foundation; for the previous grant was long ere
this almost entirely spent to pay an indebtedness incurred
through early mismanagement.

Internal imi)roveinent Lands.— These lands, already
spoken about as a gift to the State in ^vlarshall's time, un-
der a congressional act of 1S41, had not been appropriated
to the support of public schools as in the case of like grants
in other states. So the legislature in 1 87 1, heedless of good
advice and precedent given above, apportioned them among
several railroad corporations that sought to obtain them.

Gov. Austin vetoed the bill. This led to an amendment
of the Constitution November 5th, 1S73, by which the leg-
islature was restrained from appropriating the proceeds
arising from the sale of these lands unless the enactment
were first ratified by a majority of the popular electors.

AdniinistrationNotes.- Nothing else of great moment
attracted public attention during this administration, save a
steady and rapid growth in the Commonwealth. This
was marked m various ways: railroad construction was
pushed with vigor; a great tide of immigration set in; real
estate increased rapidly in value; and everywhere the peo-
pie, except certain of the producing classes, seemed content-
ed and prosperous.

THE STATE. 167

VIII— AUSTIN'S 2d ADMINISTRATION.

Ke-electiou. — Gov. Austin was re-elected in 1S71 by a
majority of about sixteen thousand, showing the firm posi-
tion he had gained in pubHc favor.

Biennial Sessions Proposed. — The governor in his
annual message of 1S72 made an appeal for biennial ses-
sions of the legislature on the ground that the necessity for
frequent meetings \\ hich arose in the early history of the
State, when everything was in a formative condition, no
longer existefl.

Amendments Adopted. — Several amendments of mo-
ment were made to the Constitution in 1S73 and 1S73.

One provided for increasing the public debt to maintain
the charitable institutions of the State in a more effective
manner.

Another prohibited any village, city, or county from
granting a bonus beyond ten per cent, of its property val-
uation to any railroad asking aid. This valuation was to
be determined by the assessment last made before the obli-
gation was incurred. An amendment of later years re-
duced the per cent, to five. The restriction was much
needed; for there had always been, as now, a tendency on
the part of the people to magnify the benefits to be derived
from rendering such aid.

Perhaps the most important of the list was one prescrib-
ing the sale of internal improvement lands at the rate ob-
tained for school lands; the investing of the funds so ob-
tained in United States and Minnesota bond.v ; and, as else-
where said, forbidding the appropriation of the funds with-
out the consent of the people.

l6S HISTORV OF MINNESOTA.

Seeger's Impeaclimeilt,— A committee of the House
came before the Senate in the legishiti^e session of the
spring of 1S73 accusing the state treasurer, WilHam See-
ger, of making unhiwfu] use of the pubhc funds. The
Senate convened as a court of impeachment and adjourned
to meet May 20th. At that time Seeger pleaded guilty,
but claimed that he had not acted with corrupt intent. The
Senate, however, found hlni guilty of all the charges, and
disqualified him for holding or enjoying any office of honor,
profit, or tru><-. within the State.

The Graili^ers. — The farmers had for a long time com-
plained bitterly, and with much reason, against the exces-
sive tariffs and discriminations of railroad companies in
transporting grain and other products; also against buyers
because of unjust methods in grading wheat. Soon a cry
was raised against corporations in general; this was far
less just, and but another version of the larger and ever
present controversy between capital and labor.

The farmers organized " Granges," or clubs, for the pur-
pose of mutual protection. In selling products and pur-
chasing farm implements and household supplies, they
sought to deal with manufacturers and wholesale merchants
without the aid of agents and retailers, who for obvious
reasons were called " Middle Men." About this time the
movement reached its height, then quickly subsided be-
cause of internal dissensions, visionary methods, and the
intriguing of politicians. This result was a source of re-
gret to many, who thought t!ie " Granges," aside from a
possible redress of grievances, deserved to live by reason
of their st)cial features.

THE STATE. 169

IX.— DAVIS'S ADMINISTRATION.

Gov. Davis. — Cushman K. Davis was born in the town
ofllenderson, Jefferson county, New York, on the i6th
day of June, 1S3S. In August of that year, his parents
removed to Waukesha, Wisconsin, where in the course of

a few years he entered Carrol ^^^ ^ .^ — .,— ^ r— = — : — .

College. Still later, he entered T"'^' -^ -.„-™. .-,-^.,.^^ I
the senior year of the classical

course in the University of •; , 'i

Michigan, and graduated in i.|
1857. He then studied law in
the Office of Alexander W. '
Randall, afterwards noted as ■
a governor of ^^'isconsin and ;
Postmaster General. During u
the Rebellion, he served from ' |
1S63 to 1S64 as nrst-lieutenant i'j
of Company B, 2Slh Wisconsin \^
Infantry; then, much impaired
in health, he came to St. Paul and took up the practice of
his piofession. In 1S67, he was elected to the state legis-
lature, and from 1S6S to iS73was United States District
Attorney for Minnesota. In the latter year he was elected
governor.

Railroad legislation.— Gov Davis thus speaks of the
railroad legislation of his time : —

« The most important political event of my administra-
tion was imdoubtedly the culmination of the controversy
which had been carried on for some years between the
railroad companies and the people, on the question of the
legislative power to control the former in the performance of

GOV. PAVI3.

170 HISTORY OK MINNESOTA.

their duties towards the piihlic, especially in regard to fix-
ing rates for transportation. I had long before my election,
come to the conclusion that the assumption hy the corpor-
ations of an inviolable privilege to do as they pleased in
these respects was full of danger to the rights of the peo-
ple, and that the unity and vigor of action which is always
the result of great consolidated financial power, managed
by the best executive talent, too often depraved in its use,
could be encountered successfully by nothing weaker than
the people in their political capacity. Long before these
questions became at all political, I had taken advanced
ground on the subject, but it was then so much a matter
of speculative thought, that I little supposed that within a
few years it would fall to my lot as the chief magistrate of
the State to recommend and enforce legislative remedies
which, when so recently proposed, had bcecn scouted as
the rhapsodies of a visionary. But great reforms move
rapidly, and as the result, perhaps the reward of my posi-
tion upon these questions, I received the nomination for
governor, and was elected by a majority of about five
thousand,

"At the first session of the legislature during n:iy term,
the movement for the redress of these evils took political
shape. These evils were exorbitant charges, discrimina-
tions against and in favor of localities, an arbitrary raising
of rates, and general defiance by the companies of State
control. At the session of 1S74, a statute was passed for-
bidding these exactions, and asserting the power of the
State to its extremest degree. By its provisions the gov-
ernor was reriuirL-d to appoint three comimissioners, who
had the power tu fix the rates of the various companies
within the State, and severe penalties were denounced

THE STATE.

171

against the companies for refusing to comply with them.
I appointed as commissioners John A. Randall, A. J. Ed-
gcrton, and Ex-Gov. \V. R. Marshall, who addressed
themselves to their ditficult task with great zeal and ability,
and thoroughly performed it.

"The contention of the railroad companies had been that
their charters from the State were in the nature of a fran-
chise which authorized them to fix the rates and manage
their vast properties at their own discretion, and that this
franchise was a contract, under the decision of the Sr.preme
Court in the Dartmouth College case,i which could not be
impaired by legislation.

" But about this time the Supreme Court of the United
States decided in what were known as the "granger cases. "2
one of which went up from Minnesota, and was conducted
on behalf of the State by Mr. \V. P. Clough with great
ability, that the functions of railroad corporations were pub-
lic and not entirely private in their character — were to a
certain extent delegations of the power which all states
necessarily exercise in regard to public ways, and that for
these reasons the provisions of the Federal Constitution
which forbids any state passing anv law impairing the ob-
ligation of a contract does not apply, and that the power of
the states to regulate and control the railroad companies in
the respect above indicated, by legislation, is undoubted.

"The companies of course were obliged to accept this de-
cision, the agitation upon that subject ended, and the result
was the establishment of a power controlled by the State
which can be so readily applied when necessary that many
of the evils which formerly oppressed the people were en-
tirely remedied, and tlic companies were compelled to be
cautious and more reasonable in their operations."

172 HISTORY OF MINXESOTA.

Tlie Locusts. — For several years the western and south-
western portions of the State were afllicted by locusts,! the
plague reachinj^ its height in 1S75. Gov. Davis speaks of
it as follows: —

" This visitation became most severe just at the time when
the wheat fields were giving the fullest promise of bounte-
ous product. The wnole country west of Blue Earth
County and south of the Minnesota river was laid waste.
The agents of destruction moved In clouds which darkened
the sun and descended like rain upon the soil. The growth
of thousands of acres would be destroyed in a few hours,
and the locusts would then rise and seek new fields.

"The regions thus laid waste were inhabited by people
who, generally, had no resources except from their crops.
Many of them were in debt with their property under mort-
gage. The farmer could not pay the country merchant,
and the latter could not therefore pay his own creditors.
It was not long before the question of subsistence pressed
for immediate solution. I was clearly of the opinion that
it was of controlling importance to sustain these people and
prevent an exodus from the State, which would have drawn
back the line of our frontier over a hundred miles and made
each member of an exiled population a herald of our af-
flictions. I accordingly appealed to the public for aid. In
this way thousands of dollars were raided and the money
expended through local committees of the aftlicted regions.
"The devastation was repeated in 1S75, but after that year
was gradually withdrawn. With the disappearance of
these visits confidence revived, and immigration began.
There were not wanting those who denounced my action
as tending to adsertise the disadvantages of the State.
These gentlemen were practical expounders of the modern

THE STATE. 1 73

laissczfaire^ doctrine of political economy, which to my
mind is in such eases a contradiction of the higher and bet-
ter golden rule."

Blue Earth county nearly emptied its treasury in behalf
of the grasshopper sufferers, bv paying a bounty to those
who caught the pests. ]Men, women, and children engaged
in the futile attempt of extermination. For this purpose,
many devices were used; the simplest were bags with
mouths held open with hoops or triaiv^des attached to han-
dles like tho'-e of a hoe. Holding the hoop vertically, with
its loNvXT side close to the ground, the operator would run
for a short distance. The air inflated the bags, and the
young grasshoppers, rising from the ground in myriads,
were caught within. A quart or two at a time Avere drop-
ped from the untied pointed end of the bag into grain
sacks. These when full were taken to the receiving offi-
cers, stationed in the towns, and delivered at a stated price
per bushel. The authorities usually had the grasshoppers
buried in trenches. In some cases several hundred bushels
were buried \\\ one trench.

In the next administration, Gov. Pillsbury was very ac-
tive in behalf of the farmers. He visited the afflicted com-
munities to see for himself what could be done for the peo-
ple. The result wis legislative action to issue loans of seed
to those in need; besides, the State refunded to the coun-
ties in part what they had expended in bounties.

AilmillistrJltioii Notes. — There ^vere no marked po-
litical events during this administration besides railroad leg-
islation and the addition of certain amendments to the Con-
stitution. The latter planned for the division of the State
into judicial districts and the election of judges therefor;
investment of funds growing out of the sale of school

^74

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

lands; and conferring the elective franchise upon women in
the case of school elections.

The general financial depression of 1S73 affected the
material progress of Minnesota. The Northern Pacific
^vas bankrupt, and the -vlanitoba system was under fore-
closure. The locust plague added still more to the mon-
etary stringency, and retarded immigration. Surely
through much tribulation, if at all, was the Commonwealth
destined to assert its greatness.

X.— PILLSBURY'S 1st ADMINISTRATION.

Got. Pil]sl)iiry. — John S. Pillsbury was born July
29th, 1828, in the little town of Sutton, New Hampshire.
He was educated in the public schools, but when a lad of
sixteen entered upon a mercan-
tile life. At the early age of
twenty-one, he formed a busi-
ness partnership with Walter
Harrimon who was afterward
governor of New Ham2:)shire.
In 1S65, he removed to St.
Anthony, Minnesota, and soon
became one of its most active
citizens. During nine legisla-
tive sessions, he represented
Hennepin county in the state
GOV. piLi.sBuuv. senate, and for twenty years

has served as a regent of the University. In 1S75, he was
elected over IJuell b\- a majority of nearly twelve thousand,
and was inaugurated January yth, 1S76.

THE STATE, I75

Status of the Railroad Bonds. — The bonds which

the people in territorial days had been so anxious to
grant, at this time seemed to be irretrievably repudiated;
but Gov. Pillsbury took the initiative in the last great
struggle made to secure their payment, by appealing
strongly to the honor of the citizens who desired to pre-
serve the good name of the State.

Bond Settlement Rejected. — The legislature of 1S77

passed a bill looking to the settlement of the railroad bonds
by an appropriation of the internal improvement lands for
that purpose; but at a special election in June, the people
rejected the plan by an overwhelming majority.
Constitutional Amendments. — At the two regular

fall elections held in this administration, four amendments
to the Constitution were adopted. One permitted the gov-
ernor to approve or disapprove of appropriation bills by
items. Another instituted a board, consisting of the sec-
retary of state and judges of both the Supreme and Dis-
tricts Courts, to canvass the returns in the election of state
executiAC officers. A third In case of disqualification of
Supreme Court judges provided for filling their places with
tliose of the District Court. The fourth forbade the use
of school funds for the support of sectarian schools.

XL— PILLSBURY'S 2d ADMINISTRATION.

Ro-election. — Gov. Pillsbury was re-elected in 1S77 by
a ma jorltv of more than seventeen thousand over Banning.

Review of June Election. — The heart of the consci-
entious governor was painfully stirred by the action of the
people in the preceding Jime election, yet his confidence in

176 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

the honesty of then" motives was not shaken as this review
of the bond question before the legislature of 1S7S shows: —

"The measure proposed for this purpose by the last leg-
islature, and submitted to the people in June last, was re-
jected, as you are aware, by an overwhelming popular
vote. This resulted, I am persuaded, from a prevalent
misapprehension respecting the real nature and provisions
of the proposed plan of adjustment, I should I)e sorrv,
indeed, to be forced to the conviction that the people by
this act intended other than their disapproval of the par-
ticular plan of settlement submitted to them. For in my
opinion no public calamity, no visitation of grasshoppers,
no wholesale destruction or insidious pestilence, could pos-
sibly inflict so fatal a blow upon our State as the delib-
erate repudiation of her solemn obligations. It would be
a confession more damaging to the character of a govern-
ment of the people than the assault of its worst enemies.
With the loss of public honor little could remain worthy
of preservation. Assuming, therefore, as I gladly do, that
this vote of the people indicated a purpose not to repudiate
the debt itself, but simply to condemn the proposed plan
for its payment, I should be happy to co-operate in any
practicable measure looking to an honorable and fmal ad-
justment of this vexed question."

Paige's Illipeat'hnieilt. — The senate organized as a
court of impeachment March 6th, 1S7S, to try Judge Sher-
man Page, of the loth Judicial District, against whom
articles had been preferred accusing him of arbitrary and
abusive conduct in his treatment of the grand jury and oth-
cers of the court. The senate acquitted him at the close of
an adjourned session June ^Sth.

THE STATE. ly^

XII. PILliSBURY'S 3d ADMINISTRATION.

Second Re-election. — During- the political campaign of
1S79', a lively discussion wa? aroused relative to the advisa-
bility of nominating Governor Pillsbury for a third term.
It was thought by many to do so would be to establish a
harmful precedent. But so meritorious had his official acts
appeared to the people that he was again re-elected in
1S79, his majority over Edmund Rice being more than
fifteen thousand.

First Insane Hospital IJurned. — The night of No-
vember 15th, iSSo, the First Hospital for the Insane, at St.
Peter, was partially destroyed by fire. Twenty-seven pa-
tients perished and many others escaped from their keepers.

Bnrning of the Capitol. — On the morning of March
1st, 1S81, the Capitol of Minnesota presented to the be-
holder's eye nothing but a mass of smouldeing ruins. At
nine o'clock the previous evening warning flames shot from
roof and dome. The alarm was given, but nothing could
be done to save the building Both houses of the legisla-
ture were in session, and when all chance of escape through
the usual avenues was speedily cut off, intense excitement
prevailed among the members. Happily, a few moments
before the ceiling of the senate chamber fell, the senators
found means of exit through a small window opening from
the cloak room into the main stairway. The representa-
tives were equally fortunate in escaping a terrible death.

The state librarv and man\- valuable relics of the His-
torical Society were completely destroyed, but the books
of the latter were for the most part saved in a damaged
condition.

HISTORY OF MIXNESOTA.

Final Settlement of Bonds.— Selah Chamberlain, in
behalf of himself and a majority of the railroad bond hold-
ers, offered to make a settlement, taking new bonds of half
the face value of the old. The legislature, ^Slarch 2d, iSSi,
enacted that a tribunal should decide whether the legisla-
ture alone had power to make a settlement without appeal-
ing to the people. Finally, under a provision of the act,
the tribunal was composed of district judges; but the Su-
preme Court issued a writ restraining them from taking
action, and not only decided that the act forming the trib-
■unal was unlawful, but that the constitutional act of 1S60
which called for a popular ratification of any plan of set-
tlement that the legislature might devise was also null and
void. In short, the legislature alone had the power of set-
tlement in its own hands. Governor Pillsbury called an
extra session of the legislature to meet October, 1SS2, and
this vexed question of generations was at last eliminated
from the affairs of state by the acceptance of Chamberlain's
offer.

Cox's Inipeaclinient.— E. St. Julien Cox, during the
leo-islative session of iSSi, was brought before the senate,
then sitting as a court of impeachment, the charge of con-
duct unbecoming his judicial position having been preferred
against him, said conduct resulting from intemperate habits.
He was accounted guilty and deposed from his judgeship.
Constitutional Chaiii^es.— It must have been noticed
ere this that many amendments, adopted from time to time,
greatly changed the character of the Constitution, and rem-
edied some of those evils uf which Governor Austin com-
plained in his day. This administration saw still further
changes. Special legislation was forbidden in eleven par-
ticulars. Detinlte provision was made for levying state and

THE STATE.

'79

municipal taxes in general, and to pay for public improve-
ments of a particular character. Finally, the swamp lands
were devoted to the support of the common schools, those
of higher learning, and other state institutions.

XIII.— HUBBARD'S 1st ADMINISTRATION.

Goveriior Hubbard. — Lucius F. Hubbard was born at
Troy, New York, January 26th, 1S36. His father, Charles
F. Hubbard, sheriff of Rensselaer county, died three years
later, and Lucius was given
over to the care of an aunt at
Chester, Vermont. At the age
of twelve he went to Granville,
New Vork, where he attended
an acadcmv for three years. He
then began an apprenticeship
at Poultney, Vermont, but com-
pleted the trade, that of tin-
smith, at Salem, New York

In 1S54, he remo\-ed to Chi-
cago, at which place he con- j[i^.i> > ,^- ;-'
tinned to work at his trade. All ^0^. hubbaed.

of these years of manual labor, too, were years of study,
and it is not surprising,perhaps,to find him in 1S57 foJ's^^k-
ing the work bench for the editorial chair. At that time,
he established the Republican at Red Wing, Minnesota.
The following year, he was elected register of Goodhue
county, and In 1S61 was nominated as the Republican can-
didate for the state senate, being defeated in the subse-
quent elcjtica by Judge McClure, who had a majority of
but seven. He immediately entered the army as a private
in the 5th Minnesota, but upon its reorganization became

iSo HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

its licutcnant-coloncl, from which time his military success
was marked, as elsewhere recorded.

After the close of the war, he engaged extensively in
milling operations and railroad construction, and during the
four years subsequent to 1S73 served in the state senate.
In the fail of iSSi, he was nominated by the Republicans
for governor, and in the election outstripped the Demo-
cratic candidate, Gcu. R. W. Johnson, by a majority of
nearly twenty-ei-ht thousand.

Completion of the Northern Pacific— In the early

fall of 1SS3, the problem of centuries, the finding of a
northwest passage, met with a practical solution. To be
sure,the stately argosies of the nations, richly freighted with
the products of India, could not even now, more than in
the days of the earlv navigators, trace a continuous internat-
ional highway of American inland seas and rivers; but the
iron bands of the Xorthern Pacific at last stretched across
the broad plains and lofty mountains of the West so that
the swift messengers of steam could speed from sea to sea.
The event was celebrated at Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
There were those present who but a few years before had
seen the wild deer leaping where they now saw thousands
of people pouring through the costly triumphal arches
spanning the commercial streets of two great cities.
The President of the United States and dignitaries from
European nations graced the occasion with their presence.
Bieillliill Sessions Adopted.— Nothing of a very marked
political character occurred during this administration save
the amending of the Constitution to prescribe biennial ses-
sions of the legislature and otherwise alter the tenure of
ofhce in state and county.

Material Progress. — In respect to this administration,

'""% 3»3»VJi" "»jrj^ iiv^ I

I':'

r\^f^SraSB<^

i :; rip-

— .«(SK~ V

1 f.

^■* 'fe .n;! :iii]:^

^.n.'.(:i

1 82 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Gov. Hubbard thus speaks: —

" The material progress of the State was very marked
in manv respects. In population, wealth, and the develop-
ment of all the industries of our people, Minnesota made
a decided advance during 1SS3 and 1SS3. The extension
of our railroad system, particularly the completion of the
Northern Pacific Railroad, gave a decided impetus to our
commercial centres. The adoption of more diversified
methods infused new life into our agricultural interests, and
with large accessions to our population, and active capital,
all industrial pursuits felt the inspiration of a healthy and
substantial progress."

XIV.— HUBBARD'S 2d ADMINISTRATION.

Hubbard's He-election.— In the fall of 1SS3, Gov .Hub-
bard was re-elected to the executive position. It was a time
of happy auspices in the history of the Commonwealth,
when the citizens could look back over the records of a
wonderful past and forward to the great but sure fruitions
of a near future.

EcollOinic Growtll. — During the three years of this ad-
ministration, every conservative prophecy made at its
beginning touching the economic welfare of the people has
been more than fulfilled.

The industries of agriculture and dairying have increased
greatly in the intelligence of the methods by which they
are carried on ; and the area of country devoted to these
pursuits has been enlarged by thousands of acres once held
by speculators, railroad corporations, and as parts of the
public domain.

Manufacturing centres have grown rapidly in population
and the number of their industries.

S?Bii

:^^^-?iUa-A, ^"n

184 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Necessarily keeping pace with both these lines of ad-
vancement, commercial life has moved vigorously in old
directions and opened many new ones. In short, Gov.
Hubbard's words in reference to his first administration
might well be repeated here with emphasis.

Public Institutions. — But a surer index of what the
final civilization of a people is to be than any gross meas-
urement of progress in vv^ealth, is the development of those
public Institutions which are the children as it were of the
citizens' intellect and heart. In these years, for example,
schools of every grade have multiplied in number and effi-
ciency, and the educational system is quickly shaping itself
to provide for the highest ideals of life. Public charities
also have flourished, and to their number has been added a
home at Owatonnafor indigent children.

Civic Problems.— Yet, in the midst of this general
prosperity, particular forms of discontent have gained
strength among the people and assumed the shape of great
civic problems.

First of all, the producing classes have an active associa-
tion called the Farmers' Alliance whose purposes are simi-
lar to those of the old Grange, but the new organization
promises to be far more powerful than the old.

Labor, too, stands more strongly intrenched than ever
before against the exactions of capital, and indeed in some
cases has itself become the party of unwise encroachment
on human rights.

Another class of citizens, thinking that the very root of
our social and political troubles lies in the wide-spread habit
of intemperance, propose to exercise their elective franchise
in prohil)iting the manufacture and sale of intoxicants.

However, none of these forms of civil asfitation need be

THE STATE.

185

viewed with alarm as elements of permanent discord, but
rather as means which in spite of human unfairness born
of passion will surely bring about wholesome reforms.

XV.— McGILL'S ADMINISTRATION.
Gov. 3IcGill. — Andrew R. McGill, the nominee and can-
didate-elect of the Republican party in the fall of iSS6,was
born at the old home of his paternal ancestry in Crawford
county, Pa., February 19th,
1840. His grandfather was a
veteran of the Revolution, and
from him and his own father
he inherited the simple pleas-
ures and rugged toil of a farmer
boy's life. Studious in habit,
and literary in his tastes, he
sought and received the educa-
tional advantages of a village
academy. When a young man
of twenty, he began the life of
a teacher in the vicinity of Cov-
ington, Kentucky. After the ^oy. mcgilu
breaking out of the Rebellion, he removed to St. Peter,
Minnesota, and continued teaching. In 1S63 he enlisted
in the 9th Regiment, but was discharged a year later on
account of ill-health. He was admitted to the bar in 1S6S.
For the twenty-three years just past his energies have been
expended in the various positions of editor, publisher, clerk
of the district court, governor's private secretary, and in-
surance commissioner.

Here this history rests at the dawn of the fifteenth state
administration and the election of the tenth governor.

EXPLANATORY NOTES,

KEY TO PRONUNCIATION.

a, as in fate.

a. as in have.

a, as in fate, but briefer.-

a, as in far.

a, as in all.

a, mute, or as u in tis.

a, as in air.

a, mute, or as ti in b&t.

e, as in eve,

g, as in mft.

e, mute, or as u in Qs.

6, as in ere.

6, as ii in late.

^, as e in there.

I, as in it.

T, as e in mete.

6, as in note.

6, as in 6dd.

o, as in prove.

u,as in use.

C, as in biit.

<i, as in firge.

u, as in pull.

u, French u see Webster's Die, p. 16S2, note 5.

u, as in rude.

g, asin get.

g, as in gem.

° degree of latitude and longitude.

' acute or primary accent.

^ grave or Sc-cundary accent.

' chief primaiy accent, or iiedvy. j JfX

DAYS OF THE VOYAGEURS.

Physical Features.

I. After due account has been made of race characteristics,
it may safely be said that the physical features of a country are a
great factor in shaping; its history; for example, they determine
the occupations of the people; occupations pursued for generations
develop certain mental traits; finally these mental traits determine
channels of national life. •

Position and Surface.

I. To gain some idea of the variations in elevation, the reader
is referred to the table of the same given in another part of the
appendix.

Rivers.

I. There are many fine water powers upon these streams.
The largest yet developed are at St. Anthony Falls and St. Cloud.

The Dakotas.

1. Dakota (Dah'ko-tah). Allied, united ; name applied to the
confederation of tribes now called Sioux.

2. Santees. Correct form, hanyati (Ee-san'yah-tee). Dwell-
ers by Knife Lake ; the same lake is now called Mille Lacs. Neill
says: "It is asserted by Dakotah missionaries now living, that
this name was given to the lake because the stone from which
they manufactured the knife {isa7i) was here obtained."

3. Mississippi. Great and long river. See Hennepin, note 8.

4. Yanktons. Correct form, Ihanktonifati (Ee-han'kton-wan).
End-dwellers. There is also a French form ; namely, Yanktonais
(Ee-han'kton-wan-na). Little End-dwellers.

5. Minnesota. The explorer Nicollet says : "The adjective
Sotah is of difficult translation. The Canadians translated it by a
pretty equivalent word, brouille, perhaps more properly rendered
in English by blear. I have entered upon this explanation because
the word Sutah really means neither clear nor turbid, as some
authors have asserted, its true meaning being readily found in the

igo HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Sioux expression Ish-la-soiah, blear-eyed." Neill says: "The name
is a compound Dakotah word. This nation cahed the Missouri
Mififieshpshay, muddy water, and this stream Minnesota. The
precise signification of Sotah is difficult to express. Some writers
have said it means clear, Schoolcraft bluish green, others turbid.
From the fact that the word signifies neither white nor blue, but
the peculiar appearance of the sky on certain days, the Historical
Society publications define Minnesota to mean the sky-tinted
water, which is certainly poetic, and according to Gideon H.
Pond, one of the best Dakotah scholars, correct."
Of course, tiie State was named after the river.

6. Teetons. Correct form, Tetonzcan (tee'ton-wan). Prairie-
dwellers.

7. Lac qui Parle (lak-ki-parl). The lake that speaks. It was
so called by the French in translating the Indian word iyedaii.
Some say the Indians named it on account of an echo — or because
they heard voices but saw no people when they went there first.

8. Rig Stone Lake. Evidently so named on account of the
many large boulders lying on its shores and blufis.

9. Assiniboine (as-sin'i-boine). Correct form, Assiniboanes.
"Their own distinctive name is never used; the neighboring
Algonquin tribes called them Assinipawlak, Stone warriors, as
some infer from the nature of the country near the Lake of the
^ ooAsy —A)nerica7i E7icyclopedia.

Another authority says the name means the people who roast
something on stones, because these people roast their meat on
red-hot stones.

10. lowas (i'o-was). English form for the French Ayavois,
which in turn was an attempt to pronounce the Dakota word
lyakhba. It means Sleepy ones.

Long before the days of the voyageurs, it is said, the Yanktons
lived upon the banks of the Red River of the North. One of their
noted warriors was killed in the progress of a feud. His relatives
retaliated, and the feud spread from family to family until the
tribal bond was broken, and the smaller faction of a thousand
lodges fled from the stronger and formed a lasting alliance with
one of the Algic races, the Kristenos or Crees.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 19^

11. Omahas (6'ma-haws).

12. Blue Earth. The river was given this name because of
the blue clay of the Cretaceous formation found in its banks.

13. Des ^^omes (de-moin').

14. Ojibwas (6-jib-vvays). Ochipwe, Ochipe, forms given by
Bishop Baraga. They never call themselves Chippewas as the
Americans name them. Warren says : " Ojibwa means to roast
till puckered up/* and that it originated in the custom of torturmg
their enemies by fire. He pronounces it O-jib-way.

15. Mdewaka7ito7iwa7i (mda-wah-kay'toy-wan). Sacred-Lake-

dvvellers.

16. JFa/^/t^^/^-J (w.nh-hpii'koo-tays). Leaf shooters.

17. Wahpetonwans (wah-hpa'ton-vvan). Leaf-dwellers.

18. Sissitonzvans (see-see'ton-wans). Marsh-dwellers.

19. Wiciyela (wi-chi-yea'lah).

20. \Vi (wee).

First Explorers.

1. Jean Nicolet (7.h5n ne'ko'laO-

2. Michigan (Cree word), from mishigam, big lake.

3. Le Jeune (leh zhun').

4. jourges (zhoor'zhaO- A French ensign. r

5. Raymbault (ram^bo'). A French ensign.

6. Sault Ste. Marie- more properly Sault de Sainle Marie (so
deh san ma' re). The Falls of St. Mary.

* 7. "Quebec, from kcpek, or kipqk, being shut; kipaw, it is
shut'. The Indians of the St. Lawrence still call it Kepek ; because
the river looks shut up by Diamond Cave, when going up, and by
the Orleans island, when coming <\o^w:'— Bishop Baraga.

8. Iroquois (ir-o-kwoy'). The Si.x Nations of New York;
namely, Cayugas, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Senecas, and
Tuscaroras.

9. Garreau igar-ro').

10. Nadouessioux (nld oo-ess-soo). A French attempt to pro-
nounce an Ojibwa word said to mean enemies. The name was
applied to the Dakotas. It is now abbreviated to Sioux.

192

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Groselliers and Radisson.

1. Medard Chouart (niay-dah' shoo-a').

2. Meaux (ni6). A town twenty-five or thirty miles north of
east of Paris, France, on the river Marne.

3. Pierre D' Esprit (pe-eredes-pri').

4. St. Male (s.ln mii' lo). Probably the seaport of that name
on the northwest coast of France.

5. Groselliers (gro-scl-ya'). Sieur (se-ur"). Sir.

6. Radisson (ra di son').

7. Canada (Cree word), a collection or village of huts.

8. Rene Menard (ren-ii me-na').

9. Chegoimegon (shag'war-me-gon'). Also spelled Chaq-wa-
mi-gon. Warren, perhaps the best authority, gives the phonetic
form Shag-a-waum-ik-ong.

10. Tetanga (ta-tang'a).

11. Isle Royale is the French form.

12. Prince Rupert. Nephew of Charles I. of England.

Rene Menard.

1. The Hurons themselves were of Iroquois stock, but the
latter became nevertheless their implacable enemies. The band
of them that settled at Lake Superior were e.xpelled by the Sioux,
and again wandered eastward. Part of the tribe exists to-day in
Canada under the old name, and part in Indian Territory under
the name of Wvandots.

2. Perrot (pa-ro').

3. Black River. The Sioux called it Sappah (sa-pa), black.
Then the French called it the Noire (nwa), black. Hence the
English form.

4. Marquette (mar-kef). A French Jesuit missionary. For
an account of his explorations, see U. S. History.

5. Allouez (al'wa').

The Fur Traders.

1. Conrcurs Jes bois (kou reilr dS bwa). Rovers, or rangers,
of the woods.

2. Voyageur (vwa'ya'zhiir^). A traveler.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 193

3. Bateaux (bat-oz')- Long, narrow boats tapering; rapidly
from the center toward both ends, and unstable save in the hands
of skillful boatmen.

4. Bois dn//e [hwahroo-Ki). Burnt wood. This name was
given to the half-breeds on account of their dark complexions.

Nicholas Perrot.

1. Jesuits (ges'u its). "A religious order founded by Ignatius
Loyola (loio'laj, and approved in 1540, under the title of The So-
ciety of Jesus.

"The order consists of Scholars, who take vows simply of
poverty, chastity, and obedience, and can leave the Society or be
dismissed from it, and professed Priests.who also make the same
three vows, but cannot be dismissed from the Society, nor dis-
charged from their obligations. The latter class is again divided
into Spiritual Coadjutors, ^vho have the care of souls, and Jesuits
of the Four Vows, who add to the three obligations already men-
tioned a fourth vow of undertaking any missions to which they
may be ordered by the proper authority, and from among whom
missionaries are SK:\QC\.ed." — ll''eds^ers Dictionary.

2. Talon (ta-lon').

3. Intendant. A minister in charge of public affairs. In refer-
ence to the French government of Canada, it usually meant a
minister of justice with somewhat enlarged duties.

4. St. Lusson (sant lus-son").

5. Joliet (zha le-a) was a Jesuit missionary. In 1673, accom-
panied by Marquette (mar-ktSf), he ascended Fox river, made a
portage to the Wisconsin river and descended to the Mississippi-
He then explored the latter stream nearly to its mouth.

Du Luth.

1. Du Luth (du lut).

2. Germain en Laye (ger-mfiin-an-la).

3. New France was the name given by Cartier (kar'te-a') to
the country adjacent to the St. Lawrence river. Later the name
was applied, somewhat indefinitely as to boundaries, to the north-
ern French possessions in Amenta.

4. This was for the purpose of extending the fur trade.

J94 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

5. Kamenistagoia. This word is said to be of Ir.dian origin
and to signify three mouths. It is applied generally to Three
Rivers at Thunder Bay, north shore of Lake Superior.

6. St. Louis River. Named after Louis XIV. of France.

7. It was customary in tal<ing possession of a new country to
erect the king's coat of arms on some natural or artificial object.
Hennepin's map represents them graven on the bark of an oak
with the sign of the cross above them. See page 15.

8. This tribe is described under the Dakotas, note 2.

9. The Songaskitons are the people mentioned in note 18, and
the Houetbatons those in note 17. of the Dakotas. It is well to
anglicize these names in pronunciation, as they are simply French
imitations of Indian words.

10. Mille Lacs. Literally, Thousand Lakes, but applied to this
one in particular. Du Luth called it Lac Buade in honor of
Frontenac, whose family name was Buade.

11. See the Fur Traders, note 4.

12. St. Croi.K (kroi). Named after one of the early French
traders who was drowned at its nKjuth by the capsizing of his boat.

13. Du Chesneau (doo shay'nO).

14. See Nicholas Perrot, note 3.

15. Frontenac (fron'te-nak). His real name was Louis Buade.
Count de Frontenac was his title of nobility.

Hennepin.

1. Recollects. Franciscan friars. Gray friars. Minorites. An
order of the Roman Catholic Church founded by St. Francis of
Assisi (a-see'see), Italy. They believe in e.xtreme poverty and a
life of contemplation. The Recollects were a reformed division
of the order.

2. Ath (at). A town of Belgium situated on the Dender, a
navigable branch of the Scheldt.

3. Artois (ar''twa'}. An old province in the northeast of
France.

4. Dunkirk idun'ktrk'). A fortified seaport of France situated
on the Strait of Dover.

5. Calais (ka'la'). A well-built town situated in Northern

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 195

France on the Strait of Dover. It is an important seaport, and is
fortified by castle and forts.

6. Sieur Robert Chevalier de La Salle (se ur' ro'ber' shev-ah-
lee-a' deh lah Sahl). See U. S. History.

7. Rouen (roo'tin). An old, important city of Normandy,
France, situated on the Seine about twenty-five miles from its
mouth.

8. Marquis de Seignelay (mar-kee deh san'yeh-laO- H's real
name was Jean Baptiste Colbert (zhon ba teest kol'ber). Like his
father he was a great statesman. In Hennepin's time the Missis-
sippi was called"" the Colbert in his honor ; before that the early
French explorers, for example Perrot, had called it the Louisiana
(loo'ee-ze-an'), doubtless after Louis XIV.

9. St. Joseph River. See map of Michigan.

10. Kankakee. From a Cree word (ka ka-kiw) meaning a
crow. See maps of Indiana and Illinois.

11. Peoria, singular form of Peorias, the name of a tribe of
Indians.

12. Crevecceur (kra-v-kiir).

13. Accault (ah'ko).

14. Picard du Gay (pee ka' doo gay).

15. See the Dakotas, note 15.

16. The same as Lake Pepin, which name w\as given to it
about the time Ft. Beauharnois was founded. Boucher had an
uncle of that name, and it was also the name of the Dauphin of
France. It may have been given on one of these accounts.

17. The St. Croix River.

iS. Lake Condc^ (kon da'). Lake Superior. Conde was the
name of a branch of the royal house of Bourbon (boor-bon).
Louis the XIV. was the greatest monarch of this time, and this is
but one of several instances where names were given in his honor.

19. The St. Anthony referred to was a Franciscan monk of
Padua (pid'ua). Italy.

20 Red Rock. Prof. A. \V. Williamson says: ''Inyan sha,—
inyan, stone ; sha, red ; the Dakota name of Red Rock, near St.
Paul A few rods from the river, near the house of Mr. Ford, an
early settler, was a large egg-shaped syenite boulder, believed by

196 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

the Indians to be the abode of a powerful spirit which they wor-
shiped by keeping the stone carefully painted red, and by offer-
ings of f.)od. Every stone and every other natural object was
believed by the Dakotasto be the abode of a spirit, but hard, egg-
shaped stones only were worshiped."

21. Kaposia (kali pozlia). Correct form, Kapoja. Meaning
light — not heavy. It was at first applied to the band living there,
because they were light-footed in playing la-crosse.

22. The S. A. were a myth of the early navigators who were
seeking for a northwest passage. It seems to have originated with
one of their number, Zalterius, in 1566. The S. A. were afterward
identified with Behring Strait.

23. St. Francis. See Hennepin, note r. The Indian name for
this stream signifies Every-where-Iake-river ; or Great River is the
name they sometimes gave it.

Ft. St. Antoine.

1. Commandant (com'nian-dant')-

2. De La Barre (deh la ba).

3. Trempeleau. See Expedition of 1817, note 2.

4. St. Antoine (s^n on'twiin'). Same as St. Anthony. See
Hennepin, note iS.

The early writers place this post on the Wisconsin shore of Lake
Pepin. For a mile or more from the foot of the lake, that shore
is marshy and so unfit for the placing of a fort. For a mile or two
more, dunes of somewhat shifting sand run so close to the shore
that an enemy upon them could conunand any fortification be-
tween them and the water. Thus it is probable Ft. St. Antoine
stood somewhere above the present village of Pepin, but below
Maiden Rock. Midway, a large trout stream, called Bogus Creek,
enters the river. Thirty-five years ago a trading post stood at its
mouth on a site now occupied by a farm house. The traditions
of the Indians and later voyageurs claim that very many years ago,
a few rods removed from this site, stood another post. Twelve
years ago, it is saiti, a Frenchman who had then reached the age
of one hundred one years claimed that he was wont to visit
it as a boy. Certainly, many reasons other than these point to
this as the site of Ft. St. Antoine.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 197

5. Denonville (cleh'non-veel'').

6. Miamis (mi-a'mis). Or Maumies. People who live on the
peninsula.

7. Foxes. A tribe of the Wisconsin \'alley.

8. See First Explorers, note S.

9. Proces-Verbal (pro-sa var-bal). It is here used with the
force of a proper noun, but is really a French common noun mean-
ing, official report; proceedings; journal.

10. St. Pierre (sin pe-C-r']. The Minnesota River. It is not
known after whom it was so called. See Ft. Beauharnois, note 12.

1 1. Le Sueur (leh-sii'ur').— A river, town, and county of Min-
nesota now bear his name.

12. Marest (mar-a').

13. The Jesuits. See Nicholas Perrot, note i.

La Hontan's Long River.

I. Gascon. A native of Gascony, France. The Gascons are
accused of being great boasters ; hence the origin of the word
gasconade.

Ft. Le Sueur.

1. Charlevoix (shar'leh-vwa')-

2. Isle Pelee (eel pc-l:\).

3. Warren speaks of a post built at Grand Portage between
1671 and the end of that century. He states it upon Indian tra-
dition, and thinks it must have been the oldest post in :Minnesota.
If his tradition does not refer to Ft. Kamenistagoia, Du Luth's
post built in 1679, and located according to ancient maps north of
Pigeon river and near Thunder Bay, then the post at Grand Portage
may have been older than Ft. Le Sueur.

Ft. L' Huillier.

1. D* Iberville (de'bcr'veeKj-

2. Biloxi (be-loks'O- See map of State of Mississippi.

3. Penicaut (pen'e-ko).

4. Green Ri\cr. There are green shales found on its banks.
The same river as the lUue Earth. See the Dakotas, note 12.

5. The place is not far froni the mouth of the Le Sueur river.

198 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

6. L' Huillier (loo'eel ya).

7. St. Remi (sail r6me ). St. Henry. The Le Sueur river.

8. D' Evaque 'deh-vark'^.

9. Illinois. An Algonquin word meaning, tribe of men.

JO. Mascoutins. Ojibua word. Dwellers on a small prairie.

Ft. Beauharnois.

1. Mackinaw (inak'i-naw). Abbreviation of Michilimackinac
(mish-il-T-mak'in-aw). Indian word meaning, Great turtle place.
It was always a great depot of the fur traders, and an important
military post, for this and other reasons, in the supremacies of
France, England, and the United States.

2. Vaudreuil 1 vo'dru'y). Father of the last French governor
of Canada.

3. La Noue (la-noo'). A French officer.

4. Linctot (laing'sto'j.

5. The Indians had learned that if priests came so would
traders. It was to secure the latter that they asked for the former
to be sent among them.

6. Guignas (geen'yi).

7. Gonor (go'nor').

S. Maiden Rock is a high bluff with a cliff front. Itissituated
on the east shore of Lake Pepin nearly opposite the point men-
tioned in the next note. According to the Indian legend, a maiden
named Winona (wee-no-na), whose parents had forbidden to marry
the young brave she loved, threw herself from the summit of the
cliflfand was killed.

9. I'ointe au Sable (poo-aingt 6 sa-bl). Point-in-the-sand.
Situated on the west shore of Lake Pepin five miles above Lake
City.

10. Rene- Dc Boucher (ren-a'deh boosha'). See U. S. History.

11. r>eauharnois (bo-arn-wa). There are certain places on
the point indicating its possible location.

12. Legardeur St. Pierre (la-'^ar-dcr sin pe-t-r'). It is some-
times thought that Le Sueur gave tlie name St. Pierre to tiie Min-
nesota river on his account.

13. Le BoL-uf (leh buf). It was situated on French creek in

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 199

northwestern Pennsylvania. See U. S. History.

The Northwest Passage.

1. Verandrie (va raii'drC).

2. Jemeraye (zliam-a-ray').

3. La Reine (lah rain).

4. Galllssonniere (ga'lee-so'ne-air').

5. jonquiere (zh5n'ki-c;r').

6. be Marin ,deh-ma-rangO-

7. Saskatchewan (Cree word), from kisiskafjizoan — ihc rapid

current.

French and EngUsh Supremacies.

I. Versailles (ver sfilz'). This pk^ce is seven or eight miles
southwest of Paris, France.
Carver's Explorations.

1. Du Chien <,du-sheen). Dog Prairie.

2. See First Explorers, note S.

3. See E.xpedition of 1S17, note 2.

Indian Wars.

1. Pillagers. It was almost a proverbial statement of the
traders that in the months that have no r the furs are good for
nothing. Then they were obliged to trust the Indians until the
time of the fall and winter hunts. But on one occasion a trader
refused to do this, and the Indians broke into his stores. Hence,
they were called the Pillagers — a name they gloried in for gen-
erations.

2. The Ojibwas claim that when they first beheld this lake
they saw an enormous leech swimming in it. Hence, the present
English name.

Wabasha's Mission.

I. Wabasha (uar'ba-shaw)- Correct form, Wapasha 'wah'
pah sha). Meaning, Red-banner.
The Northwest Company.

I. American goods were inferior to the English. The Indians

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

refused to accept the former after they had once obtained some of
the latter.

2. The preliminary treaty was signed at Versailles, the final
one at Fontainebleau forty miles up the Seine from Paris. The
latter, however, is sometimes called the treaty of Paris.

BEFORE THE TERRITORY.

Territorial Changes.

I. St. Ildefonso (san-eel-da-fun's6), a town sometimes called
La Granja (la grang-'ha) situated forty miles north-northwest of
Madrid, Spain. The treaty was a noted league made by the
prime minister Godoy and Napoleon.

Pike's Expedition.

1. He became a leading general of the U. S. Army, and was
killed at .Sackett's Harbor in the War of 1S12.

2. Wilkinson was noted in the history of Burr's Treason at
which time lie was governor of Louisiana Territory.

3. La Crosse (la-cross); a bat; a game of cricket; therefore,
not the crossing place of the river as some have supposed because
of the analogy between the English and French words.

F*ike describesthe game, as he saw it played at Prairie Du
Cliien, thus:

"The ball is made of some hard substance and covered with
leather, the cross sticks are round and net work, with handles
three feet long. [The balls are caught in small sinew nets,
cup-sized, and fastened to the bent circle at the end of a three-
foot hickory stick. — The Author. '\ * * * * The goals are
set up on the prairie at the distance of half a mile. The ball is
thrown up in the middle, and each party strives to drive it to the
opposite goal; and when cither party gains the first rubber, which
is driving it quick round the pr):,t. the ball is again taken to the
center of the ground [the sides] changed, and the contest renewed;
and this is continued until one side gains lour times, which de-

EXPLANATORY NOTES.

cides the game. * * * * It sometimes happens that one
catches the ball in his racket, and depending on his speed en-
deavors to carry it to the goal, and when he finds himself too
closely pursued, he hurls it with great force and dexterity to an
amazing distance, where there are always flankers of both parties
ready to receive it ; it seldom touches the ground, but is some-
times kept in the air for hours before either party can gain the
victory."

4. At this day nothing of the stockade remains, and as yet no
one has found the e.xact site.

5. Saulteurs is the correct form The name was given to the
Ojibwas because they once lived at Sault St. Marie. Hence the
pronounciation. su'tC-r.

6. Medals and flags were the pledges of their allegiance.
Therefore, Pike's real purpose was to give them those of the
United States in exchange.

7. See Dakotas, note iS, for Indian form. The present an-
glicized form is Sisseton.

8. Gens des Feuilles (zh5ng deh foo-yfl). The tribe of the
leaves. Doubtless the same tribe as mentioned under Dakotas,
note 17.

9. Gens du Lac (zhong doo lack). Evidently the tribe men-
tioned under Dakotas, note 15.

10. The Yanktons. See Dakotas, note 4.

11. The Indians counted it the highest honor to load their
guns with ball and fire as close to approaching guests as possible;
'because the guests were apprised by the good marksmanship how
completely they were at the mercy of tlie Indians, and at the same
time, by the absence of injury, how highly they were esteemed
and how cordially they would be treated.

Minnesota Indians in War of 1812.

1. Tecumseh (t'kum'seh). See U. S. Hi-story. Shawnee,
Southerner.

2. He was generally knou-n as the Prophet, and was Tecum-
seh's great support in the instigation '>f this war.

3. This post was situated abuut thirty miles from the mouth of
the Maumee in Ohio.

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

4. Tahamie (ta-a'mi). Supposed to be a corniption of Ta-
maha (ta-ma-ha')- The pike (fish).

5. Hay-pee-dan. From he-pi, "third child born, if a son,''
and dan a diminutive ending.

6. Ghent (gent). Situated in Belgium on the Scheldt. See
U. S. History close of the War of 1S12.

Traders and Selkirkers.

1. Pomme deTerre (pumdeh ter). Literally, apple of ground,
meaning the potato. Tipsinna (teep'sen-na), was the Indian name.
The T. is a farinaceous bulb much prized for food, especially by
the Indian children.

2. It is only just to say that some of Dickson's associates
give him an excellent record for honorable dealing.

3. As to his motive, Neill says: "The Earl of Selkirk, a
wealthy, kind-hearted, but visionary nobleman of Scotland, wrote
several tracts, urging the importance of colonizing British emi-
grants in these distant British possessions, and thus check the
disposition to settle in the United States.''

4. Acadia was the old name of Nova Scotia. The French
colonists who lived at Grand Pr^ on the basin of the Minas were
driven from their homes, placed on board ships, and scattered
among the people of the southern English colonies. This was in
the time of the French and Indian War — in the summer and fall of
1755- For the pitiful story of broken family circles, see works on.
U. S. History, and Longfellow's Evangeline.

Expedition of 1817.

1. Roque (rok).

2. See text in reference to note 2, Carver's Explorations.

3. Montague Trcmpe el Eau imong-tiing'ya trang-p al 6).
The mountain steeped ia the water ; therefore, standing in the
water.

4. Aux Aisles, or fully given, F'rairie Aux Aisles (6-zc-l). The
prairie with wings. It is not known why it was so named, but it
is the author's opinion that it may have been on account oi the
long valleys expending back into the hills from its extremities.

5. See Wabasha's Mission, note i.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 203;

6. The Bear Dance, described by Maj. Long, was a peculiar
ceremony through which a young man went when about to become
a warrior. He made him a den in the earth and simulated a bear,
while the other young men of the tribe hunted him. If he escaped
from them, which he might do at the risk of sacrificing their lives,
or even if he defied the skill of his pursuers for several hours, he
was counted worthy to enter the state of manhood and upon the
life of a warrior.

Ft. Snelling.

1. For information concerning this noted statesman refer to
any standard U. S. History

2. Cantonment (c;tn'ton-ment).

3. Mendota. Indian form, Mdote (mdo'tay). Mouth of a
river.

4. Drachenfels (driich en-felz). Dragon's rock. One of tlie
noted old castles of Germany.

Crawford County.

I. This county organization remained in force under the juris-
diction of Wisconsin Territory.

Lewis Cass Expedition.

1. Taliaferro (t5ri-ver).

2. Sacs (sawks). The same as Sauks.

3. Shakopee. Correct form, Shakpe (shii'kpa). Six. v

The Fur Companies.

1. Prof A. W. Williamson says: '■'■ Mdehdakinyan ^mday-
hdah-kin-yan). Lake lying crosswise; the Dakota name uf Lake
Traverse, it lying crosswise to Big Stone Lake."

2. John Jacob Astor, a wealthy merchant of New York City.

Selkirk's Colony.

1. Pembina. Cree word. From )iipi»iina, watery berries,
nipiy, water, and 7)iina, berries. Hiyh busli cranberries.

2. It is not positively known why the Red River was so named.
Fanciful reasons have been given from time to time. The French

204 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

in early days called it J^ivi^re Sanglanie (ri-vier s6n-glunt), Bloody
River, in all likelihood because of one or more of the many bloody
feuds which occurred upon its banks.

Long's Explorations.

1. Joseph Snelling became an author of considerable repute.
He wrote both prose and poetry. His best book was entitled
"Tales of the Northwest." Just previous to his death, which oc-
curred in 1S4S, he was editor of the Boston Herald.

2. Traverse des Siou.x. Crossing of the .Sioux ; the place
where their great trail, which led to the northwest, crossed the
Minnesota river.

3. "The question is often asked, 'Why does the northern boun-
dary of Minnesota bend suddenly north at the Lake of the Woods
and make that singular projection into British America.' The
answer to this question carries us back to the ' Provisional Articles
between the United States of America and his Britannic Majesty,
concluded November 30th, 17S2.' These articles were the result
of the negotiations made by and between Riciiard Oswald, the
commissioner on the part of Great Britain, and John Adams.
Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens, commissioners
of the L^nited States for treating of peace at the close of the Rev-
olutionary War.

"At the conference of tliese commissioners, no objection was
made on the part of ' His Britannic Majesty' to acknowledging the
United States 'to 'be free, sovereign and independent,' but consider-
able discussion took place over the northern boundary. After
settling upon the line as it now runs througli lakes Ontario. Erie
and Huron it was claimed by the British commissioner that it
should proceed through the middle of the Strait of ^Lackinac and
Lake .Michigan to the southernmost point of said lake and thence
due west to the Mississi[)pi river. To this proposal all the com-
missioners on the part of the United States were inclined to assent
except Franklin. He, however, made decided objections. The
nature of tiie country along the western siiores of Lake Superior,
its wealth "f cop;)cr, iron and precious metals, its abundant timber
and its magnificent water powers had not escaped his vigilance

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 205

even at. that early day. While the others were willing to give up to
Great Britain what is now the northern part of Illinois, the whole
of Wisconsin, the upper peninsula of Michigan and part of Minne-
sota as worthless, he insisted that the boundary line should follow
the trail of the old half breed voyageurs from the mouth of Pigeon
river along the channel of the water ways communicating with
tlie Lake of the Woods. Oswald finally agreed to this demand
of Franklin's on condition that he should not oppose the remain-
ing article of the treaty. So it was agreed that the line should
run 'through Lake Superior north of Isle Royaleand Philippeaux,
to the Long Lake; thence through the middle of said Long Lake
and the water communicating between it and the Lake of the
Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; thence through the said
lake to the most northwestern point thereof, and from thence on
a due west course to the river Mississippi.'

"i^tthe 'DefinitiveTreaty of Peace' concluded at Paris Septem-
ber 3d, 17S3, the above boundary was established.

"Before the treaty of London was made — November 19th,
1794) grave doubts began to be entertaiuf d as to whether a line
drawn due west from the Lake of the Woods would strike the
Mississippi at all, and Article IV. of said treaty reads as follows:
'Whereas it is uncertain whether the river Mississippi extends so
far to the northward as to be intersected by a line to be drawn
due west from the Lake of the Woods, in the manner mentioned
in the treaty of peace between His Majesty and the United States,
it is agreed that measures be taken in concert between His
Majesty's Government in America and the Government of the
United States for making a joint survey of the said river from
one degree of latitude below the Falls of St. Anthony, to the
principal source or sources of said river, and also of the parts
adjacent thereto; and that if, on the result of such survey, it
should appear that the said river would not be intersected by such
a line as is above mentioned, the two parties will thereupon pro-
ceed, by amicable negotiation, to regulate the boundary line in
that quarter.'

"As no settlement of the northwest bcjuiukiry was m.ide under
this article it again came up for adjustnient at Ghent, December

2o6 ' HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

24th, 1S14. Here provision was made— Article VII.— for two com-
missioners, one to be appointed by his Britannic Majesty and the
other by the President of the United States, who were, in addition
to other duties, 'to fix and determine, according- to the true intent
of the treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred a::d eighty-
three, that part of tiie boundary between the dominions of the
two powers which e.xtends from the water communication between
Lake Huron and Lake Superior to the most northwestern point
of the Lake of the Woods. * * * and particularize the latitude
and longitude of the most northwestern part of the Lake of the
Woods."

"The commissioners appointed as above were for a u hile puzzled
to decide between the point of the lake at Rat Portage, at the
northern e.xtremity of the lake, and the ' northern point of the bay
now known as the northwest angle.' The principle on which the
vexed question was finally settled, by Dr. J. L. Tiak, British as-
tronomer, in favor of the northwest angle, is this : 'the northwest
point is that on which, if a line be drawn in the plane of a great
circle, making an angle of 45° with the meridian, such a line would
cut no other water of the lake.' This principle is probably the
correct one, but it seems a little singular to the ordinary student
of geography, that a place so near the southern part of the lake
can be the most northwest corner. The commissioners were not
able to place a landmark at the spot agreed on as the northwest
point on account of its being- in a quagmire, so they built a refer-
ence monument seven feet square by twelve feet high of oak and
poplar logs. The latitude of t!;e ' point ' was given as 49° 23'' 6.48'''
and the longitude as 95° lY 38'^ approximately.

"It now only remained for the convention at London of Oc-
tober 20th, iSiS, to agree that 'a line drawn from the most north-
western point of the Lake of the Woods along the forty-ninth
parallel of north latitude, or if the said point shall not be in the
forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, then that a line drawn from
the said point due north or south, as the case may be, until the
said line shall intersect the said parallel of north latitude, and from
the point of such intersection, due west along and with said par-
allel, shall be the line of demarcation between the territories of

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 207

the United States and those of His Britannic Majesty, and that the
said line shall form the northern boundary of the United States
and the southern boundary of the territories of His Britannic
Majesty from the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains.'

[It is to be borne in mind that while the treaty of Ghent pro-
vided for finding the X. W. Angle it was not determined by Tiak
until 1S25; nor was the provision of the convention of London,
just recorded, and which anticipated the time when the angle
should be determined, made effective until tlie boundary was so
defined and ratified by the treaty of November loth, 1842.—
Author.']

"In 1S72 another set of commissioners appointed for tlie pur-
pose had great difficulty in recovering this position. At one time
trouble with Great Britain was seriously threatened. The point
having been fixed by the commissioners acting under the treaty
of Ghent could not be changed, and the above given description
by latitude and longitude 'was not sufficiently accurate to deter-
mine its position.' The lake when visited was unusually high;
the aspen logs which composed the larger part of the monument
had rotted away and the oak ones were several feet under water,
and not easily found. They were, however, at last discovered and
the position of the 'northwest point' finally fi.xed at latitude 49°
23' 50.28", longitude 95° S' 56.9^^ The position of the N. W.
point as fi.xed by Captain Anderson, Royal Engineer, and Maj.
F. U. Farquar, LTnited States Engineer, during the fall of 1S72,
was not finally agreed to by the commissioners until September,
1S74."— JK W. Pe)idcrgast.

The language of the treaty quoted above is somewhat obscure
in reference to the plan of determining the N. W. Angle ; but the
map here given, and the subjoined rules, formulated by the author
after consulting Dr. J. E. Davies of the United States Coast Sur-
vey, will, it is believed, make the whole subject clear.

ist. To find the X. W. Angle.— Travel northward on the west
shore of the lake to the first point from whose meridian a line can
be drawn northeasterly, at an angle of 45°, without striking the
lake again.

2d. To find the X. E. Angle. —Travel northward on tlie east

:o8

HISTORY OF JIINXESOTA.

shore to the first point as a from whose meridian a Hne can be drawn
northwesterly at an angle of 45^^, without striking the lake again.

3d. To find tlie S. £. Angle. — Travel soutiiward on the east
shore to a first point b where a line drawn southwesterly, at an
angle of 45°, will not again strike the lake.

4th. To find the S. W. Angle. — Travel southward on the west
shore to a first point c from which a line drawn southeasterly, at
an angle of 45'', will not again strike the lake.

49 N.L

4. Winnipeg. Correct form, lVi>inipek, meaning swamps;
salt water ; unclean water. Used commonly in speaking of the
sea water.

Source of the Mississippi.

1. This name, originally applied to Lake Itasca, belongs, as now
referred to, to the small lake close to the southeast side of the west
arm of Itasca. On Nicollet's map, which see elsewhere in this book,
it may be distinguished by three streamlets entering it of which the
most easterly drains a lakelet somewhat smaller than itself.

2. Pemidji, or Bemidji, Boutucil says, remidjinuirk, cross-
ing place. Mr. Gilfillan, of While Earth, says : " The lake where

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 209-

the current flows directly across the water, referring to the river
flowing squarely out of the lake on the east side, cutting it in two
as it were ; very briefly, it is Cross Lake."

3. Nicollet says : '' These elevations are commonly flat at top,
varying in height from eighty-five to one hundred feet above the
level of the surrounding waters. They are covered with thick
forests in which the coniferous plants predominate. South of
Itasca Lake they form a semicircular region, with a boggy bottom,
extending to the southward a distance of several miles ; thence
these Hauteurs des Terrcs ascend to the northwest and north,
and then stretching to the northeast and east, through the zone
between xi'^ and 48^ of latitude, make the dividing ridge between
the waters that empty into Hudson Bay and those which disciiarge
themselves into the Gulf of Mexico. The principal group of these
Hauteurs des TVrrf-y is subdivided into several ramifications, vary-
ing in e.xtent, elevation, and course, so as to determine the hydro-
graphical basins of ail the innumerable lakes and rivers that so
peculiarly characterize this region of country."

See Nicollet's map of the Itasca region.

Count Beltrami.

1. The title on his passport was Le Chevalier Count Beltrami.
The latter word as applied to a county of the State is pronounced
B^l-tra'mi, and it may be so pronounced here. It is supposed that
B. was banished from the Papal States. For interesting anecdotes
about him and his own narrative of explorations, see Neill's large
history of Minnesota.

2. Beltrami says : "I have given it the name of the respect-
able lady whose life (to use the language of her illustrious friend
the Countess of Albany) was one undeviating course of moral
rectitude."

Indian Treaties.

I. Fond du Lac. French expression literally signifying, bot-
tom of the lake.— tiurdbre, end of the lake. The term is applied
somewhat loosely, now to the end nearest the inlet, and again to
the one at the outlet.

2IO HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Border Wars.

1. Wiimebagoes. Those who dwell by a sea. The word is
of the same ori-in as Wir.nipes; ; see Long's Explorations, note 4.

Schoolcraft's Expedition.

1. The voyageurs and explorers often found it necessary on
their journeys to carry tlieir boats and baggage overland from one
body of water to another. The portages, as they were for obvious
reasons called, occurred most frequently between two rivers at
their nearest or most accessible point of approach. Men accus-
tomed to this duty were able to carry heavy burdens long distances
without apparent fatigue. See the graphic illustrations elsewhere
in this book. The name portage is given to the place as well as
to the act of carrying.

2. Savanna River. Literally, Prairie River.

3. One day when the expedition was coasting westward along
the shore of Lake Superior, Mr. Schoolcraft said to Mr. Boutwell,
•'You are a classical scholar, give me a name for the true source
of the Mississippi, to be applied when we shall have found it."

Boutwell replied, "1 do not think of one word, but there are
two Latin words, verifas, truth, and capn^, head."

In a moment Schoolcraft answered, " I have it! Itasca! "
Thus the name existing to-day was crudely coined from the
last two syllables of the first word and the first of the last. Mr.
Boutwell related these facts to the author in the summer of 1SS6.
Of course, it would not be difficult to find words in the Indian
languages of like sound, and so many have sought in that way to
trace out its derivation.

4. Little Crow was grandfather of the Little Crow spoken of
in the Sioux massacre.

5. Prof. Williamson says: " Shunkasapa, — ^////-'//ea, dog; sa/>a,
black; Black Dog, a Dakota chief, and name of his village near
Hamilton Station, Omaha (Sioux City) Railway.

6. Neill says: "The first school-master of the post was John
Marsli. He is said to have been a college graduate, and acmui-
panied the first troops to the mouth of the Minnesota river. In
time he became a trader's clerk, and afterwards a sub-Indian

EXPLANATORY NOTES.

agent, and justice of the peace for Crawford county, Minnesota.
In 1S32. during the Black Hawk War, he ascended the Mississippi
and secured the services of about eighty Sioux warriors, and ac-
companied them, as interpreter, to the army of Gen. Atkinson.
but they soon returned."

7. Black Hawk was a Sauk chief. For an account of this war
see U. S. History.

Featherstonhaugh.

1. Featherstonhaugh (feth'er-ston-haw\

2. Coteau des (ko'tOdehi Prairies. Hill of the prairies or
plains.

Catlin.

1. The pipestone lies buried six feet or more beneath the jas-
per on the flats below the quartzite cliffs. There are abundant
relics of Indian camps, old and new. in the vicinity. See illustra-
tions of a Yankton band digging the stone.

2. Waraju (wa-ra-hoo); from wagha, cottonwood, and -hu,
plant. Tanka. great, chistina (chees'te-na), little. Hence Wa-
raju Tanka and Waraju Chistina.

3. A shattered column belonging to the quartzite clifts. Its
top, viewed from certam positions, appears like a iiuman head in
profile. See illustration.

4. These theories are explicitly stated, in connection with
other interesting facts, upon pages 63, 64, 65 and 66 of the Minne-
sota Geological Report, Vol. 1.

5. Two or three miles northeast of the quarry is seen a nar-
row ridge-like mound, three or four feet in height. It incloses
perhaps ten acres in somewhat circular form, and within it are a
few small conical mounds. Tradition relates that a great battle
took place there more than a century ago between the lowas and
Omahas.

6. The three largest of six red granite boulders. They are
abuut twentv feet in length bv twelve m height. According to a
legend, a contest occurred lien- in which all tlie Indians pen^h-d
save three maidens who hid l)ehind these rocks; hence the name

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

given to tlie latter. From these women sprang the present race
of Indians. For another beautiful legend of the quarry read this
selection from Longfellow's Iliawatlia:

THE PEACE-PIPE.

On the Mountains of the Prairie,
On tlie great R<.d Pipe-stone Quarry
Gitche Nia.iito, the nnt;hly,
He the Master of Life, descending,
On the red craps of the quarry
Stood erect, and called the nations,
Called the tribes of men together.

From his footprints tlow-.-d a ri\er.
Leaped into the light of nioruine,
O'er the precipice piunui;!'.: downward
Gleamed like Ishkoodah, the comet.
And the Spirit, stooping earthward,
With his finger on the n:eadow
Traced a winding pathway for it.
Saying to it, " Run in this way ! "

From the red stone of the quarry
With his hand he broke a fragment,
Moulded it into a pipe-head,
Shaped and faiiiionetl it with figures,
From the margin or thv? river
Took a long reed fi'r a pipe-stem.
With its dark green leaves upon it ;
Filled the pipe with bark of wilK.w,
Witli the bark of the red \\ illow:
Breathed upon the iieighl>oring forest,
Made its great boughs chafe t'lgetiier,
Till in tLame they burst and kindltd;
And erect upon the mountains,
Gitche Maiiilo. the mighty.
Smoked the calumet, the Peace-Pipe
Asa signal to the nations.

And tiio smoke rose slowly, slowly
Through the tranquil air of morning,
First a single line olclar^ness,
Then a denser, bhier vapor.
Then a snow-whi;e cloud unfolding.
Like the tree-tops ot the forest,
Ever rising, rising, rising.
Till It touched the top of heaven.
Till it broke a',-aiii^t the heaven.
And rolled ouiwnri all around it.

F'rom tlie Wile of Taw.isenlha,
From the Xaliev of Wyoming,
From the gruxes of Tuscaloosa,
From thol.;:--.i; R,.cky .Mountains,
Fromt!,_X ■;' :;: 1. ikes and rivers
Alltho tr/ ~ ; , M. thesignal.
Saw tl c • , ke ascending,

The Pi;Ia ,,,,■•,._. I'e.ace-l'ipe.^

Andlh..- Pr.-; iiL'.i nt the nations
Sai.l- •• P,o-i-.! 1 i;, tt.e Pukwana!
By this Signal from afar oft.
Bending like a wand of willow,
Waving hke a hand tliat beckons,
Gitche Manilo, the mighty.

Calls the tribes ofmen together,
Calls the warriors to his council ! "

Down the rivers, o'er the prairies.
Came the warriors of the nations,
Came the Deiawaresand Mohawks,
Came the Choctaws and Camanches,
Came the Shoshonies and Blackfeet,
Came the Pawnees and Omahas.
Came the Mandans and Dacotalis,
Came the Hurons and Ojibways.
.Ml the warriors drawn together .
P.y the signal ofthe Peace-Pipe,
To the Mountains ofthe Prairie,
To the great Red Pipe-slone Quarry.

.And they stood there on the meadow.
With ".heir weapons and their war-gear,
I'ainted like the leaves of .Autumn,
Painted like the skv of morning,
Wildly glaring at each other;
In the'irYaces stern deliance.
In their hearts the feuds of ages.
The hereditary hatred.
The ancestral thirst of vengeance.

Gitche .Manito, the mighty.
The creator of tlT^ nations,
Looked upon them with compassion,
With paternal love and pit\' :
Looked upon their wrath and wrangling
But as quarrels amonir children.
But as feuds and fi'.jhts ei children !

Over them he stretched his right hand.
To subdue their stubborn natures,
To allay tlieir thirst and fever.
By the shadow of his right hand :
S[)ake to them with \ oice majestic
-\s the sound of far-off waters,
Falling into deep abysses,
Warning, chiding, spake in thiswise: —

'' O my children I my poor children !
Listen to the words of wisdmn,
Listen to the words of warning.
From the lips ofthe Great Spirit,
F"roni the .M.isterof Life who made you I

" I have given you lands to hunt in,
I have given you streams to fish in,
I have given you bear and bison,
I have given you roe and reindeer,
I have given von brant and beaver.
Filled themafsb.cs full of wild-fowl,
Filled the rivers lull ot tisties:
■Why then are >on not contented?
Whv then will you hunt each other?

" I am weary of your quarrels,
Weary of your wars ancl bloodshed,
Wear>- of your prayers for vengeance.

EXPLANATORY NOTES.

213

Of vour wratii^lings and dissensions;
All vour strengtli is in your union,
All Vour danger is in discord ;
Thertfore be at peace lienceforward.
And as brothers live togoiher.

•' I will send a Prophet to you,
A Deliverer of the nations,
Who shall guide you and shall teach you,
Who shall toil and suffer with you.
If voii listen to his counsels.
You will multiply and prosper;

Ifl

vnrnmgs pass ui

You will fade awav and perish !
" Bathe now 111 the stream betore '

Wash the war-paint from your face:

Wash the blood-stains Irom your fingers, |

Burv vour war-clubs and vour weapons, 1

Break the red stone from this quarry, ;

Moidd and make it into Peace-Pipes, 1

Take the reeds that grow beside you, i

Deck them with your brightest leathers,

Smoke the calumet together.

And as brothers live henceforward !
Then upon the ground the warriors

Threw their cloaks and shirts of deer-
skin, .

Threw their weapons and their war-
gear,

Leaped into the rushing ri\er.

Washed the war-paint from their faces,

—By favor of Houghton

Clear above them flowed the water,
Clear and limpid from the footprints
Of the Master of Life descending ;
Dark below them flowed the water.
Soiled and stained with streaks of crim-
son.
As it blood were mingled w ilh it !

From the river came the warriors.
Clean and washed from all their war-
paint ;
On the banks their clubs they buried,
lUiried all their warlike weapons.
Gitche Manito, the mighty.
The Great Spirit, the creator.
Smiled upon his lielpless children !

And in silence all the warriors
Broke the red stone of the quarrv,
Sniootlied and formed it into Teace-

Pipes,
Broke the long reedsbv the river.
Decked them with their brightest feath-
ers.
And departed each one homeward,
While the Master of Life, ascending.
Through the opening of cloud-curtains,
Through the doorv.-ays of the heaven,
Vanished Irom before their faces, _
In the smoke that rolled around him.
The Pukwanaof the Peace-Pipe!

Mifflin (^ Co., Boslon.

7. See illustrations taken from the Minnesota Geological Re-
port, Vol. I. The author has verified them by three personal in-
spections of the rocks, which have now been removed. They are
supposed to be chiefs' totems. For an excellent description of
such symbols read the following also from Hiawatha:
PICTURE WRITLXG.

In those davs said Hiawatha,

*• Lo ! How' all things fade and perish!

From the memory ot the old men

Pass awav the great traditions.

The achievements of the warriors.

The adventures of the hunters.

All the wisdom of the .Medas,

All the craft of the VVabenos,

All the marvelous dreams and visions

Of the Jossakeeds, the Piophets!

"Great men die anii are forgotten.
Wise men speak ; their words ol wisdom
Perish in the ears that hcarthera,
Do not reach the generations
That, as yet unborn, are waiting
In the great. mvs'.e'-ious darkne-s
Of lb': speedii-ssri.i\s that shall be'

"On thegrave-piistsof our fathers
Are no signs, no figures painted
Who are in those graves we know not.

I Oiilv know thev are our fathers,

i t )f what kith they are and kindred,

1 From what old ancestral Totem,

Be it Eagle, Bear, or Beaver,

I They descended, this we know not,

I Onlv know they are our fathers.
I " Face to face we speak to-:elher,

I But we cannot speak when absent.

I ( Luinot send our voices from us

j \o the friends that dwell afar off;

! Cannot send a secret message.

; But the bearer learns our secret,

i Mav pervert it, may betray it,

1 Mav reveal it unto otlicrs."
I rhiissaid Hiawatha, walking

■ In the solitarv forest,

; pondering, m'usmg in the forest,

! On the welfare of his people.

From his pouch be took his color

: Took his paints of different i-olois.

214

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

On the smooth bark of a birch-tree

Painted many shapes aiii! rt.trures,

Wonderful and mystic figures,

And each figure had a meaning,

Each some word or tho;:criit succgested.

Gitche Manito, the Mighty,

He. the Master of Lil'e, was painted

As an eg?, with points priijeoting

To the four winds of the hea\ens.

Everywhere is the Great Spirit.

Was the meaning of tliis symbol.

Mitche Manito, the Mia:htv,
He. the dreadful Spirit of Evil,
As a serpent was depictetl.
As Kenabeek, the f;r^'at serpent.
Very crafty, very cunninsj,
Is the creeping Spirit oi Evil,
Was the meaning of this symbol.

Life and Death lie drew as circles.
Life was white, but Death was dark-
ened;
Sun anti moon and stars he painted,
Man and beast, and tisli and reptile.
Forests, mountains, lakes and rivers.

For the earth he drew a straight line,
For the sky a bow above it ;
White the space between for day-time,
Filled with little stars for night-time ;
On the Kfi a point fur sunrise,
On the right a point for sunset,
On the top a point for noontide.
And for rain and cloudy weather
Waving lines descending from it.

Footprints pointing towards. a wig-
wam
Were a sign of invitation.
Were a sign of guests assembling;
Bloody hands with palms uplifted
Wereasvmbol of destructi. m,
Were a hostile sign and ssnibol.

AIJ these tilings di<l Hiawatha
Show unto his womlering ptopie,
And interpreted their meaning,
And he said: " Behold, your grave-posts
Have no mark, no? ign, nor s\ nibol.
Go and paint tliem all witli figures ;
Each one with its household symbol.
With iteionn ancestral Totem
So that those who follow after
^Lay distinguish them and know them."

And they p.unted on the gra\ e-posts
On the graves yet unf.iri;iHten,
Each his own ance-itral Tottm,
Each the svmhol of his household ;
Figures of the IVaraiul Reindeer,
Of the Turtle, Crane, and Beaver,
Each inverted as a token
That tiic owner was departed.
That the chief who b.v- ih,- symbol
Lay beneath in dust atid ashes.

And the Jossakecds, the Prophets,
The Wabenos, the .Magicians,

And the Medicine-nicn, the Medas,
Painted upon bark and deer-skin
Figures for the songs they chanted.
For each song a separate symbol,
Figures mystical and awful,
Figures strange and hrightly colored;
Anfl each figure had its meaning,
Each some macric song suiigested.

The Great Spirit, the Creator,
Flashing light throu-h all the heaven ;
The Great Serpent, the Kenabeek,
With his bloody crest erected.
Creeping, looking into heaven ;
In the sky the sun, that listens,
And the moon eclipsed and dving ;
Owl and eagle, crane and heri-hawk,
Amt the cormorant, birti of magic ;
Hea<iless metuhat walk the lieavens,
Bodies Iving pierced with arrows.
Bloody hands of death uplifted,
Flags on graves, and great war-captains
Grasping both the earth and heaven !

Such astFiese the shapes tliev painted
On the birch-bark and the <ieer-skin ;
Songs of war and S'Migs of liunting.
Songs of medicine and of magic.
All were w ritttri in these figures,
For each figure had its meaning.
Each its se(iarate song recorded.

Xor forgotten was the Lo\e-Song,
The most subtle of all medicines,
The most potent spell of magic.
Dangerous more than war or hunting !
Thus the Love-Song was recorded.
Symbol and interpretation.

First a human figure standing, ■
Painted in the brightest scarlet ;
'Tis the lover, the musician,
And the meaning is, " My painting
Makes me powerful o\er others."

Then the figure seated, singing,
Playing on a drum of magic.
And the interpretation, " Listen !
'Tis my voice you hear, my singing! "
i Then the same red figure seated
I In the shelter of a \\ igwam,
And the meaning of the symbol,
" I will come and sit beside you
I In the mystery of my passion I "

Then tW(.) figures. ni;iii and woman.
Standing haiul m hand together
With their hands so cla-^pld together
That they seem in ohl- uniteil.
And the words thus represented
Are, " I see your heart within you.
And your cheeks are red with blushes ! '•

Next the maiden on an island.
In the center of an island ;
And the song this shape suggested
Was, " Though you were at a distance.
Were upon some far-oft island.
Such the spell I cast upon you,

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 215

Then the h-ure ot the maineti To >oui naUd hearl ' « '^ ^P" .

<;ippnin<- ana the lover noar her. Thus il ua- tl.al llia\\aina,

Wh?s|re7in "toher in her shnnbers, I In his wisdcn, tauglU tl>. people

Sa\ini:. " TM.>ui;ii

All the mvst.jii' i.'fi'aiiUini:,

Drawn uithiii a magic circle ; ■ ,

-By favor of Hou^hto,,, Mifflni Cr- Co., Boston.

Dred Scott.

I. Dred Scott was plaintiiT in error before the United States
Supreme Court, at the December term of 1S56, versus Jotin F. A.
Sandford, his alleged master. The decision of Judge Taney is m

brief: —

(a) "A free negro of the African race, whose ancestors were
brought to this country and sold as slaves, is not a citizen within
the meaning of the Constitution of the United States."

(5) "Everv citizen has the right to take with bin: into the
Territory any articles of property which the Constitution of the
United States recognizes as property

(c) " The Constitution of the United States recognizes slaves
as propertv, and pledges the Federal Government to protect it.
and Con-ress cannot exercise any more authority over property
of that descripiion than it may constitutionally exercise over
property of any other kind.

(d) "The act of Congress, therefore, proliibiting a citizen of
the United States from taking with him his skives when he re-_
moves to the Territory in question to reside, is an exercise ol
authoritv over private property which is not warranted by the
Constilution-andthe removal of tlie plaintiff, Dy Ins owner, to-
that Territory, gave him no title to freedom."

2. Roger Brooke Taney itaw'ni).

Nicollet.

I jean Nicolas Nicollet fzhon nrco'hV ni'co'kV). His name
as used oL-ographicallv in Mir.i,e>ota is pronounced Nik'ol let.

2. Cluses ;klooz), a touu .uuated hi France twcnty-lhre^
miles southeast of Geneva, Switzerland

2l6 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

3. Haute Savoie (hot sa'vwii). High or Upper Savoy, a
province of eastern France.

4. La Place (Ici'plass^) was a French mathematician. He is
known to all scholars throughout tiie world.

5. This order was instituted by Napoleon I. in 1S02 to reward
men of genius who should make great achievements in either civil
or military life. Its decoration was once a cross often points;
again, a five-pointed, white enameled, gold-edged, gold wreath-
encircled star, with blue, circular center shield bearing the em-
peror's head.

6. Fronchet (fron'sha).

7. Brunet (broo'na'). Nicollet says of him, "* * * my prin-
cipal guide, Francis Brunet, a man six feet three inches high — a
giant of great strength, but, at the same time, full of the milk of
human kindness, and withal an excellent natural geographer."

8. J. N. Nicollet.

C. F. ^

C. A. C. I

J- L. -rl

T. E. F. •< g

'j.R. %'^
Gen. Freniont, in a letter to C. H. Bennett, of Pipestone, says:
"The two sets of initials inscribed to which you particularly re-
fer are for Charles Fremont, as I then commonly wrote my name,
and J. Eugene Flandin, a young gentleman from New York, who
was attached to the party."

9. Manito, also spelled .Manitou (mdu'l-tou). Spirit; the
name given by the Indians to the Great S{)irit. SeeCatlin, note 3.

10. The name seems to have been applied to both the Manito
and the rock from which the leap was made to the head of the
jManito.

Gen. Fremont, in the letter mentioned in note 8, says :

"I wonder if tiic chimney [.Manito] which stood in front of the

escarpment is still staiuling? It required a sure foot to jump from

the main rock to the top of it. "

A young brave, so runs the legend, made the hrst leap and won

thereby a chieftain's daughter. Hence tiie name of t!ie rock.

EXPLANATORY NOTES.

217

11. Baron Frederick Henry Carl Fouqud{foo'ka). A German
novelist and poet. His "Undine" stands in high literary repute.

12. See illustration.

13. See account of La Hontan elsewhere in this history.

14. See Whittier's Prayer of Agassiz. Louis John Rudolph

Agassiz (ag'a-see, a-g.ls \z) was a Swiss by birth, but an Americj
by life-long associations.

First Protestant Missions.

1. Poage (

pog

2. Names of Dakota chiefs.

3. Lausanne (16'zan').

Events of 1837.

I. After this, by treaties made in 1S42, 1S47, 1854, 1S55, March
1863, October 1S63, 1S64, and 1S66, the Ojibwas little by little
ceded their Miimesota lands to the general government, and at
last came to reside on the various reservations in the northern
part of the State as indicated upon the historical chart in tlie be-
ginning of this book.

The U. S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs gives this census of
the bands in 1SS3 : —

Mississippi Ojibwas,

Otter Tail Pillagers,

Pembina band, . - . .

Pillagers of lakes Cass and W'innebagosliis,

Leech Lake, ....

Mississipi^i, ....

Mille Lacs,

Red Clifif. - - . .

Bois P'orte, -----
Grand Portage, Lake Superior.
Fond du Lac, - . . .

S96
570
235
351
•137
95
.S94
iSS
700
236
431

• Total, - - - 5,723

In the present year, 1SS7, negotiations are pending to unite these
bands upon the White Earth Reservation.

2. This treaty was signed Sept. 29th, 1S37. Joel R. Poinsett
(see Removal of Swiss Settlers in te.xt) was tlie U. S. cornniis-

^'^ HISTORY OF MI.NXESOTA.

sioner who conducted the negotiations. The language of the first
ririicie IS tins: —

The clnefe and braves representing the parties having ao
merest theren;., cede to ti.e United States all thdr lands east oi^
the Mississippi river, and all their islands in the said river."
Battle of Pokeguma.

^ff '■ 1 1^"!^^'^'""^^ ^yi'^^^'fnkazcami (Chippewa) means, I turned
off-lelt the road I was traveling; ^ume means lake; hence
P^^^-a.gu,ne, or anglicized, Pokeguma; the place to leave the
river (Snake river) to enter the lake.

Settlement of vSt. Paul.

1. Compare the illustrations of old St. Paul with those of the
ot. i^aul or to-dav.

2. See illustrations.

3- Henry Jackson was the first postmaster of St. Paul.

TIMES OF THE TERRITORY

First Legislature.

I. This hotel, of which an illustration is given, was called the
Central House. At first built of logs, it was afterwards covered
with lumber. The landlord was familiarly known among early
settlers as "Old Daddy Burton."
Initial Treaties.

I. Hole-in-the-day was one of the shrewdest and most elo-
quent chiefs the Ojibuas ever had. See portrait. His father,
Hole-in-the-day I., was also noted.

Traverse des Sioux Treaty.

I. The Siou.x believed that a deity existed in the storm cloud,
nithe form of a greatbird,the Hashing of whose eves was li^Wuninc
and flapping of wings thund.-r. They still point mit near Sisseton
Agency Dakota, the place uhere h. has left his tracks upon the

EXPLANATORY XOTES. 219

2. Sissetons (sis'si-tons). The same band is mentioned under
The Dakotas. note iS.

3. Walipetons (uOpa-tuns). This hand is mentioned under
The Dakotas, note 17.

4. Webster says : "The caUnnet is used as a symbol or instru-
ment of peace and war. To accept the cahnnet is to agree to the
terms of peace, and to refuse it is to reject tliem. The calumet of
peace is used to seal or ratify contracts and alliances, to receive
strangers kindly, and to travel with safety. The calumet of war,
differently made, is used to proclaim war."

The Dakota pipes are made from the red pipestoiie, with stems
of willow bent and carved. The work upon both bowl and stem
is often very fine.

5. Wafab. The root of evergreen trees, like the fir, pine, and
tamarack, used for sewing birch bark canoes.

6. The English name is a translation of the Dakota expression
Fay-she-Jwo-ta-ze. Dr. T. M. Young says the name was given on
account of the slender, bitter, yellow root of the moon-seed which
grows on the banks of the stream.

Mendota Treaty.

1. See The Dakotas, note 15. •

2. See The Dakotas, note 16.

3. This name is applied to the lofty eminence back of the
village. The Indians called it Okheyaiuabc (ok-ha-ya-wa-ba). It
is derived from okhc, hill, ^\\<\ yaieabe, much visited.

Settlements.

1. Ka'sota. A Dakota word meaning clear or cleared ofT.
The village is situated upon a high open prairie which forms tlie
first bench of the Minnesota river's southern bluffs between .Man-
kato and St. Peter.

2. Man-ka'to. From wd/Ja, earth, and A?, blue. Name ap[)lied
by the Dakotas to the Blue Eartli river

3. Winona (we-no'na, anglicizcil wi-nr/na), diminutive of the
Dakota word zcino, woman, and meaning first born if a daughter.

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Gov. Ramsey's Message.

T. St. Croix County, for an account of which see preceding
te.xt.

2. Mississippi River.

Proposed Division of School Funds.

I. Cretin (kra'tin), R. C. This bishop was widely and favor-
ably known.

Gov. Gorman.

I. President Jackson instituted the system of turning out gov-
ernment officials of other parties to make room for his own
political associates.

Seventh Legislature.

I. Westervelt. Now Frontenac.

Inkpadoota Massacre.

1. jMinneopa (Min'ni-op'a), from >«zwz, water and «<?/>(?, two;
hence, two waters. The name is appropriate ; for there are two
cascades, one about ten feet high, the other forty. See illustration.

2. Inkpadoota, Scarlet End.

3. Springfield, now Jackson, Jackson county.

4. He was usually called Little Paul. See Hazelwood
Republic and portrait. Like Otherday, he was eloquent ni striv-
ing to stem the tide of the Sioux massacre.

5. See Sioux Massacre and portrait.

6. Those Indians who were receiving annuities under the
treaties of Mendota and Traverse des Sioux.

THE STATE.

The Nev/ Era.

I. This panic was general in the L'nited States.

EXPLANATORY NOTES.

International Transit.

1. The dog train was a kind of toboggan. TTow it was loaded
is seen in tlie lUusti-ation.

2. These carts were in use as earl\' as the year iSor. They
were then made entirely of wood. See illustrations.

Third Legislature.

I. The statutes provide that school lands shall not be sold
fcrr less than five dollars per acre. Many of them bring more than
tliis. It is estmiated tliat the common school fund will be about
twenty million dollars when all are sold.

The Rebellion.

I. Gov. Ramsey was the tlrst of the governors to offer the aid
of state troops. This ofier was made and accepted on the day
Ft. Sumter tell.

Military Record of 1861.

I. For the location of all places and full accounts of battles
and campaigns mentioned in these military records, the reader
must refer to wurkh upon United States History.

The Sioux Massacre.

1. The Soldiers' Lodge, or Tec-yo-iee-pt\ it is said, was only
organized on special' occasions, as when tiie Indians were about to
take the war-path or enter upon a grand hunt.

2. The falls of the Redwood are situated three miles above
its junction with the Minnesota. The intervening part of the
stream is a succession of rapids walled in by picturesque bluffs
and granite cliffs.

3. A description of the Big Woods is given under the head of
Flora.

4. The monument at Acton, elsewhere illustrated, is situated
in a little I.utlieran cemetery three or four miles from the Ikiker
homestead, o\\ a road leadiuL' to Litchfield. These are the inscrip-
tions upon Us four tahleti.

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

FIRST BLOOD.

II-

RoRixsoN Jones.
\''iRANUs \Vf:bster.
Howard Baker.
Ann Baker.

Clara D. Wilson. *

III.

Erected i;v the State

IN iSyS,

Under the direction

OF the

Meeker County

Old Settlers' Association.

IV.

In Me.mory of the
first five victi.ms

OF the great

Indian Massacre of

August, 1S62,

and buried here

in one grave.

Mrs. Jones is here called Ann Baker, her name by a first
marriage. She was the mother of Howard Baker.

5. The Indians led Howard Baker and his friends to take part
in a shooting match, and then surprised them when their guns
were empty. The oak tree to which the target was attached is
still standing, and its side, scarred by the knift; of the curiosity
hunter searching for bullets, shows after the lapse of twenty-five
years where these first pioneer martyrs stood antl fell by tlie cabin
dot>r.

6. The rav;i;e shown in one of the illustralioas of tht- fort is
where t;)e Ir.d' in~ found c«)\er.

It was due to the thie skill of Sergeant Jones of the regular

EXPLANATORY NOTES.

223

army, a veteran of the Mexican War who served as artilleryman
that the Indians were kept at bay. The barracks were crowded
with fugitives of all ages and sexes, and one shudders to thmk
what might have occurred had the strong nerve and unerrmg aim
ofthis one man have failed.

Worthy of permanent record is the bravery of kev. O.r.
Hicks who all day long went steadily back and forth carrying
shells "and canister to the guns from the magazine which stood m
a position of great danger outside of the quadrangle. Like he
gunner, he seemed to possess a charmed hfe which no one of the
hundred leaden messengers flying every minute could affect.

7 " Ishtakhba ; ishla, eye ; khba, sleepy; the name ut an em-
inent Dakota chief, a firm friend to the whites, who was the tjrst
s oner of the treaty of 1S51. The name was probably applied to
Sfeepy Eye Lake about fifty years ago, when his band planted
there."— ^. ff" U'i^iir.mson. , , ,k.

8 Governor Ranisev commissioned Sibley as colonel at the
beginning of the campaign, and President Lincoln commissioned
him bri.adiergeneral at its close. He was subsequently guen the
rank of brevet major-general. ,11,,. ^o

9. The sound traveled through the deep bluff-hned vallev as
throuo^h a great speaking tulie.

:o^ In the spring of 1S63 the remainder of the condemned
prisoners at Mankato were removed to Davenport, loua.
^ The families of the prisoners, and others not condemned, all of
.-hom had been held in camp at Ft. Snelling during the win er

^..ere taken to Crow Creek on the ^1^-°-".-"^ f^^'^^^'^^^^td
homes Three vears later, after much suflenng, they wee g anted
a ren-ation upon the Niobrara, Nebraska, and were joined there
at that time by the prisoners released from Davenport.

Manv of these prisoners, casting all government support a. de
soon cu't loose from this the Santee Agency, and with ^^ ^^
tude in the face of hardships settled upon lands in the valley o the
Bi.. Sioux, fortv miles above Sioux Falls. They are known as the
H^m.stead.rs'and have pers.tcd in their purpose to become

'''tund of fiay friendly Wahpeton and Sisseton scouts accom

224 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

panied Sibley in the campaign of 1S63. and these and tlieir fiimilies
were supported by tlie government for several years, because
they kept guard on the Minnesota border. This little band was
called the " Scouts Camp." In 1867 they made a treaty, resulting
in tlie settlement of themselves and kindred bands upon the
present reservation, in eastern Dakota Territory, which bears their
tribal names.

The Yanktons were established ere this in southeastern
Dakota upon a reservation bearing their name, while the Teetons
and other hostile bands kept aloof upon the upper Missouri.

Thus have all the Dakotas, save a few stragglers, vanished
from their native land.

Gov. Swift.

I. When Connecticut yielded to the national government in
September, 17S6, her claims to territory which later formed a part
of the Northwest Territory, she retained a tract of country one
hundred and twenty miles long and hfty miles wide, situated on
the south shore of Lake Erie. This was the Western Reserve.
The college of that name is now called Adelbert, and has been
removed from its old location at Hudson to Cleveland.

Sully-Sibley Campaign.

1. Miime Wakan. Minni, zvater ; wakan, spirit ; or anything
that is mysterious or supernatural is said to be wakan. Devil's
Lake, therefore, is not the best translation.

2. Chauncy Lampson and his father Nathan started on the third
day of July to their farm a few miles north of Hutchinson to care
for stock. They discovered two Indians, afterward identified as
Little Crow and his son. picking raspberries near one of the Scat-
tered Lakes on the land of a Mr. McDowell.

Seeing them, and thinking many more might be at hand,
Chauncy whispered to his lather, "Let us return to town."
"No," said Lampson, "I will have a shot at them."
He rested his gun against a small poplar, took deliberate aim,
and fired. The tree was not large enough to hide him. Little
Crow returned the fire. Lampson dropped back to reload his
gun. Chauncy thought his father was killed, and hastened along

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 225

a woodland path running around the base of a small elevation.
Little Crow followed the same path from the opposite direction.
They suddenly confronted each other. Chauncy fell upon one
knee and covered Little Crow's heart. Little Crow covered
Chauncy. The united rifle reports rung out as one. Without
waiting to note the result Chauncy, unhurt, fled to Hutchinson,
and told the story, saying to the incredulous people, "I surely
killed him for I never took better aim." The search party indeed
found the dead chief, and fell in with Lampson, senior, who was
uninjured.
Great Civil Topics.

1. The just complaint that the criminal code, or those laws
pertaining to the punishment of criminals, is inetlective has not
been peculiar to Minnesota, but has been made against the criminal
code of every state and country.

2. In addition to grants of land for the support of schools,
railroad construction, and internal improvement, the general gov-
ernment has donated sn'aiup layids to the State to be used for such
purposes as the latter may in its wisdom select. All subdivisions
of land half or more of whose surface is marshy are classed as
swamp lands. They are determined by reference to the maps and
field-books of the government surveyors. The interpretation of
these records has always been liberal, so the area of swamp lands
is not only vast but of great value.

Railroad Legislation.

I. George III. of England granted the charter of Dartmouth
College in 1769.

The legislature of New Hampshire passed certain acts June 27th,
and December iSth and 26th, 1S16, altering the charter and or-
ganization of said college and declaring that it should be known as
Dartmouth L^niversity. By a provision, the secretary and treasurer
of Dartmouth College, W. H. Woodward, was to hold over as
secretary and treasurer of Dartmouth University until the trustees
of tiie latter should reappoint him, or appoint his successor. The
trustees of iXirtmouiii College, stiil iiulding to the validity of the
original charter, removed Woodward as secretary August 27th,
1816, and as treasurer September 27th of the same year. The

226 HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

trustees of Dartmouth University, holding to the validity of the new
charter, claimed that Woodward legally held over until his reap-
pointment by them on the fourth of February, 1S17. This caused
the trustees of Dartmouth College to bring the suit against Wood-
ward which was finally decided by the United States Supreme
Court, in brief, as follows :

(rt). The charier of 1 769 was not broken by the War of Revolution.
{d). Said charter was that of a private, not a public, corporation.
(c). Therefore the legislature of New Hampshire, under that
clause of the Federal Constitution relating to the impairing of the
obligation of contracts, had no right to change or annul the charter.
2. These two cases were tried before the United States Su-
preme Court at the October term, 1S76:

Winona & St. Peter Railroad, plaintiffs in error, versus J. D.
Blake of Rochester.

Southern Minnesota Railroad, plaintiff in error, versus Coleman.

In the original cases the defendants in the above suits were

plaintiffs to recover what the railroads exacted over legal rates of

tariff. The decision of Chief Justice Waite, in the first case stated

above, which he also reaffirmed in the second, was as follows :

" By its charter, the Winona & St. Peter Railway Company was
incorporated as a common carrier, with all the rights and subject to
all the obligations that name implies. It was therefore bound to
carry when called upon for that purpose, and charge only a reason-
able compensation for tlie carriage. These are incidents of the
occupation in which it was authorized to engage. There is nothing
in the charter limiting the State to regulate the rates of charge.
The provisions in the act of February sSth, 1S66, that the ' company
shall be bound to carry freight and passengers upon reasonable
terms,' and that in the Constitution of Minnesota (Art. 10, Sec. 4)
that 'all corporations being conunon carriers, ******
shall be bound to carry the mineral, agricultural, and other pro-
ductions or manufactures on equal and reasonable terms,' add
nothing to and take nothing from the grant as contained in the
original charter."
The Locusts.

1. These were known uiuier the name of Rocky Mountain
locusts because they came from that region of country.

2. Laissezfaire ^ let alone.

REFERENCE TABLES.

TERRITORIAL GOVERNORS.

Alexander Ramsey, June i, 1849, to May 15, 1S53.
Willis A. Gorman, I\Iay 15, 1S53, to April 23, 1S57.
Samuel Medary, April 23, 1S57, to May 24, 1858.

TERRITORIAL CHIEF JUSTICES.

Aaron Goodrich, June i, 1S49, to November 13, 1S51.
Jerome Fuller, November 13, 1851, to December 16, 185:
Henry Z. Mayner, December 16, 1S52, to April 7, 1S53.
William H. Welch, April 7lh, 1853, to May 24, 1S58.

DELEGATES TO CONGRESS.

Henry H. Sibley, January 15, 1849, to March 4, 1853.
Henry M. Rice, December 5, 1853, to March 4, 1S57.
W. W. Kingsbury, December 7, 1857, to May ir, 1858.

STATE GOVERNORS.

Henry H. Sibley, May 24, 1S5S, to January 2, i860. *
Alexander Ramsey, January 2, 1S60, to July 10, 1863.
Henry A. Swift, July 10, 1S63, to January ir, 1864.
Stephen Miller, January 11, 1S64, to January 8, 1S66.
William R. Marshall, January 8, 1S66, to January 9, 1870.
Horace Austin, January 9, 1S70, to January 7, 1S74.
Cushman K. Davis, January 7, 1374, to January 7, 1876.
John S. Pillsbury, J.uiuary 7, 1S76, to January 10, 18S2.
Lucius F. Hubbard, January 10, 1SS2, to January 5, 1887.
Andrew R. McGill, January 5, 1S87, to

228

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS.

William Holcomb, May 24, 1S5S, to January 2, i860.
Ignatius Donnelly, January 2, 1S60, to March 3, 1S63.
Henry A. Swift, March 4, 1S63, to July 10, 1863.
Charles D. Sherwood, January' 11, 1S64, to January S, 1S66.
Thomas H. Armstrong, January 8, 1S66, to January 7, 1S70.
William H. Vale, January 7, 1S70, to January 9, 1S74.
Alphonso Barto, January 9, 1874, to January 7, 1876.
James B. Wakefield, January 7, 1876, to January 10, 18S0.
Charles A. Oilman, January 10, 1S80, to January 4, 18S7.
A. E. Rice, January' 4, 1SS7, to

STATE CHIEF JUSTICES.

Lafayette Emmett, May 24, 185S, to January 10, 1S65.
Thomas Wilson, January 10, 1S65, to July 14, 1869.
James GilfiUan, July 14, 1869, to January 7, 1S70.
Christopher G. Ripley, January 7, 1870, to April 7, 1874.
S. J. R. McMillan, April 7, 1S74, to March 10, 1875.
James Giltillan, March 10, 1S75, to

SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE.

Incumbent.

J. S. Watrous

Geo. Bradley

Amos Cogswell

Tared Benson

Jared Benson

Chas. D. Sherv.-ood

Tared I^enson

Thos. H. Armstrons
Jas. B. Wakefield...":

Legislature

Date.

} First

Second

Third

{

1S58

1S59
i860
1861

Fourth

Fifth

1862
1S63
1S64

Sixth

Seventh

i86s

Eighth

i866

REFERENCE TABLES.

229

SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE. — Cont.

IN'CUMBEXT.

Legislature.

Ninth

Tenth

Eleventh ....

Twelfth

Thirteenth..
Fourteenth.

John Q. Farmer

John O. Farmer

C. D. Davidson

J. L. Merriam

A. R. Hall

A. R. Hall : Fifteenth

A. R. Hall Sixteenth

W. R. Kinyon I Seventeenth,

W. R. Kinvon I Fi.ghteenth.. .

J. L. Gibbs

C. A. Oilman

Loren Fletcher

J. L. Gibbs

W. R. Merriam

Nineteenth

Twentieth

Twenty-first

Twenty-second..
Twenty-third...,
Twenty-fourth..
Twenty-fifth

Date.

1S67
1 868
1S69
1870
1S71
1872
1S73
1S74
1S75
1S76
1877
187S
1S79
18S1
1S83
1 885
1887

UNITED STATES SENATORS.

Jas. Shields, May n, 1S5S, to March 4, 1860.
H. M. Rice, -Vlay 11. 1S5S, to March 4, 1S63.
M. S. Wilkinson, March 4, i860, to March 4, 1S67.
Alexander Ramsey, March 4, 1S63, to March 4, 1875.
D. S. Norton, March 4, 1S67, died July 14, 1870.
Wm. Windom, July 16, 1S70, to January iS, 1S71.
O. P. Stearns, January iS, 1S71, to March 4, 1871.
Wm. Windom, March 4, 1S71, to March 12, iSSi.
S. J. R. xMcMillan, Dec<jmber 6, 1S75, to March 4, 1SS7.
A. J. Edgerton, March 12, iS8r, to October 26, 1S81.
Wm. Windom, October 26, i.SSi, to Marcli 4, 1SS3,
D. .M. Sabin, March 4, 1SS3, to March 4, 18S9.
C. K. Davis, March 4, 1S87, to

230

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVES.

W. W. Phelps, iMay ii, 1S5S, to March 4, 1S59.

J. M. Cavenauo;h, May 11, 185S, to March 4, 1859.

Wm. Windom, December 5, 1S59, to March 4, 1869.

Cyrus Aldrich, December 5, 1S59, to March 4, 1S63.

Ignatius Donnelly, December 7, 1S63, to March 4, 1S69.

M. S. Wilkinson, March 4, 1S69, to March 4, 1871.

E. M. Wilson, March 4, 1S69, to March 4, 1S71.

J. T. Averill, March 4, 187 1, to March 4, 1S75.

M. H. Dunnell, March 4, 1S71, to March 4, 1SS3,

H. B. Strait, December i, 1873, to March 4, 1S79.

W. S. King, December 6, 1875, to March 4, 1S77.

J. H. Stewart, December 3, 1S77, to March 4, 1S79.

Henry Poehler, March 4, 1879, to March 4, iSSi.

H. B. Strait, March 4, 18S1, to March 4, 18S7.

W. D. Washburn, March 4, 1S79, to March 4, 18S5.*

Milo White, March 4, 1S83, to March 4, 1SS7.

J. B. Wakefield, March 4, 1883, to March 4, 1S87.

Knute Nelson, March 4, 1SS3, to March 4, 18S7.

J. B. Gilfillan, March 4, 1S85, to March 4, 1S87.

John Lind, March 4, 1SS7, to —

Thos. Wilson, March 4, 1SS7, to

J. L. McDonald, March 4, 1SS7, to

Knute Nelson, March 4, 1SS7, to •

Edmund Rice, March 4, 1S87, to

VOTE FOR GOVERNORS.

Candidates.

i \ EAR.

H. H. Sibley...

A. Ramsey

Geo. L. Becke
A. Ramsey

1S57
1S57
1S59
1S59
1S61

Vote.

17,790
17,550
2io35
17,582
16,274

REFERENXE TABLES.

231

VOTE FOR GOVERNORS.— CONT.

CAXblD.\TES.

E. O. Hamlin...
Stephen Miller..

H. T. Wells

W. R. Marshall.

H. M. Rice

W. R. Marshall.
C. E. Flandrau.

H. Austin

Geo. L. Oiis

H. Austin

W. Young

C. K. Davis

A. Barton

J. S. Pillsburv..

D. L. Buell....'...
J. S. Pillsburv...
W. L. Banning.
J. S. Pillsburv:..
Edmund Rice...
L. F. Hubbard..
R. \V. Johnson.,
L. F.Hubbard..

A. Bierman

A. R. McGilL...
A. A. Ames

Year.

Vote.

IS6I

10,448

IS63

19,628

iS6^

12.739

1S65

17,318

iS6s

13,842

1867

34,874

1S67

29,502

1869

27.348

1S69

25.401

1871

4^.95'^

1S71

30.376

1S73

40,741

1J73

35,245

1S75

47,073

1875

35,275

1S77

57,071

1S77

39,147

1S79

57,524

1879

41,844

18S1

65,025

18S1

37,i6S

18S3

72,462

18S3

58.251

1 886

107,064

1 886

104.464

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE.

Candidates.

Year.

Vote.

Eincoln

i860
i860
1S60
1861
TS64
1S6S

22,069

11,920

748

25,055

I- ",67

Dou'-^'las

Lincoln

Mcriellm

43.722

232

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE. — Cont.

Seymour..

Grant

Greeley ....

Tilden

Hayes

Hancock..
Garfield....
Cleveland
Blaine

Candidates.

Vote.

iS6S

28,096

1S72

55,708

1S72

35,2X1

1876

48,7.^7

1876

72,955

i8ho

53,315

18S0

93,903

1884

70,065

1SS4

111,685

POPULATION OF MINNESOTA,

Year.

Census.

1850.

6,077.

i860.

172,023.

1S65.

250,099.

1870

439,706.

• 1875-

597,407

iSSo.

780.773.

1S85.

1,117,79s.

ELEVATION OF LAKES ABOVE TIDE-
WATER.

Lake of the Woods 1,025

Rainy Lake 1,150

Red Lake 1,140

Lake Itasca 1,500

Cass Lake 1,300

Winnibigosish L.ike 1,290

Leech Lake 1,292

Mille Lacs 1,246

REFERENCE TABLES

233

ELEVATION OF LAKES ABOVE TIDE-WATER. — Cont.

Otter Tail Lake 1,325

Lake Traverse 970

Big Stone Lake 962

Lake Minnetonka ,, 922

Lake Benton i,754

Lake Shetek i,475

Lake Pepin 664

Lake St. Croi.x 672

White Bear Lake 910

— Minn. Ceo. Report, Vol. I.

ELEVATION OF HILLS, VALLEYS AND
PLATEAUS ABOVE TIDE-WATER.

Red River flats at Moorhead 913

Red River flats ai St. Vincent 800

Coteau des Prairies 1,800-1,900

Prairies of the Minnesota Valley 1,000-1,200

Prairies of Waseca and Steele counties 1,100-1,200

Prairies of Freeborn and Mower counties 1,200-1,400

The valley lands of the Mississippi and its tributaries
in the counties of Houston, Fillmore, Winona,

Wabasha and Goodhue 650-900

Upland prairies of tliose same counties 1,000-1,200

The wooded region of tiie L'pper Mississippi 1,200-1,500

The wooded flats between Cass Lake and Lake of

the Woods 1,100-1,400

Summits of tiie Giants Range 2,100-2,200

Summits of the Mesabi Range 2,100-2,200

Summits of the Sawteeth Range 1,800-2,000

Rolling plateau surrounding Lake Itasca 1,500-1,700

Leaf Mountains, iu Otter Tail Cuunty 1,500-1,750

—Minn. Geo. Repoyi, I'oi. I.

234

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

COUNTIES.

Counties.

Aitkin

Anoka

Becker

Beltrami

Benton

Big Stone

Blue Earth

Brown

Carlton

Carver

Cass

Chippewa

Chisago

Clay

Cook

Cottonwood ....

Crow Wing

Dakota

Dodge

Douglas

Faribault

Fillmore

Freeborn

Goodhue

Grant

Hennepin

Houston

Hubbard

Isanti

Itasca

Jackson

Kanabec

Kandiyohi

Kittson

Lac qui Parle..

Lake

Le Sueur

Lincoln

Lyon

McLeod

County Seats.

Aitkin .
Anoka .
Detroit

Sauk Rapids.,

Ortonviile

Mankato

New Uim

Thomson

Chaska

Montevideo

Center City

Moorhcad

Grand Marias

Windom

Brainerd

Hastings

Mantor\ille

Alexandria

Blue Earth City...

Preston

Albert Lea

Red Wing

Elbow Lake

Minneapolis

Caledonia

Park Rapids

Cambridge

Jackson

Brunswick

Willmar

Hallock

isladison

Two Harbors

Le Sueur Center.

Lake Benton

Marshall

Glencoe

! Date

I May 23, 1857.

May 23, 1S57.

March iS, 1S58.

Feb. 2S, 1S66.

Oct. 27, 1849.

Feb. 20, 1S62.

March 5, 1S53.

Feb. 20, 1855.

May 23, 1S57.

Feb. 20, 1S55.

Sept. I, 1S51.

Feb. 20, 1S62.

Sept. I, 1851.

March 2, 1862.

^Larch 9, 1S74.

May 23, 1S57.

May 23, 1857.

Oct. 27, 1S49.

Feb. 20, 1855.

March 8, 1S5S.

Feb. 20, 1S55.

March 5, 1853-

Feb. 20, 1855.

March 5, 1853.

March 6, 1868.

March 6, 1S52.

P'eb. 23, 1S54.

Feb. 26, 1883.

Feb. 13, 1S57-

Oct. 29, 1S49.

May 23, 1S57.

March 13, 1S58.

March 20, 1S58.
, Feb. 25. 1S79.
, Nov. 3, 1871.
, .March i, 1856.

March 5, 1853.
, March 6, 1873-
. I Nov. 2, 1S69.
. 1 March 1, 1S56.

REFERENCE TABLES.

235

^,r2 3^

COUNTIES.- CoxT.

Counties

County Seats.

Marshall

Martin

F^ainnont

Meeker

Litchfield

MilleLacs

Princeton

Morrison

Mower

Little Falls

Austin

Murray

Nicollet

Nobles

Norman

Currie

St. Peter

Worthington

Ada

Olmsted •

Otter Tail

Pine

Pipestone

Polk

Pope

Ramsey

Redwood

Fergus Falls

Pine City

Pipestone City

Crookston....'.

St. Paul

Renville

Rice

Rock

Beaver Falls

Faribault

St. Louis

Scott

Duluth

.Shakopee

Elk River

Sibley

Henderson

St. Cloud

Steele

Owatonna

Stevens

Morris

Swift

Todd

L-Oii"" Prairie

Traverse

Wabasha

Wadena

Waseca

Brown's Valley

Wabasha

Wadena

Waseca

Washington

Watonwan

Wilkni

Stillwater

St. James

Winona

W'iuona

Wright

Yellow Medicine

Buffalo

Granite Falls

Date.

Feb. 25, 1879.
May 23, 1S57.
Feb. 23, 1S56.
May 23, 1857.
Feb. 25, 185S.
Feb. 20, 1855.
May 23, 1857.
March 5, 1S53.
Alay 23, 1857.
Nov. 29, iSSi.
Feb. 20, 1855.
March 18, 185S.
ALarch 31, 1S56.
May 23, 1857.
July 20, 185S.
Feb. 20, 1S62.
Oct. 27, 1S49.
Feb. 6, 1862.
Feb. 20, 1855.
March 5, 1S53.
March 23, 1857.
March i, 1S56.
March 5, 1S5S.
Feb 25, 1856.
March 5, 1S53.
Feb. 2u, 1S55.
Feb. 20,
Feb. 20,
March 4
Feb. 20,
Feb. 20, 1862.
Oct. 27, 1849.
July II, 1858.
Feb. 27, 1857.
Oct. 27, 1849.
Nov. 6. i860.
March 6, 1868.
Feb. 23, 1849.
Feb. 20, 1S55.
Nov. 3, 1871.

iS55-
i860.
, 1870.
1S62.

INDEX.

N B.— Points not explained on pages referred to will be found in the notes
belonging to those paajes and indicated upon them. Things not included here
can be traced as well through the table of contents.

Accault, Michael, 31.

Acton, situation of, 143.

Agassiz, alluded to, 93.

Allen. Lieutenant, with Schoolcraft, 83;
makes valuable geographical observa-
tions, 85.

AUouez, Father Claude, 28; atSaultSte.
Marie, 30

American Fur Company, its growth, 72 ;
post of 69; post ofat BigStone Lake, 75

Ames, M. E Speaker of the House, 112.

Animal Life, iS.

Ashland 27.

Askin. trader, leads Indians against
Americans in 1S12, 62.

Assiniboines, 19.

Astor, John Jacob, 72.

Austin, biography of, 163 ; vetoes inter-
nal improvement land bill, 166.

Ayer, founds mission at Red Lake, 99.

Bad Hail, Dakota Chief, no.

Baker, Howard, victim at Acton, 143.

Bancrofl, historian, 121.

Battery, 1st, organized and record of in
1861, 139; 1st, in 1S62, 140; 2d, in 1S62,
140; 3d. in 1S63, 155; 1st, in 1S64, 157;
2d, in 1S64, 15S; 3d, in 1S64, 158.

Bayfield, 27.

Bear Dance, described, 64.

Beauharnois, governor, espouses cause
of Verandrie, 45; prejudiced against
Verandrie, 46.

Bcltranii, Count, So.

Big Cottonwood, riser, meaning in
Sioux, S7.

Big Mound, battle of, 155.

Big Stone Lake, 19.

Big Woods, iS; where, 143.

Birch Coolie, battle of, 149.

Black Dog, who, S3.

Blue Earth, river, 20.

Boardman, Sheriff, at relief of New Ulm,
146.

Bois BrulS, river, 31.

Boucher, who, ^3.

Boundary, between the U. S. and British
A., 75.

Boutwel!, with Schoolcraft's expedition,
83; established a mission at Leech
Lake, 94; goes to Pokeguma, 97.

Bradley, corporal in Pike's command,
59-

Breckenridge, route to, 135.

Bremer, Fredrika's description of St.
Paul, 112.

Brisbin, John B., president of Council,
124, 126.

Brown, Maj. J. R., buries dead at Lower
Agency, 149.

Calhoun, who, 65; plans military oc-
cupation of Minnesota, 65.

Calumet, or peace-pipe, 115.

Camp Release, 152.

Cannon, supposed to be Long River, 93.

Carver, Jonathan, 47; finds a cave, 48;
visits St. Anthony Falls, 48; ascends
the St. Pierre, 48; proposes to find a
northwest passage, 50; his claims of
territory, 50.

Cass, Lewis, 69: seeks to make peace
between Ojibwas and Dakotas, 70;
treatswith Indiansat PrairieDuChien,
80; makes a treaty at Fond du Lac, 81.

Cass Lake, mentioned by Morrison, 76.

238

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Castle Rock, 92.

Catlin, George, artist, 85 ; his geological
theories, S8.

Catlin.John.governorof Wis. Ter., 105.

Cavalr>-, Independent, in iS'Sj, 155; 2d,
in 1864, 156 ; Independent, in 1S64, 157 ;
Bracken's, in 1S64, is?-

Cave, Carver's, 64; Fountain, 64.

Chambers, Governor, Indian commis-
sioner, no.

Charlevoix, Jesuit historian, 39.

Chatfield, A. G., Associate Justice, 119.

Chegoimegon Bay, 27.

Chimney Rock, 92.

Chase, Chas. L., heads constitutional
convention, 150.

Clark, governor of Missouri, treats with
Indians at Prairie Du Chien, 80.

Clays, for brick and pottery, iS.

Climate of Minnesota, 17.

Clough,W. P., 171.

Coalition party, 116.

Cold Water Cantonment, 65.

Columbia Company, 72; post of at Lake
Traverse, 75.

Cooper, scientist, writings, 85.

Cooper, David. Justice, 106.

Coteau des Prairies, 85 ; visited by
Nicollet, 90.

Coureursdes bois, 29.

Courts, first, 107.

Cox, E. St. Julien, impeached, 178. 1

Cretin, Bishop, 119. |

Dakotas, character of, 20; origin of, 20; 1
bands of, 20; language of, 21; plan of |
counting, 21; plan ofcountingtime, 22; j
their names of months, 23; poetry, 24; 1
sacred language, 24; religion of, 25; 1
offer friendslup to the English, 47; j
called River BandsbyCarver, 48; yield |
to0.iibwas,5o; contend with Ojibwas, I
52; fight in war of 1S12, 62; fight Ojib- j
was on the Pomme de Terre, 62 ; break j
Cass treaty, 74 ; make treaty at Prairie '
DuChien, So; in Black Hawk war, Sj; |
fight at Pokeguma,96; cedelandseast 1
of Mississippi, 96. I

Dana, Col. N. J. T., commands ist

Regiment, 13S; promoted, 139.
Dartmouth College case, 171.
Davis, biography of, 169; opinion of

rights of railroads, i;o; speaks of

locusts, 172.
Day, David, speaker of House, 117.
Dead Buflalo Lake, battle of, 155.
De Gonor, at Ft. Beauharnois, 43.
De La Barre, who, 37-
DeMarin, seeks a northwest passage,46.
Democratic party, Ii6.
Denonville, who, 37.
Des Moines, river, 20.
D'Evaque, M., commands Ft. L' Hull

lier, 41.
D'lberville, assists Le Sueur, 40; me

morializes the French government, 42
Dickson, enlists Indians against the U.

S.,62; opmionofhis character, 62.
Dodge, Governor, treats with Indians al

Ft.Snelling, 95.
Dog trains, 136.
Douglas, Captain, engineer, 69.
Drachenfels, allusion to, 66.
Du Chesneau,3i.

Du Luth, 30, 31 ; frees Hennepin, 36.
Duluth, harbor of, 164.
Dunn, Judge, 99.
Edgerton, A. J., railroad commissioner,

171.
Elbow Lake, a source of Red River, 77.
Elk Lake, to what the name is applied,

75; mentioned by Morrison as Lake

Itasca, 76.
Elskwatawa, the Prophet, 62.
Ely, missionary, 97.
Emerson, owner of Dred Scott, 88.
English supremacy, established, 47.
Evangelical Society of Lausanne, 95.
Fauna, 18.

Featherstonhaugh, 85.
Fillmore, President, visits Minnesota, 121.
Flandrau, Chas. E., Associate Justice,

120; Indian agent, 12S; objects to a

mandamus, 133; heads relief party at

New Ulni, i.i6

239

Flora of Minnesota, 17.

Forbes, W. H., president of Council, 116.

Forest City, massacre near, 147.

Forests, areas of and trees, 17

Ft. Abercrombie, garrison in 1862 small,
141: assaulted September 3d, 1S62, 150.

Ft. Beauharnois, constructed how and
when, 43; purposes of, 45; flooded and
rebuilt, 45.

Ft. Crevecoeur, 33.

Ft. Jonquiere, built, 46.

Ft. La Reine, 46.

Ft. Ridgely, expedition from in Inkpa-
doota war, i25 ; garrison in 1S62 small,
141; newsofoutbreakat, 144; invested
by Little Crow, 145; siege of, 146;
intrenched, 147.

Ft. St. Anthony, 65; building of, 70,

Ft. St. Pierre, 46.

Ft. Snelling, Long's description of site,
64; plan of, 66,69; name suggested,
66; mills for, 72; initial treaties at,

Ft. William, location of, 75.
Fortifications, near Pipestone, 88.
Fremont, J. C, accompanies Nicollet,

90.
French supremacy ends, 47.
Fronchet, trader, 90.
Froutenac, 31.

Fuller, Jerome, Chief Justice, 117.
Furber, Joseph W., speaker of House,

109, 126.
Galbraith, Indian agent, 145.
Gallissonniere, proposes to aid Verand-

rie, 46.
Gardner, Abbie, 124, 12S.
Gardner, family of, 12S.
Gardiner, Chas., speaker of House, 124.
Garreau, Father, killed, 26; lesson of

his experience, 36.
Gens des Feuilles, w ho, 60.
Gens du Lac, who, 60.
Ghent, treaty of, 63.
Goodhue, Jas. M., editor, 106.
Goodrich, Aaron, Chief Justice, ic6:

superseded, 117.

Gorman, W. A., governor, 119; reviews

railroad question, 125; calls extra

legislative session, 129; commands ist

Regiment and is promoted, 13S.

Grand Portage, where, 76; river of, So.

Grant, English trader, 59.

Green River, why so named, what now

called, 40.
Guignas, Father, at Ft. Beauharnois,

43-
Gun, grandson of Carver, 63.
Harrington, Lewis, at siege of Hutchin-
son, 150.
Hayner, chosen judge, 117; decision on

prohibition law, 119.
Hay-pee-dan,Siouxally of Americans in

1812,62.
Hazel Run, 123.

Hazelwood Mission, camp at, 152.
Heights of land, description of, 76.
Hendricks, Capt. Mark, at relief of Birch

Coolie, 149.
Hennepin, 31: explorations of, 32; cap-
tured, 35; hopes to find a northwest
passage to India, 36, 37 ; last known of,
36.
Hole-in-the-day II., 110.
Hopper, Andrew, at siege of Hutchin-
son, 150.
Hospital, first for insane, 161 ; for deaf,

dumb, and blind, 161.
Houetbatons, who, 31.
Houghton, with Schoolcraft expedition,

83; writings of, 85.
Hubbard, Lucius F., commands 5th

Regiment, 140; biograjihy of, 179.
Hudson Bay Company founded, :S; en-
croachments of, 65; unites with North-
west Company, 70.
Huggins, A. W., missionary, 94, 95
Ihanktonwana, 20.
Infantry Battalion in 1S65, 159.
Inkpadoota, band of, 12.).
Intendant of Canada, 30; meaning of

title, 31.
lowas, 20.
Iroquois, 26.

240

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Isle Pelee. whea and %s hy so named, 40.

Isle Royal. 27.

Itasca La;;e, mentioned by .Morrison, 76;
how named, 83.

Izatys, who they were, 31.

James, U. S. Marshal, 96.

Jemeraye, who, 45.

Johnson, Gen. R. W., gubernatorial can-
didate, iSo.

Jones, Robinson, victim at -Acton, 143.

Jonquiere, governor, ignores the \'er-
andries, 46.

Julia, L.-ike, So.

Julian sources of the Mississippi and
Red, So.

Kamenistagoia, 30.

Kaposia, where situated and why
named, 35 ; Methodists at, 95.

Kasota, settlement of, meaning, 117.

Keating, scientist, with Long expedition
ofiS23.74

Kettle Hill, where, origin of name, 6s.

Keweenaw Bay, 27.

King's arms, planting of, 31.

King, grandson of Carver, 6t,.

Kingsbury, W. \V., delegate to Congress,
120.

Lac qui Parle. 19; distance up the St.
Pierre, 50; mission destroyed, 123.

La Crosse, meaning of name, 57.

La Hontan, Baron, his voyage, 3S, 39.

Lake Conde, So-

Lake, areas o( Minnesota, 16.

Lake of Tears, SS-

Lake of the Woods, 46, 75.

Lake Traverse, seat of fur trade, 62;
origin of name, 72

Lampson, Chauncy, kills Little Crow,
154-

Lands, grant to Northwestern R. R.,
121; granted State University, 137;
public school, 137; granted Southern
Minnesota R. R., 161; granted Hast-
ings and Dakota R. R., 161; claimed
for University, 102; swamp, 164;
granted University, 166.

La Noue, 42.

La Place, instructs Nicollet, 90.

La Pointe, 27 ; mission at, 29; county of,
106.

La Salle, 31; expedition of, 3^ ; parts
with Hennepin, 2S-

Lea, Luke, Indian commissioner, 115.

Lean Bear, chief, 147.

Leaping Rock, described, 90.
I Leavenworth, Colonel, 65: relieved of
I command, 70.

Leech Lake, why so named, 52.

Le Jeune, Paul, 26.

Lester, Col. H. C, commanded 3d Regi-
iment, 139.

Le Sueur, witness of Proces Verbal, 3S;
builds a fort, 39; at court of France and
building Ft. L'Huillier, 40; sends
supplies to Ft. L'Huillier, 41; sends
supposed ore to France, 41.

Lincoln, President, pardons Sioux, 152.

Linctot, commands at La Pointe and
treats with Dakotas, 43.

Little Crow, treats with Pike, 5S ; up-
braids English, 62 ; village of, 70 ; who,
S3; leads outbreak of 1S62, 143; invests
Ft. Ridgely, 145; defeats Strout, 150;
retreats, 152; shot in Big Woods, 154.

Little Paul, 124, 12S.

Lone Rock, 92.

Long, Maj. S. H., leads an expedition
in 1S17, 63; leads another expedition
in 1S23, 74.

Long Lake, battle of. 150.

Long River, credited by Nicollet, 93.

Loomis, David B., president of Council,
112.

Lower Agency, attacked, 144.

Ludden, John G., speaker of House, 116.

Mackinaw, 42.

Maidens, boulders, described, SS.

Manito, natural stone image, S3; re-
ferred to, 90.

Mankato, settlement of, meaning, 117.

Marble, family of, i:3.

Marest, Father, witness of Proces-
Verbal, 38.

Marsh, John, who, S3.

24X

Marsh, Captain, falls into an ambuscade,
144. 145-

Marshall, W. R., nominated for dele-
gate, 133; at Ft. Ri'li,'c!y, 147; bi-
ography of, i5o; railroad commissioner,
171.

Mascoutins, tribe of, 50.

McGill, Governor A. R., biography of,
1S5.

McKenzie, trader, 72.

McLaren, Maj., at relief of Birch Coolie,
149.

McLeod, Martin, president of Council,
117.

McPhaill, Col. Sam., at relief of Birch
Coolie, 149.

Mdewakantonwans, 20, 33; band men-
tioned, 115.

Mcdary, appointed by Buchanan, 130.

Meeker, Bradley B., Justice. 106.

Menard, lessoti of his experience,
56.

Mendota, meaning of, 65.

Michigan, Territory of, 57, 69.

Military reservations, Uv^t of, 5S.

Mille Lacs, 31.

Miller, biography of, 156.

Minerals, iS.

Minneopa, meaning of, 126.

Minnesota, first state to otTer troops,
157; territorial boundaries, 105; ter-
ritorial organization, 105; river, 19;
river and valley e.\amined, 75.

Mission of St. Michael, 43.

Missouri, skirmish of, 155.

Mississippi, head of, 19; ultimate source
of, 79.

Montague Trempe el Eau, where, mean-
ing of name, 63.

Morrison, William, trader, visits Lake
Itasca in 1S03-4 and iSii-i-', 76; letter
to his brother, 76; route of, S3.
Morrison, Allen, trader, 76.
Murray, \V. P.. president of Council,

Napoleon, cedes what is now partly in

Minnesota, 56.
Nelson, R. R., Associate Justice, 120.
New Ulm, site mentioned, 74 ; attacked

in Sioux massacre, 146; attacked a

second time, 146.
Nicclet, Jean, explorer and interpreter,

Nicollet, traces inlets of Lake Itasca, 75;

describes head of the Mississippi, 77;

life of, SS; commissioned to examine

northwest territories, 90; visits and

I names Undine region, 92 ; examines

1 Cast'e Rock, 92; death of, 94.

1 Nobles, family of, 12S.

Normal School at Winona, 161.
j Norris, Jas. S., speaker of House, T22.
North, J. W., heads constitutional con-
vention, 130.
Northwest Company, fur traders, estab-
lished, 54; emissaries of, 63; yield
territory to American Company, Cj;
unites with Hudson Bay Company,

Nadouessiou.x, who they wt
tioned, 30.

Northwestern R. R. Co., 121.

Ojibwas, 20; gain a foot-hoid in Minne-
sota, 50; contend with Dakotas, 52 ;
fight Dakotas on the Pomme de Terre;
fight in war of 1S12, 62; break Cass
treaty, 74 ; make treaty of Prairie Du
Chien, So; sign treaty of FondDu Lac;
attacked at Ft. Siielling by Dakotas,
Si; cede lands, 95; hold council at
Ft. Snelling, 95; fight at Pokeguma,
96 : flee from Pokeguma, 9S.

Olmsted, S. B., president of Council,
120.

Olmsted, David, president of Council,
loS; nominated for delegate, 123.

Omahas, 20.

Otesse, trader, 76.

Other-day, 12S; saves l.irge party of
whites, 145.

Page, Sherman, impcaclied, 176.

Pans, tre.ity of, 54.
20; men- j Pembina, meaning, 72.

1 Peuiidji, Lake, meaning of, 76.

242

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Pendergast.W.W., at siege of Hutchin-
son, 150.

Peiiicaut, allusion to, Ss.

Penikese, island, aiiuded to, 93.

Perrot, Nicholas, 2S, 29, 30; in Pioces-
Verbal, 37 ; builds Ft. St. Antoine, 37;
lesson of his experience, 37.

Peteler, Captain F., commands sharp-
shooters, 139.

Physical Features, 15.

Picard du Gay, 33.

Pierce, Oliver, at siege of Hutchinson,

ISO.

Pigeon River, 40.

Pike, his cl'.aracter. 57 ; purpose of his

expedition, 57 : arrives at Prairie Da

Chien, 60; mistakes source of the

Mississippi, 75.
Pillagers, who, 52.

Pillsbury, biography of, 174 : acts in be-
half of locust sutTerers, 173.
Pilot Knob, no, 115.
Pipestone, quarry described, S7 ; visited

by Nicollet, 90; creek, 90.
Poage, Sarah, mission teacher, 94, 95.
Poinsett, se<;retary of war, 90.
Pointe au Sable, where situated, 43.
Pokeguma, Lake of, 96.
Pond, S. \V., helps to establish a Dakota

mission, 94.
Pond, G. H., helps to establish a Dakota

mission, 94, 95; interprets Mendota

treaty, 116.
Position and Surface, of Minnesota, 16.
Prairie Aux Aisles, where and why so

named, 64.
Prairie Du Chien, fur niart,4S; outpost

of settlements, 65 ; tribes meet at. So ;

treaty of brokers, 8 1 .
Prince Rupert, 2S.
Proces-Verbal. first olTicial document

relating to Minnesota, 37.
Public Instruction, superintendent of,

Rainy Lake, 46, 75.

Randall, Jc-hn A., railroad com-
missioner, 171.

Ramsey, made territorial governor, 106;
Indian commissioner, no; at home,
112; Indian commissioner, 115 ; pict-
ures progress of Territory, n7 ; bi-
ography, 136; seeks aid in Sioux
massacre, 147; elected U. S. senator, 153.

Red River, why so named. 72; carts. 136.

Red Rock, why so named, 35; Meth-
odists at, 95.

Red Wing, village of, 70.

Regiment, ist, organized and record of
in iSor, 138; 2d, organized and 1S61
record, 139; 3d, organized and 1S61
record, 139; 2d, 1S62 record, 140; 3d,
in 1S62, surrenders, 140; 4th. 1S62
record, 140 ; 5th, 1S62 record, 140 ; oth,
1862, partly stationed at Ft. Snelling
and in Sioux campaign, 147 ; 7th,
1S62, at Ft. Ridgely, 147 ; 1st, in 1863,
record of, 154, 155; 2d, 1S63 record,
155; 3d, 1S63 record, 155; 4th, 1S63
I record, 154 ; 5th, 1863 record, 154 ; 6th,

1563 record, 155; 7th, 1S63 record, 155;
I 9th, 1S63 record, 155; loth, 1S63 record,
1 155; 1st, 1S64 record, 137 ; 2d, record
j in 1S64, found on 156, 157, and 159; 3d,

1564 record, 156, 157, and 15S; 4th, 1S64
I record, 156 and 159; 5th, 1S64 record,

156 and 157 ; 6th, 1S64 record, 157 ; 7th,

I 1S64 record, 157 and 15S; Sth, 1S64

i record. 158; 9th, 1S64 record, 157; loth,
1S64 record, 157 ; nth, 1S64 record, 156
and 15S; Sth, 1S65 record, 159; the
other troops. 1S65 record, 159.
Rene Menard, 27, 28.
Renville, trader, 72: leads Indians
against Americans in 1812,62; inter-
preter with expedition of Long in
1S23, 74.
Riggs, S. R., missionary, 93; founds a
mission at Traverse des Sioux, 99 ; in-
terprets treaty of Traverse des Sioux,

j n5, describes Hazelwood Republic,

! 124-

I Rice, H. M.. delegate to Congress, 120;

I elected delegate, 133-

' Rice Lake, a source of the Red River, 76.

243

River Systems, of Minnesota, i6.

Rogers, Major, conimaiidaiit at Mack-
inaw, 4S.

Rolette, leads Indians against Ani-?ii-
cans in 1S12, 62.

Rolette, Joseph, member of Council, 12C.

Rollingstone, settlement on, 117.

Roqt'e^ interpreter, 6;;,.

St. Anthony Falls, discovered and
named, 33.

St. Croi.x, river, 31 ; water powerof, 95;
county of, 9-9.

St. Francis, river, 36.

St. Lusson, 30.

St. Paul, settled, 100: chapel of, 100; de-
clared capital of .Minnesota, 106.

St. Peter, river, name changed, 117.

St. Pierre, river, 3S.

St. Pierre, who and for what noted, 45;
seeks a northwest passage, 46.

St. Renii, now called, 41.

Sanborn, Col. John B., commands 4th
Regiment, 140.

Sandy Lake, 50, 69.

Sangaskitons, who, 31.

San Ildefonso, treaty of, 56.

Santees, 19.

Sauteurs, who, 59; smoking the calu-
met, 60.

Schoolcraft, mineralogist. 69: claims the
discovery of Lake Itasca, 75; goes on

'■ twoexpeditions,.52,S3 ; meets Indians
at Ft. Snelling; deserts Allen, 85.

Scott, General Winfield, 65.

Seeger, William, impeached, 16S.

Seiguelay, French minister of marine,
32-

Selkirk, who, 62 ; movements of, 65.

Seymour, Samuel, artist, with 1S23 ex-
pedition of Long, 74.

Shakopee, settlement of, 117; band of,
M3-

Sharpshooters, rd Company, join :st
Re-iment, i--q.

Sherburne, Moses, .Associate Justice,
119.

Sheiman, M.ijor, i:S.

Shetek, Lake, massacre near, 147.

Sibley, pays tribute to Nicollet, 93 ; dele-
gate to Congress, :o5; chosen delegate
again, 107 ; clerk at Mackinaw, 131;
conimands Indian expedition of i~^6:,
147; frees captives, 152; in Indian
campaign of 1S63, 154.

Sioux, try to capture Ft. St. Antoine,
37 ; opposed by Foxes, 37 ; treat wiili
Pike, 59; changes in life of, 140; in
famine, 141, meditate aji outbreak, 141;
defeated at Wood Lake, 150 ; thirty-
eight of hung, 152.

Sissetons, 115.

Sissitonwans, 20.
I Sleepy Eyes, chief, 147.

Snelling, Colonel, commended by Gen.
Scott, 66; ascends the Mississippi, 70.

Snelling, Joseph, son of Col. S., with
1823 expedition of Long, 74.
I Soil of Minnesota, 17.

Soldier's Lodge, 141.

Stevens, J. D., missionary, 94.

Stone, Lucy C, mibsion teacher, 94.

Stones, building, i3.

Stony Lake, battle of, 155.

Straights of Anian, 35.

Strout, Captain, defeated by Little
I Crow, 150.
j Sturgeon Island, 75.
I Sully, Colonel Alfred, commands ist
I Regiment, 139; in campaign of 1S63;
abandons Indian campaign, 15S.

Sussitongs, who, 60.

Swan River, site of Pike's stockade, 59.

Swift, biography of, IS3.

Swiss, exodus from Selkirk colony, S2 :
squat on public domain, 96.

Tahamie, Sioux ally of the Americans
in warof 1S12, 62.

Taliaferro, Maj. Lawrence, character of,
70; his opinions of various tribes, 70;
seeks to m.ike peace between OJibwas
and Dakota3,74; sells Harriet, wife of
Pred Scott, Si; assists missionaries,
94- . .

Talon, 30.

244

HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.

Taney, renders Dred Scott decision, SS.

Taylor, N. C. D., speaker of House, 120.

Tecuniseh, Sha\\ nee chief, 62.

Teetons, 19.

Thatcher, frmily of, 12?.

Titonwans, 20.

Traders, British, spirit of, 60.

Traverse des Sioux, why named so, 74;

settlenictit of, 117.
Trowbridge, C. C, topographer, 69.
Tweedy, John H., Wisconsin delegate

to Congress, 105.
University of N^innesota, iij.
Van Cle\e, Coi. H. P., commands 2d

Regiment, 139.
Vaudreuil, 43.
Verandrie, who, 45; the father dies, 46 ;

the brothers, 46.
Vermillion River, 92.
Versailles, treaty of, 47.
Voyageurs, 29.

Wabasha, cliief, meaning of name, 54;
upbraids English, 62.

Wahpetons, 115.

Wahpetonwans, 20.

Wapashaw, chief, meaning o.'name, 64.

Wapekutes, 20; band of, 115.

Webster, V., victim at Acton, 143.

Welch, William, Chief Justice, iiq; ren-
ders an important decision, 122.

White Lodge, chief, 147.

Williamson, T. S., pioneer missionarj-,
94. 95 ; goes to Kaposia, 102.

Wilson, Clara D., victim at Acton, 143.

Winnebagoes, begin border war, S2 :
placed on Minnesota reservation, ^00.

Winnipeg, meaning of, 75.

Winona, m-.aiiing of, 117.

Wolcott, Indian agent, 69.

Wood Lake, battle of, 150.

Vanktons, 19; make trouble at the
Upper Agency, 129.

4&t)4

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Illustrated history of Minnesota, a hand-book for citizens and general readers"

See other formats