Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 19

Author: Holcombe, R. I. (Return Ira), 1845-1916; Bingham, William H
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago : H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 1190

USA > Minnesota > Hennepin County > Minneapolis > Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota > Part 19

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Mr. Seymour's predictions regarding the future of St. Anthony were the first of the kind made and published by a visitor. He lived to see them abun- dantly fulfilled. His description of the country too was remarkably accurate, as well as interestingly portrayed.

HE SEES CHIEF HOLE IN THE DAY.

While Mr. Seymour was at St. Anthony three Chippewa chiefs from Crow Wing River were there and he saw them and interviewed them. They came down to collect from Daniel Stanchfield the 50 cents per pine tree which he, as the agent of Mr. Steele, had

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

promised to pay them when the year before they were logging on the Crow Wing. Mr. Seymour writes :

"Three chiefs of the Chippewa tribe are here today from Crow Wing River. They have had some diffi- culty with a person [Stanchfield] who has been en- gaged during the past winter in cutting pine logs on their land for which a stipulated sum was to be paid. They detained the logs and have come down to ar- range the matter. One of them (Hole in the Day) was dressed in a fine broadcloth frock coat, red leggins and moccasins, a fine shirt, a fashionable fur hat, with a narrow brim and surmounted by a large and beauti- ful military plumc. About 50 silver trinkets were sus- pended from each ear. He held in his hand a pipe made of red pipestone, which had a wooden stem about four feet long."

SEYMOUR SEES MORE.

In the latter part of June (1849) Mr. Seymour and a companion set out in a spring-wagon from St. Paul for Sauk Rapids and other points on the upper Mississippi. At that date Willoughby & Powers ran a three-seated open spring-wagon on daily trips be- tween St. Paul and St. Anthony-Seymour calls it an "open stage"- and there was no public convey- ance farther northiward; but freight wagons, in con- siderable numbers, were always on the road between St. Paul and Fort Gaines, (afterward called Fort Rip- ley) on the east side of the river, six miles below the mouth of Crow Wing.

St. Anthony had no hotels or "taverns" then. Un- less a traveler met with a hospitable settler willing to share his crowded quarters, he had to "camp out." In all cases where a settler furnished entertainment he made no charge for it, although there was great complaint then at the high cost of living; for corn was $1 per bushel, oats 50 cents, flour $11 a barrel, butter 371/2 cents a pound, eggs 25 cents a dozen, but pork was only $6 a hundred and venison and other "wild meat" were very cheap.

Passing by St. Anthony, on the road up the eastern bank of the river about three miles, Seymour says he saw a few houses and cultivated farms. Leaving the river he struck out northeast over Cold Spring Prairie for John Banfil's house, or "tavern" which was eight miles from St. Anthony, on Rice Creek, near its junc- tion with the Mississippi, and became the site of Frid- ley. Banfil had a big house, for the times, and a large framed barn, but every night his house was filled with travelers and his barn, although it had stalls for 40 horses, was overflowing. He told Seymour that often 20 horses and mules had to stand out of doors all night because there was no room for them. These teams belonged to freight wagons which were engaged in hauling goods and supplies to the upper country, and their drivers were, for the most part, the people that crowded the house.

Between Banfil's and Sauk Rapids all of the few houses were "stopping places" where the traveler might find food and shelter. At Antoine Robert's Rum River Ferry there was a log cabin occupied by Robert himself and Wm. Dahl, both bachelors. This

cabin was a tavern, too. Here is the site of Anoka, and it is said that Robert's cabin was the first house in the place. The tavern had no beds, and guests slept on the floor, using their own blankets.

Cold Spring Prairie, before mentioned, was named from a remarkable spring of water in the Mississippi, at the Prairie's eastern border. It boiled up, from a considerable depth, within a foot or so from the water's edge, and with such force that it threw up gravel and pebbles. It made a roaring, bubbling noise clearly audible 200 feet away. The spring was ten feet in diameter, and its water, where not mingled with that of the Mississippi, was ice-cold. Seymour caught a handful of pebbles as they were thrown up by the spring.

Seymour went on up to Sauk Rapids, stopped at Gilman's famous old frontier hotel, which was crowded with guests, and returned to Simeon P. Fol- som's hotel, on Elk River. Folsom had been at St. . Anthony for some time and made the preliminary survey of the place, but his survey was afterward supplanted by Marshall's. Subsequently he was a surveyor and prominent citizen of St. Paul.

FIRST NEWSPAPER IN MINNESOTA.

The first newspaper in Minnesota was called the Minnesota Pioneer, and the first number was issued at St. Paul, April 28, 1849. Under all the circum- stances the paper was a very creditable publication and did very much indeed to advertise Minnesota Territory; twice as many copies of every issue were mailed to persons in other States as were sent to local subscribers.

Its editor and proprietor, James Madison Goodhue (for whom the county was named) was a scholar, a lawyer, and an accomplished writer, and in every number of his paper he set forth in attractive lan- guage the advantages presented by Minnesota to home- scekers and investors. He wrote without dictation from any one and had no master or boss. He had no mercy on bad men and their schemes and denounced them vigorously, and if he believed a man to be a thief or a scoundrel of any sort, he did not hesitate to say so-and he very often felt impelled to say so! He always had something good to say of Minnesota- not something foolishly extravagant and over lauda- tory, but something that was plausible and convinc- ing and rang true. Hence what he said about the country was believed, and as a publicity agent he and his paper did a great deal of good for the Territory at a very small expense.

Goodhue's "Minnesota Pioneer" did much for St. Anthony at an early day. As soon as there was any- thing to be said about the village, the paper said it. The first Fourth of July celebration in the Territory was in 1849, and held at St. Paul. All outlying set- tlements participated. There was a procession, ora- tions, etc., and at night a "grand ball" at the Amer- ican House. The Pioneer noted that St. Anthony con- tributed to the celebration. Franklin Steele was mar- shal of the day and W. R. Marshall one of the man- agers of the ball.

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

GOODHUE'S MINNESOTA PIONEER BOOSTS ST. ANTHONY.

In its issue of August 9, 1849, the Pioneer contained a two-column article descriptive of St. Anthony, the Falls, and general surroundings, and this paper, which was written by Editor Goodhue himself, was certainly of advantage to the place. Describing the mills, the paper said :

"A very large sawmill, eapable of making 2,000,000 ft. of lumber per annum, has been ereeted, and another mill of the most substantial and thorough description is in process of erection. It is the plan of the proprietors to ereet mills enough to employ 18 or 20 saws, besides using all the water necessary for other machinery. For the present, lumber will be the leading interest of the place. The saws went into operation last autumn, and have had no rest sinee, night or day, exeept Sundays, and yet the demand for lumber at the Falls and at St. Paul has not nearly been supplied. But, however many mills may be built, there will not be a sufficient supply of lumber for years to keep paee with the growth of Minnesota and our wants for building and fencing material."

Of the pine woods to the north and the consequent supply of material for the mills to work upon, the artiele was sure that :-

"There is no ground for apprehending a want of mill logs; for between the Falls of St. Anthony and the Pokagamon Falls [now near Grand Rapids and spelled Pokegama] which are said to be [but ineor- rectly so] practically another St. Anthony, 400 miles north-is a vast body of pine timber, perhaps the most extensive in the world, and into which the axe has as yet made no inroads. This region of pines is watered by the Crow Wing River, the Rabbit, and the Pine Rivers, and many other streams, and embosoms in its sombre shades of evergreen trees Winnipie Lake, Cass Lake, Leeeh Lake, Pokagamon Lake, and many other fine sheets of water. The pine region is also interspersed with many tracts of fine, rich lands which are destined to be cultivated and inhabited."

John Rollins's steamboat had not then been built, but the Mississippi above the Falls was being navi- gated, for the writer said :

"From the Falls of St. Anthony to Sauk Rapids the Fur Company has already opened navigation. Boats have been constructed this season, under the direction of Mr. Henry M. Rice, for towing. A tow- path has been prepared, and a boat towed by two horses has made several trips, loaded each trip with 100 barrels of flour. Mr. Riee thinks the steamboat Senator eould run the same trip. even as far as Pokagamon Falls: the only obstruction is a few boulders at Sauk Rapids, which could easily be re- moved in low water. If the experiment, which is about to be made, of running boats above the St. Peter's to the foot of the Falls shall sueceed, there will then be only a mile or two of interruption to navigation [at St. Anthony] between St. Louis and Pokagamon Falls."

The editor was favorably impressed with the ap- pearanee of the place, deelaring that :-

"The beauty of seenery at St. Anthony eannot be

exaggerated. We are particularly delighted with that bench of table land back of Water Street, some 30 feet high, running parallel with the river and from which one overlooks the Island and the Falls. Along this bench a row of houses has sprung into existenee since our last visit. A healthier spot than St. Anthony eannot be found. Most of its inhabitants are from the lumber regions of Maine and are people of industry, energy, and enterprise. Those who are loafers and tipplers will find no eneouragement at St. Anthony. Every person there works for a living. There is not a grog shop in town."

Sketehing the place historically-and becoming thereby its first historian-Mr. Goodhue wrote :

"The water power here was first claimed by Mr. Franklin Steele twelve years ago [or in 1837.] Mr. Steele is the sutler at Fort Snelling, a most worthy officer, and a man who has done more than a little for Minnesota. He built the first [?] mills on the St. Croix and here. He is emphatically a pioneer. Laboring under disadvantages which no other man can imagine, in obtaining labor, tools, and materials for the work, he sueeeeded in time in building the dam and getting things in motion. He has expended at these Falls over $50,000.

"A few months since Cushing & Company, of Massachusetts, having failed to comply with the eon- ditions of their purchase of a part of this property from Mr. Steele, he sold one-half of the water power to Mr. A. W. Taylor, of Boston, a gentleman who seems to have had a keen pereeption of the capabili- ties of the place. Mr. Godfrey, [meaning Ard God- frey] who is also one of the mill proprietors, is the operating agent of the mills. Under his thorough and efficient management, the business of the concern now seems to be abundantly profitable, with high promise of still greater and better things.

"Of St. Anthony we are constrained to say, in all sineerity, that a plaee more inviting to the invalid, the laborer, or the capitalist eannot be found in the East or the West, the North or the South. Nor can a more beautiful town site be found anywhere than St. Anthony, commencing at Mr. Cheever's landing -- the head of navigation for the river below the Falls -and extending to the head of the Island, [Nicollet] where navigation above the Falls eommenees.

"Among the gentlemen interested in St. Anthony, besides those that reside here, we will mention the name of Franklin Steele, Hon. Mr. Sibley, Mr. Riee, Mr. Gilbert, Capt. Paul R. George, and several others whose names do not now oceur to us. All of these men will be the last in the world to let St. Anthony stand still for want of eapital, energy, and enterprise and fail to develop those mighty resourees which the Creator has placed here so lavishly. *

* * To say nothing of the payment of Indian annuities at Fort Snelling and the demand for the produetions of the lumber trade and indus- try, it is plain that other extensive mills and manu- faetories must soon be built at St. Anthony ; and these will employ multitudes of hands in the manufacture of all artieles not of a light character that are most needed in this region, and thus build up a trade of exchanges between the town and the eountry."

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

As to the qualities of the surrounding country as an agricultural district he declared that :

"There is certainly no spot in our country where farming is likely to be so well rewarded as here. Farmers, especially of New England, if they could but once see our lands, would never think of settling on the bilious bottoms and the enervating prairies in the country south of us. The soils there may be a little more fertile, but the country is malarious and unhealthy, and what is fertility, what is wealth, with- out vigorous health and activity of body and mind ? The considerations that will weigh more in future with the immigrants than heretofore will be our clear bracing air, an invigorating winter to give elasticity to the system, pure and balmy summers with no malaria and only health in their breezes, and water as pure and wholesome as the dews of heaven gushing from hill and valley."

And this much by way of prophecy :

"When we consider how soon the upper Missis- sippi will be placed in direct communication with the Atlantic by a railroad extending eastward from Galena, and by steamboat through the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers and the Great Lakes-a work already well in progress-it is not too much to predict for this young Territory and for the manufacturing interests of St. Anthony a rapidity of growth unparalleled even in the annals of Western progress."'

A PIONEER LADY'S REMINISCENCES.

In the spring of 1848 Sherburn Huse.# who had formerly resided at Machias, Maine, located with his family in St. Anthony, at what is now Eighth Avenue Southeast and Main Street. He had a wife and six children, and his family made quite an addition to the little community. Mr. Huse lived but two years, but some of his children have resided in Minneapolis for more than three-score years. His daughter, Amanda M. Huse, married Lucius N. Parker and lived at St. Anthony Falls until her death, October 18, 1913. Not long before her death Mrs. Parker dictated an article detailing her reminiscences of her earliest days in Minneapolis and this article was printed in the Min- neapolis Journal of October 19, 1913, the day after her death.

The article itself is interesting and valuable history. Mrs. Parker was a lady of strong mental qualities. Her memories of early days were so ample and so accurate as to be well-nigh phenomenal. Her state- ments accord with established and undisputed histori- cal facts, and she presents much that is new and original. Her article is well worth preserving in this history and is here given :

"My father was in poor health when we lived in the State of Maine. [so states Mrs. Parker in her article] and, believing that the much praised climate of Wisconsin Territory would be of benefit to him, it was decided during the winter of 1845-46 that in the following spring our family should undertake the journey. So, late in March, 1846, we left Mach- ias, Me., by boat for Boston. Our party consisted of

our family only and included my father, Sherburn Huse; my mother, Hester Huse; my two brothers, Sanford and George S. Huse; my three sisters, Elvira (who was afterwards Mrs. Calvin C. Church, and later Mrs. John H. Noble) ; Jane, Evaline, and my- self. We went from Boston to Albany partly by train and partly by team. At Albany we took a canal boat to Buffalo. At Buffalo we embarked on another boat for Milwaukee, and from the latter place we went to Madison, Wis., by team. It was central Wis- consin that we had in view when we left Maine, and, arriving at Madison, my father built a small frame house and we remained there until October, 1847. The attractions of the Dalles of St. Croix were even at that early date not unknown, and in the fall of 1847 we engaged a team and started for them. We made the journey by team from Madison to La Crosse, Wis .. where we took the steamer Menomonie, which was in charge of Captain Orrin Smith, with its desti- nation Stillwater, then in Wisconsin. On the steamer my parents met a Mr. Orange Walker, who was a mil- ler in the little settlement of Marine, near Osceola, and near Stillwater. The result of many chats on the steamer caused my parents to change their destina- tion to Stillwater, where we arrived in October, 1847. "We were still in an unsettled condition in Still- water when my father, who was an able millwright, received a letter from Franklin Steele, at St. Anthony, offering him interesting inducements to come to St. Anthony and assist him in the building of a saw- mill. Among the other inducements that Mr. Steele held out if he would come to St. Anthony was, that in addition to his wages, he would give my father a lot of ground in the vicinity of the proposed mill site, on which to build himself a home and that the first lumber that the proposed mill should saw when com- pleted would go for that purpose.

"Mr. Steele's propositions being accepted, we left Stillwater for St. Anthony in May, 1848, and in- stalled ourselves in a log cabin, located at what is now about Eighth Avenue Southeast and Main Street. This cabin had been built by French traders, and the locality for years after we moved there was known as Huse's Creek, as a small stream of water flowed near the door and blew away in a pretty spray over the bank of the Mississippi not far from our new home. My father at once took charge of the construc- tion of the new mill, together with Caleb Dorr, Ard Godfrey, a Mr. Rogers, and my two brothers. While this mill was being built on the river bank at a point what now would be First Avenue Southeast, Caleb Dorr, my brother Sanford, who was then about 20 years old, and six others went up the Mississippi as far as Rum River, near where Anoka now stands, and cut down with axes enough trees during June to sup- ply the new mill with lumber for a short time.

"As per the terms of the contract with Mr. Steele, the very first lumber sawed in this mill was turned over to my father, who, with my two brothers, carried it on their backs to what is now Second Avenue Southeast and Second Street, where they immediately began the erection of a six-room frame house. It was this corner lot, the northeast corner, that my father

* The family name was originally spelled Hughes.

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

had selected, as per contract with Mr. Steele, on which to build his home. Beyond all peradventure this was the first frame house built and occupied in the town of St. Anthony. We moved into this house in October, 1848, while the upper part of it was yet unfinished. Ard Godfrey-who was building a house along somewhat similar lines that my father was building his, except with two additional rooms- finished his house shortly after ours was finished and moved into it in November, one month after we had become settled in ours. My father died in this house in 1850, and the house was damaged by fire upon two occasions, but was repaired along almost similar lines of the original, as my mother would permit of little modernizing.

"The social center of the settlement St. Anthony during the winter of 1848-49 was a two-story log house that had been erected by the owners of the new mill and directly across the street from it. This house had been erected for the purpose of boarding those who were employed in the mill, nearly twenty persons. The landlord during this winter was Calvin C. Church, who afterwards married my sister Hes- ter. He was the Ward McAllister of the day and the principal mover in most social functions. There were a great many more Indians in and about St. Anthony during that winter than there were whites. They were always roaming and shifting about through the entire locality, and many of them were drawn there from many miles through curiosity to see the new mill and its wonders.

"It was almost a daily occurrence to find Indians in my mother's best parlor. They would walk in and through the little house boldly and stoically, usually seating themselves on the floor, and the members of the family would have to walk around them. Often they brought cranberries or other fruit to sell or trade. As I look back at them from this year, 1913, they were an audacious and useless lot, but at that time their visits were received as a matter of course and little attention was paid to them. One incident, how- ever, that occurred on July 4, 1848, in my acquaint- ance with the 'noble red men,' was of more than pass- ing moment.

"During the summer of 1848 there were only four marriageable white young women in St. Anthony. These were Miss Marion Patch (afterwards Mrs. R. P. Russell), Cora Patch, her sister, who afterward mar- ried Joseph Marshall, a brother of former Governor William R. Marshall; my sister, Jane Huse, who afterward married Charles Kingsley, and myself. As there were also only about ten or fifteen young un- married women in St. Paul, the total supply in both towns of young women for dance and other social functions was somewhat limited. Therefore, when a dance of any pretensions was announced to take place in St. Paul, it was necessary to call upon the reserve force of young women in Minneapolis to fill out the 'sets.' When a dance took place in St. Anthony the four young women of that settlement were augmented by the buds and blossoms from St. Paul. Without this co-operation, a successful, well-rounded social

function-we called them 'parties' then-was im- possible.

"On the evening of the Fourth of July in question, a dance had been announced to take place at Bass's hotel, in St. Paul. It was a small frame building on the same site at the corner of Third and Jackson streets, where the Merchants hotel now stands. Those who had the arrangements of the proposed dance in charge sent a Mr. Bissell as their emissary to collect the marriageable female contingent of St. Anthony. He arrived in an open Concord wagon, drawn by two horses. His disappointment was keen when Luther Patch, the father of the Patch sisters, would not let his daughters go. After many paternal instructions as to what constituted the proper conduct for young ladies who hoped for future social favors, my sister, Jane, and I climbed into the rear seat of the comfort- able Concord and we started.

"At that time the government was transferring the Winnebago Indians from a reservation in Wisconsin to one above St. Anthony some distance. There were Indians everywhere, making the trip by slow stages. Thousands of them were camped on what is at present the campus of the State University, then known as Cheevertown.

"When we arrived at a point where a state reform school afterwards was built, between St. Paul and Minneapolis, we were stopped by a drunken Indian, who took hold of the bridle of one of the horses. He demanded whisky. He, and a sober companion had been to St. Paul, and, as was always the custom with all Indians, if one had gotten intoxicated, the other had remained sober to guard his associate. Mr. Bissell struck the Indian who had interrupted our journey over the head with the butt of his whip, and forced him to release his hold on the bridle. When the sober Indian saw this he started for us, aiming an 18-inch revolver at our driver. The horses by this time were on the dead run, but the fleet-footed Indian was not to be shaken off so easily and he kept abreast of our buggy for more than a mile. Either caution or gallantry prevented him from aiming his ugly-looking weapon at either of us girls. This race against death was highly exciting, and when the half-crazed redman showed signs of exhaustion, and discovered that he could no longer keep abreast of our buggy, he fired at our driver, the shot knocking Mr. Bissell's hat into the road. After stopping at the first store in St. Paul so that Mr. Bissell could purchase new headgear, we continued on our way to the dance and we did not permit the incident of the ride to mar in any way the festivities of Bass's hotel. Among those present at that dance were: A. L. Larpenteur and wife, Ben- jamin Irvine, Miss Presley, Miss Amanda Irvine, and others, some thirty in all.

"The Indian's greeting, however, left its impres- sion, for on our return home the next day, we did not return by the 'old river road.' through the avenues of tepecs and lancs of the men of the forest, but more cautiously journeycd away around back of what is now 'Lake Como.

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Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 19

Author: Holcombe, R. I. (Return Ira), 1845-1916; Bingham, William H Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Chicago : H. Taylor & Co. Number of Pages: 1190

Author: Holcombe, R. I. (Return Ira), 1845-1916; Bingham, William H
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago : H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 1190