Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 9

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

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"The rapids commence several hundred yards above the cataraet and continue about eight miles below. The fall of the water, beginning at the head of the rapids and extending 260 rods down the river to where the portage road commences, below the cata- raet, is, according to Pikc, 58 feet. The whole fall, from the head to the foot of the rapids, is not much less than 100 feet. *

* * On the east, or rather the north side of the river, at the Falls, are high grounds, at the distance of half a mile from the river,

considerably more elevated than the bluffs and of a hilly aspect."

VERIFIES THE SAD STORIES OF WINONA AND BLACK DAY.

Maj. Long was impressed by the stories told him by the Indians of the melancholy fate of the two noted Sioux Indian women of Minnesota that in the long ago committed suicide because of disappointment in love. These were Winona, (meaning the first-born child if a daughter) of Wabasha's band, who threw herself from the Maiden Rock, at Lake Pepin, because her parents sought to make her marry against her will, and Ampatu Sappa-win (black day woman) who put her two children into a canoe and floated with them over St. Anthony's Falls because her husband had taken a second wife. Wahzee Koota (Pine Shooter) told Maj. Long that Winona belonged to the Wabasha band, which was his band, and that her sui- cide was committed within his recollection. He also said that his mother witnessed the tragic death of Black Day and her two little ones. Wahzee Koota also related the stories to Prof. Keating, when Maj. Long made his second expedition, in 1823. Many other old Indians related them to Joseph Snelling and others about Fort St. Anthony in early days. The sad stories are certainly true. Indian women did not often kill themselves, but sometimes they did.

Maj. Long recommended that a fort "of consider -. able magnitude" be built on the "commanding ground" between the St. Peter's and the Mississippi, and when he came up six years later he had the satis- faction of seeing such an establishment nearly con- structed. He left the mouth of the St. Peter's on his return trip July 18, and arrived at Camp Belle Fon- taine, near St. Louis, August 15, after an absence of 76 days.

MAJ. LONG'S SECOND EXPEDITION.

In the spring of 1823 President James Monroe or- dered, "That an expedition be immediately fitted out for exploring the river St. Peter's and the country situated on the northern boundary of the United States, between the Red River of Hudson's Bay and Lake Superior." The command of the expedition was given to Maj. Stephen H. Long, who had made the skiff voyage six years before, and with him were sent the learned Thomas Say, a very noted zoologist and antiquarian ; Prof. William H. Keating, mineralogist and geologist; Samuel Seymour, landscape painter ; James E. Colhoun, astronomer. Profs. Say and Keat- ing were appointed joint journalists to the expedition and charged with the collection of the requisite infor- mation concerning the Indian tribes encountered en route.

The route commenced at Philadelphia and was from thence by way of Wheeling, (Va.) Fort Wayne, (Ind.) Fort Armstrong, (at the Dubuque lead mines) and thence up the Mississippi to Fort St. Anthony, (mouth of the St. Peter's) ; thence to the source of the St. Peter's; thence to the point of intersection between Red River and latitude 49° ; thence along the northern

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

boundary of the United States to Lake Superior, and thence homeward by the Lakes.

The party set out from Philadelphia April 30. From the mouth of the Fevre River, at the Galena lead mines, the route up the Mississippi was on horse- back. At Fort Crawford, or Prairie du Chien, the party was re-enforced by Lieut. Martin Scott and a corporal and nine men from Col. Snelling's Fifth Regiment of Infantry. Augustine Rocque, (or Rock) Maj. Long's interpreter of 1817, was secured as Sioux interpreter for this expedition ; as he could not speak English, his French was translated by Mr. Colhoun and Mr. Say.

At Prairie du Chien, also, Major Long divided the expedition into two parties, one of which proceeded by land on horseback and the other by water, on a keel- boat. The Major headed the horseback party, which was composed of himself, Mr. Colhoun, a soldier named George Bunker, a slave boy named Andrew, owned by Mr. Colhoun, John Wade, the Sioux inter- preter, and the ever faithful guide, Tah-mah-hah, or the Rising Moose.

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FORT SNELLING WHEN FIRST COMPLETED.

The boat party reached Fort Snelling, July 2; Maj. Long and his little party arrived a few days before. Keating's description of the fort as it was at the time may be of interest :

"The fort is in the form of a hexagon, surrounded by a stone wall ; it stands on an elevated position which commands both rivers. The height of the half-moon battery, which fronts the river, is 105 feet above the level of the Mississippi. It is not, however, secure from attacks from all quarters, as a position within ordinary cannon shot [where the present line of offi- cers' quarters begins] rises to a greater elevation ; but as long as we have to oppose a savage foe alone, no danger can be apprehended from this. But if it were required to resist a civilized enemy having artil- lery, possession might be taken of the other position, which would command the country to a considerable distance and protect the present fort, which is in the best situation for a control of the two rivers. The garrison consists of five companies under the com- mand of Col. Snelling."

No mention is made of the old tower, although it was built at the time.

THE FALLS ON MAJ. LONG'S SECOND VISIT.

A few days after their arrival at the St. Peter's, Maj. Long again visited the Falls of St. Anthony and this time he was accompanied by the scientific mem- bers of the party. Prof. Keating writes :

"On the 6th of July we walked to the Falls of St. Anthony, which are situated nine miles by the course of the river and seven miles by land above the fort. * We discovered that nothing could be more picturesque than this cascade. * We have * seen many falls, but few which present a wilder and more picturesque aspect than those of St. Anthony. The vegetation which grows around them is of a cor-

responding character. The thick growth upon the island imparts to it a gloomy aspect, contrasting pleas- ingly with the bright surface of the watery shcet which reflects the sun in many differently colored hues."

The force of the current immediately above the fall was very great, but the water was only about two feet deep, and though it flowed over a flat slippery rock the party waded across from the west shore to Nicollet Island; Profs. Say and Colhoun forded from the Island across to the east shore; they had, however, to be assisted by a stout soldier on their return. Keat- ing notes :

"Two mills have been erected for the rise of the garrison, and a sergeant's guard (five men) is kept here at all times. On our return from the Island we recruited our strength by a copious and palatable meal prepared for us by the old sergeant. Whether from the violent exercise of the day or from its intrin- sic merit we know not, but the black bass of which we partook appeared to us excellent."

Of the dimensions, Keating puts on record some fig- ures well worth keeping here :

"Concerning the height of the fall and the breadthi of the river at this place, much incorrect information has been published. Hennepin, who was the first European that visited it, states it to be 50 or 60 feet high. He says of it that it, 'indeed of itself is terri- ble and hath something very astonishing.' This height is by Carver reduced to about 30 feet; his strictures upon Hennepin, whom he taxes with exaggeration, might, with great propriety be retorted upon himself, and we are strongly inclined to say of him as he said of his predecessor: 'The good father, I fear, too often has no other foundation for his accounts than report, or at least a slight inspection.' Pike, who is more correct than any other traveler, states the per- pendicular fall at 161% feet. Maj. Long, in 1817, from the table rock, found it about the same. Mr. Colhoun measured it while we were there and made it about 15 feet. We cannot account for the state- ment made by Mr. Schoolcraft that the river has a perpendicular pitch of 40 feet, and this only 14 years after Pike's measurement.

"Mr. Schoolcraft also states the breadth of the river, near the brink of the fall, to be 227 yards, while Pike found it to be 627 yards, which agrees tolerably well with a measurement made on the ice. Messrs. Say and Colhoun obtained an approximate measure- ment of 594 yards, the result of a trigonometrical cal- culation ; but the angles had been measured by an im- perfect compass and the base line not well obtained. Below the fall the river contracts to about 200 yards. The portage from a proper distance above to a proper distance below the Falls is 260 poles."

MINNEHAHA AND OTHER NATURAL FEATURES NOTED.

The party was delighted with certain natural fea- tures of the country about the Fort, and especially with the well known cascade which has long been called Minnehaha Falls, then called Brown's Falls. Prof. Keating gives us the following somewhat impas- sioned description :

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

"The country about the fort contains several other waterfalls, which are represented as worthy of being seen. One of them, which is but two miles and a half from the garrison, and on the road to St. Anthony's, is very interesting. It is known by the name of Brown's Falls, and is remarkable for the soft beauties which it presents. Essentially different from St. Anthony's, it appears as if all its native wildness has been removed by the hand of art. A small but beau- tiful stream, about five yards wide, flows gently until it reaches the verge of a rock from which it is precipi- tated to a depth of 43 feet, presenting a beautiful parabolic sheet, which drops without interruption to its lower level, when it resumes its course unchanged, save that its surface is half covered with a beautiful white foam.

"The spray which this cascade emits is very consid- erable, and, when the rays of the sun shine upon it, produces a beautiful iris. Upon the surrounding veg- etation the effect of this spray is marked; it vivifies all the plants, imparts to them an intense green color, and gives rise to a stouter growth than is observed upon the surrounding country. On the neighboring rock the effect is as characteristic, though of a de- structive nature. The spray, striking against the rock, has undermined it in a curved manner, so as to pro- duce an excavation, similar in form to a Saxon arch, between the surface of the rock and the sheet of water; under this large arch we passed with no other inconvenience than that which arose from the spray. "There is nothing sublime or awfully impressive in this cascade, but it has every feature that is re- quired to constitute beauty. It is such a fall as the hand of opulence daily attempts to produce in the midst of those gardens upon which treasures have been lavished for the purpose of imitating nature ; but it has the difference that these natural falls pos- sess ant easy grace, destituic of the stiffness which generally distinguishes the works of man from those of nature."

Of Minnehaha Creek, then called Brown's Creek, Keating makes this mention :

"The stream that exhibits this cascade falls into the Mississippi about two miles above the fort; it issues from a lake situated a few miles above."

And this of Lake Calhoun :

"A body of water, which is not represented upon any map we know of has been discovered in this vicin- ity within a few years, and has received the name of Lake Calhoun, in honor of the Secretary of War. [John C. Calhoun. ] Its dimensions are small."

And this of Lake Minnetonka :

"Another lake, of a much larger size, is said to have been discovered about 30 .or 40 miles to the north- west of the fort. Its size, which is variously stated, is by some supposed to be equal to that of Lake Cham- plain, which, however, from the nature of the country, and the knowledge we have of the course of rivers, seems scarcely possible."

LAKE MINNETONKA AND ITS DISCOVERER.

The last lake mentioned then had no distinctive geo- graphic name ; it was called by the general Sioux term

for a great water, or a large quantity of water-Minne (water) tonka (big, large, or great)-which has be- come its particular name. The Indians did not even call it a big lake, meday (or m'da) tonka; they termed it simply a big water. The lake had been first vis- ited and reported upon by white men in the summer of 1822, the year preceding Long's second expedition. Joseph R. Brown, then a fifer and drummer boy of the Fort. St. Anthony garrison, and aged but 17, had set out to explore Minnehaha Creek from the falls to its source. There accompanied him a great part of the way the gifted but erratic Wm. Joseph Snelling, son of the commandant, and two soldiers of the garri- son. In his letters descriptive of the early Northwest Joe Snelling mentions this trip, saying he was driven back by the swarms of mosquitoes before reaching the lake. The young drummer boy's exploit is noted by Neill in his History of Minnesota, p. 331, chapter 16, narrating the events of 1822.

Dr. Neill upon the authority of Maj. Taliaferro, ("Tolliver") the Indian agent at Fort Snelling, says that the noted cataract was first called Brown's Fall, in honor of Gen. Jacob Brown, of the regular army. Taliaferro and Neill were both personal enemies of Joseph R. Brown, who became very prominent in Min- nesota public life ; neither of them gave him the credit or full and proper distinction due him. It has been frequently stated, and it seems probable, that the old Brown's Fall (now the Minnehaha) was named for Joseph R. Brown, the drummer boy, and not for Gen. Jacob Brown, who never saw the beautiful cataract, or even any part of Minnesota or the Northwest.

It cannot be disputed that the young fifer and drummer was the first white man to explore Minne- haha Creek and to discover Lake Minnetonka and make report upon it. Old settlers and even old records mention the stream as "Brown's Creek, " because Joe Brown was first to explore it. From this circumstance it is plausible that the falls of the creek came to be called Brown's Falls. Keating, who came the year following the young soldier's exploring feat, calls it Brown's Fall, but does not say it was named for Gen. Jacob Brown, or for whom it was named.

In 1826, the year after .Joe Brown, the drummer, left the army, he made the first land elaim ever made in Hennepin County. (Sec Warner & Foote's Hist. of Henn. Co., p. 175.) He was but 21 at the time he made his claim and this was before the land was sub- jeet to entry, but while it could be "claimed." Ilis claim was near the mouth of Minnehaha Creek. Brown built the first cabin or elaim house on the creek and lived there a short time, without making many improvements. Subsequently he owned a little mill on the creek, near its mouth, but it cannot be stated that he built it : the mill dam washed away and the mill was abandoned. Years later another mill was built, by other parties, and again the dam washed away. Early pioneers used to say that not only were the stream and the Fall named for the drummer, but that they were often called "Joe Brown's Creek" and "Joe Brown's Fall," making it almost certain for whom they were named. Of course they are now

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

called Minnehaha, and nobody wants the name ehanged.

Joseph R. Brown had attached to him very many distinctions which were undisputed. No other man that ever lived in Minnesota had so many. To him belongs the crowning honor of suggesting and plan- ning the organization of Minnesota Territory; he drew the bill for creating the Territory, which was first introduced in 1846, and when the final organiza- tion was arranged for at the Stillwater Convention it was he who suggested the name and its proper spell- ing. (See Vol. 2 Minn. in Three Centuries, pp. 350- 51; also Vol. 1 Minn. Hist. Socy. Coll., pp. 55-59.) In Minnesota he laid out the first town, (Stillwater) the first wagon road, (from Fort Snelling to Prairie du Chien) was the first lumberman to cut and raft logs, ete. He held many important public positions, and could have held many more had he wished. He was for a considerable period editor and proprietor of the Minnesota Pioneer, now the Pioneer Press, was a Major in the great Sioux Outbreak, and commanded the whites in the battle of Birch Coulie.

In her book, "Three Score Years," etc., Mrs. Van Cleve who came to Fort Snelling in 1819, when an infant, says of Maj. Brown: "He came up the river with the first troops of the Fifth Regiment as a drum- mer boy, and was always considered a faithful, well- behaved soldier." On his drum he beat the first reveille ever sounded by Americans in Minnesota.

The officers of the first garrison of Fort St. Anthony named other lakes in the vieinity Harriet, Eliza, Abi- gail, Lucy, etc., for the Christian names of their lovely wives, but none of them have retained the original name but Harriet. Col. Snelling named Calhoun for the Secretary of War, who had given him his promotion.

THE FIRST STEAMBOAT COMES TO FORT SNELLING IN 1823.

In May, 1823, the first steamboat in Minnesota, the Virginia, landed at Fort Snelling, having left St. Louis, May 2. No perfect description of this craft can now be made. It is known, however, that she was 118 feet in length, 22 feet in width, and drew six feet of water. She had a single engine, one smoke- stack, and was a side-wheeler.

Her cabin was fairly well arranged. It was a long trip up the river. Every few miles the boat had to stop and the erew go ashore and cut wood and carry it aboard for the engine, there being no other fue! ; indeed, at that early day steamboats burned nothing but wood, and "stone coal" was hardly known.

Among the passengers when the boat left St. Louis were Maj. Lawrence Taliaferro, the newly appointed Indian Agent for the Minnesota country ; J. Constan- tine Beltrami, an Italian count, but who was then a political refugee; Big Eagle, a Sac chief, and some immigrants for Galena, then already the site of a considerable lead-mining industry.

When the steamboat arrived at Fort Snelling the entire population of the seetion, white and red, turned out to welcome it. The Indians from the near-by villages swarmed about to see the strange thing, un-

certain whether it was a water craft or a "Waukon" monster. The red people looked intently at the unac- customed spectacle of a huge moving wooden bulk, with paint and polish and glitter and smell. They had managed to hold their ground and stare stolidly when the whistle sounded and the bell rang and there were other strange noises as the boat tied up at the bank and nestled elose to shore, but they were as full of excitement and apprehension as they could hold, and when the boat "let off" steam, with a terrible swish- ing and clouds of vapor, it was too much. Women, children, boys, warriors, and even head soldiers and chiefs, tumbled over one another and, yelling and screaming, fled up the Minnesota valley toward their villages and tepees.

COUNT BELTRAMI WRITES OF THE COUNTRY.

Beltrami had for a patron of his expedition a very wealthy Italian countess. She, it seems, paid all the expenses of his journey. The articles in his book, "Pilgrimage in Europe and America," are addressed to her. Deseribing conditions at Fort Snelling at the time of his visit he says :

"Our present ramble, my dear Madam, will begin and end around this fort. * There are no * buildings around the fort, except three or four log houses on the banks of the river, in which some subal- tern agents of the fur company live among the frogs. There is no other lodging to be had than in the fort. The land around the fort is cultivated by the soldiers, whom the Colonel thus keeps out of idleness, which is dangerous to all elasses of men, but particularly to this class. It yields as much as 60 to 1 of wheat and God knows what proportion of maize. Each officer, each company, each employe, has a garden and might have a farm if there were hands to cultivate it."

Of St. Anthony Falls, Beltrami gives a very florid and somewhat bewildering description, which in the original Italian may be picturesque and engaging but which in English is hardly satisfactory :

"What a new seene presents itself to my eyes, my dear madam! How shall I bring it before you with- out the aid of either painting or poetry ? I will give you the best outline I ean and your imagination must fill it up. Seated on the top of an elevated promon- tory, I see, at half a mile distance, two great masses of water unite at the foot of an island which they eneircle, and whose majestic trees deck them with the loveliest hues in which all the magie play of light and shade are reflected on their brilliant surface. From this point they rush down a rapid descent about 200 feet long, and, breaking against the scattered rocks which obstruct their passage, they spray up and dash together in a thousand varied forms. They then fall into a transverse basin in the form of a cradle and are urged upward by the force of gravita- tion against the side of a precipice, which seems to stop them a moment only to inerease the violence with which they fling themselves down a depth of twenty feet. The rocks against which thesc great volumes of water dash throw them back in white foam and glittering spray; then, plunging into the

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

cavities which this mighty fall has hollowed, they rush forth again in tumultuous waves, and once more break against a great mass of sandstone forming a little island in the midst of their bed, on which two thick maples spread their shady branches.

"This is the spot called the Falls of St. Anthony, eight miles above the fort; a name which, I believe, was given to it by Father Hanepin [sic] to comnem- orate the day of the discovery of the great falls of the Mississippi. A mill and a few little cottages, built by the Colonel for the use of the garrison, and the sur- rounding country adorned with romantic scenes, com- plete the magnificent picture."

Beltrami attempts to deseribe the country now ealled Minnesota, but makes a sad job of it. His accounts are full of errors. His geographie and other proper names are so distorted as to spelling, etc., that they are scarcely recognizable. He spells the name of chief Wabasha "Wabiscihouwa," Shakopee's name, "Sciakape," the term Naudowessioux, applied to the Dakota nation by the Chippewas, "Nordowekies," while the Mankato is written "Makatohose." etc. He calls the Chippewas, the "Cypowais," and very few of his names arc rightly spelled and very few of his items of history are correctly stated.

MAJ. LONG RESUMES HIS JOURNEY.

On the 9th of July Maj. Long and his party renewed their journey of exploration, setting out by way of the St. Peter's River. In the aggregate the party was composed of 33 persons. Col. Snelling had furnished a new detail of soldiers, consisting of a sergeant, two corporals, and 18 soldiers to be under Licuts. Martin Seott and St. Clair Denny. The inter- preters were the noted half-Sioux, Joseph Renville, (for whom the county is named) and Wm. Joseph

Snelling. The expedition was divided into a land and a water party. Four canoes transported the provi- sions and the water party, headed by Maj. Long. The land party was composed of Lieut. Denny, Profs. Say and Colhoun, and Count Beltrami, the last named a guest. Beltrami quarreled with the officers of the expedition, which he left in northern Minnesota, and deseended the Mississippi. The military escort re- turned to Fort Snelling from Mackinaw.

Maj. Long returned to Philadelphia Oct. 26, having pursucd the route designated for him and having fully accomplished the objects of his expedition after a tour of 4,500 miles which lasted six months.

In the latter part of 1824 Gen. Winfield Seott, then the Commanding General of the army, visited Fort St. Anthony on a tour of inspection. On his recommen- dation the War Department changed the name of the fort to Fort Snelling, in honor of the Command- ant, Col. Josiah Snelling. The General said of the fort, then newly completed: "This work reflects the highest credit on Col. Snelling, his officers and his men," and he suggested the new name as a compli- ment to "the meritorious officer under whom it has been erected." He gave other reasons for the change, saying: "The present name is foreign to all our associations, and it is besides geographically incorrect, as the work stands at the junction of the Mississippi and St. Peter's Rivers, and eight [?] miles below the great falls called after St. Anthony."

Improvements connected with the fort were eon- tinued. In 1830 stone buildings were erected large enough to accommodate four companies of infantry ; a stone wall nine feet high and a stone hospital werc also built, although these improvements were not fully completed until some time after the closc of the Mexi- can War, in 1848.

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Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 9

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