USA > Minnesota > Brown County > History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1) > Part 3
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white man. The dog was killed by the Indian, and in return the owner of the dog made an assault upon the Indian, and afterward gathered his neighbors, and they went to the Indian camp and disarmed them. The arms were after- ward returned to them, and the party moved northeast, ar- riving at the Spirit Lake settlement about the 6th of March, where they massacred the men and took four women into captivity. Other settlements were attacked, and altogether forty-two settlers were killed. Two of the women were aft- erward rescued through the efforts of Hon. Charles E. Flan- dreau, then the Indian agent. An effort was made to pun- ish this band of savages, but all escaped except the eldest son of Ink-pa-du-ta, who had ventured into the camp of other Sioux, near the agency, and was killed in an attempt to capture him.
TOWN-SITE SPECULATION.
In 1855 and 1856 town-site speculation became the ab- sorbing thought, and when the panic of 1857 set in, Minne- sota was soon in a deplorable condition. The demand for an extensive railroad system and a state government had originated in the flush times of 1856 and 1857, and on Feb- ruary 26, 1857, Congress passed an act authorizing a consti- tutional convention, and granting a large amount of lands in aid of public schools. On March 3, 1857, an act of Con- gress was approved making a large grant of lands in aid of railroads.
The election of members of the Constitutional Conven- tion was held on June 1, 1857, and the result was an almost equal division representing the Democratic and Republican parties. So close was this division, and there being some
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contested seats, when the convention assembled, on July 13, two distinct organizations were made, each proceeding to frame a Constitution, but finally, by conference committees, they united in one document, which was submitted to a vote of the people on October 13, and was adopted almost unani- mously. By this Constitution the boundaries of the state were changed on the west, making the Red River of the North the line, up the Bois des Sioux, and thence extending along that river and through Lake Traverse and Big Stone lake, and by a direct south line to the north boundary of Iowa.
This Constitution provided for an election of state of- ficers at the same time of voting upon the adoption of the Constitution, resulting, by a close vote, in the election of the Democratic nominees. The first state Legislature was con- vened on the 2nd of December, 1857, and continued in ses- sion until March 25, 1858, when a recess was taken until after the state should be admitted. Some doubts were raised as to the legality of the acts of the Legislature previ- ous to admission by Congress. The act of admission was passed and approved, May 11, 1858. The Legislature again assembled in June, and finally adjourned, August 12, 1858. During this prolonged session the embryo state was without funds, and a loan of $250,000 was authorized; but as the acts of the Legislature before admission were somewhat irregu- lar, the loan could not be readily negotiated. To tide over the difficulty state warrants were issued in the form of bank notes, and passed current, with more or less discount, until the summer of 1858, when they were redeemed from the proceeds of the loan consummated after the admission of the state.
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RAILROAD BONDS ISSUED.
The first Legislature worked diligently in what they considered the best interest of the state, and as the grant of lands by the United States in aid of railroads within the state had to be turned over to companies, a large part of the session was devoted to railroad legislation. The scheme of further aid to companies who might be willing to under- take the building of railroads was originated, and was com- monly denominated the "Five Million Loan Bill," contem- plating the loan of the credit of the state, to that amount, in such sums as would be paid upon the grading and final completion of certain miles of road. On a submission of this law to the people it was adopted by a large majority. The opposition at the time of the vote upon this measure was very bitter, and continued after bonds were being is- sued, and with the dissatisfaction arising from the small amount of work completed and the large amount of bonds issued, threatenings of repudiation advocated by leading men in the state caused a distrust in financial circles and a final collapse of the whole scheme, with the foreclosure of the mortgages taken by the state upon the railroad lands and franchises, and the abandonment of all railroad con- struction for the time being. The total amount of bonds issued under this provision of the constitution was $2,275,- 000. By the foreclosure proceedings the state acquired about 250 miles of graded road, the franchises of the com- panies and the lands, amounting to five million of acres, as indemnity for this issue of bonds. Notwithstanding the state had acquired all the rights, including the improve- ments of the railroad companies, the feeling against any
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settlement of the bonds was strong enough to secure an amendment to the constitution in 1860, prohibiting the pass- age of any law levying a tax or making other provision for the payment of the principal or interest of these bonds without having the same submitted to a vote of the people and adopted.
The two years following the crash of 1857 were replete with financial disaster and a shrinkage of inflated values in town-sites; but the country was filling up with farmers, and the rich soil of the state was giving abundant harvests. The political contest of 1859 was bitter, and resulted in the Republican party carrying the state, both for state officers and the Legislature.
The census of 1860 gave the state a population of 172,- 023. During this year there was great hope of a largely increased immigration into the county; but the political situation in the Union, starting with the opening of the presidential campaign of that year, soon indicated a dis- turbing element throughout the country, and distrust and depresison were manifest on all sides which was not allayed by the result of the presidential election. The war period, commencing with the time of the President's proclamation in April, 1861, to the final close of the rebellion in 1865, did not permit any material growth in the state. About twenty- two thousand of her able-bodied citizens volunteered and were enlisted in the Union army.
UNREST AMONG THE INDIANS.
The Indian reservation set apart by the treaties of 1851, a tract twenty miles wide on the upper part of the
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Minnesota river, embracing some of the finest lands in the state, was becoming a barrier to settlements in the upper Minnesota valley. Settlers had taken lands close up to the reservation, and there was considerable complaint that In- dians were coming off the reservation and committing petty depredations, and the Indians had more or less complaints to make regarding the extortions practiced by the post trad- ers. The encroachments of the whites were viewed with suspicion by the Indians, and sooner or later, from these causes alone, a conflict would probably have occurred. The War of the Rebellion, calling away so many of the able- bodied men of the state, left the frontier settlements almost defenseless, and doubtless caused the younger portion of the tribes to become more offensive to the settlers and more exacting in their demands.
The lands embraced within the reservation under the treaties of 1851 were in the very heart of Minnesota, and, considering the forests and streams, were the choicest of farming lands. The settlers on the border were anxiously coveting this "Garden of Eden." A sentiment was created throughout the state that the Indians should abandon the tribal relations and become civilized. To this end the head men of the Dakota nation were induced, in 1858, to go to Washington, under the charge of Hon. Joseph R. Brown, in whom they had great confidence, for the purpose of ne- gotiating for the whole or a part of this reservation. Trea- ties were signed ceding the ten-mile strip on the north side of the river, upon the payment of $140,000, and the govern- ment provided that every head of a family or single person over the age of twenty-one adopting a civilized life should secure in fee eighty acres of land. From some cause the
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payments of $140,000 were never made, and there was great dissatisfaction on account of this treaty, among those of the tribes who were adverse to accepting the condition of civili- zation; and from the fact that there was no money divided among them on account of this relinquishment a bitter dis- sension arose between the older chiefs and the younger members, the latter claiming that they had been robbed either by the chiefs or by the government, and they pro- posed to have the settlement, peaceful or otherwise.
This internal strife was augmented from year to year by the withdrawal of families who were willing to accept the civilization fund, the number in three years succeeding the treaty amounting to one hundred and sixty persons. They were, however, still annuity Indians, and claimed the right to be heard in the councils. The annuity Indians, all told, numbered about six thousand two hundred, and the annual cash payment to each person amounted to about fifteen dollars. The Indians were treated as wards of the United States. Two agencies were established, around which were gathered storekeepers to sell the Indians goods in anticipation of the annuity payments; and, usually, the annual payment was simply a settlement of the claims of the traders, who took the risk of furnishing the goods in advance. That there was injustice practiced upon the In- dians is doubtless true; probably not so great as the dis- affected Indians imagined. There was enough, however, to make the time of the annual payment an anxious period, for fear of an outbreak. The failure of the government in its attempt to punish the Spirit Lake murderers had a ten- dency to create a feeling among the leaders of the rebellious spirit that if they could only unite the whole body of Sioux
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in an uprising they could make a successful attack upon the settlers, and perhaps regain the lands formerly held by the Indians. The War of the Rebellion, starting in 1861, gave renewed energy to the discontent. The Indians were well aware of the reverses of the Union forces during the first year of the war. The calls for troops were taking the able-bodied men from the farms, and many of the half- breeds had volunteered for the army. All these conditions had a disquieting effect, and, added to this, in 1862 the June payment was not made; and as there was no satisfactory answer for the delay, the traders took advantage of the necessities of the Indians and insinuated that perhaps the government would go to pieces, and there would be no fur- ther payments. The missionaries endeavored to counteract these evil influences, and, with the aid of the civilized In- dians, succeeded in averting deliberate outbreak. The delay in payment of annuities, however, tended to keep up the dis- content, particularly among the younger braves, who were the hunters. Their vagabond life brought them into the settlements, and in contact with the whites; and their worth- less, lazy habits made them offensive to the families, as beg- gars of meals or money, or anything that took their fancy.
MASSACRE OF 1862.
These are, in brief, the circumstances which led up to the great massacre of 1862, which for a short time threat- ened the lives of all the settlers on the western boundary of the state. There was no concerted action for the mas- sacre, and to some extent there is an uncertainty as to why the first murders were committed. Four young men or
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boys are believed to have commenced the massacre, in a spirit of bravado, making a threatening attack first upon a family, driving them from their home, and afterward fol- lowing them to a neighbor's house, where, after an alterca- tion with the families, they killed three men and two wom- en. These occurrences took place on the 17th of August, in the township of Acton, twelve miles west of Litchfield. Realizing that if they remained in the vicinity punishment would soon overtake their murderous acts, they lost no time in going back to camp, relating what they had done, and asking protection. A hasty consultation was had between two of the chiefs; they realized that the murderers must be given up, or the annuities would be stopped, and a war of extermination would be inaugurated. They chose to stand by the murderers, and immediately following there was a general uprising of the entire Sioux bands. So swift were their movements, before any effective resistance could be brought against them, that about eight hundred of the set- tlers, men, women and children were murdered within a few days. The prompt action of the state authorities, aided by the national government, resulted in the capture of about 2,000 of the belligerent Indians and the withdrawal of the remainder beyond the boundaries of the state, into the wilds of Dakota. Of the captured Indians, 303 were found guilty of murder and rape, and were condemned to death by a mili- tary court-martial. Of this number 265 were reprieved by President Lincoln, and the remainder, thirty-eight of the most prominent engaged in the massacre, were hung in Mankato on the 26th of December, 1862. The next year the general government authorized an expedition against the Indians who had escaped to the Dakota plains, because of
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their constant raids in small squads on the frontiers of the state for the purpose of horse-stealing and marauding upon adventurous settlers who might risk going back to their abandoned farms. After two decisive encounters, the In- dians retreated beyond the Missouri river, and in 1864 an- other expedition was sent forward and a final settlement of the Sioux outbreak was accomplished by a confiscation and surrender of the ponies and arms of most of the bands hos- tile to the government.
The several tribes of Sioux Indians were engaged in this massacre, and were the representatives of the tribes that had made the cession of lands in 1851, under the first and second treaties of that year. Under these treaties the government had set aside trust funds of $2,520,000, from which there was paid annually the sum of $126,000. Set- tlers who had lost property urged their claims for indem- nity, and Congress promptly established a commission to receive all claims and investigate the facts. The commis- sion was duly organized and established headquarters in the city of St. Paul, and carefully examined all the claims pre- sented. The total number filed was 2,940, with damages amounting to $2,458,795.16. The commission allowed 2,635 claims, and cut down the damages to $1,370,374. By an act of Congress these claims were paid, and the annuities and all further payments to the tribes were stopped. The state was also reimbursed for extraordinary expenses in- curred during the period of insurrection.
On the 2nd of October, 1863, a treaty was concluded at the old crossing of Red Lake river, about twelve miles east of the present city of Crookston, by Alexander Ramsey and
(4)
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Ashley C. Morrill, and the chiefs and head men of the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Ojibway Indians, for the ces- sion of a large tract of country, being the same land em- braced in one of the treaties of 1851, but not ratified at that time, of which the boundaries are as follow: Com- mencing at the intersection of the national boundary with the Lake of the Woods; thence in a southwest direction to the head of Thief river; thence following that stream to its mouth; thence southeasterly in a direct line toward the head of Wild Rice river; and thence following the boundary of the Pillager cession of 1855 to the mouth of said river; thence up the channel of the Red river to the mouth of the Cheyenne; thence up said river to Stump lake, near the eastern extremity of Devil's lake; thence north to the inter- national boundary ; and thence east on said boundary to the place of beginning. It embraced all of the Red River val- ley in Minnesota and Dakota, except a small portion previ- ously ceded, and was estimated to contain 11,000,000 acres. This treaty was ratified by the Senate, with amendments, March 1, 1864. The Indians, on the 12th of April, 1864, assented to the amendments, and President Lincoln, by his proclamation of the 5th of May, 1864, confirmed the treaty.
A PERIOD OF RAPID DEVELOPMENT.
The close of the Civil War in the spring of 1865, and the return of the soldiers, and the assurance of no further depredations from the Sioux Indians, started a new era of prosperity and rapid growth. The Legislature, in the mean- time, had granted charters on the foreclosed roadbeds and lands to new railroad companies, and the construction of
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roads was furnishing abundant labor to all who were com- ing to the state. The population at this time was 250,099, and in 1870 the population had increased to 439,706, nearly doubling in five years. The railroad companies had within the same period constructed nearly 1,000 miles of railroad and continued their building with even greater vigor until the financial crisis of 1873 brought all public enterprises again to a stand, and produced stagnation in all the grow- ing towns. The farmers had been active in developing the country, and were adding largely to the productions of the state when the grasshopper raids, for the time being, de- stroyed the growing crops, and caused great financial dis- tress for two or three years.
The census of 1875 gave the state a population of 597,- 407, still showing a fair increase, but small in comparison with the five years following the close of the rebellion. By 1878 the state had fairly recovered from the financial crash of 1873, but speculation has at no time since 1878 been so reckless as during the two periods ending in 1857 and 1873.
Along with the prosperity of the state, caused so largely by the rapid railroad building, the state pride began to assert itself with more force, and the prominent citizens continued to urge an adjustment of the dishonored railroad bonds. In 1877 a proposition setting aside the proceeds of 500,000 acres for internal improvement lands in settlement was by act of the Legislature submitted to a vote at a spe- cial election called for the 12th of June, and was voted down by the decisive vote of 59,176 against to 17,324 votes for, the proposition. This vote was largely owing to the fact that the state at that time had almost an entire new popula- tion that had come into the state long after the bonds were
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issued and had no definite knowledge of the history of the original indebtedness.
In 1881 the Legislature enacted a law providing for the adjustment of these bonds and designating the judges of the supreme court as a commission to make the settlement. The constitutionality of this law was questioned, a writ of injunction was served, and the final determination of the supreme bench was that the law was unconstitutional, as also the amendment of 1860, prohibiting any settlement without a vote of the people. This latter act had previously been determined unconstitutional by the supreme court of the United States. An extra session of the Legislature was called in October of the same year, when the final adjust- ment was authorized by act of the Legislature, on a basis of fifty per cent. of the amount nominally due, and, after a careful examination of all the claims presented, the bond question was forever set at rest by the issue of adjustment bonds, to the amount of $4,282,000, to parties entitled to receive them. For the payment of these bonds the proposi- tion of setting aside the proceeds of the 500,000 acres of internal improvement lands was again submitted to the gen- eral election in 1881, and by a vote of 82,435 votes in favor, and 24,526 votes against, the action of the Legislature was ratified and the stigma of repudiation removed, which had been fastened upon the state by the popular vote of 1877.
In 1880 the national census gave the state a population of 780,773, and the state census of 1885 swelled these figures to 1,117,798, indicating the extraordinary growth of forty- three per cent .; but an examination of the figures shows that the growth was mainly confined to the cities, being nearly eighty per cent. of increase, while in the farming community
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and small towns the percentage of increase was only twenty per cent.
During the ten years between 1880 and 1890 there was a period of great activity in the railroad building, and 2,310 miles of road were put in operation. This alone gave great energy to the business of the state, and caused a large in- crease in the population of the cities, and gradually culmi- nated in a most extravagant real estate boom, and an era of the wildest speculation. In the country the growth was normal over the entire state, although large numbers of farmers in the southern half of the state were attracted to the plains of Dakota, where great activity was being devel- oped by the pushing of railroads into different sections of the territory.
DIVERSIFIED FARMING INTERESTS.
The settlement of the Dakotas and the consequent breaking up of the virgin land, after the year 1885, almost doubled the wheat yield of the northwestern states, so that the farmers of Minnesota were soon confronted with the question whether wheat should continue to be their leading staple. In the southern part of the state the wheat return was not enough per acre to yield any profit to the farmer at the reduced prices; and gradually methods have changed, so that the leading agricultural industries now include dairying, stock raising, and general diversified farming. It seems probable that Minnesota will hold her place as the greatest wheat-producing state, and will also earn a greater reputation as the best all-round farming state in the Union.
The national census of 1890 gave the state a population
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of 1,301,826, an increase of 184,028 in five years, of which amount about 70,000 increase went to the cities and 114,000 to the country districts, showing eighteen per cent. increase in the cities and fifteen per cent. increase in the country. The state census of 1895 showed an increase of 272,793, or 21.95 per cent., in the preceding five years, giving a total population of 1,574,619.
According to the census of 1910 the population of Min- nesota was 2,075,708, showing an increase of 17.8 per cent. during the preceding decade. The population of the five largest cities was as follow : Minneapolis, 301,408; St. Paul, 214,744; Duluth, 78,466; Winona, 18,583; and Stillwater, 10,198.
Minnesota was the first state of the Union to respond to the call of the President for volunteers at the beginning of the war with Spain, in April, 1898. Three regiments, designated as the Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Regi- ments of Minnesota Volunteers, were mobilized at St. Paul, April 29, and were mustered into the United States service on May 7 and 8. The Fifteenth Regiment was mustered into service on July 18. In total this state furnished 5,315 officers and enlisted men for the volunteer army. At the close of the war the Twelfth and Fourteenth Regiments returned to Minnesota, and were mustered out of service in November. The Fifteenth Regiment continued in service until March 27, 1899; and the Thirteenth Regiment, after more than a year of service in the Philippine Islands, was mustered out on October 3, 1899.
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NAME.
Minnesota derives its name from the river which was named "Minisota" by the Dakotas, pronounced "Min-nee- sotah," applied to the stream, in its natural state in the summer season, after the waters were cleared from the roil- ing caused by the spring floods. Mini, water; sotah, sky- colored. Apparently to secure the correct pronunciation in English letters, the convention called at Stillwater, in 1848, for the purpose of procuring a territorial organization, in- structed their delegates to see that the name of the territory should be written Min-ne-sota.
GEOGRAPHY.
Geographically, Minnesota occupies the exact center of the continent of North America, midway between the Atlan- tic and Pacific oceans, and also midway between Hudson bay and the Gulf of Mexico. This state is bounded on the south by Iowa, on the west by South and North Dakota, on the north by Manitoba and Ontario, and on the east by Wis- consin. It extends from latitude 43 degrees 30 minutes, to 49 degrees 24 minutes, and from 89 degrees 29 minutes, to 97 degrees 15 minutes, west longitude. From its southern boundary to the northern is about 400 miles, and from its most eastern to the extreme western point about 354 miles.
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