History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 35

Author: J. Fletcher Williams
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

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Two brothers, Revs. H. and B. F. Kavanagh, with their wives, and with Mrs. Boardman and Miss Julia Boswell as teachers, were also estab- lished at Kaposia as Methodist missionaries. Messrs. W. R. Brown and Charles Cavileer were also associated with them, but not directly, in missionary work. In 1841-42 these good people removed to Red Rock, on the opposite side of the Mississippi, and established a mission there.

In 1846, November twentieth. the mission at Kaposia was renewed. This time, however, the work was under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Rev. Thomas S. Williamson, M. D., a native of South Carolina and a graduate of Jefferson college, Pennsylvania, came to Fort Snelling in 1834. His tour was one of exploration, and his report induced the commissioners to send several new missionaries into this western field.

They arrived in 1835, and the same year Dr. Williamson organized a Presbyterian church at the fort, the first church within the limits of the state. Several settlers from Mendota were among the members, and H. H. Sibley was one of the elders.

Dr. Williamson located at Lac qui Parle, but in 1846 Little ('row, having been shot in a drunk- en revel by his brother, repaired to Mr. Bruce. the Indian agent at Fort Snelling, and requested a missionary. He had become thoroughly alarmed at the havoc of whisky, and seemed in- clined to use the best-accepted agencies for working a thorough reform among his people.

Dr. Williamson was sent to Kaposia, where he labored with denying Christian zeal until the re- moval of the Indians. In conjunction with Messrs. Reed and Riggs, he prepared a diction- ary of the Dakota language, containing fifteen thousand words. He was a ripe scholar and an instrument of much good. In 1850, January seventh, the "Presbyterian church of Kaposia" was organized, consisting of seven white mem- bers and seven Dakotas.

Dr. Williamson welcomed to his house, in this county, the first teacher for St. Paul, Miss H. E. Bishop, who was sent out at his request by ex- Governor Slade, of Vermont, president of the National Popular Education society. It was thus a resident of Dakota county who took the real initiatory steps toward popular education outside of the Indian mission schools.

The results accomplished by these missionaries were not inconsiderable. Their labors are still bearing fruit. Yet those results were not quite what was anticipated. It is a long step from the barbarism of the depraved, murderous Indian de- scription to the beneficent Gospel of the Prince of Peace. None knew this better than these Indian missionaries, who were surrounded with the orgies of the scalp dance, who witnessed the Indian battles, and knew the extent and degra- dation of the Indian passion for strong drink.

James M. Goodhue wrote in high terms of their work at Lac qui Parle; and it cannot be denied that there were many traces of the good influence of these Christian men and women visible in the conduct of many Indians during the massa- cre of 1862.

The Catholics established a mission at Mendota at an early day under the following circumstances.

Bishop Lovas of Dubuque, whose diocese in- cluded all this northwestern region, visited St. Peter's and Fort Snelling in 1839. He found the Catholic pioneers eager for Divine worship after the manner of their faith. He wrote to a friend in Ireland: "The Catholics of St. Peter's amount to one hundred and eighty-five, fifty-six of whom we baptized, administered confirmation to eight, communion to thirty-three adults and gave the nuptial benediction to four couples. Our arrival was a cause of great joy to the Catholics, who had never before seen a priest or bishop in those re- mote regions."

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After thirteen days sojourn at St. Peter's, which was doubtless made by the good bishop to include all the country about the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, he returned in a canoe to Dubuque.

One day the whistle of an upbound steamer brought to his mind the needs of the Catholic people in the region whither it was bound. He arose at once, and conferring with Father Lucian Galtier, that devoted pastor was selected for the work in this new, far-away field. In one hour his preparations were completed, and he em- barked. Father Galtier left St. Peter's in 1844.

Three years previous to his departure, Father A. Ravoux, now vicar-general, was commissioned by his bishop, in the diocese of Dubuque, to visit the Sioux and investigate the prospect among them for the establishment of a mission. Father Ravoux arrived at St. Peter's, and was a guest of Father Galtier. He soon set out in a canoe for Traverse des Sioux, and reaching there began a study of the Dakota tongue, meantime preach- ing to the Indians with the aid of an interpreter.

The result was that he became a permanent resident of Minnesota, and still lives to hear many blessings and behold much fruit. In 1842, while Father Galtier was called away to pastor- less flocks at Lake Pepin and elsewhere, Father Ravoux took charge at Mendota and St. Paul. He continued in charge there, after the departure of Father Galtier, until he found a wider field, residing solely at St. Paul.

Some further notice of these devoted clergymen will be found in the succeeding history of Men- dota.

CHAPTER XXXV.

FIRST SETTLEMENT-SELKIRK'S COLONY AR- RIVAL OF SOLDIERS-DISEASE AMONG SOL- DIERS-CAMP COLDWATER-FIRST BIRTH AT FORT SNELLING-EARLY SETTLERS.

The first settlement in "the state of the sky- tinted water" was made in Dakota county.

Lord Selkirk's famous colony or Red River set-

tlement, established in 1812, was just outside the present boundaries of this state. Impelled by the pangs of hunger, verging on starvation, the unfortunate colonists of Kildonan hunted the buffalo on the prairies of northwestern Minnesota during one or two winters, but they were in no sense settlers here. The oldest settled county in the state lies about the junction of the Minnesota with the Mississippi river.

It was the executive force and far-sighted statesmanship of John C. Calhoun that first ex- tended the power of the Union over this remote, uncultivated region, and thereby inaugurated its permanent possession and occupation by the whites.

Under his order of February tenth, 1819, Col. H. Leavenworth, commanding the Fifth Regi- ment of infantry, left Detroit, and came by way of Prairie du Chien to the mouth of the Minne- sota river. The journey up the Mississippi was performed in keel-boats, and was completed August twenty-third, 1819. At that date the detachment arrived at New Hope (Mendota,) and established a cantonment on the south bank of the Minnesota, near the end of the railway bridge which at present spans that stream.

While the detachment was at Prairie du Chien a daughter was born to Lieutenant Nathan Clark, commissary of the regiment, and to Mrs. Char- lotte (Seymour) Clark, his wife. This daughter. now Mrs. Charlotte O. Van Cleve of Minneapo- lis, was born on the first of July. Her father proceeded, in August, with Colonel Leavenworth to the Minnesota, but from all that can be ascer- tained his wife and daughter did not arrive there until November. It is said that owing to the unusually low stage of water, the keel-boats were frequently drawn through the sand by the wading boatmen, and Mrs. Clark and little daugh- ter were six weeks on the tedious voyage from Prairie du Chien to Mendota.

Mrs. Clark's was the first white baby in Da- kota county, and is said to have been an object of great curiosity to the Indians, who came from far and near to see it.

There were several ladies connected with the regiment, and among them Mrs. Gooding, wife of Captain Gooding, who came with her husband, as a part of the original detachment. She was probably the first white woman in the county.

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If others arrived at the same time their names have not been preserved.

Only the rudest pickets and tents were ready for use in the first winter, that of 1819-'20, and until these could be erected the company were obliged to occupy the flat-boats.

Mrs. Ellett writes, in a sketch of Mrs. Clark, as follows: "After living with her family in the boat for a month, it was a highly appreciated luxury for Mrs. Clark to find herself at home in a log hut, plastered with clay and chinked for her reception. It was December before they got in- to their winter quarters, and the fierce winds of that exposed region, with terrific storms now and then. were enough to make them keep within doors as much as possible. Once, in a violent tempest, the roof of their dwelling was raised by the wind, and partly slid off; there was no pro- tection for the inmates, but the baby in the cradle was pushed under the bed for safety. Notwith- standing these discomforts and perils, the incon- veniencies they had to encounter, and their iso- lated situation, the little party of emigrants were not without the social enjoyments; they were nearly all young married persons, cheerful and fond of gayety, and had their dancing assem- blages once a fortnight."

Ninety-eight soldiers and twenty boatmen composed the first force that arrived at St. Peter's, and half of these were sick. September first, Major Forsyth, Indian agent, who accompanied the original expedition, while returning to St. Louis, met one hundred and twenty recruits on their way to the cantonment. This was at the head of Lake Pepin. With these added forces there was no inconsiderable garrison at St. Peter's.

But they passed a terrible winter. The land scurvy, hitherto and since unknown in all this region, broke out in malignant form among the troops. Well men at night were dead in the morning. A soldier was relieved from his tour of sentinel duty, says General Sibley, and stretched himself upon the bench of the guard- room; four hours after, when he was called upon to resume his post, he was discovered to be life- less.

Leavenworth, accompanied by others, set out in sleighs through the Indian country in search of anti-scorbutics. They obtained spruce from

the St. Croix and the Chippewa rivers, and vin- egar from Prairie du Chien. Nevertheless nearly one-half of the command perished.

The bad quality of the provisions was doubtless the cause of the disease. The accounts all agree that their quality was villainous. The brine was drawn from the pork-barrels, at St. Louis, to lighten the load, for the benefit of the dishonest contractors, and, to avoid detection, the barrels were refilled with river water before their delivery at the post. It was not until after two seasons that this unwholesome fraud was discovered. Thus the winter wore away, and the swift, sunny Minnesota summer came, bring- ing cheer to all hearts.

The troops then took up summer quarters at Camp Coldwater, on the opposite side of the river, but they returned to their old quarters at Men- dota for the winter of 1820-'21.

MRS. ABIGAIL SNELLING AND DAUGHTER.

During the summer of 1820 Colonel Josiah Snelling succeeded Colonel Leavenworth as com- mander. Mrs. Abigail Snelling came with him, and in September of that year gave birth to a daughter, the first white child ever born in Da- kota county. Mrs. Snelling's sick-room at Men- dota was papered and carpeted with buffalo robes, and made as warm and comfortable as possible She relates with relation to the experiences of 1820-21: "Great solicitude was felt to have a temporary garrison erected with such defences as could be then made before the long and severe winter set in. The traders brought news that the Indians were very insolent, and it was said a white man had been killed on the St. Peter's river. A council was called, and the murderers were demanded, hostages being taken from the council until they were delivered. They were confined in the guard-room and narrowly watched. All felt that the little community was exposed, and almost at the mercy of an enemy, and great exertions were made to com- plete the temporary barracks for the winter, with block houses and other defences. Indians, mean- while, were collecting in great numbers, and would sometimes show themselves at a distance. The traders in the vicinity often came in, and said the friendly Indians had gone in pursuit of the murderers, and no doubt would succeed in

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taking them; but if they did not the friends of the hostages would attempt to rescue them. Scouts were accordingly kept out every night. and the troops slept on their arms. As soon as the log bar- racks were finished, the families moved into them. They were built in four rows, forming a square, a block-house on either side. The Indian hostages were now put in great security. They were evi- dently becoming impatient of restraint, and per- haps had doubts as to the result. One morning. as usual, they were taken a short distance into the woods, under guard, when suddenly one of them (there were three) started and ran for his life. Those behind set up a yell, and the guard fired at him, but he was beyond reach. The others were immediately taken back to the guard- house and an interpeter sent for, who inquired of them if it was a preconcerted plan of the whole. They declared it was not, and that until the fugu- tive started to run, they were ignorant of his de- sign, and supposed it merely a sudden desire for freedom. They said that he would no doubt urge the immediate surrender of the guilty parties, and laughingly said that the lad was so fat from being so well fed they were surprised to see him run so fast!"

It appears that the two murderers, or one of the murderers and an old chief who came as a substitute for his son, were voluntarily brought in, in November. They stopped at some distance from the encampment, and proceeded in a dirge-singing procession to the parade-ground. After the Indian custom, their faces were black- ened, and wooden splinters were thrust through the fleshy portions of their arms. to indicate their serene disregard of pain and even death. A fire had been prepared for the purpose, and on it the British flag, which had been borne by a Sioux at the head of the procession, was con- sumed. The murderer surrendered his medal and was sent to St. Louis for trial. The old chief was detained as a hostage.

The Indian agent at Mendota was Major Law- rence Taliaferro (Toliver). a native of Virginia. He retained the position in Minnesota from 1819 until he resigned in 1839. Ile was thoroughly honest, and exceedingly efficient in expelling the British traders and keeping the Indians in a state of subordination and obedience. Being an invet- erate enemy of the trader's whisky, he was cor-

dially disliked by them. but no charges of any official misconduct could ever be produced against him. He continued on the Mendota side of the river for some time.

In October, 1821, Mrs. Snelling's child, Eliza- beth, died at Mendota, where she was born, and was the first interment in the military graveyard at Fort Snelling.

In October of 1822, some of the buildings at Fort Snelling were ready for occupancy, and a part of the garrison occupied them. It was not until 1824 that the original cantonment, variously referred to as St. Peter's New Hope, and Men- dota was entirely broken up. Then the eventful and interesting history of Fort Snelling began, a sketch of which has been given previously.

Of the ladies, who were with the original can- tonment, Mrs. Gooding remained only until 1821, when her husband, afterward Captain George Gooding, resigned, and became sutler at Prairie du Chien, Shortly before their departure, their daughter was married at Camp Coldwater to Lieut. Green, by whom it does not appear, pos- sibly by Major Taliaferro, who subsequently, as a justice. married several couples. The first peo- ple married from Dakota county were Lieut. Denny and Miss Caroline Hamilton, but they were obliged to descend the Mississippi, on the ice, to Prairie du Chien. for the performance of the ceremony. This was in 1820-21.

Mrs. Nathan Clark, whose husband was after- wards major, removed with the regiment to Fort Snelling, where she continued to reside until 1827. At that time, Major ('lark was ordered to Prairie du Chien.

Mrs. Snelling, after the death of Col. Snelling in 1827, ceased to reside in Minnesota, and after- ward became Mrs. Chaplin. In 1879, at the age of eighty-two, she was in good health, and was residing, with her daughter, at Newport, Ken- tucky.

About the Dakota county shore of the Minne- sota river, therefore, cluster many historic memories. Events have transpired there whose history can never be written, and which would command our interest, not from anything inher- ent in themselves, so much as from their bearing on the future of the sovereign state. which they really called forth. Here were the beginnings of power and greatness. Ilere at first was a centre.

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from which the slender currents of civilized life and civilized activities pulsed out, through the rivers and across the surrounding prairies. How wide or how lasting in its influences and ef- fects, any event may be, however simple. it is impossible to pre-determine. There was nothing : grand or romantic in the landing of a handful of weatherbeaten, ocean-tossed exiles on an ice- sheeted rock in Plymouth Bay. And if that were all, the event would have been forgotten. It is in its results, as viewed through the perspective of more than two centuries. that the event becomes clothed with greatness and replete with historic interest. In the same manner we are interested in all the occurrences in the early history of Da- kota county. Through the events of its town ships even. run numberless slender threads, in- finite in their length and their complexity, and whose ends rest back in the Great IIand. which weaves them all into history.

Daniel W. Hubbard is said to have felled the first tree in the camping ground at Mendota, and thus to have inaugurated civilization in Minne- sota. But Hubbard and his companions were soldiers rather than pioneers. They came at the dictation of government rather than from an im- pulse to found a home in the wilderness. Their coming had its significance and its results, but the real settlers were their successors, the civi- lians.

The honor of first settlement in Dakota county belongs properly to Jean Baptiste Faribault, who was born at Berthier, Canada, in 1774, and died at Faribault, August 20th. 1860. MIr. Faribault came into the western country as a trader in 1793, and from posts in Illinois and on the Des Moines river, was appointed to a post in Little Rapids (Carver) in 1803-4. He was a staunch friend of the I'nited States, during the war of 1812, and was arrested on that account by a British militia colonel, and held for some time a prisoner. It will be remembered that the traders of that time. almost without exception. aided the British and held commissions from them. Mr. Faribault's entire property was destroyed by the British and their Indian allies. and he had once more to be- gin at the first round of fortune's ladder.

In 1820 at the solicitation of Col. Lavenworth, he located on Pike's Island, where he built log cabins and had some acres of ground under cul-

tivation. In June of 1822, that island was flooded, as it has been the present year, and Mr. Faribault was forced to remove, with heavy loss to the east bank of the Mississippi. In 1826, the father of waters was again in wrath, and forced the Faribaults to seek still higher ground, which they barely reached with their collection of furs.

It was then that Jean Baptiste Faribault built the first house in the county at Mendota. The excavations of the railroad company have well nigh destroyed its site, and the very dead, who reposed about it, have been driven from their resting places.

Mr. Faribault's family resided at Mendota, for many years. In a grant confirmed by the In- dians, August 9th, 1820, but which was not al- lowed by the government, is found the following: "Also we do hereby reserve, give, grant and con- convey to Pelagi Faribault, wife of John Baptist Faribault, and to her heirs forever. the island at the mouth of the river St. Pierre, being the large island, containing by estimation, three hundred and twenty acres. *

* the said Pelagi Fari- * bault being the daughter of Francois Kinie, by a woman of our nation."

Mr. Faribault survived most of his large family of children. His son Alexander. born at Prairie du Chien, was the eldest of the children, is still living near the city of Faribault, which he founded. ITis grand-son Daniel. a son of Alex- ander, is at present a resident of Mendota.

In person. Jean Baptiste Faribault was small, but his bearing is said to have been dignified. He was a worthy man, and his memory is held in due respect.

OTHER SETTLERS.

Alexis Bailly. some account of which is given in the sketch of Hastings, was early identified with the interests of the county, and had a resi- dence at Mendota for some six or eight years, be- ginning about 1826-8.

Pierre Garvais. a Red River refugee, came to . Mendota, in 1836, and entered into the employ of the American Fur Company. William Beau- mette, a Canadian stone-mason, who had settled at Red River about 1818 or 1819, lived at Men- dota for some years after the Selkirk exodus.

Vetal Guerin who was born in 1812, at St. Remi, C'anada. arrived at Mendota, late in the fall of 1832, having journeyed with a large com_

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pany of voyaguers from Montreal. The whole distance was made in boats. He lived at Mendota until 1839. Antoine Le Claire came about the same time.

In 1832, John L. Campbell was born at Men- dota. He was a son of Scott Campbell a half- breed, son of Colni Campbell, the Scotch trader and interpreter of Fort Snelling. John Camp- bell was a vicious character, and several of his brothers bore a similar reputation. He was hanged by a mob in 1865, for the murder of the Jewett family, near Mankato.

The year 1834 marks the coming of Henry Has- tings Sibley.

He continued a staunch devotee of the interests of Dakota county for many years. He came as superintendent of the fur company, but he re- mained as a citizen. In 1836 John Miller, stone mason, built for him at Mendota, the first stone residence in the state. It is now owned by the Roman Catholic sisters, or at least, is occupied by them, after the manner of their order.

In 1862, General Sibley, being then in charge of the military district of Minnesota, removed to St. Paul. He is the oldest surviving settler of Dakota county; and as he originally stood with native kindliness, between many of its pioneers and financial ruin, so he is still trusted by them, and looked to for advice in many matters, both of personal and general moment.

General Sibley was born in Detroit, Michigan, February 20th, 1811. His father, Judge Solomon Sibley, a native of Massachusetts, settled in Ohio and again in Michigan before the close of the last century. His mother was, before marriage, Miss Sarah W. Sproat, daughter of a distinguished officer of the revolution.

General Sibley received a classical education, and his writings, which will be treasured for their interest and value, give evidence by their chaste style, of his early training. May 2d, 1843, he married Miss Sarah J. Steele, at Fort Snelling; and many are the pleasant and historic recollec- tions clustering about their former home at Men- dota. Mrs. Sibley died in 1869. She was a lady of unusual refinement and culture.

The subsequent history of Henry H. Sibley will be found running through the events of this coun- ty and state, as chronicled elsewhere.

William IIenry Forbes, born on Montreal

island, Canada, in 1815, and of Scotch descent, came to Mendota in the summer of 1837. He was in the employ of General Sibley ten years, and removed to St. Paul. He was well known as trader, citizen and official. He died at St. Paul in 1875. Major Forbes married Agnes, daughter of Alexander Faribault, in 1846.

Thus it appears, that Mendota was for many years the metropolis of the state. The center from which all men and things seemed to eman- ate. From it even St. Paul was but an offshoot, in a sense, as Pierre Parrant, the founder of that city, was first a resident and then a refugee and an exile from Mendota.

Parrant, better known as Pig's Eye, came to Mendota in 1832. He was a voyageur and whisky vendor. In 1835, Major Taliaferro, Indian agent prohibited him from coming into the Indian country, in any capacity. Hence in 1838, Parrant left Mendota entirely, and became the founder of St. Paul.

Numerous similar characters haunted the northern boundaries of this county for years. Many of the early settlers of St. Paul, come there by way of Mendota. During the early days of St. Paul, Mendota was the only place where tea, flour, pork, sugar, and the other bare necessities of life could be obtained. Gen. Sibley's store, opened soon after his arrival, marks the proper be- ginning of the now great commercial interest of the state, as well as county.

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History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 35

Author: J. Fletcher Williams Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: J. Fletcher Williams
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages: