History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 38

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

USA > Minnesota > Dakota County > History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota > Part 38

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Trout brook was formerly the resort of that branch of the piscatorial family, whose name it bears, but too frequent visits of the sportsman have destroyed its prestige.

CLIMATE.

The dryness of the atmosphere and its abun- dance of oxygen and ozone, in nearly all the coun-

Digitized by

Google

218

HISTORY OF DAKOTA COUNTY.

ties of the state, causes it to be sought by the suf- ferer from phthisis and other pulmonary difficul- ties, when the remedies of the physician have failed. Minnesota has long been the hope of such invalids, and contains at present many people, who came within her borders solely in pursuit of health, and who finding it, have remained as citi- zens. The situation of Dakota county is as fa- vorable as any other for general healthfulness, or for curative qualities in the cases mentioned. The summer days, even when the temperature is high- est, are made endurable, if not enjoyable, by in- vigorating breezes, and the absence of that feeling of prostration, which attends the heated season in the more sluggish climates of the east is no- ticeable. The nights are invariably cool and re- freshing.

The winter climate, while in some respects se- vere, is characterized by dryness. The winter of 1880-81 will doubtles stand on record as phenome- nal; not only from the unusual amount of snow- fall, but from the unusually severe changes. The snow-fall is generally light, but preserved for the purposes of winter travel by the uniform and bracing cold. The winter air contains little of that chill so noticeable in more eastern localities, but is brisk and enlivening. Thaws, rains and wintry vapours, so characteristic of New England, in the winter season, occur but rarely here, and to their absence, many virtues of the winter cli- mate are attributed. Sunny days are of general occurrence, and dull leaden skies exceptional. Objection is sometimes made to the winter's cold, but when guarded against by proper cloth- ing, it is free from all ill effects. The transition period from winter to summer is noticeably short, vegetation awakening to life and hastening to maturity so rapidiy as to foster the impression that spring is out of the calendar.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

THE GEOLOGY AND PHYSICAL FEATURES OF DA- KOTA COUNTY-BY N. H. WINCHELL-STATE GEOLOGIST.

The surface features. The county has a great diversity of surface. The western and. north-

western portions are rolling, or even billy; the southern and south-eastern are flat or simply un- dulating. The former are covered with timber; the latter are mostly prairie. The former have a gravelly soil, or one of stony clay, with gravelly and stony subsoil; the latter have a loam, fre- quently sandy, as a surface soil, with a clay-loam for subsoil. The former are interspersed with lakes of clean and pure water, and have numer- ous springs and crooked brooks; the latter are destitute of lakes, and the streams are such as simply flow through the county, or are produced by springs that arise in the former. The former is from one to three hundred feet higher than the latter, the entire county having a slope toward the east, and south-east. Those great rivers, the Minnesota and Mississippi which form its north- ern boundary, exhibit between themselves the samė striking contrasts. Their valleys unite at Mendota, but there is a total change in the char- acters of the bluffs and of the adjacent country in passing over an interval of a few miles. The Minnesota has drift bluffs, the Mississippi's are cut in the Silurian rocks to the depth of about one hundred feet. The Minnesota is a slow and often muddy stream, but subject to sudden and destructive floods; the Mississippi's water is clear and of more steady stage. The Minnesota has wide, prairie bottom-lands, with timbered hills at a dis- tance; the Mississippi has timbered bottom-lands with high prairies in the distance. The Vermil- lion and Cannon rivers flowing eastwardly through the county, exhibit gradual transitions from the characters of the Minnesota valley to those of the Mississippi. Their tributaries arise among the gravelly hills in the western part as rippling brooks with timbered banks. As they emerge from the timber, they are warmed by the sun- shine in the summer, or are ice-bound in the win- ter, till they acquire greater volume in the central and eastern part of the county, when by the pro- tection of the high rocky banks, and the in- coming of copious subterranean tributaries they attain such an equilibrium of temperature as to become a resort for the speckled trout-this being the most northern prairie region in the state in which that fish is found.

The disposition of the drift. Any person who has observed the foregoing differences between the western and the eastern part of the county

Digitized by Google

219

GEOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.

will be led to seek for the underlying cause or causes of such remarkable contrasts, and he will at once notice another equally important distinc- tion. The western part of the county is deeply bur- ied under glacial drift, and shows but very rarely the indurated bed-rock. the only exposures being along the Minnesota, or in the prairie region near Farmington. Welis sunk in the timbered dis- tricts penetrate a gravelly and stony blue clay, sometimes a hundred feet, but in the eastern part of the county they pass through a nearly stoneless loam and frequently strike the rock within twenty-five feet of the surface, or, find- ing no water, are drilled into it to the level of the water in some adjacent valley. Through the central portion the stony clay underlies the loam, and along the valleys the loam ascends well up into the western portions. In short, it is true that the margin of the great ice-sheet, at the time of the latest glacial epoch covered the west- ern portion of the county, accumulating a morainic belt of clay, foreign stones and beds of gravel, while at the same time the eastern was sub- ject to inundating floods of muddy water issuing from the northern ice fields, and carrying upon it the fine loam which constitutes the surface soil and often the sub-soil of the prairies. This re- markable contrast in surface features, due to the same cause, has been traced out in much of the state, and in other states, and furnishes a key to the solution of some of the problems that have surrounded that mysterious age known as the glacial epoch.

TIMBER.

The timber belt that crosses the western and northwestern portions of the county is on the eastern edge of that tract long known as "the big woods," and it contains the following varieties of trees, given about in the order of abundance. The eastern edges of the timber are made up of oak shrubs, small aspens and hazel brush, but within the heavy forest may be seen, white elm, black, bur and white oak, aspen, bass, soft maple, cottonwood, white birch, box-elder, black and white ash, iron-wood, sugar maple, butternut, bit- ternut, large-toothed aspen,slippery elm, tamarack, and more rarely, red cedar, blue beach, small red cherry, choke cherry, black cherry, prickly ash and various willows. The fragrant Ameri- can crab-apple is one of the most attrac-

tive trees in early spring when in full bloom, and along some abandoned roadways the Ameri- can plum produces a skirting of snowy whiteness in the spring by its profuse blossoms. It is not improbable that the black walnut, hackerry and Kentucky coffee tree, as well as the large yellow or gray birch were formerly native to the county. Along the Mississippi bluffs the white pine is fre- quently seen.

THE ROCKS.

The strata which underlie the county are found in the following descending order. They form sheets and run from one side of the county to the other, below the drift, unless they have been de- nuded by the ice age.

Hudson river shales. Only found in the high region south of St. Paul.

Trenton limestone. On the north side of the Vermillion river this rock underlies most of the surface. It is seen in the quarries of St. Paul and near Farmington, but along the Mississippi river bluffs does not extend far below St. Paul. It is seen south of the Vermillion in the high prairies in the towns of Douglass, Hampton, Scio- ta, Marshan and Vermillion, and it probably exists in Eureka and Green Vale, though buried deeply under the drift.

St. Peter sandstone. This white rock is that in the bluffs at Mendota and St. Paul. It runs under the foregoing and is seen again along the Vermillion and Cannon valleys. In the valley of the Vermillion in the central part of the county,and in the region between the Vermillion and Cannon rivers it is generally the first rock struck in drill- ing wells. It forms several noted outliers of rock that stand high above the surrounding country, making prominent land marks for the early travelers. Such are known as Castle rock and Chimney rock-remnants of the formation left by the waters of the ice age, as already noted. The St. Peter sandstone, in conjunction with the over- lying Trenton limestone, also constitutes the slopes from the low prairies to the higher in the town of Hampton, Randolph, Sciota and Vermil- lion.

The Shakopee limestone. This rock is that seen at Shakopee and at Red Rock. It passes en- tirely under the county. It is found in the higher part of the Mississippi bluffs back from Hastings It is in the bluffs of Cannon river at and above

Digitized by Google

220

HISTORY OF DAKOTA COUNTY.

Cannon Falls. It is a yellowish magnesian lime- stone with some sand, and is sometimes errone- ously styled sandrock.

Jordan sandstone. Below the Shakopee is a white sandrock which can be seen at Cannon Falls and Shakopee, but its continuance as a dis- tinct stratum as sandrock, is somewhat doubtful in the eastern part of the county; although at Mendota the deep well at the junction passed through it in its full thickness. This sandrock is quite like the St. Peter sandrock already men- tioned.

St. Lawrence limestone. This is the main stratum of limestone forming the bluffs of the Mississippi at and below Hastings. It is a very important and valuable formation, since it fur- nishes one of the best building stones found in the state. It is worked in the quarries at Red Wing.

The St. Croix Sandstone. This is the alum- inous shales and shaley sandrock, and the white sandrock, seen to lie below the last. These sometimes are exposed in the Mississippi river bluffs below Hastings, but in general the slope in which they exist is turfed over, and they are hid by the high talus. They are visible at Red Wing.

The Huronian. There is an outcrop of an irony rock in the valley of the Cannon river, in Randolph township, near the house of Mr. D. Valentine, the age of which it is not possible to state. It rises suddenly above the surface, show- ing an unconformable position in respect to the St. Peter sandrock, in the midst of which it ex- ists. While it may be of the age of the quartzite at New Ulm, it may belong to some portion of the Huronian. Owing to its heavy per cent. of iron it has been analyzed by the geologi- cal survey, and is found to consist of the follow- ing :

Insoluble siliceous matter 47.75

Sulph. or sulph. acid. .120

Phosphorus, or acid. .002

Lime Trace

Magnesia Trace

Manganese oxide

Trace

Alumina. .700

Ferric oxide 51.017

Iron (metallic) 35.713

Ferrous oxide None

Magnetic oxide

None

This shows it to be an iron ore of low grade, the chief impurity being silica.

The Soils. These exhibit every variety. In addition to the general distinctions that have been made, as between the eastern and western portions of the county, there are other special and local variations. In the valley of the Vermil- lion, where the disintegration of the St. Peter seems to have affected it, the soil is often very sandy, especially on the slopes from the higher to the lower prairie flats. Along the streams the soil is very deep, rich and black, although still often quite sandy. In the western part of the county the clay soils will ultimately prove to be strong and valuable, perhaps when the soils of the eastern and central portions are worn out by repeated cropping. The county throughout is well adapted to the pursuit of farming, and the land is now nearly all occupied for that purpose, though throughout the timbered districts settle- ment has not been so rapid as on the prairies.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY-BOUNDARY CHANGES-COUNTY SEAT AND COUNTY BUILD- INGS-FORMATION OF TOWNSHIPS-DAKOTA COUNTY "LEGISLATURE"-OFFICIAL RECORD -JUDICIAL RECORD-LIST OF COUNTY OFFI- CERS.

Dakota was one of the nine original counties created by the first territorial legislature. The act was passed October 27th. 1849, which defined the boundaries and declared the existence of this county.

Those boundaries were scarcely such, however. as the boundaries of to-day. All that portion of the territory "lying south of a line, running due west from the mouth of Clear Water river, to the Missouri river, and north of the north boundary line of Wabasha county," was erected into a separate county, called Dakotah ("allied") from the Indian tribe that inhabited it.

The north boundary line of Wabasha county, referred to above, is given in the laws of 1849, as

.Digitized by

Google

221

ORGANIZATION.

"a line running due west from a point on the Mis- sissippi river, opposite the mouth of St. Croix river, to the Missouri river." This immense ter- ritory included ten or twelve of the counties of to-day, but scarcely embraced the northern half of Dakota county, as bounded at present.

\ Under the revised statutes, all the territory west of the Mississippi river, and east of a line run- ning from Medicine Bottle's village at Pine Bend, due south to the Iowa line, was erected into a separate county known as Wabasha. This in- cluded Hastings and other valuable portions of the present Dakota county.

By the revision also, Dakota county was made to consist of "all that part of the territory, west of the Mississippi river, and lying west of the county of Wabasha, and south of a line beginning at the mouth of Crow river, and up said river and the north branch thereof to its source, and thence due west to the Missouri river."

The purpose of this organization of the county appears in the following section: "The counties of Itasca, Wabasha, Dakota, Cass, and Pembina be, and the same are declared to be organized ". only for the purpose of the appointment of jus- tices of the peace, constables, and such other ju- dicial and ministerial officers, as may be specially provided for."

July 7th, 1849, Governor Ramsey issued a proc- lamation, establishing councillor's districts.

The territory south of Crow Village, to the Iowa line, formed the sixth district, but it con- tained no voters from this county. All the re- mainder of the county was included in the sev- enth district, and the voters from Mendota, Crow Village and Black Dog Village cast their ballots at the lower ware-house in Mendota. The officers chosen at this and other elections are given else- where. These voters, from localities now em- braced in the county, were also joined by those resident in the county, as then constituted, from Fort Snelling, Oak Grove and Traverse des Sioux.

The census of this year, and on which the representation was based, gave the population of Mendota as 122; Black Dog village eighteen, in- cluding the families of H. Mooers, L. Martin and L. B. McLean; Crow Village sixteen, eight members each in the families of Dr. Williamson and Andrew Robertson. Among the families at

Mendota those of Faribault, Bailly, Antoine, Ramsey and Sibley are mentioned.

Dakota county continued with a vast extent of territory for some years. By degrees, many other counties were formed out of that territory, in- cluding Hennepin county, which was formed in 1852.

An act to organize certain counties, and for other purposes, was passed March 5th, 1853. By this, Dakota county was given the following boundaries: "Beginning in the Minnesota river, at the mouth of Credit river, thence in a direct line to the upper branch of Cannon river, thence down said river to its lower fork, as laid down on Nicollet's map, thence on a direct line to a point in the Mississippi river opposite the mouth of St. Croix lake, thence up the Mississippi river to the mouth of the Minnesota river, thence up the Minnesota river to the place of beginning."

By this same act the county was declared to be organized, and invested with all the rights, priv- ileges and immunities of an organized county. It was declared to be the duty of the gov- ernor to appoint all county officers, justices of the peace and constables who should hold office until their successors were chosen at the next general election.

These officers were appointed April 26th, 1858, as follows: James McC. Boal, O. B. Bromley and John Blakely, county commissioners; A. R. French, sheriff; Andrew Robertson, register of deeds; E. F. Parker, probate judge; Thomas Odell, coroner; Sylvester M. Cook, treasurer. July 2d, 1853, James C. Dow was appointed dis- trict attorney.

July 4th, 1853, the first county commissioners met at the house of John Aiton, deputy register of deeds, in Kaposia, the sheriff and deputy register keeping their offices at their own houses at that place. At this meeting, Horace Bromley was appointed road supervisor, and on the follow- ing day the county was divided into three election precincts, Mendota, Kaposia and Hastings. The first precinct elections were held at General Sib- ley's lower ware-house, in Mendota; at the house of John Aiton, in Kaposia, and at the house of Henry Bailly, in Hastings. Afterward, as the county increased in population, other precincts were set off, and usually the precinct name was retained when towns were formed still later.

Digitized by

Google

222

HISTORY OF DAKOTA COUNTY.

At this first meeting the county was divided into three school districts, corresponding with the precincts.

As time passed on, other changes were made in the county boundaries. February 20th, 1855, the following limits were established: "Beginning at the center of the channel of the Minnesota river, at the mouth of Credit river, thence in a direct line to the northeast corner of township 112, 21 west, thence south on the township line between ranges 20 and 21 west, to the township line between townships 111 and 112, thence east on said line to the center of the channel of the Cannon river, thence down said river, in the cen- ter of said channel, to the township line between ranges 17 and 18, west of 5th P. M., thence north on said line to the township line between town- ships 112 and 113 north, thence east on said line six miles, to the township line between ranges 16 and 17 west, thence north six miles to the township line between townships 113 and 114, thence east three miles on said line, thence north on the section line across the center of township 114, range 16 west, to the center of the channel of the Mississippi river, thence up the center of the channel of said river. to the mouth of the Min- nesota river, thence up the center of the channel of said river to the place of beginning."

The western boundary of the county has been the subject of no little legislation, and it was some years before the people of Scott and Dakota counties were satisfied with the line which separ- ated their domains. June 11th, 1858, the follow- ing line was established, subject to the vote of the people: "Commencing at the southwest corner of section 36 in 113 north, range 21 west, thence north on the section line to the south line of town- ship 27 north, range 24 west, thence east on the town line to the corner of sections 33 and 34 of said township 27 north, range 24 west, thence north on section line to the middle of the channel of the Minnesota river."

March 8th, 1860, the troublesome western boundary was again modified by the legislature, as follows: "Commencing at the southeast corner of 113 north, range 21 west, thence west one mile on the south line of said township, to the southwest corner of section 36 in said township, thence north on the section line to the south line of township 27 north, range 24 west, thence east on the town-

ship line to the southeast corner of section 83 in township 27 north, thence north on section line to the middle of the channel of the Minnesota river."

A final settle front of tle woord questionwas not arrived at until March 6th, 1871. At that date the boundary in dispute was modified to the satis- faction of all interested, in the following manner and has since remained unchanged: "Commenc- ing at the southeast corner of 113 north, range 21 west, thence running north on the east line thereof, to the northeast corner of said township, thence west on the north line thereof, to the south- west corner of section 85 in 114 north, range 21 west, thence north on the section line to the southwest quarter of section 35 in 115 north, range 21 west, thence west to the south- west corner of the southeast quarter of sec- tion 34 in 114 north, range 21 west, thence north to the middle of the Minnesota river."

The western boundary having been established March 10th, 1873, it was deemed advisable to make a change in the northern boundary. This was done by the following enactment: "All that part of Dakota county lying north of the south boundary lines of sections 7, 8 and 9, in 28 north, range 22 west, of the fourth principal meridian, and section 12 of 28 north, range 23 west of fourth pricipal meridian are hereby detached from Da- kota county, and attached to Ramsey county, for all purposes whatever. The south-west quarter of the south-east quarter of section 7, in 28 north, range 22 west,of fourth principal meridian, is ex- cepted from the provisions of this act, and shall remain a part of Dakota county." Thus the county limits were adjusted, and for eight years have remained undisturbed.

COUNTY SEAT.

This was first established in 1858 at Kaposia. There were no county buildings and no county offices, other than the houses of the officers. The following year the county seat was removed to Mendota, the commissioners meeting there for the first time, February 6th, 1854. At this meet- ing, seven school districts were laid off, as fol_ lows: No. 1, Carlisle; No. 2, Pine Bend; No. 3, Kaposia; No. 4, Hastings; No. 5, Spring Lake; No. 6, Bartelette; No. 7, Mendota.

At this time Hastings being the largest town

Digitized by

Google

223

PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

in the county, and becoming the following month an incorporated city, on St. Patrick's day, March 17th, 1857, it was voted by the people to establish the county seat in the newly fledged city. The records were accordingly removed from Mendota on the 2d day of June following.

Hastings has continued as the permanent county seat, since that date, although two at- tempts have been made in behalf of other loca- tions. In 1860 a bill was passed allowing the people to decide by ballot, on the claims of Pine Bend. Six hundred and eighty-six votes were cast in favor of the proposed removal and eleven hundred and twenty-five against it.

Farmington was the next aspirant for the honor, presenting her own more central location to the disparagement of Hastings. In 1868, the act permitting a vote upon the issue was passed, but it was decided, by five or six hundred major- ity, to maintain the county seat at Hastings.

COUNTY BUILDINGS.

The courts and county offices were held in rented buildings for some years. June 3d, 1857, the county offices occupied a stone building on the levee, known as Marsh's block. Here they remained until 1858, when they were removed to a wooden building, between Ramsey and Vermil- lion streets. In 1859, they again removed to a building between Ramsey and Sibley streets, re- maining there until 1862, when they were located in the second-story of Gardiner and Meloy's ware-house, which had been fitted up for that purpose.

At a meeting of the Hastings city council, Oc- tober 12th, 1868, it was resolved that whenever the county of Dakota would erect county build- ings, the city would cede to the county for such building purposes all its right and title to the public square, and $15,000 of its bonds.

Hastings having been decided upon as the proper place for the county seat, the proposition of the city was accepted, and the county com- missioners instructed to proceed at once to erect suitable buildings. A committee of three, con- sisting of R. J. Marvin, George Boher and R. Day was appointed to procure plans, specifica- tions, and estimates of cost.

The public square donated, comprised about one and a half acres, in block twenty, and work was

begun there as soon as practicable. On the 14th June, 1869, ground was broken for the erection of a jail and residence for the sheriff. These were built by contract, Mr. Radcliff being the architect, and R. J. Marvin superintendent. The jail is thirty-six feet square, one-story high, and strongly built of stone and brick. It has separate departments for male and female pris- oners. The quarters of the former are situated on the west side of the building, and contain ten Haugh and Company cells, five by seven feet in size, locked with a patent brake, and accommo- dating two prisoners each. The cells on the east side, of the same description, are used as a "city- lockup." These cells are entirely of iron, and the jail is paved throughout with flag-stone. An average of six prisoners are confined in the build- ing who are allowed the freedom of the jail corri- dor during the day. The building is considered one of the best in the state for its purposes, and is a model of neatness. The sheriff's house adjoin- ing, is built of brick, and is thirty by forty feet in its dimensions, contains nine rooms and is two stories high. Both jail and house were completed in 1870.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 38

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

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