History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 20

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > Minnesota > Fillmore County > History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota > Part 20

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EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA.

Some years ago the editor of the Saint Paul Press described the occasion in these words :

" Edmund Brisette, a clerkly Frenchman for those days, who lives, or did live a little while ago, on Lake Harriet, was one day seated at a table in Parrant's cabin, with pen and paper about to write a letter for Parrant (for Parrant, like Charlemagre, could not write) to a friend of the latter in Canada. The question of geog- raphy puzzled Brissette at the outset of the epistle ; where should he date a letter from a place without a name ? He looked up inquir- ingly to Parrant, and met the dead, cold glare of the Pig's Eye fixed upon him, with an irresist- ible suggestiveness that was inspiration to Brisette."

In 1842, the late Henry Jackson, of Mahkahto, settled at the same spot, and erected the first store on the height just above the lower landing, Roberts and Simpson followed, and opened small Indian trading shops. In 1846, the site of Saint Paul was chiefly occupied by a few shanties owned by "certain lewd fellows of the baser sort," who sold rum to the soldier and Indian. It was despised by all decent white men, and known to the Dahkotahs by an expression in their tongue which means, the place where they sell minne-wakan [supernatural water].

The chief of the Kaposia band in 1846, was shot by his own brother in a drunken revel, but sur- viving the wound, and apparently alarmed at the deterioration under the influence of the modern harpies at Saint Paul, went to Mr. Bruce, Indian Agent, at Fort Snelling, and requested a mis- sionary. The Indian Agent in his report to gov- ernment, says :

"The chief of the Little Crow's band, who re- sides below this place (Fort Snelling) about nine miles, in the immediate neighbourhood of the whiskey dealers, has requested to have a school established at his village. He says they are de- termined to reform, and for the future, will try to do better. I wrote to Doctor Williamson soon after the request was made, desiring him to take charge of the school. He has had charge of the mission school at Lac qui Parle for some years ; is well qualified, and is an excellent physician."

In November, 1846, Dr. Williamson came from Lac qui Parle, as requested, and became a resi- dent of Kaposia. While disapproving of their

practices, he felt a kindly interest in the whites of Pig's Eye, which place was now beginning to be called, after a little log chapel which had been erected at the suggestion of Rev. L. Galtier, and called Saint Paul's. Though a missionary among the Dahkotahs, he was the first to take steps to promote the education of the whites and half- breeds of Minnesota. In the year 1847, he wrote to ex-Governor Slade, President of the National Popular Education Society, in relation to the condition of what has subsequently become the capital of the state.

In accordance with his request, Miss H. E. Bishop came to his mission-house at Kaposia, and, after a short time, was introduced by him to the citizens of Saint Paul. The first school- house in Minnesota besides those connected with the Indian missions, stood near the site of the old Brick Presbyterian church, corner of Saint Peter and Third street, and is thus described by the teacher :

" The school was commenced in a little log hovel, covered with bark, and chinked with mud, previously used as a blacksmith shop. On three sides of the interior of this humble log cabin, pegs were driven into the logs, upon which boards were laid for seats. Another seat was made by placing one end of a plank between the cracks of the logs, and the other upon a chair. This was for visitors. A rickety cross-legged table in the centre, and a hen's nest in one corner, com- pleted the furniture."

Saint Croix county, in the year 1847, was de- tached from Crawford county, Wisconsin, and reorganized for judicial purposes, and Stillwater made the county seat. In the month of June the United States District Court held its session in the store-room of Mr. John McKusick ; Judge Charles Dunn presiding. A large number of lumbermen had been attracted by the pineries in the upper portion of the valley of Saint Croix, and Stillwater was looked upon as the center of the lumbering interest.

The Rev. Mr. Boutwell, feeling that he could be more useful, left the Ojibways, and took up his residence near Stillwater, preaching to the lumbermen at the Falls of Saint Croix, Marine Mills, Stillwater, and Cottage Grove. In a letter speaking of Stillwater, he says, " Here is a little village sprung up like a gourd, but whether it is to perish as soon, God only knows."

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NAMES PROPOSED FOR MINNESOTA TERRITORY.

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CHAPTER XXI.

EVENTS PRELIMINARY TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE MINNESOTA TERRITORY.

Wisconsin State Boundaries-First Bill for the Organization of Minnesota Terri- tory, A. D. 1846-Change of Wisconsin Boundary-Memorial of Saint Croix Valley citizens-Various names proposed for the New Territory -Convention at Stillwater-H. H. Sibley elected Delegate to Congress .- Derivation of word Minnesota,

Three years elapsed from the time that the territory of Minnesota was proposed in Congress, to the final passage of the organic act. On the sixth of August, 1846, an act was passed by Con- gress authorizing the citizens of Wisconsin Ter- ritory to frame a constitution and form a state government. The act fixed the Saint Louis river to the rapids, from thence south to the Saint Croix, and thence down that river to its junction with the Mississippi, as the western bonndary.

On the twenty - third of December, 1846, the delegate from Wisconsin, Morgan L. Martin, in- troduced a bill in Congress for the organization of a territory of Minnesota. This bill made its western boundary the Sioux and Red River of the North. On the third of March, 1847, per- mission was granted to Wisconsin to change her boundary, so that the western limit would pro- ceed due south from the first rapids of the Saint Louis river, and fifteen miles east of the most easterly point of Lake Saint Croix, thence to the Mississippi.

A number in the constitutional convention of Wisconsin, were anxious that Rum river should be a part of her western boundary, while citizens of the valley of the Saint Croix were desirous that the Chippeway river should be the limit of Wisconsin. The citizens of Wisconsin Territory, in the valley of the Saint Croix, and about Fort Snelling, wished to be included in the projected new territory, and on the twenty-eighth of March,

. 1848, a memorial signed by H. H. Sibley, Henry M. Rice, Franklin Steele, William R. Marshall, and others, was presented to Congress, remon- strating against the proposition before the con- vention to make Rum river a part of the bound- ary line of the contemplated state of Wisconsin.

On the twenty-ninth of May, 1848, the act to admit Wisconsin changed the boundary line to the present, and as first defined in the enabling act of 1846. After the bill of Mr. Martin was introduced into the House of Representatives in 1846 it was referred to the Committee on Terri- tories, of which Mr. Douglas was chairman. On the twentieth of January, 1847, he reported in favor of the proposed territory with the name of Itasca. On the seventeenth of February, be- fore the bill passed the House, a discussion arose in relation to the proposed name. Mr. Win- throp of Massachusetts proposed Chippewa as a substitute, alleging that this tribe was the prin- cipal in the proposed territory, which was not correct. Mr. J. Thompson of Mississippi disliked all Indian names, and hoped the territory would be called Jackson. Mr. Houston of Delaware thought that there ought to be one territory named after the "Father of his country," and proposed Washington. All of the names pro- posed were rejected, and the name in the original bill inserted. On the last day of the session, March third, the bill was called up in the Senate and laid on the table.

When Wisconsin became a state the query arose whether the old territorial government did not continue in force west of the Saint Croix river. The first meeting on the subject of claim- ing territorial privileges was held in the building at Saint Paul, known as Jackson's store, near the corner of Bench and Jackson streets, on the bluff. This meeting was held in July, and a convention was proposed to consider their posi- tion. The first public meeting was held at Still- water on August fourth, and Messrs. Steele and Sibley were the only persons present from the west side of the Mississippi. This meeting is- sued a call for a general convention to take steps to secure an early territorial organization, to assemble on the twenty-sixth of the month at

ALMEJAS COMOIND IO ALISERING EN

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the same place. Sixty-two delegates answered the call, and among those present, were W. D. Phillips, J. W. Bass, A. Larpenteur, J. M. Boal, and others from Saint Paul. To the convention a letter was presented from Mr. Catlin, who claimed to be acting governor, giving his opinion that the Wisconsin territorial organization was still in force. The meeting also appointed Mr. Sibley to visit Washington and represent their views; but the Hon. John II. Tweedy having resigned his office of delegate to Congress on September eighteenth, 1848, Mr. Catlin, who had made Stillwater a temporary residence, on the ninth of October issued a proclamation ordering a special election at Stillwater on the thirtieth, to fill a vacancy occasioned by the resignation. At this election Henry H. Sibley was elected as delegate of the citizens of the remaining portion of Wisconsin Territory. His credentials were presented to the House of Representatives, and the committee to whom the matter was referred presented a majority and minority report ; but the resolution introduced by the majority passed and Mr. Sibley took his seat as a delegate from Wisconsin Territory on the fifteenth of January, 1849.

Mr. H. M. Rice, and other gentlemen, visited Washington during the winter, and, uniting with Mr. Sibley, used all their energies to obtain the organization of a new territory.

Mr. Sibley, in an interesting communication to the Minnesota Historical Society, writes : " When my credentials as Delegate, were presented by Hon. James Wilson, of New Hampshire, to the

House of Representatives, there was some curi- osity manifested among the members, to see what kind of a person had been elected to represent the distant and wild territory claiming representation in Congress. I was told by a New England mem- ber with whom I became subsequently quite inti- mate, that there was some disappointment when I made my appearance, for it was expected that the delegate from this remote region would make his debut, if not in full Indian costume, at least, with some peculiarities of dress and manners, characteristic of the rude and semi-civilized peo- ple who had sent him to the Capitol."

The territory of Minnesota was named after the largest tributary of the Mississippi within its limits. The Sioux call the Missouri Minnesho- shay, muddy water, but the stream after which this region is named, Minne-sota. Some say that Sota means clear ; others, turbid ; Schoolcraft, bluish green. Nicollet wrote. "The adjective Sotah is of difficult translation. The Canadians translated it by a pretty equivalent word, brouille, perhaps more properly rendered into English by blear. I have entered upon this explanation be cause the word really means neither clear nor turbid, as some authors have asserted, its true meaning being found in the Sioux expression Ishtah-sotah, blear-eyed." From the fact that the word signifies neither blue nor white, but the peculiar appearance of the sky at certain times, by some, Minnesota has been defined to mean the sky tinted water, which is certainly poetic, and the late Rev. Gideon II. Pond thought quite correct. .

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MINNESOTA IN THE BEGINNING.

117

CHAPTER XXII.'

MINNESOTA FROM ITS ORGANIZATION AS A TERRITORY, A. D. 1849, TO A. D. 1854.

Appearance of the Country, A. D. 1849 - Arrival of first Editor - Governor Ramsey arrives - Guest of H. H. Sibley - Proclamation issued - Governor Ramsey and H. M. Rice move to Saint Paul-Fourth of July Celebration- First election-Early newspapers-First Courts-First Legislature-Pioneer News Carrier's Address-Wedding at Fort Snelling-Territorial Scal-Scalp Dance at Stillwater-First Steamboat at Falls of Saint Anthony-Presbyterian Chapel burned-Indian council at Fort Snelling-First Steamboat above Saint Anthony-First boat at the Blue Earth River-Congressional election-Visit, of Fredrika Bremer-Indian newspaper-Other newspapers-Second Legislature -University of Minnesota-Teamster killed by Indians-Sioux Treaties -Third Legislature-Land slide at Stillwater-Death of first Editor-Fourth Legislature Baldwin School, now Macalester College-Indian fight in Saint Paul.

On the third of March, 1849, the bill was passed by Congress for organizing the territory of Minnesota, whose boundary on the west, extended to the Missouri River. At this time, the region was little more than a wilderness. The west bank of the Mississippi, from the Iowa line to Lake Itasca, was unceded by the Indians.

At Wapashaw, was a trading post in charge of Alexis Bailly, and here also resided the ancient voyageur, of fourscore years, A. Rocque.

At the foot of Lake Pepin was a store house kept by Mr. F. S. Richards. On the west shore of the lake lived the eccentric Wells, whose wife was a bois brule, a daughter of the deceased trader, Duncan Graham.

The two unfinished buildings of stone, on the beautiful bank opposite the renowned Maiden's Rock, and the surrounding skin lodges of his wife's relatives and friends, presented a rude but picturesque scene. Above the lake was a cluster of bark wigwams, the Dahkotah village of Raymneecha, now Red Wing, at which was a Presbyterian mission house.

The next settlement was Kaposia, also an In- dian village, and the residence of a Presbyterian missionary, the Rev. T. S. Williamson, M. D. On the east side of the Mississippi, the first set- tlement, at the mouth of the St. Croix, was Point Douglas, then as now, a small hamlet.

At Red Rock, the site of a former Methodist mission station, there were a few farmers. Saint Paul was just emerging from a collection of In- dian whisky shops and birch roofed cabins of

half-breed voyageurs. Here and there a frame tenement was erected, and, under the auspices of the HIon. H. M. Rice, who had obtained an inter- est in the town, some warehouses were con- structed, and the foundations of the American House, a frame hotel, which stood at Third and Exchange street, were laid. In 1849, the popu- lation had increased to two hundred and fifty or three hundred inhabitants, for rumors had gone abroad that it might be mentioned in the act, creating the territory, as the capital of Minnesota. More than a month after the adjournment of Congress, just at eve, on the ninth of April, amid terrific peals of thunder and torrents of rain, the weekly steam packet, the first to force its way through the icy barrier of Lake Pepin, rounded the rocky point whistling loud and long, as if the bearer of glad tidings. Before she was safely moored to the landing, the shouts of the excited villagers were heard announcing that there was a territory of Minnesota, and that Saint Paul was the seat of government.

Every successive steamboat arrival poured out on the landing men big with hope, and anxious to do something to mould the future of the new state.

Nine days after the news of the existence of the territory of Minnesota was received, there arrived James M. Goodhue with press, type, and printing apparatus. A graduate of Amherst college, and a lawyer by profession, he wielded a sharp pen, and wrote editorials, which, more than anything else, perhaps, induced immigration. Though a man of some faults, one of the counties properly bears his name. On the twenty-eighth of April, he issued from his press the first number of the Pioneer.

On the twenty - seventh of May, Alexander Ramsey, the Governor, and family, arrived at Saint Paul, but owing to the crowded state of pub-

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iic houses, immediately proceeded in the steamer to the establishment of the Fur Company, known as Mendota, at the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi, and became the guest of the Hon. II. HI. Sibley.

On the first of June, Governor Ramsey, by pro- clamation, declared the territory duly organized, with the following officers : Alexander Ramsey, of Pennsylvania, Governor ; C. K. Smith, of Ohio, Secretary ; A. Goodrich, of Tennessee, Chief Justice ; D. Cooper, of Pennsylvania, and B. B. Meeker, of Kentucky, Associate Judges ; Joshua L. Taylor, Marshal ; II. L. Moss, attorney of the United States.

On the eleventh of June, a second proclama- tion was issued, dividing the territory into three temporary judicial districts. The first comprised the county of St. Croix ; the county of La Pointe and the region north and west of the Mississippi, and north of the Minnesota and of a line running due west from the headwaters of the Minnesota to the Missouri river, constituted the second ; and the country west of the Mississippi and south of the Minnesota, formed the' third district. Judge Goodrich was assigned to the first, Meeker to the second, and Cooper to the third. A court was ordered to be held at Stillwater on the second Monday, at the Falls of St. Anthony on the third, and at Mendota on the fourth Monday of August.

Until the twenty-sixth of June, Governor Ramsey and family had been guests of Hon. II. II. Sibley, at Mendota. On the afternoon of that day they arrived at St. Paul, in a birch-bark canoe, and became permanent residents at the capital. The house first occupied as a guber- natorial mansion, was a small frame building that stood on Third, between Robert and Jackson streets, formerly known as the New England House.

A few days after, the Hon. H. M. Rice and family moved from Mendota to St. Paul, and oc- cupied the house he had erected on St. Anthony street, near the corner of Market.

On the first of July, a land office was estab- lished at Stillwater, and A. Van Vorhes, after a few weeks, became the register.

The anniversary of our National Independence was celebrated in a becoming manner at the cap- ital. The place selected for the address, was a grove that stood on the sites of the City Hall and

the Baldwin School building, and the late Frank- lin Steele was the marshal of the day.

On the seventh of July, a proclamation was is- sued, dividing the territory into seven council districts, and ordering an election to be held on the first day of August, for one delegate to rep- resent the people in the House of Representatives of the United States, for nine councillors and eighteen representatives, to constitute the Legis- lative Assembly of Minnesota.

In this month, the Hon. H. M. Rice despatch- ed a boat laded with Indian goods from the the Falls of St. Anthony to Crow Wing, which was towed by horses after the manner of a canal boat.

The election on the first of August, passed off with little excitement, IIon. H, H. Sibley being elected delegate to Congress without opposition. David Lambert, on what might, perhaps, be termed the old settlers' ticket, was defeated in St. Paul, by James M. Boal. The latter, on the night of the election, was honored with a ride through town on the axle and fore-wheels of an old wagon, which was drawn by his admiring but somewhat undisciplined friends.

J. L. Taylor having declined the office of United States Marshal; A. M. Mitchell, of Ohio, a graduate of West Point, and colonel of a regi- ment of Ohio volunteers in the Mexican war, was appointed and arrived at the capital early in August.

There were three papers published in the ter- ritory soon after its organization. The first was the Pioneer, issued on April twenty-eighth, 1849, under most discouraging circumstances. It was at first the intention of the witty and reckless editor to have called his paper " The Epistle of St. Paul." About the same time there was issued in Cincinnati, under the auspices of the late Dr. A. Randall, of California, the first number of the Register. The second number of the paper was printed at St. Paul, in July, and the office was on St. Anthony, between Washington and Market Streets, About the first of June, James Hughes, afterward of Hudson, Wisconsin, arrived with a press and materials, and established the Minnesota Chronicle. After an existence of c. few weeks two papers were discontinued; and, in their place, was issued the "Chronicle and

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DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPORARY CAPITOL.

The first courts, pursuant to proclamation of the governor, were held in the month of August. At Stillwater, the court was organized on the thirteenth of the month, Judge Goodrich pre- siding, and Judge Cocper by courtesy, sitting on the bench. On the twentieth, the second judi- cial district held a court. The room used was the old government mill at Minneapolis. The presiding judge was B. B. Meeker ; the foreman of the grand jury, Franklin Steele. On the last Monday of the month, the court for the third judicial district was organized in the large stone warehouse of the fur company at Mendota. The presiding judge was David Cooper. Governor Ramsey sat on the right, and Judge Goodrich on the left. Hon. H. H. Sibley was the foreman of the grand jury. As some of the jurors could not speak the English language, W. II. Forbes acted as interpreter. The charge of Judge Cooper was lucid, scholarly, and dignified. At the request of the grand jury it was afterwards published.

On Monday, the third of September, the first Legislative Assembly convened in the " Central House, "in Saint Paul, a building at the corner of Minnesota and Bench streets, facing the Mississippi river which answered the double purpose of capitol and hotel. On the first floor of the main building was the Secreta- ry's office and Representative chamber, and in the second story was the library and Council chamber. As the flag was run up the staff in front of the house, a number of Indians sat on a rocky bluff in the vicinity, and gazed at what to them was a novel and perhaps saddening scene ; for if the tide of immigration sweeps in from the Pacific as it has from the Atlantic coast, they must soon dwindle.

The legislature having organized, elected the following permanent officers: David Olmsted, President of Council; Joseph R. Brown, Secre- ary; H. A. Lambert, Assistant. In the House of Representatives, Joseph W. Furber was elect- ed Speaker : W. D. Phillips, Clerk : L. B. Wait, Assistant.

On Tuesday afternoon, both houses assembled in the dining hall of the hotel, and after prayer was offered by Rev. E. D. Neill, Governor Ram- sey delivered his message. The message was ably

written, and its perusal afforded satisfaction at home and abroad.

The first session of the legislature adjourned on the first of November. Among other proceed- ings of interest, was the creation of the following counties: Itasca, Wapashaw, Dahkotah, Wah- nahtah, Mahkahto, Pembina Washington, Ram- sev and Benton. The three latter counties com- prised the country that up to that time had been ceded by the Indians on the east side of the Mis- sissippi, Stil water was declared the county seat of Washington, Saint Paul, of Ramsey, and " the seat of justice of the county of Benton was to be within one-quarter of a mile of a point on the east side of the Mississippi, directly opposite the mouth of Sauk river."

EVENTS OF A. D 1850.

By the active exertions of the secretary of the territory, C. K. Smith, Esq., the Historical Society of Minnesota was incorporated at the first session of the legislature. The opening an- nual address was delivered in the then Methodist (now Swedenborgian) church at Saint Paul, on the first of January, 1850.

The following account of the proceedings is from the Chronicle and Register. "The first public exercises of the Minnesota Historical Society, took place at the Methodist church, Saint Paul, on the first inst., and passed off highly creditable to all concerned. The day was pleasant and the attendance large. At the appointed hour, the President and both Vice-Presidents of the society being absent ; on motion of Hon. C. K. Smith, Hon. Chief Justice Goodrich was called to the chair. The same gentleman then moved that a committee, consisting of Messrs. Parsons K. Johnson, John A. Wakefield, and B. W. Brunson, be appointed to wait upon the Orator of the day, Rev. Mr. Neill, and inform him that the audience was waiting to hear his address.

" Mr. Neill was shortly conducted to the pulpit; and after an eloquent and approriate prayer by the Rev. Mr. Parsons, and music by the band, he proceeded to deliver his discourse upon the early French missionaries and Voyageurs into Minne- sota. We hope the society will provide for its publication at an early day.

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History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 20

Author: Edward D. Neill Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: