USA > Minnesota > Fillmore County > History of Fillmore County, Minnesota (Volume 1) > Part 6
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
Wisconsin Territory. When Wisconsin territory was organ- ized by an act of congress, April 20, 1836, all the Louisiana pur- chase north of the state of Missouri was placed under its jurisdic- tion. This included Fillmore county. The boundaries as given at that time were as follows: "Bounded on the east by a line drawn from the northeast corner of the state of Illinois through the middle of Lake Michigan to a point in the middle of said lake and opposite the main channel of Green Bay and through said channel and Green Bay to the mouth of the Menominee river, thence through the middle of the main channel of said river to that head of said river nearest the Lake of the Desert, thence in a direct line to the middle of said lake, thence through the middle of the main channel of the Montreal river to its mouth; thence with a direct line across Lake Superior to where the territorial line of the United States last touches said lake, northwest, thence on the north with the said territorial line to the White Earth river (located in what is now Wood county, North Dakota). On the west by a line from the said boundary line, fol- lowing down the middle of the main channel of the White Earth river to the Missouri river, and down the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river to a point due west from the north- west corner of the state of Missouri; and on the south from said
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point due east to the northwest corner of the state of Missouri, and thence with the boundaries of the states of Missouri and Illinois as already fixed by act of congress." (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 5, page 18.) It is interesting to note in this connection that two sessions of the Wisconsin territorial legislature were held at what is now Burlington, Iowa.
Iowa Territory. The territory of Iowa was created by the act of congress, June 12, 1838, which act divided the territory of Wisconsin along the Mississippi river and named the western part, Iowa. The act provided: "That from and after the third day of July, next, all that part of the present territory of Wis- consin which lies west of the Mississippi river and west of a line drawn due south from the head waters or sources of the Missis- sippi to the territorial lines, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, be and constitute a separate territorial government, by the name of Iowa." The area embracing Fillmore county was included within these lines.
Iowa remained a territory from 1838 to 1846. The greater part of southern and southeastern Minnesota was within the jurisdiction of Clayton county. Henry H. Sibley was a justice of the peace in that county. The county seat was 250 miles distant from his home in Mendota, and his jurisdiction extended over a region of country, which, as he expressed it, was "as large as the empire of France." A convention of duly authorized representatives of the people remained in session at Iowa City from October 7 to November 1, 1844, and framed a state consti- tution. It was provided that the constitution adopted, together with any alterations which might subsequently be made by con- gress, should be submitted to the people of the territory for their approval or rejection at the township elections in April, 1845. The boundaries of the proposed new state, as defined in the con- stitution, were in part as follows: " . . . Thence up in the middle of the main channel of the river last mentioned (the Missouri) to the mouth of the Sioux or Calumet river; thence in a direct line to the middle of the main channel of the St. Peter's (Minnesota) river, where the Watonwan river - according to Nicollet's map-enters the same, thence down the middle of the main channel of said river to the middle of the Mississippi river ; thence down the middle of said river to the place of beginning." This would have included in the state of Iowa Fillmore county, and, in fact, all the counties of what is now Minnesota that lie south and east of the Minnesota as far as Mankato, also including Faribault county and nearly all of Martin, the greater part of Blue Earth and portions of Watonwan, Cottonwood and Jackson.
Congress rejected these boundary lines, and March 3, 1845, in its enabling act, substituted the following description of the
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proposed boundaries: "Beginning at the mouth of the Des Moines river, in the middle of the Mississippi; thence by the middle of the channel of that river to the parallel of latitude passing through the mouth of the Mankato or Blue Earth river; thence west along said parallel of latitude to a point where it is intersected by a meridian line 17° 30' west of the meridian of Washington City; thence due south to the northern boundary line of the state of Missouri; thence eastwardly following that boundary to the point at which the same intersects with the Des Moines river; thence by the middle of the channel of that river to the place of beginning." Thus the southern boundary of Minnesota would have been on a line due east from the present city of Mankato to the Mississippi river and due west from the same point to a point in Brown county. This would have included in Iowa all but a small fraction of the counties of Winona, Olm- sted, Dodge, Steele, Waseca and Blue Earth, portions of Brown, Watonwan and Martin; and all of Faribault, Freeborn, Mower, Fillmore and Houston. This reduction in its proposed territory was not pleasing to those citizens of Iowa, who wished the state to have its boundaries to include the Minnesota river from the Blue Earth to the Mississippi and the Mississippi from the Minne- sota river to the Missouri state line. This changing in the boun- dary was really a political measure, a part of those battles in congress over free and slave states which preceded the Civil War. The boundaries as proposed by congress were rejected by the people of Iowa after a bitter campaign. August 4, 1846, congress passed a second enabling act, which was accepted by the people by a narrow margin of 456, the vote being 9,492 for and 9,036 against. This second act placed the northern boundary of Iowa still further south, but added territory to the west. The northern boundary of Iowa, as described in the enabling act, was identical with the parallel of 43º 30' north, from the Big Sioux river east- ward to the Mississippi. This, with the exception of the short distance from the Big Sioux river to the present western boundary of Minnesota, is the present southern boundary of our state. Minnesota's southern boundary, as thus described, was carefully surveyed and marked within six years of its acceptance by Iowa. The work was authorized March 3, 1849, and two appropriations of $1,500 each were soon made. The survey was completed during the years 1849 to 1852, at a total cost of $32,277.73. Although the work was done with the best instruments then known, an error of twenty-three chains, evidently due to carelessness, was discovered within a year. Iowa was admitted as a state December 28,1846.
Wisconsin State. Wisconsin soon wished to become a state. The northwestern boundary provoked considerable discussion both in congress and in the two constitutional conventions which
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were called. There were some who wished to include all the remaining portion of the northwest territory within the bound- aries of the new proposed state. The two prevailing coteries, however, were the ones between whom the fight really centered. One body wished the northwestern boundary of the new state (Wisconsin) to extend up the Mississippi as far as the Rum river, where the city of Anoka is now situated, thence northeastwardly to the first rapids of the St. Louis river and thence to Lake Supe- rior. The residents of the St. Croix valley, and those living on the east side of the Mississippi, between the St. Croix and the Rum river, constituted the other party and objected to being included in the proposed state of Wisconsin. They declared that they were separated from the settled portions of Wisconsin by hundreds of miles of barren land, and still more greatly separated by a difference in the interests and character of the inhabitants. They proposed that the northwest boundary of the new state should be a line drawn due south from Shagwamigan bay, on Lake Superior, to the intersection of the main Chippewa river, and from thence down the middle of said river to its debouchure into the Mississippi. Residents of the district affected and also about Fort Snelling and on the west bank of the Mississippi farther up joined in a memorial to congress, citing the grave injustice that would be done the proposed territory of Minnesota if it were left without a single point on the Mississippi below St. Anthony's falls, the limit of navigation. Among those who signed this memorial were H. H. Sibley and Alexander Faribault. The result of the controversy was a compromise adopting a middle line along the St. Croix and St. Louis rivers.
The enabling act for the state of Wisconsin, approved August 6, 1846, provided : "That the people of the territory of Wiscon- sin be and they are hereby authorized to form a constitution and state government . with the following boundaries, to- wit : thence through the center of Lake Superior to the mouth of the St. Louis river, thence up the main channel of said river to the first rapids in the same, above the Indian village, according to Nicollet's map; thence due south to the main branch of the River St. Croix; thence down the main channel of said river to the Mississippi; thence down the main channel of said river to the northwest corner of the state of Illinois, thence due east This is the first and incidentally the present descrip- tion of Minnesota's eastern boundary. (United States Statutes at Large, Vol. 9, page 56.)
The convention that framed the constitution of Wisconsin in 1847-48 strongly desired the Rum river as their western boundary. After accepting the boundary chosen by congress the convention recommended a line which, if agreeable to congress, should
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replace the one in the enabling act. The proposed boundary, which was rejected, was described as follows. Leaving the afore- said boundary line at the first rapids of the St. Louis river, thence in a direct line, bearing southwestwardly to the mouth of the Iskodewabo or Rum river, where the same empties into the Mis- sissippi river, thence down the main channel of the said Missis- sippi river to the aforesaid boundary. (Charters and Constitu- tions of the United States, Part ii, page 2030.)
Minnesota Territory. The events which led up to the estab- lishing of Minnesota as a territory can be given but brief mention here. Sufficient is it to say that for three years after the admis- sion of Iowa (in 1846) the area that is now Minnesota, west of the Mississippi, was practically a no-man's land. December 18, 1846, Morgan I .. Martin, delegate from Wisconsin territory, gave notice to the house of representatives that "at an early day" he would ask leave to introduce a bill establishing the territorial government of Minnesota. The name, which is the Indian term for what was then the river St. Peter (Pierre) and has now become its official designation was, it is believed, applied to the proposed territory at the suggestion of Joseph R. Brown. During its consideration by congress the bill underwent various changes. As reported back to the house, the name "Minnesota" had been changed by Stephen A. Douglas to "Itasca." Mr. Martin imme- diately moved that the name "Minnesota" be placed in the bill in place of "Itasca." "Chippewa," "Jackson" and "Washington" were also proposed. After many motions, counter motions and amendments, "Minnesota" was placed in the bill, which with a minor change passed the house. In the senate it was rejected. A second attempt was made two years later. January 10, 1848, Stephen A. Douglas gave due notice to the senate that "at a future day" he would introduce a bill to establish the territory of Minnesota. He brought in the bill February 23. It was several times read, was amended, referred to committee and discussed, but congress adjourned August 14 without taking ultimate action on the proposition.
In the meantime Wisconsin was admitted to the Union May 29, 1848, and the western half of what was then St. Croix county was left outside the new state. The settled portions of the area thus cut off from Wisconsin by its admission to statehood privileges were in the southern part of the peninsula of land lying between the Mississippi and the St. Croix.
The people of this area were now confronted with a serious problem. As residents of the territory of Wisconsin they had enjoyed the privileges of citizenship in the United States. By the creation of the state of Wisconsin they were disfranchised and left without the benefits of organized government. Thus,
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Stillwater, which had been the governmental seat of a growing county (St. Croix), was left outside the pale of organized law. Legal minds disagreed on the question of whether the minor civil officers, such as justices of the peace, created under the territorial organization, were still qualified to exercise the authority of their positions. At a meeting held at St. Paul, in July, 1848, the citizens of that (then) village considered the question of the formation of a new territory. August 5 a meeting of citizens of the area west of the St. Croix was held at Stillwater, and it was decided to call a general convention at that place, August 26, 1848, for a three-fold purpose: 1-To elect a territorial delegate to congress. 2-To organize a territory with a name other than Wisconsin. 3 To determine whether the laws and organization of the old territory of Wisconsin were still in effect now that a part of that territory was organized as a state. In the call for this meeting, the signers called themselves, "We, the undersigned citizens of Minnesota territory." The meeting was held pursuant to the call. Action was taken in regard to the first proposition by the election of H. H. Sibley, who was authorized to proceed to Wash- ington and use such efforts as were in his power to secure the organization of the territory of Minnesota. In regard to the second proposition a memorial was addressed to the president of the United States, stating the reasons why the organization of Minnesota territory was necessary. The third proposition pre- sented technical points worthy of the attention of the wisest legal minds. The state of Wisconsin had been organized, but the terri- tory of Wisconsin had not been abolished. Was not, therefore, the territory still in existence, and did not its organization and its laws still prevail in the part of the territory that had not been included in the state ? If territorial government was in existence would it not give the residents thereof a better standing before the nation in their desire to become Minnesota territory? Might not this technicality give the delegate a seat in congress when otherwise he must, as simply the representative of an unorganized area, make his requests in the lobby and to the individual mem- bers? John Catlin, who had been secretary of the territory of Wisconsin before the organization of that state, declared that the territory still existed in the area not included in the organized state and that he was the acting governor. Accordingly, the people of the cut-off portion organized as the "Territory of Wis- consin," and named a day for the election of a delegate. In the closely contested election, held October 30, 1848, Sibley won out against Henry M. Rice and accordingly made his way to Wash- ington, technically from the "Territory of Wisconsin," actually as a representative of the proposed territory of Minnesota. As a matter of fact, indeed, Sibley, living at Mendota, had ceased to be
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a citizen of the territory of Wisconsin in 1838, when Iowa terri- tory was created, and was a resident of the part of Iowa territory which the organization of the state of Iowa had left without a government, rather than of that territory in question (between the Mississippi and the St. Croix) which the admission of Wis- consin as a state had left without a government. Sibley was, how- ever, after much opposition, admitted to congress and given a seat January 15, 1849. He at once set about securing friends for the proposition to create Minnesota territory. December 4, 1848, a few days previous to Sibley's admission to congress, Stephen A. Douglas had announced that it was his intention to introduce a new bill to establish the territory of Minnesota. Like the pre- vious attempt, this bill underwent various vicissitudes. As passed, March 3, 1849, the act creating the territory read as follows: "Be it enacted. . · That from and after the passage of this act, all that part of the territory of the United States which lies within the following limits, to-wit: Beginning in the Mississippi river at a point where the line of 43º and 30' of north latitude crosses the same, thence running due west on said line, which is the northern boundary of the state of Iowa, to the northwest corner of the said state of Iowa; thence southerly along the west- ern boundary of said state to the point where said boundary strikes the Missouri river; thence up the middle of the main chan- nel of the Missouri river to the mouth of the White Earth river; thence up the middle of the main channel of the White Earth river to the boundary line between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain; thence east and south of east along the boundary line between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain to Lake Superior; thence in a straight line to the northernmost point of the state of Wisconsin, in Lake Superior ; thence along the western boundary of the state of Wisconsin to the Mississippi river; thence down the main channel of said river to the place of beginning, and the same is hereby erected into a temporary government by the name of the territory of Minnesota."
The executive power of the territory of Minnesota was vested in a governor (appointed by the president, whose term of office was four years, unless sooner removed by the president), who was also superintendent of Indian affairs. The legislative power was vested in a governor and a legislative assembly, consisting of a council of nine members, whose term of office was two years, and a house of representatives of eighteen members, whose term of office was one year. It was provided that the number of mem- bers in the council and the house might be increased by the legis- lative assembly from time to time in proportion to the increase
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in population, but that the whole number should not exceed fifteen councillors and thirty-nine representatives. It was provided that the first election should be held at such time and place and be con- ducted in such manner as the governor should appoint and direct, and that the persons thus elected to the legislative assembly should meet at such place, and on such days as the governor should appoint, but thereafter the time and place and manner of holding and conducting all elections by the people, and the appor- tioning the representatives in the several counties and districts, to the council and house of representatives, according to the population, should be prescribed by law, as well as the day of the commencement of the regular sessions of the legislative assembly, but that no session should exceed sixty days.
Every white male inhabitant above the age of twenty-one, who was a resident of the territory at the time of the passage of the act organizing the same, was entitled to vote and eligible to office at the election. But the qualification of voters and of holding office at all subsequent elections should be such as should be prescribed by the legislative assembly. It was provided by the act that all laws passed by the legislative assembly should be submitted to congress, and if disapproved by it, should be null and of no effect. The laws in force in the territory of Wisconsin after the date of the admission of the state of Wisconsin were con- tinued to be valid and in operation in the territory of Minnesota so far as not incompatible with the provisions of the act of organi- zation of the territory of Minnesota, subject to be altered, modi- fied or repealed by the governor and legislative assembly of said territory. All justices of the peace, constables, sheriffs and all other judicial and ministerial officers who were in office within the limits of the territory at the time of law organizing the territory was approved were authorized and required to continue to exer- cise and perform the duties of their respective offices as officers of the territory of Minnesota temporarily and until they, or others, should be appointed and qualified in the manner therein described or until their offices should be abolished.
The governor was given the veto power, and the council and house could pass a bill over his veto by a two-thirds vote. The judicial power of the territory was vested in a supreme court, district court, probate court and in justices of the peace. The supreme court consisted of a chief justice and two associate jus- tices, appointed by the president, whose term of office was four years and whose salary was $1,800 a year.
The territory was by the act of organization required to be divided into three judicial districts, and the district court to be held therein by one of the judges of the supreme court at such
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times and places as might be prescribed by law, and the judges thereof were required to reside in the districts assigned to them. The clerks of said courts were appointed by the judges thereof.
The United States officers of the territory were a governor, secretary, chief justice, two associate justices, attorney and mar- shal, appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the senate of the United States. The governor received a salary of $1,500 a year as governor and $1,000 a year as superintendent of Indian affairs. The chief justice and associate justices and secretary received a salary of $1,800 a year, and the members of the legislative assembly $3 a day during their attendance upon the sessions thereof and $3 each day for every twenty miles trav- eled going to and returning therefrom.
State of Minnesota. The people of the territory of Minnesota were not long content with a territorial government. In the words of A. N. Winchell, "December 24, 1856, the delegate from the territory of Minnesota introduced a bill to authorize the people of that territory to form a constitution and state govern- ment. The bill limited the proposed state on the west by the Red River of the North and the Big Sioux river. It was referred to the committee on territories, of which Mr. Grow, of Pennsyl- vania, was chairman. January 31, 1857, the chairman reported a substitute, which differed from the original bill in no essential respect except in regard to the western boundary. The change there consisted in adopting a line through Traverse and Big Stone lakes, due south from the latter to the Iowa line. The altered boundary cut off a narrow strip of territory, estimated by Mr. Grow to contain between five and six hundred square miles. Today the strip contains such towns as Sioux Falls, Watertown and Brookings. The substitute had a stormy voyage through con- gress, especially in the senate, but finally completed the trip on February 25, 1857."
The enabling act, as passed and approved February 26, 1857, defined the boundaries of Minnesota as follows: "Be it enacted, . That the inhabitants of that portion of the territory of Minnesota, which is embraced with the following limits, to-wit: Beginning at the point in the center of the main channel of the Red River of the North, where the boundary line between the United States and the British possessions crosses the same ; thence up the main channel of said river to that of the Bois des Sioux river; thence (up) the main channel of said river to Lake Tra- vers; then up the center of said lake to the southern extremity thereof; thence in a direct line to the head of Big Stone lake; thence through its center to its outlet ; thence by a due south line to the north line of the state of Iowa; thence east along the north-
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ern boundary of said state to the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence up the main channel of said river and following the boundary line of the state of Wisconsin, until the same inter- sects the St. Louis river ; thence down said river to and through Lake Superior, on the boundary line of Wisconsin and Michigan, until it intersects the dividing line between the United States and the British possessions; thence up Pigeon river and following said dividing line to the place of beginning; be and the same are thereby authorized to form for themselves a constitution and state government, by the name of the state of Minnesota, and to come into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, accord- ing to the federal constitution."
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