History of Freeborn County, Minnesota, Part 5

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. 4n
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago : H. C. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1220

USA > Minnesota > Freeborn County > History of Freeborn County, Minnesota > Part 5

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).

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 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.

HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY

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 or 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 further 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 Wisconsin 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 description of Minne- sota'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 re- place the one in the enabling act. The proposed boundary, which was rejected, was described as follows. Leaving the aforesaid boundary line at the first rapids of the St. Louis river, thence in a direct line, bearing southwestwardly to the mouth of the Isko-

HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY

dewabo or Rum river, where the same empties into the Missis- sippi river, thence down the main channel of the said Mississippi river to the aforesaid boundary. (Charters and Constitutions 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 L. 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 be- come 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 rajected. 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, 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

HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY

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 necessity for 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 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

HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY

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 anew a 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 limites, 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 bound- ary line between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain to Lake Superior; thence in a straight line to the north- ernmost 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."

1198505

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 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

HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY

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 ap- portioning the representatives in the several counties and dis- tricts, 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 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

HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY

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 ; thence 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- 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

HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY

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."

These boundaries were accepted without change and are the boundaries of the state at the present time. The state was admitted May 11, 1858.

It will therefore be seen that the territorial claim of title to Freeborn county was first embraced in the papal grant to Spain, May 4, 1493. It was then included in the indefinite claims made by Spain to lands north and northwest of her settlements in Mex- ico, Florida and the West Indies; by the English to lands west of their Atlantic coast settlements, and by the French to lands south, west and southwest of their Canadian settlements. The first definite claim to territory now embracing Freeborn county was made by LaSalle at the mouth of the Mississippi, March 8, 1682, in the name of the king of France, and the second (still more defi- nite) by Perrot near the present site of Trempealeau, Wis., May 8, 1689. This was also a French claim. France remained in tacit authority until February 10, 1763, when, upon England's ac- knowledging the French authority to lands west of the Missis- sippi, France, by a previous secret agreement, turned her author- ity over to Spain. October 1, 1800, Spain ceded the tract to France, but France did not take formal possession until Novem- ber 30, 1803, and almost immediately, December 20, 1803, turned it over to the United States, the Americans having purchased it from Napoleon April 30 of that year.

March 26, 1804, the area that is now Freeborn county was included in Louisiana district as a part of Indiana and so remained until March 3, 1805. From March 3, 1805, to June 4, 1812, it was a part of Louisiana territory. From June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1820, it was a part of Missouri territory. From August 10, 1821, until June 28, 1834, it was outside the pale of all organized government, except that congress had general juris- diction. From June 28, 1834, to April 20, 1836, it was a part of Michigan territory. From April 20, 1836, to June 12, 1838, it was a part of Wisconsin territory. From June 12, 1838, to December 28, 1846, it was a part of the territory of Iowa and was included in the boundaries at first proposed for the state of Iowa. From December 28, 1846, to March 3, 1849, it was again without terri- torial affiliation. From March 3, 1849, to May 11, 1858, it was a part of Minnesota territory, and on the latter date became an integral part of that sovereign state.

CHAPTER V.

EARLY EXPLORATIONS.

No Evidence that Earliest Minnesota Explorers Reached Freeborn County-Visit of the United States Dragoons in 1835-Albert Miller Lea, the Topographer of the Expedition-Lea's Own Story-His Later Visit to Freeborn County-Early Hunting Expeditions-Great Amount of Game Secured in This Vicinity -Sibley and Rice-Early Surveys.

From time immemorial until some time after the coming of the whites, the territory now embraced in Freeborn county was the hunting ground of the Indians. As there were no permanent Indian villages here, and little of geographic interest in the sweep of prairie now embraced in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, none of the earlier explorers, so far as we know, visited Freeborn county. Hennepin with his two companions, Pickard du Guy (Auguelle) and Michael Accault (Ako), who explored the upper Mississippi in 1680; Perrot, who had trading posts about Lake Pepin as early as 1685, LeSueur, who built a fort near Red Wing on Prairie Island in 1695, and one near Mankato in 1700; La Hontan, who wrote marvelous accounts of adventures, and who is now entirely discredited by historians; Jonathan Carver, who ascended the upper Mississippi in 1766; Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, who explored the upper Mississippi in 1805-06; Colonel Henry Leavenworth, who in 1819 established at Mendota in what is now Dakota county, the fort which was afterwards moved across the Minnesota river and became Fort Snelling; Major Stephen H. Long, who explored the upper Mississippi in 1817 and 1823; Governor Lewis Cass, who in 1820 explored the principal sources of the Mississippi and then descended the river; William Morrison, who visited Lake Itasca in the winter of 1803-04, and is usually credited as the discoverer of the source of the Mississippi ; Henry R. Schoolcraft, who in 1832 explored northern Minnesota ; George Featherstone, who made a geological survey of the Min- nesota valley in 1835; George Catlin, who made a faithful study of the Indians of Minnesota ; Jean Nicollet, whose activities in the thirties and forties contributed much to Minnesota geography, and David Dale Owen, who explored large portions of the state in 1847, '48, '49 and '50, and whose names are honored as the early explorers of Minnesota, all failed, so far as we know, to make Freeborn county a visit.

HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY

It is possible that missionaries, renegades, traders or hunters visited this region, in the days of the early exploration, but of this, historians have no record or knowledge, although those who enjoy speculation and conjecture think it quite possible the Frenchmen from the posts of Perrot on Lake Pepin, the stockades at Frontenac, or the forts at Prairie Island and Mankato may have come here after game. It is also apparent that even in 1835, when the first recorded exploration of this region was made, there had already been at least one map made of this lo- cality, with the predominant physical features more or less ac- curately drawn. The first recorded explorer himself has declared that he had with him Tanner's Map of the United States, pub- lished in 1832, and that he found this map most useful. Just how thoroughly this part of Minnesota was mapped thereon is impossible to state.

The first visit by white men to the present area of Freeborn county, of which any record is found, was made in 1835, by Companies B, H, and I, of the First United States Dragoons, under the command of Lieut .- Col. Stephen W. Kearney, the topographer of the expedition being Lieut. Albert Miller Lea.

The Dragoons, created by congress in March, 1833 and or- ganized for the more perfect defense of the frontier, were a fine body of men who had been enlisted from nearly every state in the Union in the summer months of 1833. The commanding officer of this regiment of ten companies was Col. Henry Dodge, a most valliant soldier.

The trip, which has so much interest to the people of Free- born county, was a march of 1,100 miles by Companies B, H and I, under Lieut .- Col. Stephen W. Kearney. On June 7, 1835, this detachment left Fort Des Moines and marched between the Des Moines and Skunk rivers to near the mouth of the Boone river. Then taking a northeastwardly course across Iowa, they entered what is now Minnesota, crossed Mower county, and reached Wabashaw's village on the Mississippi at practically the present site of Winona. After remaining there about a week, the companies marched somewhat to the south of westwardly. They crossed the present Freeborn county and continued west- ward, then turning southward, and entering Iowa in what is now Kossuth county, reaching the Des Moines river safely. After crossing the river, they descended it on the lower side and reached Fort Des Moines on August 19, 1835, without the loss of a single horse or man. Lieut. Albert Miller Lea, attached to Company I, of the expedition, was the official topographer, and in his honor Nicollet afterwards named a previously undesignated lake which the expedition passed in the present Freeborn county.

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 Freeborn County, Minnesota, Part 5

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. 4n Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago : H. C. Cooper Number of Pages: 1220

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. 4n
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago : H. C. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1220