USA > Minnesota > Morrison County > History of Morrison and Todd counties, Minnesota, their people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 2
USA > Minnesota > Todd County > History of Morrison and Todd counties, Minnesota, their people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 2
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294, 299, 303, 306
B
Banks 280
Baptist Churches. 250
Bartlett Township 237, 292, 303
Beautiful Vistas
215
Bertha
228, 237, 250, 275, 276, 280
284, 290, 300, 303, 306
Bertha Township
229, 237, 290, 303
Birch Lake 287, 306
Birchdale 223
Birchdale Township
237, 287, 303
Bohemian Settlers
229
Boundaries, Original County
221
C
Catholic Churches 250, 255
Cattle
245
Chippewas
216, 219, 222
Christian Church
250
Church, the First
249
Churches of Todd County
249
Clarissa
228, 237, 250, 275, 276, 280,
282, 290, 298, 303, 306
Clerks of the Court
24.2
Climate, Attractive
244
Cogel
294
Commissioners' Districts
232
206
Vegetables
86
Village Plats
205
W
Water Power 51
Wells 51
Winnebagoes 54, 58, 132
Woman's Relief Corps 123
Wood Lake, Battle of 139
Woodmen, Modern
124
Y
Valuations, Property 76
Vawter
HISTORICAL INDEX.
Commissioners, County 242
Commissioners, Court. 242
Commissioners, Early Acts of. 233, 235
Congregational Churches 250
Congressmen
239
Coroners
242
County Attorneys 241
County Auditors
240
County Boundaries, Original 221
County Commissioners
242
County Finances, Present 238
County Government.
232
County Officers, First 232
County Officers' Salaries
237
County Official Roster 239
County Surveyors.
241
County Treasurers
240
Courageous Pioneer 220
Court Commissioners
242
Court House History
234, 235
Creameries
245
D
Dairying Interests
245
Depredations by Indians 219
Dower Lake.
306
Drainage, Natural
211
F
Eagle Bend
228, 237, 250, 273, 280
282, 290, 296, 303
Eagle Valley Township_226, 237, 290, 303
Early Days 215
Early Farming Difficulties 231
Early Finances
235
Early Religious Worship
249
Early Roads. 223
Early Settlers Now Living 22.2
Educational Interests 276
Election, First County 233
Elevations
213
Episcopal Churches 250
Fair, the First
247
Fair Grounds
247
Fawn Lake Township
237, 291, 303
Finances, Early 235
Finances, Present County 238
First Church Building 249
First County Officers 232
First Court House 234
First Election. 233
Free Methodist Church 250
French Settlers
224
G
Geology 213
German Lutheran Church 250
German Settlers 224, 226, 229
Germania Township
228, 229, 237
290, 303
Gordon Township
237, 287, 303
Grain
245
Grasses
245
Greek Catholic Church 270
Grey Eagle.
223, 237, 250, 274, 276
280, 281, 300, 303, 306
Grey Eagle Township
237, 288, 303
Guzdek, Rev. John St.
264
H
Hartford
225
Hartford Township 217, 226, 229, 232
237, 257, 286, 303
Hausen
306
Hewitt
237, 250, 273, 280
289, 296, 303, 306
lloly Angels School
259
1
Indian Agency
217
Indian Camps 216
Indian Ontbreak 219
Indian Problem 216
Indians
216, 219, 222
lona Township
226, 237, 291, 303
Iron Ore, Prospective.
304
J
Jail History.
235
Judges of Probate
241
HISTORICAL INDEX.
K
Kandota
223
Kandota
Township
233, 237, 287, 303
L
Lake Osakis
212, 217, 227, 287, 305
Lakes
212, 305
Land in Cultivation 244
Leevilla
306
Leslie
307
Leslie Township
237, 288, 303
Lincoln
291
Little Elk Township __ 217, 237, 293, 303
Little Sauk
251, 288, 301
Little Sauk Township
237, 288, 304
Living Early Settlers
222
Long Prairie __ 211, 217, 218, 221, 224, 237
250, 254, 256, 273, 280, 281
282, 285, 286, 296, 304, 306
Long Prairie-Mississippi Road
223
Long Prairie Township
229, 232, 237
286, 304
Lutheran Churches
250, 254
M
Material Resources
214
Methodist Episcopal Churches. 250. 251
Mills
230
Missionaries, Pioneer.
250
Moran Township __ 226, 229, 237, 289, 304
N
Navigation, River
231
New England Settlers 229
Newspapers
233, 273
Norwegian Lutheran Church
250
Norwegian Synod
250
O
Oak Hill 288
Officers, First County 232
Official Roster. 239
Organization of the County
232
Osakis
237, 287, 304
Osakis Lake
212, 217, 227, 287, 305
P
Philbrook
229, 292, 306
Pillsbury
227, 250, 293
Pioneer Attractions
215
Pioneer Church History 251
Pioneer Conditions
215
Pioneer Missionaries
250
Pioneers of 1865
225
Pioneer Privations
221
Pole-raising, Old Fashioned.
218
Poles as American Citizens 271
Poles, Character of.
271
Polish Church at Browerville 255
Polish Settlers
226, 256
Polish Sisters of St. Benedict 263
Poor-farm Experiment.
236
Poor Relief_
234
Population of Todd County 303
Prairies
213
Presbyterian Churches 250
Presidential Vote 242
Privations of Pioneers
221
Probate Judges
241
R
Railroad, Coming of the.
227
Registers of Deeds
241
Relief for the Poor 234
Report of Schools 276
Representatives
239
Reynolds Township
236, 233, 237
292, 304
Rivers
211
Roads, Early
223
Rock Exposures 213
Roster of County Officials 239
Round Prairie
224, 250, 276
293, 296, 300
Round Prairie Township
232, 237
249, 293, 304
Rural Churches
254
S
St. Joseph's Church
255
Salaries of County Officers
237
Scandinavian Settlers
229
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
School Districts
232
School Examiner 232
School of Holy Angels 259
School Statistics 276
School Superintendents
234, 235, 242
Schools, the 276
Senators, State 239
Settlement, Permanent
222
Settlers, Living Early 222
Sheriffs
241
Sioux Indians 216, 219
Sisters of St. Benedict. 263
Sliters Beach
306
Social Life, Pioneer 215
Soil
213
Staples
228, 237, 250, 274, 280
281, 284, 291, 295, 304, 307
Staples Mill
307
Staples Township 237. 291, 304
State Representatives.
239
State Senators
239
Stowe Prairie Township
228, 237
289, 304
Streams
211
Sunday School, the First 253
Superintendents of School __ 234, 235, 242
Surface Features
211
Surveyors, County
241
Swedish Episcopal Church
250
Swedish Lutheran Churches
250
Swedish Mission Church
250
T
Timber
213
Todd County Agricultural Society 247
Topography of County
212
Townships of Todd County
286
Trading with the Indians
216
Transportation Problems, Early
231
Treasurers, County
240
Turtle Creek Township
237, 293. 304
U
United Brethren Church
250, 253
V
Valuations, Assessed
237
Van Cleve, General
218, 220
Versatile Pastor
251
Villard Township
237, 292. 304
IV
WVard Township __ 226, 229, 237, 289, 304
Wards Springs
287, 306
Water Supply 244
\Vells
213, 244
West Union
237, 250, 280, 287
298, 304, 306
WVest Union Township
232, 237
287, 304
Whiteville
225
Winnebagoes
217, 219
Wykeham Township.
228, 237, 290, 304
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
A
Adams, E. P.
505
Andersen, Hans
C.
479
Anderson, Alex
653
Anderson, Frank
641
Andre, Camille H. D. M.
471
Andwood, John A.
564
Ayer, Lyman W.
661
B
Balcom, Kyle 11. 685
Barnes, Prof. Martin E 356
Bastien, Frank X.
499
Bates, Benjamin B.
706
Bennett, Silas T.
610
1
I
448
Bergheim, Nels Nelson I L 1
654
Bergman, Axel
1
I 422
Biteman, 1 saac
379
Blom, Sven M.
626
Boehm, Frank
I
1 1
Bolander, Carl
498
Borgstrom, Axel M. 1 1 1
404
Borgstrom, Rasmus
476
Bottemiller, Charles
517
Bouck, Hon. Charles W.
1
372
Brick, Otto J.
657
Brick, Simon P. 376
Brockway, William C. 1 378
Brooks, Warren W.
527
I
Brown, Charles H.
432
Brown, Otis J., M. D 511
Bujalski, Rev. Stephen 592
Burton, Barney 489
C
Calhoun, George
444
Callahan, Thomas F.
679
Cameron, Donald M.
521
Chapman, Clinton E. 440
Chirhart. George N.
436
Chirhart. Joseph J. 415
Cochran, Survetus C.
587
I
1
I
Corbin, Dura
507
1
Cox, Bennett B.
393
I
1
1
I
Cox, William H.
381
I
1
1
I
Crossfield, John W. 1 1 502
D
Dally, Willis C.
424
Dalquist, Carl O.
537
Davies, Frank P. 656
Dobbyn, Prof. Frank W.
375
1
1
Docken, John H.
496
Dubbels, George
649
Dvorak, Peter
627
F
Eckblad, Axel 525
1
Edden, William
634
Edeburn, George
1
705
1
1
Ehr, Ethel M.
435
I
L
1
Erickson, Carl J.
607
I
1
1
1
1
Erickson, Rubin
1
1
1
403
I
Erlandson, Erick
580
Etzell, George A.
637
F
Falk, James W.
389
Farrow, Franklin P.
481
Featherston, James W.
454
Fenn, Andrew J.
495
Flood, Edward A. 395
Fortier, George M. A., M. D.
490
Franzen, Gust
698
Freeman, Fred
531
Berglund, John 1 1
371
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
G
K
Gassert, Henry 426
Gendrean, Paul 528 I 1
Gordon, Thomas C. 1 1
509
Keehr. Fred 683
Kempenich, John 552 I
Gravel, Charles, Sr. 401 1
Kerkhoff, Edward H.
430
Gravel, Charles E. 383
Kiewel, Jacob
595
Kjeldergaard, Ole O. 1
473
1 Knapp, Perry 701 1 1
Koslosky, Austin F. 400 I t I 1
Kroll, Rev. Peter J.
670
H
Hall, Elmer E., M. D 360
Hanson, John W. 538
Hanson, Willie 1 1
623
Hart, James 652
398
Hartmann, Philip A.
387
Haymaker, Ernest G. 460 4
Hedin, Henry 411 1 1
Hedin, Jolın
I 640
Hegg, John I
659
llennen, Nicholas J.
560
Herum, Andrew 1 T
590
Herrmann, Chris
524
Hitzemann, Otto ]].
385
llokenson, Henry E. 408
llolmgren, Pear A.
550
llonstrom, Andrew \V. 437 1
Houn, Joseph 555
Hoystrom, Peter O. 677
458
McNairy, Bartlett Y.
515
McRae, John J.
361
M
Malm, Olaf 443
Marlin, John D., Jr 647
Martin, J. Kenneth 416
Massy, Gerald W. 464
Metcalf, Joseph L. 363
Millspaugh, Joseph G., M. D. 504
Molde, Christian 533
Monson, Mathias T. 605
Morey. William N. 1
693
Johnson, Ole A. 598 1 1
1 I 1 Jones, John David 368 I
L
LaFond, Edward M. 585
Lambert, James M. 622
Lamothe, Rev. Arthur 384
Landahl, Henning 353
1 Lee, Rudolph 1 519
Lee, William E. 468 1 1 I 1
Lisle, John W.
358
Lockwood, Vernie
I I
I
1
589
Loegering, August
1
696
Logan, Frank B. I
1
I
I
611
1
Logan, Harry M.
603
Lyon, Frank W. 477 1
Mc
MeDougall, Thomas 621
McGivern, Frank C.
Ilusmann, John JI. 691
Hutchinson, Wilber E. 672
1
Isaacson, llans
600
J
Jacobs, Sherman W. 462
Janski, Rev. Joseph C. 419
Jaschke, Paul 540 J 1
Johnson, James P. 681 1
1 Johnson, Jolın O. 467 1 I
1 Mueller, John P. 616
1 Muncy, Leslie 513 1
I
.
I
I
I
1
I I
Kalis, Frank 674
Kasparek, Valentine E. 669
Gothman, Henry 703 1 1 1
Groover, Leslie A.
559
Gunderson, Mark J. 684 1
Gutches, Merton E.
704
Hartmann, Joseph B.
1
I
BIOGRAPIIICAL INDEX.
N
Nagl, Rt. Rev. Mgr. Edward 480
Nelson, Albert O. 446
Nelson, Frank A. 488
Nelson, George O. 439
Nelson, Hans
618
Nelson, Hoken
663
Nelson, Louis 632
Newman, J. H., D. V. S. 483
Nichols, Jerry C. 549
Nutter, Hugh A.
624
Nygaard, Bernard
690
Nygaard, Ole 535
Nylen, Peter 688
O
Odor, Francis T. 636
Olson, Maurice 593
P
Palm, Jones 571
Parker, George F. 576 I
Pedley, William 512
Pehrson, Alfred 412
Perkins, John C. 671 1 1
Perry, Tim 428
Person, Nels
617
Person, Ola
619
1
Peterson, John H. 406
R
Ragan, George 680
Randall, Phil S. 493
Rekosiak, Rev. Theodore J 544
Remillard, Cyprien A. 456
Renick, Frank
665
Rennie, John 675
Rhode, Otto A. 365
Riedner, George M. 569
Roberts, Lemuel M., M. D 392
Rodman, William 643
Roese, Alfred E. 530
Rosenberg, Edward M. 484
Runquist, Carl W. 562
Rydholm, Andrew 567
S
Samuelson, Olof 575
Sandahl, August 573
Schallern, Victor 486
Scherer, Rev. Michael 602
Schermerhorn, George 354
Schmolke, John 566
Schultz, George 399
Schwanke, August
638
Sears, Fred P. 463
Seely, Charles E. 466
Shaw, Hon. Edward F 367
Shutt, Sylvester J. 582
Signer, Edwin 628
Sjodin, Ole 614
Smith, Alfred P.
I
547
Snow, Heman D. 584 1
Sparrow, William 396
Stenholm, Charles 687
Stephenson, John W. 522
Stoll, Alfred M. 413
Suszczynski, Rev. Sigismond 608
Swanson, Henry
546
Swanson, Oscar E. 545
Swedback, Charles J. 409
T
Tanner, Leigh V. 501
Tedford, Samuel 599
Thelander, John A. 557
Thorsen, Richard 630
V
Vasaly, Peter J. 658
Vasaly, Dr. Spirit J. 474
Vasaly, Stephen C. 650
Vernon, Archibald H. 516
Vertin, John
520
Viehauser, Peter
417
W
Waage, Nels O. 442
Wait, John
541
Waldron, Herbert L.
699
1
I
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
Waller, John C 695
Wilson, George E.
391
Warnberg, Seth
554
Winscher, Charles 667
WVermerskirchen, Melchior 433
Wise, Elwin H.
615
Werner, Charles H.
420
Wetzel, John
449
Z
Wilson, Alfred
451
Wilson, Byron K.
423
Zitur, Rev. Francis 459
HISTORY OF MORRISON COUNTY
CHAPTER I.
RELATED STATE HISTORY.
Three years elapsed from the time that the territory of Minnesota was proposed in Congress, to the final passage of the organic act. On August 6, 1846, an act was passed by Congress authorizing the citizens of Wisconsin territory to frame a constitution and form a state government. The act fixed the St. Louis river to the rapids, from thence south to the St. Croix, and thence down that river to its junction with the Mississippi, as the west- ern boundary.
On December 23, 1846, the delegate from Wisconsin, Morgan L. Mar- tin, introduced the bill in Congress for the organization of the territory of Minnesota. This bill made its western boundary the Sioux and Red river of the North. On March 3, 1847, permission was granted to Wisconsin to change her boundary, so that the western limit would proceed due south from the rapids of the St. Louis river, and fifteen miles east of the most easterly point of Lake St. Croix, thence to the Mississippi.
Several members of 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 St. Croix were desirous that the Chippewa river should be the limit of Wisconsin. The citizens of Wisconsin territory, in the valley of the St. Croix and about Ft. Snelling, wished to be included in the projected new territory, and on March 28, 1848, a memorial, signed by H. H. Sibley, Henry M. Rice, Franklin Steele, William R. Marshall and others, was presented to Congress, remonstrating against the proposition before the convention to make Rum river a part of the boundary line of the contemplated state of Wisconsin.
On May 29, 1848, the act to admit Wisconsin changed the boundary to
(3)
34
MORRISON AND TODD COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
the present lines, and as first defined in the enabling act of 1846. After the bill written by Mr. Martin was introduced into the House of Representatives in 1846, it was referred to the committee on territories, of which Mr. Doug- las was chairman. On January 2, 1847, he reported in favor of the proposed territory, with the name of Itasca. On February 17, before the bill passed the House, a decision arose in relation to the proposed name. Mr. Win- throp, of Massachusetts, proposed Chippewa as a substitute, alleging that this tribe was the principal one in the proposed territory, which was not correct. J. Thompson, of Mississippi, disliked all Indian names, and hoped the terri- tory would be called Jackson. Mr. Houston, of Delaware, thought that there ought to be a territory named after the "Father of his Country," and pro- posed the name Washington. All of the names proposed were rejected and the name as proposed in the original bill was inserted. On the last day of the session, March 3, the bill was called up in the Senate and laid on the table.
When Wisconsin became a state the query arose whether the old terri- torial government did not continue in force west of the St. Croix river. The first meeting on the subject of claiming territorial privileges was held in the building at St. 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 conven- tion was proposed to consider their position. The first public meeting was held at Stillwater, August 4, and Messrs. Steele and Sibley were the only persons present from the west side of the Mississippi. This meeting issued a call for a general convention to take steps to secure an early territorial organization, to assemble on the 26th of the month at the same place. Sixty- two delegates answered the call. A letter was presented to the convention 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 H. Tweedy having resigned his office as delegate to Congress, September 18, 1848, Mr. Catlin, who had made Stillwater a temporary resi- dence issued a proclamation on October 9. ordering a special election at Stillwater on the 30th 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 a minority report ; but the resolution intro- duced by the majority passed and Mr. Sibley took his seat as a delegate from Wisconsin territory, January 15, 1849.
35
MORRISON AND TODD COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
In an interesting communication to the Minnesota Historical Society, Mr. Sibley wrote: "When my credentials as delegate were presented by Hon. James Wilson, of New Hampshire, to the House of Representatives, there was some curiosity manifested among the members, to see what kind of a person had been elected to represent the distant and wild territory claiming a representation in Congress. I was told by a New England member with whom I became subsequently quite intimate, that there was some disappoint- ment 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 dress and manners of semi-civilized people, who had sent him to the capitol."
THE NAME, MINNESOTA.
The territory of Minnesota was named after the largest tributary of the Mississippi within its limits. The Sioux called the Missouri, "Minne-sho- shay" (muddy water), but the stream after which this region is named, "Minne-sota." Some say "sota" means clear; others turbid; Schoolcraft, bluish green. Nicolett wrote: "The adjective 'sotah' is of difficult transla- tion. The Canadians translated it by a pretty equivalent word, 'brouille,' perhaps more properly rendered into English by 'blear.' But after all these tangled-up explanations of the meaning of the word 'Minnesota,' it may be stated that its true meaning is found in the Sioux expression 'Ishtah-sota' (blear-eyed)." From the fact that the word signifies neither blue nor white, but the peculiar appearance of the sky at certain times, Minnesota has, by some, been defined to mean the tinted water, which is certainly poetic and believed by well-versed scholars to be nearly correct.
MINNESOTA TERRITORY, 1849 TO 1854. Extracts from Works in Historical Society.
On March 3, 1849, by act of Congress, Minnesota became a territory, whose boundary on the west extended to the Missouri river. At this time the region was little less than a wilderness. The west bank of the Mississippi from the Iowa line to Lake Itasca, was unceded by the Indians. At Wapa- shaw was a trading post, in charge of Alexis Bailly, and here also resided the ancient voyageur, of four score years, A. Rocque. At the foot of Lake Pepin was a storehouse, kept by F. S. Richards. On the west shore of the
36
MORRISON AND TODD COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
lake lived an eccentric man named 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 of lodges of his wife's relatives and friends, presented a rude, but picturesque, scene. Above the lake was a chister of bark wigwams, the Dakotah village of what came to be later known as Red Wing city. At that place there was also a Presby- terian mission.
At Red Rock, the site of the former Methodist mission station, there were but few farmers. St. Paul was just emerging from a collection of Indian whisky shops and birch-roofed cabins of half-breed voyageurs. Here and there a frame tenement was erected, and, under the auspices of Hon. H. M. Rice, who had obtained an interest in the town, some warehouses were constructed, and the foundations of the American house, a frame hotel. stood at Third and Exchange streets. In 1849, the population had increased to between two hundred and fifty and three hundred, for rumors had gone abroad that it might be mentioned in the act of creating the territory, as the capital of Minnesota. More than a month after the adjournment of Con- gress, just at the eve of April 9, amid peals of thunder and torrents of rain, the weekly steampacket, 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 ter- ritory of Minnesota, and that St. 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 W. 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 April 28 he issued from his press the first number of the "Pioneer."
On May 27, Alexander Ramsey. the governor, and family, arrived at St. Paul, but, owing to the crowded state of the public 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 there became the guest of Hon. Henry H. Sibley.
37
MORRISON AND TODD COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TERRITORY.
By proclamation on June Ist, Governor Ramsey declared the territory duly opened and 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 ; H. L. Moss, attorney of the United States.
On June II, 1849, a second proclamation was issued, dividing the terri- tory into three 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 head- waters of the Minnesota to the Missouri river, constituted the second district, and the country west of the Mississippi river and south of the Minnesota formed the third district. A court was ordered to be held at Stillwater on the second Monday, at St. Anthony Falls, on the third Monday, and at Mendota on the fourth Monday in August.
Until June 26 Governor Ramsey and family were guests at Hon. H. H. Sibley's at Mendota, but on the afternoon of that day they arrived in a birch-bark canoe and became permanent residents of the capital.
On July I a land office was located at Stillwater, and A. Van Vorhes became register, after a few weeks.
On July 7, 1849, a proclamation was issued, dividing the territory into seven council districts, and ordering an election to be held on August I for one delegate to represent the people in the House of Representatives of the United States, for nine councillors and eighteen representatives, to constitute the Legislative Assembly of Minnesota. The same month, Hon. H. M. Rice dispatched a boat loaded with Indian goods, from the falls of St. Anthony to Crow Wing, it being towed by horses after the manner of a canal boat.
At the election H. H. Sibley was elected, without opposition, as dele- gate to Congress.
Soon after the territory was organized there were three newspapers established in the territory now known as the state of Minnesota. The first was the Pioneer, April 28, 1849, which was started under most trying cir- cumstances. 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 management of Dr. Randall, the
38
MORRISON AND TODD COUNTIES, MINNESOTA.
first number of the Register. The second number of the paper was published in St. Paul, in July. About June I James Hughes, afterwards of Hudson, Wisconsin, arrived with a printing outfit, and established the Minnesota Chronicle. After two or three months, two of these three papers went down, and in their place was issued the Chronicle and Register, edited by Nathaniel McLean and John P. Owens.
The first court was opened at Stillwater in August, as per proclamation issued by the governor. Judge Goodrich presided. The old government mill at Minneapolis was used for court purposes for the second district, Judge B. B. Meeker persiding as judge. In the third district, the same month, court was held in a large stone warehouse, belonging to the fur com- pany at Mendota, with David Cooper as presiding judge.
On September 3, the first Legislative Assembly convened in the Central house (hotel) at St. Paul. On the first floor of the main building were the secretary's office and representatives' chamber ; in the second story was the library and council chamber. A 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 be crowded out. The first session of the Legislature ad- journed November 1. During that session there were created the following counties : Itasca, Wapashaw, Dakotah, Wahnahth, Mahkalıto, Pembina, Washington, Ramsey and Benton. The three latter counties comprised the country that up to that time had been ceded by the Indians, on the east side of the Mississippi. Stillwater was declared the county seat of Washington; St. 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 Missis- sippi, directly opposite the mouth of Sauk river."
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