USA > Minnesota > Morrison County > History of Morrison and Todd counties, Minnesota, their people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 5
USA > Minnesota > Todd County > History of Morrison and Todd counties, Minnesota, their people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 5
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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
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The early movements of the traders in Morrison county were some- what complicated, and difficult to trace out at this late date. In 1826 Charles Larose and Charles Chawboile had a trading post for at least two winters on a small flatboat on the east side of the Mississippi near Big Bend. In 1837, when Wadena came down from the north country, he found two trading posts near together on the west side of the Mississippi, just below where later the ferry crossed at Swan river. The buildings then appeared quite old.
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An Indian trading post was established at a very early day in the east side of the Mississippi, in what was later known as Bellevue township. Of this post, Duncan MeDougal, a former resident, said when he was at the place, in the spring of 1849, the logs of the building were fully half decayed; also stated that the post had been run by August Ballangier and Baptiste Roy for Allen Morrison.
Previous to 1835 all goods were brought across from Lake Superior, but after that date from points below on the Mississippi. About 1844, Mr. Ewing, of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, in company with others, established a trad- ing post at Swan river on the east side of the Mississippi. Philip Beaupre and Lewis Morrow were employed by this company in 1846. The firm was superseded by Peter Chonteau & Company.
The earliest missionary in Morrison county, aside from the Catholics in 1838, was the Rev. Samuel Spates, a native of Kentucky, born in 1815, and sent by the Methodist Episcopal church into the Northwest. He estab- lished a mission near the mouth of Little Elk river in October, 1839. He was assisted by Revs. Allen Huddleston, George Copway and John John- son, the latter being a converted Ojibway Indian. Subsequently Rev. Spates removed to Sandy lake, then to Fond du Lac, and, in 1856, returned to Little Falls, Minnesota. Two years later he moved to Cannon Falls, Minne- sota. John Johnson, the converted Indian, later located at White Earth mission and was ordained as an Episcopal clergyman.
In 1881 the oldest inhabitant of this county was a Little Falls man named William Nicholson. He came to Swan river in the summer of 1847, in company with ten other men. They forded the Mississippi just below the Swan river ferry, and there made a raft of hewed timbers from pine trees growing on the river bank, for use in the construction of the first dam at St. Anthony Falls. They ran the raft only a few miles, then abandoned it on account of low water. Nicholson went below and returned, in the spring of 1848, crossed the Mississippi at the same place, in company with twenty-two other men, and cut a roadway through to Long Prairie. He returned after completing the road, and found William Aitken, who had made a claim and was building a hotel and store building on the east bank of the Mississippi at the crossing. William Aitkin located at Swan river and in 1848 conducted the Indian trading post. Aitkin had an eventful life, and he died in 1851, aged sixty-five years. He had two Indian wives. They quarreled and fought savagely at the funeral as to who should have the remains and be chief mourner ; wife number one came off victorious.
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James Green made a "squatter's" claim in 1848, and built a saw-mill on the east side of the Mississippi river by the island at the falls. Will- iam Knowles located at the mouth of Rabbit river in 1849. John Stillwell, who came to Swan river in 1849, was by trade a carpenter and worked at his trade until 1856, when he embarked in the hotel business. In 1888 he and pioneer William Nicholson were the only old settlers of Swan river remaining in this county.
Historian Nathan Richardson said in 1876, in his letters, that the Chippewas were seldom hostile toward the whites, while the Sioux would kill stock to supply their needs, and never thought of paying for the same.
Father Pierz, a Catholic missionary, came to Minnesota, among the Chippewa Indians, in 1852, and, finding the country well adapted to agri- culture, he wrote letters describing the beauty of the country and the fer- tility of the soil, and sent them to several of the leading newspapers of both Germany and America, which soon caused a large emigration, a part of which finally located in Morrison county. In this connection it will be well to give a brief account of the work of this faithful old missionary, at the date of the Indian outbreak, showing as it does his bravery and true missionary character.
In the autumn of 1862, during that never-to-be-forgotten Indian war- fare, the Chippewa Indians, under their chief, Hole-in-the-Day, were assembled at Gull lake, threatening an attack on the whites. Father Pierz was in the vicinity of St. Paul at the time and hearing of the hostile atti- tude of the Indians, immediately set out alone to go to Gull lake, traveling day and night. On his way he met the Indian guards, who positively refused to let him pass. He insisted and, unable to longer withstand his importuning, the guards picked him up and carried him over the dead-line, across which they were ordered to let no white man pass alive. He pro- ceeded to their camp and saw their chief. What effect this interview with Hole-in-the-Day had is not definitely known, but the Indians did not attack the whites as contemplated. It is certain the white people had in Father Pierz a true friend who would not desert them in times of great danger. He labored in the mission until 1874, when he retired on account of old age, going to Germany to spend the remainder of his days. He died in Ger- many in January, 1880, having attained the ripe age of ninety-two years.
Another faithful missionary of the Cross, of the Protestant faith, was Frederick Ayer, whose son still resides at Little Falls, respected and hon- ored by all within this section of Minnesota. Rev. Frederick Ayer, a
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native of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, was sent out by the American Board of Foreign Missions, and came to Sandy lake, Minnesota, in 1831, and to Red lake in 1842, and finally to Belle prairie, Morrison county, in 1848. Here he soon opened up an extensive farm, doing the first breaking in the county in the summer of 1849, using oxen borrowed from Hon. Henry M. Rice. Desiring to work in a religious way among the Indians as well as among the white settlers, he erected a large dwelling in 1850 and a commo- dious school house, which also served as a church for a number of years. The house was still standing in the eighties, a fit and suitable reminder or memorial of those early sacrifices by one who spent his whole life in the cause of religion and education.
Rev. A. B. Adams, a missionary, who went to Red Cedar, or Cass lake, about 1845, settled in Morrison county in the Platte river vicinity, and preached several years, then removed to Michigan.
O. A. Coe came to Minnesota in 1838, working on the St. Croix and Snake rivers. He visited Belle prairie in 1849, and came to this place in 1853, engaging in farming pursuits.
Of the numerous early settlers in this county, additional to these few above named, the reader is referred to the various township histories.
OLDEST LIVING SETTLER.
In the publication known as "Upper Mississippi Valley," published in 1881, the following is said concerning pioneer William Nicholson: "Will- iam Nicholson, the oldest living settler in Morrison county at this date, was born in Venango county, Pennsylvania, in 1828. In childhood his parents removed to Ohio, where his mother died in 1844. The following year William left home, and came with friends to Platte Mounds, Wisconsin. In September, 1847, he came to Minnesota with a surveying party, and engaged at surveying north of St. Paul. In that autumn he joined a crew who came up the river, near this vicinity, for timber for the dam about to be constructed at St. Anthony falls. Returning to St. Paul, he spent the winter on the survey and returned to Wisconsin in March. In July, 1848, on the removal of the Winnebago Indians from Wisconsin and lowa, he engaged as government teamster at Watab and Long Prairie. In the lat- ter place he found the Indian agent, Fletcher, and remained in his employ until October, putting up a building for a trading post. The winter of 1849-50 was spent in the pincries. The following August he came to
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Swan river, remaining until 1858. After the Indian outbreak, at the time of the treaty with the Chippewas, he was taken prisoner, not being held long, however. During the period of fear and anxiety he was of great service to the garrison and settlers, making several secret trips, and once, at a great risk, guiding James Whitehead and Lafferty, the former bearer of an important dispatch, to Crow Wing agency. In the fall of 1862 Mr. Nicholson went on a trapping expedition and then settled in Little Falls. After seven years he moved to his farm and lived in peace and retirement, the remainder of his days.
HALF-BREED SETTLER.
Hon. Peter Roy, born 1828, in what is now Itasca county, Minnesota, was the son of two half breeds. He came to Morrison county in 1855, remained until 1857, moved to Crow Wing and there opened a store. In 1862 he returned to this county, settling in 1866 in Little Falls village. He engaged in the hotel business, which he followed until his sudden death, in June, 1881, dropping from his chair when apparently in excellent health. He was three times elected to a seat in the Minnesota Legislature from Morrison county, and was town clerk at the date of his death. In 1853 he married, at the Chippewa agency, Miss Philomon Chouinard, part Indian, by whom fourteen children were born.
SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS IN MORRISON COUNTY.
The climate of Minnesota is very similar to that of Sweden, more so than that of any other state in the Union. The soil and the vegetation is also about the same here as in their old home and it is therefore but natural that the Swedes should have settled in Minnesota in large numbers and that Morrison county, located as it is in the very center of the state, should have attracted a good many of these intelligent and industrious settlers.
In comparison, however, with the oldest Swedish settlements in the state, those in Morrison county are of a recent date. Already, fifty years ago, there were large, prosperous Swedish settlements in the southern part of the state, while the oldest one in Morrison county, that of Upsala, twen- ty miles southwest of Little Falls, dates back only since the year 1880. During that decade a number of Swedes came in to join their friends and (5)
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acquaintances in that settlement, but it was not until the year 1890 that any particular influx of Swedes to Morrison county took place.
Since that year, however, systemized efforts directed from Little Falls were made, and hundreds of settlers of that nationality were brought in to take up vacant lands. The erroneous impression frequently prevails that a good many of these people came direct from the old country. As a mat- ter of fact, not one in a hundred of the Swedes that leave the old country has on his arrival here money enough to buy a piece of land. He must first earn money for this purpose and the Swedes who settled in Morrison county came from the cities, the mines or the railroad or lumber camps- from anywhere where wages were good.
Brought up on farms where dairying and diversified farming have been carried on for generations, these new settlers were experienced farmers and, besides that, they were now broadened and educated by travel. They very quickly adapted themselves to the new conditions and surroundings and they were able and willing to work and work hard.
This was, to be sure, also required as the lands that were taken up by them were, while undoubtedly the best and most productive in the county, also the most difficult to bring under cultivation. The growth of these Swedish settlements for the first few years was accordingly slow. Perse- verance and ability won, however, and that these settlers were amply rewarded for their labors can be seen by anyone visiting their settlements today.
Take the neighborhood a few miles northwest of Little Falls, for instance. Twenty-five years ago it was about as uninviting a country as could possibly be imagined. The road followed the "hogsback," a jackpine- covered ridge, and the travelers' first impression would be that, between swamp and sand, there was little choice. Travel that same road today and you will see fertile fields, well-kept farm houses, roomy barns, large silos and herds of blooded cattle grazing on the hill sides.
This is the Darling Swedish settlement, where some two hundred Swedes-or Swedish-Americans, to be correct, as nearly all the people of the Swedish nationality in Morrison county are naturalized Americans- now enjoy genuine and well-earned prosperity, supporting two churches, the Swedish Lutheran, built in 1897 and the Swedish Mission church, built in 1913.
About ten miles southwest of this settlement, north of Flensburg and Swanville, on the Little Falls & Dakota railroad, a number of Swedes have also settled, but while they have their own church, the Scandinavian Evan-
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gelical, built in 1896, this Swedish settlement is not as coliesive as those of Upsala, Darling and Freedhem.
This latter Swedish settlement, one of the agricultural gems of Morri- son county, commences about six miles northeast of Little Falls and'takes in parts of Belle Prairie, Ripley and Buh townships. Here we find a large farmers' co-operative creamery, a store, two Swedish churches-the Swed- ish Lutheran, built in 1901, and the Swedish Free church, built in 1902 -- and a large number of thrifty, prosperous and up-to-date farmers.
Besides, in these distinctly Swedish settlements a large number of Swedes, estimated at about one thousand five hundred, live in Little Falls, where they are well represented in business, in politics, in the professions, or on farms and five- and ten-acre tracts in the immediate vicinity of this city. With hardly any exception, they own their own homes and while, as a matter of course, supporting their own churches-the Swedish Luth- eran, Swedish Methodist and the Swedish Congregational-and affiliated societies, the people of the Swedish nationality, here as wherever they settle, are not in the least clannish or narrow-minded, but, on the contrary, as enlightened and law-abiding, as successful and worthy, as public-spirited and progressive as the people of any other nationality, barring none.
NORWEGIAN SETTLERS.
Although the Norwegians are very numerous in the state of Minne- sota, they are very few and far between in Morrison county. There are approximately one hundred families in the county, of which sixty reside in Little Falls, the balance being scattered in the country districts. They are so few and scattered that no effort has been made to organize and maintain churches anywhere in the county except in the city of Little Falls, where one small congregation is maintained.
The first Norwegians came here in 1883 and from that time on kept coming in single file and settled singly here and there. No effort was made to get together for the purpose of organizing schools and churches until in 1891, when a congregation was organized in Little Falls, which has since been maintained. But less than half of the Norwegians who live in Little Falls belong to this church. The other half either do not belong to any or have joined the reformed churches. The congregation in Little Falls has been served since its organization by five pastors from the general Norwe- gian Lutheran synod in the order named: Rorvick, Grove, Thallehaug, Hallanger and Mortenson.
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Although numerically few, the Norwegians are quite an important element of the population of the county. They are here, as elsewhere, in the state, industrious and prosperous, and take an effective and intelligent interest in public affairs. There are no paupers or illiterates among them, and they give the peace officers no trouble. In the country districts they own some of the largest and best cultivated farms, while in the city of Little Falls they include several of the business men, two of the professional men, the superintendent of the big saw-mill and some of its foremen.
THE GERMAN POPULATION.
All through the county the German people are found in goodly num- bers and, as their biographies appear in the second volume of this work, and mention having also been made of their settlement in the various town- ship and village histories, it is unnecessary to go into detail about their first and subsequent settlement in Morrison county. It will suffice to remark that some of the best citizens and captains of industry found in the county today are of the German nationality. They are always frugal, honest and loyal to the flag of this country and are sure to become allied with our peo- ple by becoming naturalized at the first opportunity offered.
THE FRENCH IN MORRISON COUNTY.
By Arthur Lamonthe.
The French of the province of Quebec were to Morrison county what they had been to the whole state of Minnesota among its pioneers. What could have enticed them from the beautiful valley of the St. Lawrence to wander to the then little known valley of the Mississippi no one familiar with the adventurous dispositions of the race will be at a loss to know. Was it not their forefathers who were the first explorers of the American Northwest? The names of some are linked with famous discoveries, like that of the Father of Waters, Lake Superior, the Rocky Mountains and other important points in the vast country. But how many obscure explorers started from Canada, some with the noble ambition to bring to the pagan natives the light of the Gospel, others spurred by the patriotic motive of adding new possession to France, and finally, the majority seeking fortune in the profitable fur trade. After the English conquest of 1759 many of those adventurous "couriers des Bois" returned to France, but the odd
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sixty thousand "habitants" who submitted to the conqueror furnished a good number of recruits to the fur companies and the lumber kings. They were for the most part young men from the farm whose imagination was fired by the stories of returning adventurers; the far away, the unknown, fas- cinated them also, and they started west, dreaming of fortune and adventure. Their inborn love of the soil induced them finally to settle on a farm and found a home.
That part of the state of Minnesota which is now Morrison county, offered advantages to the early settlers. Crossed by the Mississippi, a much traveled road connecting the northern regions to St. Paul, passed through it following the river. The soil along the river was not the best, but it was easy to break and its settlers were saved from the isolation so much dreaded by a sociable race.
As it is difficult to give accurate dates as to the coming and settling of the French pioneers of Morrison county, I will divide them in decades, starting with 1850.
FRENCH SETTLERS OF THE FIFTIES.
After the short span of sixty odd years, it is almost impossible to find out who was really the first French settler. That honor is claimed for Peter Chouinard, a blacksmith, whose shop stood on the old fair grounds, . north of Little Falls. I have not been able to ascertain where he came from and the date of his death. He was the father of Mrs. Peter Roy and Mrs. Narcisse Gravel.
Martin Bisson is looked upon as the pioneer of the French race in Morrison county. He was a man universally respected for his honesty and much sought after for his generous hospitality. I am told that his modest home was crowded by travelers or prospective settlers whom he had induced to settle in his neighborhood. Mr. Bisson was born in Maskinonge, Quebec, about 1790. As a young man he had been engaged in the fur trade in the Northwest, had married a sister of the Beaulieu, a people closely associated with the early history of Minnesota, had returned to his native home, where he purchased a fine farm. But the fascination of the West was too great to permit him to enjoy the peaceful life of a farmer in a quiet rural commun- ity. He sold out and came to Belle Prairie, bringing with him two of his neighbors, John Branchaud and Theodore Bellefeuille, who eventually became his sons-in-law. He must have lived about thirty years in Belle
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Prairie, to which he was really a benefactor, giving forty acres of his farm for the church. In his old days he followed his children to White Earth, where he died.
The other early settlers of Belle Prairie and Little Falls came in this order :
Peter Picotte, born at Louisville, Quebec, in 1832, came in the fifties to Belle Prairie, after trying to reach California by the way of the ox road over the plains. He turned his steps to Minnesota to join his former neigh- bor, Martin Bisson, and made his home in Belle Prairie. He married a daughter of Charles Chartier, another pioneer of Belle Prairie, who was born in the Canadian Northwest.
William Butler, a prominent figure among the French pioneers of Mor- rison county, was born at Chateauguay, Quebec, about 1829. In his early youth he had lived in Glens Falls, New York, where he learned the tanner's trade. He came to Morrison county in the year 1855, worked for a time as clerk for the Little Falls Manufacturing Company and started a store in company with F. X. Gravel, whose share he bought out later. He married Mary Holmes, a lady much esteemed for her many good qualities. Mr. Butler died in 1887, leaving quite an estate. Mrs. Butler survived him twenty-eight years.
Moses Laford was a native of Maskinonge county and a settler in the fifties. He was for a time a butcher, a lumber man, a merchant and a hotel keeper. He was elected as a representative of Morrison county to the state Legislature. He died at Little Falls in 1905, at the age of sixty-nine.
Another French settler, who was a member of the state Legislature, was Peter Roy, familiarly called Periche Roy. To him is attributed the fact that St. Paul remained the capital of the state when a bill was drafted to transfer it to St. Peter. Roy disappeared with the bill till the end of the session. The ruse saved the day for St. Paul. If the world was not so forgetful of its benefactors, Periche Roy would have his statue in the marble capitol of Minnesota instead of a marble slab in Calvary cemetery of Little Falls, where the forgotten legislator sleeps his last sleep since 1882.
Joseph Doucetce, also a settler of the fifties, was a native of Gentilly. Quebec.
Other French settlers of the same decade were: Michel Heroux, Sr. He returned to Canada. His son. Michel, married a daughter of Michel Ledoux, who moved to Minnesota from Illinois. The Houde family came also from the same state. Wilfrid and Ludger Dugas came with Oliver
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Brousseau, who afterwards settled on the farm of Charles Lamontagne, who was drowned at Sauk Rapids with a certain Chanette. Felix Bastien and his brother, Simon. Narcisse Gravel, a native of Yamachiche, Quebec. He was later followed by his parents, his brothers, Charles, Honore and James. Louis Hamlin, his stepfather, Joseph Fournier, David Morin, Cyriaque Dufort, Czias Roy, Alec Riendeau, William and Alfred Racicot, Elie Paquin, Eusebe Monchamp, a nephew of Martin Bisson, Calixte Vallee, Frank Thiebault, Joseph Dugal, Antoine, Leo and Joseph Boisjoli.
FRENCH SETTLERS OF THE SIXTIES.
Paschal Doucette, Hector Doucette, F. X. Goulet, Odilon Duclos, Nazaire Morin, George Morrison, Doctor Braun, a former army surgeon, David Lachance, Arius Rocheleau, Henry Racicot.
FRENCH SETTLERS OF THE SEVENTIES.
Elzear Doucette, Felix Rocheleau, Desire Branchaud; the three broth- ers, David Sinai and Gedan Doucette; Guenard Bisson, a nephew of Martin Bisson; Edmund Richard, Sr., Francis Richard, Sr., L. E. Richard, J. B. Richard, Joseph Gendron.
FRENCH SETTLERS OF THE EIGHTIES.
Gedeon Laford, Delphis Laford, Isadore Laford, Napoleon Laford, Alfred Germain, Joseph Foisy, William Foisy, and Dr. G. M. A. Fortir.
EARLY FRENCH PRIESTS.
The spiritual needs of the early French settlers were attended by Father Pierz, who was working among the Indians. Father Buh joined him later and made himself all to all. In the late seventies they secured a priest of their own language in Father Chandonnet. Father Carufel worked a number of years in Belle Prairie and Little Falls, where he was succeeded by Father Fortier, who was the first residing pastor of the Catholics of Little Falls.
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FRENCH SETTLERS OF TODD COUNTY.
Some French people were induced to settle in the neighborhood of Long Prairie by the quality of the soil. Among them Delphis Paquin, who first lived in Belle Prairie with his father, Elie Paquin. His nephew, Louis St. Antoine, who had served four years in the Civil War, took a homestead near him. Maxime Pepin settled near Swanville. The two brothers, J. B. Blais and Nazaire Blais, established themselves there also.
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