USA > Minnesota > Wabasha County > History of Wabasha County, Minnesota > Part 7
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"Both Mr. Newcomb and Mr. Miller, however, state that there are some vestiges of an old fort on the east side of Lake Pepin, about six miles above its outlet, and a little above the mouth of Bogus Creek, which were quite distinct at the first settlement of the country; but that the plow and cultivation have nearly obliterated them.
"This old fort locality presents apparently the strongest probability of having been the site of Fort St. Antoine. We have no historical evidence of any other early estab- lishment having been erected on the southeastern shore of Lake Pepin.
"It may be added in this connection, that Dr. Neill in his earlier publications,
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notably his 'Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota,' supposed that La Potherie's descrip- tion of Perrot's wintering establishment at the 'butte' or bluff of Trempealeau, with the post at the foot of the bluff, where timber was plenty, and the large prairie in the rear, referred to the locality of Fort St. Antoine on the eastern shore of Lake Pepin; but when he came across Franquelin's map, and examined the Trempealeau region, he discovered his error, so that description has no application whatever to Fort St. Antoine and its situation."
Lafayette H. Bunnell, History of Winona and Its Environs (Winona, 1897), 50-80, also discusses the subject at considerable length, and included his famous controversy on the subject with Lawrence Kessinger. Dr. Bunnell in 1844 discovered the ruins of an ancient fireplace in section 21, township 22, range 13, Nelson Township, Buffalo County, and stones from this fireplace were afterward used in building the mess house of Camp No. 2 for the Beef Slough Logging Company. Dr. Bunnell believed that this was the remains of Fort St. Antoine, his opinion being that Franquelin's R. des Sauteurs (Chippewa River) emptied into the Mississippi through the present channel of Beef Slough, and that the location where the Beef Slough Chimney was found would there- fore be above what was then Chippewa River as indicated on Franquelin's map.
Louise Phelps Kellogg, Wis. Hist. Soc. Proceeding's, 1915, 117-123, is one of the latest to discuss the subject of the upper Mississippi forts. Her footnote as to Fort St. Antoine and Fort Perrot being the same post should be read in connection with the statements of all previous writers on the subject, as many earlier writers fell into the error of supposing that these were two different places.
Further historical research may reveal interesting information regarding a pos- sible early French fort at Tepeeota. The De L'Isle map of 1700 shows on the Minnesota shore, a little below Lake Pepin, on the Grand Encampmnt, opposite the mouth of the R. des Boeufs Fort de Bonsecours (Good Help). As Perrot was the only one of whom we know who had a post in this immediate vicinity prior to the date of this map, "Fort de Bonsecours" gives rise to interesting speculation. A work of some authority, N. H. Winchell, ed. Aborigines of Minnesota (St. Paul, 1911), 526, has said, under the incorrect date of 1683: "Nicholas Perrot established a post on. the west side of the Mississippi river near the site of the city of Wabasha, but on the alluvial land at a lower level. It was about three and a half miles nearly east of the railroad station of Wabasha, and nearly opposite the mouth of the Buffalo river, at the north end of a large island. This was marked on some old maps as Fort Perrot, and later was occupied by a French trader named Roques, when it was known by the Sioux as Tepeeota, in English as Grand Encampment. The ruins of this post may have constituted what Carver saw, in 1766, and described as 'ancient fortifications,' but by what authority the statements are made does not appear, and it is not known whether the author thereof was familiar with some of the more exhaustive inquiry that has been made in regard to the geography of Perrot's activities."
11-For a reproduction of Franquelin's great map of 1688 see: Kellogg, Early Narratives of the Northwest, 342; also read J. Franklin Jameson's note (p. xiv) in the same volume. Also see account of Franquelin's maps in: Parkman, LaSalle and the Dis- covery of the Northwest (Boston, 1891), 455-458. A partial reproduction of the map may be found: Neill, History of Minnesota (Minneapolis, 4th edition, 1882), frontis- piece.
13-Pierre Margry, Decouvertes et Etablissement des Francais dans L'Amerique (Paris, 1882), V. 413.
14-Jonathan Carver, Travels in North America (London, 1778), 54-56.
15-Coues. ed., Expeditions of Zebulon M. Pike (New York, 1895), 54-63.
16-Stephen H. Long, Voyage in a Six Oar Skiff to the Falls of St. Anthony in 1817, Minn. Hist. Colls., II, Part 1, 17-23, 46-47, original edition.
17-Major Thomas Forsyth, Journal of a Voyage to the Falls of St. Anthony in 1819, Wis. Hist. Colls., VII, 202.
18-H. R. Schoolcraft, Narrative Journal of Travels (Albany, 1821), 334-335. Also: Same author and title (Philadelphia, 1855), 165.
19-W. H. Keating, Narrative of Long's Expedition (Philadelphia, 1824), 271-272.
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20-J. C. Beltrami, A Pilgrimage in Europe and America Leading to the Discovery of the Sources of the Mississippi and Bloody River (London, 1828), 178-179.
21-G. W. Featherstonhaugh, Geological Reconnaissance, (Washington, 1836), 130.
22-Letter Written from Corsicana, Texas, July 7, 1890, by Albert Miller Lea to H. W. Lathrop, librarian of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and published (October, 1890) under the title of Early Exploration in Iowa, Iowa Historical Record, vi, No. 4, p. 548.
CHAPTER V.
GOVERNMENTAL JURISDICTION.
Jurisdiction over Wabasha county has been claimed by four nations, Spain, France, England and the United States; by the French and English colonial authorities; by Louisiana District; by the executive power of the territory of Indiana; by the territories of Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, and by the State of Minnesota.
Wabasha County was one of the original counties of the territory, and with the possible exception of small portions from 1853 to 1854, the land in the present county has remained included in a county of the same name.
Spain, by virtue of the discoveries of Columbus and others, confirmed to her by the Papal grant of Alexander VI, May 4, 1493, may be said to have been the first European owner of the entire valley of the Mississippi River, but she never used this claim as a ground for taking actual possession of this part of her domains other than was incidentally involved in De Sota's doings. The name of Florida was first applied to the greater part of the eastern half of North America, commencing at the Gulf of Mexico, and pro- ceeding northward indefinitely.
England, basing her claims on the exploration made by her along the Atlantic coast, issued to various individuals and "companies" charters to vast tracts of land extending from the Atlantic westward.
Practically, however, the upper Mississippi Valley may be considered as having been, in the first place, Canadian soil, for it was Frenchmen from Canada who first visited it and traded with its natives. The names of Canada and New France were used interchangeably to apply to the vast French possessions of the American continent. The name, Louisiana, was invented by La Salle and applied by him to the entire Mississippi Valley. But, generally speaking, the Canada, or New France, of . the eighteenth century took in the upper Mississippi Valley, while the name Louisiana was used for the lower valley.
At the close of the great European conflict which found its echo in the so-called French and Indian War in America, the Mississippi became an international boundary. The preliminary treaty of peace signed by repre- sentatives of England, Spain and France, at Fontainbleau, Nov. 3, 1762, confirmed by the definite treaty signed at Paris, Feb. 10, 1763, made the Mississippi from its source to about the 31st degree of north latitude the boundary between the English colonists on this continent and French Louisiana. But on the first mentioned date, representatives of Spain and France had signed a secret treaty by which French Louisiana, including New Orleans, was ceded to Spain.
At the close of the Revolutionary War, the territory east of the Missis- sippi, and north of the 31st parallel, passed under the jurisdiction of the United States. By the definite treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain, ratified at Paris, Sept. 3, 1783, a part of the northern boundary of the United States, and the western boundary thereof, was established as follows: "Commencing at the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods, and from thence on a due course west to the Missis- sippi River (the Mississippi at that time was thought to extend into what is now Canada), thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of the Mississippi River until it shall intersect the northernmost part of the 31st degree of north latitude." (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 8, page 82).
By the secret treaty of Saint Ildefonso, signed Oct. 1, 1800, Spain receded the indefinite tract west of the Mississippi to France, which nation did not,
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however, take formal possession until three years later, when a formal trans- fer was made from Spain to France, in order that France might formally transfer the tract to the United States under the Treaty of April 30, 1803.
By an Act of Congress, approved Oct. 31, 1803, the President of the United States was authorized to take possession of this territory, the fact providing that "all military, civil and judicial powers exercised by the officers of the existing government shall be vested in such person and persons, and shall be exercised in such manner as the President of the United States shall direct." (United States Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, page 245.)
December 20, 1803, Louisiana was formally turned over to the United States by M. Laussat, the civil agent of France, who a few years previous, November 30, had received a formal transfer from representatives of Spain. The region comprehended in the "Louisiana 'Purchase" as the land thus transferred to the United States was called, included all the country west of the Mississippi, except those portions west of the Rocky Mountains actually occupied by Spain, and extended as far north as the British territory. The Louisiana Purchase, therefore, embraced Wabasha county.
By an Act of Congress, approved March 26, 1804, all that portion of the country ceded by France to the United States under the name of Louisiana, lying south of the 33rd degree of north latitude, was organized as the territory of New Orleans, and all the residue thereof was organized as the District of Louisiana. The District of Louisiana was therefore the first territorial: affilia- tion of Wabasha county. The act creating the District provided that the executive power then vested in the government of Indiana should extend to the new District. Wabasha county, therefore, had it at that time been trans- ferred from the Indians to the whites, would have fallen under the executive power of In'diana Territory as a part of Louisiana District.
Indiana had been created a territory from the Northwest Territory, May 7, 1800; and was admitted as a State Dec. 11, 1816. 'In the meantime, however, March 3, 1805, Louisiana had been organized as a Territory, with full territorial' powers.' The" name, Louisiana, however, on April 30, 1812, was taken by the Territory hitherto known as Orleans, and Louisiana, with its present boundaries, became on that date a State in the Union.w
For two years thereafter there were in existence both a State and a Territory of Louisiana. But by an Act of Congress; approved June 4, 1814, that part of the Louisiana Purchase north of the State of Louisiana was given the name of Missouri with full territorial powers. The struggles in Congress which led to the Missouri Compromise; the agreement that all the area west of the Missouri and north of the parallel 36°36' should forever be free from slavery, and the final admission of Missouri as a State with her present boundaries Aug. 10, 1821, are a vital part of the history of our Nation. This admission of Missouri as a State left the land to the northward, including Wabasha county, without a fountainhead of territorial government from that date until June 28, 1834, when it was attached to the Territory of Michigan, which had been created Jan. 11, 1805. The present Wabasha county was therefore placed under the jurisdiction of Michigan Territory. Michigan was admitted as a State, Jan. 26, 1837, the act having been passed by Congress April 20, 1836.
When Wisconsin Territory was organized by an Act of Congress, April 20, 1836, all of the Louisiana Purchase north of the State of Missouri was placed under its jurisdiction. This included what is now Wabasha county. Wisconsin became a State May 29, 1848.
The Act creating the Territory of Iowa, June 12, 1838, divided the Terri- . tory of Wisconsin along the Mississippi River, and gave the name of Iowa to the western part. Iowa remained a Territory from 1838 to 1846. The greater part of southern and southeastern Minnesota was within the juris- diction 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 at the mouth of the Minnesota River, and his jurisdiction extended over a
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region of country which, as he expressed it, was "as large as the empire of France."
Iowa was admitted as a state December 28, 1846, and this again left the present state of Minnesota without territorial affiliation.
Minnesota was created as a territory March 3, 1849, and admitted as a state May 11, 1858.
It will therefore be seen that the territorial claim of title to Wabasha 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 Mexico, 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 Wabasha county was made by La Salle at the mouth of the Mississippi, March 8, 1682, in the name of the King of France, and the second (still more definite) by Perrot, near the foot of Lake Pepin, May 8, 1689. This was also a French claim. France remained in tacit authority until February 10, 1763, when, upon England's acknowledg- ing the French authority to lands west of the Mississippi, France, by a previous secret agreement, turned her authority over to Spain. Oct. 1, 1800, Spain ceded the tract to France, but France did not take formal possession until Nov. 30, 1803, and almost immediately, Dec. 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 Wabasha county was included in Louisiana District, under the executive power of the officials of Indiana Territory, and so remained until March 3, 1805. From March 3, 1805, until June 4, 1814, it was a part of Louisiana Territory. From June 4, 1814, to August 10, 1821, 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 jurisdiction. 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 Dec. 28, 1846, to March 3, 1849, it was again without territorial 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 VI.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
Wabasha County, then known as Wabashaw County, was one of the original nine counties created by the First Territorial Legislature.
Governor Alexander Ramsey, the first territorial governor, arrived in St. Paul, May 27, 1849, and on June 1, 1849, issued his first proclamation. June 11, 1849, he issued a second proclamation dividing the Territory into three judicial districts. July 7, 1849, the Governor issued a proclamation dividing the Territory into seven council districts and ordering an election. The first session of the legislative assembly of the Territory of Minnesota was held at St. Paul, commencing Sept. 3, 1849.
By an Act approved Oct. 27, 1849, the Territory was divided into the counties of Washington, Ramsey, Benton, Itasca, Wabashaw, Dakotah, Wah- nata, Mahkahto and Pembina. Only the counties of Washington, Ramsey and Benton were organized for all county purposes. The others were organized only for the appointment of justices of the peace, constables, and such other judicial and administrative officers as might be especially provided for. They were entitled to any number of justices of the peace and constables, not ex- ceeding six, to be appointed by the Governor, and their term of office was made two years, unless sooner removed by the Governor. These officers were made conservators of the peace.
Wabashaw county as "erected" by the Act of Oct. 27, 1849, composed practically all of the southern part of the present State of Minnesota. It's northern boundary was the parallel running through the mouth of the St. Croix and the mouth of the Yellow Medicine rivers; the southern boundary was the Iowa line; its eastern, the Mississippi; and its western, the Missouri; and it also included the big peninsula between the Missouri and the Big Sioux rivers, and all of what is at present southeastern South Dakota. Wa- bashaw County was thus the parent county of all the counties in southern Minnesota and several in South Dakota.
In 1851, by the Revised Statutes, Chapter I, the Territory was divided into Benton, Dakota, Itasca, Cass, Pembina, Ramsey, Washington, Chisago and Wabashaw counties, and their boundaries defined. Wabashaw county consisted of all the State lying between the Mississippi River and a line drawn due south from Medicine Bottle's village at Pine Bend. The line south from Pine Bend would touch what is now the western boundary of Goodhue, Dodge and Mower counties. Wabashaw county therefore took in a portion of what is now Dakota county, as well as all the present counties of Goodhue, Dodge, Mower, Wabasha, Olmsted, Fillmore, Winona and Houston. Wabashaw County was attached to Washington County for judicial purposes.
A complete county organization was authorized by an act of the Legisla- ture approved March 5, 1853. The counties which were created or had their boundaries altered in the same act were Dakota, Goodhue, Wabasha, Fillmore, Scott, Le Sueur, Rice, Blue Earth, Sibley, Nicollet and Pierce.
The boundary lines of Wabasha County were somewhat vague. The boundaries of several counties in southeastern Minnesota depended on the location of the southeast corner of Dakota County, a point which is much in dispute. The northeastern boundary of Wabasha County started at a point on Lake Pepin seven miles below Sand Point, down Lake Pepin and the Mississippi River to the mouth of the river variously called the Clear Water and the Minneiska and now called the Whitewater. The southeastern boundary was the whole length of the Whitewater from source to mouth. The north- western boundary was a line extending southwest from a point seven miles
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below Sand Point. The southern and southwestern boundary was an indefi- nite line extending west and northwest from the source of the Whitewater in Olmsted County. Wabasha County therefore took in practically all the present county.
In this act of March 5, 1853, appear the following provisions :
"That the counties of Dakota, Wabasha, Fillmore, Scott, Le Sueur, Blue Earth and Nicollet be and the same are hereby declared to be organized counties, and invested with all and singular the rights and privileges and immunities to which all organized counties are in this territory entitled to by law; and it is hereby declared to be the duty of the governor at so soon a time as practicable, to appoint all county officers, justices of the peace and constables, as said counties may be entitled to by law, who shall hold their offices until their successors shall be duly elected at the next general election. That such officers so appointed in the organized and unorganized counties shall give bonds for the faithful performance of their duties in such sums as is now required by law.
"It shall be the duty of the first board of county commissioners which shall be hereafter elected in any. county laid off in pursuance of the provisions of this act, as soon as the said board shall have been elected and qualified as provided by law, and the said board or a majority thereof shall determine, to locate the county seat of the county, and the location so made as aforesaid, shall be the county seat of the county to all intents and purposes until other- wise provided by law."
February 23, 1854, the boundaries of Wabasha County were defined as follows: "Beginning at the southeast corner of Township No. 107, North of Range No. 11 West; thence thirty miles to the southwest corner of Township No. 107, North of Range No. 15 West; thence north twelve miles; thence east six miles; thence north twelve miles; thence east six miles; (thence north twelve miles; thence east six miles:) thence north six miles; thence east (six miles; thence north) to Lake Pepin; thence down said Lake and the Mississippi River to the northeast corner of Winona County; thence south to the place of beginning."
The parenthesis in this act as here printed are supplied by the editor of this work. It is only by omitting from the act the words here enclosed in parenthesis that sense can be made of it. A literal reading of the act would carry the west line far into Wisconsin. The intent of the act was evidently to give Wabasha County its present boundaries, with the present eight northern townships in Olmsted County added.
By an act approved the same day, it was provided:
"1-That it shall be the duty of the Register of Deeds of Ramsey County, to forward to the Clerk of the District Court of Wabashaw County, an abstract of the votes polled for County Officers in said County, at the last election, and filed in the office of said Register of Deeds, and said Clerk of the District Court of Wabashaw County, shall, immediately after the receipt of said abstract, issue to each person having received the highest number of votes for any office, a certificate of his election.
"2-The persons receiving certificates in conformity to this act for County Commissioners of said County, shall meet on the first Monday in March, and proceed to organize as provided by law, in the same manner as if the said meeting had been had on the first Monday of January.
"3-At said meeting of County Commissioners, the persons receiving cer- tificates for County Officers, may qualify and assume the duties of their offices, in the same manner and to the same extent, as if they had received certificates of election and qualified at the time and manner provided by law.
By an act approved Feb. 20, 1855, many counties were created or defined. Wabasha County was to consist of all the former county of that name, not included by this act in other counties. This left Wabasha County with its present boundaries. At that time, however, the meander corner on Lake Pepin between Townships 111 and 112 had not been surveyed, although its location was generally understood.
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By an act approved February 20, 1856, the county seat was located on Block 31, in the town of Wabashaw as surveyed in July, 1854, and duly recorded in the Book of Town Plats of Wabasha County.
The first county election was held Oct. 11, 1853, at the home of Augustin Rocque, in what is now the city of Wabasha. The ballotting resulted in the election of Christian Shively, Oliver Cratte and Peter Larrivierre, county commissioners; Alexis P. Bailly, register of deeds; C. Shively, treasurer and coroner, and Levi Murphy, sheriff.
These officers did not qualify in January, 1854, as provided by law, and the legislature passed the act already mentioned, allowing them to qualify in March, and providing for a meeting of the County Commissioners on the first Monday in March.
In accordance with this act, the first board of commissioners met March 6, 1854, with M. Shively as chairman. Alexis P. Bailly acted as clerk. A temporary seal was adopted, consisting of a circular piece of paper containing a red wafer, upon which was inscribed "Temporary Seal of the County Court of Wabashaw County." The board met again the eleventh and divided the county into three assessment districts. All that portion north of a line running from an old ferry-house, which stood a little above Read's Landing, to the western extremity of the county was made the first district, with William Campbell as assessor. The second district comprised the territory north of a line extending west from the house of Oliver Cratte on the Wabasha village levee, to the county line, not included in the first district. M. Whit- marsh was appointed assessor. The third district comprised the remainder of the county. J. Mckenzie was appointed assessor. At this meeting it was discovered that Mr. Murphy was not eligible to county office, by reason of non-residence. Dr. Francis H. Milligin was therefore appointed sheriff to fill the vacancy. Wabasha was designated as the county seat.
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