USA > Minnesota > Wabasha County > History of Wabasha County : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc. : gathered from matter furnished by interviews with old settlers, county, township, and other records, and extracts from files of papers, pamphlets, and such other sources > Part 13
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Mr. Brown and Mr. Bunnell, as the last of the Indian traders, appear to constitute a connecting link between the past and present condition of this part of the country. Both settled here while the land was held by the Sioux. Both were residents of Winona county after its organization.
Following in the order of pioneer life, the missionaries have been among the first to venture into countries inhabited by the savages, and the first to attempt to improve their condition. Their zealous efforts entitle them to be called the pioneers of civilization. Fore- most among these have been the missionaries connected with the Catholic church.
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
In the earliest explorations of this part of the country, the traders were accompanied by the priests. The early French traders and voyageurs were of that religious belief, and their descendants, for all of them intermarried with the Indians, were taught the same faith. These missionaries were the first to visit the Dakotas-the first to visit the west side of the Mississippi river.
From the days of the Rev. Louis Hennepin to more modern times they held a strong influence over the traders and voyageurs, and their descendants, and perhaps, to a limited extent, sueeceded in influencing the savage natives by their teachings.
The first Catholic missionaries of more modern times, of whom there is even traditionary knowledge in this section of country, were at the half-breed village where now stands the city of Wabasha, There the first church in southern Minnesota was built in 1845. With the exception of the very Rev. A. Ravoux, the names of these missionaries are unknown.
The first attempt to establish a Protestant missionary station in this vicinity, of which there is any record, was in 1836. Rev. Daniel Gavan, a Frenchman, sent out as a missionary by the Evan- gelieal Society of Lausanne, Switzerland, established a mission for the benefit of the Sioux of Wabasha's band. At that time the Sioux held possession of the east side of the river. Mr. Gavan located on the Wisconsin side, and built his cabin near Trempealeau mountain. He. remained here until the fall of 1838, when he visited the missions on the Minnesota river, at Lae qui Parle, for the purpose of learning the Sioux language from the missionaries, who were then translating the Scriptures into that tongue. While thus engaged he became acquainted with and afterward married Miss Luey C. Stevens, who had been a teacher in a mis- sion school at Lake Harriet, near Fort Snelling. Miss Stevens was a niece of Rev. J. D. Stevens, a missionary. Mr. Gavan, after his marriage, removed to Red Wing, where he remained until 1845.
In 1838 the Rev. Jedediah D. Stevens came into this vicinity in the double capacity of missionary or teacher, and "Indian Farmer." Mr. Stevens was one of the earliest Protestant missionaries to visit the Dakotas on this side of the river. In the spring of 1835 he with his family came to Ft. Snelling, and shortly afterward removed from there to Lake Harriet, as missionary to "Cloud Man's" band of Sioux, where he remained until the fall of 1838, when he was
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appointed . Indian Farmer" to the Sioux of Wabasha's band, at Wabasha prairie. Maj. Talliaferro, the Indian agent for the Sioux, aided some of the early missionaries by such appointments, with the design to benefit the savages by thus providing them with means of civilization.
Late in the fall of 1838 Mr. Stevens moved his family to his appointed field of labor, but was not favorably received by the Indians. He, however, located himself on the Wisconsin side of the river on the island, about opposite where Laird, Norton & Co's saw-mills now stand, where he built a comfortable log cabin for his family, and a stable for the team of horses he brought with him. He there passed the winter with his wife and children and a young girl, an assistant and companion of Mrs. Stevens. Mr. G. W. Clark says the ruins of this cabin were to be seen when he came here in 1851. Expecting to get his winter supply of provisions from down the river before the close of navigation, he brought only a small supply with him, and was seriously disappointed to learn that no supplies could be procured from that source. He was compelled to go to Prairie Du Chine for the provisions he had ordered. This trip, over one hundred miles distant, he made with his team on the ice, leaving his family alone. It was during this winter that Mr. Gavin, who had been living near Trempaeleau, was visiting the missions on the Minnesota river.
Neither Mr. Stevens nor his family were in any way molested or disturbed by the Sioux during the winter, but he failed to secure the confidence or friendship of Wabasha or his people, although he was able to converse with them in their own tongue. They were dissatisfied with his appointment as "Indian Farmer," and from the time of his arrival had refused to recognize him as a govern- ment agent, or in his capacity as a teacher. In the spring, when he began to make preparations to build on the prairie, their dissatis- faction began to assume a threatening form of opposition. His perseverance excited their hostilities to the extent that he was ordered to keep on the east side of the river, where he was then living, and not attempt to locate on their lands. Deeming it unsafe to remain with his family, against the opposition exhibited, Mr. Stevens resigned his position and left the locality. He went down the river and found more civilized society.
The young girl (now Mrs. Griggs) who lived with Mrs. Stevens on the island during that winter, resides near Minneapolis.
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
This appointment of Mr. Stevens to the position of Indian farmer at Wabasha Prairie was the first special appointment made for the Sioux in this locality. It was made in accordance with the terms of the treaty in 1837, by which they sold their lands on the east side of the Mississippi, with all of their island in the river. This treaty was not ratified by government until the following year, 1838, only a short time before Mr. Stevens was assigned to the locality.
Although the Sioux continued to occupy the islands and lands on the east side of the river in common with others, during their stay in this vicinity, they never assumed jurisdiction over them.
The Sioux were jealous of the rapid advances of the white people, and firmly opposed any measures which gave them privileges on their lands. The trader was to them a necessity. The Catholic missionaries had for generations been mysteriously associated with the presence of the trader and tolerated. But the missionary Indian farmer they were not prepared to receive -- they were indifferent as to what Mr. Stevens knew about farming or schools. It was sup- posed by some that the Indians were influenced in this matter by the traders and half-breeds, with a design to drive Mr. Stevens off and make a vacancy in the position. This may have been the case ; but it was evident that Wabasha did not favor measures that tended to civilization. Afterward, when the treaty was made for the sale of their lands, in 1851, he opposed the sale until the treaty was ready for signature, and then acquiesced only because he feared the treaty would be made without his touch of the pen. He was opposed to the terms of the treaty, and in a speech in opposi- tion to it, he said to the commissioners in council : "You have requested us to sign this paper, and you have told these people standing around that it is for their benefit; but I am of a different opinion. In the treaty I have heard read yon have mentioned farmers and schools, physicians, traders and half-breeds. To all these I am opposed. You see these chiefs sitting around. They and others who are dead went to Washington and made a treaty (in 1837), in which the same things were said ; but we have not been benefited by them, and I want them struck out of this one. We want nothing but cash turned over to us for our lands."
At about the time that Mr. Stevens was appointed Indian farmer, a government blacksmith was also assigned to this band. His name, the place where located, or the length of time he was here,
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THE FUR TRADERS.
is somewhat uncertain. It is said by some that he was located near La Bathe's trading station. Of this nothing reliable is learned. About the same time a blacksmith was assigned to the half-breeds. Oliver Cratt, from Fort Snelling, was appointed to that position, and he located himself at the half-breed settlement, now Wabasha. Whether he also supplied Wabasha's band is not known.
Dr. Bunnell, of this county, says that he learned from some old Indians, Sioux and Winnebagoes, and from descendants of half- breed natives of this vicinity, that the first blacksmith appointed to Wabasha's band was a half-breed Sioux. That he located himself on the very site where W. B. Bunnell afterward settled, and which is now the property of Dr. Bunnell. He says that in cultivating his garden, in that locality, he has found cinders and scraps of iron that would confirm the statement. The tradition of the Indians is that the half-breed blacksmith did not stay but a short time on the west side of the river. To avoid threatened danger to himself he moved his blacksmith-shop onto an island opposite Homer. In this way he held for awhile his position of an employé under govern- ment.
The doctor also states that after W. B. Bunnell was located at his trading station, he found on the island an old anvil and evidence that a blacksmith had occupied the locality. The island was given the name of "Blacksmith Island" by the trader, and it is yet known by that name.
The Sioux of the "lower bands" along the river were all opposed to the payment of teachers or for the establishment of schools, etc., from their annuities. No schools were ever established with Wa- basha's band. It was not until several years after the treaty of 1837 that the consent of any of this division was obtained. Little Crow, of the Kaposia band, was the first to ask for a school, in 1846. The mission schools were previous to this, and until after the treaty of 1851, supported at the expense of missionary societies.
In 1842 James Reed was appointed Indian farmer to Waba- sha's band, and held this position under government for three years afterward. He built a log storehouse on Wabasha prairie, which he used as his headquarters when engaged in his official duties. This building stood about where S. C. White's store now stands, on the corner of Second and Center streets, in the city of Winona.
The lands cultivated by the Sionx, under the management and instruction of Mr. Reed, were in the mouth of what is now called
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
Gilmore valley, the bottom lands in front of the residence of C. C. Beck. Prior to this the same locality had been used by generations of Sioux squaws for cultivation after their primitive manner. This was the favorite planting-grounds of Wabasha's village, although other localities were also used for purposes of cultivation. The mouth of Burns valley was another favorite locality and the special home of the chief Wabasha and his family relatives. The main village of this band was on the slough at the upper end of the prairie, near where the railroad machine-shops are now located.
James Reed was a native of Kentucky. When a young man he enlisted as a soldier and was stationed at Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chine. After his discharge he adopted the life of a hunter and trapper, and spent the greater part of his life among the Indians along the upper Mississippi. As was common among men of his class, he took a wife or two among the people with whom he was living. His last wife, to whom he was married in 1840, or about that time, in Prairie du Chine, was a half-breed Sioux, a cousin of the chief Wabasha, and said to be a sister of Francois la Bathe, the trader of whom mention has been made.
The section of country fixed upon by James Reed as his favorite locality was the Trempealeau country, where he was successful in raising stock on the free ranges of government lands. He made it his home at what is now the village of Trempealeau. It was here he was living when he was appointed Indian farmer for the benefit of the Sioux on Wabasha prairie. He did not change his residence while holding this official position.
Mr. Reed lived in the Trempealeau country until his death, which occurred but a few years ago at what is called the "Little Tamerack," in the Trempealeau valley.
How much the Indians were benefited by the instructions of an inexperienced agriculturist it is now difficult to determine. The first settlers on Wabasha prairie found some parts of broken plows among the ruins of the old storehouse used by Mr. Reed. An old breaking plow was found and taken possession of by some of the settlers at Minnesota city. This was claimed and carried away by some of the squaws in 1852.
It is questionable whether the people of this band were benefited by agents of government or missionaries while they remained in this section of country. There is no evidence to show a single
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instance where a missionary was ever permitted by Wabasha to locate within what are now the boundaries of this county.
The Catholic missionaries were the religious instructors of the half-breeds. To what extent they had influence with this band is now unknown. From several graves disclosed by the caving of the bank of the river, in the lower part of the city of Winona, a number of large silver crosses and other Catholic emblems were taken by some boys fishing in the vicinity. One of these crosses was pur- chased by W. H. St. John, a jeweler in Winona, who exhibits it in his store as a relic of the past. The graves were evidently those of females.
In the summer of 1848, the Winnebago Indians were removed from the reservation in the northeastern part of Iowa, which they had occupied for a limited time, to a reservation established for them by government on Long Prairie, on the east side of the Mis- sissippi, about forty miles back from the river, and about one hun- dred and forty miles above St. Paul.
They were opposed to the arrangements, and objected to their removal to the locality selected for their future home. Military aid was required to induce them to move. After considerable delay a part of them were persuaded to start up the Mississippi in their canoes, under charge of H. M. Rice, accompanied by a company of volunteers from Crawford county, Wis., in boats. The other portion was induced to start by land, with their ponies, under the care of Indian agent Fletcher, with a company of dragoons from Fort Atkinson, and a train of baggage wagons. By agreement these two parties were to meet at Wabasha Prairie.
The party by water reached the prairie and landed near where Mrs. Keyes now lives, where they camped. The land party came into this part of the country by following up what is now called Money Creek valley, and arrived at the prairie by following the Indian trail on the divide between the Burns and Gilmore valleys. This trail led down a steep ravine back of where George W. Clark now lives. It was here necessary to let the baggage wagons down with ropes attached to the trees on the east side of the ravine. This trail over the ridge was afterward known to the early settlers as the "Government Trail.""
When the Winnebagos reached Wabasha Prairie they revolted, and decidedly refused to go farther. With the exception of one small band, who remained on the bank of the river, they all went
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
round the lake to the mouth of Burns valley, where they eamped with Wabasha's band, which had collected there, and with whom they were on friendly terms.
Finding it necessary to have more aid, reinforcements were sent for. While the government officials were waiting for help from Fort Snelling, the Winnebagos negotiated with Wabasha for the pur- chase of the prairie, and expressed a determination to remain here. Wabasha and his braves joined in with them-took an active inter- est in their proceedings, and encouraged them in their revolt against the authority of Indian agent J. E. Fletcher and his assistants.
A steamboat brought down from the fort a company of soldiers and two pieces of artillery, which were landed at the camp on the lower part of the prairie.
A council with the Indians was agreed upon, the day appointed, and the place selected. The location was above the camp and back from the river. To guard against a surprise the officers in charge made their strongest preparation for defense, in case an attack should be made. The teamsters and every available man of the party was armed and detailed for active duty. On the day fixed all of the warriors of the combined tribes of Winnebagos and Sioux, many of them mounted on their ponies, marched around the head of the lake from Burns valley and moved down the prairie. When about half a mile from the council grounds, where the Indian agent awaited them surrounded by his forces, a detachment rode forward as if to reconnoiter.' The whole body of Indians then moved down as if at a charge, and began the wildest display of their capacity to represent demons, on foot and on horseback. Their manœenvers might indicate a peaceful display or represent a threatened assault. It was supposed at the time that an attack was designed by the wild devils.
One of the land escort, McKinney, pointed out the locations and described the incidents to the writer, and said that he certainly expected to lose his scalp that day. As he watched their wild evo- lutions, circling on every side, charging with fierce yells and firing of guns, his scalp seemed to fairly start from his head. His fear of attack was, however, second to his astonishment and admiration of the extraordinary and unexpected display.
The council was held without any attending difficulty, but the agents failed to secure the consent of the Indians to move on up the
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river. After a delay here of about a month the Winnebagoes con- sented to go to Long Prairie. Many of them, however, went back to Iowa, or crossed the river to their old homes in Wisconsin.
Wabasha was arrested and taken up to Fort Snelling for the part he had taken in the affair. The sale of Wabasha Prairie to the Winnebagos was never consumnated, or agreed to by the Sioux. The negotiations for it were simply "talks" to delay any move- ments. The Winnebagos were then desirous of going to the Mis- souri river country, instead of up the Mississippi.
CHAPTER XVII.
EARLY LAND TITLES.
FOLLOWING the trader, the missionary and the government em- ployé, the town-site hunters, the pioneer land speculators, crowded the advance of civilization. In this county the town-site speculators were in the van of settlers seeking permanent homes. In the selec- tion of town sites the traders had some advantage in securing the first choice of locations ; but their selections did not always prove to be the most successful speculations. The professional town-site operators were generally more than their equals in management after selections were made and the tide of immigration began its movement.
It may perhaps be truly said that the first town-site claimants- the first to secure locations for town sites in what is now Winona county-were the traders W. B. Bunnell and Nathan Brown. Bun- nell's selection for his trading station was made more directly with a view of convenience for the special business in which he was en- gaged, but with the design of making it his future home. The Territory of Minnesota had just been organized, and he was aware that the time was not far distant when the Sioux would be compelled to move back and give way to the advance of the white race and civilization.
His selection was made in anticipation that when this part of the country should become settled it would be an important business point. Bunnell was familiar with the back country and with the
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HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY.
river, and took possession of his chosen locality with the impression and an honest belief that he was securing the best steamboat landing and town site on the west side of the river, between Lake Pepin and the Iowa line, and there waited the progress of events.
Nathan Brown's trading-post was a town site. B. W. Brisbois, a trader residing at Prairie du Chine, and F. S. Richards, a trader at the foot of Lake Pepin, made choice of this locality with the same ideas of the future development of the country that had influenced Bunnell. They selected Mr. Brown as a proper person, one in whom they had confidence and considered trusty, to join with them in this speculation, and hold the location by establishing a trading station. The location was not the choice of Mr. Brown. At the time this proposition was made to him he was at St. Anthony, where he had about decided to locate himself. He consented to become a partner, but not with the design of making it his future home. By agreement they were to take his share off from his hands whenever he should choose to leave, and to pay him for holding the situation. This they failed to do when required, and Nathan Brown became a permanent resident of that locality. Brisbois and Richards furnished Brown with goods for the Indian trade, and he here carried on quite a flourishing business, principally with the Winnebagoes, who lived across the river in the Trempealean country. His trade with the Sioux was more limited. He also engaged in furnishing wood for steamboats, employing choppers during the winter for that purpose, paying them principally from his store.
Another town site was selected by Chute and Ewing about three fourths of a mile below Brown's, in which Capt. D. S. Harris had an interest for awhile. This was also a trading station. A Canadian Frenchman held the locality for about a year, when he leit, and Jerry Tibbits took his place. Mr. Tibbits is still a resident of that vicinity, living in the town of New Hartford. This town site was, after two or three years, attached to the one held by Mr. Brown and its name of Catlin dropped.
This trading station Nathan Brown held for the company from 1849 to 1855, when it was duly entered at the United States land office as a town site under the name of Dacota.
As a speculation it did not prove to be a successful undertaking or a profitable investment for its proprietors. A few settlers made it their home for awhile, but were compelled to leave and earn a living elsewhere. Mr. Brown says he could not afford to support
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the settlers who located there, and bought out all who had an interest in the town and converted the tillable land into a farm.
It failed as a steamboat landing, but the railroad station, Dacota, on the river road, marks the location of the ancient town site and trading station of Brisbois, Richards and Brown, Indian traders and town-lot speculators.
Nathan Brown yet lives on the same claim, and near the site of the cabins he built there in 1849. He has a large farm in that vicinity, and is now the oldest resident in the county or in southern Minnesota, having occupied the same locality about thirty-four years.
Mr. Brown and Mr. Bunnell came here about the same time. In conversation relative to early days Mr. Brown said: "The first time I ever saw Bunnell was in the spring of 1849. I was going down the river, footing it on the ice, on my way from St. Anthony to Prairie du Chine. Finding the traveling unsafe, I left the river at Holmes', now Fountain City, and took the trail along the bluffs. I got wet crossing the Trempealeau river, and as it was then dark I camped. In the morning, after going a short distance, I came to a cabin which I found occupied by Bunnell's family. He had been living there during the winter."
Aside from the trading stations already mentioned, there were no other settlements made or commenced in this vicinity until after the treaty with the Sioux in 1851, when the first settlement was made on Wabasha prairie.
This prairie had but little to recommend it to the attention of either the town-site hunter or settlers seeking choice locations for farms and homes in the new country which the Sioux were soon to relinquish to the whites. It was a sandy plain, apparently level as viewed from the river, and scantily covered with a stunted growth of wild grass. A few trees and bushes fringed the immediate bank of the river, while but a single tree stood on any other part of the prairie on which the city of Winona now stands. A striking con- trast with its present appearance-covered as it now is with such vast numbers of lofty and beautiful shade-trees, giving it a resem- blance to a forest, with varied thickets of undergrowth through which broad avenues and partial clearings had, been made. The one lone tree was in the lower part of the city. It stood in the valley, between Third and Fourthi streets, in front of where the Washington school building now stands.
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