USA > Minnesota > Illustrated album of biography of the famous valley of the Red River of the North and the park regions of Minnesota and North Dakota : containing biographical sketches of settlers and representative citizens > Part 11
USA > North Dakota > Illustrated album of biography of the famous valley of the Red River of the North and the park regions of Minnesota and North Dakota : containing biographical sketches of settlers and representative citizens > Part 11
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Now to return to the venerable Father Menard, who had been left among the Ottawa Indians on the shores of Lake Superior in October, 1660. For nearly a year he lived there in a cabin built of fir branches. In the summer of 1661 he decided to visit the Hurons, who had fled eastward from the Sioux of Minnesota and were located among the woods of northern Wisconsin, as stated. He was accompanied by one Frenchman, whose name has been lost in the mist of years. They became separated, and Father Menard was lost, as Perrot says, "in the labyrinth of trees." This was the last ever positively known of him, although his brevi- ary and cassock were said afterward to have been found among the Sioux Indians. Whether this good and venerable man starved or was murdered or captured by the Indians will forever be shrouded in mystery.
These were the earliest explorations of the Northwest of which any record has been left, but after that period this region was visited by various parties at long intervals, and many interesting documents have been pre- served giving accounts of their journeys and discoveries.
About the year 1665 several French trad-
ers and the Jesuit, Allouez, visited the coun- try off the western shore of Lake Superior. Early in 1679 we find Daniel G. Du Luth west of Lake Michigan, and it is believed he planted the French arms on Minnesota soil. His records state that " on July 2d he caused his Majesty's arms to be planted in the great village of the Nadousioux, called Kathio, and at Songaskicous and Houetbatons, one hundred and twenty leagues distant from the former." Rev. E. D. Neill in his thorough work relating to early explorers of Minnesota, locates this as being "one hun- dred and twenty leagues beyond Mille Lacs." Du Luth states that at one point on Minnesota soil he found upon a tree this legend : " Arms of the King cut on this tree in the year 1679." He established several posts, carried on trading with the Indians, and was probably the most prominent of the early explorers. Later he was stationed near Lake Erie and died in 1710. His reports furnish much interesting information regarding the early explorations in the Northwest.
La Salle was given a commission by the King of France in 1678 to "explore the West," and do limited trading. He visited various parts of the Northwest. His jeal- ousy of Du Luth appears to form a consider- able portion of his official reports, but it is stated on good authority that he wrote the first description of the upper Mississippi Valley, August 22, 1682, some months before the publication of Father Hennepin's first work, "Description de la Louisiane." He must, however, have obtained his information from one of Hennepin's men.
Father Louis Hennepin's explorations and adventures through the Northwest form an interesting chapter in the earlier history of this region. He was a native of Ath, an in- land town of the Netherlands, and had early assumed the robes of priesthood. In 1676 he came to Canada, and two years later as
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
ordered to join the La Salle exploring expe- dition. A ship was rigged, and on August 7th, 1679, its sails caught the breezes of Lake Erie- the first European vessel launched on the great lakes. La Salle con- ducted his expedition to Green Bay, thence along the coast of Lake Michigan, and about the middle of January, 1680, landed it on an eminence near Lake Peoria, on the Illinois River, where he commenced the erection of Fort Crevecœur. On the last of February of the same year, Father Hennepin, in company with Michael Accault (Ako) and Angelle, left the fort to ascend the Mississippi River. On the 11th of April, 1680, after having reached a point north of the Chippewa River, they were met and taken charge of by a party of over a hundred Sioux Indians. They then proceeded with the Indians to their villages, nearly sixty leagues north of St. An- thony falls. They remained with the Indians some time, being well treated, and on the 25th of July, 1680, they were met by Du Luth, who was accompanied by his interpre- ter, Faffart, and several French soldiers. They then proceeded to Mille Lacs, arriving, according to Father's Hennepin writings, on the 11th of August, 1680. In the latter part of September they started to return to the French settlement, passing by St. Anthony falls. Father Hennepin published two works relating to his discoveries, the first, "De- scription de la Louisiane," in 1836; the sec- ond, " The New Discovery," in 1697. These works called forth much criticism, as there can be no doubt Hennepin greatly magnified his own importance, and exaggerated his services and discoveries. For instance, he claims to have descended the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, before proceed- ing northward, then returned and proceeded on to the St. Anthony falls. This in the face of his own stated facts - leaving Fort Creve- cœur the last of February, he claims to have made this wonderful trip, and arrived two
miles south of where the city of St. Paul is now located, late in April, giving the 11th of April as the date of their capture by the Indians. However this may be, Father Hennepin's work was not in vain, and his memory is entitled to the credit for that which he did. His publications hastened and facilitated exploration, and his failing - if such it was - should be treated with charity. La Salle speaks of him highly, but charitably says, "it was his failing to magnify those adventures which concerned him."
During 1684, Nicholas Perrot and Le Sueur visited Lake Pepin, and the following winter the French traded with the Indians on Minnesota soil. Perrot had been ap- pointed by the governor of Canada as the commandant for the West, and was accom- panied by twenty men. Upon his arrival he caused a stockade to be built on the east bank of Lake Pepin, which bore his name for many years. He discovered a number of lead mines, and his name figures conspicu- ously in the history of the early French ex- plorations and frontier work. Perrot re- mained for some time after building the fort, then, in 1686, returned to Green Bay. He passed much time in collecting allies for the expedition against the Iroquois in New York, and in the spring of 1687, was with Du Luth and Tonty with the French and Indian allies in the expedition against the Senecas of the Genesee Valley in New York. The follow- ing year he was sent with a company of Frenchmen to reoccupy the post on Lake Pepin, in Minnesota, and it was in 1689 that Perrot, in the presence of Father Joseph James Marest, a Jesuit, Boisguiblot, a trader on the Wisconsin and Mississippi, and Le Seur, made a formal record of taking posses- sion of the Sioux country in the name of the King of France.
Le Sueur, who accompanied Perrot in his first trip to Lake Pepin in 1684, was inti- mately connected with that explorer's move-
I28
HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
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ments. In 1692 Le Sueur was sent by Gov. Frontenac, of Canada, to the extremity " of Lake Superior to maintain peace between the Indian tribes. Entering the Sioux country, in 1694, he established a post upon a prairie island, nine miles below where Hast- ings is now located. IIe was accompanied by Penicaut and other ... Here they estab- lished a fort and storehouse and passed the winter, as game was very abundant. On July 15, 1695, Le Sueur went back to Mon- treal accompanied by a party of Ojibways, and the first Dakotah brave that ever visited Canada. Le Sueur then visited France, and in 1697 received a license to open certain mines that were supposed to exist in Minne- sota. The ship in which he was returning was captured by the English, and he was taken to England; when released he returned to France and secured a new commission, but it was afterward suspended. Fortunately, D'Iberville, a kinsman of Le Sueur, was ap- pointed governor of the new territory of Louisiana, and in December, 1699, Le Sueur arrived from France with thirty workmen to proceed to the mines. During the next year he ascended the Minnesota River with his expedition, and in October, 1700, built a fort on the Blue Earth River, which he named L'Huillier. This was occupied by Le Sueur's men until 1702, when it was abandoned because of the hostility of the Indians. Charlevoix, who visited the val- ley of the Icwer Mississippi in 1722, says that "Le Sueur spent at least one winter in his fort on the banks of the Blue Earth, and that in the following April he went up to the mine, about a mile above, and in twenty-two days they obtained more than 30,000 pounds of the substance-lead." Le Sueur estimated the Sioux Indians at that time as being four thousand families.
In 1703 a little volume was published in France and England by Baron La Hon- tan, giving an account of his "travels," in
which he claimed to have penetrated and pursued explorations through the territory which now forms Minnesota, farther than any of his predecessors. He states that he found a river tributary to the Mississippi, and describes a journey of 500 miles up this stream, which he named Long River. His wonderful story was believed at the time and the river was placed upon the early maps ; but in later years it was discredited and is now by the closest students and ablest historians treated as fabulous.
In September, 1727, Fort Beauharnois was erected and a French post established on the shores of Lake Pepin, under the directions of Sieur de la Perriere. An extensive trade was carried on with the Indians here, and it was occupied for a number of years. In 1728 Veranderie, who had been placed in com- mand of a post on Lake Nepigon, began lay- ing plans for finding a communication with the Pacific Ocean. An expedition was fitted out which left Montreal in 1731, under the management of his sons and a nephew, De la Jemeraye, he not joining the party until 1733. A fourth son joined the expedition in 1735. In the autumn of 1731, the party reached Rainy Lake, at the foot of which a post, called Fort St. Pierre, was erected. The next year they reached Lake of the Woods, and established Fort St. Charles on its southwest bank. A few miles from Lake Winnepeg they established a post on the Assinaboine, and a fort was established on the Maurepas (Winnepeg) River. In June, 1736, while twenty-one of the expedition were encamped on an isle in the Lake of the Woods, they were surprised by a band of Sioux Indians hostile to the French allies, and all were killed. The island on this ac- count is called Massacre Island. The re- maining portion of the expedition pro- gressed as best they could. October 3, 1738, they built an advanced post called Fort la Reine on the Assinaboine River.
120
HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
They came in sight of the Rocky Mountains on the 1st of January, 1743, and, on the 12th, ascended them. In 1744, after plant- ing a leaden plate of the arms of France in the upper Missouri country, they returned, reaching Minnesota soil late in June, and after establishing several posts in the ex- treme northern frontier country they finally returned to Montreal. Expeditions were afterward fitted out, one of which again reached the Rocky Mountains, but the clash of arms between France and England put an end to the explorations so far as the French were concerned.
In 1763, by the treaty of Versailles, France ceded Minnesota east of the Mississippi to England and west of it to Spain. In 1766 Capt. Jonathan Carver, the first British sub- ject, although a native of Connecticut, visited the Falls of St. Anthony. He spent some three years among the different tribes of Indians in the upper Mississippi country ; found the Indian nations at war and suc- ceeded in making peace between them. As a reward for his good offices, it is claimed that two chiefs of the Sioux, acting for their nation, at a council held with Carver at a great cave, now within the corporate limits of St. Paul, deeded to Carver a vast tract of land on the Mississippi River, extending from the Falls of St. Anthony to the foot of Lake Pepin, on the Mississippi, thence east one hundred miles ; thence north one hundred and twenty miles ; thence west to the place of beginning. This pretended grant, how- ever, was examined by our government and totally ignored.
At the beginning of the present century there were no white men in Minnesota, except the few engaged in the fur trade, and the posts were chiefly held by the Northwest Com- pany, which corporation in 1794 erected a stockade at Sandy Lake. In 1802 we find William Morrison trading at Leech Lake, and two years later at Itasca. In the meantime,
in 1796, the laws of the ordinance of 1787 had been extended over the Northwest, and on May 7, 1800, that part of Minnesota east of the Mississippi had become a part of In- diana by the division of Ohio. On the 20th of December, 1803, that part of Minnesota west of the Mississippi, for forty years in the possession of Spain as a part of Louisiana, was ceded to the United States by Napoleon Bonaparte, who had just obtained it from Spain. In 1804 Upper Louisiana Territory was constituted. During the following year the United States for the first time sent an officer to Minnesota, in the person of Lieut. Z. M. Pike, who established government re- lations and obtained the Fort Snelling reser- vation from the Dakotalis. Hc remained here for some time, but the war of 1812 coming on postponed the military occupa- tion of the upper Mississippi by the United States for several years. Pike afterward fell in battle at York, in Upper Canada.
In 1817 the Earl of Selkirk, a nobleman, visited the Scotch colony on the Red River, established in 1812, and created quite an ex- citement on the part of some of the United States authorities. The same year Mayor Stephen H. Long, of the United States Ell- gineer Corps, visited Minnesota and made a report recommending the bluff at the junc- tion of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers as a site for a fort.
In 1819 Minnesota east of the Mississippi River became a part of Crawford County, Mich. During the same year Fort Snell- ing was established and the site of Mendota was occupied by the United States troops, under Col. Leavenworth. Major Taliaferro was appointed Indian agent.
During the year 1820 much of interest transpired on Minnesota soil. Early in the spring Jean Baptiste Faribault brought Leavenworth's horses from Prairie du Chien. On the 5th of May Col. Leavenworth estab- lished summer quarters at Camp Coldwater,
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I30
HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
(Hennepin County). In July Gov. Cass, of Michigan, visited the camps. In August Col. Joshia Snelling succeeded Leavenworth in command, and on the 20th of September the corner-stone of Fort Snelling (then Fort St. Anthony) was laid. On the 15th of April the superintendent of farming for Earl Sel- kirk left Prairie du Chien, having purchased seed wheat; he ascended the Minnesota River to Big Stone Lake, where the boats were placed on rollers, dragged a short dis- tance to Lake Traverse, and reached Pembina June 3. This year the first marriage in Minnesota occurred, Lieut. Green to a daughter of Capt. Gooding. The first birth of a white child in the State occurred this year, a daughter to Col. Snelling; died the following year.
In 1821 Fort St. Anthony (Snelling) was sufficiently completed to be occupied by troops. During this year a sawmill was constructed at St. Anthony Falls for the use of the garrison under the supervision of Lieut. McCabe.
Nothing of particular interest transpired during 1822. In 1823, however, the first steamboat, the Virginia, arrived at the mouth of the Minnesota River on the 10th of May, and created consternation among the Indians. Beltrami, the Italian, during the same year explored the northernmost sources of the Mississippi, and Maj. Long, of the United States army, visited the northern boundary by way of the Minnesota and Red rivers. Millstones for grinding flour were sent to St. Anthony to be placed in the sawmill.
In 1824 Gen. Winfield Scott visited Fort St. Anthony, and at his suggestion the name was changed to Fort Snelling.
After this time events crowd rapidly one after the other to fill in the time. From 1825 on, the arrival of steamboats became inore frequent. During this year a heavy flood visited the Red River, and a portion of the colony were driven to Minnesota and settled near Fort Snelling.
In 1832 Schoolcraft explored the sources of the Mississippi River, and during the fol- lowing year Rev. W. T. Boutwell established the first mission among the Ojibways on Leech Lake. About the same time E. F. Ely opened a mission school at Atkins, a trading post on Sandy Lake.
That portion of Minnesota lying west of the Mississippi River was attached to Michi- gan in 1834. During this year Gen. H. H. Sibley settled at Mendota as agent for the fur company, and Samuel W. and Gideon II. Pond, missionaries among the Sioux, ar- rived. They were followed the next year by T. S. Williamson, J. D. Stevens and Alex- ander G. Huggins, and in June, 1835, a Presbyterian Church was organized at Fort Snelling. Late the same year Maj. J. L. Bean, in accordance with the treaty of 1825, surveyed the Sioux and Chippeway bound- ary line as far as Otter Tail Lake.
In 1836 the Territory of Wisconsin was organized, embracing all of Minnesota east of the Mississippi River; that territory west of the river being attached to Iowa. A number of steamboats arrived during this year, a passenger on one of them being the distinguished French astronomer, Jean N. Nicollet.
In 1837 Gov. Dodge, of Wisconsin, made a treaty at Fort Snelling with the Ojib- ways, by which the latter ceded all their pine lands on the St. Croix and its tributaries ; a treaty was also effected at Washington with a deputation of Dakotahs for their pine lands east of the Mississippi. These treaties led the way to the first actual settlements in the State. The treaty was ratified by Con- gress in 1838. At about this time Franklin Steele made a claim at St. Anthony Falls ; Pierre Parrant took a claim and built a cabin on the present site of St. Paul ; Jeremiah Russell and L. W. Stratton made the first claim at Marine in the St. Croix Valley. During the year 1838 a steamboat arrived at Fort Snelling with J. N. Nicollet and J. C.
I31
IIISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
Fremont on a scientific expedition. Develop- ment begins in the St. Croix Valley. The next year the chapel of "St. Paul" was built and consecrated, giving the name to the capital of the State.
Henry M. Rice arrived at Fort Snelling in 1840, others came and in November, 1841, St. Croix County was established with "Dakotah " designated as the county-seat.
On the 10th of October, 1843, a settlement was commenced on the present site of the city of Stillwater, and the erection of a saw- mill was immediately commenced. The names of the town proprietors were : John McKusick, from Maine ; Calvin Leach, from Vermont ; Elam Greeley, from Maine and Elias McKeane, from Pennsylvania.
Dr. E. D. Neill in his " Explorers and Pio- neers of Minnesota," says that in 1846 " the site of St. Paul was chiefly occupied by a few shanties, owned by ' certain lewd fellows of the baser sort,' who sold rum to the sol- diers and Indians." On the 6th of August, 1846, the Wisconsin enabling act was passed.
In 1847 St. Croix County was detached from Crawford County, Wis., and reorgan- ized for civil and judicial purposes with Still- water as the county-seat. The town of St. Paul was surveyed and platted, and recorded in St. Croix County. During this year the Wisconsin constitutional convention was held.
On the 29th of May, 1848, Wisconsin was admitted to the Union, leaving Minnesota (with its present boundaries) without a gov- ernment, and on the 26th of the following August a convention was held at Stillwater to take measures for a separate territorial or- ganization. On the 30th of October, 1848, Henry H. Sibley was elected delegate to Congress, and he was admitted to a seat January 15, 1849. March 3d, 1849, a bill was passed organizing Minnesota Territory, and on the 19th of the same month territo- rial officers were appointed. June 1st Gov. Ramsey issued a proclamation declaring
the territory organized, and on September 3d the first territorial Legislature assembled. In 1851 the capital of the State was permanent- ly located, as was also the penitentiary. In June, 1854, the first line of railway was com- pleted to St. Paul.
On the 23d of February, 1857, an act passed the United States Senate, to author- ize the people of Minnesota to form a consti- tution, preparatory to their admission to the Union. In June a constitutional convention was held, and the State constitution was framed. This was adopted on the 13th of October, 1857, and a full list of State officers was elected. On the 11th of May, 1858, the President approved of the bill admitting the State, and Minnesota was fully recognized as one of the United States of America. The first State officers were sworn in on the 24th of May.
From this time on we can only briefly re- view the most important events that have transpired. A great tide of immigration had set in early in the "fifties," which rapidly filled up portions of the State, until in 1857 a census gave the State a total population of 150,037. During that year, however, real estate speculation reached a climax, and the terrible financial panic occurred which great- ly retarded the settlement.
In 1858 the State loan of $250,000 was negotiated ; five million loan bill v was passed, being voted on April 15; great strin- gency in money market.
During 1859 the hard times continued to intensify. "Wright County War" oc- curred ; " Glencoe " and "Owatonna " money was issued ; work on the land grant roads ceased ; collapse of the five million scheme ; first export of grain that fall; hard political struggle, in which the Republicans tri- umphed.
Another warm political canvass occurred in 1860 ; the census taken this year gave the State a total population of 172,123.
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
In 1861 war cast its gloom over the coun- try ; on April 13th the President's proclama- tion for troops was received; the first regi- ment recruited at once, and June 22d it em- barked at Fort Snelling for the seat of war.
In 1862 occurred the memorable Sioux outbreak ; August 17th, massacre at Acton ; August 18th, outbreak at Lower Sioux Agency ; 19th, New Ulm attacked ; 20th, Fort Ridgely attacked; 25th, second attack on New Ulm; 30th, Fort Abercrombie bc- sieged ; September 1st, the bloody affair at Birch Coolie; 19th, first railroad in Minne- sota in operation, between St. Paul and Minneapolis; 22d, battle of Wood Lake ; 26th, captives surrendered by the Indians at Camp Release; military commission tried 321 Indians for murder, 303 condemned to die ; December 26th, thirty-eight hung at Mankato.
In 1863 Gen. Sibley conducted an expedi- tion to the Missouri River; July 3d, Little Crow was killed; July 24th, battle of Big Mound ; 26th, battle of Dead Buffalo Lake ; July 28th, battle of Stony Lake.
In 1864 the civil war was still in progress, and large levies for troops were made in Minnesota; expedition to Missouri River, un- der Sully ; inflation of money market : occa- sional Indian raids.
In 1865 the war closed and peace returns ; Minnesota regiments return and are dis- banded ; in all, 25,052 troops were furnished by the State ; census showed 250,000 inhabi- tants.
After the close of the war, and from 1866 until 1872, " good times" prevailed ; immigra-
tion was very heavy, and real estate and all values were inflated. The western por- tion of the State received many settlers. Railway construction was very active.
In 1873 the famous grasshopper raid began throughout the western part of the State, and continued about five seasons. January 7-8-9 of this year, a terrible stormn swept over the State, in which seventy persons per- ished. In September of the same year, the financial " panic of 1873 " began.
In 1874 and 1875 nothing of especial im- portance occurred.
On the 7th of September, 1876, an attack was made on the Bank of Northfield by a gang of armed outlaws from Missouri ; three of the latter were killed, and three were capt- ured.
In 1877 biennial sessions amendment was adopted.
In 1878 (May 2), three flouring mills at Minneapolis exploded, and eighteen lives lost ..
On November 15th, 1880, a portion of the hospital for the insane, at St. Peter, was de- stroyed by fire; eighteen inmates were burned to death, seven died subsequently of injuries and fright, and six were missing. Total loss was $150,000.
In 1881 the State capitol at St. Paul was destroyed by fire.
In 1884 the State prison, located at Still- water, was partly burned.
In 1886 (April 14), a cyclone swept over St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids, demolishing scores of buildings, and killing about seventy people.
CHAPTER III.
THE INDIAN MASSACRE.
HE outbreak of the Indians in .... ...... 1862 furnishes one of the most interesting chapters in Minneso- ta's history. At the time of this sad tragedy there were scat- tered throughout the State vari- ous bands of Sioux Indians, a powerful and warlike nation. They included the Medawakontons (or Village of the Spirit Lake) ; Wapatons, (or Village of the Leaves) ; Sissetons (or Village of the Marsh), and Wapakutas (or Leaf Shooters). These four tribes, numbering about six thou- sand and two hundred persons, comprised the entire annuity Sioux of Minnesota. All these Indians had from time to time, from the 19th of July, 1815, to the date of the massacre in 1862, received presents from the government, by virtue of various treaties of amity and friendship. From the time of the treaty of St. Louis in 1816, these tribes had remained friendly to the whites, and had by treaty stipulations parted with all the lands to which they claimed title in Iowa ; all on the east side of the Mississippi River, and all on the Minnesota River in Minnesota, except certain reservations. One of these reservations lay upon both sides of the Minnesota ten miles on either side of that stream, from Hawk River on the north to Yellow Medicine River on the south side, thence westerly to the head of Big Stone Lake and Lake Traverse, a distance of about one hundred miles. Another of these reserva- tions commenced at Little Rock River on the east and a line running due south from its mouth, and extending up the river westerly to the eastern line of the reserva-
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