USA > Minnesota > Illustrated history of Minnesota, a hand-book for citizens and general readers > Part 11
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21. Kaposia (kah po-zha). Correct form, Kapoja. Meaning light-not heavy. It was at first applied to the band living there, because they were light-footed in playing la-crosse.
22. The S. A. were a myth of the early navigators who were seeking for a northwest passage. It seems to have originated with one of their number, Zalterius, in 1566. The S. A. were afterward identified with Behring Strait.
23. St. Francis. See Hennepin, note r. The Indian name for this stream signifies Every-where-lake-river ; or Great River is the name they sometimes gave it.
Ft. St. Antoine.
I. Commandant (com'man-dänt').
2. De La Barre (deh lä bä).
3. Trempeleau. See Expedition of 1817, note 2.
4. St. Antoine (săn on'twan'). Same as St. Anthony. See Hennepin, note 18.
The early writers place this post on the Wisconsin shore of Lake Pepin. For a mile or more from the foot of the lake, that shore is marshy and so unfit for the placing of a fort. For a mile or two more, dunes of somewhat shifting sand run so close to the shore that an enemy upon them could command any fortification be- tween them and the water. Thus it is probable Ft. St. Antoine stood somewhere above the present village of Pepin, but below Maiden Rock. Midway, a large trout stream, called Bogus Creek, enters the river. Thirty-five years ago a trading post stood at its mouth on a site now occupied by a farm house. The traditions of the Indians and later voyageurs claim that very many years ago, a few rods removed from this site, stood another post. Twelve years ago, it is said, a Frenchman who had then reached the age of one hundred one years claimed that he was wont to visit it as a boy. Certainly, many reasons other than these point to this as the site of Ft. St. Antoine.
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EXPLANATORY NOTES.
5. Denonville (del'non-veel').
6. Miamis (mi-a'mis). Or Maumies. People who live on the peninsula.
7. Foxes. A tribe of the Wisconsin Valley.
8. See First Explorers, note S.
9. Proces-Verbal (pro-sā var-bal). It is here used with the force of a proper noun, but is really a French common noun mean- ing, official report ; proceedings ; journal.
Io. St. Pierre (săn pe-er'). The Minnesota River. It is not known after whom it was so called. See Ft. Beauharnois, note 12.
II. Le Sueur (leh-sü'ur') .- A river, town, and county of Min- nesota now bear his name.
I2. Marest (mär-ã').
I3. The Jesuits. See Nicholas Perrot, note I.
La Hontan's Long River.
I. Gascon. A native of Gascony, France. The Gascons are accused of being great boasters; hence the origin of the word gasconade.
Ft. Le Sueur.
I. Charlevoix (shar'leh-vwä').
2. Isle Pelée (eel pč-lā).
3. Warren speaks of a post built at Grand Portage between 1671 and the end of that century. He states it upon Indian tra- dition, and thinks it must have been the oldest post in Minnesota. If his tradition does not refer to Ft. Kamenistagoia, Du Luth's post built in 1679, and located according to ancient maps north of Pigeon river and near Thunder Bay, then the post at Grand Portage may have been older than Ft. Le Sueur.
Ft. L' Huillier.
I. D' Iberville (de'ber'veel').
2. Biloxi (be-loks'i). See map of State of Mississippi.
3. Penicaut (pen'é-ko).
4. Green River. There are green shales found on its banks. The same river as the Blue Earth. See the Dakotas, note 12.
5. The place is not far from the mouth of the Le Sueur river.
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
6. L' Huillier (100'eel ya).
7. St. Remi (săn re'me ). St. Henry. The Le Sueur river.
8. D' Evaque (deh-vark').
9. Illinois. An Algonquin word meaning, tribe of men.
10. Mascoutins. Ojibwa word. Dwellers on a small prairie.
Ft. Beauharnois.
I. Mackinaw (mak'I-naw). Abbreviation of Michilimackinac (mish-il-i-mak'in-aw). Indian word meaning, Great turtle place. It was always a great depot of the fur traders, and an important military post, for this and other reasons, in the supremacies of France, England, and the United States.
2. Vaudreuil (vo'dru'y). Father of the last French governor of Canada.
3. La Noue (la-noo'). A French officer.
4. Linctot (laing'sto).
5. The Indians had learned that if priests came so would traders. It was to secure the latter that they asked for the former to be sent among them.
6. Guignas (geen'yi).
7. Gonor (go'nor').
S. Maiden Rock is a high bluff with a cliff front. It is situated on the east shore of Lake Pepin nearly opposite the point men- tioned in the next note. According to the Indian legend, a maiden named Winona (wee-no-na), whose parents had forbidden to marry the young brave she loved, threw herself from the summit of the cliff and was killed.
9. Pointe au Sable (poo-aingt o sa-bl). Point-in-the-sand. Situated on the west shore of Lake Pepin five miles above Lake City.
Io. René De Boucher (ren-a'deh boo'sha'). See U. S. History. Beauharnois (bo-arn-wä). There are certain places on the point indicating its possible location.
12. Legardeur St. Pierre (lā-gar-der săn pe-er'). It is some- times thought that Le Sueur gave the name St. Pierre to the Min- nesota river on his account.
13. Le Bœuf (leh buf ). It was situated on French creek in
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EXPLANATORY NOTES.
northwestern Pennsylvania. See U. S. History.
The Northwest Passage.
I. Verandrie (vā ran'drē).
2. Jemeraye (zhām-ā-ray').
3. La Reine (lah rain).
4. Gallissonnière (gä'lee-so'ne-air').
5. Jonquiere (zhon'ki-er').
6. De Marin (deh-mä-rang').
7. Saskatchewan (Cree word), from kisiskatjiwan-the rapid current.
French and English Supremacies.
I. Versailles (ver salz'). This place is seven or eight miles southwest of Paris, France.
Carver's Explorations.
I. Du Chien (du-sheen). Dog Prairie.
2. See First Explorers, note S.
3. See Expedition of IS17, note 2.
Indian Wars.
I. Pillagers. It was almost a proverbial statement of the traders that in the months that have no r the furs are good for nothing. Then they were obliged to trust the Indians until the time of the fall and winter hunts. But on one occasion a trader refused to do this, and the Indians broke into his stores. Hence, they were called the Pillagers-a name they gloried in for gen- erations.
2. The Ojibwas claim that when they first beheld this lake they saw an enormous leech swimming in it. Hence, the present English name.
Wabasha's Mission.
1. Wabasha (war'ba-shaw). Correct form, Wapasha (wah' pah sha). Meaning, Red-banner.
The Northwest Company.
I. American goods were inferior to the English. The Indians
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
refused to accept the former after they had once obtained some of the latter.
2. The preliminary treaty was signed at Versailles, the final one at Fontainebleau forty miles up the Seine from Paris. The latter, however, is sometimes called the treaty of Paris.
BEFORE THE TERRITORY.
Territorial Changes.
I. St. Ildefonso (sän-eel-da-fön'so), a town sometimes called La Granja (lä gräng'ha) situated forty miles north-northwest of Madrid, Spain. The treaty was a noted league made by the prime minister Godoy and Napoleon.
Pike's Expedition.
I. He became a leading general of the U. S. Army, and was killed at Sackett's Harbor in the War of 1812.
2. Wilkinson was noted in the history of Burr's Treason at which time he was governor of Louisiana Territory.
3. La Crosse (la-cross); a bat; a game of cricket; therefore, not the crossing place of the river as some have supposed because of the analogy between the English and French words.
Pike describes the game, as he saw it played at Prairie Du Chien, thus:
"The ball is made of some hard substance and covered with leather, the cross sticks are round and net work, with handles three feet long. [The balls are caught in small sinew nets, cup-sized, and fastened to the bent circle at the end of a three- foot hickory stick .- The Author. ] * *
* The goals are set up on the prairie at the distance of half a mile. The ball is thrown up in the middle, and each party strives to drive it to the opposite goal; and when either party gains the first rubber, which is driving it quick round the post. the ball is again taken to the center of the ground [the sides] changed, and the contest renewed; and this is continued until one side gains four times, which de-
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EXPLANATORY NOTES.
cides the game. *
* * * It sometimes happens that one catches the ball in his racket, and depending on his speed en- deavors to carry it to the goal, and when he finds himself too closely pursued, he hurls it with great force and dexterity to an amazing distance, where there are always flankers of both parties ready to receive it; it seldom touches the ground, but is some- times kept in the air for hours before either party can gain the victory."
4. At this day nothing of the stockade remains, and as yet no one has found the exact site.
5. Saulteurs is the correct forin The name was given to the Ojibwas because they once lived at Sault St. Marie. Hence the pronounciation, so'těr.
6. Medals and flags were the pledges of their allegiance. Therefore, Pike's real purpose was to give them those of the United States in exchange.
7. See Dakotas, note IS, for Indian form. The present an- glicized form is Sisseton.
8. Gens des Feuilles (zhong deh foo-yu). The tribe of the leaves. Doubtless the same tribe as mentioned under Dakotas, note 17.
9. Gens du Lac (zhong doo lack). Evidently the tribe men- tioned under Dakotas, note 15.
IO. The Yanktons. See Dakotas, note 4.
II. The Indians counted it the highest honor to load their guns with ball and fire as close to approaching guests as possible; because the guests were apprised by the good marksmanship how completely they were at the mercy of the Indians, and at the same time, by the absence of injury, how highly they were esteemed and how cordially they would be treated.
Minnesota Indians in War of 1812.
1. Tecumseh (t'kum'seh). See U. S. History. Shawnee, Southerner.
2. He was generally known as the Prophet, and was Tecum- seh's great support in the instigation of this war.
3. This post was situated about thirty miles from the mouth of the Maumee in Ohio.
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
4. Tahamie (tä-ä'mi). Supposed to be a corruption of Ta- maha (tä-mä-hä'). The pike (fish).
5. Hay-pee-dan. From he-pi, "third child born, if a son," and dan a diminutive ending.
6. Ghent (gent). Situated in Belgium on the Scheldt. See U. S. History close of the War of 1812.
Traders and Selkirkers.
I. Pomme de Terre (pom deh têr). Literally, apple of ground, meaning the potato. Tipsinna (teep'sen-na), was the Indian name. The T. is a farinaceous bulb much prized for food, especially by the Indian children.
2. It is only just to say that some of Dickson's associates give him an excellent record for honorable dealing.
3. As to his motive, Neill says: "The Earl of Selkirk, a wealthy, kind-hearted, but visionary nobleman of Scotland, wrote several tracts, urging the importance of colonizing British emi- grants in these distant British possessions, and thus check the disposition to settle in the United States."
4. Acadia was the old name of Nova Scotia. The French colonists who lived at Grand Pre on the basin of the Minas were driven front their homes, placed on board ships, and scattered among the people of the southern English colonies. This was in the time of the French and Indian War- in the summer and fall of 1755. For the pitiful story of broken family circles, see works on U. S. History, and Longfellow's Evangeline.
Expedition of 1817.
I. Roque (rök).
2. See text in reference to note 2, Carver's Explorations.
3. Montagne Trempe el Eau (mong-täng'ya trang-p āl o). The mountain steeped in the water; therefore, standing in the water.
4. Aux Aisles, or fully given, Prairie Aux Aisles (o-zel). The prairie with wings. It is not known why it was so named, but it is the author's opinion that it may have been on account of the long valleys extending back into the hills from its extremities.
5. See Wabasha's Mission, note 1.
.
.
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. EXPLANATORY NOTES.
6. The Bear Dance, described by Maj. Long, was a peculiar ceremony through which a young man went when about to become a warrior. He made him a den in the earth and simulated a bear, while the other young men of the tribe hunted him. If he escaped from them, which he might do at the risk of sacrificing their lives, or even if he defied the skill of his pursuers for several hours, he was counted worthy to enter the state of manhood and upon the life of a warrior.
Ft. Snelling.
1. For information concerning this noted statesman refer to any standard U. S. History
2. Cantonment (căn'ton-ment).
3. Mendota. Indian form, MIdote (mdo'tay). Mouth of a river.
4. Drachenfels (dräch en-felz). Dragon's rock. One of the noted old castles of Germany.
Crawford County.
I. This county organization remained in force under the juris- diction of Wisconsin Territory.
Lewis Cass Expedition.
I. Taliaferro (töl'i-ver).
2. Sacs (sawks). The same as Sauks.
3. Shakopee. Correct form, Shakpe (shä'kpa). Six. 1
The Fur Companies.
I. Prof. A. W. Williamson says: " MIdehdakinyan (mday- hdah-kin-yän). Lake lying crosswise; the Dakota name of Lake Traverse, it lying crosswise to Big Stone Lake."
2. John Jacob Astor, a wealthy merchant of New York City. Selkirk's Colony.
I. Pembina. Cree word. From nipimina, watery berries, nipiy, water, and mina, berries. High bush cranberries.
2. It is not positively known why the Red River was so named. Fanciful reasons have been given from time to time. The French
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
in early days called it Rivière Sanglante (ri-vier son-glont), Bloody River, in all likelihood because of one or more of the many bloody feuds which occurred upon its banks.
Long's Explorations.
I. Joseph Snelling became an author of considerable repute. He wrote both prose and poetry. His best book was entitled "Tales of the Northwest." Just previous to his death, which oc- curred in IS48, he was editor of the Boston Herald.
2. Traverse des Sioux. Crossing of the Sioux; the place where their great trail, which led to the northwest, crossed the Minnesota river.
3. "The question is often asked, 'Why does the northern boun- dary of Minnesota bend suddenly north at the Lake of the Woods and make that singular projection into British America.' The answer to this question carries us back to the 'Provisional Articles between the United States of America and his Britannic Majesty, concluded November 30th, 1782.' These articles were the result of the negotiations made by and between Richard Oswald, the commissioner on the part of Great Britain, and John Adams. Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens, commissioners of the United States for treating of peace at the close of the Rev- olutionary War.
"At the conference of these commissioners, no objection was made on the part of ' His Britannic Majesty' to acknowledging the United States 'to'be free, sovereign and independent,' but consider- able discussion took place over the northern boundary. After settling upon the line as it now runs through lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron it was claimed by the British commissioner that it should proceed through the middle of the Strait of Mackinac and Lake Michigan to the southernmost point of said lake and thence due west to the Mississippi river. To this proposal all the com. missioners on the part of the United States were inclined to assent except Franklin. He, however, made decided objections. The nature of the country along the western shores of Lake Superior, its wealth of copper, iron and precious metals, its abundant timber and its magnificent water powers had not escaped his vigilance
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EXPLANATORY NOTES.
even at that early day. While the others were willing to give up to Great Britain what is now the northern part of Illinois, the whole of Wisconsin, the upper peninsula of Michigan and part of Minne- sota as worthless, he insisted that the boundary line should follow the trail of the old half breed voyageurs from the mouth of Pigeon river along the channel of the water ways communicating with the Lake of the Woods. Oswald finally agreed to this demand of Franklin's on condition that he should not oppose the remain- ing article of the treaty. So it was agreed that the line should run 'through Lake Superior north of Isle Royale and Philippeaux, to the Long Lake; thence through the middle of said Long Lake and the water communicating between it and the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; thence through the said lake to the most northwestern point thereof, and from thence on a due west course to the river Mississippi.'
"At the 'Definitive Treaty of Peace' concluded at Paris Septem- ber 3d, 1783, the above boundary was established.
"Before the treaty of London was made- November 19th, 1794, grave doubts began to be entertained as to whether a line drawn due west from the Lake of the Woods would strike the Mississippi at all, and Article IV. of said treaty reads as follows: 'Whereas it is uncertain whether the river Mississippi extends so far to the northward as to be intersected by a line to be drawn due west from the Lake of the Woods, in the manner mentioned in the treaty of peace between His Majesty and the United States, it is agreed that measures be taken in concert between His Majesty's Government in America and the Government of the United States for making a joint survey of the said river from one degree of latitude below the Falls of St. Anthony, to the principal source or sources of said river, and also of the parts adjacent thereto; and that if, on the result of such survey, it should appear that the said river would not be intersected by such a line as is above mentioned, the two parties will thereupon pro- ceed, by amicable negotiation, to regulate the boundary line in that quarter.'
"As no settlement of the northwest boundary was made under this article it again came up for adjustment at Ghent, December
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
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24th, IS14. Here provision was made-Article VII .- for two com- missioners, one to be appointed by his Britannic Majesty and the other by the President of the United States, who were, in addition to other duties, 'to fix and determine, according to the true intent of the treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty- three, that part of the boundary between the dominions of the two powers which extends from the water communication between Lake Huron and Lake Superior to the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods. * * * and particularize the latitude and longitude of the most northwestern part of the Lake of the Woods.'
"The commissioners appointed as above were for a while puzzled to decide between the point of the lake at Rat Portage, at the northern extremity of the lake, and the 'northern point of the bay now known as the northwest angle.' The principle on which the vexed question was finally settled, by Dr. J. L. Tiak, British as- tronomer, in favor of the northwest angle, is this: 'the northwest point is that on which, if a line be drawn in the plane of a great circle, making an angle of 45° with the meridian, such a line would cut no other water of the lake.' This principle is probably the correct one, but it seems a little singular to the ordinary student of geography, that a place so near the southern part of the lake can be the most northwest corner. The commissioners were not able to place a landmark at the spot agreed on as the northwest point on account of its being in a quagmire, so they built a refer- ence monument seven feet square by twelve feet high of oak and poplar logs. The latitude of the 'point' was given as 49° 23' 6.48" and the longitude as 95° 14' 38" approximately.
"It now only remained for the convention at London of Oc- tober 20th, ISIS, to agree that 'a line drawn from the most north- western point of the Lake of the Woods along the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, or if the said point shall not be in the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, then that a line drawn from the said point due north or south, as the case may be, until the said line shall intersect the said parallel of north latitude, and from the point of such intersection, due west along and with said par- allel, shall be the line of demarcation between the territories of
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EXPLANATORY NOTES.
the United States and those of His Britannic Majesty, and that the said line shall form the northern boundary of the United States and the southern boundary of the territories of His Britannic Majesty from the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains.'
[It is to be borne in mind that while the treaty of Ghent pro- vided for finding the N. W. Angle it was not determined by Tiak until IS25; nor was the provision of the convention of London, just recorded, and which anticipated the time when the angle should be determined, made effective until the boundary was so defined and ratified by the treaty of November 10th, 1842. - Author.]
"In 1872 another set of commissioners appointed for the pur- pose had great difficulty in recovering this position. At one time trouble with Great Britain was seriously threatened. The point having been fixed by the commissioners acting under the treaty of Ghent could not be changed, and the above given description by latitude and longitude 'was not sufficiently accurate to deter- mine its position.' The lake when visited was unusually high; the aspen logs which composed the larger part of the monument had rotted away and the oak ones were several feet under water, and not easily found. They were, however, at last discovered and the position of the 'northwest point' finally fixed at latitude 49° 23' 50.28", longitude 95° S' 56.9". The position of the N. W. point as fixed by Captain Anderson, Royal Engineer, and Maj. F. U. Farquar, United States Engineer, during the fall of 1872, was not finally agreed to by the commissioners until September, IS74."-W. W. Pendergast.
The language of the treaty quoted above is somewhat obscure in reference to the plan of determining the N. W. Angle; but the map here given, and the subjoined rules, formulated by the author after consulting Dr. J. E. Davies of the United States Coast Sur- vey, will, it is believed, make the whole subject clear.
Ist. To find the N. W. Angle .- Travel northward on the west shore of the lake to the first point from whose meridian a line can be drawn northeasterly, at an angle of 45°, without striking the lake again.
2d. To find the N. E. Angle .- Travel northward on the east
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
shore to the first point as a from whose meridian a line can be drawn northwesterly at an angle of 45°, without striking the lake again.
3d. To find the S. E. Angle .- Travel southward on the east shore to a first point b where a line drawn southwesterly, at an angle of 45°, will not again strike the lake.
4th. To find the S. W. Angle .- Travel southward on the west shore to a first point c from which a line drawn southeasterly, at an angle of 45°, will not again strike the lake.
W. RIVER
45 LINE
SHOALL.
N.W. ANGLE
DEER L.
49° N.L.
a
ARTENO COST PATS
C
6
4. Winnipeg. Correct form, Winnipek, meaning swamps ; salt water ; unclean water. Used commonly in speaking of the sea water.
Source of the Mississippi.
I. This name, originally applied to Lake Itasca, belongs, as now referred to, to the small lake close to the southeast side of the west arm of Itasca. On Nicollet's map, which see elsewhere in this book, it may be distinguished by three streamlets entering it of which the most easterly drains a lakelet somewhat smaller than itself.
2. Pemidji, or Bemidji, Boutwell says, Pemidjimark, cross- ing place. Mr. Gilfillan, of White Earth, says : "The lake where
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EXPLANATORY NOTES.
the current flows directly across the water, referring to the river flowing squarely out of the lake on the east side, cutting it in two as it were; very briefly, it is Cross Lake."
3. Nicollet says : "These elevations are commonly flat at top, varying in height from eighty-five to one hundred feet above the level of the surrounding waters. They are covered with thick forests in which the coniferous plants predominate. South of Itasca Lake they form a semicircular region, with a boggy bottom, extending to the southward a distance of several miles; thence these Hauteurs des Terres ascend to the northwest and north, and then stretching to the northeast and east, through the zone between 47º and 48º of latitude, make the dividing ridge between the waters that empty into Hudson Bay and those which discharge themselves into the Gulf of Mexico. The principal group of these Hauteurs des Terres is subdivided into several ramifications, vary- ing in extent, elevation, and course, so as to determine the hydro- graphical basins of all the innumerable lakes and rivers that so peculiarly characterize this region of country."
See Nicollet's map of the Itasca region.
Count Beltrami.
I. The title on his passport was Le Chevalier Count Beltrami. The latter word as applied to a county of the State is pronounced Bél-trä'mí, and it may be so pronounced here. It is supposed that B. was banished from the Papal States. For interesting anecdotes about him and his own narrative of explorations, see Neill's large history of Minnesota.
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