USA > Minnesota > Illustrated history of Minnesota, a hand-book for citizens and general readers > Part 6
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Ably supported by other leading citizens, Sibley urged the claims of the new territory so successfully that it was organized under the name of Minnesota, March 3d, 1849. Its boundary line coincided with the northern boundary of Iowa and the western boundary of the same to its crossing of the Missouri river; thence extending up that stream and its branch the White Earth to the British line; along the British border to Lake Superior; out to the most north- westerly point of Wisconsin in that lake; and, finally, along
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the western boundary of Wisconsin to the place of begin- ning.
One stormy day in early April, the first packet boat of the season plowed the icy current of the upper Mississippi as if impatient to reach her moorings; for she brought glad tidings of the territorial organization. The cliffs of Imnijaska, which a few moments before had echoed the herald steamer's warning whistle, now answered back the shouts of citizens almost wild with joy because their village had been proclaimed the seat of government.
First Newspaper .- A few days later a printing press was set up in this newest and strangest of capitals, and the publication of the first newspaper begun. It was called the Pioneer, and its editor was Jas. M. Goodhue, a man of education and considerable native ability.
Gov. Ramsey. - Alexander Ramsey of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who had already attained a firm foot-hold in national politics, was the first governor appointed. He ar- rived before the close of this eventful month of April, and June Ist issued a proclamation declaring the new govern- ment duly organized, and warning all citizens to hold them- selves obedient to its laws.
Judicial Districts. - Three judicial districts were formed. The first was the old county of St. Croix; the northeast section, or La Pointe county, with the additional country north of the Minnesota and the right line drawn westward from its headwaters to the Missouri constituted the second; while the third comprised the remaining re- gions to the south and westward of the former stream. Aaron Goodrich of Tennessee, Chief Justice, presided over the first; Bradley B. Meeker of Kentucky, Associate Jus- tice, over the second; and David Cooper of Pennsylvania,
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THE TERRITORY.
Associate Justice, over the third. In the month of August, in response to a call from the governor, courts were held in these districts in the order indicated. Stillwater, St. Anthony Falls, and Mendota were the places of meeting. The court room at St. Anthony was in the old government mill; at Mendota in a stone warehouse belonging to one of the fur companies.
Council Districts .- In July, the governor also pro- claimed the division of the Territory into seven council districts, and issued an order for the first election of mem- bers of the Council, representatives of the House, and a delegate to Congress. This election was held in August, and resulted in the choice of H. H. Sibley for delegate.
Notes of Interest .-- During this year two more news- papers, named the Register and the Minnesota Chronicle, began publication at St. Paul, but before its close united under the title of Chronicle and Register. A land office was now established at Stillwater. The census of the settlements in all this vast territory, taken by the sheriff of St. Croix county, showed the population to be only 4,68o.
Immigration .- But while day by day events like these were falling thicker and faster, the very air seemed to prophesy the fulfillment of greater things; and hosts of adventurous men eagerly turned their faces toward the new land of promise the fame of whose resources had been noised abroad. 1
First Legislature .- The 3d of September, 1849, will ever be memorable in the history of Minnesota Territory as the day upon which its first legislature convened. There was something of quaintness in this first meeting; for no stately house of legislation with towering dome and deco- rated chambers awaited its members, but instead they found
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
beneath the roof of a humble log hotell food and shelter for themselves and ample room in which to transact the affairs of state.
The Council was composed of nine members, and the
T
Moss ENato Ny.
CENTRAL HOUSE FIRST CAPITOL OF MINNESOTA.
House of eighteen. David Olmsted of the settlement of Long Prairie, a native of Vermont and the youngest man in the Council, was made its permanent president; and Jo-
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.
seph W. Furber, of the settlement of Cottage Grove, a na- tive of New Hampshire, became speaker of the House.
The system of common school education was carefully considered by this legislature, and it organized the counties of Itasca, Wabasha, Dakota, Wanata, Mankato, Washing- ton, Ramsey, Benton, and Pembina, some of which re- main in existence at this day.
The Historical Society .- During the legislative ses- sion, the Minnesota Historical Society was incorporated. Its purpose was to encourage the spirit of research, and preserve the historic relics and records of the Common- wealth, which it might from time to time collect. The first meeting was held at St. Paul in January, 1850. The historian Edward Duffield Neill delivered a scholarly ad- dress in which he reviewed the history of the early French missionaries and voyageurs. It was an auspicious begin- ning of what has come to be a useful and influential society.
First Public School .- Before the close of November, IS49,the citizens of St. Paul met to consider the matter of establishing the first public school in the Territory, all schools previous to that time having been of a private character or under the charge of benevolent societies.
The Great Seal .- A device for the great seal of the Territory was adopted about this time. It was substan- tially the same as the present seal of the State, save in place of the motto L' Etoile du Nord, Star of the North, stood Que sursum volo videre, I wish to see what is above. The engraver, however, made the latter appear in the unclassic form Quo sursum velo videre, which fact probably led to its abandonment; but oddly, yet suggest- ively, the blazing sun of the escutcheon has been retained for the new motto.
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Initial Treaties .- It must be remembered that as yet only a small portion of the vast domain of Minnesota Ter- ritory had been ceded by the Indians to the United States; namely, that triangular section of country bounded on the east by the St. Croix, on the west by the Mississippi, and on the north by a line running due east from the mouth of the Crow Wing to the St. Croix. Steps were therefore taken to provide for the rapidly increasing immigration. Gov. Ramsey and Ex-Gov. Chambers of Iowa were com- missioners appointed on the part of the United States to purchase the native titles; but on repairing to Mendota in the fall of the year, they found that the greater part of the Indians were absent on the chase, and succeeded in pro- curing from the rest only a small tract of country adjacent to Lake Pepin.
In the month of June, IS50, a great council was held at Ft. Snelling. The tents of the war-like Pillagers dotted the plateau without the walls, and all was life and motion within the garrison, the long lines of infantry filing out into battle line. For the Ojibwas' dread enemies, the Sioux, were momentarily expected, and these troops were to act as a foil between these always contending nations. Sud- denly the Sioux war cry arose from the leafy slopes of Pi- lot Knob beyond the Minnesota, and mighty in war paint and feathers, they swept like a dusky cloud across the val- ley and up the opposite slopes to the mouths of the frown- ing cannon. Their turbulence, however, soon subsided.
The council tent witnessed all the pomp of Indian elo- quence and ceremony. After Gov. Ramsey's address, Hole-in-the-day1 responded on the part of the Ojibwas, and Bad Hail for the Sioux. Commissioners from among the whites were chosen by each tribe to adjust its claims and.
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settle its difficulties. As for the rest, they promised fealty
to the "Great Father " at
Washington,
the hand of friendship to the settler, and cessation of hostilities
among them- selves. Thus was the initial step taken that led to the more formal and im- portant treaties of IS51.
Navigating the Minneso- ta .- In the month of July, the navigation of the Minne- sota by large steamers was begun, the first going as far as the Blue Earth River and oth- ers far beyond the great south bend.
ENG.
HOLE-IN-THE-DAY II.
Growth of St. Paul .- Meanwhile, St. Paul was grow-
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
ing apace, and as its internal changes were typical of ter- ritorial progress, it is well to note the condition in which it now existed. The following words from the pen of Fredrika Bremer, the Swedish novelist, will suffice for this purpose :--
" The town is one of the youngest infants of the Great West, scarcely eighteen months old; and yet it has in a short time increased to a population of two thousand persons, and in a very few years it will certainly be pos- sessed of twenty-two thousand.
" As yet, however, the town is but in its infancy, and people manage with such dwellings as they can get. The drawing-room at Gov. Ramsey's house is also his office, and Indians and work people, and ladies and gentlemen, are all alike admitted.
" The city is thronged with Indians. The men, for the most part, go about grandly ornamented, with naked hatch- ets, the shafts of which serve them as pipes."
Second Legislature .- The second legislature met Jan- uary Ist, 1851. David B. Loomis, of Marine Mills, became president of the Council, and M. E. Ames, of Stillwater, speaker of the House.
Partisan Disputes .- Partisan feelings which were only in their infancy when the first legislature was in session had waxed stronger and stronger in the intervening time, and now burst forth in a flood of bitterness. One great cause of dispute was the apportionment bill based upon the first census. Some claimed that the sections in which scarcely any land was under cultivation, and whose inhabitants were for the most part Indians, had been given equal representation in the territorial legislature with the more densely settled and cultivated regions. They even
ST. PAUL IN 1852.
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went further, and asserted that the territorial government did not legally extend over that great domain nominally within the Territory but which had not been ceded by the Indians to the national government. The ground of this argument was decided by high legal authority to be unten- able, the bill passed the legislature, and, in a rage, seven members resigned.
Spirit of the Press .- The territorial press of the day was fierce in its denunciation of individuals, and in conse- quence of a feud brought on in this way, the editor of the Pioneer was stabbed in the street before the capitol, and in turn shot his opponent.
Public Buildings .- The erection of a Capitol, for which provision had been made in the 13th Section of the Organic Act, created an exciting debate at the first legisla- tive session. At the second session, a spirit of compromise prevailed, making St. Paul the permanent seat of govern- ment and locating the territorial prison at Stillwater.
Territorial University .- As a part of the same com- promise, a bill was also passed establishing the University of Minnesota at or near St. Anthony Falls. Congress af- ter a spirited discussion relative to the rights of squatters on lands devoted to school purposes, finally denying the same, granted two townships for the support of the new university.
Ojibwa Famine .- The Ojibwas of Red, Cass, Leech, and Sandy lakes, in a great measure deprived of their an- nuities, nearly perished of hunger and epidemics during the cold months of winter, and the famous Hole-in-the-day came to the capital to plead with Indian eloquence for his perishing race.
Traverse des Sioux Treaty .- The month of June
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had opened with terrific thunder storms which greatly swelled the Minnesota and its tributaries. Nevertheless, Gov. Ramsey and Luke Lea, United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs, acting as a special commission, ascended that stream to Traverse des Sioux in order to treat with the upper bands for the cession of lands lying to the west- ward of the Mississippi. For some reason the Indians were slow in leaving their villages or tarried long by the way. It was the ISth day of July before they had all arrived and concluded their sacred dance to the " Thunder Bird" 1 and other ceremonies which to them seemed important on such an occasion.
On that day, the great council of Sissetons2 and Wah- petons3 convened. The chiefs and commission smoked the calumet,+ and the missionary S. R. Riggs explained to the former the style of the treaty desired. It was signed on the 23d, these bands ceding all the country east of the Big Sioux and Lake Traverse and south of the head waters of Watabs river and the northern inlets of Otter Tail Lake, save a reserve reaching ten miles back from each side of the Minnesota, beginning at the mouth of the Yellow Medi- cine6 and extending to Lake Traverse. In addition, they were to receive $1,665,000 of which $275,000 was to be paid on their removal to the reservation, and the remainder placed at interest was to provide them with an annuity of $9S,ooo for fifty years, the same to be expended in cloth- ing, rations, and for the promoting of their education and civilization.
Mendota Treaty .- The 5th of August, the commission also met the Mdewakantonwan1 and Wapekute2 bands on Pilot Knob,3 Mendota. There were many chiefs present, including Little Crow. The interpreter on this occasion
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.
was the missionary G. H. Pond. These lower bands on their part, ceded all their lands in Minnesota and Iowa, some four million acres in all, and were assigned a reser- vation beginning fifty miles above Traverse des Sioux and extending to the reservation of the upper bands at the mouth of the Yellow Medicine. This reservation, like the other, extended ten miles back from the river on either side. They were to receive $220,000 on their removal, and $30,000 annually for fifty years to be expended for the same purposes as in the case of the Wahpetons and Sisse- tons.
Political Parties .- At the close of this legislative period, two well defined political parties held the field- the Democratic and Coalition. The Whig element started a paper before the close of the year.
Third Legislature .- On the 7th of June, 1852, the third territorial legislature met, William H. Forbes, of St. Paul, presiding over the Council and John G. Ludden, of Marine, over the House. This legislature created the county of Hennepin, and passed a prohibitory liquor law.
Material Development .-- The opening of this period was under different anspices than those attending the pre- ceding legislatures. Then the excitement of establishing a government and maintaining it according to his peculiar political notions turned the citizen's mind away from self; now, at the dawn of commercial and agricultural progress, political passions slumbered, and each bent all his energies to the furthering of his material prosperity. The broad prairies and timber belts of the lately ceded lands of the Sioux invited the hardy and the brave to make homes for themselves and their children.
Settlements .- Among the first settlements were those
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at Shakopee, Traverse des Sioux, Kasota,1 and Mankato2 in the Minnesota valley, and one, the largest of all, in the valley of the Rollingstone near Winona.3
The St. Peter River .- As the result of a memorial presented to Congress, the United States Senate originated a bill changing the name of the St. Peter river to that of Minnesota, and with the English the French form St. Pierre, as the voyageurs had called and the children of the bois brule' lisped it for nearly two centuries, was soon almost forgotten.
Change of Chief Justices .- Jerome Fuller had as- sumed the duties of Chief Justice, before the close of 1851, in place of Aaron Goodrich. In the latter part of this year, 1852, Henry Z. Hayner was appointed to supersede Fuller, whom the Senate failed to confirm for another term.
Fourth Legislature .- The fourth legislature organized January 5th, 1853, with Martin McLeod, of Lac qui Parle, as president of the Council and David Day, of Long Prairie, speaker of the House.
Gov. Ramsey's Message .- In his annual message, Gov. Ramsey vividly pictured the progress of the Territory from the inception of its government, and with almost prophetic vision lifted the veil from before its future his- tory. He thus speaks in the final paragraphs :-
"In concluding my last annual message, permit me to observe that it is now a little over three years and six months since it was my happiness to first land upon the soil of Minnesota. Not far from where we now are, a dozen frame houses, not all completed, and some eight or ten log buildings, with bark roofs, constituted the capital of the new territory, over whose destiny I had been com-
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
missioned to preside. One county,1 a remnant from Wis- consin territorial organization, alone afforded the ordinary facilities for the execution of the laws; and in and around its seat of justice resided the bulk of our scattered popula- tion. Within this single county were embraced all the lands white men were privileged to till, while between them and the broad rich hunting grounds of untutored sav- ages, rolled the River of Rivers,2 here as majestic in its northern youth as in its more southern maturity. Emphat- ically new and wild appeared everything to the incomers from older communities; and a not least novel feature of the scene was the motley humanity partially filling these streets-the blankets and painted faces of Indians, and the red sashes and moccasins of French voyageurs and half- breeds, greatly predominating over the less picturesque costume of the Anglo-American race. But even while strangers yet looked, the elements of a mighty change were working, and civilization with its hundred arms was commencing its resistless and beneficent empire.
" The fabled magic of the Eastern tale, that renewed a palace in a single night, only can parallel the reality of this growth and progress.
" In forty-one months the few bark-roofed huts have been transformed into a city of thousands. In forty-one months have condensed a whole century of achieve- ments, calculated by the old world's calendar of progress -- a government proclaimed in the wilderness, a judiciary organized, a legislature constituted, a comprehensive code of laws digested and adopted, our population quintupled, cities and towns springing up on every hand, and steam with its revolving arms, in its season, daily fretting the
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THE TERRITORY.
bosom of the Mississippi, in bearing fresh crowds of men and merchandise within our borders."
Prohibition .- The prohibitory liquor law, previously mentioned, having been adjudged unconstitutional by Chief Justice Hayner, a vain attempt was made to pass another less objectionable.
Proposed Division of School Funds .- Bishop Cretin1 of the Roman Catholic church, ably supported by his fol- lowers, endeavored to secure the passage of a bill provid- ing for a division of the public school funds that should al- low part of them to be applied in the support of parochial schools. The principal plea was that those who, by reason of religious scruples, sent their children to the latter schools, were still forced to support by taxation the public schools from which they derived no direct benefit. Al- though honorably submitted to the legislature, a bill so undemocratic in its implied doctrines caused no little ex- citement and debate, and met at last with failure.
Gov. Gorman. - Franklin Pierce had now become Presi- dent of the United States, and following strictly the Jackson- ian principle,1 removed Gov. Ramsey and his colleagues and appointed as governor Willis A. Gorman of Indiana, a Ken- tuckian by birth, who had served as an officer in the Mex- GOV, GORMAN ican war. The new Chief Justice was William H. Welch of Minnesota, and the Associates Moses Sherburne, of
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
Maine, and Andrew G. Chatfield, of Wisconsin; but R. R. Nelson and Charles E. Flandrau, both of Minnesota, were the Associates during the last year of the Territory.
Removal of the Sioux .- When the summer months had passed, and the first frosts were tinging the forests, the Sioux in compliance with their lately made treaties de- serted the villages of their forefathers on the Mississippi and lower Minnesota, and sought their reservations in the upper valley of the last mentioned stream. Hard in their wake flowed the tide of eager and happy immigrants. Neither race mistrusted how near the days were at hand when their mournful annals would darken the pages of history, and all their joy be turned to sorrow.
Delegates to Congress .- In October of this year, Hen- ry M. Rice was elected delegate to Congress. He was the successor of Sibley, and therefore the second delegate of the Territory. He held the position until the spring of 1857, and then gave place to W. W. Kingsbury, the third and last delegate.
Fifth Legislature .- The territorial Capitol was ready for occupation when the fifth legislature met, January 4th, 1854. S. B. Olmsted, of Belle Prairie, was elected presi- dent of the Council, and N. C. D. Taylor, of Taylor's Falls speaker of the House.
Gov. Gorman's Message .- In his first annual message Gov. Gorman urged speedy legislation in behalf of educa- tion, and the construction of railroads to meet the constant- ly increasing demands for transportation toward the eastern sea-board.
Northwestern R. R. Co .- The latter question became the all absorbing topic of the season, but only in its last moments, after the hour of midnight, was a definite step
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taken in the chartering of the Minnesota & Northwestern Railroad Company. It proved to be in more senses than one a deed of night, whose baneful influence for years brooded like a night mare over the seat of government, and on more than one occasion aroused political passion to an intense fever heat. Nevertheless, to the surprise of all, the gov- ernor signed the bill.
President Fillmore's Visit .- In the month of June Ex- President Fillmore and a party of distinguished scholars, among whom was the historian Bancroft, vis- ited St. Paul and the scenes about St. Anthony Falls. Ev- erything wore a gala day aspect, and the people gave them- selves over to enjoyment. But hardly had their guests de- parted, and they themselves ceased to build air castles of future greatness after the magnificent specifications laid down in the polite and flattering speeches of the preceding days, ere trouble began to brew in the halls of Congress over the railroad interests of Minnesota.
Land Grants .- Now it must be understood that in their anxiety to foster commercial and other interests the legis- lature of the Territory had granted the Minnesota & North- western Company powers of an extraordinary kind, and had promised to grant it all lands which should thereafter be given Minnesota by the national government to aid in constructing railroads as well as all those lands of that character then possessed by the Territory.
Congress Interferes .- A bill had been wisely framed in the United States House of Representatives to prevent such a monopoly, but either through fraud or careless engrossing the alteration of certain words destroyed its whole tenor. The suspicions of Congress were aroused, and in consequence the bill was repealed. The company
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
in question denied the right of Congress to repeal the act after said company had complied with its provisions; and shortly afterward when the United States authorities entered into litigation with the company for alleged tres- pass on that part of the national domain lying within Goodhue county, the matter was decided by Chief Justice Welch, of Minnesota, in favor of the defendants. The whole question was finally submitted to the United States Supreme Court, but was withdrawn by the attorney-gen- eral before a decision had been reached. So the company, for the time being, held the field.
Sixth Legislature .- The sixth legislature convened on the 3d of January, 1855, and organized with William P. Murray, of St. Paul, for president of the Council and James S. Norris, of Cottage Grove, speaker of the House. A year had not sufficed to quell the political storm aroused by the railroad legislation, territorial and national, of the preceding season, and it now raged with renewed energy.
Gorman's Veto .- Gov. Gorman, evidently awakened to a full conviction of the serious dangers likely to ensue in the future history of the Commonwealth should the acts already passed not be hedged in by safeguards, was as vigorous in his opposition to the new legislation shaping itself in behalf of the Minnesota & Northwestern Company as he had previously been active in support of the old. He promptly vetoed a bill which the legislature had passed to amend the company's charter; but on the 21st of Feb- ruary, it was carried over his veto by the required two- thirds majority.
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