USA > Minnesota > Illustrated history of Minnesota, a hand-book for citizens and general readers > Part 7
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The Charter Annulled .- Meanwhile, the railroad af- fairs of Minnesota were being agitated in Congress. The House of Representatives passed a resolution declaring the
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charter of the Northwestern Company null, but the Sen- ate failed to concur. The people of the Territory, blind to all dangers, and thinking only of the great need for lines of communication which would give impetus to its settlement and commercial development, received the news of this victory with triumphant demonstrations.
Republican Party Organized .- The 29th of March witnessed the dawn in Minnesota of that new political era fast hurrying the nation into the maelstrom of civil conflict; for on that day the Republican party organized in convention at St. Anthony. Subject to the call of this convention, another convened on the 25th of July, at which time W. R. Marshall received the nomination of delegate to Congress. He was opposed by the Democaatic nomi- nee David Olmsted and the old incumbent Henry M. Rice,
who in the subsequent election won the position over both competitors.
Hazelwood Republic .- In IS54, when the mission houses at Lac qui Parle had accidently been consumed by fire, the missionaries and In- dians of that community set- tled on the banks of Rush Brook, or Hazel Run, which enters the Minnesota from the south-west five or six miles from the Yellow Medicine Agency.
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LITTLE PAUL.
The world has known many strange governments, but none stranger or more suggestive of possibilities in Indian
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civilization than that at this same mission on the banks of Hazel Run. Dr. Riggs speaks of it in these terms :-
"We had such a respectable community of young men, who had cut off their hair and exchanged the dress of the Dakotas for that of the white men, and whose wants now were very different from the annuity Dakotas generally, that we took measures to organize them into a separate band, which we called the Hazelwood Republic. They elected their President for two years, and other needed of- ficers, and were without any difficulty recognized by the agent as a separate band. A number of these men were half-breeds, who were, by the organic law of Minnesota, citizens. The Constitution of the State provided that In- dians also might become citizens by satisfying a court of their progress in civilization.
"A few years after the organization of this civilized com- munity, I took eight or ten of the men to meet the court at Mankato; but the court deciding that a knowledge of Eng- lish was necessary to comply with the laws of the State, only one of my men was passed into citizenship."
Little Paul, Ma-za-koo-ta-ma-ne, a noted sub-chief of the Sissetons, still living, was the President of the little re- public. He it is who is spoken of later as one who helped to ransom Miss Gardner from Inkpadoota's band, and he it is who spoke so eloquently for the captives in the great massacre of 1862. No shrewder diplomat or gifted orator ever ruled more worthily, even over enlightened people.
Seventh Legislature .- John B. Brisbin, of St. Paul. was the president of the seventh legislative Council, and Charles Gardiner, of Westervelt,1 speaker of the House.
Again by far the greater part of the legislative session
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was squandered in the never ending debate and intriguing over the affairs of the Northwestern Railroad.
Gov. Gorman's Views .- The governor in his annual message clearly laid the matter before the people. He showed them that he had from the beginning been deeply impressed by the gravity of the situation, and while he had sanctioned by his signature certain amendments which were calculated to protect the interests of the Common- wealth against the encroachments of a doubtful corpora- tion, still lamented that other safeguards had not been pro- vided. By the aid of earnest private and public citizens, he had secured a reversion, to the future state, of two per cent. on the gross receipts of the company, which if the latter prospered would relieve the citizens from the bur- dens of state taxation. On the other hand, if the company failed to construct the road, and were made to forfeit in consequence the lands promised to them, then, too, the state would suffer no harm. Nevertheless, he had little faith in their professions of ability to build the road, nor had the means employed by them to secure desired ends met with his approval in any way, and he trusted such means never would.
Popular Themes .- In the brief intervals of this agi- tation, the legislator found pastime with the private citizen in discussing another theme; namely, the division of Min- nesota into two territories along the forty-sixth parallel of latitude. But territorial days began speedily to wane; the advent in the summer months of a new and wide-spread agitation of the question of admission into the Union was like the sudden appearing of a bright star of hope in the settler's sky before which all others paled into insignificance.
Eighth Legislature .- The eighth legislature convened
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on the 7th of January, IS57. John B. Brisbin president of the preceding council held the same position in this, and Joseph W. Furber the speaker of the first territorial legis- lature was now made speaker of the last.
Attempted Change of Capital .- The most exciting bill of the session was one to remove the permanent seat of government from St. Paul to St. Peter. It passed the House, but when called for in the course of Council pro- ceedings could not be properly reported by the committee in charge; for the chairman of that committee, the Hon. Joseph Rolette of Pembina, had absented himself, carrying with him the only properly enrolled form of the bill. A call of the Council was moved, and Rolette still being absent, the president ordered the sergeant-at-arms to report him in his seat. This was Saturday, February 2Sth; but from that time on until the close of Thursday, March 5th, all other business was suspended. Throughout the whole time the members did not leave the Council chamber, but ate and slept there like soldiers on the field of battle who rest on their arms when danger is imminent. Wearied at last, they adjourned for a day. On Saturday they met for the last time. Rolette was still absent, and warned that the hours of the legal period of session were fast ebbing away, the stubborn spirit of the Council yielded, the usual course of business was resumed, and the famous bill was lost.
Inkpadoota Massacre .- Five miles from Mankato in a wild gorge surrounded by steep, rocky hills, are the beautiful cascades of Minneopa.1 Below the large fall, at the foot of a sandstone cliff where the hill and forest shad- ows make perpetual twilight, there is a little grotto which, if the settler's story be true, witnessed the inception of one
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of the darkest frontier tragedies. Here, he will tell you, Inkpadoota,2 a roving Dakota chief of the Wapekute band, planned the frightful massacre of Spirit Lake, Iowa, and Springfield,3 Minnesota.
In the early spring time, the people of those settlements
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MINNEOPA FALLS.
had offended Inkpadoota; and in the month of March he sought revenge. The band first attacked a party of eleven white men in a cabin, killing all as they fled from the burn- ing structure. Then they went successively to the homes
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of the Gardner, Thatcher, Nobles, and Marble families, killing all save the mothers of the last three households and Miss Abbie Gardner. This was on the shores of Spirit Lake. A man by the name of Markham alarmed the set- tlement of Springfield, situated ten miles up the Des Moines, but without avail; for many of its inhabitants were mas- sacred about the twenty-seventh of the month.
The whole frontier for a hundred miles to the eastward was panic-stricken. The settlers gathered in groups, and fortified themselves in their log cabins, or sought safety in the more densely populated communities. In the mean- time, a military expedition from Iowa and another from Ft. Ridgely, Minnesota, hastened to the scene of slaughter, where they found and buried over thirty persons.
Inkpadoota and his band were now far on their way to the Missouri, bearing with them the captive women, whom they treated most inhumanly. In crossing the Big Sioux, they shot Mrs. Thatcher in the stream, where she had fall- en through weakness; and not long after they murdered Mrs. Nobles. Two young men, Sounding Heavens and Grey Foot, of the Hazelwood mission at Lac qui Parle rescued Mrs. Marble; and two influential Indians, Paul+ and Otherday,5 who belonged to the same mission, traced Inkpadoota to the James river and ransomed Miss Gardner.
About the month of July, Inkpadoota's son, who had murdered Mrs. Nobles, pitched his camp on the Yellow Medicine. Agent Flandrau was apprised of the fact, and with a detachment of troops from Ft. Ridgely surrounded the unsuspecting criminal who was shot in his endeavor to escape. Maj. Sherman came up with a battery, and the whole command pitched camp. Near by, several hundred
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Yanktons had also encamped with their friends of the Up- per Agency.
The government insisted that the annuity6 Indians should pursue and punish Inkpadoota on pain of losing their pay- ments. This they did reluctantly, as many had sympathy for the marauder. Bad feeling was engendered, and it was increased by trouble that arose on account of a young brave having deliberately stabbed one of the sol- diers in Sherman's camp. The Indians struck their tents, and their heated councils foreboded an outbreak. Peace, however, was secured for the time being; but their passions smouldered on, ready to be fanned into flame by the least breath of discord; and the contempt they learned to feel for the soldiers was a source of misfortune to the whites in after days.
The Enabling Act .- On the 26th of February, IS57, the United States Senate passed an act enabling the people of Minnesota to form a state constitution previous to its ad- mission into the Union. By this act, the boundaries of the State were defined as at present, and it granted lands for the support of schools and the erec- tion of public buildings.
Gov. Medary .- By another act of the same session, alternate sections of land were granted for the construction of rail- roads within the State. To ap- GOV. MEDARY. portion this grant, and to consider matters relative to the new change of government, Gov. Gorman called an extra
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session of the legislature; but before it convened, April 27th, he was superseded by Samuel Medary, an appointee of President Buchanan.
Constitutional Conventions .-- On the first Monday of June, delegates were elected to the constitutional con- vention on the basis of two for each representative in the territorial legislature. According to a further provision of the enabling act, this convention was to meet on the second Monday of July. No hour was specified; so both the Re- publican and Democratic wings assembled in the Capitol at midnight. As a leader of the former, J. W. North en- deavored to call the convention to order, while the secre- tary of the Territory, Charles L. Chase, at the same mo- ment tried to do likewise in the interests of the latter. The Democrats finally withdrew, and organized a separate con- vention. Both carried on their deliberations in the Capitol for weeks, and at last, so courteous it is said had been the spirit prevailing throughout, they agreed on the adoption of the same constitution August 29th. It was ratified Oc- tober 13th by an almost unanimous vote of the people. The old territorial officers held over until the formal admission of the State. .
Act of Admission .- In January, 1858, the final bill for the admission of Minnesota was submitted to the United States Senate, but was retarded in its passage by Southern leaders. Nevertheless, it was successfully carried April 7th, and was signed by the President on the 11th of May. Thus the deed was done, and Minnesota entered a new and bright star in the galaxy.
ILLUSTRATED
HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
THE X TATE
I. SIBLEY'S ADMINISTRATION.
Gov. Sibley .- Henry HI. Sibley was born of New Eng- land parentage at Detroit, Michigan, February 20th, ISII. At the age of eighteen he was a clerk at Mackinaw in the service of the American Fur Company, and abont five years later became its resident agent at Mendota, Minne- sota, holding the position until the proposed organization
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of the Territory called him to Congress as a delegate of Wisconsin Territory. In the constitutional convention he presided over the Democratic wing, and in 1858 was declared governor of the State. His career as a delegate and mili- tary commander are recorded elsewhere in the course of this history. In later years he has been honorably identified with the regency of the University.
The New Era .- The be- ginning of the period upon which we are about to enter was a critical time in the affairs GOV. SIBLEY. of Minnesota, and demanded a firm hand and thoughtful mind to guide well the ship of state. The panic1 of 1857 had caused great stringency in the money markets of the United States, so that it became no easy task to negotiate loans for a new and struggling commonwealth whose future commercial status none could with certainty predict.
Unscrupulous capitalists, through the short-sighted lib- erality of the last territorial legislature, had secured all of the four million five hundred thousand acres of land grant- ed by Congress to aid in the construction of railroads. The inability of these capitalists to carry out their promises was soon proved; but the people through their representatives again listened to specious pleas.
In the legislature of IS58, the first in the history of the State, the public credit was pledged to the amount of five million dollars to further subsidize the delinquent railroad
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companies. As adopted, the Constitution forbade the loan of the State's credit in behalf of individuals or corporations; but by an amendment ratified by the people April 15th, this section was practically expunged. Thus no legal bar- rier prevented the negotiation of the five-million loan.
Issuing the Bonds .- The governor having refused to issue the pledged railroad bonds was compelled to do so by . a mandamus of the Supreme Court, Judge Flandrau dis- senting. This was in November, IS58. More than two million dollars worth were thrown upon a dull market, and even then the projected lines of transportation were but traceries on paper.
Normal Schools .- While the legislature and people were thus apparently absorbed in material affairs, they were not unmindful that the social advancement of a great commonwealth must be established on a thorough system of popular education; and they stood ready, to the extent in which they foresaw the need, to found and cherish any auxiliary institution of such a system. It must be owned that normal schools were not then in high repute. Yet an act was passed August 2d looking forward to the estalish- ment of three schools of that kind. These in due time were located at Winona, Mankato, and St. Cloud, those towns having met the requirements of the act by each donating five thousand dollars in money and lands to the institution it sought to secure.
International Transit .- To palliate the impetuous spirit of the people shown in the bestowal of the State's newly acquired domain and the loan of its credit, and to be fully impressed by the great advancement in facilities of travel and transportation made during the first quarter cen- tury of this period, one must understand that at this time
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THE NIGHT OAMP.
READY TO START FROM ST. PAUL.
HOMEWARD BOUND.
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the stage coach was the only passenger vehicle and the heavy wagon the only means of carrying freight to interior districts.
An overland route between St. Paul and Breckenridge on the Red River of the North, . was opened in June of 1859. -1-1-1! From the latter place a steamer conveyed mer- chandise to the distant territory of the Hudson Bay Company, whose fur traf- fic was also car- ried on by this
RED RIVER CARTS AT ST. PAUL. RESTING ON THE PRAIRIE.
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route. But even before this could be accomplished the machinery for the steamer had to be slowly carried by team from the Mississippi to the Red River. On the journey, the teamsters were obliged to spend many weary nights encamped in the deep snows of the western plains. This, too, was scarcely beyond the days of the dog train,1 and Red River cart trains? that were wont to go lumbering along the ever famous trail to the northward whose hollows, sleep-worn by the footsteps of a past generation, can still be traced through the under-bush of many a forest and over the sward of many a prairie.
II .- RAMSEY'S ADMINISTRATION.
Gov. Ramsey .- Alexander Ramsey was born near Har- risburg, Pennsylvania, September Sth, 1S15. He secured an academic education at La- fayette College, pursued a course of law at Carlisle, and was admitted to practice at the bar of Dauphin county.
Besides holding minor offi- cial positions in his native state, he served it as United States Representative in the 2Sth and 29th Congresses. President Taylor, as we have seen, ap- pointed him first governor of Minnesota Territory, and the GOV. RAMSEY. fall election of IS59 made him Since his governorship of the State, he has represented it twelve years in the United States Senate.
. Sibley's successor.
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In the administration of President Hayes, he filled the va- cancy made by the resignation of McCrary, secretary of war.
Ramsey's Inaugural .- In his inaugural address, Gov. Ramsey urged the legislature to provide some plan for set- tling the outstanding railroad bonds, lest in future years the holders should clamor ceaselessly at the doors of the leg- islature for payment in full, and if not granted raise a cry of repudiation which would be destructive to the State's credit. It was a possibility whose realization proved to be not far distant.
The State University .- This same legislature of 1860, the second in the history of the State, repealed the old act establishing the Territorial University, and on the basis of a new land grant from Congress, founded the State Uni- versity of to-day.
Third Legislature .- This legislature convened in Jan- uary and adjourned in March, 1861. Its most important acts related to the school system of the State. Among these were laws to regulate the sale of public school lands,1 of which there were two sections in each township exclusively devoted to the support of the lower or common schools besides the special grants made in favor of higher education.
A bill was passed creating the separate office of Super- intendent of Public Instruction, a position previously held ex-officio by the Chancellor of the University.
The Rebellion .- In the presidential election of 1860, the majority of the votes cast were for Lincoln; and now that Sumter had fallen, and the other states of the North were making speedy preparation for the conflict, Minnesota led the van1 in the greatest and most heroic struggle of modern
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times. Her brave frontier settlers whose forms were knit by toil and hardship, and whose eyes were sharp and hands quick in the use of the rifle, without hesitation left their peaceful homes already enveloped in the shadow of an ap- proaching calamity, and hastened to the defense of the na- tional capital. Gov. Ramsey was then in Washington, and offered President Lincoln the immediate assistance of a regiment. The offer was accepted; the message flew on the lightning's swift wings to Minnesota's loyal capital; the lieutenant governor at once issued a proclamation calling for troops, and on the 21st of June, the Ist Regiment fully organized and equipped started for the seat of war under the command of Col. W. A. Gorman, and became a potent factor in the great army then assembling on the banks of the Potomac.
Military Record of 1861 .- The Ist Regiment having gone into winter quarters at Alexandria,1 Virginia, was subsequently joined to Franklin's brigade, which in turn formed part of Heintzelman's division. The first memor- able campaign of Bull Run crowned this gallant regiment with laurels. Beyond Sudley Church, near Centerville, in supporting Rickett's battery, they were exposed to a galling fire of infantry and artillery while themselves engaging a portion of the enemy in a hand to hand conflict-never flinching, said their commanding officer, but retiring in good order after a loss of one-fifth of their number. Re- cruited at Washington, they were joined to a brigade com- manded by Gorman, now raised to the rank of brigadier- general, and formed a part of Stone's division, which was posted on the upper Potomac. Col. N. J. T. Dana super- seded Gorman in the immediate command of the regiment.
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It rendered efficient service in the vicinity of Edward's Ferry at the time of the battle at Ball's Bluff.
Meanwhile, the 2d Regiment had been organized under the command of Col. H. P. Van Cleve and ordered in Oc- tober to proceed to Louisville, to be united with the Army of the Ohio. The same month, a company of sharp-shooters, under Capt. F. Peteler, entered the 2d Regiment of that branch of the regular United States service, but was after- ward attached to the Ist Minnesota, with which it remained until both were mustered out.
The 3d Regiment was mustered in about November and moved south to Tennessee under the command of Col. Henry C. Lester.
Besides these troops, a company of light artillery, known as the Ist Battery, proceeded to St. Louis, and three com- panies of cavalry were raised and united to the 5th Iowa. These companies were commonly designated as Brackett's Cavalry.
Military Record of 1862 .- In the spring of 1862, the Ist Regiment moved from its winter quarters to Harper's Ferry, and crossing the Potomac joined Sedgwick's divis- ion. Shortly after, Col. Alfred Sully superseded Dana, who had been promoted. From Winchester, the regiment was called to join the army centering at Fortress Monroe, and afterward took part in the siege of Yorktown and distinguished itself in the fierce contests at Fair Oaks, Peach Orchard, and Savage Station. By order of Gen. McClellan, the 2d Company of Minnesota Sharpshooters were permanently incorporated with the regiment at Fair Oaks. When the base of operations was again changed to the Potomac, the regiment played an important part at Malvern Hill, Antietam, and Fredricksburg.
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The 2d Regiment in the month of January gallantly op- posed the enemy at close quarters in the desperate encoun- ter at Mill Spring, in April was at the siege of Corinth, and finally, transferred to the Army of the Tennesee, engaged in the battle of Perryville.
The Ist Battery, fighting persistently, aided in turning the tide of battle at Shiloh, and later was at both the April and October battles of Corinth.
The 4th and 5th Regiments, now reported at the seat of war, also won honorable distinction at these conflicts of Corinth and the intermediate one of Iuka. Col. John B. Sanborn commanded the 4th and Col. Lucius F. Hubbard the 5th.
The year's history of the 2d Battery was the same as that of the 2d Regiment as above recorded.
The 3d Regiment surrendered at Murfreesboro through the timidity of its commander or his lack of judgment, and after parole was sent home to serve in the war with the Sioux.
The Sioux Massacre .- It is not necessary to inform an intelligent Anglo-American as to the original character of that race of aborigines which has ever receded be- fore the westward march of civilization; much less is it essential to dwell long on the changes it has undergone in the lapse of centuries; for, from childhood, he has heard of its good and evil traits and often beheld them with his own eyes. Nevertheless, for our present purpose, it is fitting to glance briefly at changes which took place in the life of the Sioux after the settlement of Minnesota. We have considered from the advent of the voyageurs a growing dependence upon traders and a corresponding neglect of the chase; have notieed their transfer of broad territory to the
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national government and their confinement within the nar- row limits of two reservations. These two facts give us the key to their subsequent history.
Heartless traders, and no less fraudulent government agents, by presenting exorbitant and fictitious claims, de- prived them of their annuities; avaricious settlers, not sat- isfied with the fertile acres they already tilled, encroached on the reserves; and to crown all, after an unsuccessful hunt in the winter of 1861-62, gaunt famine and the Sioux stood face to face through many a bleak and weary day. No wonder they looked back with longing hearts to the plenteous days of the English and French alliances. If spring in any measure appeased their hunger it did not al- lay their passions, and when June came and the annuities which should have then been paid were not forthcoming, these passions waxed stronger and stronger. The traders refused them further credit. Even government officials taunted them in a cruel manner when they sought aid or redress.
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