USA > Minnesota > Hennepin County > Minneapolis > Personal recollections of Minnesota and its people : and early history of Minneapolis > Part 23
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On the 22d of January a large meeting was held in Minne- apolis, by the citizens, protesting against a bill that had been introduced and was likely to pass through congress, granting a large amount of land to the Minnesota and Northwestern railroad company. This was a Minnesota company, the
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charter of which had previously been granted by the terri- torial legislature. Messrs. Joel B. Bassett, E. Hedderly, Dr. H. Fletcher, Isaac Brown, and B. E. Messer, made speeches against the passage of the bill. This was the first measure taken by congress which ended in subsequent sessions of that body granting to this state several millions of acres of the public domain to aid in building railroads.
On the 27th of January Frederick, youngest son of D. M. Coolbaugh, died aged six years.
The Winnebago chief Winneshiek, and six of the principal men of his tribe, arrived in St. Anthony on the 25th. They were on their way to Washington for the purpose of a treaty with the United States government with reference to their lands. Winneshiek declared that his people could not and would not remain at Long Prairie. Neither the government nor he could prevent them from leaving their reservation, which they hated so thoroughly, and until a new and better home should be selected for his nation the whites above the Falls of St. Anthony must expect to be more or less visited by members of his tribe.
Two men by the name of John Burke and John Banvil, working in the pineries for Leonard Day of St. Anthony, were killed by the Indians on Rum river.
Two of the pastors of the churches at the Falls, Rev. J. C. Whitney of Minneapolis, and Rev. J. B. Mills of St. Anthony, and presiding elder Rev. David Brooks who resided in St. Anthony, each received presents of valuable sleighs this winter.
On the 15th of February the gratifying news was received of the extending of the preemption acts by congress to settlers on the recent Fort Snelling reservation. This secured to each settler his home.
The claim association, which had accomplished such a great benefit to the settlers, was immediately dissolved on the news of the passage of the preemption law, which was received with great satisfaction by the settlers. Public meetings were held and many thanks bestowed upon Henry M. Rice, Frank- lin Steele, Dr. A. E. Ames and others who were instrumental in pushing the bill through congress. The members of the national house of representatives from Illinois, E. B. Wash-
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burne, Wm. A. Richardson, and Col. Thos. H. Benton of Missouri, took part in the debate and warmly advocated the interests of the settlers. Mr. Rice made several speeches in their favor. In the senate Mr. Stuart of Michigan, Stephen A. Douglas and Gen. Jas. Shields of Illinois, and Cooper of Pennsylvania, advocated the passage of the bill, while Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, and Senator Walker of Wisconsin, favored an amendment that would have been fatal to the bill.
About the same time of the news of the passage of the bill through congress bringing relief to the settlers in Henne- pin county, word was received that the delegation that had been sent to the Ohio river for a steamboat, had been success- ful, and the Falls City, Captain J. B. Gilbert, would arrive at the Falls on the opening of navigation. This important announcement was as follows :
"For St. Anthony, M. T., direct, and all landings on the "upper Mississippi. The new and substantial steamer Falls "City, now being built and finished at Wellsville, Ohio, J. B. "Gilbert, master, will leave Pittsburgh for the above and all "intermediate landings, on the opening of navigation of the "upper Mississippi. For freight or passage apply on board, " or to John Flack, Pittsburgh, R. Cutler or P. F. Geisse, Wells- "ville, Ohio, W. Eberhart, Rock Island, Illinois, Geo. R. "West & Co., Dubuque, Iowa, R. P. Upton, Z. E. B. Nash, "D. E. Moulton, St. Anthony Falls ; E. Murphy, John "Jackins, Minneapolis ; Burbank & Co., St. Paul. The Falls "City is an entirely new and speedy boat ; powerful " machinery, built by Geisse, of very light draught, excellent " accommodations, will be splendidly furnished and finished, " built expressly for the St. Anthony steamboat company, " under the immediate supervision of R. Cutler, engineer ; "and will run as a regular packet from Rock Island or " Dubuque to the Falls of St. Anthony, through the season, " and be manned by careful and reliable officers and men."
At last the fond hopes of the people at the head of naviga- tion were about to be realized.
Dr. Ames arrived home from Washington March 1, having been entirely successful in his mission to Washington. A bill had been introduced in the legislature which, had it become a law, would have changed the relations of St. Anthony
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to us on the west bank of the river for many years, if not for all time to come. The provisions of this bill were to make a new county out of Benton and Ramsey. The southern line was at Denoyer's ; the northern a mile south of Itaska ; the eastern the Mississippi river ; the western at the junction of the two branches of Rum river ; with the county-seat at St. Anthony. Probably with a little stronger effort on the part of the citizens of St. Anthony, the bill would have passed the legislature. With two county-seats at the Falls the prosperity would have been increased, but it is doubtful if there would have been a matrimonial alliance between the two cities.
There were fifty-one teams in the pineries from St. Anthony during the winter. A mill was commenced at the junction of Crow river with the Mississippi, by E. H. Robinson and John Baxter.
ST. ANTHONY BECOMES A CITY.
On the 4th of March Dr. Ames arrived from Washington. St. Anthony was no longer a village; the legislature had granted a city charter to the place. At the first city election Henry T. Welles was elected mayor over John Rollins by a small majority. Both candidates were very popular. The other officers were Lardner Bostwick, city justice ; John Orth and Benjamin Spencer, aldermen from the first ward ; Daniel Stanchfield and Edward Lippencott, from the second ward ; Robert W. Cummings and Caleb D. Dorr, from the third ward. The city council at its first session selected W. F. Brawley for city clerk, Dr. Ira Kingsley for treasurer, S. W. Farnham for assessor, B. J. Brown for marshal, E. L. Hall for city attorney, Z. E. B. Nash for collector, Isaac Gilpatrick for street supervisor, and Geo. D. Bowman for city printer.
A terrific wind-storm on Sunday, March 21st, swept over Minneapolis. The roadway of the new suspension-bridge was forced from the cables, the castings to which the suspen- sion wires were fastened giving way about midway between the towns on either bank of the river. This was the most severe storm that has ever passed over Minneapolis since its settlement.
On the 27th of March the Republican party in Minnesota was organized in Central hall in St. Anthony. Wm. R. Marshall occupied the chair.
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A Farmers' Club, the first in Minnesota, was established in Minneapolis with Dr. Ames president, N. E. Stoddard, Chas. Hoag, and . S. W. Case, vice-presidents ; Allen Harmon, treasurer, and Edward Murphy secretary. This was the parent of these organizations, not only in Minnesota, but the whole northwest, and was a real benefit to the farmers.
Holy Trinity church in St. Anthony was consecrated the first Sabbath in April, by Bishop Kemper of Wisconsin.
The citizens on both banks of the river met with a great loss in the death of Shelton Hollister, one of the most prom- ising young business men in the territory. Mr. Hollister had only been married a short time. His death occurred April 20.
The Minnetonka mills were destroyed by fire April 2d ; and about the same time the stable of Mr. John Dugan of Rich- field took fire from a candle in the hands of his son while taking care of the horses, and the stable, horses, and boy were soon reduced to ashes. While endeavoring to save the boy, Mr. and Mrs. Dugan and another son were badly burned.
Hon. Martin. McLeod, long an Indian trader, abandoned that business and settled on his farm at Bloomington.
The trustees of the district school in Minneapolis secured the services of Mrs. Hubbel, from Connecticut, as teacher for the spring and summer terms. Miss Boyington remained as principal in the select-school.
The two new steamers, the H. M. Rice and the North Star, with the Governor Ramsey, engaged in the trade from the Falls to Sauk Rapids. Mr. Calvin Church established a daily stage-line from Minneapolis to St. Paul, greatly to the con- venience of the citizens of both places. In consequence of the destruction of the roadway on the suspension-bridge it became necessary for Captain Tapper to resume service with his ferry again. Rev. Seth Barnes, a prominent universalist clergyman, arrived in St. Anthony. He is a son-in-law of Ezra Dorman.
The proper instructions having been received from Wash- ington, by the local officers of the land-department, the settlers on the late reservation commenced proving up their pre- emptions. So rapidly were their homesteads entered that by the 15th of May most of them had their duplicates.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
EXPLORING EXPEDITION WESTWARD THROUGH THE BIG WOODS.
Now that my old ferry farm could be no longer used for agricultural purposes, I was anxious to secure another farm, and after consulting with Hon. Martin McLeod, who was somewhat acquainted with the country west of Minneapolis, it was decided to prospect in the then comparatively unex- plored' country west and southwest of Minneapolis. I say comparatively unexplored, because only the missionaries, the Indian traders, and the voyageurs, had passed over that region. PROMOTERS OF THE ENTERPRISE AND MEMBERS OF THE PARTY.
During the early part of May there had arrived in Minne- sota, from different parts of the Union, several gentlemen who wanted to select homes and move west with their families. Among them were Hon. Samuel Mayall, a member of congress from Maine, his brother James H. Mayall, state senator Vinton, also from Maine, Andrew J. Bell of Virginia, and several others, who desired to join me in the expedition. Their object and mine was to locate in a new country where there was rich agricultural land, and where no claims had been taken. Mr. McLeod was to be the guide of the party, the members of which were James H. Mayall, M. Vinton, Isaac B. Edwards, A. J. Bell, Hon. Martin McLeod, and John H. Stevens, with George Parks as teamster.
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIG WOODS.
The party left Minneapolis on the morning of the 17th of May. The first night they encamped at nine-mile-creek. On the morning of the second day they were joined by the
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one who was to guide them through the wilderness to the promised land. The county of McLeod bears his worthy name. A man of noble form, commanding presence, cultured intellect, he was dignified, eloquent, persuasive, charming. The second day's journey brought us to a brook near where the village of Carver now stands. From this point, on the morning of the third day we commenced the difficult journey through the big woods. Turning a due west course, on the 19th, with facilities to clear the way for teams, the way was toilsome to those who were unaccustomed to swinging the axe, and unused to felling trees. Before noon all hands were blistered, and when twilight came we were only eight miles on the way. Ethiopians never had faces of more sable hue. We camped for the night on the shores of what is now known as Lake Benton, since included in the Lutz farm. During the next day's journey we came to a curious ancient building of huge oak-logs, in the dense forest. It was two stories high, without doors or windows, the only entrance being at the top. Evidently it was the work of the last century, for J. S. Let- ford, a member of the legislature from Carver county, found in the neighborhood of the strange structure, in the centre of a maple tree he had cut down, and which was at least a hundred and fifty years old, a pistol of French manufacture. It was probably concealed in a sapling and the growth of the tree had encircled the weapon. On the evening of the 20th we camped by a lake, and wild animals prowled around us all night long, in consequence of which Mr. McLeod called the place of our discomfort Tiger Lake, a name it bears to this day.
THE HOME OF THE BUFFALO.
Early on the morning of the 21st we found an Indian trail and followed it through the forest to the prairie. From the dense, shady, native woods, to the open, smooth, sunny plains, the change was so sudden, and the contrast so great, that a new world of wondrous beauty seemed open to our view. For three days we had traveled in the heavy belt of timber which extended from the cloudy waters of the Minnesota river to the borders of the northwestern open country called by the red men Ta-tonka-ka-ga-pi, or the home of the buffalo. From the foliage overhead, trembling in the breeze, with glimpses
.
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of blue sky beyond, we had come to a groundwork of living green o'ertopped with bright, delicate flowers that gracefully yielded to caresses of the gentle zephyrs that wafted their fragrance to us, as we stood with uncovered heads, enchanted by our first view of the lonely, lovely wilderness, now first visited by white men for settlement.
A few days previous to our toilsome journey through the woods a terribly destructive fire had occurred which swept across a portion of the timber land over which we traveled. It was said to have originated in a wigwam midway between the Minnesota river and the prairie. The fire left scars upon the larger trees which are visible to this day. In crossing the burnt district every step taken, and every blow of the axe, was accompanied by a shower of soot blacker than the rich soil of that region that produced such abundant harvests in after years. The deep, rich loam, when roads were laid out over the route that we traveled, when soaked by copious rains, caused the bottom of the highways to fall out.
TAKING POSSESSION OF A NATURAL LAWN AND PARK.
The lovely vision of the prairie, dotted with groves, extend- ing far out to the western horizon, gave assurance that the time was near when this fair domain would be the happy abode of man. This pioneer party predicted that before the snows of another winter should whiten the landscape, or the rainbows of summer cease to arch the clouds with a halo of glory, this seeming fairy land would teem with an enlightened class of immigrants ; a prophecy soon fulfilled, for the first prairie team was engineered through the woods to that land of promise on the 11th of June, by a man who introduced to the present townsite of Glencoe a cradle, and was the father of the first white human flower in that region that blossomed with a smile upon its mother's bosom. That father is now a resident capitalist of California, Wm. S. Chapman, and that babe, grown to maturity, is the wife of a son of U. S. Grant.
THE TOWNSITE OF GLENCOE.
There was a diversity of opinion as to the point which we should select for the center of the colony we proposed to introduce. We were satisfied with the soil, timber, prairie and water. Some of the party wanted to establish the proposed townsite a short distance west of the crossing of
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Buffalo creek ; others were favorable to the peninsula-shaped prairie that extended into the timber three or four miles up the stream from the crossing. After a thorough examination of the adjoining country it was decided to select the last- named point. This was the origin of Glencoe. Each member of the party selected a claim in the vicinity. We continued our journey to a point on the Minnesota river near Traverse des Sioux, with a view that if a more desirable location could be found we would abandon the one already made. We skirted the timber to High-Island Lake, now New Auburn, some ten miles. From the lake we went directly to the Min- nesota river, where the city of St. Peter now stands, where we arrived the second day out from the lake. From this point we followed the river to Bloomington Ferry, and thence home. The entire distance traveled presented continued inducements to occupy farms, but we could not improve on the selection already made. Vigorous measures were taken to call the attention of immigrants to the advantages of the newly-explored country for agriculture. Our efforts were attended with success, and by fall settlers had located along" the route we had traveled, to a surprising extent. That sec- tion is now among the most favored agricultural communities. of a favored state.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
MINNEAPOLIS PUTTING ON METROPOLITAN AIRS.
Though absent from Minneapolis only two weeks, we found more buildings in process of erection than there was in the place when we left. We found, too, that the village had, what it never contained before, a burglar, and a sneak-thief. The store of Wm. D. Babbitt was broken open, one night in May, and some two hundred dollars in money stolen ; and a sneak-thief took from a boarder at Mr. Bushnell's hotel three hundred dollars. These were the first depredations of this character in Minneapolis. ' A span of horses had also been stolen. It is singular that neither the sneak-thief, the burglar or the horse-thief were ever discovered in such a way that they could be punished.
Just about this time a young man committed suicide by cutting his throat, another attempted to cross the river in a canoe and was drowned, and a man died from the effects of strong drink.
Up to this time we had been proud of our record ; but Minneapolis was no longer an infant, and it could not expect to retain its innocence and purity when we could no longer select the persons we wished to have make homes with us. Again, in these early days, the prosperous cities away up north were infested, during the summer, with persons known in New Orleans as wharf-rats, who came up the Mississippi early in the spring and returned late in the fall. Heretofore St. Anthony and Minneapolis had not been of sufficient size to attract the attention of these light-fingered gentry.
The most important event that occurred here in May of
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this year was the importation by Captain Rollins, from Iowa and Illinois, by steamer to the St. Anthony steamboat landing, of two thousand bushels of wheat, to be ground at the Hen- nepin Island flouring-mill, of which Captain Rollins was one of the proprietors. This importation of grain, on the 26th, was the subject of general comment by the business men of that day in this vicinity. . The enterprise was a large one for those times.
There was not sufficient wheat raised by the home farmers to supply the first merchant mill built at the Falls, and the owners of the mill had to depend upon Illinois and Iowa to supply the demand. How different in the same locality in 1888, when there was delivered at the Falls of St. Anthony 44,552,730 bushels of wheat, all the product of the northwest, and of this large amount there was manufactured at the Falls 7,099,180 barrels of flour, one-third of which was exported to the old world to feed the hungry inhabitants of Europe. The combined daily capacity of the twenty-two flour mills at the Falls, in 1888, was 37,475 barrels ; one of them, the Pillsbury A, is the largest mill in the world, with a daily capacity of 7,200 barrels ; while the ancient mill (and it was a large one for the times) was incapable of turning out more than one hundred barrels per day, and was idle a portion of the time from inability of its owners to secure enough wheat to keep it running.
During the first half of the year several young couples in Minneapolis wisely concluded to add to their felicity wed- ded bliss. Among them were Nelson Pratt and Mary A. Midwood, Geo. W. Townsend and Martha E. Stough, Joseph LeDuc and Elizabeth Bertram, Eli B. Gifford and Mary F. Judd, Josiah P. Harrison and Jane E. Haycock, and Edgar Nash and Virginia V. Bartholomew.
Sheriff Messer completed the census of Hennepin county early in the summer, and his returns indicated a population of 4,171-a large number considering that so short a time had elapsed since the occupancy of the county by the native red men. Not an acre of her lands were brought into market ยท until the spring of 1855.
The suspension-bridge was repaired and open to travel early in the summer. The engineer of the bridge, Mr.
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Griffiths, was presented with a valuable token of appreciation of his services, by Mr. Sibley and other directors, on the occasion of the completion of the bridge. There were two other bridges built over the Mississippi, a year or two after- wards ; one opposite Christmas' addition to Minneapolis, and the other opposite Calvin A. Tuttle's St. Anthony residence ; . but the suspension-bridge outlived them, and had not the city council, in 1875, decided to replace it by a larger structure, it would undoubtedly have been a good bridge up to this time.
ARRIVAL OF CAPITALISTS AND PROFESSIONAL MEN.
As the summer approached, there arrived in Minneapolis Simon P. Snyder and Wm. K. McFarlane, both natives of Pennsylvania. These gentlemen immediately entered into partnership, and for several years were the most active busi- ness men in Minneapolis. Their business was confined to operations in real-estate and banking. This firm contributed very largely in developing the resources of Minneapolis, and for that matter the whole territory. They employed a large capital in their business, and having the utmost confidence in the country, they adopted measures to spread a knowledge of the advantages of the territory throughout the Union by dis-
tributing a large number of circulars in most of the states. These papers contained articles setting forth the advantages of the immediate neighborhood of the Falls of St. Anthony, as well as the whole territory ; and probably to Messrs. Snyder & McFarlane are the citizens of Minneapolis more indebted than to any others for the rapid progress in the early industries on the west side of the Falls. Nor were their good works confined to Minneapolis ; they extended all over the territory. To these men are many farmers indebted for the money with which they entered their land.
. Soon after the Messrs. Snyder & McFarlane had selected Minneapolis as their business center, Hon. C. H. Pettit came and at once opened a banking-house. Mr. Pettit was one of the prominent men of the early days of Minneapolis, and worked for everything that could benefit the place.
H. B. Hancock and Uriah Thomas selected Minneapolis as their residence about the same time. Their business was dealing in real estate and loaning money. In addition, Mr.
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Hancock was an accomplished lawyer. This firm was for several years very prominent in business circles of the neigh- borhood, and contributed, as did Messrs. Snyder & McFarlane and Pettit, very much to the prosperity of the place. These three firms introduced into Minneapolis a good deal of capi- tal, and coming here, as they did, when the settlers required every dollar they could possibly raise to pay the government for their land, which had just come into market, their arrival was most welcome, not only to those who had to prove up their preemptions, but to the business men generally, as it afforded them an opportunity which had never existed before of obtaining money at reasonable rates of interest whenever the emergency of their business required it.
Early this summer another physician was introduced into Minneapolis, Dr. W. H. Leonard who, from the time of his arrival to this day has occupied a high position in the pro- fession. This addition to the citizenship of Minneapolis gave us three resident physicians, viz .: Dr. A. E. Ames, Dr. J. S. Elliott, and Dr. Wm. H. Leonard.
There was a great scarcity of mechanics early in this build- ing season, so that when L. T. Tabour and J. Doty came up from the lower country and decided to remain in Minneapolis, those who had a good deal of masonry work found no diffi- culty in its completion. Mr. Tabour is still an honored citizen of Minneapolis.
Hon. Lewis Harrington, of Hutchinson, came to Minne- apolis at this time, and immediately occupied a prominent position in the engineering requirements of the county. It will be readily seen that the village was fortunate in the high class of immigration in the early summer of 1855.
AN ABOLITION CONVENTION CREATES A FLURRY.
For the celebration of the Fourth of July a committee, of which W. D. Babbitt was chairman, secured the loan of a cannon from the commanding officer at Fort Snelling, which was used at the opening of an abolition convention held here on that day. This circumstance created quite an excitement in the community, and angered the military authorities at Fort Snelling. The gun was, however, used previous to the meeting in welcoming the day which the members of all political parties were celebrating. This fact coming to the
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