The history of Mower County, Minnesota : illustrated, Part 5

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago : H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co.
Number of Pages: 1246

USA > Minnesota > Mower County > The history of Mower County, Minnesota : illustrated > Part 5

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

reported back to the house, the name "Minnesota" had been changed by Stephen A. Douglas to "Itasea." Mr. Martin imme- diately moved that the name "Minnesota" be placed in the bill in place of "Itasea." "Chippewa," "Jackson" and "Washington" were also proposed. After many motions, counter motions and amendments, "Minnesota" was placed in the bill, which with a minor change passed the house. In the senate it was rejected. A second attempt was made two years later. January 10, 1848, Stephen A. Douglas gave due notice to the senate that "at a future day " he would introduce a bill to establish the territory of Minnesota. He brought in the bill February 23. It was several times read, was amended, referred to committee and diseussed, but congress adjourned August 14 without taking ultimate action on the proposition.

In the meantime Wiseonsin was admitted to the Union May 29, 1848, and the western half of what was then St. Croix county was left outside the new state. The settled portions of the area thus eut off from Wisconsin by its admission to statehood privileges were in the southern part of the peninsula of land lying between the Mississippi and the St. Croix.

The people of this area were now confronted with a serious problem. As residents of the territory of Wisconsin they had enjoyed the privileges of citizenship in the United States. By the ereation of the state of Wisconsin they were disfranchised and left without the benefits of organized government. Thus, Stillwater, which had been the governmental seat of a growing county (St. Croix), was left outside the pale of organized law. Legal minds disagreed on the question of whether the minor eivil offieers, such as justiees of the peace, created under the territorial organization, were still qualified to exercise the authority of their positions. At a meeting held at St. Paul, in July, 1848, the citizens of that (then) village considered the necessity for the formation of a new territory. August 5 a meeting of citizens of the area west of the St. Croix was held at Stillwater, and it was decided to eall a general convention at that place, August 26, 1848, for a three-fold purpose: 1-To elect a territorial delegate to eongress. 2-To organize a territory with a name other than Wisconsin. 3-To determine whether the laws and organization of the old territory of Wisconsin were still in effect now that a part of that territory was organized as a state. In the call for this meeting, the signers called themselves, "We, the undersigned citizens of Minnesota territory." The meeting was held pursuant to the eall. Aetion was taken in regard to the first proposition by the election of II. H. Sibley, who was authorized to proceed to Wash- ington and use sueh efforts as were in his power to secure the organization of the territory of Minnesota. In regard to the

HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

second proposition a memorial was addressed to the president of the United States, stating the reasons why the organization of Minnesota territory was necessary. The third proposition pre- sented technical points worthy of the attention of the wisest legal minds. The state of Wisconsin had been organized, but the terri- tory of Wisconsin had not been abolished. Was not, therefore, the territory still in existence, and did not its organization and its laws still prevail in the part of the territory that had not been included in the state? If territorial government was in existence would it not give the residents thereof a better standing before the nation in their desire to become Minnesota territory? Might not this technicality give the delegate a seat in congress when otherwise he must, as simply the representative of an unorganized area, make his requests in the lobby and to the individual mem- bers? John Catlin, who had been secretary of the territory of Wisconsin before the organization of that state, declared that the territory still existed in the area not included in the organized state and that he was the acting governor. Accordingly, the people of the cut-off portion organized as the "Territory of Wis- consin," and named a day for the election of a delegate. In the closely contested election, held October 30, 1848, Sibley won out against Henry M. Rice and accordingly made his way to Wash- ington, technically from the "Territory of Wisconsin," actually as a representative of the proposed territory of Minnesota. As a matter of fact, indeed, Sibley, living at Mendota, had ceased to be a citizen of the territory of Wisconsin in 1838, when Iowa territory was created, and was a resident of the part of Iowa territory which the organization of the state of Iowa had left without a government, rather than of that territory in question (between the Mississippi and the St. Croix) which the admission of Wis- consin as a state had left without a government. Sibley was, how- ever, after much opposition, admitted to congress and given a seat January 15, 1849. He at once set about securing friends for the proposition to create Minnesota territory. December 4, 1848, a few days previous to Sibley's admission to congress, Stephen A. Donglas had announced that it was his intention to introduce anew a bill to establish the territory of Minnesota. Like the pre- vious attempt, this bill underwent various vicissitudes. As passed, March 3, 1849, the act creating the territory read as follows: "Be it enacted. * That from and after the passage of this act, all that part of the territory of the United States which lies within the following limits, to-wit: Beginning in the Mississippi river at a point where the line of 43º and 30' of north latitude crosses the same, thence running due west on said line, which is the northern boundary of the state of Iowa, to the northwest corner of the said state of lowa ; thence southerly along the west-

HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

ern boundary of said state to the point where said boundary strikes the Missouri river ; thenee up the middle of the main chan- nel of the Missouri river to the mouth of the White Earth river; thence up the middle of the main channel of the White Earth river to the boundary line between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain ; thenee east and south of east along the bound- ary line between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain to Lake Superior; thenee in a straight line to the northern- most point of the state of Wisconsin, in Lake Superior; thence along the western boundary of the state of Wisconsin to the Mississippi river; thence down the main ehannel of said river to the place of beginning, and the same is hereby erected into a temporary government by the name of the territory of Minnesota."

The executive power of the territory of Minnesota was vested in a governor, (appointed by the president, whose term of office was four years, unless sooner removed by the president), who was also superintendent of Indian affairs. The legislative power was vested in a governor and a legislative assembly, consisting of a council of nine members, whose term of office was two years, and a house of representatives of eighteen members, whose term of office was one year. It was provided that the number of mem- bers in the eouneil and the house might be increased by the legis- lative assembly from time to time in proportion to the inerease in population, but that the whole number should not exceed fifteen councillors and thirty-nine representatives. It was provided that the first election should be held at such time and place and be con- ducted in such manner as the governor should appoint and direct. and that the persons thus elected to the legislative assembly should meet at such place, and on such days as the governor should appoint, but thereafter the time and place and manner of holding and conducting all elections by the people, and the apportioning the representatives in the several counties and distriets, to the eouneil and house of representatives, according to the population, should be prescribed by law, as well as the day of the com- mencement of the regular sessions of the legislative assembly, but that no session should exceed sixty days.

Every white male inhabitant above the age of twenty-one, who was a resident of the territory at the time of the passage of the act organizing the same, was entitled to vote and eligible to office at the first election. But the qualification of voters and of holding office at all subsequent elections should be such as should be prescribed by the legislative assembly. It was provided by the act that all laws passed by the legislative assembly should be submitted to eongress, and if disapproved by it, should be null and of no effect. The laws in force in the territory of Wisconsin after

HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

the date of the admission of the state of Wisconsin were con- tinued to be valid and in operation in the territory of Minnesota so far as not incompatible with the provisions of the act of organi- zation of the territory of Minnesota, subject to be altered, modified or repealed by the governor and legislative assembly of said terri- tory. All justices of the peace, constables, sheriffs and all other judicial and ministerial officers who were in offiee within the limits of the territory at the time of law organizing the territory was approved were authorized and required to continue to exercise and perform the duties of their respective offiees as officers of the territory of Minnesota temporarily and until they, or others, should be appointed and qualified in the manner therein described or until their offices should be abolished.

The governor was given the veto power, and the council and house could pass a bill over his veto by a two-thirds vote. The judicial power of the territory was vested in a supreme court, district court, probate court and in justices of the peace. The supreme court consisted of a chief justice and two associate jus- tices, appointed by the president, whose term of office was four years and whose salary was $1,800 a year.

The territory was by the aet of organization required to be divided into three judicial districts, and the district court to be held therein by one of the judges of the supreme court at such times and places as might be prescribed by law, and the judges thereof were required to reside in the districts assigned to them. The clerks of said courts were appointed by the judges thereof.

The United States officers of the territory were a governor, secretary, chief justice, two associate justices, attorney and mar- shal, appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the senate of the United States. The governor received a salary of $1,500 a year as governor and $1,000 a year as superintendent of Indian affairs. The chief justice and associate justices and secretary received a salary of $1,800 a year, and the members of the legislative assembly $3 a day during their attendance upon the sessions thereof and $3 each day for every twenty miles trav- eled going to and returning therefrom.

State of Minnesota. The people of the territory of Minnesota were not long content with a territorial government. In the words of A. N. Winchell, "December 24, 1856, the delegate from the territory of Minnesota introduced a bill to authorize the people of that territory to form a constitution and state govern- ment. The bill limited the proposed state on the west by the Red River of the North and the Big Sioux river. It was referred to the committee on territories, of which Mr. Grow, of Pennsyl- vania, was chairman. January 31, 1857, the chairman reported a substitute, which differed from the original bill in no essential

1620831

HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

respect except in regard to the western boundary. The change there consisted in adopting a line through Traverse and Big Stone lakes, dne south from the latter to the Iowa line. The altered boundary cut off a narrow strip of territory, estimated by Mr. Grow to contain between five and six hundred square miles. Today the strip contains such towns as Sioux Falls, Watertown and Brookings. The substitute had a stormy voyage through con- gress, especially in the senate, but finally completed the trip on February 25, 1857."

The enabling aet, as passed and approved February 26, 1857, defined the boundaries of Minnesota as follows: "Be it enacted, * ** That the inhabitants of that portion of the territory of Minnesota, which is embraced with the following limits, to-wit : Beginning at the point in the center of the main channel of the Red River of the North, where the boundary line between the United States and the British possessions crosses the same; thence up the main channel of said river to that of the Bois des Sioux river ; thence (up) the main channel of said river to Lake Travers ; thence up the center of said lake to the southern extremity thereof; thence in a direet line to the head of Big Stone lake; thence through its center to its outlet ; thence by a dne south line to the north line of the state of Iowa; thence east along the north- ern boundary of said state to the main channel of the Mississippi river; thenee up the main channel of said river and following the boundary line of the state of Wisconsin, until the same inter- sects the St. Louis river ; thence down said river to and through Lake Superior, on the boundary line of Wiseonsin and Michigan, until it interseets the dividing line between the United States and the British possession ; thence up Pigeon river and following said dividing line to the place of beginning; be and the same are thereby authorized to form for themselves a constitution and state government, by the name of the state of Minnesota, and to come into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, aceord- ing to the federal constitution."

These boundaries were accepted without change and are the boundaries of the state at the present time. The state was admitted May 11, 1858.

It will therefore be seen that the territorial claim of title to Mower county was first embraced in the papal grant to Spain, May 4, 1493. It was then included in the indefinite claims made by Spain to lands north and northwest of her settlements in Mex- ico, Florida and the West Indies ; by the English to lands west of their Atlantic coast settlements, and by the French to lands south, west and southwest of their Canadian settlements. The first definite claim to territory now embracing Mower county was made by La Salle at the mouth of the Mississippi, March 8, 1682. in the

HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

name of the king of France, and the second (still more definite) by Perrot near the present site of Trempealeau, Wis., May 8, 1689. This was also a French claim. France remained in tacit authority until February 10, 1763, when, upon England's acknowledging the French authority to lands west of the Mississippi, France, by a previous secret agreement, turned her authority over to Spain. October 1, 1800, Spain ceded the tract to France, but France did not take formal possession until November 30, 1803, and almost immediately, December 20, 1803, turned it over to the United States, the Americans having purchased it from Napoleon April 30 of that year.

March 26, 1804, the area that is now Mower county was included in Louisiana district as a part of Indiana and so remained until March 3, 1805. From March 3, 1805, to June 4, 1812, it was a part of Louisiana territory. From June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1820, it was a part of Missouri territory. From August 10, 1821, until June 28, 1834, it was outside the pale of all organized government, except that congress had general juris- diction. From June 28, 1834, to April 20, 1836, it was a part of Michigan territory. From April 20, 1836, to June 12, 1838, it was a part of Wisconsin territory. From June 12, 1838, to December 28, 1846, it was a part of the territory of Iowa and was included in the boundaries at first proposed for the state of Iowa. From December 28, 1846, to March 3, 1849, it was again without terri- torial affiliation. From March 3, 1849, to May 11, 1858, it was a part of Minnesota territory, and on the latter date became an integral part of that sovereign state.

HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

CHAPTER V.

EARLY EXPLORATION.

No Evidence That the French Explorers Ever Saw Mower County -United States Dragoons the First White Men to Leave a Record of Having Visited This Locality-Expedition of 1835 -Four Companies Under Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen W. Kearney, with Albert Lea in Command of Company I, Cross Mower County Twice-Major Lawrence Taliaferro, Dr. John Emerson and the Slave, Dred Scott, Visit the County in 1836 -Henry H. Sibley, Alexander Faribault, John C. Fremont and William H. Forbes Here in 1840-Surveying Party in 1852-Another in 1853-Township and Section Lines Are Surveyed.

From time immemorial until some time after the coming of the whites, the territory now embraced in Mower county was the hunting ground of the Indians. As there were no permanent Indian villages here, and little of geographic interest in the sweep of prairie now embraced in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, none of the earlier explorers, so far as we know, visited Mower county. Hennepin with his two companions, Piekard du Guy (Auguelle) and Michael Accault (Ako), who explored the upper Mississippi in 1680; Perrot, who had trading posts about Lake Pepin as early as 1685; LeSueur, who built a fort near Red Wing on Prairie Island in 1695, and one near Mankato in 1700: La Hontan, who wrote marvelous accounts of adventures, and who is now entirely discredited by historians ; Jonathan Carver, who ascended the upper Mississippi in 1766; Lientenant Zebulon MI. Pike, who explored the upper Mississippi in 1805-06; Colonel Henry Leavenworth, who is 1819 started at Mendota in what is now Dakota county, the fort which was afterward moved across the river and became Fort Snelling; Major Stephen H. Long, who explored the upper Mississippi in 1817 and 1823; Governor Lewis Cass, who in 1820 explored the principal sources of the Missis- sippi and then descended the river; William Morrison, who vis- ited Lake Itasca in 1802 and is usually credited as the discoverer of the source of the Mississippi; Henry R. Schoolcraft, who in 1832 explored northern Minnesota; George Featherstone, who made a geological survey of the Minnesota valley in 1835; George Catlin, who made a faithful study of the Indians of Minnesota ; Jean Nicollet, whose activities in the thirties and forties con- tributed much to Minnesota geography, and David Dale Owen, who explored large portions of the state in 1847, '48, '49 and '50,

HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

and whose names are honored as the early explorers of Minne- sota, all failed, so far as we know, to make Mower county a visit. The explorers of the rivers of Iowa which have their source in Mower county, also failed to reach this county in the early days.

It is possible that missionaries, renegades, traders or hunters visited this region, in the days of the early exploration, but of this historians have no record or knowledge, although those who enjoy speculation and conjecture think it quite possible the Frenchmen from the posts of Perrot on Lake Pepin, the stockades at Frontenac, or the forts at Prairie Island and Mankato may have come here after game.

The first record that historians have obtained of a visit to Mower county by the whites is contained in a manuscript edited and published by the Iowa Historical Society, and entitled "A Journal of Marches by the First United States Dragoons, 1834- 45," and published in the July, 1909, issue of the "Iowa Journal of History and Politics."

The First United States Dragoons was a military organization created by Congress in March, 1833, for the more perfect defense of the frontier, and was as fine a body of men as had ever been gathered for a similar purpose, having been recruited from espe- cially selected men in every state in the Union in the summer months of 1833. The commanding officer of this regiment of ten companies were Colonel Henry Dodge. The rendezvous of the regiment was Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, where the com- panies were drilled and instructed in the fall of 1833.

The Journal records the four distinet marches or campaigns in which Company I participated. Of these the fourth only is of interest to the people of Mower county. The authorship of the Journal has not yet been determined. At two different places the author has signed himself as "L" and he states that he was a member of Company I, commanded by Captain Browne. At one time the authorship was attributed to Colonel Albert Miller Lea, but internal evidence in the Journal would seem to prove, however, that such is not the case, and that it was written either by an officer of lower rank or by a private.

The fourth trip, which has so much interest to the people of Mower connty, records the story of a march of 1,100 miles by Companies B, H and I, under Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen W. Kearney. On June 7, 1835, this detachment left Fort Des Moines and marched between the Des Moines and Skunk rivers to near the mouth of the Boone river. Then taking a northeastwardly course across Iowa, they entered what is now Minnesota, crossed Mower county, and reached Wabashaw's village on the Missis- sippi at practically the present site of Winona. After remaining there about a week, the companies marched somewhat to the

3.9

HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

south of westwardly. They erossed the present Mower county and continued westward, then turning southward, and entering Iowa in what is now Kossuth county, reaching the Des Moines river safely. After erossing this river, they descended it on the lower side and reached Fort Des Moines on August 19, 1835, without the loss of a single horse or man. Lieutenant Albert Miller Lea, commanding Company I, of the expedition, was the official topographer, and in his honor Nicollet afterward named a previously undesignated lake which the expedition passed in the present Freeborn county.

On the evening of Sunday, June 28, 1835, the Dragoons, on their northeasterly course from the Des Moines river, camped on the banks of the Red Cedar river in Mitchell county, Iowa, near Osage. The soldiers killed several buffalo and captured a buffalo calf. The next day they crossed the Red Cedar and marched twenty-five miles, bringing them well into Mower county. The following entry is found in the Journal: "Tuesday, June 30, 1835, marched twenty-five miles. Land, kind of oak barren. By the appearance of some deserted wigwams, we suppose the Soux (Sioux) have been here lately." The next day's march of twelve miles, earried the soldiers out of the county and toward the present site of Winona.

On the return journey, the expedition reached Mower county on Monday, July 27, 1835. The soldiers crossed the upper Iowa near the present site of Le Roy and the Red Cedar near the pres- ent site of Austin, continuing on their way into the present Free- born county. The entries in the Journal are as follows: "Mon- day, July 27, 1835. An early start. Came only ten miles. Crossed the Iway (the upper Iowa). Spent seven hours in erossing. Bad traveling and bad encampment. Tuesday, July 28. This day we marehed fifteen miles. Crossed the south fork of the Iway (now the Red Cedar river). Spent three hours in passing. Marching bad. Encampment good." It will be seen from this that the writer of the Journal underestimated the distance that the Dragoons traveled from the upper Iowa to the Red Cedar river.

In 1836, one year after the trip of the Dragoons, and six years after the eeding of the "Neutral Strip" (just south of Mower eounty), a party of offieers started on a hunting trip from Fort Snelling. They reached the present site of Faribault, came down the source of the Straight river, touched the head waters of the Zumbro branch east of Blooming Prairie, and then reached the Red Cedar, passing through what is now Mower county. Some- where after leaving the Zumbro, and before reaching the "Neutral Strip," they camped for the night, and from the loca- tions given in Taliaferro's journal, the camp must have been

HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

somewhere near what is now Austin. The party was headed by Major Lawrence Taliaferro, and among the hunters was Dr. John Emerson, the surgeon at Fort Snelling .. With Dr. Emerson was his slave Dred, who had just been married to Harriett, whom Major Taliaferro had sold to Dr. Emerson. This Dred afterward became world famous in the "Dred Seott case," which was one of the incidents in the train of events which did not end until the close of the Civil war.

A party of famous pioneer hunters visited Mower county in 1840. In the fall of that year Henry H. Sibley, Alexander Fari- bault, William H. Forbes and John C. Fremont started with a party of Sioux and two Canadian voyageurs for the "Neutral Land" which the government had purchased from the Sioux, the Sax and the Foxes. Jack Fraser joined the party near the pres- ent city of Faribault. The party reached the Red Cedar river somewhere in the present Mower county. At some point on this river a camp was made, and Sibley, Fraser and two Canadians accompanied Fremont to Prairie du Chien, where Jean N. Nieol- lett awaited him. Leaving Fremont at that point, the four returned to the camp, being accompanied a part of the way by a Inter named Reed. A few days later the party of white men left the Sioux in camp on the Red Cedar and returned to Mendota.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The history of Mower County, Minnesota : illustrated, Part 5

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago : H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co. Number of Pages: 1246

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago : H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co.
Number of Pages: 1246