History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 18

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198

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RED RIVER ELECTIONS

Mr. Armstrong attended one of the far-famed "Red River Elections," the regular territorial election, held at St. Joseph, October 8, 1867. He left his work in the field, nine miles away, in order to be a personal witness of an event which had decided one or more territorial elections in Minnesota, and certainly one in Dakota. Of the visit he wrote: "Two hundred and fifty votes were polled at St. Joseph, mostly all in the morning before I reached the polls, and about thirty at Pembina."

The voting population of the Pembina district was a much mooted question at that time and for some time later. Prior to the admission of Minnesota into the Union in 1858, the Pembina district formed a large part of the Territory of Minnesota and contributed several hundred votes at each territorial election to the ticket, and when the country became a part of the Territory of Dakota there was only a slight, if any, diminution of its vote, which biennially disturbed the calculations of Dakota's candidates for Congress, who, being Southern Dako- tans, were separated from their northern constituents on the Pembina River by at least a thousand miles by the nearest practicable route, which was by way of St. Paul. It was the Red River vote that decided the contest for delegate to Congress between Todd and Jayne, unseating the latter in 1864. after he had occupied the place for more than a year. It was the Red River vote that led Congress to decide that Indian land was not an Indian reservation within the meaning of the organic act, unless it had been specifically reserved hy treaty.

All this, however, was before the day of the settlement of that country by legitimate immigration of citizens of the United States. In the late '6os the Chippewa treaty had been made and this state of political affairs began to correct itself. A judicial district had been formed for the northern part of the territory, and the United States court established with Pembina as its seat, and by 1870 the people began to observe the written law without protest.

RED RIVER COUNTIES

Under the proclamation of Governor Jayne, issued in 1861, calling the first election hell in the Territory of Dakota, the Red River country was made a

IIISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

part of the First Council District, extending from the mouth of the Big Sioux River on the south to the international boundary line, taking in the settlements at Pembina and St. Joseph, and also those at Sioux Falls and below, including that portion afterwards included in Cole County. This was the First Council District, extending the entire length of the territory, distance about 450 miles, and given two councilmen. The western boundary was the range line dividing ranges 50 and 51. It is now the dividing line between Union and Clay counties.

All that portion of the territory lying on the Red River of the North, includ- ing the settlements at Pembina and St. Joseph, was made the Third Representative District and given one representative. The election in 1861 at Pembina Precinct was held at the home of Charles LeMay, and James McFetridge, Hugh Donaldson and Charles LeMay were appointed judges of election. At St. Joseph the elec- tion was held at the house of Baptiste Shorette, and the judges of election were Charles Bottineau, Baptiste Shorette and Antoine Zangrean (or Gingras). The election was held on the 16th of September, 1861, and Hugh S. Donaldson was elected representative. James McFetridge was a candidate for councilman, and received all the votes at Pembina and St. Joseph, nearly 200, but was not voted for in the precincts at Sioux Falls, Elk Point and Big Sioux, and the certificates of clection to the two councilmen voted for in that district were given by the governor of the territory, to whom the returns were made and who canvassed the vote, to Austin Cole, of Big Sioux Point, and W. W. Brookings, of Sioux Falls. McFetridge, however, appeared at Yankton at the opening of the first session, and filed his claim to the seat held by Brookings, but no contest was made, the matter being arranged, outside the council, by an agreement to give to Red River an independent, or separate, council and representative district, with one council- man and two representatives, and such a law was passed at this session in words following :

That all that portion of the territory lying on the Red River, including the settlements of Pembina and St. Joseph, shall constitute the Seventh Council District of the Territory of Dakota, and shall be entitled to one councilman and two representatives in the Legislative Assembly of the Territory.

At the second session of the Legislature, 1862-63, the said Seventh district was represented by James McFetridge in the council, and Hugh S. Donaldson and J. Y. Buckman in the House of Representatives.

At the first session of the Legislature, held in March, 1862, a law was en- acted defining the boundaries of four counties bordering the Red River and ex- tending from the international boundary south to the north line of Deuel County, which was on township line number 124 north of range 53 cast. The names of these counties were Kittson, beginning at the 49th parallel and extending south sixty miles, or through ten townships, where it was joined by Chippewa County, embracing also ten townships, or sixty miles further south; then came Stevens County, embracing a like number of townships ; and last, the County of Cheyenne, whose southern boundary was the north line of Deuel County. The western boundary of all these counties was the west line of range 62; the eastern boundary, the Red River. Kittson County, the farthest north, in which the towns or settle- ments of Pembina and St. Joseph were situated, appears to have been the only one of the four in which there were any settlements of white people at that time, and very few were citizens of the United States. The act defining the boundaries of the counties named St. Joseph as the temporary county seat of Kittson, and another enactment incorporated the Town of St. Joseph, authorizing the citizens to elect for their governing body a town council, and naming John B. Wilkie as the first president of said town.

The County of Kittson was organized the same year by the governor, who appointed as the board of county commissioners Norman W. Kittson. Charles LeMay and Baptiste Shorette, which board met at St. Joseph in June, 1862, and

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

completed the organization, appointing Charles Morian as register of deeds and county clerk, and Joe Rolette, sheriff.

No representative from the Red River for either house appeared at the capital during the session of the Legislature of 1863-64, the third session, although un- der the law above quoted the Seventh district was plainly entitled to one council- man and two representatives. No record was known of any election being held either at St. Joseph or Pembina, in 1863. when the members of the Legislative Assembly throughout the territory were elected. The Indian war was at full tide during the year, and Sibley's expedition had overrun the northern portion of the territory, and the presumption was that no attention was given to political matters in Kittson County.

The contest for the seat of delegate from Dakota between Todd and Jayne, which had been before Congress during 1863, had served to make public the character of the Red River vote, and the fact that the Indian title to the soil of that section had not been extinguished. The minority report of the committee in that case, supporting the Jayne side of the controversy, was mainly devoted to the fraudulent character of the Red River vote, as upon the admission or re- jection of that vote depended the result of the contest. The majority report had counted the full vote of the Red River precinets, St. Joseph and Pembina, giving 125 votes for Todd and 19 for Jayne. The minority report said :

First, the census taken about one year prior to the election, showing that in the whole Red River country there were of white males but fifty-one, and of these over the age of twenty-one but forty-two.

From the testimony of Joseph V. Buckman, taken March II, 1863, before Hon. W. F. Purcell, judge of the Orphans' Court in the District of Columbia, on notice duly given, both parties being present at the examination, the contestant, however, under protest and objecting to the jurisdiction of Judge Purcell to take the testimony. This testimony shows that there were but six white persons. native-born and naturalized, present at the St. Joseph precinct on the day of election. The witness had been an Indian trader and postmaster at Pembina for several years ; was well acquainted, and swears that he did not think that more than ten or twelve white persons were present on the day of election, and of this number there were but three who were native-born citizens of the United States, and three others who claimed to be naturalized, and none who had made declara- tion to become citizens ; that forty-six or forty-eight votes were cast for delegate at the election ; that the excess over the number of legal voters present was cast by illegal voters, mostly half-breeds ; and that there was added to the vote cast, after the close of the polls, a little over one hundred votes.

It is probable that in the face of these disclosures by Buckman, who had been elected to the Legislature of Dakota by the same vote, but whose title was not contested. the sentiment of the law-abiding Red River people was averse to further elections until after the treaty of cession with the Chippewas was con- cltided, and this treaty had already been practically agreed upon. It will be seen, however, that Congress recognized the vote of that section to the fullest extent. The majority report, known as the Dawes report, which gave the seat to Todd, held that the testimony of Buckman, being taken after the time for taking depo- sitions had expired, must be excluded. No criticism was made of the reliability of the testimony. Regarding the claim that the vote was illegal and void because the Indian title to the country had not been extinguished, the majority report heid that the provisions of the organic act governing this matter did not apply "to territory upon which Indians may happen to be living, but only to such por- tions as are held by tribes under or by virtue of treaties defining boundaries and stipulating for exclusive jurisdiction to be exercised by the tribe holding them."

No such treaty existed covering any portion of the election precinet in Kitt- son County, and therefore the vote could not be excluded for that reason.

9.4

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

The Red River country had participated for a number of years in the terri- torial elections of Minnesota prior to the organization of Dakota Territory, and this fact weighed in favor of the recognition of the vote cast there in 1862 which Congress now gave it, for to exclude it as fraudulent might have been taken as an indirect reflection upon the former government of a sister state.

In view of the political condition of the Red River country as shown by the disclosures made in the Todd-Jayne contest, the Legislative Assembly of the terri- tory, which convened in December. 1863. took official notice thereof, and quite carly in the session bills were introduced in both houses for the repeal of the laws creating the Seventh Council and Representative District, and also the act establishing the counties of Kittson, Cheyenne. Stevens and Chippewa. The ' House bill passed that body the first week of the session, but was not approved by the Council, where a bill for the same purpose had been introduced and was being considered by the Committee on Elections, which committee reported favorably. accompanying its report with a statement of the reasons governing its recommendation, from which statement the following paragraph is taken :

The fact that the counties of Kittson, Chippewa, Cheyenne and Stevens were created on domain from which the Indian title had not been extinguished. and consequently not under the executive, legislative or judicial jurisdiction of our territorial laws and courts, is of sufficient importance to justify the repeal of the statutes creating them. The further fact that representatives from the Red River districts, when residing in the territory comprised in these counties are not amenable to the laws they themselves aid in enacting, is a sufficient cause for denying them any participation in the enactment of such laws. The fact that they enjoy a total immunity from taxation, and from the provisions of all general laws enacted by the Territorial Legislature, of itself sufficiently denies the justice and equity of any claim to representation in this law-making body on an equality with the members from other districts.

The report also recommended that the Legislature memorialize the President in behalf of an early treaty with the Chippewa Indians, in order to open the Red River country to settlement, and admit its settlers to the enjoyment of their political rights and to the advantages and protection of the territorial laws. The report also alludes to the diversity of the commercial and social interests existing between the northern and southern sections of the territory, thus early recogniz- ing a situation which was revealed when the northern section became settled.

The Council bill passed by a three-fourths vote ; the House also passed it, and the governor approved it, leaving the Red River country in the same political situation it held prior to the organization of the territory. No further action was taken regarding Red River matters at this session, nor at the following session in 1864-65: but in the Council in 1865-66, Mr. Turner introduced a bill to re- establish the counties of Kittson, Cheyenne, Stevens and Chippewa. This bill was amended in committee by striking out these several names and inserting the name "Pembina" in lieu thereof, and thus amended the bill passed the Council. but was defeated in the llouse near the close of the session.

The treaty with the Sioux Indians at Lake Traverse in 1851 ceded a portion of the Red River country, beginning at the junction of Buffalo River (north of Moorhead, Minnesota ) with the Red River of the North, thence along the western bank of the said Red River of the North to the mouth of the Sioux Wood River ; thence along the western bank of Sioux Wood River to Lake Traverse ; thence along the western slope of said lake to the southern extremity thereof ; thence in a direct line to the junction of Kampeska Lake with Tchan-kas-an-data, or Big Sioux, River ; thence along the western bank of said river to its point of intersection with the northern line of the State of lowa, including all the islands in said river and lakes.

The treaty made with the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians in 1863 ceded to the United States a large area of land in Minnesota and in Da- kota Territory, "beginning on the Red River at the mouth of the Wild Rice River in Minnesota ; thence up the main channel of the Red River to the mouth of the

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

Cheyenne ; thence up the main channel of the Cheyenne River to Poplar Grove ; thence in a direct line to the Place of Stumps, otherwise called Lake Chicot ; thence in a direct line to the head of the main branch of Salt River; thence in a direct line due north to the point where such line intersects the international boundary aforesaid; thence eastward along said boundary to the place of be- ginning. (This place of beginning was on the international boundary line in Minnesota where the said boundary line intersects the Lake of the Woods.) This treaty, owing to amendments made by the United States Senate, was not com- pleted until 1867. This treaty freed a large area of the Red River country of the Indian title extending from the international boundary south to the sources of Red River.

PEMBINA COUNTY

At the session of the Legislature of 1866-67 a law was enacted to establish the County of Pembina and for other purposes, also creating the Seventh Repre- sentative District, and giving to that district one representative in the House, and at the following session in 1867-68 a Red River representative from Pembina County appeared at the capitol in the person of Hon. Enos Stutsman, formerly of Yankton County, who had already served nearly three terms in the Council. Mr. Stutsman had been appointed revenue agent by the federal authorities in 1866, and in the course of his official duties had visited the custom house at Pem- bina where he was so favorably impressed by the country and its prospects that he became a citizen of the county. His selection for representative was a fortu- nate one for the northern part of the territory. He was elected speaker of the House, and during the session succeeded in having passed a number of memorials to Congress for the benefit of the northern part of the territory, among them one calling for a United States land office at Pembina, which was established two years later. A memorial asking for a division of the territory on the 46th parallel was passed at this session.

The Pembina district was represented by Mr. Stutsman at the following ses- sion, 1868-69, during which a new apportionment of legislative members was made giving to the Seventh district one councilman and one representative. Pem- bina County was also made a part of the Third Judicial District of the territory.

A memorial to Congress asking for a division of the territory on the 46th parallel of north latitude was passed at this session.

At the election in 1869 Enos Stutsman was elected councilnan and John Han- cock elected representative, but as Congress had provided for biennial sessions of the Legislature, the next Legislative Assembly did not convene until December, 1870. At the convening of this session (December, 1870) it was manifest that the Red River country had made notable advances in population and settlement and was beginning not only to attract immigration but was seen to be the active field of great commercial enterprises. The Northern Pacific Railway had been under construction through the State of Minnesota during the year past. and promised to enter the Territory of Dakota within the next twelve months. Already a vanguard of settlers had preceded it. During this session the County of Pembina was given new boundaries, as follows :

Beginning at the northeast corner of Deuel County on the forty-sixth parallel of north latitude; thence north along the western boundary of the State of Minnesota to the north- east corner of the Territory of Dakota: thence west along the international boundary line to the ninth guide meridian ; thence south along said meridian to the forty-sixth parallel of north latitude; thence east along said parallel to the place of beginning.

The ninth guide meridian passed just west of Devil's Lake and south through the center of Stutsman County. The boundaries of Pembina County as thus de- fined enclosed about one-half of the northern part of the territory cast of the Mis- souri River.

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

.A new apportionment of members of the Legislature was made at this legis- lative session of 1870-71, which gave to Pembina County one councilman and one representative. Pembina County was also constituted a part of the Third Ju- dicial District of the territory and a district court ordered to be held at the Town of Pembina on the first Tuesday in June and September of each year. An act was passed authorizing the county commissioners of Pembina County to raise money to buildl a jail at Pembina. Memorials were passed asking for the organ- ization of a new territory in the northern portion of Dakota : also to increase mail service from Abercrombie to Pembina to six times a week ; also to remove obstruc- tions in the Red River of the North ; also for an appropriation for a suitable build- ing for a United States land office, custom house, post office and United States court at Pembina ; also to remove the Chippewa Indians to White Earth Agency.

In 1872 Enos Stutsman was elected to the Territorial Council from the Seventh Legislative District, and Judson LaMoure, of Pembina, was elected to the House of Representatives. During this year the Northern Pacific Railroad had been graded and the iron laid across the territory from the Red River prac- tically to the Missouri. Mr. Stutsman was elected president of the Council at the convening of the Legislature at Yankton in December, 1872. A Mr. Stone, of Fargo, entered a contest for Stutsman's seat on the ground that he had received the highest number of votes in the Seventh district, but soon after withdrew his claim and left the capital. At this session a large number of new cotinties were added to the map and for the first time in the history of the territory every por- tion of its area, including the Indian reservations, was enclosed within county boundaries.

Along the Red River the boundaries of Pembina County were re-defined, and the counties of Grand Forks, Cass and Richland were carved out of the former Pembina, together with a number adjoining them on the west. The new boun- daries of Pembina County were thuis given :

Section 1. That all that district of country included within the following boundary lines, to wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of the Territory of Dakota, on the forty- ninth parallel of north latitude; thence running west on said parallel of latitude to a point where the same is intersected by the eighth guide meridian; thence running south on said guide meridian to its intersection with the fourteenth standard parallel; thence running east on said fourteenth standard parallel to the western boundary line of the State of Minnesota ; and thence northerly on the said boundary of said state to the point of beginning, shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be, and is constituted the County of Pembina, the county seat of which shall be and is hereby located at the Town of Pembina, and the' county and pre- cinct officers elected for Pembina County, at the last election, who shall qualify according to law, shall be the county and precinct officers of Pembina County, save in such case where a vacancy in cither of such offices may be created by the provisions of this act, in which case such vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the majority of the board of county com- missioners of said county.

STEAMER SELKIRK

Floating palace of the Red River of the North. Built in 18;1

ALONG THE BIG SIOUX RIVER AT SIOUX FALLS

CHAPTER XIII SIOUX FALLS AND BIG SIOUX VALLEY I857-60

SIOUX FALLS, MEDARY AND FLANDREAU-EARLIEST SETTLEMENTS- DUBUQUE AND ST. PAUL COMPANIES LOCATE TOWNSITES IN 1857-DRIVEN OFF BY YANK- TONNAIS INDIANS; RETURN WITH REINFORCEMENTS AND A SAWMILL AND MAKE SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENTS-TWO TOWNSITES TAKEN AT THE FALLS- PROMOTERS DESIGN TO ORGANIZE NEW TERRITORY AND MAKE SIOUX FALLS THIE CAPITAL-HOLD ELECTION-LARGE VOTE POLLED-J. P. KIDDER ELECTED DELE- GATE TO CONGRESS-PROVISIONAL TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT SET UP-LEGIS- LATURE CONVENES AND PASSES MEMORIAL-DELEGATE KIDDER REFUSED A SEAT AS DELEGATE-DAKOTA DEMOCRAT PUBLISHED-INDIANS CONTINUE HOSTILE- MEDARY EVACUATED --- SIOUX FALLS PREPARES FOR DEFENSE -- JUDGE FLAN- DREAU'S LETTER AND MR. ALLBRIGIIT'S STATEMENT-W. W. BROOKINGS MAKES A STATEMENT-DAKOTA CAVALRY MEET AND DEFEAT THE HOSTILE INDIANS IN THEIR FIRST BATTLE-GOVERNOR ORDERS EVACUATION OF THE FALLS SETTLE- MEXT-THE OCCUPATION OF THE COUNTRY A PREMATURE ENTERPRISE.

In the latter part of the summer of 1856, Dr. J. M. Staples of Dubuque, Iowa, while on a tour of the Upper Mississippi, obtained a copy of "Nicollet's Travels in the Northwest in 1839," in which was a description of the Big Sioux, called by the Indians "Te-han-kas-an-data," or the "Thick Wooded River." The doctor was immediately struck by Nicollet's graphic description of this favored region, and the land and town speculative fever at that time running high. he at once set about forming a company to secure so desirable a location. The result was the organization of the Western Town Company of Dubnque, lowa, composed of Dr. J. M. Staples. Mayor Hetherington of Dubuque. Dennis Mahoney, editor of the Dubuque Herald; Anstin Adams, afterward Judge Adams of the Iowa Supreme Court ; George P. Waldron, William Tripp, W. W. Brookings, Dr. J. I .. Phillips, and possibly some others.

In October following, Ezra Millard of Sioux City, later president of the First National Bank of Omaha, was employed by this company to go in quest of these remarkable falls and to make a townsite claim contiguous to them of 320 acres. Mr. Millard, in company with David M. Mills, also of or near Sioux City, started from this latter place in September. 1856, to explore the Big Sioux River and find these remarkable falls described by Nicollet. They were several days journeying along the Iowa side of the stream, examining it closely and following all of its multitudinous windings, apprehensive that the locality they were in search of was concealed in the woods and heavy underbrush that frequently dotted the margin of the river. At the expiration of the tenth day, as near as these explorers can estimate, they reached the summit of the bluff bordering the Sioux, about a mile below the island, where the great falls of the Sioux and the beautiful wooded island near the foot of the cascades burst like a magnificent vision upon their view and fairly entranced them as they sat in their wagon and silently studied the splendors of the scene. They realized for the time that they had found one of Nature's grandest marvels, that would become famous among the scenic splendors of the world.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 18

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198