The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1 by Charles E. Flandrau

1 01 - Dedication; Author's Note; History of Minnesota by Judge Charles E. Flandrau 5:36

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part I, by Charles E. Flandreau. Section I. Dedication. To the old settlers of Minnesota, who so wisely laid the foundation of our state upon the broad and enduring basis of freedom and toleration, and who have so gallantly defended and maintained it, this history is most gratefully and affectionately dedicated by the author, Charles E. Flandreau.

Author's Introduction.

The original design of this history was that it should accompany and form part of a book called The Encyclopedia of Biography of Minnesota. It was so published, and as that work was very large and expensive, it was confined almost exclusively to its subscribers and did not reach the general public. Many requests were made to the author to present it to the public in a more popular and readable form, and he decided to publish it in a book of the usual library size, and dispose of it at a price which would place it within the reach of everyone desirous of reading it. As the history is written in the most compendious form, consistent with a full presentation and discussion of all the facts concerning the creation and growth of the state, it was estimated that it would not occupy sufficient space in print to make a volume of the usual and proper size.

The author, therefore, decided to accompany it with a series of frontier stories, written by himself at different times during his long residence in the northwest, which embrace historical events, personal adventures, and amusing incidents. He believes these stories will lend interest and pleasure to the volume. The author.

History of Minnesota by Judge Charles E. Flandrau. It has been a little over fifty years since the organization of the territory of Minnesota, which at its birth was a very small and unimportant creation, but which, in its half-century of growth, has expanded into one of the most brilliant and promising stars upon the union of our flag, so that its history must cover every subject, moral, physical, and social, that enters into the composition of a first-class progressive Western state, which presents a pretty extensive field. But there is also to be considered a period anterior to civilization, which may be called the aboriginal and legendary era, which abounds with interesting matter, and to the general reader is much more attractive than the prosy subjects of agriculture, finance, and commerce.

Having lived in the state through nearly the whole period of Minnesota's political existence, and having taken part in most of the leading events in her history, both savage and civilized, I propose to treat the various subjects that compose her history in a narrative and colloquial manner that may not rise to the dignity of history, but which, I think, while giving the facts, will not detract from the interest or pleasure of the reader. If I should, in the course of my narrative, so far forget myself as to indulge in a joke or relate an illustrative anecdote, The reader must put up with it. Nature has been lavishly generous with Minnesota, more so, perhaps, than with any state in the Union. Its surface is beautifully diversified between rolling prairies and immense forests of valuable timber.

Rivers and lakes abound, and the soil is marvelous in its productive fertility. Its climate, taken the year round, surpasses in all attractive features that of any of the North American continent. There are more enjoyable days in the three hundred and sixty-five that compose the year than in any other country I have ever visited or resided in, and that embraces a good part of the world's surface. The salubrity of Minnesota is phenomenal. There are absolutely no diseases indigenous to the state. The universally accepted truth of this fact is found in a saying, which used to be general among the old settlers. That there is no excuse for anyone dying in Minnesota, and that the only two men ever did die there, one of whom was hanged, for killing the other.

The resources of Minnesota principally consist of the products of the farm, the mine, the dairy, the quarry, and the forest, and its industries of a vast variety of manufactures of all kinds and characters, both great and small, the leading ones being flour and lumber. To which, of course, must be added the enormous carrying trade which grows out of, and is necessary to the successful conduct of such resources and industries, all of which subjects will be treated of in their appropriate places. With these prefactory suggestions, I will proceed to the history, beginning with the legendary and aboriginal era.

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The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part One, by Charles E. Flandrao. Section Two. Legendary and Aboriginal Era, Part One. Until a very few years ago, it has been generally accepted as a fact that Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan priest of the Recollect Order, was the first white man who entered the present boundaries of Minnesota, But a recent discovery has developed the fact that there has reposed in the archives of the Baudelain Library and British Museum, for more than two hundred years, manuscript accounts of voyages made as far back as 1652 by two French men, named respectively Radisson and Grossier, proving that they traveled among the North American Indians from the last named date to the year 1684, during which time they visited what is now Minnesota.

It is also a well-authenticated fact that Duluth anticipated Hennepin at least one year, and visited Mille Lacs in 1679, and there, on the southwest side of the lake, found a large Sioux town called Cathio, from which point he wrote to Frontenac, on the second day of July 1679, that he had caused His Majesty's arms to be planted in Cathio, where no Frenchman had ever been. Hennepin did not arrive until 1680. But as the exploits of these earlier travelers left no trace that can in any important way influence the history of our state beyond challenging the claim of priority so long enjoyed by Hennepin, I will simply mention the fact of their advent without comment, referring the curious reader for the proof of these matters to the library of the Minnesota Historical Society, where the details can be found.

Hennepin was with La Salle at Fort Crave Coeur, near Lake Peoria, in what is now Illinois, in 1680. La Salle was the superior of the exploring party, of which young Hennepin was a member, and in February 1680 he selected Hennepin and two traders for the arduous and dangerous undertaking of exploring the unknown regions of the Upper Mississippi. Hennepin was very ambitious to become a great explorer, and was filled with the idea that by following the water-courses he would find a passage to the sea and Japan.

On the twenty-ninth of February, 1680, he, with two voyageurs, in a canoe, set out on his voyage of discovery. When he reached the junction of the Illinois River with the Mississippi in March, he was detained by floating ice until near the middle of that month. He then commenced to ascend the Mississippi, which was the first time it was ever attempted by a civilized man. On the 11th of April, they were met by a large war party of Dakotas, which filled 33 canoes, who opened fire on them with arrows. But hostilities were soon stopped, and Hennepin and his party were taken prisoners, and made to return with their captors to their villages. Hennepin, in his narrative, tells a long story of the difficulties he encountered in saying his prayers, as the Indians thought he was working some magic on them, and they followed him into the woods and never let him out of their sight.

Judging from many things that appear in his narrative, which have created great doubt about his veracity, it probably would not have been very much of a hardship if he had failed altogether in the performance of this pious duty. Many of the Indians, who had lost friends and relatives in their fights with the Miamis, were in favor of killing the white men, but better counsels prevailed, and they were spared. The hope of opening up a trade intercourse with the French largely entered into the decision. While traveling up the river, one of the white men shot a wild turkey with his gun, which produced a great sensation among the Indians, and was the first time a Dakota ever heard the discharge of firearms.

They called the gun Massawakan, or Spirit Iron. The party camped at Lake Pepin, and on the nineteenth day of their captivity they arrived in the vicinity of where St. Paul now stands. From this point they proceeded by land to Mille Lacs, where they were taken by the Indians to their several villages, and were kindly treated. These Indians were part of the band of Dakotas, called Medewa-Kontenwans, or the Lake Villagers. I spell the Indian names as they are now known, and not as they were given in Hennepin's narrative, although it is quite remarkable how well he preserved them, with sound as his only guide. While at this village, the Indians gave Hennepin some steam baths, which he says were very effective in removing all traces of soreness and fatigue, and in a short time made him feel as well and strong as he ever was.

I have often witnessed this medical process among the Dakotas. They make a small lodge of poles covered with a buffalo skin or something similar, and place in it several large boulders heated to a high degree. The patient then enters naked and pours water over the stones, producing a dense steam which envelops him and nearly boils him. He stands it as long as he can and then undergoes a thorough rubbing. The effect is to remove stiffness and soreness produced by long journeys on foot or other serious labor. Hennepin tells in a very agreeable way many things that occurred during his captivity. How astonished the Indians were at all the articles he had. A mariner's compass created much wonder, and an iron pot with feet like lion's paws they would not touch with the naked hand.

But their astonishment knew no bounds when he told them that the whites only allowed a man one wife, and that his religious office did not permit him to have any. I might say here that the Dakotas are polygamous, as savage people generally are, and that my experience proves to me that missionaries who go among these people make a great mistake in attacking this institution until after they have ingratiated themselves with them, and then, by attempting any reform beyond teaching monogamy in the future. Nothing will assure the enmity of a savage more than to ask him to discard any of his wives, and especially the mother of his children. While I would be the last man on earth to advocate polygamy, I can truthfully say that one of the happiest and most harmonious families I ever knew was that of the celebrated Little Crow, Who, during all my official residence among the Dakotas, was my principal advisor and ambassador, and who led the massacre in 1862, who had four wives, but there was a point in his favor, as they were all sisters.

Hennepin passed the time he spent in Minnesota in baptizing Indian babies and picking up all the information he could find. His principal exploit was the naming of the falls of St. Anthony, which he called after his patron saint, St. Anthony of Padua. That Hennepin was thoroughly convinced that there was a northern passage to the sea which could be reached by ships is proven by the following extract from his work. For example, we may be transported into the Pacific Sea by rivers, which are large and capable of carrying great vessels, and from thence it is very easy to go to China and Japan without crossing the equinoctial line, and in all probability Japan is on the same continent as America."

Our early visitor evidently had very confused ideas on matters of geography. The first account of his adventures was published by him in 1683, and was quite trustworthy, and it is much to be regretted that he was afterwards induced to publish another edition in Utrecht in 1689, which was filled with falsehoods and exaggerations, which brought upon him the censure of the King of France. He died in obscurity, unregretted. The county of Hennepin is named for him.

Other Frenchmen visited Minnesota shortly after Hennepin for the purpose of trade with the Indians, and the extension of the territory of New France. In 1689, Nicholas Perrault was established at Lake Pepin, with quite a large body of men engaged in trade with the Indians. On the 8th of May, 1689, Perrault issued a proclamation from his post on Lake Pepin, in which he formally took possession, in the name of the king, of all the countries inhabited by the Dakotas, and of which they are proprietors.

This post was the first French establishment in Minnesota. It was called Fort Bon Secours, afterwards Fort Leceur, but on later maps, Fort Perrault. In 1695, Le Sour built the second post in Minnesota, between the head of Lake Pepin and the mouth of the St. Croix. In July of that year, he took a party of Ojibwe's and one Dakota to Montreal, for the purpose of impressing upon them the importance and strength of France. Here, large bodies of troops were maneuvered in their presence, and many speeches made by both the French and the Indians. Friendly and commercial relations were established. Le Seur, some time after, returned to Minnesota and explored St. Peter's River, now the Minnesota, as far as the mouth of the Blue Earth.

Here he built a log fort, and called it Louie, and made some excavations in search of copper ore. He sent several tons of a green substance which he found, and supposed to be copper, to France, but it was undoubtedly a colored clay that is found in that region, and is sometimes used as a rough paint. He is supposed to be the first man who supplied the Indians with guns. Le Sueur kept a journal in which he gave the best description of the Dakotas written in those early times, and was a very reliable man. Minnesota has a county and a city named for him. Many other Frenchmen visited Minnesota in early days, among whom was Duluth, but as they were simply traders, explorers, and priests among the Indians, it is hardly necessary in a work of this character to trace their exploits in detail.

While they blazed the trail for others, they did not, to any great extent, influence the future of the country, except by supplying a convenient nomenclature with which to designate localities, which has largely been drawn upon. Many of them, however, were good and devoted men, and earnest in their endeavors to spread the gospel among the Indians. How well they succeeded, I will discuss when I speak of these savage men more particularly.

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Flandrow. Section III. Legendary and Aboriginal Era, Part II. The next arrival of sufficient importance to particularize was Jonathan Carver. He was born in Connecticut in 1732. His father was a Justice of the Peace, which in those days was a more important position than it is now regarded. They tried to make a doctor of him, and he studied medicine just long enough to discover that the profession was uncongenial, and abandoned it. At the age of eighteen, he purchased an Ensign's Commission in a Connecticut regiment, raised during the French War. He became very near losing his life at the massacre of Fort William Henry, but escaped, and after the declaration of peace between France and England, in 1763, he conceived the project of making an exploration of the North West.

It should be remembered that the French sovereignty over the northwest ceased in 1763, when, by a treaty made in Versailles, between the French and the English, all the lands embraced in what is now Minnesota were ceded by the French to England. So Carver came as an Englishman into English territory. Carver left Boston in the month of June, 1766, and proceeded to Mackinac, then the most distant British post, where he arrived in the month of August. He then took the usual route to Green Bay. He proceeded by the way of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers to the Mississippi, He found a considerable town on the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Wisconsin, called by the French, La Prairie-les-Chaines, which is now Prairie-duchaine, or the Dog Prairie, named after an Indian chief who went by the dignified name of the Dog.

He speaks of this town as one where a great central fur trade was carried on by the Indians. From this point, he commenced his voyage up the Mississippi in a canoe, and when he reached Lake Pepin, he claims to have discovered a system of earthworks, which he describes as of the most scientific military construction, and inferred that they had been at some time the entrenchments of a people well versed in the arts of war. It takes very little to excite an enthusiastic imagination into the belief that it has found what it has been looking for. He found a cave in what is now known as Dayton's Bluff in St. Paul, and describes it as immense in extent, and covered with Indian hieroglyphics, and speaks of a burying place at a little distance from the cavern, Indian Mound Park, evidently, And made a short voyage up the Minnesota River, which he says the Indians called Wadapaw Minnesotor.

This probably is as near as he could catch the name by sound. It should be Wakpaw, Minnesota. After his voyage to the Falls and up the Minnesota, he returned to his cave, where he says there were assembled a great council of Indians, to which he was admitted, and witnessed the burial ceremonies, which he describes as follows, After the breath is departed, the body is dressed in the same attire it usually wore, his face is painted, and he is seated in an erect posture on a mat or skin placed in the middle of the hut, with his weapons by his side. His relatives, seated around, each harangues the deceased, and if he has been a great warrior, recounts his heroic actions nearly to the following purport, which, in the Indian language, is extremely poetical and pleasing.

You still sit among us, brother. Your person retains its usual resemblance, and continues similar to ours, without any visible deficiency except it has lost the power of action. But whither is that breath flown, which a few hours ago sent up smoke to the great spirit? Why are those lips silent that lately delivered to us expressions and pleasing language? Why are those feet motionless that a short time ago were fleeter than the deer on yonder mountains? Why useless hang those arms that could climb the tallest tree, or draw the toughest bow? Alas! every part of that frame which we lately beheld with admiration and wonder is now become as inanimate as it was three hundred years ago. We will not, however, bemoan thee as if thou wast forever lost to us, or that thy name would be buried in oblivion.

Thy soul yet lives in the great country of spirits with those of thy nation that have gone before thee, and though we are left behind to perpetuate thy fame, we shall one day join thee. Actuated by the respect we bore thee whilst living, we now come to tender thee the last act of kindness in our power. That thy body might not lie neglected on the plain, and become a prey to the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, we will take care to lay it with those of thy ancestors, who have gone before thee, hoping at the same time that thy spirit will feed with their spirits, and be ready to receive ours when we shall also arrive at the I have heard many speeches made by the descendants of these same Indians, and have many times addressed them on all manner of subjects, but I never heard anything quite so elegant as the oration put into their mouths by Carver.

I have always discovered that a good interpreter makes a good speech. On one occasion, when a delegation of pillager Chippewas was in Washington to settle some matters with the government, they wanted a certain concession which the Indian commissioner would not allow, and they appealed to the president, who was then Franklin Pierce. Old Flatmouth, the chief, presented the case. Paul Boylew interpreted it so feelingly that the president surrendered without a contest. After informing him as to the disputed point, he added, "'Father, you are great and powerful. You live in a beautiful home where the bleak winds never penetrate. Your hunger is always appeased by the choicest foods. Your heart is kept warm by all these blessings, and would bleed at the sight of distress among your red children.' Father, we are poor and weak.

We live far away in the cheerless north, in bark lodges. We are often cold and hungry. Father, what we ask is to you as nothing, while to us it is comfort and happiness. Give it to us, and when you stand upon your grand portico some bright winter night, and see the northern lights dancing in the heavens, it will be the thanks of your red children, ascending to the Great Spirit, for your goodness to them."

Carver seems to have been a sagacious observer, and a man of great foresight. In speaking of the advantages of the country, he says that the future population will be, quote, able to convey their produce to the seaports with great facility, the current of the river from its source to its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico being extremely favorable for doing this in small craft. This might also in time be facilitated by canals or shortcuts and a communication opened with New York by way of the lakes.

He was also impressed with the idea that a route could be discovered by way of the Minnesota River, which would open a passage for conveying intelligence to China and the English settlements in the East Indies. The nearest to a realization of this theory that I have known was the sending of the stern-wheeled steamer Freighter on a voyage up the Minnesota to Winnipeg sometime in the early 50s. She took freight and passengers for that destination, but never reached the Red River of the North. After the death of Carver, his heirs claimed that, while at the Great Cave on the 1st of May, 1767, the Indians made him a large grant of land, which would cover St. Paul and a large part of Wisconsin, and several attempts were made to have it ratified by both the British and American governments, but without success.

Carver does not mention this grant in his book, nor has the original deed ever been found. A copy, however, was produced, and as it was the first real estate transaction ever had in Minnesota, I will set it out in full. To Jonathan Carver, a chief under the most mighty and potent George III, King of the English and other nations, the fame of whose warriors has reached our ears, and has been fully told us by our good brother Jonathan aforesaid, whom we all rejoice to have come among us, and bring us good news from his country. We, chiefs of the Nanduweses, who have hereunto set our seals, Do, by these presents, for ourselves and heirs forever, in return for the aid and good services done by the said Jonathan to ourselves and allies, give, grant, and convey to him, the said Jonathan, and to his heirs and assigns forever, the whole of a certain territory or tract of land, bounded as follows, that is, From the falls of St.

Anthony, running on east bank of the Mississippi, nearly southeast as far as Lake Pepin, where the Chippewa joins the Mississippi, and from thence eastward five days' travel, accounting twenty English miles per day, and from thence again to the falls of St. Anthony, on a direct straight line. We do for ourselves, heirs and assigns, forever give unto said Jonathan, his heirs and assigns, with all the trees, rocks, and rivers therein, reserving the sole liberty of hunting and fishing, on land not planted or improved by the said Jonathan, his heirs and assigns, to which we have affixed our respective seals. At the Great Cave, May 1st, 1767. Signed, Hanno Pajatin, This alleged instrument bears upon its face many marks of suspicion, and was very properly rejected by General Leavenworth, who, in 1821, made a report of his investigations in regard to it to the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

The war between the Chippewas and the Dakotas continued to rage with varied success, as it has since time immemorial. It was a bitter, cruel war, waged against the race and blood, and each successive slaughter only increased the hatred and heaped fuel upon the fire. As an Indian never forgives the killing of a relative, and as the particular murderer, as a general thing, was not known on either side, Each death was charged up to the tribe. These wars, although constant, had very little influence on the standing or progress of the country, except so far as they may have proved detrimental or beneficial to the fur trade prosecuted by the whites. The first event after the appearance of Jonathan Carver that can be considered as materially affecting the history of Minnesota was the location and direction of Fort Snelling, of which event I will give a brief account.

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IV.

Fort Snelling. In 1805, the government decided to procure a site on which to build a fort somewhere on the waters of the Upper Mississippi, and sent Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike of the Army to explore the country, expel British traders who might be violating the laws of the United States, and to make treaties with the Indians. On the 21st of September, 1805, He encamped on what is now known as Pike Island at the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota, then St. Peter's River. Two days later he obtained by treaty with the Dakota Nation a tract of land for a military reservation, with the following boundaries, extending from below the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Peter's up the Mississippi to include the falls of St.

Anthony, Extending nine miles on each side of the river. The United States paid two thousand dollars for this land. The reserve thus purchased was not used for military purposes until February 10, 1819, at which time the government gave the following reasons for erecting a fort at this point. To cause the power of the United States government to be fully acknowledged by the Indians and settlers of the Northwest, To prevent Lord Selkirk, the Hudgens Bay Company, and others from establishing trading posts on United States territory, to better the conditions of the Indians, and to develop the resources of the country. Part of the 5th United States Infantry, commanded by Colonel Henry Leavenworth, was dispatched to select a site and erect a post.

They arrived at the St. Peter's River in September, 1819. and camped on or near the spot where now stands Mendota. During the winter of 181920, the troops were terribly afflicted with scurvy. General Sibley, in an address before the Minnesota Historical Society, in speaking of it, says, So suddenly was the attack that soldiers apparently in good health when they retired at night were found dead in the morning. One man, who was relieved from his tour of sentinel duty, and had stretched himself upon a bench, when he was called four hours later to resume his duties, was found lifeless. In May 1820, the command left their cantonment, crossed the St. Peter's, and went into summer camp at a spring near the old Baker trading-post, and about two miles above the present site of Fort Snelling.

This was called Camp Coldwater. During the summer, the men were busy in procuring logs and other material necessary for the work. The first site selected was where the present military cemetery stands, and the post was called Fort St. Anthony. But in August 1820, Colonel Joshua Snelling of the 5th United States Infantry arrived, and on taking command, changed the site to where Fort Snelling now stands. Work steadily progressed. until September 10, 1820, when the corner-stone of Fort St. Anthony was laid with all due ceremony. The first measured distance that was given between this new post and the next one down the river, Fort Crawford, where Prairie du Chayne now stands, was 204 miles. The work was steadily pushed forward.

The buildings were made of logs, and were first occupied in October, 1822. The first steamboat to arrive at the post was the Virginia in 1823. The first sawmill in Minnesota was constructed by the troops in 1822, and the first lumber sawed on Rum River was for use in building the post. The mill site is now included within the corporate limits of Minneapolis. The post continued to be called Fort St. Anthony until 1824, when upon the recommendation of General Scott, who inspected the fort, It was named Fort Snelling, in honor of its founder. In 1830, stone buildings were erected for a four-company post. Also, a stone hospital and a stone wall nine feet high surrounding the whole post. But these improvements were not actually completed until after the Mexican War.

The Indian title to the military reservation does not seem to have been effectually acquired, notwithstanding the treaty of Lieutenant Pike. made with the Indians in 1805, until the treaty with the Dakotas in 1837, by which the Indian claim to all the lands east of the Mississippi, including the reservation, ceased. In 1836, before the Indian title was finally acquired, quite a number of settlers located on the reservation on the left bank of the Mississippi. On October 21, 1839, the President issued an order for their removal. and on the sixth day of May, 1840, some of the settlers were forcibly removed. In 1837, Mr. Alexander Faribault presented a claim for Pike Island, which was based upon a treaty made by him with the Dakotas in 1820.

Whether his claim was allowed, the records do not disclose, and it is unimportant. On May 25th, 1853, a military reservation for the fort was set off by the President of 7,000 acres, which in the following November was reduced to 6,000. In 1857, the Secretary of War, pursuant to the authority vested in him by the Act of Congress of March 3rd, 1857, sold the Fort Snelling Reservation, excepting two small tracts, to Mr. Franklin Steele, who had long been Suttler of the Post, for the sum of $90,000, which was to be paid in three installments. The first one of $30,000 was paid by Steele on July 25, 1857, and he took possession, the troops being withdrawn. The fort was sold at private sale, and the price paid was, in my opinion, vastly more than it was worth.

But Mr. Steele had great hopes for the future of that locality as a site for a town, and was willing to risk the payment. The sale was made by private contract by Secretary Floyd, who adopted this manner because other reservations had been sold at public auction after full publication of notice to the world, and had brought only a few cents per acre. The whole transaction was in perfect good faith, but it was attacked in Congress, and an investigation was ordered, which resulted in suspending its consummation, and Mr. Steele did not pay the balance due. In 1860, the Civil War broke out, and the fort was taken possession of by the government for use in fitting out Minnesota troops, and was held until the war ended.

In 1868, Mr. Steele presented a claim against the government for rent of the fort, and other matters relating to it, which amounted to more than the price he agreed to pay for it. An Act of Congress was passed on May 7, 1870, authorizing the Secretary of War to settle the whole matter on principles of equity, keeping such reservation as was necessary for the fort. In pursuance of this act, A military board was appointed, and the whole controversy was arranged to the satisfaction of Mr. Steele and the government. The reservation was reduced to a little more than fifteen hundred acres. A grant of ten acres was made to the little Catholic church at Mendota for a cemetery, and other small tracts were reserved about the falls of Minnehaha and elsewhere, and all the balance was conveyed to Mr.

Steele. He releasing the government from all claims and demands. The action of the Secretary of War in carrying out this settlement was approved by the President in 1871. The fort was one of the best structures of the kind ever erected in the West. It was capable of accommodating five or six companies of infantry, was surrounded by a high stone wall, and protected at the only exposed approaches by stone bastions guarded by cannon and musketry. Its supply of water was obtained from a well in the parade ground, near the Sutler's Store, which was sunk below the surface of the river. It was perfectly impregnable to any savage enemy, and in consequence was never called upon to stand a siege. Perched upon a prominent bluff at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, It has witnessed the changes that have gone on around it for three quarters of a century, and seen the most extraordinary transformations that have ever occurred in any similar period in the history of our country.

When its corner-stone was laid, it formed the extreme frontier of the northwest, with nothing but wild animals and wilder men within hundreds of miles in any direction. The frontier has receded to the westward until it has lost itself in the corresponding one being pushed from the Pacific to the east. The Indians have lost their splendid freedom as lords of a continent, and are prisoners cribbed upon narrow reservations. The magnificent herds of buffalo that range from the British possessions to Texas have disappeared from the face of the earth, and nothing remains but the white men bearing his burden. which is constantly being made more irksome. To those who have played both parts in the moving drama, there is much food for thought.

I devote so much space to Fort Snelling, because it has always sustained the position of a pivotal center to Minnesota. In the infancy of society, it radiated the refinement and elegance that leavened the country around. In hospitality, its officers were never surpassed, and when danger threatened, Its protecting arm assured safety. For many long years, it was the first to welcome the incomer to the country, and will ever be remembered by the old settlers as a friend. After the headquarters of the Department of Dakota was established at St. Paul, and when General Sherman was in command of the Army, he thought that the offices should be at the fort, and remove them there. This caused the erection of the new administration building, The fort was a beautiful line of officers' quarters about a mile above the old walled structure, and led to its practical abandonment.

But the change was soon found to be inconvenient in a business way, and the department headquarters were restored to the city where they still remain. Since the fort was built, nearly every officer in the old army, and many of those who have followed them, has been stationed at Snelling, and it was beloved by them all. The situation of the fort Now that the railroads have become the reliance of all transportation, both for speed and safety, is the most advantageous one from a military point of view. It is at the center of a railroad system that reaches all parts of the continent, and troops and munitions of war can be deposited at any point with the utmost dispatch. It is believed that it will not only be retained, but enlarged.

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V. The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier. The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part I, by Charles E. Flandreau. Section Five, the Selkirk Settlement. Lord Selkirk, the checking of whose operations was among the reasons given for the erection of Fort Snelling, was a Scotch Earl who was very wealthy and enthusiastic on the subject of founding colonies in the northwestern British processions. He was a kind-hearted but visionary man, and had no practical knowledge whatever on the subject of colonization in uncivilized countries. About the beginning of the nineteenth century, He wrote several pamphlets, urging the importance of colonizing British immigrants on British soil to prevent them settling in the United States.

In 1811, he obtained a grant of land from the Hudson Bay Company in the region of Lake Winnipeg, the Red River of the North, and the Assiniboine, in what is now Manitoba. Previous to this time, the inhabitants of this region besides the Indians were Canadians, who had intermingled with the savages. Learning all their vices and none of their good traits. They were called Je Libre, Free People, and were very proud of the title. Mr. Neal, in his history of Minnesota, in describing them, says they were fond of vast and sudden deeds of violence, adventures wild and wonders of the moment. The offspring of their intercourse with the Indian women were numerous, and called Bois Brule. They were a fine race of hunters, horsemen and boatmen, and possessed all the accomplishments of the voyageurs.

They spoke the language of both father and mother. In 1812, a small advance party of colonists arrived at the Red River of the North, in about latitude fifty degrees north. They were, however, frightened away by a party of men of the Northwest Fur Company, dressed as Indians, and induced to take refuge at Pembina, in what is now, Minnesota, where they spent the winter suffering the greatest hardships. Many died, but the survivors returned in the spring to the colony and made an effort to raise a crop, but it was a failure, and they again passed the winter at Pambina. This was the winter of 1813, 14. They again returned to the colony in a very distressed and dilapidated condition in the spring.

By September 1815, the colony, which then numbered about two hundred, was getting along quite prosperously, and its future seemed auspicious. It was called Kildonan, after a parish in Scotland in which the colonists were born. The employees of the Northwest Fur Company were, however, very restive under anything that looked like improvement, and regarded it as a ruse of their rival, the Hudson's Bay Company, to break up the lucrative business they were enjoying in the Indian trade. They resorted to all kinds of measures to get rid of the colonists, even to attempting to incite the Indians against them, and on one occasion, by a trick, disarmed them of their brass field pieces and other small artillery.

Many of the disaffected Selkirkers deserted to the quarters of the North West Company. These annoyances were carried to the extent of an attack on the House of the Governor, where four of the inmates were wounded, one of whom died. They finally agreed to leave, and were escorted to Lake Winnipeg, where they embarked in boats. Their improvements were all destroyed by the northwest people. They were again induced to return to their colony lands by the Hudson Bay people, and did so in 1816, when they were reinforced by new colonists. Part of them wintered at Pembina in 1816, but returned to the Kildonan settlement in the spring. Lord Selkirk, hearing of the distressed condition of his colonists, sailed for New York, where he arrived in the fall of 1815, and learned that they had been compelled to leave the settlement.

He proceeded to Montreal, where he found some of the settlers in the greatest poverty. But learning that some of them still remained in the colony, he sent an express to announce his arrival, and say that he would be with them in the spring. The news was sent by a colonist named Lachimoniere, but he was waylaid near Fond du Lac, and brutally beaten and robbed of his dispatches. Subsequent investigation proved that this was the work of the North West Company. Selkirk tried to obtain military aid from the British authorities, but failed. He then engaged four officers and over one hundred privates who had served in the late war with the United States to accompany him to the Red River. He was to pay them, give them lands, and send them home if they wished to return.

When he reached Sault Ste. Marie, he heard that his colony had again been destroyed. War was raging between the Hudson Bay people and the Northwest Company. in which Governor Semple, chief governor of the factories and territories of the Hudson Bay Company, was killed. Selkirk proceeded to Fort William on Lake Superior, and finally reached his settlement on the Red River. The colonists were compelled to pass the winter of 1817 in hunting in Minnesota, and had a hard time of it, but in the spring they once more found their way home and planted crops. But they were destroyed by grasshoppers, which remained during the next year, and ate up every growing thing, rendering it necessary that the colonists should again resort to the buffalo for subsistence.

On the winter of 181920, a deputation of these Scutchmen came all the way to Prairie du Chene on snowshoes for seed-wheat, a distance of a thousand miles, and on the fifteenth day of April, 1820, left for the colony in three Mackinac boats. Carrying three hundred bushels of wheat, one hundred bushels of oats, and thirty bushels of peas. Being stopped by ice in Lake Pepin, they planted a maypole and celebrated May Day on the ice. They reached home by way of the Minnesota River with a short portage to Lake Traverse, the boats being moved on rollers, and thence down the Red River to Pembina, where they arrived in safety on the third day of June. This trip cost Lord Selkirk about six thousand dollars.

Nothing daunted by the terrible sufferings of his colonists, and the immense expense attendant upon his enterprise, in 1820 he engaged Captain R. May, who was a citizen of Berne, in Switzerland, but in British service, to visit Switzerland and get recruits for his colony. The captain made the most exaggerated representations of the advantages to be gained by emigrating to the colony, and induced many Swiss to leave their happy and peaceful homes to try their fortunes in the distant, dangerous, and inhospitable regions of Lake Winnipeg. They knew nothing of the hardships in store for them. and were the least adapted to encounter them of any people in the world, as they were mechanics, whose business had been the delicate work of making watches and clocks.

They arrived in 1821, and from year to year, after undergoing hardships that might have appalled the hardiest pioneer, their spirits drooped. They pined for home and left for the South. At one time, a party of two hundred and forty-three of them departed for the United States, and found homes at different points on the banks of the Mississippi. Before the eastern wave of immigration had ascended above Prais-duchesne, many Swiss had opened farms at and near St. Paul, and became the first actual settlers of the country. Mr. Stevens, in an address on the early history of Hennepin County, says that they were driven from their homes in 1836 and 1837 by the military at Fort Snelling, and is very severe on the autocratic conduct of the officers of the fort, saying that the commanding officers were lords of the north, and the subordinates were princes.

I have no doubt they did not underrate their authority. But I think Mr. Stevens must refer to the removals that were made of settlers on the military reservation, of which I have before spoken. The subject of the Selkirk colony cannot fail to interest the reader. It was the first attempt to introduce into the great Northwest settlers for the purpose of peaceful agriculture. Everybody else who had preceded them having been connected with the half-savage business of the Indian trade. And the reason I have dwelt so long upon the subject is because these people, on their second emigration, furnished Minnesota with her first settlers, and curiously enough they came from the north. Abraham Perry was one of these Swiss refugees from the Selkirk settlement.

With his wife and two children, he first settled at Fort Snelling, then at St. Paul, and finally at Lake Johanna. His son, Charles, who came with him, has, while I am writing, on the twenty-ninth day of July, just celebrated his golden wedding at the old homestead at Lake Johanna, where they have ever since lived. They were married by the right Reverend A. Raveau, who is still living in St. Paul. Charles Perry is the only survivor of that ill-fated band of Selkirkers.

6 06 - George Catlin; Featherstonehaugh; Schoolcraft and the Source of the Mississippi; Elevations in Minnesota; Nicollet 10:13

Schoolcraft and the Source of the Mississippi. Elevations in Minnesota. Nicollet. George Catlin. In 1835, George Catlin, an artist of merit, visited Minnesota, and made many sketches and portraits of Indians. His published statements after his departure about his adventures elicited much adverse criticism from the old settlers. Featherstone Haw. Featherstone Haw, an Englishman about the same time, under the direction of the United States government, made a slight geological survey of the Minnesota Valley, and on his return to England, he wrote a book which reflected unjustly upon the gentlemen he met in Minnesota, but not much was thought of it, because until recently such has been the English custom.

Schoolcraft and the Source of the Mississippi In 1832, the United States sent an embassy composed of thirty men under Henry R. Schoolcraft, then Indian agent at Sault Ste. Marie, to visit the Indians of the Northwest, and when advisable, to make treaties with them. They had a guard of soldiers, a physician, an interpreter, and the Reverend William T. Boutwell, a missionary at Leech Lake. They were supplied with a large outfit of provisions, Tobacco and trinkets, which were conveyed in a bateau. They traveled in several large bark canoes. They went to Fond du Lac, thence up the St. Louis River, portaged round the falls, thence to the nearest point to Sandy Lake, thence up the Mississippi to Leech Lake.

While there, they learned from the Indians that Cass Lake, which for some time had been reputed to be the source of the Mississippi, was not the real source. and they determined to solve the problem of where the real source was to be found and what it was. I may say here that, in 1819, General Louis Cass, then governor of the Territory of Michigan, had led an exploring party to the upper waters of the Mississippi, somewhat similar to the one I am now speaking of, Mr. Henry R. Schoolcraft being one of them. When they reached what is now Cass Lake in the Mississippi River, they decided that it was the source of the great river, and it was named Cass Lake in honor of the governor, and was believed to be such source until the arrival of Schoolcraft's party in 1832.

After a search, an inlet was found into Cass Lake, flowing from the west, and they pursued it until the lake now called Itasca was reached. Five of the party, Lieutenant Allen, Schoolcraft, Dr. Houghton, Interpreter Johnson, and Mr. Boutwell explored the lake thoroughly, and finding no inlet decided it must be the true source of the river. Mr. Schoolcraft, being desirous of giving the lake a name that would indicate its position as the true head of the river, and at the same time be euphonious in sound, endeavored to produce one. But being unable to satisfy himself, turned it over to Mr. Boutwell. who, being a good Latin scholar, wrote down two Latin words veritas and caput and suggested that a word might be coined out of the combination that would answer the purpose.

He then cut off the last two syllables of veritas, making it itas, and the first syllable of caput, making ka, and put them together. He gave the word, Itasca, which in my judgment is a sufficiently skillful and beautiful literary feat to immortalize the inventor. Mr. Butwell died within a few years at Stillwater, in Minnesota. Presumptuous attempts have been made to deprive Schoolcraft of the honor of having discovered the true source of the river. But their transparent absurdity has prevented their having obtained any credence, and to put Aquietus on such unscrupulous pretenses. Mr. J. V. Brower, a scientific surveyor under the auspices of the Minnesota Historical Society, has recently made exhaustive researches, surveys, and maps of the region, and established beyond doubt or cavil the entire authenticity of Schoolcraft's discovery.

General James H. Baker, once Surveyor-General of the State of Minnesota, and a distinguished member of the same society, under its appointment prepared an elaborate paper on the subject, in which is collected and presented all the facts, history, and knowledge that exists relating to the discovery, and conclusively destroys all efforts to deprive schoolcraft of his laurels. Elevations in Minnesota While on the subject of the source of the Mississippi River, I may as well speak on the elevations of the state above the level of the sea. It can be truthfully said that Minnesota occupies the summit of the North American continent. In its most northern third rises the Mississippi, which in its general course flows due south to the Gulf of Mexico.

In about its central division, from north to south, rises the Red River of the North. and takes a general northerly direction until it empties into Lake Winnipeg, while the St. Louis and other rivers take their rise in the same region and flow eastwardly into Lake Superior, which is the real source of the St. Lawrence, which empties into the Atlantic. The elevation at the source of the Mississippi is sixteen hundred feet, at the point where it leaves the southern boundary of the state, six hundred twenty feet. The elevation at the source of the Red River of the North is the same as that of the Mississippi, 1,600 feet, and where it leaves the state at its northern boundary, 767 feet. The average elevation of the state is given at 1,275 feet, its highest elevation in the Masaba Range, 2,200 feet, and its lowest at Duluth, 602 feet.

Nicolette. In 1836, a French savant, M. Jean N. Nicolette, visited Minnesota for the purpose of exploration. He was an astronomer of note, and had received a decoration of the Legion of Honor, and had also been attached as professor to the Royal College of Louis-Le Grand. He arrived in Minnesota on July 26, 1836, bearing letters of introduction, and visited Fort Snelling. Whence he left with a French trader named Franchet to explore the sources of the Mississippi. He entered the Crow Wing River, and by way of Gull River and Gull Lake he entered Leech Lake. The Indians were disappointed when they found he had no presents for them, and spent most of his time looking at the heavens through a tube, and they became unruly and troublesome.

The Reverend Mr. Boutwell, whose mission house was on the lake, learning of the difficulty, came to the rescue. and a very warm friendship sprang up between the men. No educated man, who has not experienced the desolation of having been shut up among savages and rough unlettered voyageurs for a long time, can appreciate the pleasure of meeting a cultured and refined gentleman so unexpectedly as Mr. Boutwell encountered Nicollet, and especially when he was able to render him valuable aid. From Leech Lake, Nicollet went to Lake Itasca with guides and packers. He pitched his tent on Schoolcraft Island in the lake, where he occupied himself for some time in making astronomical observations. He continued his explorations beyond those of Schoolcraft and Lt.

Allen, and followed up the rivulets that entered the lake, thoroughly exploring its basin or watershed. He returned to Fort Snelling in October, and remained there for some time, studying Dakota. He became the guest of Mr. Henry H. Sibley, at his home in Mendota, for the winter. General Sibley, in speaking of him, says, A portion of the winter following was spent by him at my house, and it is hardly necessary to state that I found him a most instructive companion. His devotion to his studies was intense and unremitting. And I frequently expostulated with him upon his imprudence in thus overtasking the strength of his delicate frame, but without effect. Nicollet went to Washington after his tour of 1836-37, and was honored with a commission from the United States government to make further explorations, and John C.

Fremont was detailed as his assistant. Under his new appointment, Nicollet and his assistant went up the Missouri in a steamboat to Fort Pier. Thence he traveled through the interior of Minnesota, visiting the Red Pipestone Quarry, Devil's Lake, and other important localities. On this tour, he made a map of the country, which was the first reliable and accurate one made, which, together with its astronomical observations, were invaluable to the country. His name has been perpetuated by giving it to one of Minnesota's principal counties.

7 07 - Missions 12:31

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part One by Charles E. Flandreau. Section 7. Missions. The missionary period is one full of interest in the history of the state of Minnesota. The devoted people who sacrifice all the pleasures and luxuries of life to spread the gospel of Christianity among the Indians are deserving of all praise, no matter whether success or failure attends their efforts. The Dakotas and Chippewas were not neglected in this respect. The Catholics were among them at a very early day and strove to convert them to Christianity. These worthy men were generally French priests and daring explorers. But for some reason, whether it was the want of permanent support or an individual desire to rove, I am unable to say.

They did not succeed in founding any missions of a lasting character among the Dakotas before the advent of White Settlement. The devout Romanist, Chey, in his interesting history of Catholic missions, speaking of the Dakotas, remarks that Father Menard had projected a Sioux mission. Marquette, Allaway, and Drouillet all entertained hopes of realizing it, and had some intercourse with that nation, but none of them ever succeeded in establishing a mission. Their work, however, was only postponed, for at a later date they gained and maintained a lasting foothold. The Protestants, however, in and after 1820, made permanent and successful ventures in this direction. After the formation of the American Fur Company, Mackinac became the chief point of that organization.

In June, 1820, the Reverend Mr. Morse, father of the inventor of the telegraph, came to Mackinac and preached the first sermon that was delivered in the Northwest. He made a report of his visit to the Presbyterian Missionary Society in New York, which sent out parties to explore the field. The Rev. W. M. Terry and his wife commenced a school at Mackinac in 1823 and had great success. There were sometimes as many as 200 pupils at the school, representing many tribes of Indians. There are descendants of the children who were educated at this school now in Minnesota who are citizens of high standing, who are indebted to this institution for their education and position. In the year 1830, a Mr. Warren, who was then living at La Pointe, visited Mackinac to obtain a missionary for his place, and not being able to secure an ordained minister, he took back with him Mr.

Frederick Ayer, a teacher, who, being pleased with the place and prospect, returned to Mackinac, and in 1831, with the Reverend Sherman Hall and wife, started for La Pointe. where they arrived on August 30th and established themselves as missionaries with a school. The next year, Mr. Eyre went to Sandy Lake and opened another school for children of Voyageurs and Indians. In 1832, Mr. Boutwell, after his tour with schoolcraft, took charge of the school at La Pointe, and in 1833, he removed to Leech Lake and there established the first mission in Minnesota west of the Mississippi. From his Leech Lake mission, he writes a letter in which he gives a realistic account of his school and mission, that one can see everything that is taking place, as if a panorama were passing before his eyes.

He takes a cheerful view of his prospects, and gives a comprehensive statement of the resources of the country and their natural state. If space allowed, I would like to copy the whole letter. But as he speaks of the wild rice in referring to the food supply, I will say a word about it, as I deem it one of Minnesota's most important natural resources. In 1857, I visited the source of the Mississippi with the then Indian agent for the Chippewas, and traveled hundreds of miles in the upper river. We passed through endless fields of wild rice, and witnessed its harvest by the Chippewas, which is a most interesting and picturesque scene. They tie it in sheaves with a straw before it is ripe enough to gather to prevent the wind from shaking out the grains, and when it has matured, they thresh it with sticks into their canoes.

We estimated that there were about one thousand families of the Chippewas, and that they gathered about twenty-five bushels for each family, and we saw that in doing so, they did not make any impression whatever on the crop, leaving thousands of acres of the rice to the geese and ducks. Our calculations, then, were that more rice grew in Minnesota each year without any cultivation than was produced in South Carolina as one of the principal products of that state, and I may add that it is much more palatable and nutritious as a food than the white rice of the Orient or the South. There is no doubt that at some future time it will be utilized to the great advantage of the state. Mr. Boudwell's Leech Lake mission was in all things a success.

In 1834, the Rev. Samuel W. Pond and his brother, Gideon H. Pond, full of missionary enthusiasm, arrived at Fort Snelling in the month of May. They consulted with the Indian agent, Major Taliahferro, about the best place to establish a mission, and decided upon Lake Calhoun, where dwelt small bands of Dakotas, and with their own hands erected a house and located. About the same time came the Rev. T. H. Williamson, M.D., under appointment from the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, to visit the Dakotas to ascertain what could be done to introduce Christian instruction among them. He was reinforced by Rev. J. D. Stephens, missionary, Alexander Huggins, farmer, and their wives, and Miss Sarah Pogge and Miss Lucy Stephens, teachers.

They arrived at Fort Snelling in May, 1835, and were hospitably received by the officers of the garrison, the Indian agent and Mr. Sibley, then a young man who had recently taken charge of the trading post at Mendota. From this point, Reverend Mr. Stevens and family proceeded to Lake Harriet, in Hennepin County, and built a suitable house, and Dr. Williamson and wife, Mr. Huggins and wife, and Miss Poage went to Lackey Parley, where they were welcomed by Mr. Renville, a trader at that point, after whom the county of Renville is named. The Rev. J.D. Stevens acted as chaplain of Fort Snelling, in the absence of a regularly appointed officer in that position. In 1837, the mission was strengthened by the arrival of Rev.

Stephen R. Riggs, a graduate of Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, and his wife. After remaining a short time at Lake Harriet, Mr. and Mrs. Riggs went to Lackey Parley. In 1837, missionaries sent out by the Evangelical Society of Luzon, Switzerland, arrived and located at Red Wing and Wapasha's villages on the Mississippi, and about the same time, a Methodist mission was commenced at Kaposia, but they were of brief duration and soon abandoned. In 1836, a mission was established at Pokegama among the Chippewas, which was quite successful, and afterwards, in 1842 or 1843, missions were opened at Red Lake, Shakopee, and other places in Minnesota. During the summer of 1843, Mr. Riggs commenced a mission station at Traverse des Sous, which attained considerable proportions, and remained until overtaken by White Settlement about 1854.

Mr. Riggs and Dr. Williamson also established a mission at the Yellow Medicine Agency of the Sioux in the year 1852, which was about the best equipped of any of them. It consisted of a good house for the missionaries, a large boarding and schoolhouse for Indian pupils, a neat little church with a steeple and a bell, and all the other buildings necessary to a complete mission outfit. These good men adopted a new scheme of education and civilization which promised to be very successful. They organized a government among the Indians, which they called the Hazelwood Republic. To become a member of this civic body, it was necessary that the applicant should cut off his long hair and put on white men's clothes, and it was also expected that he should become a member of the church.

The Republic had a written constitution, a president, and other officers. It was in 1856 when I first became acquainted with this institution, and I afterwards used its members to great advantage in the rescue of captive women and the punishment of one of the leaders of the Spirit Lake Massacre, which occurred in the northwest portion of Iowa in the year 1857, the particulars of which I will relate hereafter. The name of the president was Paul Mazzacutamani, or the man who shoots metal as he walks, and one of its prominent members was John Otherday, called in Sioux Anpetutokacha, both of whom were the best friends the whites had in the hour of their great danger in the outbreak of 1862. It was these two men who informed the missionaries and other whites at the Yellow Medicine Agency of the impending massacre and assisted sixty-two of them to escape before the fatal blow was struck.

What I have said proves that much good attended the work of the missionaries in the way of civilizing some of the Indians, but it has always been open to question, in my mind, if any Sioux-Indian ever fully comprehended the basic doctrines of Christianity. I will give an example which had great weight in forming my judgment. There were among the pillars of the mission church at the Yellow Medicine Agency, or as it was called in Sioux, Pujatazi, an Indian named Anawangbani, to which the missionaries had prefixed the name of Simon. He was an exceptionally good man, and prominent in all church matters. He prayed and exhorted, and was looked upon by all interested as a fulfillment of the success of both the church and the republic.

Imagine the consternation of the worthy missionaries when one day he announced that a man who had killed his cousin some eight years ago had returned from Missouri and was then in a neighboring camp, and that it was his duty to kill him to avenge his cousin. The missionaries argued with him, quoted the Bible to him, prayed with him, in fact, exhausted every possible means to prevent him from carrying out his purpose, but all to no effect. He would admit all they said. Assured them that he believed everything they contended for, but he would always end with the assertion that, he killed my cousin, and I must kill him. This savage instinct was too deeply embedded in his nature to be overcome by any teaching of the white man, and the result was that he got a double-barreled shotgun and carried out his purpose, the consequence of which was to nearly destroy the church and the republic.

He was, however, true to the whites all through the outbreak of 1862. When the Indians rebelled, the entire mission outfit at Pugetazi was destroyed, which practically put an end to missionary effort in Minnesota, but did not in the least lessen the ardor of the missionaries. I remember meeting Dr. Williamson soon after the Sioux were driven out of the state, and supposing, of course, that he had given up all hope of Christianizing them. I asked him where he would settle and what he would do. He did not hesitate a moment, and said that he would hunt up the remnant of his people and attend to their spiritual wants.

8 08 - The Indians 13:46

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part One, by Charles E. Flangrard. Section 8, The Indians. The Dakotas, or as they were afterwards called, the Sioux, and the Chippewas were splendid races of Aboriginal men. The Sioux that occupied Minnesota were about 8,000 strong, men, women, and children. They were divided into four principal bands, known as the Mdewakantans, or Spirit Lake Villagers, the Wakpe Kootays, or Leaf Shooters, from their living in the timber, the Sisi Tans, and Wakpe Tans. There was also a considerable band known as the Upper C.C. Tons, who occupied the extreme upper waters of the Minnesota River. The Chippewas numbered about 7,800, divided as follows, at Lake Superior, whose agency was at La Pointe, Wisconsin, about 1,600.

On the upper Mississippi, on the east side, about 3,450. Of pillagers, 1,550. And at Red Lake, 1,130. The Sioux and Chippewas had been deadly enemies as far back as anything was known of them, and kept up continual warfare. The Winnebago's, numbering about 1,500, were removed from the neutral ground in Iowa to Long Prairie in Minnesota in 1848, and in 1854 were again removed to Blue Earth County near the present site of Mankato. While Minnesota was a territory, its western boundary extended to the Missouri River, and on that river, both east and west of it, were numerous wild and warlike bands of Sioux, numbering many thousands, although no accurate census of them had ever been taken. They were the Tetons, Yanktons, Cutheads, Yanktonniers, and others.

These Missouri Indians frequently visited Minnesota. The proper name of these Indians is Dakota, and they know themselves only by that name, but the Chippewas of Lake Superior, in speaking of them, always called them Nadoesu, which in their language signifies enemy. The traders had a habit when speaking of any tribe in the presence of another, and especially of an enemy, to designate them by some name that would not be understood by the listeners, as they were very suspicious. When speaking of the Dakotas, they used the last syllable of Nadoesu, Su, until the name attached itself to them, and they have always since been so called. Charlevo. who visited Minnesota in 1721 in his History of New France says, the name Sioux that we give these Indians is entirely of our own making, or rather, it is the last two syllables of the name of Narawe Sioux, as many nations call them.

The Sioux live in teepees, or circular conical tents, supported by poles so arranged as to leave an opening in the top for ventilation and for the escape of smoke. These were, before the advent of the whites, covered with dressed buffalo skins, but more recently with a coarse cotton tent cloth, which is preferable on account of its being much lighter to transport from place to place, as they are almost constantly on the move, the tents being carried by the squaws. There is no more comfortable habitation than the Sioux Teepee to be found among the dwellers in tents anywhere. A fire is made in the center for either warmth or cooking purposes. The camp kettle is suspended over it, making cooking easy and cleanly.

In the winter, when the Indian family settles down to remain any considerable time, they select a river bottom where there is timber or chaparral, and set up the teepee. Then they cut the long grass or bottom cane and stand it up against the outside of the lodge to the thickness of about twenty inches, and you have a very warm and cozy habitation. The wealth of the Sioux consists very largely in his horses, and his subsistence is the game of the forests and plains and the fish and wild rice of the lakes. Minnesota was an Indian paradise. It abounded in buffalo, elk, moose, deer, Beaver, wolves, and in fact nearly all wild animals found in North America. It held upon its surface 8,000 beautiful lakes, alive with the finest of edible fish.

It was dotted over with beautiful groves of the sugar maple, yielding quantities of delicious sugar, and wild rice swamps were abundant. An inhabitant of this region, with absolute liberty and nothing to do but defend it against the enroachments of enemies, certainly had very little more to ask of his creator. But he was not allowed to enjoy it in peace. A stronger race was on his trail, and there was nothing left for him but to surrender his country on the best terms he could make. Such has ever been the case from the beginning of recorded events, and judging from current operations, there has been no cessation of the movement. Why was not the world made big enough for homes for all kinds and colors of men, and all characters of civilization?

As the white man progressed towards the west and came in contact with the Indians, it became necessary to define the territories of the different tribes to avoid collision between them and the newcomers as much as possible. To accomplish this end, Governor Clark of Missouri and Governor Cass of Michigan on the 19th day of August, 1825, convened at Prairie du Chen a grand congress of Indians, representing the Dakotas, Chippewas, then called Ojibwees, Sox, Foxes, Menomonees, Iowas, Winnebagoes, Potawatomis, and Ottawas, and it was determined by treaties among them where the dividing lines between their countries should be. This partition gave the Chippewas a large part of what is now Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the Dakota's lands to the west of them.

But it soon became apparent that these boundary lines between the Dakotas and the Chippewas would not be adhered to, and Governor Cass and Mr. T. L. McKinney were appointed commissioners to again convene the Chippewas, but this time at Fond du Lac. And there, on the fifth day of August 1826, another treaty was entered into, which, with the exception of the Fort Snelling Treaty, was the first one ever made on the soil of Minnesota. By this treaty, the Chippewas, among other things, renounced all allegiance to or connection with Great Britain and acknowledged the authority of the United States. These treaties were, however, rather of a preliminary character, being intended more for the purpose of arranging matters between the tribes than making concessions to the whites, although the whites were permitted to mine and carry away metals and ores from the Chippewa country by the Treaty of Fond du Lac.

The first important treaty made with the Sioux by which the white men began to obtain concessions of lands from them was on August 29, 1837. This treaty was made at Washington through Joel R. Poinsettia, and to give an idea of how little time and few words were spent in accomplishing important ends, I will quote the first article of this treaty. Article I. The Chiefs and Braves representing the parties having an interest therein cede to the United States all their land east of the Mississippi River and all their islands in said river. The rest of the treaty is confined to the consideration to be paid, and matters of that nature. This treaty extinguished all the Dakota title and lands east of the Mississippi River in Minnesota and opened the way for immigration on all that side of the Mississippi.

And immigration was not long in accepting the invitation, for between the making of the treaty in 1837 and the admission of the state of Wisconsin into the Union in 1848, there had sprung into existence in that state west of the St. Croix the towns of Stillwater, St. Anthony, St. Paul, Marine, Arcola, and other lesser settlements, which were all left in Minnesota when Wisconsin adopted the St. Croix as its western boundary. Most important, however, of all the treaties that opened up the lands of Minnesota to settlement were those of 1851, made at Traverse des Sous and Mendota. By which the Sioux ceded to the United States all their lands in Minnesota and Iowa, except a small reservation for their habitation situated on the upper waters of the Minnesota River.

The territory of Minnesota was organized in 1849 and immediately presented to the world a very attractive field for immigration. The most desirable lands in the new territory were on the west side of the Mississippi. But the title to them was still in the Indians. The whites could not wait until this was extinguished, but at once began to settle on the land lying on the west bank of the Mississippi, north of the north line of Iowa, and in the new territory. These settlements extended up the Mississippi River as far as St. Cloud, in what is now Stearns County, and extended up the Minnesota River as far as the mouth of the Blue Earth River in the neighborhood of Mankato. These settlers were all trespassers on the lands of the Indians, but a little thing like that never deterred a white American from pushing his fortunes towards the setting sun.

It soon became apparent that the Indians must yield to the approaching tidal wave of settlement, and measures were taken to acquire their lands by the United States. In 1851, Luke Lea, then Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and Alexander Ramsey, then Governor of the Territory of Minnesota, an ex-officio superintendent of Indian Affairs, The United States and the Sisseton and Wapeyton Bands of Sioux, whereby these bands ceded to the United States a vast tract of land lying in Minnesota and Iowa, and reserved for their future occupation a strip of land on the upper Minnesota. Ten miles wide on each side of the center line of the river. For this session, they were to be paid $1,665,000, which was to be paid a part in cash to liquidate debts, etc., and 5% per annum on the balance for 50 years, the interest to be paid annually, partly in cash and partly in funds for agriculture, civilization, education, and in goods of various kinds.

which payments, when completed, were to satisfy both principal and interest, the policy and expectation of the government, being that at the end of fifty years the Indians would be civilized and self-sustaining. Amendments were made to this treaty in the Senate, and it was not fully completed and proclaimed until February 24th, 1853. Almost instantly after the execution of this treaty, and on August 5, 1851, another treaty was negotiated by the same commissioners with two other bands of Sioux in Minnesota, the Nde Waukantans and Waukpe Kutais. By this treaty, these bands ceded to the United States all their lands in the territory of Minnesota, or State of Iowa, for which they were to be paid $1,410,000.

Very much in the same way that was provided in the last name treaty with the Sissi-Tons and Wakpe-Tons, this treaty also was amended by the Senate and not fully perfected until February 24, 1853. Both of these treaties contain the provision that the laws of the United States prohibiting the introduction and sale of spirituous liquors in the Indian country shall be in full force and effect throughout the territory hereby seated and lying in Minnesota until otherwise directed by Congress or the President of the United States. I mention this feature of the treaty because it gave rise to much litigation as to whether the treaty making power had authority to legislate for settlers on the ceded lands of the United States.

The power was sustained. These treaties practically obliterated the Indian title from the lands composing Minnesota, and its extinction brings us to the territorial period.

9 09 - Territorial Period 13:15

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1 by Charles E. Flandron. Section 9. Territorial Period. It must be kept in mind that during the period which we have been attempting to review, the people who inhabited what is now Minnesota were subject to a great many different governmental jurisdictions. This, however, did not in any way concern them, as they did not, as a general thing, know or care anything about such matters. But as it may be interesting to the retrospective explorer to be informed on the subject, I will briefly present it. Minnesota has two sources of parentage. The part of it lying west of the Mississippi was part of the Louisiana Purchase made by Preston Jefferson from Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803, and the part east of that river was part of the northwest territory ceded by Virginia in 1784 to the United States.

I will give the successive changes of political jurisdiction Beginning on the west side of the river. First, it was part of New Spain and Spanish. It was then purchased from Spain by France and became French. On June 30, 1803, it became American by purchase from France. and was part of the province of Louisiana, and so remained until March 26, 1804, when an act was passed by Congress creating the territory of Orleans, which included all of the Louisiana Purchase, south of the 33rd degree of north latitude. This act gave the territory of Louisiana a government and called all the country north of it the District of Louisiana. which was to be governed by the territory of Indiana, which had been created in 1800 out of the North-West territory and had its seat of government at Vincennes under Wabash.

On June 4, 1812, the district of Louisiana was erected into the territory of Missouri. Where we remained until June 28, 1834, when all the public lands of the United States, lying west of the Mississippi, north of the state of Missouri, and south of the British Line, were, by act of Congress, attached to the territory of Michigan, under whose jurisdiction we remained until April 10, 1836, when the territory of Wisconsin was created. This law went into effect July 3, 1836, and Wisconsin took in our territory lying west of the Mississippi, and there it remained until June 12, 1838, when the territory of Iowa was created, taking us in and holding us until the state of Iowa was admitted into the Union on March 3, 1845, which left us without any government west of the Mississippi.

The part of Minnesota lying east of the Mississippi was originally part of the Northwest Territory. On May 7, 1800, it became part of the Indiana Territory and remained so until April 26, 1836, when it became part of the Wisconsin Territory, and so continued until May 29, 1848, when Wisconsin entered the Union as a state. with the St. Croix River for its western boundary. By this arrangement of the western boundary of Wisconsin, all the territory west of the St. Croix and east of the Mississippi, like that west of the river, was left without any government at all. One of the curious results of the many governmental changes which the western part of Minnesota underwent is illustrated in the residence of General Henry H.

Sibley at Mendota. In 1834, at the age of 22, Mr. Sibley commenced his residence at Mendota as the agent of the American Fur Company's establishment. At this point, Mr. Sibley built the first private residence that was erected in Minnesota. It was a large, comfortable dwelling constructed of the blue limestone found in the vicinity with commodious porticos on the riverfront. The house was built in 1835-36. Mr. Sibley lived in it successfully in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the territory and state of Minnesota. He removed to St. Paul in the year 1862. Every distinguished visitor who came to Minnesota in the early days was entertained by Mr. Sibley in this hospitable old mansion, and together with its genial, generous, and refined Proprietor, it contributed much towards planting the seeds of those aesthetic amenities of social life that have so generally flourished in the later days of Minnesota's history, and given it its deserved prominence among the states of the West.

The house still stands and has been occupied at different times since its founder abandoned it as a Catholic institution of some kind and an artist's summer school. The word Mendota is Sioux, And means the meeting of the waters. It was the admission of Wisconsin into the Union in 1848 that brought about the organization of the territory of Minnesota. The peculiar situation in which all the people residing west of the St. Croix found themselves set them to devising ways and means to obtain some kind of government to live under. It was a debatable question whether the remnant of Wisconsin which was left over when the state was admitted carried with it the territorial government, or whether it was a no-man's land, and different views were entertained on the subject.

The question was somewhat embarrassed by the fact that the territorial governor, Governor Dodge, had been elected to the Senate of the United States from the new state, and the territorial secretary, Mr. John Catlin, who would have become governor ex officio when a vacancy occurred in the office of governor resided in Madison, and the delegate to Congress, Mr. John H. Tweedy, had resigned. So even if the territorial government had, in law, survived, there seemed to be no one to represent and administer it. There was no lack of ability among the inhabitants of the abandoned remnant of Wisconsin. In St. Paul dwelt Henry M. Rice. Louis Roberts, J. W. Simpson, A. L. Larpenter, David Lambert, Henry Jackson, Wittell Gurin, David Herbert, Oliver Rousseau, Andre Godfrey, Joseph Rondeau, James R.

Clevel, Edward Fallon, William G. Carter, and many others. In Stillwater and on the St. Croix were Martin S. Wilkinson, Henry L. Maas, John McKusick, Joseph R. Brown, etc. In Mendota resided Henry H. Sibley. In St. Anthony, William R. Marshall. At Fort Snelling, Franklin Steel. I could name many others, but the above is a representative list. It will be observed that many of them were French. An initial meeting was held in St. Paul in July of 1848 at Henry Jackson's Trading House to consider the matter, which was undoubtedly the first public meeting ever held in Minnesota. On the fifth day of August in the same year, a similar meeting was held in Stillwater, and out of these meetings grew a call for a convention to be held at Stillwater on August 26, which was held accordingly.

There were present about sixty delegates. At this meeting, a letter from Honorable John Catlin, the Secretary of Wisconsin Territory, was read, giving it as his opinion that the territorial government of Wisconsin still existed and that if a delegate to Congress was elected, he would be admitted to a seat. A memorial to Congress was prepared, setting forth the peculiar situation in which the people of the remnant found themselves, and praying relief in the organization of a territorial government. During the session of this convention, there was a verbal agreement entered into between the members, to the effect that, when the new territory was organized, the capital should be at St. Paul, The Penitentiary at Stillwater, the University at St.

Anthony, and the delegate to Congress should be taken from Mendota. I have had reason to assert publicly this fact on former occasions, and so far as it relates to the University and the Penitentiary, my statement was questioned by Minnesota's greatest historian, Rev. Edward D. Neal, in a published article signed, Iconoclast, where I sustained my position by letters from surviving members of the convention, which I published and to which no answer was ever made. The same statement can be found in William's History of St. Paul, published in 1876 at Page Hundred Eighty-Two. The result of this convention was the selection of Henry H. Sibley as its agent or delegate to proceed to Washington and present their memorial and resolutions to the United States authorities.

It was curiously enough stipulated that the delegate should pay his own expenses. Shortly after this event, the Hon. John H. Tweedy, who was the regularly elected delegate to Congress from the territory of Wisconsin, No doubt, supposing his official career was terminated, resigned his position, and Mr. John Catlin, claiming to be the governor of the territory, came to Stillwater and issued a proclamation on October 9, 1848, ordering a special election to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Delegate Tweedy. The election was held on the 30th day of October. Mr. Henry H. Sibley and Mr. Henry M. Rice became candidates, neither caring very much about the result, and Mr. Sibley was elected.

There was much doubt entertained as to the delegate being allowed to take his seat, but in November he proceeded to Washington and was admitted after considerable discussion. On the 3rd of March, 1849, The delegates succeeded in passing an act organizing the territory of Minnesota, the boundaries of which embraced all the territory between the western boundary of Wisconsin and the Mississippi River, and also all that was left unappropriated on the admission of the State of Iowa, which carried our western boundary to the Missouri River and included within our limits a large part of what is now North and South Dakota. The passage of this act was the first step in the creation of Minnesota. No part of the country had ever before borne that name.

The word is composed of two Sioux words, minna, which means water, and sota, which means the condition of the sky when fleecy white clouds are seen floating slowly and quietly over it. It has been translated sky-tinted, giving to the word Minnesota the meaning of sky-tinted water. The name originated in the fact that, in the early days, the river now called Minnesota used to rise very rapidly in the spring, and there was constantly a caving-in of the banks which disturbed its otherwise pellucid waters and gave them the appearance of the sky when covered with the light clouds I have mentioned. The similarity was heightened by the current keeping the disturbing element constantly in motion. There is a town just above St.

Peter called Kasota, which means cloudy sky, not stormy or threatening, but a sky dotted with fleecy white clouds. The best conception of this word can be found by pouring a few drops of milk into a glass of clear water and observing the cloudy disturbance. The principal river in the territory was then called the St. Peter's River, but the name was changed to the Minnesota.

10 10 - Education; The First Territorial Government 10:39

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1 by Charles E. Flandron. Section 10. Education. The First Territorial Government. An act organizing a territory simply creates a government for its inhabitants, limiting and regulating its powers, executive, legislative, and judicial, and in our country they generally resemble each other in all essential features. But the Organic Act of Minnesota contained one provision never before found in any that preceded it. It had been customary to donate to the territory and future state one section of land in each surveyed township for school purposes, and Section 16 had been selected as the one. But at the Minnesota Act, the donation was doubled, and sections 16 and 36 in each township were reserved for the schools, which amounted to 1 18th of all the lands in the territory, and when it is understood that the state as now constituted contains 84,287 square miles or about 53,943,379 acres of land, it will be seen that the grant was princely in extent.

The United States has been in doubt with such a magnificent educational foundation. I may accept Texas, which came into the Union not as part of the United States' public domain, but as an independent republic, owning all its lands amounting to 237,504 square miles or 152 million 2,560 acres, a vast empire in itself. I remember hearing a distinguished senator, in the course of the debate on its admission into the Union, describe its immensity by saying a pigeon could not fly across it in a week. It affords every citizen of Minnesota Great pride to know that, under all faces and conditions of our territory and state, whether in prosperity or adversity, the school fund has always been held sacred, and neither extravagance, neglect, nor peculation has ever assailed it.

But it has been husbanded with jealous care from time to time since the first dollar was realized from it. The state auditor in his last report of it says, The school grant should ultimately be about 3 million acres, and as the average price of this land heretofore sold is $5.96 per acre, the amount of principal alone should yield the school fund. Not less than $17 million. To this must be added the amount received from sales of timber and for lease and royalty of mineral lands, which will not be less than $3 million more. It is not probable that the average sale price of this land will be reduced in the future, but it may increase, especially in view of the improved method of sale inaugurated by the new land law.

The general method of administering the school fund is to invest the proceeds arising from the sale of the lands and distribute the interest among the counties of the state according to the number of children attending school, the principle always to remain untouched and inviolate. Generous grants of land have also been made for a state university amounting to 92,558 acres. Also, for an agricultural college, to the extent of 100,000 acres, which two funds have been consolidated, and together they have accumulated to the sum of $1,159,790.73, all of which is securely invested. The state has also been endowed with 500,000 acres of land for internal improvements and all its lands falling within the designation of swamp lands.

An Act of Congress of February 26, 1857 also gave it 10 sections of land for the purpose of completing public buildings at the seat of government and all the salt springs not to exceed 12 in the state with six sections of land to each spring. In all 72 sections, the 12 salt springs have all been discovered and located, and the lands selected. The salt spring lands have been transferred to the regions of the university to be held in trust to pay the cost of a geological and natural history survey of the state. It is estimated that the salt spring lands will produce, on the same valuation as the school lands, the sum of $300,000. Large sums will also be gained by the state from the sale of timber stumpage and the products of its mineral lands.

Some idea of the magnitude of the fund to be derived from the mineral lands of the state may be learned from the report of the state auditor for the year 1896, in which he says that during the years 1895-96 there was received from and under all mineral leases, contracts, and loyalties It will be seen from this statement that the educational interests of Minnesota are largely provided for without resort to direct taxation, although up to the present time that means of revenue has to some extent been utilized to meet the expenses of the grant system prevailing throughout the state.

The first territorial government. The organization of the territory was completed by the appointment of Alexander Ramsey of Pennsylvania as governor, Aaron Goodrich as chief justice, and David Cooper and Bradley B. Meeker as associate justices, C.K. Smith as secretary, Joshua L. Taylor as marshal, and Henry L. Moss as district attorney. On the 27th of May, 1849, The governor and his family arrived in St. Paul, but there being no suitable accommodations for them, they became the guests of Hon. Henry H. Sibley at Mendota, whose hospitality, as usual, was never failing. And for several weeks, there resided the four men who have been perhaps more prominent in the development of the state than any others, Henry H.

Sibley, Alexander Ramsey, Henry M. Rice, and Franklin Steele, All of whom have been honored by having important counties named after them and by being chosen to fill high places of honor and trust. The governor soon returned to the capital, and on the 1st of June, 1849, issued a proclamation declaring the territory duly organized. On the 11th of June, he issued a second proclamation dividing the territory into three judicial districts, the County of St. Croix, which was one of the discarded counties of Wisconsin, and embraced the present county of Ramsey, was made the first district. The second was composed of the county of La Pointe, another of the Wisconsin counties, and the region north and west of the Mississippi River, and north of the Minnesota, and of a line running due west from the headwaters of the Minnesota to the Missouri.

The country west of the Mississippi and south of the Minnesota formed the Third District. The Chief Justice was assigned to the First, Meeker to the Second, and Cooper to the Third, and courts were ordered held in each district as follows.

At Stillwater in the First District on the Second Monday, at the Falls of St. Anthony on the Third Monday, and at Mendota on the Fourth Monday in August. A census was taken of the inhabitants of the territory in pursuance of the requirements of the Organic Act with the following result. I give here the details of the census as it is interesting to know what inhabited places there were in the territory at this time as well as the number of inhabitants.

Stillwater 609 inhabitants, Lake St. Croix 211, Little Canada and St. Anthony, 571. Crow Wing and Long Prairie, 350. Osakies Rapids, 133. Falls of St. Croix, 16. Snake River, 82. La Pointe County, 22. Crow Wing, 174. Lackey Park, 68. Little Rock, The Wabasha and Root River Fort Snelling Soldiers, Women and Children in Forts Pimbina Missouri River, 85. Total of 4,764 inhabitants.

On the seventh day of July, the governor issued a proclamation dividing the territory into seven council districts and ordering an election for a delegate to Congress, nine councilors, and eighteen representatives to constitute the first territorial legislature to be held on the first day of August. At this election, Henry H. Sibley was again chosen delegate to Congress.

11 11 - Courts 9:59

The courts were held in pursuance of the governor's proclamation, the first one convening at Stillwater. But before I relate what there occurred, I will mention an attempt that was made by Judge Erwin, one of the territorial judges of Wisconsin, to hold a term in St. Croix County in 1842. Joseph R. Brown, of whom I shall speak hereafter as one of the brightest of Minnesota's early settlers, came to Fort Snelling as a Pfeiffer boy in the regiment that founded and built the fort in 1819. He was discharged from the army about 1826 and had become clerk of the courts in St. Croix County. He had procured from the legislature of Wisconsin an order for a court in his county for some reason only known to himself, and in 1842, Judge Erwin came up to hold it.

He arrived at Fort Snelling, and found himself in a country which indicated that disputes were more frequently settled with tomahawks than by the principles of the common law. The officers of the fort could give him no information. But in his wanderings he found Mr. Norman W. Kitson, who had a trading house near the falls of Minnehaha. Kitson knew Clerk Brown, who was then living on the St. Croix, near where Stillwater now stands, and furnishing the judge a horse, directed him how to find his clerk. After a ride of more than twenty miles, Brown was discovered, but no preparations had been made for a court. The judge took the first boat down the river, A disgusted and angry man.

After the lapse of five years from this futile attempt, the first court, actually held within the bounds of Minnesota, was presided over by Judge Dunn, Then Chief Justice of the Territory of Wisconsin. The court convened at Stillwater in June 1847 and is remembered not only as the first court ever held in Minnesota, but on account of the trial of an Indian chief named Wind, who was indicted for murder. Samuel J. Crawford of Mineral Point was appointed prosecuting attorney for the term, and Ben C. Eastman of Platwell defended the prisoner. Wind was acquitted. This was the first jury trial in Minnesota. It should be stated that Henry H. Sibley was in fact the first judicial officer who ever exercised the functions of a court in Minnesota.

While living at St. Peter's Mendota, he was commissioned a Justice of the Peace in 1835 or 1836, By Governor Chambers of Iowa, with a jurisdiction extending from twenty miles south of Prairie du Chien to the British boundary on the north, to the White River on the west, and the Mississippi on the east. His prisoners could only be committed to Prairie du Chien. Boundary lines were very dimly defined in those days, and minor magistrates were in no danger of being overruled by superior courts, and tradition asserts that the writs of Sibley's court Often extended far over into Wisconsin and other jurisdictions. One case is recalled which will serve as an illustration. A man named Phelan was charged with having murdered a sergeant in the United States Army in Wisconsin.

He was arrested under a warrant from Justice Sibley's Iowa Court, examined and committed to Prairie du Chene, and no questions asked. Lake Phelan, from which the city of St. Paul derives part of its water supply, is named after this prisoner. Whatever jurisdictional irregularities Justice Sibley may have indulged in, it is safe to say that no injustice ever resulted from any decision of his.

The first court-house that was erected within the present limits of Minnesota was at Stillwater in the year 1847. A private subscription was taken up and $1,200 was contributed. This sum was supplemented by a sufficient amount to complete the structure from the Treasury of St. Croix County. It was perched on the top of one of the high bluffs in that town, and much private and judicial blasphemy has been expended by exhausted litigants and judges in climbing to its lofty pinnacle. I held the term in it ten years after its completion. This courthouse fell within the first judicial district of the territory of Minnesota, under the division made by Governor Ramsey, and the first court under his proclamation was held within its walls beginning the second Monday of August 1849.

It was presided over by Chief Justice Goodrich, assisted by Judge Cooper, the term lasting one week. There were 35 cases on the calendar. The grand jury returned thirty indictments, one for assault with intent to maim, one for perjury, four for selling liquor to Indians, and four for keeping gambling houses. Only one of these indictments was tried at this term, and the accused, Mr. William D. Phillips, being a prominent member of the bar, and there being a good deal of fun in it, I will give a brief history of the trial and the defendant. Mr. Phillips was a native of Maryland, and came to St. Paul in 1848. He was the first district attorney of the county of Ramsey. He became quite prominent as a lawyer and politician, and tradition has handed down many interesting anecdotes concerning him.

The indictment charged him with assault with intent to maim, In an altercation with the man, he had drawn a pistol on him, and his defense was that the pistol was not loaded. The witness for the prosecution swore that it was, and added that he could see the load. The prisoner, as the law then was, was not allowed to testify in his own behalf. He was convicted and fined twenty-five dollars. He was very indignant at the result, and explained the assertion of the witness that he could see the load in this way. He said he had been electioneering for Mr. Henry M. Rice, and from the uncertainty of getting his meals in such an unsettled country, he carried crackers and cheese in the same pocket with his pistol, a crumb of which had gotten into the pistol, and the fellow was so scared when he looked at it that he thought it was loaded to the muzzle.

Another anecdote which is related of him shows that he fully understood the fundamental principle which underlies success in the practice of law, that of always charging for services performed. Mr. Henry M. Rice had presented him with a lot in St. Paul upon which to build an office, and when he presented his next bill to Mr. Rice, there was in it a charge of four dollars for drawing the deed. The territorial courts, as originally constituted, being composed of only three judges, the trial terms were held by single judges, and the Supreme Court by all three sitting in bank, where they would review each other's decisions on appeal. When the State was admitted into the Union, the judiciary was made to consist of a chief justice and two associate justices, who constituted the Supreme Court with a jurisdiction exclusively appellate, And a district judge for each district.

As the state has grown in population and business, the Supreme Court judges had been increased to five and the judicial districts to 18 in number, two of which The second and the fourth have six judges each, the eleventh three, the first and seventh two each, and the remainder one each.

The practice adopted by the territorial legislature was generally similar to that of the New York Court, with such differences as were necessary to conform it to a very new country. From a residence in the territory and state of forty-seven years, nearly all of which has been spent either in practice at the bar or as a judge on the bench, I take pride in saying that the judiciary of Minnesota, in all its branches, both territorial and state, has, during its fifty years of existence, Equaled in ability, learning and integrity, that of any state in the West, which is well attested by the seventy-seven well-filmed volumes of its reported decisions.

Nearly all of the old lawyers of Minnesota were admitted to practice at the first term held at Stillwater, among whom were Martin S. Wilkinson, Henry L. Moss, Edmund Rice, Lorenzo A. Babcock, Alexander Wilkin, Bushrod W. Lott, and many others. Of the whole list, Mr. Moss is the sole survivor.

12 12 - First Territorial Legislature 9:45

The first legislature convened at St. Paul on Monday, 3 September 1849, in the Central House, which, for the occasion, served both capital and hotel. The quarters were limited, but the legislature was small. The council had nine members and the House of Representatives, eighteen. The usual officers were elected, and on Tuesday afternoon, both houses assembled in the dining room of the hotel. Prayer was offered by the Rev. E. D. Neal, and Governor Ramsey delivered his message, which was well received both at home and abroad. It may be interesting to give the names of the men constituting this body. And the places of their nativity. The counselors were... William Sturgis, Upper Canada. Martin McLeod, Montreal.

The members of the House were Marlon Black, Ohio. Benjamin W. Bronson, Michigan. Henry Jackson, Virginia. John J. Duvey, New York. Parsons K. Johnson, Vermont. Henry F. Stetzer, Missouri. William R. Marshall, Missouri. William Dugas, Lower Canada. Jeremiah Russell, Lower Canada. L. A. Babcock, Vermont. Thomas A. Holmes, Pennsylvania. Alan Morris, Pennsylvania. Alexis Bailey, Michigan. Gideon H. Pond, Connecticut.

David Olmsted was elected President of the Council, with Joseph R. Brown as Secretary. In the House, Joseph W. Ferber was elected Speaker, and W. D. Phillips Clerk. Many of these men became very prominent in the subsequent history of the State, and it is both curious and interesting to note the varied sources of their nativity. Which shows that they were all of that peculiar and picturesque class known as the American pioneer. The work of the first legislature was not extensive, yet it performed some acts of historical interest. It created eight counties named as follows.

Washington, Ramsey, and Benton. The spelling of some of these names has since been changed. A very deep interest was manifested in the school system. A joint resolution was passed ordering a slab of red pipestone from the famous quarry to be sent to the Washington Monument Association, which was done, and now represents Minnesota in that lofty monument at the national capital. This was done at the suggestion of Henry H. Sibley, who furnished the stone. It will be remembered that I have referred to the visit of George Catlin, the artist, to Minnesota in 1835, and that his report was unreliable. Among other things, he said that he was the first white man who had visited this quarry, and induced geologists to name the pipestone Catlinite.

Mr. Sibley, in his communication to the legislature presenting this slab, in answer to this pretension, says, quote, In conclusion, I would beg leave to state that a late geological work of high authority by Dr. Jackson designates this formation as Catlinite, upon the erroneous supposition that Mr. George Catlin was the first white man who had ever visited that region. The Sioux term for the stone is Ayan Sha, redstone, by which I conceive it should be known and classified."

In my opinion, The greatest achievement of the first legislature was the incorporation of the Historical Society of Minnesota. It established beyond question that we had citizens, at that early day, of thought and culture. One would naturally suppose that the first legislative body of an extreme frontier territory would be engaged principally with saw logs, peltries, town sites, And other things material. But in this instance, we find an expression of the highest intellectual prevision, the desire to record historical events for posterity, even before their happening. And what affords even greater satisfaction to the present citizens of Minnesota is, that from the time of the conception of this grand idea, there have never been men wanting to appreciate its advantages.

And carry it out. Until now our state possesses its greatest intellectual and moral treasure in a library of historical knowledge of 63,000 volumes, which is steadily increasing, a valuable museum of curiosities, and a gallery of historical paintings. This legislature recommended a device for a great seal. It represented an Indian family with lodge and canoe, encamped, a single white man visiting them, and receiving from them the calumet of peace. The design did not meet with general approval, and nothing came of it. The next winter, Governor Ramsey and the delegate to Congress prepared a seal for the territory, the design of which was the Falls of St. Anthony in the distance, a farmer ploughing land, his gun and powder-horn leaning against a newly-cut stump.

A mounted Indian, surprised at the sight of the plough, lance in hand, fleeing toward the setting sun, with the Latin motto, Queer susam volo videre. I wish to see what is above. A blunder was made by the engraver in substituting the word quo for que in the motto, which destroyed its meaning. Some time after, it was changed to the French motto, L'Etoile du Nord, Star of the North, and thus remains until the present time. While speaking of seals, I will state that the seal of the Supreme Court was established when the first term of the court convened, in 1858. The design adopted was a female figure, representing the goddess of liberty, holding the evenly balanced scales of justice in one hand, I remember that soon after it appeared, someone asked one of the judges what the new motto meant, and he jocularly answered, The seal was changed to the same device as that of the state.

with the same motto and the words, Seal of the Supreme Court, State of Minnesota.

13 13 - Immigration 13:44

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1, by Charles E. Flandreau. Section 13. Immigration. When the first legislature convened, the governor, on the second day of the session, September 4th, 1849, delivered his message. It was a well-timed document and admirably expressed to attract attention to the new territory. After congratulating the members upon the enviable position they occupied as pioneers of a great prospective civilization, which would carry the American name and American institutions by the force of superior intelligence, labor, and energy to untold results, he among other things said, As will guard equally the rights of labor and the rights of property without running into altruisms on either hand.

As will recognize no social distinctions except those which merit in knowledge, religion, and morals unavoidably create. As will suppress crime, encourage virtue, give free scope to enterprise and industry. As we'll promptly and without delay administer to and supply all the legitimate wants of the people. Laws, in a word. In the proclamation of which will be kept steadily in view the truth that this territory is designed to be a great state, rivaling in population, wealth, and energy her sisters of the Union, and that consequently all laws, not merely local in their objects, should be framed for the future as well as the present. Our territory, judging from the experience of the few months since public attention was called to its many advantages, will settle rapidly.

Nature has done much for us. Our productive soil and salubrious climate will bring thousands of immigrants within our borders. It is of the utmost moment that the foundation of our legislation should be healthful and solid. A knowledge of this fact will encourage tens of thousands of others to settle in our midst. And it may not be long ere we may, with truth, be recognized throughout the political and the moral world as indeed the polar star of the Republican galaxy. No portion of the Earth's surface perhaps combines so many favorable features for the settler as this territory, watered by the two greatest rivers of our continent, the Missouri sweeping its entire western border, the Mississippi and Lake Superior making its eastern frontier, and whilst the states of Wisconsin and Iowa limit us on the south, The possessions of the Hudson Bay Company present the only barrier to our domain on the extreme north.

In all, embracing an area of 166,000 square miles, a country sufficiently extensive to admit of the erection of four states of the largest class, each enjoying in abundance most of the elements of future greatness. Its soil is of the most productive character, yet our northern latitude saves us from malaria and death, which in other climes are so often attendant on a liberal soil. Our people, under the healthful and bracing influences of this northern climate, will never sink into littleness, but continue to possess the vigor and the energy to make the most of their natural advantages. This message, while not in the least exaggerating the actual situation, was well calculated to attract immigration to this region.

It was written in a year of great activity in that line. Gold had been discovered in California, and the thoughts of the pioneer were attracted in that direction, and it needed extraordinary inducements to divert the stream to any other point. It was extensively quoted in the Eastern papers, and much commented upon, and succeeded beyond all expectations in awakening interest in the Northwest. It was particularly attractive in Maine, where the people were experienced in lumbering, and many of them flocked to the Valley of the St. Croix and the Falls of St. Anthony and inaugurated the lumbering business, which has since grown to such immense proportions. The valleys of the St. Croix, the Rum, and the Upper Mississippi Rivers, with their tributaries, soon resounded with the music of the Woodman's Axe.

Sawmills were erected, and Minnesota was recognized among the great lumber-producing regions. Although immigration continued to be quite rapid during the years 1850 to 54, it was not until about the year 1855 that it acquired a volume that was particularly noticeable. The reader must remember that Minnesota was on the extreme border of America, and that it represented to the immigrant only those attractions incident to a new territory possessing the general advantages of good climate, good soil, and good government as far as developed. There was no gold, no silver, nor other special inducements. The only way of reaching it was by land on wheels or by the navigable rivers. There was not a railroad west of Chicago.

To give an idea of the rush that came in 1855, I quote from The History of St. Paul by J. Fletcher Williams, for many years Secretary of the Minnesota Historical Society, published in 1876. Speaking of the immigration of 1855, he says, War Eagle, leading the van with 814 passengers. The papers chronicled the immigration that spring as unprecedented. Seven boats arrived in one day, each having brought to Minnesota 200 to 600 passengers. Most of these came through St. Paul and diverged hence to other parts of the territory. It was estimated by the Packet Company that they brought 30,000 immigrants into Minnesota that season. Certainly 1855, 1856, and 1857 were the three great years of immigration in our territorial days.

Nothing like it has ever been seen.

In the early 50s, the Mississippi up to, and even for a long distance above, the Falls of St. Anthony was navigable for steamboats. A fine boat, the Ann's Northrup, once penetrated as far as the Falls of Pokegama, where she was dismantled and her machinery transported to the Red River of the North, and four or five boats regularly navigated the stream above the falls.

The Minnesota River. During all the period of our early history and far into the sixties, was navigable for large steamers up to Mankato. And in one instance, a steamboat carrying a large cargo of Indian goods was taken by Culver and Farrington, Indian traders, as far as the Yellow Medicine River, and into that river, so that the goods were delivered at the agency, situated a few miles above its mouth. I mention this fact because a wonderful change has taken place in the watercourses and lakes of the State in the past twenty-odd years, which I propose to account for on the only theory that seems to me to meet the conditions. Up to about twenty years ago, as soon as the ice went out of the Minnesota River in the spring, it would rise until it overran its banks and covered its bottoms for miles on each side of its channel, and would continue capable of carrying large steamers until late in August.

Since that time it has rarely been out of its banks, and navigation of its waters has entirely ceased. The same phenomenon is observable in relation to many of our lakes. Hundreds of the smaller ones have entirely dried up, and most of the larger ones have become reduced in depth several feet. The rainfall has not been lessened, but, if anything, has increased. My explanation of the change is that in the advance of civilization, the watersheds or basins of these rivers and lakes having been plowed up, the rainfall which formerly found its way quickly into the streams and lakes over the hard natural surface is now absorbed into the soft and receptive ground and is returned by evaporation. This change is generally attributed to the destruction of forests, but in this case that cause has not progressed sufficiently to have produced the result, and our streams do not rise in mountains.

The trend of immigration toward Minnesota encouraged the organization of transportation companies by boat and stage for passengers and freight, and by 1856 it was one of the liveliest communities to be found anywhere. And, curious as it may seem, this era of prosperity was the cause of Minnesota's first great calamity. The Object of the Immigrant He leaves old communities where competition in all branches of industry is great in the hope of getting in on the ground floor, as we used to say, when he arrived in a new country. And every American, and in fact everybody else, wants to get rich by head work instead of hand work if he can. The bulk of the immigration that first came to Minnesota remained in the cities.

There was no agriculture worthy of the name. I may say that we had nothing at all to sell and everything we needed to buy. I can remember that as late as 1853, and even after, we imported hay and bales from Dubuque to feed the horses of St. Paul, when there were millions of tons of it growing in the Minnesota Valley within a few miles of the city. In the progress of emigration to the West, the territories have always presented the greatest attractions. The settler expects to have a better choice of lands and at original government prices. Society and politics are both in the formative condition, and very few emigrants omit the latter consideration from their hopes and expectations. In fact, political preferment is a leading motive with many of them.

Under the influence of this great rush of immigration, it is very natural that the prevailing idea should be that lands would greatly increase in value in the near future, and everybody became a speculator. Towns and cities sprang into existence like mushrooms in a night. Scarcely anyone was to be seen without a town site map in his hands. The advantages and beauties of which fictitious metropolis he was ready to present in the most eloquent terms. Everything useful was neglected, and speculation was rampant. There were no banks of issue, and all the money that was in the country was borrowed in the East. In order to make borrowing easy, the law placed no restrictions on the rate of interest, and the usual terms were 3% per month, with the condition that if the principal was not paid at maturity, the interest should be increased to 5% per month.

Everybody was in debt on these ruinous terms. Which, of course, could not last long before the inevitable explosion. The price of lands, and especially town lots, increased rapidly and attained fabulous rates. In fact, some real property in St. Paul sold in 1856 for more money than it has ever since brought.

14 14 - The Panic of 1857; Land Titles; The First Newspaper 11:14

The Panic of 1857. Land titles. The First Newspaper. The Panic of 1857. The bubble burst by the announcement of the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company, which reached St. Paul on August 24, 1857. The failure of this financial institution precipitated a panic all over the country. It happened just on the recurrence of the 20-year period which has marked the pecuniary disasters of the country, beginning with 1837. Its effects on Minnesota were extremely disastrous. The eastern creditors demanded their money, and the Minnesota debtors paid as long as a dollar remained in the country. And all means of borrowing more being cut off, a most remarkable condition of things resulted. Cities like St.

Paul and St. Anthony, having a population of several thousands each, were absolutely without money to carry on the necessary commercial functions. A temporary remedy was soon discovered by every merchant and shopkeeper issuing tickets marked, good for one dollar at my store, and every fractional part of a dollar down to five cents. This device tided the people for a while, but scarcely any business establishment in the territory weathered the storm, and many people who had considered themselves beyond the chance of disaster were left without resources of any kind and hopelessly bankrupt. The distress was great and universal, but it was bravely met and finally overcome. Dreadful as this affliction was to almost everyone in the territory, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

It compelled the people to abandon speculation and seek honest labor in the cultivation of the soil and the development of the splendid resources that generous nature had bestowed upon the country. Farms were opened by the thousands. Everybody went to work, and in ten or a dozen years, Minnesota had a surplus. Land titles. All the lands of Minnesota were the property of the United States, and title to them could only be obtained through the regular methods of preemption, town-site entry, public sales, or private entries. One event occurred on August 14, 1848, which illustrates so clearly the way in which Western men protect their rights that I will relate it. The recognized price of public lands was $1.25 per acre, and all pioneer settlers were willing to pay that sum.

But when a public sale was made, anyone could bid whatever he was willing to pay. Under the administration of President Polk, a public sale of lands was ordered to be made at the land office at St. Croix Falls, of lands lying partly in Minnesota and partly in Wisconsin. The lands advertised for sale included those embraced in St. Paul and St. Anthony. The settlers selected Henry H. Sibley as their trustee to buy their lands for them, to be conveyed to them subsequently. It was a high offense under the United States laws to do any act that would tend to prevent persons bidding at the sales. Mr. Sibley appeared at the sale and bid off every tract of land that was occupied by an actual settler at the price of $1.25 per acre.

The General, in a paper he read before the Historical Society, says of this affair, And when the hour for business arrived, my seat was universally surrounded by a number of men with huge bludgeons. What was meant by the proceeding I could, of course, only surmise, but I would not have envied the fate of the individual who would have ventured to bid against me. It has always been assumed in the Far West. And I think justly that the pioneers who first settle the land and give it value should enjoy every advantage that flows from such priority, and the violation of laws that impede such opportunity is a very venial offense. So universal was the confidence reposed in Mr. Sibley that many of the French settlers The title to Whose Lands Became Vested in Him by His Purchase at this Sale insisted that it should remain in him, and he found it quite difficult in many cases to get them to accept deeds from him.

The First Newspaper Although the first message of the governor went a great way in introducing Minnesota to the world, she was particularly fortunate in the establishment of her first newspapers. The Stillwater Convention of 1848, of which I have spoken, first suggested to Dr. A. Randall, who was an attaché of Dr. Owen's Geological Corps, then engaged in a survey of this region by order of the government, the necessity of a newspaper for the new territory. He was possessed of the means and enterprise to accomplish the then rather difficult undertaking, and was promised ample support by leading men of the territory. He returned to his home in Cincinnati in the fall of 1848, intending to purchase the plant and start the paper that year, but the navigation of the rivers closed earlier than usual, and he was foiled in his attempt.

He, however, set up his press in Cincinnati and got out a number or two of his paper there. It was then called the Minnesota Register and appeared as of the date of April 27, 1849 and as printed in St. Paul. It was, in fact, printed in Cincinnati about two weeks earlier. It contained valuable articles from the pens of H. H. Sibley and Henry M. Rice. These articles, added to Mr. Randall's extensive knowledge of the country, made the first issue a great local success. It was the first Minnesota paper ever published, and bears date just one day ahead of The Pioneer, subsequently published by James M. Goodhue, which was actually printed in the territory. Dr. Randall did not carry out his intention, but was caught in the California vortex and did not return to Minnesota.

James M. Goodhue of Lancaster, Wisconsin, who was editing the Wisconsin Herald when he heard of the Organization of the New Territory, immediately decided to start a paper in St. Paul, and as soon as navigation opened in the spring of 1849, he came up with his press and type. He met with many difficulties and obstructions necessarily incident to a new place in a venture such as was his, but he succeeded in issuing the first number of his paper on the 28th day of April, 1849. His first inclination was to call his paper the Epistle of St. Paul, but on sober reflection he was convinced that the name might shock the religious sensibilities of the community. Especially as he did not possess many of the attributes of our patron saint.

And he decided to call his paper, The Minnesota Pioneer. In his first issue, he speaks of his establishment of that day as follows. We print and issue this number of the Pioneer in a building through which out of doors is visible by more than 500 apertures. And as for our type, it is not safe from being pied on the galleys by the wind. The rest can be imagined. Mr. Goodhue was just the man to be the editor of the first paper of a frontier territory. He was energetic, enterprising, brilliant, bold, and belligerent. He conducted the Pioneer with great success and advantage to the territory until the year 1851, when he published an article on Judge Cooper censuring him for absenteeism, which is a very good specimen of the editorial style of that day.

He called the judge a sot, a brute, an ass, a profligate vagabond, and closed his article in the following language. Feeling some resentment for the wrongs our territory has so long suffered by these men, pressing upon us like a dispensation of wrath, a judgment, a curse, a plague, unequaled since Egypt went lousy. We sat down to write this article with some bitterness, but our very gall is honey to what they deserve. In those fighting days, such an article could not fail to produce a personal collision. A brother of Judge Cooper resented the attack, and in the encounter between them, Goodhue was badly stabbed and Cooper was shot. Neither wound proved fatal at the time, but it was always asserted by the friends of each combatant, and generally believed, that they both died from the effects of these wounds.

The original Minnesota Pioneer still lives in the Pioneer Press of today, which is published in St. Paul. It has been continued under several names and edited by different men, but has never been extinguished or lost its relation of lineal descendant from the original Pioneer. Nothing tends to show the phenomenal growth of Minnesota more than the fact that this first newspaper, issued in 1849, has been followed by the publication of 579 papers, which is the number now issued in the state according to the last official list obtainable. They appear daily, weekly, and monthly in nearly all written languages, English, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Bohemian, and one in Icelandic, published in Lyon County.

15 15 - Banks 5:19

By Charles E. Flandreau. Section 15. Banks.

With the first great increase in immigration, business was necessarily enlarged, and banking facilities became a necessity. Dr. Charles W. Borup, a Danish gentleman who was engaged in the fur trade at Lake Superior as an agent for the American Fur Company, And Mr. Charles H. Oakes, a native of Vermont, came to St. Paul and established a bank in 1853. They were brothers-in-law, having married sisters. They did a private banking business under the name of Borup and Oakes, which adapted itself to the needs of the community, including real estate and almost any other kind of venture that offered. The House of Borup and Oaks was the first banking establishment in Minnesota, and weathered all the financial storms that swept over the territory in its early history.

They were followed by Truman M. Smith, but he went down in the panic of 1857-58. Then came Bidwell's Exchange Bank, followed by C. H. Parker and A. Vance Brown. McCubick and Edgerton opened a bank in 1854, which was the ancestor of the present Second National Bank, and always legitimate. I think Erastus S. Edgerton may justly be said to have been the most successful banker of all that were early engaged in the business. An enumeration of the banks and bankers which succeeded each other in these early times would be more appropriate in a narrative of the localities where they operated than in the general history of the state. It is sufficient to say that nearly all, if not all, of them succumbed to the financial disasters in 1857-58.

And there was no banking worthy of the name until the passage of the banking law of July 26, 1858. But this act was a mere makeshift to meet a financial emergency, and it was not based upon sound financial principles. It allowed the organization of banks and the issue of circulating banknotes upon securities that were capable of being fraudulently overhauled by misrepresentation. And, as a matter of course, advantage was taken of the laxity of the provisions of the law, and securities which had no intrinsic value, in fact, were made available as the foundation of banking issues, with the inevitable result of disaster. Another method of furnishing the community with a circulating medium was resorted to by a law of July 23, 1858.

The State Auditor was authorized to issue his warrants for any indebtedness which the State owed to any person in small sums, and the warrants were made to resemble banknotes and bore 12% interest. The credit of the State was not sufficiently well established in the public confidence to make these warrants, which were known as State Scrip, worth much over 65 or 70 cents on the dollar. They were taken by the money changers at that valuation, and when the state made its first loan of $250,000, they were all redeemed in gold at par, with interest at 12%. In this uncertain way, the financial interests of the territory were cared for until the breaking out of the Civil War, and the establishment of the nation and state systems which still exist.

Another evidence of the growth of this state may be found in the fact that at the present time, the state has within its limits banks in good standing as follows. State banks, 172 in number, with a paid-in capital stock of $6,736,800, and 67 national banks, with a capital stock paid in of $11,220,000. This statement does not include either the surplus or the undivided profits of these banks, nor the capital employed by private banking concerns which do not fall under the supervision of the State, which latter item can safely be estimated at $2 million.

16 16 - The Fur Trade; Pemmican 12:02

The Fur Trade. Pemmican. The Fur Trade. The first legitimate business of the territory was the fur trade, and the carrying business resulting therefrom. Prior to the year 1842, the Northwestern Fur Company occupied the territory which is now Minnesota. In 1842, it sold out to, and was merged into, the American Fur Company, which was owned by P. Shoteau & Company. This company had trading stations at Prairie Duchesne and Mendota, Henry H. Sibley being their chief factor at the latter. The goods imported into the Red River settlements and the furs exported therefrom all came and went through the difficult and circuitous route by way of Hudson Bay. This route was only navigable for about two months in the year, on account of the ice.

The catch of furs and buffalo robes in that region was practically monopolized by the Hudson Bay Company. The American Fur Company soon became well-established in the Northwest. In 1844, this company sent Mr. Norman W. Kitson from the Mendota Outfit to establish a trading post at Pembina, just south of the British possessions, with the design of diverting some of the fur trade of that region in the direction of the navigable waters of the Mississippi. The company, through Mr. Kitson, invested some $2,000 in furs at Pembina and had them transported to Mendota in six Pembina carts, which returned loaded with merchandise of the character needed by the people of that distant region. This venture was the beginning of the fur trade with the Red River Country, but did not prove a financial success.

It entailed a loss of about $600, and similar results attended the next two years' operations. But the trade increased, notwithstanding the desperate efforts of the Hudson Bay Company to obstruct it. This company had enjoyed a monopoly of the trade without any outside interference for so long that it looked upon this new enterprise as a direct attack on its vested rights. But Mr. Kitson had faith in being able in the near future to work up a paying trade, and he persevered. By the year 1850, the business had so far increased as to involve a consumption of goods to the extent of $10,000, with a return of furs to the amount of $15,000. Five years later, the goods sent to Pembina amounted in value to $24,000, and the return of furs to $40,000.

In 1851, the firm of Forbes and Kitson was organized, and also the St. Paul outfit, to carry on the supply business. When St. Paul became of some importance in 1849, the Terminus and Supply Depot was removed to that point, and the trade rapidly increased in magnitude and made St. Paul one of the largest fur markets in America, second only to St. Louis, the trade of which city consisted mostly of buffalo robes, which was always regarded as a distinct branch of the business in contrast with that of fine furs. In the early days, the Indians and a few professional trappers were about all who caught fur animals, but as the country became more settled, the squatters added to their incomes by such trapping as their environments afforded, which increased the market at St.

Paul by the addition of all Minnesota, which then included both of the Dakotas and northern Wisconsin. The extent and value of this trade can better be understood by a statement of the increase of the number of carts engaged in it between 1844 and 1858. In the first year mentioned, six carts performed all the required service, and in 1858, 600 carts came from Pembina to St. Paul. After the year 1858, the number of carts engaged in the traffic fell off, as a steamer had been put in operation on the Red River, which reduced the land transportation to 216 miles, which had formerly been 448 miles, J.C. and H.C. Burbank having established a line of freight trains connecting with the steamer. In 1867, when the St.

Paul and Pacific Railroad reached St. Cloud, the caravans of carts ceased their annual visits to St. Paul. St. Cloud then became the terminus of the traffic until the increase of freight lines and the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad to the Red River drove these most primitive of all transportation vehicles out of business. Another cause of the decrease in the fur trade was the imposition of a duty of 25% on all dressed skins, which included buffalo robes, and from that time on, robes that formerly came to St. Paul from the British possessions were diverted to Montreal. The extent and value of this trade to Minnesota, which was then in its infancy, can easily be judged by a brief statement of its growth.

In 1844, it amounted to $1,400, and in 1863, to $250,000. All the money paid out for these furs, and large sums besides, would be expended in St. Paul for merchandise in the shape of groceries, liquors, dry goods, blankets, household utensils, guns and ammunition, and, in fact, every article demanded by the needs of a primitive people. Even threshers and mowers were included, which were taken apart and loaded on the return carts. This trade was the pioneer of the great commercial activity which now prevails. I cannot permit this opportunity to pass without describing the Red River cart and the picturesque people who used it, as their like will never be seen again. The inhabitants of the Pembina country were principally Chippewa half-breeds, with an occasional white man, prominently Joseph Rowlett, of whom I shall hereafter speak as the man who vetoed the capital removal bill.

By running away with it in 1857. Their principal business was hunting the buffalo in connection with small farming and defending themselves against the invasions of their hereditary enemies, the Sioux. They were a bold, free race, skilled in the arts of Indian War, fine horsemen, and good fighters. The Red River cart was a home invention. It was made entirely of wood and rawhide. It moved upon two wheels of about a diameter of 5 feet 6 inches, with shafts for one animal, horse, or ox, generally the latter. The wheels were without tires, and their tread about 3 1⁄2 or 4 inches wide. They would carry a load of 6 to 800 pounds, which would be protected by canvas covers. They were especially adapted to the condition of the country, which was largely interspersed with swamps and sloughs, which were impassable for any other character of vehicle.

Their lightness, the width of the surface presented by the tread of the wheel, and the careful steps of the educated animal which drew them enabled them to go where anything else would flounder. The trail which they left upon the prairie was deeply cut, and remained for many years after they were disused. When a brigade of them was ready to leave from Pembina for St. Paul, it would be manned by one driver for four carts, the train being arranged in single file with the animals hitched to the cart before them, so that one driver could attend to that number of carts. Their speed was about fifteen miles a day, which made the voyage last about a month. When night overtook them, they formed a circular corral with their carts, the shafts pointing inward, with the camp in the center, which made a strong fort in case of attack.

The animals were allowed to graze on the outside, but were carefully watched to prevent a stampede. When they reached St. Paul, they went into camp near some lake, and were a great source of interest to all the newcomers. During their stay, the town would be thronged with the men, who were dressed in vera-colored costumes, always including the sash of Pembina, a beautiful girdle, giving them a most picturesque appearance. The only truthful representation of these curious people that has been preserved is found in two full-length portraits of Joe Rowlett, one in the gallery of the Minnesota Historical Society and the other on the walls of the Minnesota Club in St. Paul, both of which are the gift of a very dear friend of the original.

During the progress of this peculiar traffic, many people not connected with the established fur companies engaged in the Indian trade, prominently Culver and Farrington, Lewis Roberts, and Nathan Myrick. I remember that Mr. John Farrington made an improvement in the construction of the Red River cart by putting an iron box in the hub of the wheel, which prevented the loud squeaking noise they formerly made, and so facilitated their movements that they carried a thousand pounds as easily as they had before carried eight hundred. The early fur trade in the Northwest Carried on by canoes and these carts, was very appropriately called by one of our first historians of Minnesota, the heroic age of American commerce.

Pemmican. One of the principal sources of subsistence of these frontier people in their long journeys through uninhabited regions was Pemmican. This food was especially adapted to extreme northern countries, where in the winter it was sometimes impossible to make fires to cook with, and the means of transportation was by dog trains, as it was equally good for man and beast. It was invented among the Hudson Bay people many years ago, and undoubtedly from necessity. It was made in this way. The meat of the buffalo, without the fat, was thoroughly boiled and then picked into shreds or very small pieces. A sack was made of buffalo skin, with the hair on the outside, which would hold about ninety pounds of meat.

A hole was then dug in the ground of sufficient size to hold the sack. It was filled with the meat thus prepared, which was packed and pounded until it was as hard as it could be made. A kettle of boiling hot buffalo fat, in a fluid state, was then poured into it, until it was thoroughly permeated, every interstice from center to circumference being filled, until it became a solid mass, perfectly impervious to the air, and as well preserved against decomposition as if it had been enclosed in an hermetically sealed glass jar. Here you had a most nutritious preparation of animal food, all ready for use for both man and dog. An analysis of this compound proved it to possess more nutriment to the pound weight than any other substance ever manufactured, and with a winter-camp appetite, it was a very palatable dish.

Its great superiority over any other kind of food was its not requiring preparation and its portability.

17 17 - Transportation and Express; Lumber 8:38

Transportation and Express. Lumber. Transportation and Express. With the increase of trade and business, naturally came the need of greater transportation facilities, and the men to furnish them were not wanting. John C. Burbank of St. Paul may be said to have been the pioneer in that line, although several minor lines of stages and ventures in the livery business preceded his efforts. Willoughby and Powers, Allen and Chase, M.O. Walker and Company of Chicago, and others were early engaged in this work. In 1854, the Northwestern Express Company was organized by Burbank and Whitney, and in 1856, Captain Russell Blakely succeeded Mr. Whitney, and the express business became well-established in Minnesota.

In 1858-59, Mr. Burbank got the mail contract down the river and established an express line from St. Paul to Galena in connection with the American Express Company, whose lines extended to Galena as its western terminus. Steamboats were used in summer and stages in winter. In the fall of 1859, the Minnesota Stage Company was formed by a consolidation of the Burbank interests with those of Allen and Chase, and the line extended up the Mississippi to St. Anthony and Crow Wing. Other lines and interests were purchased and united, and in the spring of 1860, Colonel John L. Merriam became a member of the firm, and for more than seven years Messrs. Burbank, Blakely, and Merriam constituted the firm and carried on the express and stage business in Minnesota.

This business increased rapidly, and in 1865, this firm worked over 700 horses and employed 200 men. During this staging period, the railroads from the east centered in Chicago and gradually reached the Mississippi River from that point, first at Rock Island, next at Dunleath opposite Dubuque, then at Prairie Duchesne, next at Prairie La Crosse, each advance carrying them nearer Minnesota. The Prairie Duchesne extension was continued across the river at McGregor in Iowa, and thence up through Iowa and southern Minnesota to Minneapolis and St. Paul. In 1872, the St. Paul and Chicago Railroad was finished from St. Paul down the west bank of the Mississippi to Winona, and was purchased by the Milwaukee and St.

Paul Company, and by that company was, in 1873, extended still further down the river to La Crescent, opposite La Crosse, which completed the connection with the eastern trains. This road was popularly known as the River Road. Various other railroads were soon completed, covering the needs of the settled part of the state, and the principal stage lines either withdrew to the westward or gave up their business. The growth in the carrying line has since become immense throughout the state, and may be judged when I say that there are now five strong daily lines to Chicago—the Burlington, the Omaha, the Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Central, and the Chicago Great Western—and three transcontinental lines departing daily for the Pacific Coast—the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Sault Ste.

Marie connecting with the Canadian Pacific. Besides these prominent trains, there are innumerable lesser ones connecting with nearly every part of the state. More passenger trains arrive at and depart from the St. Paul Union Depot than at any other point in the state. They aggregate 104 in and the same number out every day. Many, perhaps the most, of these trains go to Minneapolis. The freight trains passing these points are, of course, less regular in their movements than the scheduled passenger trains, but their number is great and their cargoes of incalculable value. Lumber. A large portion of Minnesota is covered with exceptionally fine timber. The northern section, traversed by the Mississippi and its numerous branches, the St.

Croix, The St. Louis and other streams was covered with the growth of white and Norway pine of great value, and a large area of its central western portion with hard timber. At a very early day in the history of our state, these forests attracted the attention of lumbermen from different parts of the country, principally from Maine, who erected sawmills at the Falls of St. Anthony, Stillwater, and other points, and began the cutting of logs to supply them. Nearly all the streams were navigable for logs, or were easily made so, and thus one of the great industries of the state had its beginning. Quite an amount of lumber was manufactured at Minneapolis in the fifties, but no official record of the amounts were kept until 1870.

An estimate of the standing pine in the state was made by the United States government for the census of 1880, which was designed to include all the standing pine on the streams leading into the Mississippi, the Rainy Lake River, the St. Croix, and the head of Lake Superior, in fact, the whole state. The estimate was 10 billion feet. When this estimate was made, it was accepted by the best-informed lumbermen as approximately correct. The mills at Minneapolis and above, in the St. Croix Valley, and in what was called the Duluth District, were cutting about 500 million feet a year. It was expected that there would be a gradual increase in the consumption of lumber made by Minnesota mills, and it was therefore estimated that in about 15 years, all the white pine in the state would be cut into lumber and sold.

But such has not proved to be the case, although the production has rapidly increased, as was expected. But this difference between the estimate and the result is not of much consequence, as there is nothing more unreliable than an estimate of standing timber, and especially is such the case when covering a large area of country. Since 1880, the production of lumber in the state has increased from year to year, until it is at the present time fully 1,629,110,000 feet of pine logs every year. The cut made by the Minneapolis mills alone in 1898 was 469,701,000 feet, with a corresponding amount of laths and shingles. But this pace cannot be kept up much longer, and apprehensions of the entire destruction of the forests of the state are becoming quite prevalent among the people.

These fears are taking the shape of associations for the promotion of scientific forestry and the establishment of large forest reserves near the headwaters of our streams, which are to serve also the purpose of national parks. In assigning a cause for the lowering of our streams and the drying up of many of our lakes in a former part of this work, I attribute it to the plowing up of their valleys and watersheds, and not to the destruction of the forests, because I do not think that the latter reason has sufficiently progressed to produce the result, although it is well known that the destruction of growing timber about the headwaters of streams operates disastrously upon the volume of their waters and the regularity of its flow.

Minnesota is the best watered state in the Union, and every precaution should be taken to maintain this advantage. From the extent of the interest displayed in the direction of forest reserves and their scientific administration, we have every reason to hope for speedy and final success. The state and interstate parks already established will be noticed hereafter.

18 18 - Religion 13:41

RELIGION. The growth of the religious element of a new country is always one of its interesting features, and I will endeavor to give a short account of the progress made in this line in Minnesota from the mission period, which was directed more particularly to the Christianizing of the Indians. I will begin with the first structure ever erected in the state, designed for religious purposes. It was a very small beginning for the prodigious results that have followed it. I speak of the Little Log Chapel of St. Paul, built by the Rev. Lucian Gaultier in October 1841, in what is now the City of St. Paul. Fr. Gaultier was a French priest of the Church of Rome. He was sent by the ecclesiastic authorities of Dubuque to the Upper Mississippi Country, and arrived at Fort Snelling in April 1840, and settled at St.

Peter's, now Mendota, where he soon tired of inaction, and sought a larger field among the settlers who had found homes further down the river, in the neighborhood of the present St. Paul. He decided that he could facilitate his labors by erecting a church at some point accessible to his parishioners. Here he found Joseph Rondeau, Edward Phelan, Vital Guerin, and Pierre Bottineau, the Gervaise brothers, and a few others. The settlers encouraged the idea of building a church, and a question of much importance arose as to where it should be placed. I will let the good father tell his own story as to the selection of a site. In an account of this matter, which he prepared for Bishop Grace in 1864, he says, Three different points were offered, one called La Pointe Basse, or Pointe Le Clair, now Pigseye.

But I objected because that locality was the very extreme end of the new settlement, and in high water was exposed to inundation. The idea of building a church which might at any day be swept down the river to St. Louis did not please me. Two miles and a half further up, on his elevated claim, now the southern point of Dayton's Bluff, Mr. Charles Moseau offered me an acre of his ground, but the place did not suit my purpose. I was truly looking ahead, thinking of the future as well as the present. Steamboats could not stop there, the bank was too steep, the place on the summit of the hill too restricted, and communication difficult with the other parts of the settlement up and down the river.

After mature reflection, I resolved to put up the church at the nearest possible point to the cave, because it would be more convenient for me to cross the river there when coming from St. Peter's, and because it would be also the nearest point to the head of navigation outside of the reservation line. Mr. B. Gervais and Mr. Vital Guerin, two good, quiet farmers, had the only spot which appeared likely to answer the purpose. They consented jointly to give me the ground necessary for a church site, a garden, and a small graveyard. I accepted the extreme eastern part of Mr. Vittal's claim, and the extreme west of Mr. Gervais's. Accordingly, in the month of October, 1841, logs were prepared and a church erected, so poor that it well reminded one of the stable at Bethlehem.

It was destined, however, to be the nucleus of a great city. On the first day of November in the same year, I blessed the new Basilica, and dedicated it to St. Paul, the Apostle of Nations. I expressed a wish at the same time that the settlement would be known by the same name, and my desire was obtained. I had, previously to this time, Fixed my residence at St. Peter's, and as the name of Paul is generally connected with that of Peter, and the Gentiles being well represented at the new place in the persons of Indians, I called it St. Paul. The name St. Paul, applied to a town or city, seemed appropriate. The monosyllable is short, sounds well, and is understood by all denominations of Christians.

When Mr. V. Tall was married, I published the banns as those of a resident of St. Paul. A Mr. Jackson put up a store, and a grocery was opened at the foot of Gervais's claim. This soon brought steamboats to land there. Thenceforth, the place was known as St. Paul Landing, and later on as St. Paul."

The chapel was a small log structure, one story high, one door, and no windows in front, with two windows on each side, and one in the rear end. It had on the front gable end a large wooden cross, which projected above the peak of the roof some six or eight feet, It occupied a conspicuous position on the top of a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi, some six or eight hundred feet below the point where the Wabasha Street Bridge now spans the river, I think, between Minnesota and Cedar Streets. The region thus named was formerly known by the appellation of Pig's Eye, The state owes Father Gaultier a debt of gratitude for having changed it, as it seems impossible that the capital city should ever have attained its present majestic proportions, numerous and cultivated population, and many other advantages and attractions, under the handicap of such a name.

In the first New Year's address ever printed in Minnesota on January 1, 1850, supposed to be by Editor Goodhue, the following lines appeared. "'Pig's eye, converted thou shalt be, like Saul, Arise and be henceforth St. Paul.' Father Gaultier died December 21, 1866. The chapel of St. Paul, after having been the first to greet all newcomers by way of the Mississippi for fifteen years, was taken down in 1856. The next representative of the Catholic Church to come to Minnesota was the Rev. Augustin Raveau, who arrived in the fall of 1841. He went up the St. Peter's River to Traverse des Sioux, where he commenced the study of the Sioux language. Soon after, he went to Little Rock on the St. Peters, and thence to Lac Caparro.

After the removal of Fr. Gaultier to Caocook, in Iowa, he had under his charge Mendota, St. Paul, Lake Pepin, and St. Croix, until the second day of July, 1851, when the R. Rev. Bishop Cretton came to St. Paul, and assumed charge of church matters in Minnesota. Fr. Riveau is still living in St. Paul at the advanced age of eighty-five years. His venerable and priestly form may often be seen upon the streets in excellent health. At the time of the coming of Fr. Gaultier, the country on the east side of the Mississippi, in what is now Minnesota, was under the direct jurisdiction of the Bishop of Milwaukee, and the part lying west of the river was in the Diocese of Dubuque. The growth of the church kept up with the rapid settlement of the country.

In August 1859, the R. Rev. Thomas L. Grace succeeded Bishop Cretton as Bishop of St. Paul, and was himself succeeded by the R. Rev. John Ireland, in July 1884. So important had Minnesota become to the Catholic Church in America, that, in May of 1888, the See of St. Paul was raised to metropolitan dignity, and Archbishop Ireland was made its first Archbishop, which high office he now holds. I will not attempt even a short biography of Archbishop Ireland. His fame is worldwide. He is a churchman, statesman, diplomat, orator, citizen, and patriot. In each of which capacities, he excels. He has carried the fame of Minnesota to all parts of the world where the church is known, and has demonstrated to the Pope in Rome, to the Catholics in France, and to the Protestants in America, that there can be perfect consistency and harmony between Catholicism and Republican government.

A history of Minnesota without a fitting tribute to Archbishop John Ireland would be incomplete indeed.

The representatives of the Protestant faith have not been behind their Catholic brethren in providing religious facilities for their adherents. They followed immigration closely, and sometimes accompanied it. Scarcely would an aggregation of people congregate at any one point in sufficient numbers to gain the name of a village or a settlement before a minister would be called and a church erected. The church went hand in hand with the schoolhouse, and in many instances one building answered for both purposes. There came Lutherans from Germany and Scandinavia, Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Calvinists, Universalists, Unitarians, and every sect into which Protestantism is divided, from New England and other Eastern states.

They all found room and encouragement, and dwelt in harmony. I can safely say that few Western states have been peopled by such law-abiding, industrious, moral, and religious inhabitants as were the first settlers of Minnesota. There was nothing to attract the ruffianly element, no gold, silver, or other mines, the chief industry being peaceful agriculture. So free from all disturbing or dangerous elements did we consider our territory, that I have on several occasions taken a wagon-load with specie, amounting to nearly one hundred thousand dollars, from St. Paul to the Indian agencies at the Redwood and Yellow Medicine rivers, a distance of two hundred miles, through a very sparsely settled country, without any guard except myself and driver, with possibly an Indian picked up on the road.

road, when I was entitled to a squad of dragoons for the asking. In the early days, the Episcopal Church in Minnesota was within the Diocese of Wisconsin, and its functions administered by the venerable Bishop Kemper, who occasionally made us a visit. But in 1859, the church had expanded to such an extent that the state was organized into a separate diocese, and the Rev. Henry B. Whipple, then rector of a church in Chicago, was elected bishop of Minnesota, and still retains that high office. Bishop Whipple, by his energy, learning, goodness, and universal popularity, has built up his church in this state to a standard surpassed by none in the respect in which it is held, and the influence for good which it exerts.

The official duties of the bishop have been so enlarged by the growth of his church as to necessitate the appointment of a bishop coadjutor to assist him in their performance, which latter office is filled by the Rev. Mollen N. Gilbert, who is especially well qualified for the position. Bishop Gilbert died within a few months.

It would be impossible, in a brief history like this, to go very deeply or particularly into the growth of the religious element of the state. A general presentation of the subject in two grand divisions, Catholic and Protestant, is enough. Suffice it to say, every sect and subdivision of the latter has its representative in the state, with the one exception of Mormonism, if that can be classified as a Protestant church. There are enough of them to recall the answer of the French traveler in America when asked of his opinion of the Americans. He said, They are a most remarkable people. They have invented three hundred religions and only one sauce. No matter how their creeds may be criticized, their joint efforts, Catholic and Protestant, have filled the state with religious, charitable, benevolent, and educational institutions, to an extent rarely witnessed out of it, so that if a Minnesotan goes wrong, he can blame no one but himself.

19 19 - Railroads, Part 1 12:56

Railroads, Part 1. In the year 1857, on the third day of March, the Congress of the United States made an extensive grant of lands to the Territory to aid in the construction of railroads. It consisted of every alternate section of land, designated by odd numbers, for six sections in width, on each side of the road specified and their branches. The grant mapped out a complete system of roads for the territory, and provided that the land granted for each road should be applied exclusively to such road and to no other purpose whatever. The lines designated in the Granting Act were as follows. From Stillwater, by the way of St. Paul and St. Anthony, to a point between the foot of Big Stone Lake and the mouth of the Sioux-Wood River, with a branch via St.

Cloud and Crow Wing, to the navigable waters of the Red River of the North, at such a point as the legislature of the territory may determine. From St. Paul and St. Anthony via Minneapolis to a convenient point of junction west of the Mississippi to the southern boundary of the territory, in the direction of the mouth of the Big Sioux River, with a branch via Faribault to the north line of the State of Iowa, west of Range 16. From Winona via St. Peter to a point on the Big Sioux River south of the 45th parallel of north latitude. Also, from La Crescent via Target Lake up the valley of the Root River to a point east of Range 17. The territory or future state was authorized to sell 120 sections of this land whenever 20 continuous miles of any of the roads or branches was completed, the land so sold to be contiguous to the completed road.

The right-of-way or roadbed of any of the subsidized roads was also granted through any of the government lands. The roads were all to be completed within ten years, and if any of them were not finished by that time, the lands applicable to the unfinished portions were to revert to the government. The lands granted by this Act amounted to about 4,500,000 acres. An act was subsequently passed on March 2nd, 1865, increasing the grant to ten sections to the mile. Various other grants were made at different times, but they do not bear upon the subject I am about to present. This grant came at a time of great financial depression, and when the territory was about to change its dependent condition for that of a sovereign state in the Union.

It was greeted as a means of relief that might lift the territory out of its financial troubles, and ensure its immediate prosperity. The people did not take into consideration the fact that the lands embraced in the Grant, although as good as any in the world, were remote from the habitation of man, lying in a country absolutely bankrupt and possessing no present value whatever. Nor did they consider that the whole country was laboring under such financial depression that all public enterprises were paralyzed, but such was, unfortunately, the monetary and business condition. On the 23rd of February, 1857, an act had passed the Congress of the United States authorizing the people of Minnesota to form a constitution preparatory to becoming a state in the Union.

General Willis A. Gorman, who was then Governor of the Territory, called a special session of the legislature to take into consideration measures to carry out the land grant and enabling acts. The extra session convened on April 27. In the meantime, Governor Gorman's term of office had expired, and Samuel Mederi of Ohio had been appointed as his successor and had assumed the duties of his office. He opened the extra session with an appropriate message. The extra session adjourned on the 23rd of May, and in accordance with the provisions of the Enabling Act of Congress, an election was held on the first Monday in June for delegates to a Constitutional Convention, which was to assemble at the Capitol on the second Monday in July.

The Constitutional Convention is an event in the history of Minnesota sufficiently important and unique to entitle it to special treatment, which will be given hereafter. An Act was passed at the Extra Session, on the 19th day of May, 1857, by which the grant of lands made to the territory was formally accepted.

On the 22nd day of May, at the extra session, an Act was passed to execute the trust created by the Land-Grant Act, by which a number of railroad companies were incorporated to construct roads on the lines indicated by the Act of Congress, and to aid in the building of these roads, and the lands applicable to each were granted to it. The companies were to receive title to the lands as the construction progressed, as provided in the Granting Act. They also had conferred upon them powers to issue bonds, in the discretion of the directors, and to mortgage their roads and franchise to secure them. These railroad companies were organized upon the hope that the aid extended to them by the grants of land would enable them to raise money sufficient to build their several roads.

They had nothing of their own, and no security but the roads and lands upon which to negotiate loans. The times, and the novel idea of building railroads in unpeopled countries, were all against them, and of course nothing could be done. The Constitutional Convention met and framed an instrument for the fundamental law of the new State, which was very conservative, and, among other things, contained the following clause, which was enacted in Section 5 of Article 9, quote, For the purpose of defraying extraordinary expenses, the State may contract debts, but such debts shall never in the aggregate exceed $250,000, end quote.

And another clause found in Section 10, which is as follows, quote, "...the credit of the State shall never be given or loaned in aid of any individual, association, or corporation," end quote. It was the intention of the framers of the Constitution to prevent the legislature from ever using the credit or funds of the State in aid of any private enterprise, and these provisions effectually accomplished that end. The people were deeply disappointed when they became convinced that the roads could not be built with the aid that Congress had extended, and as this work was also looked upon as the only hope of financial relief, the case became a desperate one, which could only be remedied by the most extreme measures.

The promoters of the railroads soon discovered one, in an amendment of the section of the Constitution which prohibited the credit of the State being given or loaned to anyone, and at the first session of the first legislature, which convened on December 3, 1857, an act was passed proposing such amendment to be submitted to the people for ratification. The importance of this amendment, and its effect and consequences upon the future of the State, demands that I give it nearly in full. It changed section 10, as it was originally passed, and made it read as follows. Section 10. The credit of that State shall never be given or loaned in aid of any individual association or corporation, except that, For the purpose of expediting the construction of the lines of railroads, in aid of which the Congress of the United States has granted lands to the territory of Minnesota, the Governor shall cause to be issued and delivered, to each of the companies in which said grants are vested by the Legislative Assembly of Minnesota, the special bonds of the State, bearing an interest of 7% per annum, payable semi-annually in the City of New York, as a loan of public loan.

The children were restless.

The amendment then prescribes that, Whenever 10 miles of railroad was graded so as to be ready for the superstructure, it should receive $100,000 of the bonds, and when 10 miles should be completed with the cars running, the company so completing should receive another $100,000 of the bonds until each company had received its quota. The bonds were to be denominated State Railroad Bonds, for the payment of which the faith and credit of the State was to be pledged. The railroad companies were to pay the principal and interest of the bonds, and to secure such payment they were to pledge the net profits of their respective roads, and to convey to the State the first 240 sections of land they received, and to deliver to the State Treasurer an amount of their first mortgage bonds equal to the amount of bonds received by them from the State, and mortgage to the State their roads and franchises.

This was all the security the companies could give, but the underlying difficulty was that it had no value whatever. There were no roads, no net or other profits. The lands had no value whatever except such as lay in the future, which was dependent on the construction of the roads and the settlement of the country. The bonds of the companies, of course, possessed only such value as the property they represented, which was nothing. And the mortgages were of the same character. The whole scheme was based upon hopes, which the slightest application of sober reasoning would have pronounced impossible of fulfillment. But the country was hungry, and willing to seize upon anything that offered a semblance or shadow of relief.

The proposed amendment was to be submitted to the people for adoption or rejection at an election to be held on the 15th day of April, 1858. In order to fully comprehend the condition of the public mind, it should be known that the Constitution, with all the safeguards that I have mentioned, had only been in force since October 13, 1857, A period of about six months, and had been carried by a vote of 30,055-4 to 571 against its adoption. The campaign preceding the election was a very active one. The railroad people flooded the state with speakers, documents, pictures, glee clubs singing songs of the delights of riding on the rail, and every conceivable artifice was resorted to to carry the amendment.

It was carried by a vote of 25,023 in favor of its passage, to 6,733 against. To give an idea of the intense feeling that was exhibited in this election, it is only necessary to state that at the City of Winona, there were 1,102 votes cast in favor of the amendment, and only one vote against it. This negative vote, to his eternal honor be it said, was cast by Thomas Wilson, afterwards Chief Justice of the State, and now a citizen of St. Paul.

20 20 - Railroads, Part 2; The First Railroad Actually Built 11:20

Flandrao. Section 20. Railroads, Part II. The First Railroad Actually Built.

In the execution of the requirements of the amendment, the railroad companies claimed that they could issue first mortgage bonds on their properties to an indefinite amount and exchange them with the State for its bonds, bond for bond, but the Governor, who was Hon. Henry H. Sibley, construed the amendment to mean that the first mortgage bonds of the companies which the State was to receive must be an exclusive first lien on the lands and franchises of the company. He therefore declined to issue the bonds of the state unless his views were adopted. The Minnesota and Pacific Railroad Company, one of the land-grant corporations, applied to the Supreme Court of the State for a writ of mandamus to compel the governor to issue the bonds.

The case was heard, and two members of the court holding the views of the applicants, the writ was issued. I was a member of the court at that time, but entertaining opposite views from the majority, I filed a dissenting opinion. Anyone sufficiently interested in the question can find the case reported in Volume 2 of the Minnesota Reports at page 13. This decision was only to be advisory, as the courts have no power to coerce the executive. The railroad companies entered into contracts for grading their roads, and a sufficient amount of grading was done to entitle them to about $2,300,000 of the bonds, which were issued accordingly, and went into the hands of the contractors to pay for the work done.

It, however, soon became apparent that no completed railroad would ever result from this scheme, even if the whole $5,000,000 of bonds were issued. What should have been known before was made clear when any of these state bonds were put on the market. The credit of the state was worthless, and the bonds were valueless. The people became as anxious to shake off the incubus of debt they had imposed upon their infant state as they had been to rush into it. Governor Sibley, in his message, delivered to the second legislature in December 1859, said, in speaking of this issue of bonds, quote, I regret to be obliged to state that the measure has proved a failure, and has by no means accomplished what was hoped for it, either in providing means for the issue of a safe currency, or of aiding the companies in the completion of the roads, end quote.

At the election, held on November 6, 1860, the Constitution was again amended by expunging from it the amendment of 1858 authorizing the issue of the state railroad bonds, and prohibiting any further issue of them. An amendment was also made to Section 2 of Article 9 of the Constitution at the same time, by providing that no law levying a tax, or making any other provisions for the payment of interest or principal of the bonds already issued, should take effect or be in force until it had been submitted to the people and adopted by a majority of the electors. It was very proper to prohibit the issuance of any more of the bonds, but the provision requiring a vote of the people before those already out could be paid was practically repudiation, and the state labored under that damaging stigma for over twenty years.

Attempts were made to obtain the sanction of the people for the payment of these bonds, but they were defeated until it became unpleasant to admit that one was a resident of Minnesota. Whenever the name of Minnesota was heard on the floor of Congress as an applicant for favors, or even for justice, it was met by the charge of repudiation. This was an era in our history very much to be regretted, but the State grew steadily in material wealth. On March 2, 1881, the legislature passed an act, the general purpose of which was to adjust, with the consent of the holders, The outstanding bonds at the rate of fifty cents on the dollar, and contained the curious provision that the Supreme Court should decide whether it must first be submitted to the people in order to be valid or not, and if the Supreme Court should not so decide, then an equal number of the judges of the district court should act.

The Supreme Court judges declined to act, and the Governor called upon the district court judges to assume the duty. Before any action was taken by the latter, the Attorney General applied to the Supreme Court for a writ of prohibition to prevent them from taking any action. The case was most elaborately discussed, and the opinion of the Supreme Court was delivered by Chief Justice Gilfillan, which is most exhaustive and convincing. The Court holds that the Act of 1881 is void, by conferring upon the judiciary legislative power, and that the amendment to the Constitution providing that no bonds should be paid unless the law authorizing such payment was first submitted to and adopted by the people was void, as being repugnant to the clause in the Constitution of the United States, that no State shall pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts.

With these impediments to a just settlement of this question removed, the State was at liberty to make such arrangements with its bond creditors as was satisfactory. John S. Pillsbury was governor at that time. He had always been in favor of paying the bonds, and removing the stain from the honor of the State, and finding his hands free, it did not take him long to arrange the whole matter satisfactorily and to the approval of all the parties. The debt was paid by the issue of new bonds at the rate of fifty percent of the principal and interest of the outstanding ones and the surrender of the latter. This adjustment ended a transaction that was conceived and executed in folly, and was only prevented from eventuating in crime by the persistent efforts of our most honorable and thoughtful citizens throughout the State.

The transaction has often been called by those who advocated repudiation an old territorial fraud, but there was nothing in it but a bad bargain, made under the extraordinary pressure of financial difficulties.

The first railroad actually built. The State was restored to all the lands and franchises of the various companies by means of foreclosure, and on March 8, 1861, passed an act to facilitate the construction of the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad, by which act the old railroad was rehabilitated and required to construct and put in operation its road from St. Paul to St. Anthony, on or before the first day of January, 1862. The company was required to deposit with the governor $10,000 as an earnest of good faith. Work was soon commenced, and the first 10 miles constructed as required. This was the first railroad ever built and operated in Minnesota. The first locomotive engine was brought up the river on a barge, and landed at the St.

Paul end of the track in the latter part of October 1861. This pioneer locomotive was called the William Crooks, after an engineer of that name who was very active and instrumental in the building of the road. This first ten miles of road cost more energy and brainwork than all the rest of the vast system that has succeeded it. It was the initial step in what is now known as the Great Northern Railway, a road that spans the continent from St. Paul to the Pacific, and reflects upon its enterprising builders all the credit due to the pioneer. It was not long before the Northern Pacific Railroad Company was incorporated by Act of Congress, passed on July 2, 1864. This road was to extend from the head of Lake Superior to Puget Sound, on a line north of the Forty-fifth degree of north latitude, with a branch via the valley of the Columbia River to Portland, Oregon.

The company had a grant of land of twenty alternate sections through the states. It was commenced shortly after its incorporation, but met with financial disaster and was sold under foreclosure of a mortgage, and underwent many trials and tribulations, until it was finally completed on the eighth day of September in the year 1883, and has been in successful operation ever since. As the northern Pacific has its eastern terminus and general offices in St. Paul, it is essentially a Minnesota road. The same may be said of the Great Northern, although both are transcontinental roads. From the small beginning of railroad construction in 1862 have grown 37 distinct railroad corporations operating in the state of Minnesota 6062.69 miles of train tracks, according to the official reports of 1898, with quite a substantial addition in course of construction.

These various lines cover and render accessible nearly every city, town, and village in the state. The method of taxation of railroad property adopted by the State is a very wise and just one. It imposes a tax of 3% upon the gross earnings of the Rhodes, which in 1896 yielded the comfortable sum of $1,037,194.40, the gross earnings of all amounting to $36,918,741.71. This plan of taxation gives the state a direct interest in the prosperity of the roads, as its taxes are increased when business is good, and the roads are relieved from oppressive taxation in time of business depression. The grading which was done and for which the bonds of the state were issued was, as a general thing, utilized in the final construction of the roads.

21 21 - The Spirit Lake Massacre 13:53

21. The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part I, by Charles E. Flandreur, Section 21, The Spirit Lake Massacre. In 1842, the country north of Iowa and west of the Mississippi, as far north as the Little Rapids on the Minnesota River, was occupied by the Mdewakanton and Wakpe Kuta bands of Sioux. The Wakpe Kuta band was at war with the Saks and Foxes, and was under the leadership of two principal chiefs, named Wamde Sapa, the Black Eagle, and Ta Sa Gi. Wamdee Sapa and his band were a lawless, predatory set whose depredations prolonged the war with the Saxon foxes, and finally separated him and his band from the Wakpe Kutahs. They moved west towards the Missouri, and occupied the valley of the Vermillion River, and so thorough was the separation that the band was not regarded as part of the Wakpe Kutah, when the latter, together with the Mde Wakantans.

Made their treaty with the government at Mendota in 1851. By 1857, all that remained of Wamdi Sapa's straggling band was about 10 or 15 lodges under the chieftainship of Inkpa Duta, or the Scarlet Point, or the Red End. They had planted near Spirit Lake, which lies partly in Dickinson County, Iowa, and partly in Jackson County, Minnesota, prior to 1857, and ranged the country from there to the Missouri, and were considered a bad lot of vagabonds. Between 1855 and 1857, a small settlement had sprung up about 40 miles south of Spirit Lake, on the In-Yon-Yon Cay, or Rock River. In the spring of 1856, Hahn William Freeborn of Red Wing, after whom the county of Freeborn in this state is called, had projected a settlement at Spirit Lake, which, by the next spring, contained six or seven houses, with as many families.

About the same time another settlement was started some 10 or 15 miles north of Spirit Lake, on the headwaters of the Des Moines, and a town laid out which was called Springfield. In the spring of 1857, there were two stores and several families at this place. These settlements were on the extreme frontier, and very much isolated. There was nothing to the west of them until you reached the Rocky Mountains, and the nearest settlements on the north and northeast were on the Minnesota and Watanwan Rivers. While to the south lay the small settlement on the Rock River about forty miles distant. All these settlements, although unceded lands, were actually in the heart of the Indian country and absolutely unprotected and defenseless.

In 1857, I was United States Indian agent for the Sioux of the Mississippi, but had lived on the frontier long enough before to have required a general knowledge of Inkpa Dutah's reputation and his whereabouts. I was stationed on the Redwood and Yellow Medicine Rivers, near where they empty into the Minnesota and about 80 miles from Spirit Lake. Early in March 1857, Inkpadu Tasband was hunting in the neighborhood of the settlement on the Rock River, and one of them was bitten by a dog belonging to a white man. The Indian killed the dog. The owner of the dog assaulted the Indian and beat him severely. The white men then went in a body to the camp of the Indians and disarmed them. The arms were either returned to them, or they obtained others.

I have never ascertained which. They were probably given back to them, on condition that they should leave, as they at once came north to Spirit Lake, where they must have arrived about the sixth or seventh of March. They proceeded at once to massacre the settlers, and killed all the men they found there, together with some women, and carried into captivity four women, three of whom were married and one single. Their names were Mrs. Noble, Mrs. Marble, Mrs. Thatcher, and Mrs. Gardner. They came north to the Springfield settlement, where they killed all the people they found. The total number killed at both places was 42. I was the first person to receive notice of this affair. On the 9th of March, a Mr.

Morris Markham, who had been absent from the Spirit Lake settlement for some time, returned, and found all the people dead or missing. Seeing signs of Indians, he took it for granted that they had perpetuated the outrage. He at once went to Springfield and reported what he had seen. Some of the people fled, but others remained, and lost their lives in consequence. It has always been my opinion that, being in the habitat of trading with these Indians occasionally, they did not believe they stood in any danger. And what is equally probable, they may not have believed the report. Everyone who has lived in an Indian country knows how frequently startling rumors are in circulation, and how often they prove unfounded.

The people of Springfield sent the news to me by two young men who came on foot through the deep snow. The story was corroborated in a way that convinced me that it was true. They arrived on the 18th of March completely worn out and snow-blind. I at once made a requisition on Colonel Alexander commanding at Fort Ridgely for troops. There were at the fort five or six companies of the 10th United States Infantry, and the colonel promptly ordered Captain Bernard E.B. of Company A to proceed with his company to the scene of the trouble. The country between the fort and Spirit Lake was uninhabited, and the distance from 80 to 100 miles. I furnished two experienced guides from among my Sioux half-breeds.

They took a pony and a light trainu, put on their snowshoes, and were ready to go anywhere. Not so with the soldiers, however. They were equipped in about the same manner as they would have been in campaigning in Florida, their only transportation being heavy-wheeled army wagons drawn by six mules. It soon became apparent that the outfit could not move straight to the objective point, and it became necessary to follow a trail down the Minnesota to Mankato and up the Watanwan in the direction of the lake, which was reached after one of the most arduous marches ever made by troops, on which, for many miles, the soldiers had to march ahead of the mules to break a road for them. The Indians, as we expected, were gone.

A short pursuit was made, but the guides pronounced the campfires of the Indians several days old, and it was abandoned. The dead were buried, and after a short stay, the soldiers returned to the fort. When this affair became known throughout the territory, it caused great consternation and apprehension. Most of the settlers supposing it was the work of the Sioux Nation. Many of the most exposed abandoned their homes temporarily. Their fears, however, were allayed by an explanation which I published in the newspapers. I at once began to devise plans for the rescue of the white women. I knew that any hostile demonstration would result in their murder. While thinking the matter out, an event occurred that opened the way to a solution.

A party of my Indians had been hunting on the Big Sioux River, and having learned that Inkpa Dutta was encamped at Lake Chanptahyatankah and that he had some white women prisoners, two young brothers visited the camp and succeeded in purchasing Mrs. Marble and brought her into the Yellow Medicine Agency and delivered her to the missionaries who turned her over to me. I received her on the 21st of March and learned that two of the other captives were still alive. Of course, my first object was to rescue the survivors and to encourage the Indians to make the attempt. I paid the brothers who had brought in Mrs. Marble $500 each. I could raise only $500 at the agency in money, and to make up the deficiency, I resorted to a method, then novel, but which has since become quite general.

I issued a bond which, although done without authority, met with a better fate than many that followed it. It was paid at maturity. As it was the first bond ever issued in what is now Minnesota, the two Dakotas, Montana, and I may add, the whole Northwest, it may be interesting to give it in full. I, Stephen R. Riggs, Missionary among the Sioux Indians, and I, Charles E. Flandra, United States Indian agent for the Sioux, being satisfied that Mokpia Kha Hotan and Si Ha Hotan, two Sioux Indians, have performed a valuable service to the territory of Minnesota and humanity. By rescuing from captivity Mrs. Margaret Ann Marble, and delivering her to the Sioux agent, and being further satisfied that the rescue of the two remaining white women, who are now in captivity among Inkpa Dutah's band of Indians, depends very much on the liberality shown towards the said Indians who have rescued Mrs.

Marble. And having full confidence in the humanity and liberality of the territory of Minnesota through its government and citizens, have this day paid to said to above-named Indians the sum of $500 in money, and do hereby pledge to said to Indians that the further sum of $500 will be paid to them by the territory of Minnesota or its citizens within three months from date hereof. Dated May 22, 1857, at Pajuta ZZ, M.T., Stephen R. Riggs, missionary, ABC-FM, Chaz E. Flandreau, U.S. Indian agent for Sioux. I immediately called for volunteers to rescue the remaining two women, and soon had my choice. I selected Paul Mazakutamani, the president of the Hazelwood Republic, Anpetutakcha, or John Authorday, and Chetan Mazah, or the Iron Hawk.

I gave them a large outfit of horses, wagons, calicos, trinkets of all kinds, and a general assortment of things that tempt the savage. They started on the 23rd day of May from the Yellow Medicine Agency on their important and dangerous mission. I did not expect them to return before the middle of June, and immediately commenced preparations to punish the martyrs. I went to the fort, and together with Colonel Alexander, we laid a plan to attack Inkpa Dutas' camp with the entire garrison and utterly annihilated them, which we would undoubtedly have accomplished had not an unexpected event frustrated our plans. Of course, we could not move on the Indians until my expedition had returned with the captives, as that would have been certain death to them.

But just about the time we were anxiously expecting them, a couple of steamboats arrived at the fort with preemptory orders for the whole garrison to embark for Utah to join General Albert Sidney Johnson's expedition against the Mormons, and that was the last I saw of the 10th for 10 years. My expedition found that Mrs. Thatcher and Mrs. Noble had been killed, but succeeded in bringing in Mrs. Gardner, who was forwarded to me at St. Paul, and by me formally delivered to Governor Metairie on June 23, 1857. She was afterwards married and is now a widow, Mrs. Abby Gardner Sharp, and resides in the house from which she was abducted by the savages forty-three years ago. I paid the Indians who rescued her $400 each for their services.

The territory made an appropriation on the 15th day of May, 1857, of $10,000 to rescue the captives, but as there were no telegraphs or other speedy means of communication, the work was all done before the news of the appropriation reached the border. My outlay, however, was all refunded from this appropriation. I afterwards succeeded with a squad of soldiers and citizens in killing one of Inkpa Dutta's sons, who had taken an active part in the massacre, and that ended the first series Indian Trouble that Minnesota was afflicted with.

22 22 - The Constitutional Convention 13:07

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part One by Charles E. Flandreau. Section 22. The Constitutional Convention. By the end of the year, 1856, the territory of Minnesota had attained such growth and wealth that the question of becoming a state within the Union began to attract attention. It was urged by the government at Washington that we were amply capable of taking care of ourselves, and sufficiently wealthy to pay our expenses, and statehood was pressed upon us from that quarter. There was another potent influence at work at home. We had several prominent gentlemen who were convinced that their services were needed in the Senate of the United States, and that their presence there would strengthen and adorn that body.

And as no positive opposition was developed, the Congress of the United States, on the 26th of February, 1857, passed an act authorizing the territory to form a state government. It prescribed the same boundaries for the state as we now have, although there had been a large number of people who had advocated an east-west division of the territory on a line a little north of the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude. It provided for a convention to frame the constitution of the new state, which was to be composed of two delegates for each member of the territorial legislature. to be elected in the representative districts on the first Monday in June, 1857. The convention was to be held at the capital of the territory on the second Monday of July following.

It submitted to the convention five propositions to be answered, which, if accepted, were to become obligatory on the United States and the state of Minnesota. They were in substance as follows. One. Whether sections 16 and 36 in each township should be granted to the state for the use of schools.

Whether 72 sections of land should be set aside for the use and support of a state university.

Whether 10 sections should be granted to the state in aid of public buildings.

Whether all salt springs in the State, not exceeding twelve, with six sections of land to each, should be granted to the State. Five. Whether five percentum of the net proceeds of the sales of all the public lands lying within the State, which should be sold after its admission, should be paid to the State for the purpose of roads and internal improvements. All the five propositions, if accepted, were to be on the condition, to be expressed in the Constitution or an irrevocable ordinance, that the State should never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil within the State by the United States, or with any regulations Congress should make for securing title to said lands in bona fide purchases thereof.

And that no tax should be imposed on lands belonging to the United States, and that non-resident proprietors should never be taxed higher than residents. These propositions were all accepted, ratified, and confirmed by Section 3 of Article 2 of the Constitution. The election for delegates took place as provided for, and on the day set for the convention to meet, nearly all of them had assembled at the Capitol. Great anxiety was manifested by both the Democrats and the Republicans to capture the organization of the convention. Neither party had a majority of all the members present, but there were a number of contested seats on both sides, of which both contestant and contestee were present, and these duplicates, being counted, were sufficient to give each party an apparent majority.

It was obvious that a determined fight for the organization was imminent. The convention was to meet in the House of Representatives, and to gain an advantage, the Republicans took possession of the hall the night before the opening day, so as to be the first on hand in the morning. The Democrats, on learning of this move, held a caucus to decide upon a plan of action. Precedents and authorities were looked up, and two fundamental points decided upon. It was discovered that the Secretary of the Territory was the proper party to call the Convention to order, and as Mr. Charles L. Chase was the Secretary, and also a Democratic delegate, he was chosen to make the call. It was further found that when no hour was designated for the meeting of a parliamentary body, that noon of the day appointed was the time.

Being armed with these points, The Democrats decided to wait until noon, and then marched into the hall in a body with Delegate Chase at their head. And as soon as he reached the chair, he was to spring into it and call the convention to order. General Gorman was immediately to move an adjournment until the next day at 12 o'clock, which motion was to be put by the chair, the Democrats feeling sure that the Republicans, being taken by surprise, would vote no, while the Democrats would all vote aye. and thus commit more than a majority of the whole to the organization under Mr. Chase. On reaching the chair, Mr. Chase immediately sprang into it and called the convention to order. General Gorman moved the adjournment, which was put by the chair.

All the Democrats loudly voted in the affirmative and the Republicans in the negative. The motion was declared carried, and the Democrats solemnly marched out of the hall. The above is the Democratic version of the event. The Republicans, however, claimed that John W. North reached the chair first and called the convention to order, and that as the Republicans had a majority of the members present, the organization made under his call was the only regular one. Nothing can be determined as to which is the true story from the records kept of the two bodies, because they are each made up to show strict regularity, and as it is utterly immaterial to any substantial point of view, I will not venture any opinion, although I was one of the actors in the drama, or farce, as the reader may see fit to regard it.

The Republicans remained in the hall and formed a constitution to suit themselves, sitting until August 29th, just forty-seven days. The Democrats, on the next day after their adjournment, at 12 o'clock, M., went in a body to the door of the House of Representatives, where they were met by Secretary and Delegate Chase. who said to them, Gentlemen, the hall to which the delegates adjourned yesterday is now occupied by a meeting of citizens of the territory who refuse to give possession to the Constitutional Convention. General Gorman then said, I move the Convention adjourned to the Council Chamber. The motion was carried, and the delegates accordingly repaired to the Council Chamber in the west wing of the capital, where Mr.

Chase called the Convention to order. Each branch of the convention elected its officers. The Republicans chose St. A.D. Balcombe for their president, and the Democrats selected Hon. Henry H. Sibley. Both bodies worked diligently on a constitution, and each succeeded in making one so much like the other that, after sober reflection, it was decided that the state could be admitted under either, and if both were sent to Congress, that body would reject them for irregularity. So towards the end of the long session, a compromise was arrived at, by the formation of a joint committee from each convention, who were to evolve a constitution out of the two for submission to the people, the result of which, after many sessions and some fisticuffs, was the instrument under which the state was finally admitted.

A very curious complication resulted from two provisions in the Constitution. In section V of the schedule, it was provided that all territorial officers, civil and military, now holding their offices under the authority of the United States or of the territory of Minnesota, shall continue to hold and exercise their respective offices until they shall be superseded by the authority of the state. And section VI provided that the first session of the legislature of the state of Minnesota shall commence on the first Wednesday of December next, etc. These provisions were made under the supposition that the state would be admitted as soon as the Constitution would be laid before Congress, which it was presumed would be long before the date fixed for the holding of the first state legislature, but such did not turn out to be the case.

The election was held, as provided for, on the thirteenth day of October, 1857. for the adoption or rejection of the Constitution, and for the election of all the state officers, members of Congress, and of the legislature. The Constitution was adopted by a vote of 36,244 and 700 against, and the whole Democratic state ticket was also chosen. And to be sure not to lose full representation in Congress, three members of the House of Representatives were also chosen. who were all Democrats. The Constitution was duly presented to Congress, and admission for the state demanded. Much to the disappointment of our people, all kinds and characters of objections were raised to our admission. One of which I remember was that as the term of office of the state senators was fixed at two years, and as there was nothing said about the term of the members of the House, they were elected for life, and consequently, the government created was not Republican.

Alexander Stevens of Georgia seriously combated this position in a learned constitutional argument in which he proved that a state had absolute control of the subject and could fix the term of all its officers for life if it so preferred and that Congress had no right to interfere. Many other equally frivolous points were made against our admission, which were debated until the 11th day of May, 1858, when the Federal doors were opened and Minnesota became a state. The act admitting the state cut down the congressional representation to two. The three gentlemen who had been elected to these positions were compelled to determine who would remain and who should surrender. History has not recorded how the decision was made.

whether by cutting cards, tossing a coin, or in some other way. But the result was that George L. Becker was counted out, and W. W. Phelps and James M. Cavanaugh took the prizes. It was always thought at home that the long delay in our admission was not from any disinclination to let us in. But because the House was quite evenly divided politically between the Democrats and the Republicans, and there being a contested seat from Ohio between Mr. Vlandingham and Mr. Lew Campbell, it was feared by the Republicans that, if Minnesota came in with three Democratic members, it might turn the scale in favor of Vlandingham. This delay created a very perplexing condition of things. The state legislature elected under the Constitution met on the first Wednesday of December, before the Constitution was recognized by Congress, and while the territorial government was in full force.

It passed a book full of laws, all of which were state laws, approved by a territorial governor. Perhaps in some countries it would have been difficult to harmonize such irregularities, but our courts were quite up to the emergency. and straightened them all out the first time the question was raised, and the laws so passed have served their purpose up to the present time. The first governor of the state was Henry H. Sibley, a Democrat. He served his term of two years, and the state has never elected a Democrat to that office since, unless the choice of Hon. John Lynde in 1898 may be so classified.

23 23 - Attempt to Remove the Capital; Census; Grasshoppers; Militia 12:55

XXIII. Attempt to remove the capital. Senses, Grasshoppers, Militia. Attempt to remove the capital. At the eighth session of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory, which convened on January 7, 1857, a bill was introduced, the purpose of which was the removal of the seat of government from St. Paul to St. Peter, A small village which had recently come into existence on the Minnesota River, about 100 miles above its mouth. There could be no reason for such action except interested speculation, as the capital was already built in St. Paul, and it was much more accessible and in every way more convenient than it would be at St. Peter. But the movement had sufficient personal and political force behind it to ensure its success.

And an act was passed making such removal. But it was destined to meet with unexpected obstacles before it became a law. When it passed the House, it was sent to the Council, where it only received one majority, eight voting for and seven against it. It was, on the 27th of February, sent to the enrolling committee for final enrollment. It happened that Councillor Joseph Rowley from Pembina was chairman of this committee and a great friend of St. Paul. Mr. Rowley decided he would veto the bill in a way not known to parliamentary law, so he put it in his pocket and disappeared. On the 28th, not being in his seat and the bill being missing, a councillor offered a resolution that a copy of it be obtained from Mr.

Wales, the second in order on the committee. A call of the council was then ordered, and Mr. Rollet, not being in his seat, the sergeant-at-arms was sent out to bring him in, but not being able to find him, he so reported. A motion was then made to dispense with the call, but by the rules it required a two-third vote of fifteen members, and in the absence of Mr. Rollet, only fourteen were present. It takes as many to make two-thirds of fourteen as it does to make two-thirds of fifteen, and the bill had only nine friends. During the pendency of a call, no business could be transacted, and a serious dilemma confronted the capital removers. But, nothing daunted, Mr. Balcom made a long argument to prove that nine was two-thirds of fourteen.

Mr. Brisbane, who was president of the council and a graduate of Yale, pronounced the motion lost, saying to the mover, who was also a graduate of Yale, Mr. Balcombe, we never figured that way at Yale. This situation produced a deadlock, and no business could be transacted. The session terminated on the fifth day of March by its own limitation. The sergeant-at-arms made daily reports concerning the whereabouts of the absentee, sometimes locating him on a dog-train rapidly moving towards Pembina, sometimes giving a rumor of his assassination, but never producing him. Matters remained in this condition until the end of the term, and the bill was lost. It was disclosed afterwards that Rolais had carefully deposited the bill in the vault of Truman M.

Smith's bank. and had passed the time in the upper story of the Fuller House, where his friends made him very comfortable. Some ineffectual efforts have been made since to remove the capital to Minneapolis and elsewhere, but the treaty, made by the pioneers in 1849, locating it at St. Paul, is still in force. Census One of the provisions of the Enabling Act was that in the event of the Constitutional Convention deciding in favor of the immediate admission of the proposed state into the Union, a census should be taken with a view of ascertaining the number of representatives in Congress to which the state would be entitled. This was accordingly done in September 1857, and the population was found to be 150,037.

Grasshoppers. The first visitation of grasshoppers came in 1857, and did considerable damage to the crops in Stearns and other counties. Relief was asked from St. Paul for the suffering poor, and notwithstanding, the people of the capital city were in the depths of poverty. From the financial panic produced by over-speculation, they responded liberally. The grasshoppers of this year did not deposit their eggs, but disappeared after eating up everything that came within their reach. The state was not troubled with them again until the year 1873, when they came in large flights and settled down in the western part of the state. They did much damage to the crops, and deposited their eggs in the soil, where they hatched out in the spring, and greatly increased their number.

They made sad havoc with the crops of 1874, and occupied a larger part of the state than in the previous year. They again deposited their eggs, and appeared in the spring of 1875 in increased numbers, This was continued in 1876, when the situation became so alarming that Gov. John S. Pillsbury issued a proclamation addressed to the states and territories which had suffered most from the insects to meet him by delegates at Omaha to concert measures for united protection. A convention was held, and Gov. Pillsbury was made its president. The subject was thoroughly discussed. and a memorial to Congress was prepared and adopted, asking for scientific investigation of the subject, and a suggestion of preventive measures.

Many appeals for relief came from the afflicted regions, and much aid was extended. Governor Pillsbury was a big-hearted, sympathetic man, and fearing the sufferers might not be well cared for, he traveled among them personally, incognito, and dispensed large sums from his private funds. In 1877, the governor, in his message to the legislature, treated the subject exhaustively, and appropriations were made to relieve the settlers in the devastated regions. In the spring of 1877, the religious bodies and people of the state asked the governor to issue a proclamation, appointing a day of fasting and prayer, asking divine protection and exhorting the people to greater humility and a new consecration in the service of a merciful Father.

The governor, being of Puritan origin and a faithful believer in divine agencies in this world's affairs, issued an eloquent appeal to the people to observe a day named as one of fasting and prayer for deliverance from the grasshoppers. The suggestion was quite generally approved, but the proclamation naturally excited much criticism and some ridicule, but curious as it may seem, The grasshoppers, even before the day appointed for prayer arrived, began to disappear, and in a short time not one remained to show they had ever been in the state. They left in a body. No one seemed to know exactly when they went, and no one knew anything about where they went, as they were never heard of again on any part of the continent.

The only news we ever had from them came from ships crossing the Atlantic westward bound, which reported having passed through large areas of floating insects. They must have met a western gale when well up in the air, and have been blown out into the sea and destroyed. The people of Minnesota did not expend much trouble or time to find out what had become of them. The crop of 1877 was abundant, and particularly so in the region which had been most seriously blighted by the pests. Before the final proclamation of Governor Pillsbury, every source of ingenuity had been exhausted in devising plans for the destruction of the grasshoppers. Ditches were dug around the fields of grain, and ropes were drawn over the grain to drive the hoppers into them, with the purpose of covering them with earth.

Instruments called hopperdozers were invented, which had receptacles filled with hot tar, and were driven over the ground to catch them as flies are caught with tanglefoot paper, and many millions of them were destroyed in this way. But it was about as effectual as fighting a northwestern blizzard with a lady's fan, and they were all abandoned as useless and powerless to cope with the scourge. Nothing proved effectual but the governor's proclamation. And all the old settlers called it Pillsbury's Best, which was the name of the celebrated brand of flour made at the governor's mills. Professor N. H. Winchell, the state geologist, in his Geological and Natural History report, presents a map which, by red lines, shows the encroachments of the grasshoppers for the years 1873 to 76.

To gain an idea of the extent of the country covered by them, Up to 1877, draw a line on a state map from the Red River of the North, about six miles north of Moorhead in Clay County, in a southeasterly direction through Becker, Wadena, Todd, and Morrison Counties, crossing the Mississippi River near the northern line of Benton County. Continuing down the east side of the Mississippi through Benton, Sherburne, and Anoka counties, there recrossing the Mississippi and proceeding south, on the west side of the river, to the south line of the state in Mauer County. All the country lying south and west of this line was for several years devastated by the grasshoppers to the extent that no crops could be raised.

It became for a time a question Whether the people or the insects would conquer the state. Militia. During the territorial times, there were a few volunteer militia companies in St. Paul, conspicuously the Pioneer Guard, an infantry company which, from its excellent organization and discipline, became a source of supply of officers when regiments were being raised for the Civil War. To have been a member of that company was worth at least a captain's commission in the Volunteer Army, and many officers of much higher rank were chosen from its members. There was also a company of cavalry at St. Paul, commanded by Captain James Starkey, called the St. Paul Light Cavalry. Also the Shields Guards, commanded by Captain John O'Gorman.

There may have been others, but I do not remember them. The services of the Pioneer Guards and the Cavalry Company were called into requisition on two occasions, once in 1857 and again in 1859. During the summer of 1857, the settlers near Cambridge and Sunrise complained that the Chippewas were very troublesome. Governor Metairie ordered Captain Starkey to take part of his company and arrest the Indians, who were committing depredations, and send the remainder of them to their reservation. The captain took twenty men, and on August 24, 1857, started for the scene of the trouble. On the 28th, he overtook some six or seven Indians, and in their attempt to escape, a collision occurred, in which a young man, a member of Starkey's company, named Frank Donnelly, was instantly killed.

The troops succeeded in killing one of the Indians, wounding another, and capturing four more, when they returned to St. Paul. Bringing with them the dead, wounded, and prisoners. The dead were buried, the wounded healed, and the prisoners discharged by Judge Nelson on a writ of habeas corpus. The general sentiment of the community was that the expedition was unnecessary and should never have been made. This affair was facetiously called the Cornstalk War.

24 24 - The Wright County War; The Civil War 13:54

XXIV. The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part One, by Charles E. Flandreau, Section 24. The Wright County War. The Civil War. The Wright County War. In the fall of 1858, a man named Wallace was killed in Wright County. Oscar F. Jackson was tried for the murder in the spring of 1859 and acquitted by a jury. Public sentiment was against him, and he was warned to leave the county. He did not heed the admonition, and on April 25th, a mob assembled and hung Jackson to the gable end of Wallace's cabin. Governor Sibley offered a reward for the conviction of any of the lynchers. Shortly afterwards, one, Emery Moore, was arrested as being implicated in the affair. He was taken to Wright County for trial, and at once rescued by a mob.

The governor sent three companies of militia to Monticello to arrest the offenders and preserve order, the pioneer guards being among them. This force, aided by a few special officers of the law, arrested eleven of the lynchers and rescuers, and turned them over to the civil authorities, and on the 11th of August, 1859, having completed their mission, returned to St. Paul. As there was no war or bloodshed of any kind connected with this expedition, it was called the Wright County War. Governor Sibley, having somewhat of a military tendency, appointed as his Adjutant General, Alexander C. Jones, who was a graduate of the Virginia Military Academy and captain of the Pioneer Guards. Under this administration, a very complete militia bill was passed on the twelfth day of August, 1858.

Minnesota, from that time on, had a very efficient militia system until the establishment of the National Guard, which made some changes in its general character, supposed to be for the better. The Civil War. Nothing of any special importance occurred during the years 1859 and 1860 in Minnesota. The state continued to grow in population and wealth at an extraordinary pace. but in a quiet and unobtrusive way. The politics of the nation had been for some time much disturbed between the North and the South on the question of slavery and threats of secession from the Union made by the slaveholding states. The election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency of the United States in 1860 precipitated the impending revolution, and on the 14th day of April, 1861, Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, was fired upon by the revolutionists, which meant war between the two sections of the country.

I will only relate such events in connection with the civil war which followed as are especially connected with Minnesota. When the news of the firing upon Fort Sumter reached Washington, Alexander Ramsey, then governor of Minnesota, was in that city. He immediately called upon the President of the United States and tendered the services of the people of Minnesota in defense of the Republic, thus giving to the state the enviable position of being the first to come to the front. The offer of a regiment was accepted, and the governor sent a dispatch to Lieutenant Governor Ignatius Donnelly, who on the 16th of April issued a proclamation, giving notice that volunteers would be received at St. Paul for one regiment of infantry composed of ten companies, each of sixty-four privates, one captain, two lieutenants, four sergeants, Immediately following this announcement, which, of course, meant war.

Great enthusiasm was manifested all over the state. Public meetings were held in all the cities. Almost every man capable of doing soldier duty wanted to go, and those who were unable, for any reason, to go in person subscribed funds for the support of the families of those who volunteered. The only difficulty the authorities met with was an excess of men over those needed. There were a good many Southerners residing in the state. who were naturally controlled in their sentiments by their geographical affinities, but they behaved very well and caused no trouble. They either entered the service of the South or held their peace. I can recall but one instance of a Northern man who had breathed the free air of Minnesota going over to the South, and the atrocity of his case was aggravated by the fact that he was an officer in the United States Army.

I speak of Major Pemberton, who at the breaking out of the war was stationed at Fort Ridgely in this state, in command of a battery of artillery. He was ordered to Washington to aid in the defense of the capital, but before reaching his destination resigned his commission, and tendered his sword to the enemy. I think he was a citizen of Pennsylvania. It was he who surrendered Vicksburg to the United States Army on July 4th, 1863. The first company raised under the call of the State was made up of young men of St. Paul and commanded by William H. Acker, who had been Adjutant General of the State. He was wounded at the First Battle of Bull Run and killed at the Battle of Shiloh as captain of a company of the 16th Regular Infantry.

Other companies quickly followed in tendering their services. On the last Monday in April, a camp for the 1st Regiment was opened at Fort Snelling. and Captain Anderson D. Nelson of the United States Army mustered the regiment into the service. On the 27th of April, John B. Sanborn, then Adjutant General of the State, in behalf of the governor issued the following order. The Commander-in-Chief expresses his gratification at the prompt response to the call of the President of the United States upon the militia of Minnesota. and his regret that, under the present requisition for only ten companies, it is not possible to accept the services of all the companies offered. The order then enumerates the ten companies which had been accepted, and instructs them to report at Fort Snelling, and recommends that the companies not accepted maintain their organization and perfect their drill, and that patriotic citizens throughout the state continue to enroll themselves and be ready for any emergency.

The governor, on May 3rd, sent a telegram to the president offering a second regiment. The magnitude of the rebellion becoming rapidly manifest at Washington, the Secretary of War, Mr. Cameron, on the 7th of May, sent the following telegram to Governor Ramsey. It is decidedly preferable that all the regiments from your state, not already actually sent forward, should be mustered into the service for three years, or during the war. If any persons belonging to the regiments already mustered for three months, but not yet actually sent forward, should be unwilling to serve for three years, or during the war, could not their places be filled by others willing to serve? A great deal of correspondence passed between Lt.

Gov. Donnelly at St. Paul and Gov. Ramsey at Washington over the matter, which resulted in the 1st Minnesota Regiment being mustered into the service of the United States for three years, or during the war, on the 11th day of May, 1861. Willis A. Gorman, second governor of the territory, was appointed colonel of the 1st. The colonel was a veteran of the Mexican War. The regiment which first mustered in was without uniform, except that some of the companies had red shirts and some blue, but there was no regularity whatever. This was of small consequence, as the material of the regiment was probably the best ever collected into one body. It included companies of lumbermen, accustomed to camp life, and inured to hardships.

Men of splendid physique, experts with the axe, men who could make a road through a forest or swamp, Build a bridge over a stream, run a steamboat, repair a railroad, or perform any of the duties that are thrust upon an army on the march and in the field. There are no men in the world so well equipped naturally and without special preparation for the life of a soldier as the American of the West. He is perfectly familiar with the use of firearms. From his varied experience, he possesses more than an average intelligence. His courage goes without saying, and to sum him up, he is the most all-around handyman on earth. On May 25th, the Ladies of St. Paul presented the regiment with a handsome set of silk colors.

The presentation was made at the State Capitol by Mrs. Ramsey, the wife of the governor. The speech was made on behalf of the ladies by Captain Stansberry of the United States Army, and responded to by Colonel Gorman in a manner fitting the occasion. On the 21st of June, the regiment, having been ordered to Washington, embarked on the steamers Northern Bell and War Eagle at Fort Snelling for their journey. Before leaving the fort, the chaplain, Rev. Edward D. Neal, delivered a most impressive address, concluding as follows. Soldiers, if you would be obedient to God, you must honor him, who has been ordained to lead you forth. Your colonel's will must be your will. If, like the Roman centurion, he says, go, you must go.

If he says, come, come, you must. God grant you all the Hebrews' enduring faith, and you will be sure to have the Hebrews' valor. Now, with the Hebrews' benediction, I close. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. The peace the good chaplain asked the Lord to give to the regiment was that peace which flows from duty well performed, and a conscience free from self-censure. Judging from the excellent record made by that regiment, it enjoyed this kind of peace to the fullest extent, but it had as little of the other kind of peace as any regiment in the service. The regiment reached Washington early in July, and went into camp near Alexandria, in Virginia.

It took part in the first battle of the war at Bull Run, and from there to the end of the war was engaged in many battles, always with credit to itself and honor to its state. It was conspicuously brave and useful at the great conflict at Gettysburg, and the service it there performed made its fame worldwide. In what I say of the 1st Regiment, I must not be understood to lessen the fame of the other ten regiments and other organizations that Minnesota sent to the war, all of which, with the exception of the 3rd, made for themselves records of gallantry and soldierly conduct, which Minnesota will ever hold in the highest esteem. But the 1st, probably because it was the 1st, and certainly because of its superb career, will always be the pet and especial pride of the state.

The misfortunes of the Third Regiment will be spoken of separately. The first conception of the rebellion by the authorities in Washington was that it could be suppressed in a short time, but they had left out of the estimate the fact that they had to deal with Americans, who can always be counted on for a stubborn fight when they decide to have one. And as the magnitude of the war impressed itself upon the government, continuous calls for troops were made, to all of which Minnesota responded promptly, until she had in the field the following military organizations. Eleven full regiments of infantry, the first and second companies of sharpshooters, one regiment of mounted rangers, recruited for the Indian War, the second regiment of cavalry, Hatch's Independent Battalion of Cavalry for Indian War, Brackett's Battalion of Cavalry, One Regiment of Heavy Artillery, and the First, Second, and Third Batteries of Light Artillery.

There were embraced in these twenty-one military organizations, twenty-two thousand, nine hundred seventy officers and men, who were withdrawn from the forces of civil industry and remained away for several years. Yet, notwithstanding this abnormal drain on the industrial resources of so young a state, to which must be added the exhaustive effects of the Indian War, which broke out within her borders in 1862, and lasted several years, Minnesota continued to grow in population and wealth throughout it all, and came out of these war afflictions strengthened and invigorated.

25 25 - The Third Regiment 14:20

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part I, by Charles E. Flandreau, Section 25, The Third Regiment Recruiting for the Third Regiment commenced early in the fall of 1861, and was completed by the 15th of November, on which day it consisted of 901 men all told, including officers. On the 17th of November, 1861, it embarked at Fort Snelling for its destination in the south on the steamboats Northern Bell, City Bell, and Frank Steele. It landed at St. Paul and marched through the city, exciting the admiration of the people, it being an unusually fine aggregation of men. It embarked on the same day and departed for the South, carrying with it the good wishes and hopes of every citizen of the state.

It was then commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Smith, and afterwards by Colonel Henry C. Lester. who was promoted to its command from a captaincy in the first, and joined his regiment at Shepherdsville. Colonel Lester was a man of pre-possessing appearance, handsome, well-informed, modest, and attractive. He soon brought his regiment up to a high standard of drill and discipline, and especially devoted himself to its appearance for cleanliness and deportment, so that his regiment became remarkable in these particulars. By the twelfth day of July, The third became brigaded with the 9th Michigan, the 8th and 23rd Kentucky, forming the 23rd Brigade under Colonel W. W. Duffield of the 9th Michigan, and was stationed at Murfreesboro in Tennessee.

For two months, Colonel Duffield had been absent, and the brigade and other forces at Murfreesboro had been commanded by Colonel Lester. A day or two before the 13th, Colonel Duffield had returned and resumed command of the brigade, and Lester was again in direct command of his regiment. In describing the situation at Murfreesboro on the 13th day of July, 1861, General C.C. Andrews, the author of The History of the 3rd Regiment, in the State War Book, at page 152, says, The force of enlisted men fit for duty at Murfreesboro was fully 1,000. Forrest reported that the whole number of enlisted men captured, taken to McMinnville, and paroled was between 1,100 and 1,200. Our forces, however, were separated.

There were five companies, 250 strong, of the 9th Michigan in camp, three-fourths of a mile east of the town, on the Liberty Turnpike. Another company of the 9th Michigan, 42 strong, occupied the courthouse as a provost guard. Near the camp of the 9th Michigan were 80 men of the 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Major Siebert, also 81 men of the 4th Kentucky Cavalry, under Captain Chilson. More than a mile distant, on the other side of the town, on undulating rocky and shaded ground, near Stone River, were nine companies of the 3rd Minnesota. Five hundred strong. Near it also were two sections, four guns, of Hewitt's Kentucky Field Artillery, with sixty-four men for duty. Forty-five men of Company C, 3rd Regiment, under Lieutenant Grumman's, had gone the afternoon of July 12th, as the guard on a supply train to Shelbyville, and had not returned the 13th.

Murfreesboro was on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. It was a well-built town, around a square, in the center of which was the courthouse. There were in the town valuable military stores. On July 13th, at daybreak, news arrived at Murfreesboro that the rebel General Forrest was about to make an attack on the place, which news was verified by General Forrest capturing the picket guard and dashing into the town soon after the news arrived with a mounted force of 1,500 men. A part of this force charged upon the camp of the 7th Pennsylvania, then reformed and charged upon the 9th Michigan Infantry, which made a gallant defense and repulsed the enemy's repeated charges, suffering a loss of 11 killed and 89 wounded.

The enemy suffered considerable loss, including a colonel killed, up to about noon, when the 9th Michigan surrendered. General Crittenden was captured in his quarters. About eight o'clock. Almost simultaneous with the first attack, a part of Forrest's force moved toward the Third Minnesota, which had sprung up at the first sound of the firing, formed into line, Colonel Lester in command, and with two guns of Hewitt's battery on each flank, marched in the direction of Murfreesboro. It had not gone more than an eighth of a mile when about three hundred of the enemy appeared, approaching on a gallop. They were moving in some disorder, and appeared to fall back when the 3rd Regiment came in sight.

The latter was at once brought forward into line, and the guns of Hewitt's battery opened fire. The enemy retired out of sight, and the 3rd advanced to a commanding position in the edge of some timber. A continuous fire was kept up by the guns of Hewitt's battery, with considerable effect upon the enemy. Up to this time, the only ground of discontent that had ever existed in this regiment was that it had never had an opportunity to fight. Probably no regiment was ever more eager to fight in battle than this one. Yet while it was there in the line of battle from daylight until about noon, impatiently waiting for the approach of the enemy, or what was better, to be led against him, he was assailing an inferior force of our troops.

and destroying valuable commissary and quartermaster's stores in town, which our troops were, of course, in honor bound to protect. The regiment was kept standing or lying motionless hour after hour, even while plainly seeing the smoke rising from the burning depot of the United States supplies. While this was going on, Colonel Lester sat upon his horse, and different officers went to him and entreated him to march the regiment into town, The only response he gave was, We will see. The enemy made several ineffectual attempts to charge the line held by the third, but were driven off with loss, which only increased the ardor of the men to get at them. The enemy attacked the camp of the third, which was guarded by only a few convalescents, teamsters and cooks, and met with a stubborn resistance, but finally succeeded in taking it and burning the tents and property of the officers.

After which they hastily abandoned it. The firing at the camp was distinctly heard by the 3rd Regiment, and Captain Hoyt of Company B asked permission to take his company to protect the camp, but was refused. While the regiment was in this waiting position, having at least five hundred effective men, plenty of ammunition, and burning with anxiety to get at the enemy, a white flag appeared over the crest of a hill. which proved to be a request for Colonel Lester to go into Murfreesboro for a consultation with Colonel Duffield. General Forrest carefully displayed his men along the path by which Colonel Lester was to go, in a manner so as to impress the Colonel with the idea that he had a much larger force than really existed, and in his demand for surrender he stated that, if not acceded to, the whole command would be put to the sword, as he could not control his men.

This was an old trick of Forrest's, which he played successfully on other occasions. From what is known, he had not over one thousand men with which he could have engaged the third that day. When Colonel Lester returned to his regiment, his mind was fully made up to surrender. A consultation was held with the officers of the regiment, and a vote taken on the question, which resulted in a majority being in favor of fighting and against surrender. But the matter was reopened and re-argued by the Colonel, and after some of the officers who opposed surrender had left the Council and gone to their companies, another vote was taken, which resulted in favor of the surrender. The officers who, on this final vote, were against surrender were Lieutenant, Colonel Griggs, and Captains Andrews and Hoyt.

Those who voted in favor of surrender were Captains Webster, Gurney, Preston, Clay, and Mills of the 3rd Regiment, and Captain Hewitt of the Kentucky Battery. On December 1, an order was made, dismissing from the service the five captains of the third who voted to surrender the regiment, which order was subsequently revoked as to Captain Webster. The conduct of Colonel Lester on this occasion has been accounted for on various theories. Before this, he had been immensely popular with his regiment, and also at home in Minnesota, and his prospects were most brilliant. It is hard to believe that he was actuated by cowardice, and harder to conceive him guilty of disloyalty to his country. An explanation of his actions, which obtained circulation in Minnesota, was that he had fallen in love with a rebel woman, who exercised such influence and control over him as to completely hypnotize his will.

I have always been a convert to that theory, knowing the man as well as I did, and have settled the question as the French would by saying, Cherchez la femme. General Buell characterized the surrender in general orders as one of the most disgraceful examples in the history of war. What a magnificent opportunity was presented to some officer of that regiment to immortalize himself by shooting the colonel through the head while he was ignominiously dallying with the question of surrender, and calling upon the men to follow him against the enemy. There can be very little doubt that such a movement would have resulted in victory, as the men were in splendid condition physically, Thoroughly well-armed and dying to wipe out the disgrace their colonel had inflicted upon them.

Of course, the man who should inaugurate such a movement must win, or die in the attempt. But in America, death with honor is infinitely preferable to life with a suspicion of cowardice, as all who participated in this surrender were well aware. The officers were all held as prisoners of war. and the men paroled on condition of not fighting against the Confederacy during the continuance of the war. The Indian War of 1862 broke out in Minnesota very shortly after the surrender, and the men of the Third were brought to the State for service against the Indians. They participated in the campaign of 1862 and following expeditions. For a full and detailed account of the surrender of the Third, Consult the history of that regiment in the volume issued by the state called Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars.

It would please the historian to omit this subject entirely, did the truth permit. But he finds ample solace in the fact that this is the only blot to be found in the long record of brilliant and glorious deeds that compose the military history of Minnesota. A general summary will show that Minnesota did her whole duty in the Civil War. and that her extreme youth was in no way a drawback to her performance. She furnished to the war, in all her military organizations, a grand total of 22,000, 970 men. Of this number, 607 were killed in battle, and 1,647 died of disease. Making a contribution of 2,254 lives to the cause of the Union on the part of Minnesota. Our state was honored by the promotion from her various organizations of the following officers.

C.P. Adams, Brevet Brig. Gen. C.C. Andrews, Brig. and Brevet Major General. John T. Averill, Brevet Brig. Gen. James H. Baker.

Theodore E. Barrett, Judson W. Bishop, William Colville, Napoleon J.T. Dana, Major General. Alonzo J. Edgerton, Brevet Brigadier General. Willis A. Gorman, Brigadier General. Lucius F. Hubbard, Brevet Brigadier General. Samuel P. Jennison, Brevet Brigadier General. William G. LeDuc, Brevet Brigadier General. William R. Marshall, Brevet Brigadier General. Robert B. McLaren, Brevet Brigadier General. Stephen Miller, Brigadier General. John B. Sanborn, Brigadier and Brevet Major-General. Henry H. Sibley, Brigadier and Brevet Major-General. Minor T. Thomas, Brevet Brigadier-General. John E. Tortolo, Brevet Brigadier-General. Horatio P. Van Cleve, Brevet Brigadier-General. George N. Morgan, Brevet Brigadier General.

26 26 - The Indian War of 1862 and Following Years, Part 1 13:59

XXVI. The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part I, by Charles E. Flindrow, Section 26. The Indian War of 1862 and Following Years, Part I. In 1862, there were in the state of Minnesota four principal bands of Sioux Indians—the Midewakantans, Wokpakutas, Sissitans, and Wokpatans. The first two bands were known as the Lower Sioux, and the last two bands as the Upper Sioux. These designations arose from the fact that, in the sale of their lands to the United States by the treaties of 1851, the lands of the lower Sioux were situate in the southern part of the state, and those of the upper bands in the more northern part, and when a reservation was set apart for their future occupation on the upper waters of the Minnesota River, they were similarly located thereon.

Their reservation consisted of a strip of land Ten miles wide on each side of the Minnesota River, beginning at a point a few miles below Fort Ridgely and extending to the headwaters of the river. The reservation of the lower band extended up to the Yellow Medicine River. That of the upper bands included all above the last-named river. An agent was appointed to administer the affairs of these Indians, whose agencies were established at Redwood for the lower and at Yellow Medicine for the upper bands. At these agencies, the annuities were paid to the Indians, and so continued from the making of the treaties to the year 1862. These bands were wild, very little progress having been made in their civilization, the very nature of the situation preventing very much advance in that line.

The whole country To the north and west of their reservation was an open, wild region, extending to the Rocky Mountains, inhabited only by the buffalo, which animals range in vast herds, from British Columbia to Texas. The buffalo was the chief subsistence of the Indians, who naturally frequented their ranges, and only came to the agencies when expecting their payments. When they did come, and the money and goods were not ready for them, which was frequently the case, they suffered great inconvenience, and were forced to incur debt with the white traders for their subsistence, all of which tended to create bad feelings between them and the whites. The Indian saw that he had yielded a splendid domain to the whites, and that they were rapidly occupying it.

They could not help seeing that the whites were pushing them gradually, I may say rapidly, out of their ancestral possessions and towards the West, which knowledge naturally created hostile feelings towards them. The Sioux were brave people, and the young fighting men were always making comparisons between themselves and the whites, and bantering each other as to whether they were or were not afraid of them. I made a study of these people for several years, having had them in charge as their agent. And I think understood their feelings and standing toward the Whites as well as anyone. Much has been said and written about the immediate cause of the outbreak of 1862, but I do not believe that anything can be assigned out of the general occurrence of events that will account for the trouble.

Delay, as usual, had occurred in the arrival of the money for the payment, which was due in July 1862. The war was in full force with the South, and the Indians saw that Minnesota was sending thousands of men out of the state to fight the battles of the Union. Major Thomas Galbraith was their agent in the summer of 1862, and, being desirous of contributing to the volunteer forces of the government, He raised a company of half-breeds on the reservation and started with them for Fort Snelling the general rendezvous, to have them mustered into service. It was very natural that the Indians who were seeking for trouble should look upon this movement as a sign of weakness on the part of the government, and reason that, if the United States could not conquer its enemy without their assistance, it must be in serious difficulties.

Various things of similar character contributed to create a feeling among the Indians that it was a good time to recover their country, redress all their grievances, and re-establish themselves as lords of the land. They had ambitious leaders. Little Crow was a principal instigator of war on the whites. He was a man of greater parts than any Indian in the tribe. I had used him on many trying occasions as the captain of my bodyguard and my ambassador to negotiate with other tribes, and always found him equal to any emergency. But on this occasion his ambition ran away with his judgment and led him to fatal results. With all these influences at work, it took but a spark to fire the magazine, and that spark was struck on the seventeenth day of August 1862.

A small party of Indians were at Acton on August 17th, and got into a petty controversy about some eggs with the settler, which created a difference of opinion among them as to what they should do, some advocating one course and some another. The controversy led to one Indian saying that the other was afraid of the white man. To resent which, and to prove his bravery, he killed the settler, and the whole family was massacred. When these Indians reached the agency and related their bloody work, those who wanted trouble seized upon the opportunity, and insisted that the only way out of the difficulty was to kill all the whites, and on the morning of the 18th of August, the bloody work began. It is proper to say here that some of the Indians who were connected with the missionaries, conspicuously Anpetu Tokucha, or John Otherday, and Paul Mazakudamani, the president of the Hazelwood Republic, of which I have spoken, having learned of the intention of the Indians, informed the missionaries on the night of the 17th, Who, to the number of about sixty, fled eastward to Hutchinson in Macleod County and escaped.

The next morning, being the 18th of August, the Indians commenced the massacre of the whites, and made clean work of all at the agencies. They then separated into small squads of from five to ten, and spread over the country to the south, East and Southeast, attacking the settlers in detail at their homes, and continued this work during all of the Eighteenth and part of the Nineteenth of August, until they had murdered in cold blood quite one thousand people, men, women, and children. The way the work was conducted was as follows. The party of Indians would call at the house, and, being well known, would cause no alarm. They would await a good opportunity and shoot the man of the family, then butcher the women and children, and after carrying off everything that they thought valuable to them, they would burn the house and proceed to the next homestead and repeat the performance.

Occasionally, some one would escape and spread the news of the massacre to the neighbors, and all who could would escape to some place of refuge. The news of the outbreak reached Fort Ridgely, which was situated about thirteen miles down the Minnesota River, from the agencies about eight o'clock on the morning of the eighteenth, by means of the arrival of a team from the lower agency bringing a badly wounded man, but no details could be obtained. The fort was in command of Captain John Marsh of Company B, 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. He had eighty-five men in his company, from which he selected forty-five, leaving the balance under Lieutenant T. F. Jeer to defend the fort. This little squad, under the command of Captain Marsh, with a full supply of ammunition, provisions, blankets, etc., accompanied by a six-mule team, left the fort at 9 a.m.

on the 18th of August for the Lower Sioux Agency, which was on the west side of the Minnesota River, the fort being on the east, which necessitated the crossing of the river by a ferry near the agency. On the march up, The command passed nine or ten dead bodies, all bearing evidence of having been murdered by the Indians, one of which was Dr. Humphrey, the surgeon at the agency. On reaching the vicinity of the ferry, no Indians were in sight, except one on the opposite side of the river, who tried to induce them to cross over. A dense chaparral bordered the river on the agency side, and tall grass covered the bottom on the side where the troops were. Suspicion of the presence of Indians was aroused by the disturbed condition of the water of the river, which was muddy and contained floating grass.

Then a group of ponies was seen. At this point, and without any notice whatever, Indians in great number sprang up on all sides of the troops and opened upon them a deadly fire. About half of the men were killed instantly. Finding themselves surrounded, it became with the survivors a question of Suv Kipu. Several desperate hand-to-hand encounters occurred with varying results. When the remnant of the command made a point down the river, about two miles from the ferry, Captain Marsh, being of the number. Here they attempted to cross, but the captain was drowned in the effort. Only from thirteen to fifteen of the command reached the fort alive. Among those killed was Peter Quinn, the United States interpreter, an Irishman who had been in the Indian territory for many years.

He had married into the Chippewa tribe. He was a man much esteemed by the army and all old settlers. Much criticism has been indulged in as to whether Captain Marsh, when he became convinced of the general outbreak, should not have retreated to the fort. Of course, forty-five men could do nothing against five or six hundred warriors who were known to be at or about the agency. The Duke of Wellington, when asked as to what was the best test of a general, said, to know when to retreat, and to dare to do it. Captain Marsh cannot be justly judged by any such criterion. He was not an experienced general. He was a young, brave, and enthusiastic soldier. He knew little of Indians. The country knows that he thought he was doing his duty in advancing.

I am confident, whether this judgment is intelligent or not, Posterity will hold in warmer esteem the memory of Captain Marsh and his gallant little band than if he had adopted the more prudent course of retracing his steps. General George Custer was led into an ambush of almost the exact character, which was prepared for him by many of the same Indians who attacked Marsh, and he lost five companies of the Seventh United States Cavalry, one of the best fighting regiments in the service. Not a man escaping. Immediately previous to the outbreak, Lieutenant Timothy J. Sheehan of Company C, Fifth, Minnesota, had been sent, with about fifty men of his company, to the Yellow Medicine Agency, On account of some disorder prevailing among the Indians, but having performed his duty, he had been ordered to Fort Ripley, and had on the 17th left Fort Ridgely, and on the 18th had reached a point near Glencoe, distant from Fort Ridgely about forty miles.

As soon as Captain Marsh became aware of the outbreak, he sent the following dispatch to Lieutenant Sheehan, which reached him on the evening of the 18th. Lieutenant Sheehan, it is absolutely necessary that you should return with your command immediately to this post. The Indians are raising hell at the lower agency. Return as soon as possible.

27 27 - The Indian War of 1862 and Following Years, Part 2 11:46

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1, by Charles E. Flandrao, Section 27. The Indian War of 1862 and Following Years, Part 2. Lieutenant Sheehan was then a young Irishman of about the age of 25 years, with immense physical vigor and corresponding enthusiasm. He immediately broke camp and returned to the fort, arriving there on the 19th of August, having made a forced march of 42 miles in nine and one-half hours. He did not arrive a moment too soon. Being the ranking officer after the death of Captain Marsh, he took command of the post. The garrison then consisted of the remnant of Marsh's Company B, 51 men, Sheehan's Company C, 50 men, and the Renville Rangers, 50 men. This latter company was the one raised by Major Galbraith, the Sioux agent at the agencies, and was composed principally of half-breeds.

It was commanded by Captain James Gorman. On reaching St. Peter, On its way down to Snelling to be mustered into the service of the United States, it learned of the outbreak, and at once returned to Ridgely, having appropriated the arms of a militia company at St. Peter. There was also at Ridgely Sergeant Jones of the Regular Artillery, who had been left there in charge of the military stores. He was quite an expert gunner, and there were several field pieces at the fort. Besides this garrison, a large number of people from the surrounding country had sought safety at the fort. And there was also a party of gentlemen who had brought up the annuity money to pay the Indians, who, learning of the troubles, had stopped with the money amounting to some $70,000 in specie.

I will here leave the fort for the present, and turn to other points that became prominent in the approaching war. On the night of the 18th of August, the day of the outbreak, the news reached St. Peter, and as I have before stated, induced the Renville Rangers to retrace their steps. Great excitement prevailed as no one could tell at what moment the Indians might dash into the town and massacre the inhabitants. The people at New Ulm, which was situated about 16 miles below Fort Ridgely on the Minnesota River, dispatched a courier to St. Peter as soon as they became aware of the trouble. He arrived at 4 o'clock a.m. on the 19th and came immediately to my house, which was about one mile below the town, and informed me that the Indians were killing people all over the country.

Having lived among the Indians for several years, and at one time had charge of them as their agent, I thoroughly understood the danger of the situation, and knowing that, whether the story was true or false, the frontier was no place at such a time for women and children. I told them to wake up the people at St. Peter, and that I would be there quickly. I immediately placed my family in a wagon, and told them to flee down the river, and taking all the guns, powder, and lead I could find in my house, I arrived at St. Peter about 6 a.m.

The men of the town were soon assembled at the courthouse, and in a very short time a company was formed of 116 men, of which I was chosen as captain, William B. Dodd as first, and Wolf H. Meyer as second lieutenant. Before noon, two men, Henry A. Swift, afterwards Governor of the State, and William C. Hayden, The men were dispatched to the front in a buggy to scout and locate the enemy if he was near. And about noon, 1,600 men under L. M. Boardman, sheriff of the county, were started on a similar errand. Both these squads kept moving until they reached New Ulm at about 5 p.m. Great activity was displayed in equipping the main body of the company for service. All the guns of the place were seized and put into the hands of the men.

There not being any large game in this part of the country, rifles were scarce. But shotguns were abundant. All the blacksmith shops and gun shops were set at work molding bullets, and we soon had a gun in every man's hand, and he was supplied with a powder horn or a whiskey flask full of powder, a box of caps, and a pocket full of bullets. We impressed all the wagons we needed for transportation, and all the blankets and provisions that were necessary for subsistence and comfort. While these preparations were going on, a large squad from Le Seur, Ten miles further down the river, under the command of Captain Towsley, Sheriff of Lesore County, joined us. Early in the day, a squad from Swan Lake, under an old settler named Samuel Coffin, had gone to New Alm to see what was the matter.

Our advance guard reached New Alm just in time to participate in its defense against an attack of about 100 Indians who had been murdering the settlers on the west side of the river between the town and Fort Ridgely. The inhabitants of New Alm were almost exclusively German. There being only a few English-speaking citizens among them, and they were not familiar with the character of the Indians. But the instinct of self-preservation had impaled them to fortify the town with barricades to keep the enemy out. The town was built in the usual way of western towns, the principal settlement being along the main street, and the largest and best houses occupying a space of about three blocks. Some of these houses were of brick and stone.

So with a strong barricade around them, the town was quite defensible. Several of the people were killed in this first attack, but the Indians, knowing of the coming reinforcements, withdrew after firing five or six buildings. The main body of my company, together with the squad from Le Sur, reached the ferry about two miles below the settled part of New Alm, about 8 p.m., having made 32 miles in seven hours in a drenching rainstorm. The blazing houses in the distance give a very threatening aspect of the situation, but we crossed the ferry successfully and made the town without accident. The next day we were reinforced by a full company from Mankato under Captain William Bierbauer. Several companies were formed from the citizens of the town.

A full company from South Bend arrived on the 20th or 21st, and various other squads, greater or less in numbers, came in during the week before Saturday to the 23rd. Swelling our forces to about 300 men, but nearly all very poorly armed. We improved the barricades and sent out daily scouting parties who succeeded in bringing in many people who were in hiding in swamps, and who would have undoubtedly been lost without this succor. It soon became apparent that to maintain any discipline or order in the town, some one man must be placed in command of the entire force. The officers of the various companies assembled to choose a commander-in-chief. And the selection fell to me. A provost guard was at once established, order inaugurated, and we awaited events.

I have been thus particular in my description of the movements at this point because it gives an idea of the defenseless condition in which the outbreak found the people of the country, and also because it shows the intense energy with which the settlers met the emergency at its very inception, from which I will deduce the conclusion at the proper time. That this prompt initial action saved the state from a calamity, the magnitude of which is unrecorded in the history of Indian wars. Having described the defensive condition of Fort Ridgely and New Alm, the two extreme frontier posts, the former being on the Indian Reservation, and the latter only a few miles southeast of it, I will take up the subject at the capital of the state.

The news reached Governor Ramsey at St. Paul on the 19th of August, the second day of the outbreak. He at once hastened to Mendota at the mouth of the Minnesota River and requested ex-Governor Sibley to accept the command of such forces as could be put in the field to check the advance of and punish the Indians. Governor Sibley had a large experience with the Sioux, perhaps more than any man in the state, having traded and lived with them since 1834, and besides that was a distinguished citizen of the state, having been its first governor. He accepted the position. With the rank of Colonel in the state militia. The 6th Regiment was being recruited at Fort Snelling for the Civil War, and on the 20th of August, Colonel Sibley started up the Valley of the Minnesota with four companies of that regiment, and arrived at St.

Peter on Friday the 22nd. Captain A.D. Nelson of the Regular Army had been appointed Colonel of the 6th, and William Crooks had been appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the 7th. Colonel Crooks conveyed the orders of the Governor to Colonel Nelson, overtaking him at Bloomington Ferry. On receipt of his orders, finding he was to report to Colonel Sibley, he made the point of military etiquette that an officer of the regular army could not report to an officer of militia of the same rank. And turning over his command to Colonel Crooks, he returned to St. Paul and handed in his resignation. It was accepted, and Colonel Crooks was appointed Colonel of the Sixth. Not knowing much about military etiquette, I will not venture an opinion on the action of Colonel Nelson in this instance.

But it always seemed to me that in the face of the enemy, and especially considering the high standing of Colonel Sibley and the intimate friendship that existed between the two men, it would have been better to have waived this point and unitedly fought the enemy, settling all such matters afterwards. On Sunday the 24th, Colonel Sibley's force at St. Peter was augmented by the arrival of about 200 mounted men under the command of William J. Cullen, formerly Superintendent of Indian Fairs, called the Cullen Guard. On the same day, six more companies of the sixth arrived, making up the full regiment, and also about 100 more mounted men and several squads of volunteer militia. The mounted men were placed under the command of Colonel Samuel MacPhail.

By these acquisitions, Colonel Sibley's command numbered about 1,400 men. Although the numerical strength was considerable, the command was practically useless. The ammunition did not fit the guns of the 6th Regiment, and had to be all made over. The horses of the mounted men were raw and undisciplined, and the men themselves were inexperienced and practically unarmed. It was the best the country afforded, but was probably about as poorly equipped an army as ever entered the field. And to face what I regard as the best warriors to be found on the North American continent. But fortunately, the officers and men were all that could be desired. The leaders of this army were the best of men, and being seconded by intelligent and enthusiastic subordinates, they soon overcame their physical difficulties.

But they knew nothing of the strength, position, or previous movements of the enemy, no news having reached them before either Fort Ridgely or New Alm. Any mistake made by this force, resulting in defeat, Would have been fatal. No such mistake was made. Having now shown the principal forces in the field, we will turn to the movements of the enemy. The Indians felt that it would be necessary to carry Fort Ridgely and New Ulm before they extended their depredations further down the valley of the Minnesota, and concentrated their forces for an attack on the fort. Ridgely was in no sense a fort. It was simply a collection of buildings, principally framed structures, facing in towards the parade ground.

On one side was a long stone barrack and a stone commissary building, which was the only defensible part of it.

28 28 - The Attack on Fort Ridgely; Battle of New Ulm, Part 1 9:25

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part One, by Charles E. Flandrao. Section 28. The Attack on Fort Ridgely, Battle of New Ulm, Part One. On the 20th of August. At about 3 p.m., an attack was made upon the fort by a large body of Indians. The first intimation the garrison had of the assault was a volley poured through one of the openings between the buildings. Considerable confusion ensued, but order was soon restored. Sergeant Jones attempted to use his cannon, but to his utter dismay, he found them disabled. This was the work of some of the half-breeds belonging to the Renville Rangers, who had deserted to the enemy. They had been spiked by ramming old rags into them. The sergeant soon rectified this difficulty and brought his pieces into action.

The attack lasted three hours, when it ceased, with a loss to the garrison of three killed and eight wounded. On Thursday the 21st, two further attacks were made on the fort, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, but with a reduced force, less earnestness, and little damage. On Friday the 22nd, The savages seemed determined to carry the fort. About 800 or more, under the leadership of Little Crow, came down from the agency. Concentrating themselves in the ravines which lay on several sides of the fort, they made a feint by sending about 20 warriors out on the prairie for the purpose of drawing out the garrison from the fort and cutting them off. Such a movement, if successful, would have been fatal to the defenders.

But fortunately, there were men among them of much experience in Indian warfare who saw through the scheme The enemy was shot by the force of the force, and prevented the success of the maneuver, then followed a shower of bullets on the fort from all directions. The attack was continued for nearly five hours. It was bitterly fought, and courageously and intelligently resisted. Sergeant Jones and other artillerists handled the guns with effective skill, exploding shells in the outlying buildings and burning them over the heads of the Indians, while the enemy endeavored to burn the wooden buildings composing the fort by shooting fire arrows on their roofs. One of the most exposed and dangerous duties to be performed was covering the wooden roofs with earth to prevent fire.

One white man was killed and seven wounded in this engagement. Lieutenant Sheehan, who commanded the post through all these trying occurrences, Lieutenant Gorman of the Renville Rangers, Lieutenant Whipple, and Sergeants Jones and McGrew all did their duty in a manner becoming veterans, and the men seconded their efforts handsomely. The Indians, after this effort, being convinced that they could not take the fort, And anticipating the coming of reinforcements, withdrew and, concentrating all their available forces, descended upon New Ulm the next morning, August 23, for a final struggle. In the official history, written for the state, of this battle at Fort Ridgely, I placed the force of the Indians as 450, but I've learned since from reliable sources that it was as above stated.

Battle of New Ulm. We left New Ulm. After the arrival of the various companies which I have named on the 21st of August, strengthening its barricades and awaiting events, I had placed a good glass on the top of one of the stone buildings within the barricades for the purpose of observation, and always kept a sentinel there to report any movement he should discover in any direction throughout the surrounding country. We had heard distinctly the cannonading at the fort for the past two days, but knew nothing of the result of the fight at that point. I was perfectly familiar, as were many of my command, with the country between New Ulm and the fort on both sides of the river, knowing the house of every settler on the roads.

Saturday, the 23rd of August, opened bright and beautiful, and early in the morning we saw column after column of smoke rise in the direction of the fort, each smoke being nearer than the last. We knew to a certainty that the Indians were approaching in force. The settlers had either all been killed or had taken refuge at the Fort or New Ulm, so he had no anxiety about them. About 9.30 a.m., the enemy appeared in great force on both sides of the river. Those on the east side, when they reached the neighborhood of the ferry, burned some stacks as a signal of their arrival, which was responded to by a similar fire in the edge of the timber, about two miles and a half from the town on the west side.

Between this timber and the town was a beautiful open prairie, with considerable descent towards the town. Immediately on seeing the smoke from the ferry, the enemy advanced rapidly, some six hundred strong, many mounted and the rest on foot. I had determined to meet them on the open prairie, and had formed my men by companies in a long line of battle, with intervals between them, on the first level plateau on the west side of the town, thus covering its whole west front. There were not over 20 or 30 rifles in the whole command, and a man with a shotgun, knowing his antagonist carries a rifle, has very little confidence in his fighting ability. Down came the Indians in the bright sunlight, galloping, running, yelling, and gesticulating in the most fiendish manner.

If we had had good rifles, they never would have gotten near enough to do much harm, but as it was, we could not check them before their fire began to tell on our line. They deployed to the right and left until they covered our entire front and then charged. The man, appreciating the inferiority of their armament, after seeing several of their comrades fall, and having fired a few ineffectual volleys, fell back on the town, passing some buildings without taking possession of them, which mistake was instantly taken advantage of by the Indians, who at once occupied them. But they did not follow us into the town proper, no doubt thinking our retreat was a feint to draw them among the buildings, and thus gain an advantage.

I think if they had boldly charged into the town and set it on fire, they would have won the fight. But... Instead, they surrounded it on all sides, the main body taking possession of the lower end of the main street below the barricades, from which direction a strong wind was blowing towards the center of the town. From this point, they began firing the houses on both sides of the street. We soon rallied the men and kept the enemy well in the outskirts of the town, and the fighting became general on all sides. Just about this time, my first lieutenant, William B. Dodd, galloped down the main street. And as he passed across street, the Indians put three or four bullets through him. He died during the afternoon, after having been removed several times from house to house as the enemy crowded in upon us.

On the second plateau, there was an old Don Quixote windmill, with an immense tower and sail arms about 75 feet long, which occupied a commanding position and had been taken possession of by a company of about 30 men, who called themselves the Lesseur Tigers, most of whom had rifles. They barricaded themselves with sacks of flour and wheat, loop-holed the building, and kept the savages at a respectful distance from the west side of the town. A rifle ball will bury itself in a sack of flour or wheat, but will not penetrate it. During the battle, the men dug out several of them and brought them to me because they were the regulation mini-bullet, and there had been rumors that the Confederates from Missouri had stirred up the revolt and supplied the Indians with guns and ammunition.

I confess I was astonished when I saw the bullets. As I knew the Indians had no such arms, but I soon decided that they were using against us the guns and ammunition they had taken from the dead soldiers of Captain Marsh's company. I do not believe the Confederates had any hand in the revolt of these Indians. We held several other outposts, being brick buildings outside the barricades, which we loopholed and found very effective in holding the Indians aloof. The battle raged generally all around the town, every man doing his best in his own way. It was a very interesting fight on account of the stake we were contending for. We had in the place about twelve or fifteen hundred women and children, the lives of all of whom, and ourselves, depended upon victory perching on our banners, for in a fight like this, no quarter is ever asked or given.

The desperation with which the conflict was conducted can be judged from the fact that I lost sixty men in the first hour and a half, ten killed and fifty wounded. Out of less than 250, as my force had been depleted by the number of about 75 by Lieutenant Huey, taking that number to guard the approach to the ferry. Crossing to the other side of the river, he was cut off and forced to retreat toward St. Peter. It was simply a mistake of judgment to put the river between himself and the main force. But in his retreat, he met Captain E. St. Julian Cox with reinforcements for New Ulm, joined them, and returned the next day. He was a brave and willing officer. The company I mentioned as having arrived from South Bend, having heard that the Winnebago's had joined in the outbreak, left us before the final attack on Saturday, the 23rd of August, claiming that their presence at home was necessary to protect their families, and on the morning of the 23rd, when the enemy was in sight, a wagonload of others left us and went down the river.

I doubt if we could have mustered over 200 guns at any time during the fight.

29 29 - Battle of New Ulm, Part 2 9:35

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1 by Charles E. Flandreau, Section 29. Battle of New Alm, Part Two. The enemy, seeing his advantage in firing the buildings in the lower part of the main street, and thus gradually nearing our barricades with the intention of burning us out, kept up his work as continuously as he could with the interruptions we made for him by occasionally driving him out. But his approach was constant, and about two o'clock, a roaring conflagration was raging on both sides of the street, and the prospect looked discouraging. At this juncture, Asa White, An old frontiersman, connected with the Winnebagoes, whom I had known for a long time, and whose judgment and experience I appreciated and valued, came to me and said, Judge, if this goes on, the Indians will bag us in about two hours.

I said, It looks that way. What remedy have you to suggest? His answer was, We must make for the cottonwood timber. Two miles and a half lay between us and the timber referred to, which, of course, rendered his suggestion utterly impracticable. He said, White, they would slaughter us like sheep should we undertake such a movement. Our strongest hold is in this town, and if you will get together fifty volunteers, I will drive the Indians out of the lower town, and the greatest danger will be past. He saw at once the propriety of my proposition, and in a short time we had a squad ready, and sallied out, cheering and yelling in a manner that would have done credit to the wildest Comanches. We knew the Indians were congregated in forests down the street and expected to find them in a sunken road about three blocks from where we started, but they had worked their way up much nearer to us and were in a deep swale about a block and a half from our barricades.

There was a large number of them, estimated at about 75 to 100, some on ponies and some on foot. When the conformation of the ground disclosed their whereabouts, we were within 100 feet of them. They opened a rapid fire on us, which we returned, while keeping up our rushing advance. When we were within fifty feet of them, they turned and fled down the street. We followed them for at least a half a mile, firing as well as we could. This took us beyond the burning houses, and finding a large collection of saw logs, I called a halt and we took cover among them, lying flat on the ground. The Indians stopped when we ceased to chase them. We had a good time, and took cover behind anything that afforded protection, and kept up an incessant fire upon us whenever a head or hand showed itself above the logs.

We held them, however, in this position, and prevented their return toward the town by way of the street. I at once sent a party back with instructions to burn every building, fence, stack, or other object that would afford cover between us and the barricades. This order was strictly carried out, and by 6 or 7 o'clock, there was not a structure standing outside of the barricades in that part of the town. We then abandoned our saw logs and returned to the town, and the day was one, the Indians not daring to charge us over an open country. I lost four men killed in this exploit, one of whom was especially to be regretted. I speak of Newell Houghton. In ordinary warfare, all men stand for the same value as a general thing.

But in an Indian fight, a man of cool head, an exceptionally fine shot, and armed with a reliable rifle is a loss doubly to be regretted. Houghton was famous as being the best shot and deer hunter in all the Northwest, and had with him his choice rifle. He had built a small steamboat with the proceeds of his gun, and we all held him in high respect as a fine type of frontiersman. We had hardly got back to the town before a man brought me a rifle which he had found on the ground near a clump of brush, and handing it to me said, Some Indian lost a good gun in that run. It happened that White was with me and saw the gun. He recognized it in an instant and said, Newell Houghton is dead. He never let that gun out of his hands while he could hold it.

We looked where the gun was picked up and found Houghton dead in the brush. He had been scalped by some Indian who had seen him fall and had sneaked back and scalped him. That night we dug a system of rifle pits all along the barricades on the outside and manned them with three or four men each. But the firing was desultory through the night, and nothing much was accomplished on either side. The next morning, Sunday, opened bright and beautiful, but scarcely an Indian was to be seen. They had given up the contest and were rapidly retreating northward up the river. We got on occasional a shot at one, but without effect except to hasten the retreat. And so ended the second and decisive battle of New Alm.

In this fight between ourselves and the enemy, we burned 190 buildings, many of them substantial and valuable structures. The whites lost some 14 killed and 50 or 60 wounded. The loss of the enemy is uncertain, but after the fight, we found 10 dead Indians in burned houses and in Chaparral, where they escaped the notice of their friends. As to their wounded, we knew nothing, but judging from the length and character of the engagement and the number of their dead found, their casualties must have equaled, if not exceeded, ours. About noon of Sunday, the 24th, Captain E. St. Julian Cox arrived with a company from St. Peter, which had been sent by Colonel Sibley to reinforce us. Lieutenant Huey, who had been cut off at the ferry on the previous day, accompanied him with a portion of his command.

They were welcome visitors. There were in the town at the time of the attack on the 23rd, as near as can be learned, from 1,200 to 1,500 non-combatants consisting of women and children, refugees and unarmed citizens, all of whose lives depended upon our success. It is difficult to conceive a much more exciting stake to play for, and the men seemed fully to appreciate it and made no mistakes. On the 25th, we found that provisions and ammunition were becoming scarce, and pestilence being feared from stench and exposure, we decided to evacuate the town and try to reach Mankato. This destination was chosen to avoid the Minnesota River, the crossing of which we deemed impracticable. The only obstacle between us and Mankato was the Big Cottonwood River, which was fordable.

We made up a train of 153 wagons, which had largely composed our barricades, loaded them with women and children, and about 80 wounded men, and started. A more heart-rending procession was never witnessed in America. Here was the population of one of the most flourishing towns in the state abandoning their homes and property, starting on a journey of 30-odd miles through a hostile country with a possibility of being massacred on the way. And no hope or prospect but the hospitality of strangers and ultimate beggary. The disposition of the guard was confided to Captain Cox. The march was successful. No Indians were encountered. We reached Crisp's farm, which was about halfway between New Alm and Mankato about evening.

I pushed the main column on, fearing danger from various sources, but camped at this point with about 150 men, intending to return to New Alm. or hold this point as a defensive measure for the exposed settlements further down the river. On the morning of the 26th, we broke camp, and I endeavored to make the command return to New Alm or remain where they were, my object, of course, being to keep an armed force between the enemy and the settlements. The men had not heard a word from their families for more than a week and declined to return or remain. I did not blame them. They had demonstrated their willingness to fight when necessary, But held the protection of their families as paramount to mere military possibilities.

I would not do justice to history did I not record that when I called for volunteers to return, Captain Cox and his whole squad stepped to the front, ready to go where I commanded. Although I had not then heard of Captain Marsh's disaster, I declined to allow so small a command as that of Captain Cox to attempt the reoccupation of New Alm. My staff stood by me in this effort, and a gentleman from Le Sour County Mr. Freeman Talbot made an impressive speech to the men to induce them to return. The train arrived safely at Mankato on the 25th, and the balance of the command on the following day, whence the men generally sought their homes. I immediately on arriving at Mankato went to St. Peter to inform Colonel Sibley of the condition of things in the Indian country.

I found him on the night of August 26th in camp about six miles out of St. Peter and put him in possession of everything that had happened to the westward. His mounted men arrived at Fort Ridgely on the 27th of August and were the first relief that reached that fort after its long siege. Sibley reached the fort on the 28th of August. Entrenchments were thrown up about the fort, cannon properly placed, and a strong guard maintained. All but 90 men of the Cullen Guard, under Captain Anderson, returned home as soon as they found the fort was safe. The garrison was soon increased by the arrival of 47 men under Captain Sterrett, and on the 1st of September, Lieutenant Colonel William R. Marshall of the 7th Regiment arrived with a portion of his command.

This force could not make a forward movement on account of a lack of ammunition and provisions, which were long delayed.

30 30 - Battle of Birch Coulie; Occurences in Meeker County and Vicinity 8:45

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part I, by Charles E. Flandra, Section 30. Battle of Birch Colley. The thirty-first of August, a detail of Captain Grant's Company of Infantry, seventy men of the Cullen Guard, under Captain Anderson, and some citizens and other soldiers, and all about one hundred and fifty men, under command of Major Joseph R. Brown, with seventeen teams and teamsters, were sent from Fort Ridgely to the Lower Agency, to feel the enemy bury the dead, and perform any other service that might arise. They went as far as Little Crow's Village, but not finding any signs of Indians, they returned, and on the first of September they reached Birch Colley, and encamped at the head of it.

Birch Colley is a ravine extending from the upper plateau to the bottom, nearly opposite to the ferry where Captain Marsh's company was ambushed.

The Indians, after defeat at Fort Ridgely and New Ulm, had concentrated at the Yellow-Medicine River, and decided to make one more desperate effort to carry their point of driving the whites out of the country. Their plan of operation was to come down the Minnesota Valley in force, stealthily passing Sibley's command at Ridgely. and attacking St. Peter at Mankato, simulaciously. They congregated all their forces for this attempt, and started down the river. When they reached the foot of Birch Colley, they saw the last of Major Brown's command going Colley. They decided to wait and see where they encamped, and attack them early in the morning. The whites went to the upper end of the Colley, and camped on the open prairie, about two hundred and fifty feet from the brush in the collie.

On the other side of their camp there was a roll in the prairie, about four or five feet high, which they probably did not notice. This gave the enemy cover on both sides of the camp, and they did not fail to see it and take advantage of it. The moment daylight came sufficiently to disclose the camp, the Indians opened fire from both sides. The white sandy horses hitched to a picket rope, and their wagons formed in a circular coral, with their camp in the center. The Indians soon killed all the horses but one, and the men used their carcasses as breastworks, behind which to fight. The battle raged from the beginning of September Second to September Third, when they were revealed by Colonel Sibley's whole command, and the Indians fled to the West.

Major Joseph R. Brown was one of the most inexperienced Indian men in the country, and would never have made the mistake of locating his camp in a place that gave the enemy such an advantage. He did not arrive until the camp was selected, and should have removed it at once. I have always supposed that he was lulled into a sense of security by not having seen any signs of Indians in his march, but Sault proved that, when in a hostile Indian country, no one is ever justified in admitting any precautions. The firing at Birch Colley was heard at Fort Ridgely, and a relief was sent under Colonel MacPhail, which was checked by the Indians a few miles before it reached its destination. The Colonel sent a courier to the fort for reinforcements, and it fell to Lieutenant Sheehan to carry the message.

With his usual energy, he succeeded in getting through, his horse dying under him on his rifle. Colonel Sibley at once started with his whole command, and when he reached the battleground, the Indians left the field. This was one of the most disastrous battles of the war. Twenty-three were killed, outright or mortally wounded, and Forty-five were severely wounded. While many others received slight injuries. The tents were, by the shower of bullets, made to resemble lacework. So completely were they perforated. One hundred and four bullet holes were counted in one tent. Besides the continual shower of bullets that were kept up by the Indians, the men suffered terrible from thirst, as it was impossible to get water into the camp.

This fight forms a very important feature in the Indian War, as notwithstanding its horrors, it probably prevented awful massacres of St. Peter and Mankato, the former being absolutely defenseless, and the latter only protected by a small squad, of about eighty men, which formed my headquarters guard at South Bend, about four miles distant.

Occurrences in the city and meagre country, and while these events were passing, other portions of the state were being prepared for defense in the region of Forest City and Meagre Country, and also at Hutchinson and Glencoe. The excitement was intense. Captain George C. Whitecombe obtained in St. Paul's Seventy-Five Stand of Arms and some ammunition. He left a part of the arms at Hutchinson, and with the rest armed a company at Forest City of Fifty-Three Men, Twenty-Five of whom were mounted. Captain Richard Strout, of Company B, Ninth Regiment, was ordered to Forest City, and went there with his company. General John H. Stevens of Glencoe was commander of the State of Maltea for the Countries of Macleod, Carver, Sibley, and Runville.

As soon as he learned of the outbreak, he erected a very annual fortification of saw-logs at Glencoe. And that place was not disturbed by the Savages. A Company of Volunteers was formed at Glencoe under Captain A. H. Browse. Company F. of the Ninth Regiment under Luit O. P. Stearns, and Company H. of the same Regiment, Captain W. R. Baxter, an independent company from Exclusior and the Good Hill Country Rangers. Captain David L. Davis, all did duty at about Glencoe during the continuance of the trouble. Captains Whitcomb and Strout, with their companies, made extensive recontentions into the surrounding countries, rescuing many refuges, and having several brisk and sharp encounters with the Indians.

in which they lost several in killed and wounded. The presence of these troops in this region of country and their active operations prevented its depilation and saved the towns and much valuable property from destruction.

31 31 - Protection of the Southern Frontier 11:20

The history of Minnesota entails of a frontier. Part One by Charles E. Frondrock Section 30 Protection of the Southern Frontier.

On the 29th of August, I received a commission from the Governor of the State, instructing and directing me to take command of the Blue Earth Contenery, extending from New Ulm to the North Line of Iowa. Embracing the then Western and Southwestern frontier of the state. My power, General, to raise troops, commission officers, subsist upon the country, and generally do what, in my judgment, was best for the protection of this frontier. Under these powers, I located my headquarters at South Bend, being the extreme southern point of the Minestota River, Thirty miles below New Ulm, four from Mancair, and about fifty from the Iowa line. Here I maintained a guard of about eighty men. We threw up some small entrenchments, but nothing worthy of mention.

Enough citizens of New Ulm had returned home to form two companies at that point. Company E. of the Ninth Regiment, under Captain Jerome E. Dane, was stationed at Crisp's Farm, about half-way between New Ulm and South Bend. Colonel John R. Jones, of Chatefield, collected about three hundred men and reported to me at Garden City. They were organized into companies under Captains N. P. Colburn, and post, and many of them were stationed at Garden City, where they erected a serviceable fort of saw-logs. Others of this command were stationed at points along the Blue River. Capt. Cornelius F. Buck of Winona raised a company of fifty-three men, all mounted and started west. They reached Winnebago City, in the county of Faribault.

On the seventh of September, where they reported to me and were stationed at Chain Lakes, about twenty miles west of Winnebago City, and twenty of this company were afterwards sent to Madelia. A stockade was erected by this company at Martin Lake.

In the latter part of this August, Captain A. J. E. Hedgerton of Company B. Tenth Regiment arrived at South Bend, and having made His report was stationed at the Wendroa Agency to keep watch on those Indians and cover Mankato from that direction. About the same time, Co. F., of the 8th Regiment, under Captain L. Aldrich, reported, and was stationed at New Ulm. E. St. Julian Cox, who had previously reinforced me at New Ulm, was commissioned a captain. and put in command of a force which was stationed at Madalia in Watonwan County, where they erected quite an Arctic fortification of logs with bastions. While there an attack was made upon some citizens who had ventured beyond the safe limits, and several whites were killed.

It will be seen above the statement that almost immediately after the evacuation of New Ulm, on the 25th of August, the most exposed part of the southern frontier was occupied by quite a strong force. I did not accept that any serious incursions would be made along this line, but the state of alarm and panic that prevailed among the people rendered it necessary to establish this cordon of military posts to prevent an exodus of the inhabitants. No one who has not gone through the ordeal for an Indian instruction can form any idea of the terrible apprehension that takes possession of a defenseless and noncombatant population under such circumstances. There is an element of mystery and uncertainty about the magnitude and movements of this enemy.

And a certainty of his ability that inspires terror. The first notice of his approach and the crack of his rifle, and no one with experience of such struggles ever blames the timidly of citizens in exposed positions when assailed by these savages. I think all beings being considered, the people generally behave very well. If a map of the state is consulted, taking New Ulm as the most northern point on the Minnesota River, it will be seen that the line of my post covered the frontier from that point down the river to South Bend, and up the Blue River, southerly to Winnebago City, and thence to the Iowa Line. These stations were about sixteen miles apart, with two advanced posts. At Maldelia and Chain Lakes to the west, a system of couriers was established, starting from each end of the cordon every morning, with dispatches from the commanding officer to headquarters, stopping at every station for an endorsement of what was going on, so I knew every day what had happened at every point on my line.

By this means, the frontier population was pacified, and no general exodus took place.

In September, Major General Pope was ordered to Minnesota to conduct the Indian War. He made his headquarters at St. Paul, and by his high rank took command of all operations, though not exerting any visible influence on them. The fact being that all immediate danger had been overcome by the state and its citizens before his arrival.

In the latter part of September, the citizens under my command were anxious to return to their homes, and on presentation of the situation to General Pope, he ordered into the state a new regiment just mustered into the service in Wisconsin. The twenty-fifth command by Colonel M. Montgomery, who was ordered to relieve me. He appeared at South Bend on the first of October, and after having fully informed him of what had transpired, and given him my views as to the future, I turned my command over to him in the following order. I give it, as it is especially a present, the situation of the affairs at that time. Headquarters Indian Expedition Southern Frontier South Bend, October 5th, 1862. To the soldiers and citizens who have been and are now engaged in the defense of the Southern Frontier.

The 16th day of August, last year Frontier was invaded by the Indians. You promptly railed for its defense. You checked the advance of the enemy and defeated him in two severe battles at New Ulm. You have held a line of the frontier posts extending over a distance of one hundred miles. You have erected six abstenial fortifications and other defensive works of less magnitude. You have despised a murdering garabants of savages that have hung upon your lines. You have been uninformally brave, benevolent, and obedient to orders. But your efforts, the war has been confined to the border. Without them, it would have penetrated into the heart of the state. Major General Pope has assumed command of the Northwest, and will control future operations.

He promises a vigorous prosecution over the war. Five companies of the 5th Wisconsin Regiment, and five hundred from Iowa are ordered into the region now held by you, and will supply the places of those whose terms of enlistment shortly expire. The Department of the Southern Frontier, which I have had the honor to command, will From the date of this order, be under command of Colonel M. Montgomery, of the Twenty Fifth Wisconsin, whom I take pleasure in introducing to the troops and citizens of that department, as a soldier and a man to whom they may find their interests and the safety of their country, with every assurance that they will be protected and defended. Pressing public duties of a civil nature demand my absence temporarily from the border.

The immediate and agreeable relations we have sustained toward each other. Our union in danger and adventure cause me regret in leaving you, but will hasten my return. Charles E. Flandre, Colonel Commanding Southern Frontier. This spectacular yet terminated my connection with the war. All matters yet to be related took place in other parts of the state, under the command of Quannle Sibley and others.

32 32 - Colonel Sibley Moves Upon the Enemy; The Battle of Wood Lake 12:15

By Charles E. Flandra. Section Thirty-two. Colonel Sibley Moves Upon the Enemy. We left Colonel Sibley on the Fourth of September at Fortney, having just relieved the unfortunate command of Major Joseph R. Brown, after the fight of Bridge College. Knowing that the Indians had in their possession many white captives, And having their rescue alive uppermost in his mind, the colonel left on the battlefield at Birch Colley the following communication, attached to the stake driven in the ground, feeling sure that it would fall into the hands of Little Crow, the leader of the Indians. If Little Crow has any proposition to make, Let him send a half-breed to me, and he shall be protected in and out of camp.

H. H. Sibley. Colonel Commanding Military Expedition. This was found and answered by Little Crow in a manner rather irrelevant to the subject most desired by Colonel Sibley. It was dated at Yellow Medicine, September Fourth, and delivered by two half-breeds. Colonel Sibley returned the following answer by the Bears. Little Crow, you have murdered many of our people without any sufficient cause. Return me, the prisoners, under a plague of truce, and I will talk with you like a man. The response was received to this letter until September 12, when the Little Crow sent another, saying that he had one hundred and fifty-five prisoners, not including those held by C.C. Tons and Wat Paitons, who were at Lacoupar, and were coming down.

He also gave assurances that the prisoners were faring well. Quannal Sibley, on the 12th of September, sent a reply by Little Crow's messengers. Saying that no peace could be made without a surrender of the prisoners, but no promising peace of any terms, in charging the commission of nine mergers since the receipt of Little Crow's last letter. The messenger that brought this letter from Little Crow also delivered quite a long one from Wabasha and Taopee, Two lower chiefs who claimed to be friendly, and desired a meeting with Colonel Sibley, suggesting two places where it could be held. The Colonel replied that he would march in three days, and was powerful enough to crush all the Indians, that they might approach his column in open day with a flag of truths.

and placed themselves under his protection. On the receipt of this note, a large council was held, at which nearly all the Annuity Indians were present. Several speeches were made by the upper and lower Seahawks, some in favor of the continuance of the war and dying in the last ditch, and some in favor of surrendering the prisoners. I quote a speech made by Paul Mazakutamani, who will be remembered as one of the Indians who volunteered to rescue the white captives from Ingpahdutah's band, in 1857, and who was always true to the whites. He said, among other things, In fighting the whites, you are fighting the thunder and lightning. You say you can make a treaty with the British government? That is not possible.

Have you not yet come to your senses? They are also white men, and neighbors to the soldiers. They are ruled by a petticoat, and she has the tender heart of the squaw. What will she do for the men who have committed the murders you have? This correspondence was kept up for several days, quite a number of letters coming from the Indians, Lionel Sibley, but with no satisfactory results.

On the 14th of September, Lionel Sibley determined to move upon the enemy, and on that day camp was broken at the fort, a boat constructed, and a crossing of the Minnesota River effected near the fort. To prevent the possibility of an abracuscade, Colonel Sibley's force consisted of the 6th Regiment, under Colonel Crookes, about 300 men, of the 3rd Major Welch. Several companies of the 7th, under Colonel William R. Marshall, a small number of mountain men, under Colonel Macphail, and a battery under the command of Captain Mark Hendricks. The expedition moved up the river without encountering any opposition until the morning of the twenty-third of September. Indians had been in sight during all the march, carefully watching the movements of the troops, and several messages of defiance were found attached to the fences and houses.

The Battle of Wood Lake.

On the evening of the 22nd, the expedition camped at Lone Tree Lake, about two miles from the Yellow Medivir, and about three miles east from Wood Lake. Early next morning, several foraging turbs belonging to the 3rd Regiment were fired upon. They returned to the fire, and turned toward the camp. At this juncture, the 3rd Regiment, without orders, sailed out, crossed, a deep raving, and soon engaged the enemy. They were ordered back by the commander, and had not reached the camp before Indians appeared on all sides in great numbers, many of them in the rabbiage between the 3rd Regiment and the camp. Thus began the battle of Wood Lake. Captain Hendricks opened with his cannon and the howitzer under the direct command of Colonel Sibley, and poured and shot in the middle.

It has since been learned that Little Crow had appointed ten of his best men to kill Colonel Sibley at all hazards, and that the shells directed by Colonel's own hand fell into this special squad, and despised them. Captain Hendrix pushed his cannon to the head of the raven, and racked it with great effect, and Colonel Marshall, with three companies of the Seventh and Captain Grant's Company of the Sixth, charged down the raven in a double quick, and routed the Indians.

About eight hundred of the command were engaged in the conflict, and met about an equal number of Indians. Our loss was about nine killed, and between forty and fifty wounded. Major Welch of the third was shot in the leg, but not faithfully. The third and the Renville Rangers under Captain James Gorman bore the brunt of the fight. which lasted about an hour and a half, and sustained the most of the losses. Colonel Sibley, in his official report of the encounter, gives great credit to his staff and all of his command. And Pei To To Ka Cha, or John Orthode, was with the whites, and took a conceptious part in the fray.

Thus ended the Battle of One Lake. It was an important factor in the war, and it was about the first time the Indians engaged large forces of well-organized troops in the open country, and their utter discomfiture put them on the run. It will be noticed that I have not, in any of my narratives of battles, Use the stereotyped expression. Our losses were so many, but the losses of the enemy were much greater. But as they always carry off their dead and wounded, it is impossible to give exact figures. The reason I have not made use of this common expression is because I don't believe it. The philosophy of Indian warfare is to kill your enemy and not get killed yourself, and they can take over more skillfully than any other people.

In all our Indian wars, from the Atlantic westward, with regulars or militia, I believe it would not be an exaggeration to say that the whites have lost ten to one in killed and wounded. But the battle of one leg was quite an open fight, and so rapidly conducted and concluded that we have a very accurate account of the loss of the enemy. He had no time or opportunity to withdraw his dead. Fifteen dead were found upon the field, and one wounded prisoner was taken. No doubt many others were wounded, who were able to escape. After this fight, Clark Sibley retired to the visit of an Indian camp, located near opposite the north of the Trippiowa River, where it empties into the Minnesota, and there encamped.

This point was afterwards called Cabreleese, from the fact that the white prisoners held by the enemy were here delivered to Clark Sibley's command. We will leave Colonel Sibley and his troops at Camp Release, and narrate the important events that occurred on the Red River of the North at and above.

33 33 - Fort Ambercrombie; Camp Release 6:36

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part One, by Charles E. Flan Drou, Section 33, Fort Abercrombie.

The United States government, about the year 1858, erected a military post on the west side of the Red River of the North at a place then known as Graham's Point between what are now known as the cities of Breckenridge and Fargo. Like most of the frontier posts of that day, it was not constructed with reference to defense, but more as a depot for troops and military stores. It was then in the midst of the Indian country and is now in Richland County, North Dakota. The troops that had garrisoned the fort had been sent south to aid in suppressing the Southern Rebellion, and their places had been supplied by one company of the 5th Regiment of Minnesota Volunteers, which was commanded by Captain John Vandehorck.

There was a place down the river, and a north of the fort about fifty miles, called Georgetown, at which there were some settlers and a depot of stores for the company engaged in the navigation of the river. At the commencement of the outbreak, Captain Van der Hork had detached about one half of his company And sent them to Georgetown to protect the interests centered at that point. About the 20th of August, news reached Abercrombie from the Yellow Medicine Agency that trouble was expected from the Indians. An expedition was on the way to Bread Lake to make a treaty with the Chippewa Indians, consisting of the government commissioners and party, accompanied by a train of 30 loaded wagons and a herd of 200 cattle.

On the 23rd of August, news reached Fort Abercrombie, The police were told that a large body of Indians were on the way to capture this party. A courier was at once dispatched to the train, and it sought refuge in the fort. Runners were also sent to all the settlements in the vicinity, and the warning spread of the approaching danger. Happily, nearly all the surrounding people reached the fort before the arrival of the enemy. The detachment station at Georgetown was also called in. A mail coach that left the fort on the 22nd fell into the hands of the Indians, who killed the driver and destroyed the mail. The garrison had been strengthened by about fifty men capable of duty from the refugees, but they were unarmed.

Captain Vanderhoek strengthened his post by all means in his power and endeavored to obtain reinforcements. Captain Freeman, with about sixty men, started from St. Cloud on the Mississippi to relieve the garrison at Abercrombie, but on reaching Sauk's center, the situation appeared so alarming that it was deemed imprudent to proceed with so small a force, and no addition could be made to it at Sauk's center. Attempts were made to reinforce the fort from other points. Two companies were sent from Fort Snelling and got as far as Sauk Center, but the force was even then deemed inadequate to proceed to Abercrombie. Part of the 3rd Regiment was also dispatched from Snelling to its relief on September 6th.

Another expedition, consisting of companies under command of Captains George Atkinson and Rollo Banks, with a small squad of about 60 men of the 3rd Regiment, under command of Sergeant Dearborn, Together with a field piece under Lieutenant Robert J. McHenry was formed and placed under the command of Captain Emil E. A. Berger. This command started on September 10th and after a long and arduous march, reached the fort on the 23rd of September, finding the weaned and anxious garrison still in possession. Captain Berger had been reinforced at Wyman Station on the Alexandria Road on the 19th of September by the companies under Captains Freeman and Barrett, who had united their men on the 14th and started for the fort.

The relief force amounted to quite 400 men by the time it reached its destination. While this long-delayed force was on its way, the little garrison at the fort had its hands full to maintain its position. On the 30th of August, a large body of Indians made a bold raid on the post and succeeded in stampeding and running off nearly 200 head of cattle and 100 head of horses and mules which were grazing on the prairie. Some 50 of the cattle afterwards escaped and were restored to the post by a scouting party. This band of marauders did not, however, attack the fort. No one who has not experienced it can appreciate the mortification of seeing an enemy despoil you of your property when you are powerless to resist.

An attack was made on the fort on the 3rd of September, and some stacks burned and a few horses captured. Several men were killed on both sides, and Captain Vanderhoek was wounded in the right arm from an accidental shot from one of his own men. On September 6th, a second attack was made by a large force of Indians, which lasted nearly all day, in which we lost two men and had several wounded. No further attack was made until the 26th of September, when Captain Freeman's company was fired on while watering their horses in the river. These Indians were routed and pursued by Captain Freeman's company and a squad of the 3rd Regiment men with a howitzer. Their camp was captured, which contained quite an amount of plunder.

A light skirmish took place on the 29th of September, in which the enemy was routed. And this affair ended the siege of Fort Abercrombie. Camp Release Colonel Sibley's command made Camp Release on the 26th of September. This camp was in the near vicinity of a large Indian camp of about 150 lodges. These Indians were composed of Upper and Lower Sioux, and had generally been engaged in all the massacres that had taken place since the outbreak. They had with them some 250 prisoners, composed of women and children, whites and half-breeds. Only one white man was found in the camp, George Spencer, who had been desperately wounded at the lower agency and saved from death by an Indian friend of his. The desire of the troops to attack and punish these Indians was intense, but Colonel Sibley kept steadily in mind that the rescue of the prisoners was his first duty, and he well knew that any demonstration of violence would immediately result in the destruction of the captives.

He therefore wisely overruled all hostile inclinations. The result was a general surrender of the whole camp, together with all the prisoners. As soon as the safety of the captives was assured, inquiry was instituted as to the participation of these Indians in the massacres and outrages which had been so recently perpetrated. Many cases were soon developed of particular Indians who had been guilty of the grossest atrocities, and the commander decided to form a military tribunal to try the offenders.

34 34 - Trial of the Indians 9:36

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part I, by Charles E. Flandrow. Trial of the Indians.

The state has reason to congratulate itself on two things in this connection. First, that it had so wise and just a man as Colonel Sibley to select this important tribunal, and second, that he had at his command such admirable material from which to make his selection. It must be remembered that this court entered upon its duties with the lives of hundreds of men at its absolute disposal. Whether they were Indians or any other kind of people, the fact must not be overlooked that they were human beings, and the responsibility of the tribunal was correspondingly great. Colonel Sibley, at this date, sent me a dispatch, declaring his intention in the matter of the result of the trials. It is as follows.

Camp Release, 9 miles below Lacuparrel. September 25, 1862. Colonel. After speaking of a variety of matters concerning the disposition of troops who were in my command, the Battle of Wood Lake, which he characterized as a smart conflict we had with the Indians. The rescue of the prisoners and other matters, he adds, Enby. I am encamped near a camp of 150 lodges of friendly Indians and half-breeds, but have had to purge it of suspected characters. I have apprehended sixteen supposed to have been connected with the late outrages, and have appointed a military commission of five officers to try them. If found guilty, they will be forthwith executed, although it will perhaps be a stretch of my authority.

If so, necessity must be my justification. Yours, H. H. Sibley. On the 28th of September, an order was issued convening this court-martial. It was composed of William Crookes, Colonel of the 6th Regiment, President, William R. Marshall, Lieutenant Colonel of the 7th Regiment, Captains Grant and Bailey of the 6th, and Lieutenant Olin of the 3rd. Others were subsequently added as necessity required. All these men were of mature years, prominent in their social and general standing as citizens, and as well equipped as any persons could be to engage in such work. What I regard as the most important feature in the composition of this most extraordinary court is the fact that the Honorable Isaac V.

D. Hurd, an experienced lawyer of St. Paul, who had been for many years the prosecuting attorney of Ramsey County and who was thoroughly versed in criminal law, was on the staff of Colonel Sibley and was by him appointed recorder of the court. Mr. Hurd, Lieutenant Olin was judge advocate of this court, but as the trials progressed, the evidence was all put in and the records kept by Mr. Hurd. Some changes were made in the personnel of the court from time to time as the officers were needed elsewhere, but none of the changes lessened the dignity or character of the tribunal. I make these comments because the trials took place at a period of intense excitement, and persons unacquainted with the facts may be led to believe that the court was organized to convict, and was unfair in its decisions.

The court sat some time at Camp Release. Then at the lower agency and Mankato, where it investigated the question whether the Winnebagos had participated in the outbreak. But none of that tribe were implicated, which proves that the court acted judicially and not upon unreliable evidence, as the country was full of rumors and charges that the Winnebagos were implicated. The court terminated its sittings at Fort Snelling after a series of sessions lasting from September 30th to November 5th, 1862, during which 425 prisoners were arraigned and tried. Of these, 321 were found guilty of the offenses charged, of whom 303 were sentenced to death, and the rest to various terms of imprisonment according to the nature of their crimes.

The condemned prisoners were removed to Mankato, where they were confined to a large guardhouse, constructed of logs for the purpose, and were guarded by a strong force of soldiers. On the way down, as the party having charge of the prisoners passed through New Ulm, they found the inhabitants disinterring the dead, who had been hastily buried in the streets where they fell during the fights of that place. The sight of the Indians so enraged the people that a general attack was made on the wagons in which they were chained together. The attacking force was principally composed of women, armed with clubs, stones, knives, hot water, and similar weapons. Of course, the guard could not shoot or bayonet a woman, and they got the prisoners through the town with the loss of one killed and many battered and bruised.

While this court-martial was in session, the news of its proceedings reached the eastern cities, and a great outcry was raised that Minnesota was contemplating a dreadful massacre of Indians. Many influential bodies of well-intentioned but ill-informed people beseeched President Lincoln to put a stop to the proposed executions. The president sent for the records of the trials and turned them over to his legal and military advisors to decide which were the more flagrant cases. On the sixth day of December, 1862, the President made the following order. Executive Mansion, Washington, D.C., December 6, 1862. Brigadier General Henry H. Sibley, St. Paul, Minnesota. Ordered that of the Indians and half-breeds sentenced to be hanged by the Military Commission composed of Colonel Crookes, Lieutenant Colonel Marshall, Captain Grant, Captain Bailey, and Lieutenant Olin, and lately sitting in Minnesota, you caused to be executed on Friday, the 19th day of December, instant, the following named, to wit.

Here follow the names of 39 Indians and their numbers on the record of conviction. The other condemned prisoners you will hold, subject to further orders, taking care that they neither escape nor are subjected to any unlawful violence. Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. Colonel Sibley had been appointed by President Lincoln, a Brigadier General, on the 29th of September, 1862, on account of his success at the Battle of Woodlake, the announcement of his promotion being in a telegram as follows. Washington, D.C., September 29th, 1862. Major General Pope, St. Paul, Minnesota. Colonel Henry H. Sibley is made a Brigadier General for his judicious fight at Yellow Medicine. He should be kept in command of that column and every possible assistance sent to him.

H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief. His commission as Brigadier General was not issued until March 26, 1864, but of course this telegram amounted to an appointment to the position, and if accepted as it was, made him subject to the orders of the President. So, notwithstanding his dispatch to me stating that the Indians, if convicted, would be forthwith executed, he could not very well carry out such an extreme duty without first submitting it to the federal authorities, of which he had become a part. My view of the question has always been that when the court-martial was organized, Colonel Sibley had no idea that more than twenty or twenty-five of the Indians would be convicted, which is partly inferrable from his dispatch to me, in which he said he had Apprehended Sixteen, supposed to have been connected with the late outrages.

But when the matter assumed the proportions it did, and he found on his hands some three hundred men to kill, he was glad to shift the responsibility to higher authority. Any humane man would have been in the same mind. I have my own views, also, of the reasons of the general government in eliminating from the list of the condemned all but Thirty-Nine. It was not because these thirty-nine were more guilty than the rest, but because we were engaged in a great civil war, and the eyes of the world were upon us. Had these three hundred men been executed, the charge would have undoubtedly been made by the South that the North was murdering prisoners of war, and the authorities at Washington, knowing full well that the other nations were not capable of making the proper discrimination, and perhaps not anxious to do so if they were, deemed it safer not to incur the odium which might follow from such an accusation.

End of section 34 Recording by Jessica Louise, St. Paul, Minnesota.

35 35 - Execution of the Thirty-Eight Condemned Indians; The Campaign of 1863; Battle of Big Mound; Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake 11:51

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part One by Charles E. Flandreau. Section 35. Execution of the Thirty-eight Condemned Indians, The Campaign of 1863, Battle of Big Mound, Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake. Execution of the Thirty-eight Condemned Indians. The result of the matter was that the order of the president was obeyed, and on the 26th of December, 1862, Thirty-eight of the condemned Indians were executed by hanging at Mankato. one having been pardoned by the president. Contemporaneous history, or rather general public knowledge of what actually occurred, says that the pardoned Indian was hanged, and one of the others liberated by mistake. As an historian, I do not assert this to be true, but as a citizen, thoroughly well informed of current events at the time of this execution, I believe it to be a fact.

The hanging of the thirty-eight was done on one gallows, constructed in a square form, capable of sustaining ten men on each side. They were placed upon a platform facing inwards, and dropped all at once by the cutting of a rope. The execution was successful in all its details, and reflects credit on the ingenuity and engineering skill of Captain Burt of Stillwater, who was entrusted with the construction of the deadly machine. The rest of the condemned Indians were, after some time, taken down to Davenport in Iowa, and held in confinement until the excitement had generally subsided, when they were sent west of the Missouri and set free. An Indian never forgets what he regards as an injury, and never forgives an enemy.

It is my opinion that all the troubles that have taken place since the liberation of these Indians, with the tribes inhabiting the western plains and mountains, up to a recent date, have grown out of the evil counsels of these savages. The only proper course to have pursued with them, when it was decided not to hang them, was to have exiled them to some remote post, say, the Dry Tortugas, where communication with their people would have been impossible. set them to work on fortifications or other public works, and allowed them to pass out by life limitation. The execution of these Indians practically terminated the campaign for the year 1862, no other event worthy of detailed record having occurred.

But the Indian War was far from being over, and it was deemed prudent to keep within the state a sufficient force of troops to successfully resist all further attacks. and to inaugurate an aggressive campaign in the coming year. The whole of the 6th, 7th, and 10th regiments, the Mounted Rangers, some artillery organizations, scouts, and other troops were wintered in the state at various points along the more exposed frontier, and in 1863 a formidable expedition under command of General Sibley was sent from Minnesota to crush the enemy. which was to be aided and co-operated with by another expedition, under General Alfred Soule, of equal proportions, which was to start from Sioux City on the Missouri.

After the attack at Birch-Cooley and its relief, Little Crow, with a large part of his followers, branched off and went to the vicinity of Acton, and there attacked the command under Captain Richard Strout, where a severe battle was fought, in which several of Captain Strout's men were killed. On the 3rd of July, 1863, Crowe ventured down to the neighborhood of Hutchinson with his young son, probably to get something which he had hidden, or to steal horses. And while he was picking berries, a farmer named Lamson, who was in search of his cows, saw him and shot him dead. His scalp now decorates the walls of the Minnesota Historical Society. The Campaign of 1863 The remnant of Little Crow's followers were supposed to be rendezvoused at Devil's Lake in Dakota Territory, and reinforced by a large body of the Upper Sioux.

An expedition against them was devised by General Pope, to be commanded by General Sibley. It was to assemble at a point near the mouth of the Redwood River, some twenty-five miles above Fort Ridgely. On the 7th of June, 1863, General Sibley arrived at the point of departure, which was named Camp Pope, in honor of the commanding general. The force composing the expedition was as follows. One company of pioneers under Captain Chase. Ten companies of the 6th Regiment under Colonel Crookes. Eight companies of the 10th Regiment under Colonel Baker. Nine companies of the 7th, under Lieutenant Colonel Marshall. Eight pieces of artillery under Captain Jones. Nine companies of Minnesota Mounted Rangers under Colonel MacPhail.

Seventy-five Indian scouts under Major Brown, George MacLeod, and Major Dooley. In all, 3,052 infantry, 800 cavalry, and 148 artillerymen. The command, from the nature of the country it had to traverse, was compelled to depend upon its own supply train. which was composed of 225 six-mule wagons. The staff was complete, consisting of Adjutant General Olin, Brigade Commissary Forbes, Assistant Commissary in Ordnance Lieutenant's Officer Acheson, Commissary Clerk Spencer, Quartermaster Corning, Assistant Quartermaster Kimball, Aides DeCamp, Lieutenants Pope, Beaver, Hawthorne, and A. St. Clair Flandreau. Chaplain Rev. S. R. Riggs. The column moved from Camp Pope on June 16, 1863. The weather was intensely hot, and the country over which the army had to march was wild and uninhabited.

At first, the Indians retreated in the direction of the British line, but it was discovered that their course had been changed to the direction of the Missouri River. They had probably heard that General Sully had been delayed by low water, and hoped to be able to cross to the west bank of that stream before his arrival to intercept them, with the future hope that they would, no doubt, be reinforced by the Sioux inhabiting the country west of the Missouri. On the 4th of July, the expedition reached the Big Bend on the Cheyenne River. On the 17th of July, Colonel Sibley received reliable information that the main body of the Indians was moving toward the Missouri, which was on the 20th of July confirmed by a visit at Camp Atchison of about 300 Chippewa half-breeds, led by a Catholic priest named Father Andre.

On becoming satisfied that the best fruits of the march could be attained by bending toward the Missouri, The general decided to relieve his command of as much impedimenta as was consistent with comfort and safety, and would increase the rapidity of its movements. He therefore established a permanent post at Camp Edgison, about fifty miles south-easterly from Devil's Lake, where he left all the sick and disabled men, and a large portion of his ponderous train, with a sufficient guard to defend them if attacked. He then immediately started for the Missouri. With 1,436 infantry, 520 cavalry, 100 pioneers and artillerymen, and 25 days rations. On the 22nd, he crossed the James River, 48 miles west of Camp Acheson, and on the 24th reached the vicinity of Big Mound, beyond the second ridge of the Missouri Coteau.

Here the scouts reported large bodies of Indians, with red plume and standing buffalo among them. Battle of Big Mound. The general, expecting an attack on the 24th, corralled his train, and threw up some earthworks to enable a smaller force to defend it. The Indians soon appeared. Dr. Weiser, surgeon of the First Rangers, supposing he saw some old friends among them, approached too close and was instantly killed. Lieutenant Freeman, who had wandered some distance from camp, was also killed. The battle opened at 3 p.m., in the midst of a terrific thunderstorm, and after some sharp fighting, the Indians, numbering about 1,500, fled in the direction of their camp and were closely pursued. A general panic ensued.

The Indian camp was abandoned, and the whole throng, men, women, and children, fled before the advancing forces. Numerous charges were made upon them, amidst the roaring of the thunder and the flashing of the lightning. One private was killed by lightning, and Colonel MacPhail's saber was knocked out of his grasp by the same force. The Indians are reported to have lost in this fight eighty killed and wounded. They also lost nearly all their camp equipment. They were pursued about fifteen miles, and had it not been for a mistake in the delivery of an order by Lieutenant Beaver, they would undoubtedly have been overtaken and destroyed. The order was to bivouac where Knight caught the pursuing troops.

but was misunderstood to return. This unfortunate error gave the Indians two days' start, and they put a wide gap between themselves and the troops. The Battle of Big Mound, as this engagement was called, was a decided victory, and counted heavily in the scale of advantage, as it put the savages on the run and disabled them from prosecuting further hostilities. Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake On the twenty-sixth, the command again moved in the direction of the fleeing Indians. Their abandoned camp was passed on that day, early in the morning. About noon, large bodies of the enemy were discovered, and a brisk fight ensued. Attacks and counterattacks were made, and a determined fight kept up until about three p.m., when a bold dash was made by the Indians to stampede the animals which were herded on the bank of a lake.

But the attempt was promptly met and defeated. The Indians, foiled at all points, and having lost heavily in killed and wounded, retired from the field. At night, earthworks were thrown up to prevent a surprise, but none was attempted, and this ended the Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake. The general was now convinced that the Indians were going toward the Missouri, with the intention of putting the river between them and his command. And, expecting General Sully's force to be there to intercept them, he determined to push them on as rapidly as possible, inflicting all the damage he could in their flight. The campaign was well conceived, and had Sully arrived in time, the result would undoubtedly have been the complete destruction or capture of the Indians.

But low water delayed Sully to such an extent that he failed to arrive in time. And the enemy succeeded in crossing the river before General Sibley could overtake them.

36 36 - Battle of Stony Lake 4:55

By Charles E. Flandreau. Section 36. Battle of Stony Lake.

On the 28th of July, Indians were again seen in large numbers. They endeavoured to encircle the troops. They certainly presented a force of 2,000 fighting men, and must have been reinforced by friends from the west side of the Missouri. They were undoubtedly fighting to keep the soldiers back until their families could cross the river. The troops were well handled. A tremendous effort was made to break our lines, but the enemy was repulsed at all points. The artillery was effective, and the Indians finally fled in a panic en route toward the Missouri. They were hotly pursued, and, on the 29th, the troops crossed the Apple Creek. A small stream a few miles from the present site of Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota, and pushing on struck the Missouri at a point about four miles above the burnt boat island.

The Indians had succeeded in crossing the river with their families, but in a very demoralized condition as to supplies and camp equipage. They were plainly visible on the bluffs on the opposite side. It was here that Lieutenant Beaver lost his life while carrying an order. He missed the trail and was ambushed and killed. He was a young Englishman who had volunteered to accompany the expedition, and whom General Sibley had placed on his staff as an aide. Large quantities of wagons and other material, abandoned by the Indians in their haste to cross the river, were destroyed. The bodies of Lieutenant Beaver and a private of the 6th Regiment, who was killed in the same way, were recovered and buried.

It was clear that the Indians, on learning of the magnitude of the expedition, never contemplated overcoming it in battle, and made their movements with reference to delaying its progress, while they pushed their women and children toward and across the river, knowing there was no resting place for them on this side. They succeeded admirably, but their success was solely attributed to the failure of General Sully to arrive in time. General Sibley's part of the campaign was carried out to the letter, and every man in it, from the commander to the private, is entitled to the highest praise. On August 1st, the command broke camp for home. As was learned afterwards, General Sully was then distant down the river 160 miles.

His delay was no fault of his, as it was occasioned by insurmountable obstacles. The march home was a weary but uneventful one. The campaign of 1863 may be summed up as follows. The troops marched nearly 1,200 miles. They fought three well-contested battles. They drove from eight to ten thousand Indians out of the state and across the Missouri River. They lost only seven killed and three wounded, and inflicted upon the enemy so severe a loss that he never again returned to his old haunts. For his meritorious services, General Sibley was appointed a Major General by Brevet on November 29, 1865, which appointment was duly confirmed by the Senate. And he was commissioned on April 7, 1866. In July 1863, a regiment of cavalry was authorized by the Secretary of War to be raised by Major E.A.C.

Hatch for duty on the northern frontier. Several companies were recruited and marched to Pembina on the extreme northern border, where they performed valuable services and suffered incredible hardships. The regiment was called Hatch's Battalion.

37 37 - Campaign of 1864 11:03

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part I, by Charles E. Flandreau. Campaign of 1864 The government very wisely decided not to allow the Indian question to rest upon the results of the Campaign of 1863, which left the Indians in possession of the country west of the Missouri, rightly supposing that they might construe their escape from General Sibley the previous year into a victory. It therefore sent out another expedition in 1864. to pursue and attack them beyond the Missouri. The plan and outfit were very similar to those of 1863. General Sully was again to proceed up the Missouri with a large command, and meet a force sent out from Minnesota, which forces, when combined, were to march westward, and find and punish the savages if possible.

The expedition as a whole was under the command of General Sully. It consisted of two brigades, The first composed of Iowa and Kansas Infantry and Cavalry and Brackets Battalion, to the number of several thousand, which was to start from Sioux City and proceed up the Missouri in steamboats. The second embraced the 8th Regiment of Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Thomas, mounted on ponies. The 2nd Minnesota Cavalry, under Colonel McLaurin. The 3rd Minnesota Battery, under Captain Jones. The second brigade was commanded by Colonel Thomas. This brigade left Fort Snelling on June 1st and marched westward. General Sibley and staff accompanied it as far as Fort Ridgely. On the 9th of June, it passed Wood Lake, the scene of the fight, in 1862.

About this point, it overlooked a large train of emigrants on their way to Idaho, who had with them one hundred and sixty wagon-loads of supplies. This train was escorted to the Missouri River safely. The march was wearisome in the extreme, with intensely hot weather and very bad water, and was only enlivened by the appearance occasionally of a herd of buffalo, a band of antelope, or a straggling elk. The movements of the command were carefully watched by flying bands of Indians during its whole march. On July 1st, the Missouri was reached at a point where now stands Fort Rice. General Sully and the 1st Brigade had arrived there the day before. The crossing was made by the boats that brought up the 1st Brigade.

The column was immediately directed toward Cannonball River, where one thousand eight hundred lodges of Indians were reported to be camped. The Indians fled before the approaching troops. On the last of July, the Harter River was reached, where a camp was formed and the tents and teams left behind. Thus relieved, the command pressed forward for an Indian camp 80 miles northward. On the 2nd of August, the Indians were found in large numbers on the Big Knife River in the Badlands. These were the Unkapapa Sioux, who had murdered a party of miners from Idaho the year before, and had given aid and comfort to the Minnesota refugee Indians. They were attacked And a very spirited engagement ensued, in which the enemy was badly beaten and suffered severe losses.

The place where this battle was fought was called Takahokute, or the bluff where the man shot the deer. On the next day, August, third, the command moved west through the Badlands, and just as it emerged from this terribly ragged country, it was sharply attacked by a large body of Indians. The fight lasted through two days and nights, when the enemy retired in haste. They were very roughly handled in this engagement. General Sully then crossed to the west side of the Yellowstone River, where the weary soldiers found two steamboats awaiting them, with ample supplies. In crossing this rapid river, the command lost three men and about twenty horses. From this point they came home by way of forts Union, Berthold, and Stephenson.

Reaching Fort Rice on the 9th of September. On this trip, General Sully located Forts Rice, Stephenson, and Berthold. On reaching Fort Rice, considerable anxiety was felt for Colonel Fiske, who, with a squad of 50 troops, had left the fort as an escort for a train of Idaho immigrants, and had been attacked one hundred eighty miles west of the fort, and had been compelled to entrench. He had sent for reinforcements, and General Sully sent him three hundred men, who extricated him from his perilous position. The Minnesota Brigade returned home by way of Fort Wadsworth, where they arrived on September Twenty-Seventh. Here Major Rose, with six companies of the Second Cavalry, was left to garrison the post, the balance of the command reaching Fort Snelling on the Twelfth of October.

In June 1865, another expedition left Minnesota for the West, under Colonel Callahan of Wisconsin, which went as far as Devil's Lake. The first, second, and fourth sections of the Third Minnesota Battery accompanied it. Again, in 1866, an expedition started from Fort Abercrombie, which included the first section of the Third Battery under Lieutenant Whipple. As no important results followed from these two latter expeditions, I only mention them as being parts of the Indian War. The numbers of Indians engaged in this war, together with their superior fighting qualities, their armament, and the country occupied by them, gives it rank among the most important of the Indian Wars fought since the first settlement of the country on the Atlantic coast.

But when viewed in the light of the number of settlers massacred, The amount of property destroyed, and the horrible atrocities committed by the savages, it far surpasses them all. I have dwelt upon this war to such an extent because I regard it as the most important event in the history of our state, and desire to perpetuate the facts more especially connected with the gallant resistance offered by the settlers in its inception. Not an instance of timidity is recorded. The inhabitants engaged in the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, utterly unprepared for war, sprang to the front on the first indication of danger, and checked the advance of the savage enemy in his initial efforts. The importance of battles should never be measured by the number engaged, or the lists of killed and wounded, but by the consequences of their results.

I think the repulse of Indians at Fort Ridgely and New Ulm saved the state of Minnesota from a disaster the magnitude of which cannot be estimated. Their advance was checked at the very frontier, and they were compelled to retreat, thus affording time and opportunity for the whites to organize for systematic action, Had they not met with this early check, it is more than probable that the Chippewas on the upper Mississippi and the Winnebagoes in the lower Minnesota Valley would have joined them, and the war have been carried into the heart of the state. Instances of a similar character have occurred in our early wars, which illustrate my position. The Battle of Oriskany, which was fought in the Revolutionary War in the Valley of the Mohawk between Rome and Utica, was not more of an encounter than Ridgely or New Ulm.

Yet it has been characterized as one of the decisive battles of the world, because it prevented a junction of the British forces under St. Leger in the West and Burgoyne in the East, and made American independence possible. The state of New York recognized the value of Rischany just one hundred years after the battle was fought by the erection of a monument to commemorate it. The state of Minnesota has done better. by erecting imposing monuments on both the battlefields of Ridgely and New Ulm, the inscriptions on which give a succinct history of the respective events. The State also presented each of the defenders of Fort Ridgely with a handsome bronze medal, especially struck for the purpose, the presentation of which took place at the time of the dedication of the monument, on the 20th day of August, 1896.

The medal has a picture of the fort on its obverse side, surrounded by the words, Defender of Fort Ridgely, August 1827, 1862. Just over the flagstaff, in a scroll, is the legend, In Sioux, Tayo Panatekapi, which means, It shut the door against us, referring to the battle having obstructed the further advance of the Indians. This was said by one of the Indians in the attacking party in giving his view of the effect of the repulse, and adopted by the committee having charge of the preparation of the medal as being appropriate and true. On the reverse side are the words, presented by the State of Minnesota, too, and circled by a wreath of moccasin-flowers, which is the flower of the State. The State has also placed monuments at Birch-Cooley, Camp Release, and Acton.

I regret to be compelled to say that a majority of the committee having charged of the building of the Birch-Cooley Monument so far failed in the performance of their duties as to the location of the monument and formulating its inscriptions that the legislature felt compelled to pass an act to correct their errors. The correction has not yet been made, but in the cause of true history, it is to be hoped that it will be in the near future. The state also erected a handsome monument in the cemetery of Fort Ridgely to Captain Marsh and the twenty-three men of his company that were killed at the ferry near the Lower Sioux Agency on August Eighteenth, 1862, and by special act, passed long after at the request of old settlers, added the name of Peter Quinn, the interpreter who was killed at the same time and place.

The state also built a monument in the same cemetery in remembrance of the wife of Dr. Mueller, the post-surgeon at Ridgley, during the siege, on account of the valuable services rendered by her in nursing the wounded soldiers.

38 38 - A Long Period of Peace and Prosperity; Introduction of the New Process of Milling Wheat; The Discovery of Iron 13:10

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part I, by Charles E. Flandrow, Section 38. A long period of peace and prosperity. Introduction of the new process of milling wheat. The discovery of iron.

A long period of peace and prosperity. After the stirring events of the Civil and Indian Wars, Minnesota resumed its peaceful ways and continued to grow and prosper for a long series of years. Excepting the period from 1873 to 1876, when it was afflicted with the plague of grasshoppers. Possessed of the many advantages that nature has bestowed upon it, there was nothing else for it to do. The state, as far as it was then developed, was exclusively agricultural, and wheat was its staple production, although almost every character of grain and vegetable can be produced in exceptional abundance. Potatoes of the first quality were among its earliest exports, but that crop is not sufficiently valuable or portable to enter extensively into the catalog of its productions, beyond the needs of domestic use.

Introduction of the new process of milling wheat.

The wheat raised in Minnesota was, and always has been, of the spring variety, and up to about the year 1874 was regarded in the markets of the world as an inferior article of grain when compared with the winter wheat of states further south, and the flour made from it was also looked upon as much less valuable than its competitor made from winter wheat. The state labored under this disability in realizing upon its chief product for many years. Both in the wheat and the flour made from it. Many mills were erected at the Falls of St. Anthony, with a very great output of flour, which, with the lumber manufactured at that point, composed the chief export of the state. The process of grinding wheat was the old style, of an upper and nether millstone, which left the flour of darker color, less nutritious, and less desirable than that from the winter wheat made in the same way.

About the year 1871, it was discovered that a new process of manufacturing flour was in operation on the Danube and at Budapest. Mr. George H. Christian, a partner of Governor C.C. Washburn in the milling business at Minneapolis, studied the invention, which consisted of crushing wheat by means of rollers made of steel and porcelain instead of grinding it as of old, to which the French had added a new process of eliminating the bran specks from the crushed product by means of a flat, oscillating screen In 1871, General C.C. Washburn and Mr. Christian introduced The French people introduced this French invention to their mills in Minneapolis and derived from it great advantage in the appearance and value of their flour.

This was called a middling's purifier. In 1874, they introduced the roller-crushing process, and the result was that the hard spring wheat returned a flour superior to the product of the winter wheat and placed Minnesota upon more than an equality with the best flour-producing states in the Union. This process has been universally adopted throughout the United States in all milling localities with great advantage to that industry. It is a rather curious fact that, as all our milling knowledge was originally inherited from England, which country is very sluggish in the adoption of new methods, it was not until our improved flour reached that country that the English millers accepted the new method, and have since acted upon it.

It is a case of the pupil instructing his preceptor. I regard the introduction of these improvements in the manufacture of flour into this state as of prime importance to its growth and increase of wealth and strength. It is estimated by the best judges that the value of our spring wheat was increased at least 20% by their adoption, and when we consider that the state produced in 1898 78,418,000 bushels of wheat, its magnitude can be better appreciated. It formerly required five bushels of wheat to make a barrel of flour. Under the new process, it only takes four bushels and seven pounds to make a barrel of the same weight, 196 pounds. The only record that is kept of flour in Minnesota is for the two points of Minneapolis and the head of the lakes, the latter including Duluth and Superior in Wisconsin.

The output of Minneapolis for the crop year of 1898-99 was 15,164,881 barrels, and for the Duluth Superior for the same period, 2,637,035 barrels. The estimate for the whole state is 25 million barrels. These figures are taken from the Northwestern Miller, a reliable publication in Minneapolis. The credit of having introduced the Hungarian and French processes into Minnesota is due primarily to the late Governor C.C. Washburn of La Crosse, Wisconsin, who was greatly aided by his partner at the time, Mr. George H. Christian of Minneapolis. While I am convinced that the credit of first having introduced these valuable inventions into Minnesota belongs to Governor C.C. Washburn and his partner, Mr.

George H. Christian, I am in justice bound to add that Governor John S. Pillsbury and the late Mr. Charles A. Pillsbury, who were large and enterprising millers at Minneapolis, owning the Excelsior Mills, immediately after its introduction adopted the process and put it into their mills, and by employing American skilled artisans and millers to set up and operate their machinery, succeeded in securing the first absolutely perfect automatic mill of the new kind in the country. General Washburn, having imported Hungarian millers to start and operate his experimental mills, found himself somewhat handicapped by their inefficiency and sluggishness in adopting American ways and customs.

The Discovery of Iron From the earliest days of the territory, the people had predicted the growth of cities at several points. At St. Paul, because it was the head of navigation of the Mississippi River, At St. Anthony, on account of its great water power. At Superior, as being the head of navigation of the Great Lakes System. And at Mankato, from its location at the Great Bend of the Minnesota River. It must be remembered that when these prophecies were made, Minneapolis and Duluth had no existence. And Superior was the natural outlet of the St. Louis River into Lake Superior, and had its land titles not been so complicated when the railroad from St. Paul to the head of the lakes was projected, there is no doubt Superior would have been the terminus of the road.

But it was found to be almost impossible to procure title to any land in Superior, on account of its having been sold by the proprietors in undivided interests to parties all over the country. And it was situated in Wisconsin, so the railroad people procured the charter of the company to make its northern terminus on the Minnesota side of the harbor where Duluth now stands, and founded that town as the terminus of the road. Some years after Minnesota Point was cut by a canal at its base, or shore end, and the entrance to the harbor changed from its natural inlet, around the end of the point, to this canal. This improvement has proved to be of vast importance to the city of Toulouse and to the shipping interests of the state, as the natural entrance was difficult and dangerous.

Duluth increased in importance from year to year by reason of the natural advantages of its situation as the outlet of much of the exports of the state and the inlet of a large portion of its imports. As railroads progressed, it became connected with the wheat-producing areas of the state, which resulted in the erection of elevators for the shipment of wheat and mills to grind it. As nearly all the coal consumed in the state came In by the Gateway of Duluth, immense coal docks were constructed, with all the modern inventions for unloading it from ships and loading it on cars for distribution. Duluth soon attained metropolitan proportions. About the year 1870, Mr. George C. Stone became a resident of the city and engaged in business.

In 1873, Jay Cook who had been an important factor in the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad, failed, which was a serious blow to Duluth. Mr. Stone had given his attention largely to the investigation of the mineral resources of the Lake Superior region in Minnesota, and had become convinced of the presence of large beds of iron ore in its northeastern portion, now known as the Vermilion Range. When he first made known his discovery, the location of the ore was so remote from civilization that he found it difficult to interest anyone in his enterprise. Few shared his faith, but undismayed by lack of support, he undertook with steady persistence the task of securing the capital necessary to develop what he was convinced was a great, natural wealth-producing field.

Comparatively alone, and with little encouragement at home, he visited the money centers of the country and assiduously labored to induce men of capital to embark in the enterprise, but found it to be uphill work. The first men whose support he secured were Charlemagne Tower of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and Samuel A. Munson of Utica, New York, both men of education and great wealth. They became sufficiently interested to secure a proper test of the matter. Professor Chester of Hamilton College was sent out on two occasions. Mr. Munson died, and after the lapse of a few years, Charlemagne Tower, then a resident of Philadelphia, undertook to furnish the necessary funds to make the development, which involved the expense of $4 million in building a railroad 80 miles in length, with docks and other operating facilities.

The railroad was opened in July 1884, and there was shipped that season 62,124 tons of ore, and in 1885 the shipment reached 225,000 tons.

In 1886, 304,000 tons were shipped. In 1887, 394,000 tons.

In 1888, 512,000. The output of the iron mines at and about the head of the lakes had by 1898 grown to the enormous quantity of 5,871,801 tons. The grade of the ore is the highest in the market. This product is one of the most important in the state and seems destined to expand indefinitely. No better idea of the growth and importance of Duluth, and in the same connection the advance of the state since the war, can be presented than by a statement of a few aggregates of different industries centered at the head of the lakes. The most recent record obtainable is for the year 1898. For example, Lumber Cut. 544,318,000 feet.

Coal Received. Number of vessels arrived and cleared. Wheat received and flour as wheat. Other grain, 19,428,622 bushels. Flour manufactured, 2,000,000, 460,025 barrels. Capacity of elevators. 24,650,000 bushels. Capacity of flour mills per day. 22,000 barrels. Many other statistics could be given, but the above are sufficient to show the unexampled growth of the state in that vicinity.

End of Section 38. Recording by Jessica Louise, St. Paul, Minnesota.

39 39 - Commerce through the St. Mary's Falls Canal; Agriculture; Dairying; The University of Minnesota and Its School of Agriculture 11:05

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1, by Charles E. Flandreau. Section 39. Commerce through the St. Mary's Falls Canal. Agriculture. Dairying, the University of Minnesota and its School of Agriculture. Commerce through the St. Mary's Falls Canal. Another very interesting and instructing element in considering the growth of Minnesota is the commerce passing through the St. Mary's Canal, which connects Lake Superior with Lakes Huron and Michigan, the greater part of which is supplied by Minnesota. No record of the number of sailing vessels or steamers passing through the canal was kept until the year 1864. During that year, there were 1,045 sailing vessels and 366 steamers.

The last report for the year 1898 shows an increase of sailing vessels to 4,449 and of steamers to 12,461. The first record of the net tons of freight passing the canal was opened in 1881, which showed an aggregate of 1,567,741 net tons of all kinds of freight. In 1898, it had grown to the enormous sum of 21,234,664 tons. These figures Like distances in astronomical calculations, require a special mental effort to fully comprehend them. An incident occurred in September 1899 in connection with this canal traffic that assists in understanding its immense proportions. By accident, to a steamer, the channel of the river was blocked for a short time until she could be removed, during which time a procession of waiting steamers was formed 40 miles in length.

I have been unable to obtain any reliable figures with which to present a contrast between the commerce of this canal and that of the Suez, connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, but it is generally estimated that the St. Mary's largely exceeds the Suez, although the commerce of the world with the Orient and Australia largely passes through the latter.

Agriculture. In the early days of Minnesota, its agricultural population was largely centered in the southeastern portion of the state. The soil was exceptionally fertile, and produced wheat in unusual abundance. The western farmer of early days was a careless cultivator, thinking more of the immediate results than permanent preservation of his land. Even if he was of the conservative old New England stock, the generous soil of the West, the freedom from social restraint, and the lessened labors of the farm led him into more happy-go-lucky methods than he had been accustomed to in the East. It was Mark Twain who once said that if you plant a New England deacon in Texas, you will find him in about a year with a game chicken under his arm, riding a mule on Sunday to a cockfight.

When farms were opened in the southeastern counties of Minnesota, it was not an unusual thing to be rewarded with a crop of from 30 to 40 bushels of wheat to the acre. The process of cultivation was simple and required scarcely any capital, so it was natural that the first comers should confine their efforts to the one product of wheat. They did so regardless of the fact that the best soil will become exhausted unless reinforced. They became accustomed to think that land could always be had for the taking, and in 20 or 25 years, the goose that laid the golden eggs died, and six or eight bushels was all they could extract from their lands. About 1877 or 1878, they practically abandoned the culture of wheat and tried corn and hogs.

This was an improvement, but not a great success. Many of the farmers of the pioneering and roving class sold out and went west for fresh lands.

Dairying. About this time, the dairy business had become quite profitable in Iowa, and the Minnesota farmers turned their attention to that branch of industry. Their lands were excellent for pasturing purposes and hay raising. They began in a small way with cows and butter making, but from lack of experience and knowledge of the business, their progress was slow. But it improved from year to year, and now, in the year 1899, it has become one of the most important, successful, and profitable industries in the state, and the farmers of southern Minnesota constitute the most independent and well-to-do class of all our citizens. It was not very long ago when a mortgage was an essential feature of a Minnesota farm, but they have nearly all been paid off, and the farmer of southern Minnesota is found in the ranks of the stockholders and depositors of the banks, and if he has anything to do with mortgages, he is found on the winning side of that dangerous instrument.

A brief statement of the facts connected with the dairy business will demonstrate its magnitude. There are, in the state, creameries about 700. Creamery patrons, $55,000. Capital invested, $3 million. Cows supplying milk, $410,000. Pounds of milk received in 1898, $1,400,000. Pounds of butter exported, $63 million. Pounds of butter made, 1898, $50 million. Gross receipts, 1898. Ten million four hundred thousand. Operating expenses, eighteen ninety eight. One million one hundred thousand. Paid to patrons, eight million six hundred thousand. Since 1884, Minnesota butter has been exhibited, in competition with similar products from all the states in the Union and the butter-making countries of the world, at all the principal fairs and expositions that have been held in the United States, and has taken more prizes than any other state or country.

Its cheese has kept pace with its butter. There are in this state, in active operation, 94 cheese factories. This industry is constantly on the increase, and Minnesota is certainly destined to surpass every other state in the Union in this Department of Agriculture. While this new and valuable branch of industry was gradually superseding that of wheat in southern Minnesota, the latter was not being extinguished by any means, but simply changing its habitat. About the time that wheat culture became unprofitable in southern Minnesota, the Valley of the Red River of the North began to attract attention, and it was at once discovered that it was the garden of the world for wheat culture. An intelligent and experienced farmer, Mr.

Oliver Dalrymple, may be said to have been the pioneer of that enterprise. Lands in the valley were cheap, and he succeeded in gaining control of immense tracts and unlimited capital for their development. He opened these lands up to wheat culture and gave to the world a new feature in agriculture, which acquired the name of the Bonanza Farm. Some of these farms embraced 60 and 70,000 acres of land and were divided by roads on the section lines. They were supplied with all the buildings necessary for the accommodation of the army of superintendents and employees that operated them. Also, granaries and buildings for housing machinery, slaughterhouses to provision the operatives, Telephone systems to facilitate communication between distant points, and every other auxiliary to perfect an economic management.

These great farms, of course, produced wheat at much lower rates than could the lesser ones, but did not materially interfere with wheat production by the smaller farmers, as the output of 1898 of nearly 79 million bushels sufficiently proves. There seems to be no need of apprehension about the lands of the Red River Valley becoming exhausted, as they appear to be as enduring as those in the Valley of the Nile.

The University of Minnesota and its School of Agriculture. The University of Minnesota, for the establishment of which the United States donated to the state nearly 100,000 acres of land, and the Agricultural College, which was similarly endowed, have been consolidated, and both have long been in successful operation. The university proper opened its doors for the admission of students about the year 1869 and has since attained such proportions as to entitle it to a place among the leading educational institutions of the United States, its role of students for the last college year numbering over 3,000. Its curriculum embraces all studies generally taught in the colleges of this country, professional and otherwise.

The state of efficiency and high standing in the University of Minnesota is largely attributable to the work of its president, Honorable Cyrus Northrup, a graduate of Yale, who had attained eminence in the educational world before being called to the university. The School of Agriculture is of the highest importance to the welfare of the state. The influence of which will soon remove its chief industry from dependence on the crude methods of the uneducated Western farmer and place it upon a basis of scientific operation and management. Every branch of the art of farming is taught in this institution, from a knowledge of the chemical properties of the soil and its adaptation to the different vegetable growths, to the scientific breeding and economical feeding of stock.

Much of the success in the dairy branch of farming is the direct result of knowledge gained at this school. It is well patronized by the young men of the state who intend to devote themselves to agriculture as a profession. Quite recently, a new department has been added to the institution for the instruction of women in all that pertains to the proper education of the mistress of the farm. It goes without saying that when Minnesota farming is brought under the management and control of men and women of scientific and practical education in that particular line, there will be a revolution for the better. The methods of instruction in this school are not merely theoretical. It possesses three experimental farms for the practical illustration and application of its teachings, the principal, one of which is situated at St.

Anthony Park, and the other two respectively at Crookston and Grand Rapids. Work is also done in an experimental way in Lyon County, but the state does not own this station. End of Section 39 Recording by Jessica Louise, St. Paul, Minnesota.

40 40 - The Minnesota State Agricultural Society; The Minnesota Soldiers' Home; Other State Institutions; Minnesota Institute for Defectives; State School for Dependent and Neglected Children 13:01

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1, by Charles E. Flandrau. Section 40. The Minnesota State Agricultural Society. The Minnesota Soldiers' Home. Other state institutions. Minnesota Institute for Defectives. State School for Dependent and Neglected Children. The Minnesota State Agricultural Society. This society dates its corporate existence from the year 1868, although for many years previous to that date, even back to the territorial days, a society had been in existence covering the main features of this organization. In 1867, the state recognized this society by appropriating $1,000 for its encouragement. Its object was the promotion of agriculture, horticulture, and the mechanic arts.

The Society held annual fairs in different localities in the state with varying success until 1885 when the county of Ramsey offered to convey to the state of Minnesota, forever, 200 acres of land adjoining the city limits of St. Paul for the purpose of holding annual exhibitions thereon under the management of the Society of all matters pertaining to agriculture, human art, industry, or skill. The state met this munificent donation with the same liberal spirit that characterized the offer, and appropriated $100,000 for permanent improvements. The Board of Managers proceeded immediately to erect the necessary buildings for the first exhibition, but found the appropriation inadequate by about $32,000, which was readily supplied by public-spirited citizens of St.

Paul and Minneapolis. The state, being again appealed to in 1887, made a further appropriation of $50,000. In 1887, the society was reorganized by act of the legislature, and its membership designated and made to consist of the following persons. First, three delegates from each of the county and district agricultural societies. Second, Honorary life members, prominent by reason of eminent services in agriculture or in the arts and sciences connected therewith, or of long and faithful services in the society, or of benefits conferred upon it. Third. The President's Ex Officio of the Horticultural Society, the Amber Cane Society, the State Dairymen's Association, the Southern Minnesota Fair Association, the State Poultry Association, the State Beekeepers Association, and the President and Secretary of the Farmers' Alliance.

Fourth, the President of any society having for its object the promotion of any branch of agriculture, stock raising or improving, or mechanics relating to agriculture. By the selection of membership, it will be seen that the society is composed of the leading agriculturalists of the state. It holds annual meetings in St. Paul for the transaction of its business. The state appropriates $4,000 annually to aid in the payment of premiums to exhibitors.

The society is in a prosperous condition and holds annual fairs in the month of September on its grounds, which have been extensively improved. Each year there is a marked increase in the magnitude and variety of exhibits, an extended interest and attendance. Its financial statement for the year 1898 was, $62,523.70. $56,850.83. It has just closed its fair for the year 1899, which in extent and perfection of its exhibits and financial results surpassed any of its previous attempts. There are in the state the following named societies, all more or less connected with agriculture, and all in flourishing condition. The State Horticultural Society, the State Forestry Association, the Dairymen's Association, the State Butter and Cheese Makers Association, the State Farmers Institute, the State Poultry Association, the State Beekeepers Association, and perhaps others.

These associations have done much in the promotion of the agricultural interests of the state, and by their intelligent guidance will no doubt soon make it the leading agricultural state in the Union. The Minnesota Soldiers' Home. In the year 1887, it became apparent that the Civil War and the Minnesota Indian War had left a large number of soldiers of the state in dependent circumstances from old age, wounds, and other disabling causes. The state, recognizing its obligation to these men, determined to provide a home for their comfort and maintenance. By an act of the legislature passed March 2nd of that year, provision was made for the purchase of a site and the erection of suitable buildings for that purpose.

The act provided for bids for the purpose of a site, and also authorized the acceptance of donations for that purpose. Minneapolis responded handsomely by offering 51 acres of its beautiful Minnehaha Park as a donation. It was accepted, and is one of the most beautiful and picturesque locations that could have been found in the state, being near the Mississippi River and the Falls of Minnehaha. The beginning of the home was small, one old house being used for the first six months, and then, from year to year, handsome and commodious brick houses were erected, until the home became adequate to accommodate all those who were entitled to its hospitality. The conditions of admission are residents in Minnesota, Service in the Mexican War or in some Minnesota organization in the Civil or Indian Wars.

Honorable discharge and indigent circumstances. As there are no accommodations for the wives and families of the old soldiers and sailors at the home, provision is made for relief being furnished to married soldiers at their own homes, so as to prevent the separation of families. There were in the home, at the date of the last report, August 3, 1899, 362 beneficiaries. The home is conducted by a board of trustees consisting of seven members whose election is so arranged that they serve for six years. This beneficent establishment is to be commended as an evidence of the generosity and patriotism of the state.

Other State Institutions I have been somewhat explicit in mentioning the institutions of the state which are connected with its prominent and permanent industry, agriculture. But it must not be supposed that it is not provided for many other interests that require regulation and control to constitute a perfectly organized state government. There are, besides those I have mentioned, four normal schools, located at Winona, Mankato, St. Cloud, and Moorhead, All devoted to the education of teachers, state high and graded schools scattered all over the state, a state board of corrections and charities, and state hospitals for the insane, of which there are three, located as follows, one at St. Peter, one at Rochester, and one at Fergus Falls, and a fourth in contemplation.

According to the latest report, these hospitals contained 3,302 patients as follows, St. Peter, 1,045, Rochester, 1,196, and Fergus Falls, 1,061. For a small new state, this showing would seem alarming and indicate that a very large percentage of the population was insane and that the rest were preparing to become so. The truth is that a case of insanity originating in Minnesota is quite as exceptional and rare as other diseases and can usually be accounted for by some self-abuse of the patient. The population is drawn from such diverse sources, and the intermarriages are crossed upon so many different nationalities that hereditary insanity ought to be almost unknown. The climate and the general pursuits of the people all militate against the prevalence of the malady.

The explanation of the existence of the numerous cases is, as I am informed by the very highest authority on the subject, That in nearly all European countries, it has become the habit of families afflicted with insanity to export their unfortunates to America as soon as any symptoms appear, and thus provide for them for the rest of their lives. I cannot say that the governments whence these people emigrate participate in the fraud, but it is not reasonable to suppose that they would interpose any serious objections even should they have knowledge of the fact that the nationalities of the patients found in these hospitals with the American element, given by the census of the state, proves my statement, and an inquiry of the medical authorities of these institutions will place the question beyond any doubt.

Minnesota Institutes for Defectives. There are also state schools for the deaf, dumb, blind, and the feeble-minded. These institutions are all located at Faribault in Rice County, and each has a very handsome, commodious, and in every way suitable building, where these unfortunates are instructed in every branch of learning and industry of which they are capable. During the last two years, there have been enrolled 275 deaf and dumb children in the school especially devoted to them, where they receive the best education that science and experience can provide. The school has already been instrumental in preparing hundreds of deaf and mute youth to be useful and intelligent citizens of the state, and year by year a few are graduated, well prepared to take their places beside the hearing and speaking youth who leave the public schools.

About one-third of the time is devoted to manual training. The School for the Blind is entirely separate from that of the Deaf and Dumb, and is equipped with all the appliances of a modern special school of this character. It makes a specialty of musical instruction and industrial training, such as broom-making, hammock weaving, beadwork, and sewing. The course of study embraces a period of seven years, beginning with the kindergarten and ending with the ordinary studies of English classes in the high schools. The school is free to all blind children in the state between the ages of 8 and 26, to whom board care and tuition are furnished. The average number of pupils at this school for the past few years is between 70 and 100.

There is also a State School for Dependent and Neglected Children. This school is located in Owatonna in Steele County, and is one of the most valuable of all the many establishments which the state has provided for the encouragement of good citizenship. There are 11 buildings, which comprise all the agencies that tend to make abandoned children useful citizens and rescue them from a life of vagrancy and crime. The object of this institution is to provide a temporary home and school for the dependent and neglected children of the state. No child in Minnesota need go without a home if the officers of the several counties do their duty. There is not a semblance of any degrading or criminal feature in the manner of obtaining admittance to this school.

Under the law, it is the duty of every county commissioner, when he finds any child dependent or in danger of becoming so, to take steps to send him to this school. The process of admission wisely guards against the separation of parent and child, but keeps in view the ultimate good of the latter. Once admitted, it becomes the child of the state, all other authority over it being canceled. Every child, old enough to work, has some fitting task assigned to it, to the end of training it mentally, morally, and physically for useful citizenship. They are sent from the school into families wanting them, But this does not deprive them of the watchful care of the state, which through its agents visits them in their adopted homes and sees that they are well cared for.

On January 1, 1899, there had been received into the school from 72 counties 1,824 children, of whom 1,131 were boys and 693 were girls. Of these, 233 were then in the school, the others having been placed in good homes. It is known that 83% of these children develop into young men and women of good character.

41 41 - The Minnesota State Training School; Minnesota State Reformatory; The Minnesota State Prison; The Minnesota Historical Society; State Institutions Miscellaneous in their Character; State Finances 12:33

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part I, by Charles E. Section 41. The Minnesota State Training School. This institution was formerly the Minnesota State Reform School, and was located in St. Paul. In 1895, the legislature changed its name to the Minnesota State Training School for Boys and Girls, and its location has been changed to Red Wing, in the county of Goodhue. This institution has to do with criminals, and the statute provides that whenever an infant over the age of eight years and under the age of sixteen years shall have been duly convicted of any crime punishable with imprisonment, except the crime of murder, or shall be convicted of vagrancy or of incorrigibly vicious conduct, the sentence shall be to the guardianship of the board of managers of this school.

Here they are given a good common school education and instructed in the trades of cabinet-making, carpenter-work, tailoring, shoemaking, blacksmithing, printing, farming, gardening, etc. The inmates are furloughed under proper conditions, but the state watches over them through an agent, who provides homes for the homeless and employment for those who need help. Minnesota State Reformatory. This institution was established in 1887 and is located at St. Cloud. It is designed as an intermediate correctional school between the training school and the state prison, the object being to provide a place for young men and boys from 16 to 30 years of age, never before convicted of a crime, where they may, under as favorable circumstances as possible, By discipline and education best adapted to that end, form such habits and character as will prevent their continuing in crime, fit them for self-support, and accomplish their reformation.

The law provides for an indeterminate sentence, allowing of parole when earned by continuous good conduct, and final release when reformation is strongly probable. Honest labor is required every day of each inmate, Almost every occupation and employment is carried on in a practical way, and each inmate is learning to fill some honest place and to do useful work. The workings of this performatory have been very satisfactory, and have undoubtedly rescued many young people from a life of crime.

The Minnesota State Prison. All prisons where criminals are sent to work out sentences for crimes committed are alike on general principles, and the Minnesota Prison, situated at Stillwater, differs only in the fact that it combines in its administration all the modern discoveries of sociological research which tend to ameliorate the condition of the prisoner and fit him for the duties of good citizenship when discharged. The plant is extensive and thorough. The labor of the prisoners is now devoted to three industries. The manufacture of binding twine, high school scientific apparatus on state account, and the manufacture of boots and shoes. The discipline and management of the prison are the best.

The most advanced principles of penology are in force. Sentences are reduced by good conduct, and everything is done to reform, as well as punish, the prisoner. A newspaper is published by the convicts, and a library of five thousand volumes is furnished for their mental improvement. Nothing known to modern social and penal science is omitted from the management. The Minnesota Historical Society. This society, as I have said before in speaking of the work of the first territorial legislature, was organized by that body in 1849, and has been of incalculable value to the state. The officers of the Society are a president, two vice-presidents, a treasurer, and a secretary, and it is governed by an executive council of 36 members, which embraces governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary, auditor, treasurer of state, and attorney general as ex-officio members.

The state makes an annual appropriation in aid of the Society. The executive council meets once a month for the transaction of its business. At which meetings, and at its annual meetings, interesting papers and essays are delivered on historical subjects, which are preserved, and with other matter, are published in handsomely-bound volumes when sufficient material is accumulated. The Society, in the manner prescribed in its by-laws, may establish the following separate departments. Department of Annals and General History of Minnesota, Department of Geology of Minnesota, Department of Zoology of Minnesota, Department of Botany of Minnesota, Department of Meteorology of Minnesota, Department of Northwestern Geography and Chartology, Department of American History, Department of Oriental History, Department of European History, Department of Genealogy and Heraldry, Department of Ethnology and Anthropology.

It has corresponding members all over the world, and official connections with nearly all the historical and learned societies of Europe and America, with which it interchanges publications. It has a membership of one hundred forty-two life and thirty-seven annual members. It may receive donations from any source. Its property, real and personal, is exempt from taxation of any kind. It has accumulated a splendid library of about sixty-three thousand volumes of all kinds of historical, genealogical, scientific, and general knowledge, all of which are open and free to the public. It also has a gallery of pictures of historical scenes in Minnesota, and portraits of men and women who have been prominent in, or who have contributed to, the history or growth of the state, Together with an extensive Museum of Indian and other curiosities having some relation to Minnesota.

One of its most valuable attractions is a newspaper department, in which are complete files of all newspapers which have been and are published in the state, except a very few unimportant ones. The number of our state papers, daily, weekly, and monthly, received at the beginning of the year, 1899, is 421. These papers are all bound in substantial volumes for preservation for the use of future generations. On September 1, 1899, the Society had on the shelves of its fireproof vault 4,250 of these volumes. Its rooms are in the Capitol at St. Paul and are entirely inadequate for its accommodation, but ample space has been allowed it in the new Capitol. Now in the course of construction. State Institutions Miscellaneous in Their Character Besides the general state boards and associations having special reference to the leading products of the state, and those of a reformatory and educational character, there are many other regulating businesses of various kinds among the inhabitants, all of which are important in their special spheres.

But to name them is all I can say about them in my limited space. Their number, and the subjects which they regulate, shows the care with which the state watches over the welfare of its citizens. I present the following catalog of the State Departments. The Insurance Commission, the Public Examiner, the Dairy Food Commission, the Bureau of Labor, the Board of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners, The Board of Game and Fish Commissioners. The State Law Library. The State Department of Oil Inspection. The State Horticultural Society. The State Forestry Association. The Minnesota Dairymen's Association. The State Butter and Cheesemakers Association. The State Farmers Institutes. The Red River Valley Drainage Commission.

The State Drainage Commission. The Commission of Statistics. The State Board of Health and Vital Statistics. The State Board of Medical Examiners. The State Board of Pharmacy. The State Board of Dental Examiners. The State Board of Examiners in Law. The Bureau of Public Printing. The Minnesota Society for the Prevention of Cruelty. The Geological and Natural History Survey. The State Board of Equalization. Surveyors of Logs and Lumber. The Board of Pardons. The State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation. The State Board of Investment. The State Board of Examiners of Barbers. The State Board of Examiners of Practical Plumbing. The Horseshoers Board of Examiners. The Inspection of Steam Boilers.

It is difficult to conceive of any other subject over which the State could assume jurisdiction, and the great number which are embraced already within its supervision Would lead one who is not in touch with our State administration to believe that State paternalism dominated the business industries of the people. But nothing is further from the truth, and no State in the Union is freer from governmental interference in the ordinary channels of industry than Minnesota.

State Finances Since the settlement of the debt created by the old railroad bonds that I have heretofore mentioned, The finances of the state have always been in excellent condition. When the receipts of an individual or a state exceed expenditures, the situation is both satisfactory and safe. At the last report, up to July 31, 1898, the receipts of the state from all sources were $5,429,240.32, and the expenditures were $5,208,942.05, leaving a balance on the right side of the ledger of $220,298.27. To the receipts must be added the balance in the Treasury at the beginning of the year of $2,054,314.26, which left in the Treasury on July 31, 1898, The large sum of $2,184,612.53. The original indebtedness arising from the adjustment of the State Railroad bonds was $1,659,000.

Other bonds, $300,000. This indebtedness has been reduced by payments to the sum of $1,475,647, and twenty-two cents, on July 31, 1898, the date of the last report. If this debt had matured, it could at once be paid by the funds on hand, leaving the state entirely free from all indebtedness. The taxable property of the state by last assessment in 1897, including real and personal property, was $570,598,800, End of section. Section 41.

42 42 - The Monetary and Business Flurry of 1873 and Panic of 1893; Minor Happenings 15:40

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1, by Charles E. Flandreau. Section 42, The Monetary and Business Flurry of 1873 and Panic of 1893, Minor Happenings. The Monetary and Business Flurry of 1873 and Panic of 1893. It has been customary in the United States to expect a disturbance in monetary and business affairs about once in every 20 years, and the expectation has not been disappointed since the Panic of 1837. I have described the effect of the Panic of 1857 on the territory and state of Minnesota and the difficulties of recuperating from the shock. The next similar event was not due until 1877, but there was always some special disaster to precipitate such occurrences. In 1857, it was the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company, and in 1873, it was the failure of J.

Cook & Company of Philadelphia. This house had been very prominent in placing the bonds of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and in the construction of the road, and was relied upon by many classes of people to invest their money for them. And when their failure was announced, its effect in the East was disastrous. But here in Minnesota, it only affected us in a secondary or indirect way, in stopping railroad building and creating general alarm in business circles. We had been diligently at work for 16 years, endeavoring to recuperate from the disaster of 1857, and had to a great extent succeeded. Real estate had partially revived, but had not reached the boom feature, and the state was on a sound financial basis.

Fortunately, we had not recovered sufficiently to become investors in railroad securities to any great extent, and land speculation had not reached its usual 20 years mark. We had also on hand a local affliction in the presence of grasshoppers, so that, although it disturbed business generally, it did not succeed in producing bankruptcy, and we soon shook it off. This periodical financial disturbance has been attributed to various causes. From the regularity of its appearance, it must be the result of some impelling force of a generally similar character. My opinion is that the period of twenty years being the average time of man's active business life, the actors of the second period have not the benefit of the experience gained by those of the previous one, and they repeat the same errors that produced the former disasters.

But be that as it may, when the period extending from 1873 to 1893 had passed, the same result had occurred, and with quite as much force as any of its predecessors. Land speculation. The situation had reached the point of absolute insanity. Everybody thought he could become rich if he only bought. Values, already ridiculously expanded, continued to increase with every sale. Anyone who had money enough to pay down a small amount as earnest and intelligence enough to sign a note and mortgage for the balance of the purchase price became purchasers to the limit of their credit. When a party whose credit was questioned needed an endorser, he found many requiring the same assistance who were ready to swap endorsements with him.

Everyone became deeply in debt. The country was flooded with paper, which was secured on the impossibility of values continuing. The banks became loaded with alleged securities, and when the bubble was strained to the bursting point and someone of supposed financial soundness was compelled to succumb to the pressure, the veil was lifted, which opened the eyes of the community and produced a rush for safety, which induced And was necessarily followed by a general collapse. In 1888 and 1889, banks suspended, money disappeared, and in 1893, in the expressive language of the West, everybody who was in debt and all stockholders and depositors in defunct banks went broke. Had the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis been captured by an enemy and a ransom of $10 million been demanded from each, paid and carried away, the consequences upon business would not have been worse.

It was much the same in all the large cities of the state, as land speculation was more active there than in the rural districts. And no matter what may happen, some value always remains to farmlands, while under such a collapse as that of 1893, the greater part of city property becomes utterly valueless for the present, and much of it forever. There was, however, a great difference between the consequences of 1893 and the previous disasters of 1857 and 1873. Although the disturbance was great, we were better prepared to meet it. Population had increased immensely. The area of civilization and production had kept pace with immigration. Manufacturers of many kinds had been introduced, and although we were seriously wounded, our hopes of recovery had solid grounds to rest upon, and we were not dismayed.

The only remedy in such cases, industry and economy, was applied, through necessity if not from choice, and recovery has been slowly progressing up to the present time, 1900, when we may be classed as convalescent. Will this experience serve to prevent a recurrence of the follies of the past? Most assuredly, not. Those who have reaped wisdom will have surrendered the speculative arena to others before the financial cycle rolls around, and history will repeat itself, notwithstanding the state never had a better future outlook than at present. It does not follow that the panic due about 1913 will be caused by over-speculation in real estate. It is more likely to be produced by the excessive and fraudulent capitalization of all sorts of corporations called trusts, which will, of course, succumb to the first serious blow.

With the exception of the events I have narrated, including the financial troubles of 1873 and 1893, nothing of special importance to the state has happened, except a few occurrences of minor moment. Minor Happenings. September 5, 1878, President Hayes made a short visit to the state and delivered an address at the State Agricultural Fair. On the 7th of September, 1876, an organized gang of bandits, which had been terrorizing the state of Missouri and surrounding states with impunity, entered this state and attacked a bank in the town of Northfield in Rice County with the intent of looting it. The cashier, Mr. Haywood, resisted, and they shot him dead. The people of the town, hearing of the raid, Turned out and opened fire on the robbers, who fled, with the loss of one killed.

In their flight, they killed a Swede before they got out of the town. The people of the counties through which their flight led them turned out, and before any of them passed the border of the state, two more of them were killed and three captured. Two escaped. The captured were three brothers named Younger, and those who escaped were supposed to be the notorious James brothers of Missouri. The three Younger brothers pleaded guilty to a charge of murder, and on account of a peculiarity in the law that only allowed the death sentence to be imposed by a jury, they were all sentenced to imprisonment for life. One of them has since died, and the other two remain in prison. The manner in which this raid was handled by our citizens was of immense value to the state, as it proved a warning to all such desperados that Minnesota was a bad field for their operations, and we have had no more trouble from that class of offenders.

In 1877, the Constitution was amended by providing for biennial, instead of annual, sessions of the legislature. On May 2nd, 1878, a very singular and disastrous event took place at Minneapolis. Three large flouring mills were blown up by a dust explosion, and 18 men killed. It was inexplicable for a time, but it was afterwards discovered that such explosions had occurred before, and prompt measures were taken to prevent a repetition of the trouble. On the 15th day of November, 1880, a portion of the large insane asylum at St. Peter was destroyed by fire, and 18 of the inmates were burned, others dying of injuries received. The pecuniary loss amounted to $150,000. On the first day of March, 1881, the old Capitol burned while the legislature was in session.

That body moved their sittings to the St. Paul Market House, which had just been finished, where they remained until the present Capitol Building was erected upon the site of the one destroyed. On the 25th day of January, 1884, the State Prison at Stillwater was partially burned. On the 14th day of September, 1886, St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids were struck by a cyclone. Scores of buildings were destroyed, and about 70 of the inhabitants killed. In the year 1889, the Australian system of voting at elections was introduced in cities of 10,000 inhabitants and over, and in 1892, the system was made general throughout the state. On the 7th day of April, 1893, the Legislature passed an act for the building of a new state capitol in the city of St.

Paul and appointed commissioners to carry out the object. They selected an eligible and conspicuous site between University Avenue, Cedar, and Wabasha Streets, near the head of Wabasha. They adopted for the materials which were to enter into it, granite for the lower, and Georgia white marble for the upper stories. The whole cost was not to exceed $2 million. The cornerstone of the building was laid on the 27th day of July, 1898, with appropriate and very imposing ceremonies in the presence of an immense throng of citizens from all parts of the state. Senator Davis delivered the oration, and ex-Governor Alexander Ramsey laid the cornerstone. The building has reached the base of the dome and will be a very beautiful and serviceable structure.

On September 1, 1894, there was a most extensive and disastrous fire in Pine County. 400 square miles of territory were burned over by a forest fire. The towns of Hinkley and Sandstone were totally destroyed, and 400 people burned. The money loss was estimated at $1 million.

This disaster was exactly what was needed to awaken the people of the state to the necessity of providing means for the prevention of forest and prairie fires and the preservation of our forests. Shortly after the Hinkley Fire, a state convention was held at the Commercial Club in St. Paul to devise legislation to accomplish this desirable end, which resulted in the passage of an act at the session of the legislature in 1895 entitled, An Act for the Preservation of Forests of This State and for the Prevention and Suppression of Forest and Prairie Fires. Under this act, The State Auditor was made the Forest Commissioner of the State, with authority to appoint a Chief Fire Warden. The supervisors of towns, mayors of cities, and presidents of village councils are made Fire Wardens of their respective local jurisdictions, and the machinery for the prevention of fires is put in motion that is of immense value to the State.

The Forest Commissioner appointed General C.C. Andrews Chief Fire Warden one of the best equipped men in the state for the position, and no serious trouble has since occurred in the way of fires. On the ninth day of February, 1887, the Minnesota Historical Society passed a resolution declaring that the pretenses made by Captain Willard Glaser to having been the discoverer of the source of the Mississippi River were false, and very little has been heard from him since. On the tenth day of October, 1887, President Cleveland visited the state and made a short stay. This enumeration of passing events looks a little like a catalog of disasters, except the building of the new Capitol and the visits of Presidents Hayes in Cleveland.

But it must be remembered that Minnesota is such an empire in itself that such happenings scarcely produce a ripple on the surface of its steady and continuous progress. It is because these events can be particularized and described that they assume proportions beyond their real importance. But when compared with the colossal advances made by the state during the period covering them, they dwindle into mere points of educational experience to be guarded against in the future. While the many blessings showered upon the state, consisting of the health and wealth imparting sunshine, the refreshing and fructifying rains and dews of heaven, which Our tribulations were really blessings in disguise.

The bold invasion of the robbers proved our courage. The storms and fires proved our generosity to the distressed and taught us lessons in the wisdom of prevention. Minnesota has as much to be thankful for and as little to regret as any state in the West, and our troubles only prove that we have a very robust vitality, difficult to permanently impair.

43 43 - The War with Spain 7:12

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1 by Charles Z. Flandrao. Section 43, The War with Spain. For many years, there has been a growing sentiment in the United States that Spain was governing Cuba and her other West Indian colonies in an oppressive and unjust manner, and the desire to interfere on behalf of the Cuban people received a good deal of encouragement, and its general expression succeeded in creating very strained relations between Spain and the United States. It is a well-known fact that the Spanish people, from the north line of Mexico to Cape Horn, as well as the inhabitants of the Spanish islands, hate the Americans most heartily. Why, I do not know, except that our social, governmental, and religious habits, customs, and beliefs are radically different from their own.

But that such is the case, no one doubts who knows these people. In 1897, some effort at conciliation was made, and Spain sent one of her warships to New York on a friendly visit, but she did not stay long and got away as soon as she decently could. The United States sent the battleship Maine to Havana on the same friendly mission. She had been there but a short time when she was blown up on February 15, 1898, and 260 American seamen murdered. It was an official investigation to determine the cause of the explosion, but it found no solution of the disaster. Various theories were advanced of internal spontaneous explosion, but no one was misled. The general sentiment of Americans was that the Spanish in Cuba deliberately exploded a submarine torpedo under her to accomplish the result that followed.

Previous to this cowardly act, there was much difference of opinion among the people of all sections of the country as to the propriety of declaring war against Spain. But public sentiment was at once unified in favor of war on the announcement of this outrage. On the 25th of April, 1898, Congress passed an act declaring that war against Spain had existed since the 21st of the same month. A requisition was made on Minnesota for its quota of troops immediately after war was declared, and late in the afternoon of the 28th day of April, the Governor issued an order to the Adjutant General to assemble the state troops at St. Paul. The Adjutant General on the 29th issued the following order by telegraph to the different commands.

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiments of Infantry are hereby ordered to report at St. Paul on Friday morning, April 29, 1898, not later than 11 o'clock, with one day's cooked rations in their haversacks. The order was promptly obeyed, and all the field staff and company officers, with their commands, reported before the time appointed, and on the afternoon of that day went into camp at the State Fairgrounds, which was named Camp Ramsey. Such promptness on the part of the State Militia was remarkable. But it will be seen that they had been prepared for the order of the Adjutant General before its final issue, who had anticipated the declaration of war. On April 18, he had issued the following order.

The commanding officers of the infantry companies and artillery batteries composing the National Guard will immediately take steps to recruit their commands up to 100 men each. All recruits above the maximum piece footing of 76 men will be carried upon the muster roll as provisional recruits. to be discharged in case their services are not needed for field service. On the 25th of April, the Adjutant General issued the following order. In obedience to orders this day received from the Honorable Secretary of War, calling upon the State of Minnesota for three regiments of infantry as volunteers of the United States to serve two years or less, and as the three National Guard regiments have signified their desire of entering the service of the United States as volunteers, the first Second and third regiments of infantry of the National Guard of the State of Minnesota will immediately make preparations to report to these headquarters upon receipt of telegraphic orders, which will be issued later.

This commendable action on the part of our military authorities resulted in the Minnesota troops being the first to be mustered into the service of the United States in the war with Spain, thus repeating the proud distinction gained by the state in 1861 when Minnesota was the first state to offer troops for the defense of the Union in the Civil War. It is a curious as well as interesting coincidence that the 1st Minnesota Regiment for the Civil War was mustered in on April 29, 1861, and the first three regiments for the Spanish War were mobilized at St. Paul on April 29, 1898. The mustering in of the three regiments was completed on the 8th day of May, 1898, and they were designated as the 12th, 13th, and 14th Regiments of Infantry Minnesota Volunteers.

This classification was made because the state had furnished 11 full regiments of infantry for the Civil War, and it was decided to number them consecutively. The 12th and 14th left Camp Ramsey on the 16th day of May for Camp George H. Thomas in Georgia, and the 13th departed for San Francisco on the same day. The 13th was afterwards ordered to Manila. The others did not leave the country and were subsequently mustered out. The 13th did gallon service in the Philippines in many battles. It was mustered out in San Francisco and on October 12, 1899, returned to our state. A warm welcome was given it in Minnesota, where it will always be regarded with the same pride and affection formally bestowed upon the old first of patriotic memory.

President McKinley and several of his cabinet arrived in St. Paul at the time of the arrival of the 13th and assisted in welcoming them to their homes. There was a second call for troops, under which the 15th Regiment was mustered in. But was not called upon for active duty of any kind. It is hoped that the war may be ended without the need of more volunteers from Minnesota. But should another call be made on our people, no doubt can be entertained of their prompt response. Having given the part taken in the war against Spain and the Philippines by Minnesota, its further prosecution against the latter becomes purely a federal matter unless we shall be called into it in the future. When Spain sued for peace, soon after the destruction of her second fleet off Santiago de Cuba, A commission to negotiate a treaty of peace with her was appointed by the President, and Minnesota was honored by the selection of its senior senator, Honorable Cushman K.

Davis, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, as one of its members. The commission consisted of William R. Day, Secretary of State of the United States, Cushman K. Davis of Minnesota, William P. Fry of Maine, George Gray of Delaware, and Whitelaw Reed of New York. It met at Paris and concluded its labors the 10th day of December, 1898. When the treaty was signed by the commissioners of both contracting parties, it is hardly necessary to add that the influence exerted on the result by the distinguished and learned representative from Minnesota was controlling.

44 44 - The Indian Battle of Leech Lake; Population 13:03

The Indian Battle of Leech Lake. Early in October 1898, there was an Indian battle fought at Leech Lake in this state, the magnitude of the result of which gives it a place in the history of Minnesota, although it was strictly a matter of United States cognizance and jurisdiction. In Cass County, there is a Chippewa Indian Reservation, and like all other Indian reservations, there are to be found there turbulent people, both white and red. There is a large island out in Leech Lake called Bear Island, which is inhabited by the Indians. On October 1, 1897, one Indian shot another on this island. A prominent member of the tribe named Puganagashig was present and witnessed the shooting. An indictment was found in the United States District Court against the Indian who did the shooting, but before any trial could be had, the matter was settled among the Indians in their own way, and they thought that that was the last of it.

A subpoena was issued for Paganagashig, and a deputy marshal served it. He disregarded the subpoena. An attachment was then issued to arrest him and bring him into court. A deputy United States Marshal tried to serve it, and was resisted by the Indian and his friends on three different occasions, and once when the Indian was arrested, he was rescued from the custody of the Marshal. Warrants were then issued for the arrest of twenty-one of the rescuers. This was in the latter part of August 1898. Troops were asked for to aid the Marshal in making his arrests, and a lieutenant and twenty men were sent from Fort Snelling for that purpose. This was simply a repetition of the many mistakes made by the military authorities in such matters.

If troops were necessary for any purpose, twenty men were simply useless, and worse than none, and when the time came for the application of military force, would, of course, have been annihilated. The United States Marshal, with a squad of deputies, accompanied the troops. It soon became apparent that there would be trouble before the Indians could be brought to terms, and General Bacon, the officer in command of the Department of Dakota, with headquarters at St. Paul, ordered Major Wilkinson of Company E of the 3rd Regiment of United States Infantry stationed at Fort Snelling with his company of eighty men to the scene of the troubles. General Bacon accompanied these troops as far as Walker on the west bank of Leech Lake, more in the capacity of an observer of events and to gain proper knowledge of the situation than as part of the force.

On the 5th of October, 1898, the whole force left Walker in boats for a place on the east bank of the lake called Sugar Point. where there was a clearing of several acres and a log-house, occupied by Pugana Agashig, and they were accompanied by R. T. O'Connor, the United States Marshal of Minnesota, and several of his deputies, among whom was Colonel Timothy J. Sheehan, who knew the Indians who were subject to arrest. This officer was the same man who, as Lieutenant Sheehan, had so successfully commanded the forces at Fort Ridgely, During the Indian War of 1862, since when he had fought his way through the Civil War with distinction, when the command landed, only a few squaws and Indians were visible.

The deputy marshals landed, and with the interpreters went at once to the house, and while there discovered an Indian whom Colonel Sheehan recognized as one for whom a warrant was out, and immediately attempted to arrest and handcuff him. The Indian resisted vigorously, and it was only with the aid of three or four soldiers that they succeeded in arresting him. He was put on board of the boat. The whole force then skirmished through the timber in search of Indians, but found none, and about noon returned to the clearing, and were ordered to stack arms preparatory to getting dinner. They had scouted the surrounding country, and had seen no Indians or signs of Indians, and did not believe there were any in the vicinity, when in fact the Indians had carefully watched their every movement.

They were close to their trail, waiting for the most advantageous moment to strike. It was the same tactics which the Indians had so often adopted with much success in their warfare with the whites. While stacking arms, a new recruit allowed his gun to fall to the ground, and it was discharged accidentally. The Indians, who were silently awaiting their opportunity, supposing it was a signal of attack, opened fire on the troops, and a vicious battle began. The soldiers seized their arms and returned the fire as best they could. Directing it at the points whence came the shots from the invisible enemy concealed in the dense thicket. The battle raged for several hours. General Bacon, with a gun in his hand, was everywhere, encouraging the men, and Major Wilkinson, as cool as if he had been in a drawing-room, cheered his men on but was thrice wounded, the last hit proving fatal.

Colonel Sheehan instinctively entered the fight and took charge of the right wing of the line, charging the enemy with a few followers and keeping up rapid fire. The colonel was hit three times, two bullets passing through his clothes, grazing the skin without serious injury, and one cutting a painful but not dangerous wound across his stomach. The result of the fight was six killed and nine wounded on the part of the troops. One of the Indian police was also killed and seven citizens wounded, some seriously. No estimate has ever been satisfactorily obtained of the loss of the enemy. The most reliable account of the number of his forces engaged is from 19 to 30, and if I should venture an estimate of his losses, based upon my experience of his ability to select a vantage ground and to take care of himself, I would put it at practically nothing.

The killed and wounded were brought to Fort Snelling, the killed buried with military honors, and the wounded properly cared for. This event adds one more to the long list of fatal errors committed by our military forces in dealing with Indians of the Northwest. They should never be attacked without a force sufficient to demonstrate the superiority of the whites in all cases and under all circumstances. Many a valuable life has been thus unnecessarily lost. Major Wilkinson, who lost his life in this encounter, was a man who had earned an enviable record in the army, and was much beloved by his many friends and acquaintances in Minnesota. The principal Indian engaged in this fight has been called, in every newspaper and in other reports of it, Bugamagashig, but I have succeeded in obtaining his real name from the highest authority.

The name, Bugamagashig, is the Chippewa for hole in the day. Shortly after the return of the troops to Fort Snelling, the settlers about Cass and Leech Lakes became uneasy and deluged the governor with telegrams for protection. The National Guard or state troops had nearly all been mustered into the United States service for duty in the war with Spain, but the 14th Regiment was in St. Paul, awaiting muster out, and the governor telegraphed to the War Department at Washington to send enough of them to the front to quiet the fears of the settlers. This was declined, and the Governor at once ordered out two batteries of artillery, all the state troops that were available, and sent them to the scene of the troubles, and then sent his celebrated telegram to the War Department, which may be called the Minnesota Declaration of Independence.

It ran as follows. October 8, 1898. H. C. Corbin, Adjutant General, Washington, D.C. No one claims that reinforcements are needed at Walker. I have not been asked for assistance from that quarter. Although I do not think General Bacon has won the victory, he claims, other people do not say so. The Indian claims to have won, and that is my opinion. The people all along the Fostlin branch of the railroad are very much alarmed and asking for protection, which I have asked of the War Department. The soldiers are here and ready and willing to go, but as you have revoked your order of yesterday, you can do with what you like with your soldiers. The State of Minnesota will try to get along without any assistance from the War Department in the future.

D. M. Clough, Governor. Rumor says that the telegram which was forwarded is very much modified from that originally dictated by the Governor. The United States government concluded to withdraw its refusal and send troops to the front, and several companies of the 14th were dispatched to the line of the Faustin Branch Railroad and distributed along the line of that road. In the meantime, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs had arrived at Walker and was negotiating with the Indians, and when it became known that matters were arranged to the satisfaction of government and the Indians and no outbreak was expected, the soldiers were all withdrawn, and the incident, so far as military operations were concerned, was closed.

There were some surrenders of the Indians to the officers of the court, but nothing further of consequence occurred.

One of the most interesting features of a new country is the character and the nativity of its population. The old frontiersman who has watched the growth of new states, and fully comprehended the effect produced upon their civilization and character by the nativity of their immigrants, is the only person competent to judge of the influences exerted in this line. It is a well-known fact that the immigration from Europe into America is generally governed by climactic influences. These people usually follow the line of latitude to which they have been accustomed. The Norseman from Russia, Sweden, Germany, and Norway comes to the extreme northwestern states, while the emigrants from southern Europe seek the more southern latitudes.

Of course, these are very general comments and only relate to emigration in its usual directions, as the people of all parts of Europe are found in all parts of America. It is generally believed that the emigrants from Northern Europe are more desirable than those from further south, and a presentation of the status of our population in point of nativity will afford a basis from which to judge of their general attributes for good or bad. There is no nation on earth that has not sent us some representative. The following table. While it will prove that we have a most heterogeneous polyglot population, we'll also prove that we possess vast powers of assimilation, as we are about as harmonious a people as can be found in all the Union.

Our governor is a Swede, one of our United States senators is a Norwegian, and our other state officers are pretty generally distributed among the various nationalities. Of course, in the minor political subdivisions, such as counties, cities, and towns, The office holding is generally governed by the same considerations. I give the various countries from which our population is drawn, with the numbers from each country, and the number of native-born and foreign-born, which, aggregated, constitute our entire population. These figures are taken from the State Census of 1895. England, 12,941. Scotland, 5,344. Germany, 133,768. Norway, 107,319. Denmark, 16,143. Canada, 49,231. Poland, 8,464. Iceland, 454.

Ireland, 26,106. Wales, 1,246. France, 1,492. Sweden, 119,554. Russia, 6,286. Bohemia, 10,327. Finland, 7,652. All other countries, 11,205. Total native born, 1,057,084. Total foreign born, 517,535. Total population, 1,674,619. The total native born of our population is very largely composed of the descendants of foreign emigrants. These figures afford a large field for thought. And future consideration when emigration problems are under legislative investigation. The census from which these figures are taken being five years old, I think it is safe to add a sufficient number of increase to bring our population up to two millions. The census of 1900 will demonstrate whether or not my estimate is correct.

45 45 - The State Flag; The Official Flower of the State, and the Method of its Selection 10:27

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1, by Charles E. Flandreau. Section 45. The State Flag, the official flower of the state, and the method of its selection. The State Flag. Up to the year 1893, the state of Minnesota had no distinctive state flag. On April 4, 1893, an act was passed by the legislator entitled, An Act Providing for the Adoption of a State Flag. This act appointed by name a commission of six ladies to adopt a design for a state flag. Section 2 of the Act provided that the design adopted should embody, as near as may be, the following facts. There shall be a white ground with reverse side of blue. The center of the white ground shall be occupied by a design substantially embodying the form of the seal employed as the State Seal of Minnesota at the time of its admission into the Union.

The said design of the state seal shall be surrounded by appropriate representations of the moccasin flower, indigenous to Minnesota, surrounding said central design, and appropriately arranged on said white ground shall be nineteen stars, emblematic of the fact that Minnesota was the nineteenth state to be admitted into the Union after its formation by the thirteen original states. There shall also appear at the bottom of the flag in the white ground so as to be plainly visible the word Minnesota. The Commission prepared a very beautiful design for the flag, following closely the instructions given by the Legislature, which was adopted and is now the authorized flag of the State. The flagstaff is surmounted by a Golden Gopher rampant, in harmony with the popular name given to our State.

May it ever represent the principles of liberty and justice, and never be lowered to an enemy. The original flag, aristically embroidered in silk, can be seen at the office of the governor at the State Capitol. The official flower of the State and the method of its selection. On the 20th day of April 1891, the legislature of the State passed an act entitled An act to provide for the collection, arrangement, and display of the products of the State of Minnesota at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and to make an appropriation therefor. This act created a commission of six citizens of the State to be appointed by the Governor and called the Board of World's Fair Managers of Minnesota. The women of the state determined that there should be an opportunity for them to participate in the exposition on the part of Minnesota, and a convention of delegates from each county of the state was called and held at the People's Church in St.

Paul on Feb 14, 1892. This convention elected one woman delegate and one alternate from each of the seven congressional districts of the state. There were also two national lady managers from Minnesota. Nominated by the two national representatives from Minnesota and appointed by the President of the United States, who were added to the seven delegates so chosen, and the whole was called the Women's Auxiliary to the State Commission. The women so chosen took charge of all of the matters properly pertaining to the Women's Department of the Fair. At one of the meetings of the ladies, held in St. Paul, the question of the selection of an official flower for the state was presented, and the sentiment generally prevailed that it should at once be decided by the assemblage.

But Mrs. L. P. Hunt, the delegate for Mankato in the 2nd Congressional District, wisely suggested that the selection should be made by all the ladies of the state, and they should be given an opportunity to vote upon the proposition. This suggestion was approved, and the following plan was adopted. Mrs. Hunt was authorized to appoint a committee, of which she was to be chairman, to select a list of flowers to be voted on. Accordingly, she appointed a subcommittee who were to consult the state botanist, Mr. Conway McMillan, who was to name a number of Minnesota flowers from which the ladies were to choose. He presented the following. Lady Slipper, Moccasin Flower, Cipripedium Spectabile, Silky Aster.

Indian Pink. Coneflower. Brown-Eyed Susan. Wild Rose. The plan was to send out printed tickets to all the women's organizations in the state, with these names on them, to be voted upon, which was done with the result that the moccasin flower received an overwhelming majority and has ever since been accepted as the official flower of the state. That the contest was a very spirited one can be judged from the fact that Mrs. Hunt sent out in her district at least 10,000 tickets, with indications of her choice of the moccasin flower. She also maintained lengthy newspaper controversies with parties in Manitoba, who claimed the prior right of the last province to the moccasin flower, all of whom she vanquished.

The choice was a very wise and appropriate one. The flower itself is very beautiful and peculiarly adapted to the purposes of the artistic decoration. It has already been utilized in three instances of an official character with success and approval. The Minnesota State Building at the Columbian Exposition was beautifully decorated with it. It is prominently incorporated into the state flag and adorns the medal conferred by the state upon the defenders of Fort Ridgely. The botanical name of the flower is Cypripedium, taken from the Greek words meaning the shoe of Venus. It is popularly called Lady's Slipper, Moccasin, Flower, and Indian Shoe. About 25 species of Cypripedium are known, belonging to the North Temperate Zone and reaching south into Mexico and Northern India.

Six species occur in the northern United States and Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains, all of these being found in Minnesota, and about a dozen species occur on this continent. They are perennial herbs with irregular flowers, which grow singly or in small clusters, the colors of some of which are strikingly beautiful. The species adopted by the women of the state of Minnesota is the Cypripedium spectabile, or the showy lady slipper. The ladies naturally desired that their choice should be ratified by the state legislature, and one of their number prepared a report of their doings, in a petition to that body asking its approval. Whoever drew the petition named the flower chosen by the ladies as Cypripedium calciolus, a species which does not grow in Minnesota, but is purely of European production.

The petition was presented to the Senate on the fourth day of February, 1893. The Journal of the Senate shows the following record, which is found on page 167. Mr. Dean asked the unanimous consent to present a petition from the Women's Auxiliary to the World's Fair, relative to the adoption of the State Flower and Emblem, which was read, Mr. Dean offered the following concurrent resolution and moved its adoption. Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring, that the wild lady slipper, or moccasin flower, Cypripedium calciolus, be, and the same is hereby, designated and adopted as the State Flower or emblem of the State of Minnesota, which was adopted. In the Legislative Manual of 1893 appears, on page 606, the following.

The State Flower. On April 4, 1893, should be February, a petition from the Women's Auxiliary to the World's Fair was presented to the Senate relative to the adoption of a state flower. By resolution of the Senate concurred in by the House, the Wild Lady Slipper, or Moccasin Flower, Cypripedium, was designated as the state flower or floral emblem of the state of Minnesota. The word calciolus means a little shoe or slipper, but as I said before, the species so designated in botany is not indigenous to Minnesota and is purely a foreigner. As we have in the course of our growth assimilated so many foreigners successfully, we will have no trouble in swallowing this small shoe, especially as the House did not concur in the resolution.

And while the mistake will in no way militate against the progress or prosperity of Minnesota, it should be a warning to all committees and Western legislatures to go slow when dealing with the dead languages. We now have the whole body of cyperpediums to choose from and may reject the calciolus. If the House of Representatives ever concurred in this state resolution, it left no trace of its action, either in its journal or published laws, that I have been able to find. Among the many valuable achievements of the Women's Auxiliary One deserves special mention, Mrs. H. F. Brown, one of the delegates at large, suggested a statue for the Women's Building to be the production of Minnesota's artistic conception and execution.

The architect of the state building had disallowed this feature, and there was no public fund to meet the expense, which would be considerable. The ladies, however, decided to procure the statue and rely on private subscription to defray the cost. Mrs. L.P. Hunt thought that sufficient funds might be raised from the schoolchildren of the state through a penny subscription. Enough was raised, however. To secure a plaster cast of great beauty, representing Hiawatha carrying Minnehaha across a stream in his arms, illustrating the lines in Longfellow's poem. Over wide and rushing waters, in his arms he bore the maiden. The statue adorned the porch of the Minnesota building during the fair. It was designed and made by a very talented young Norwegian sculptor, then residing in Minneapolis, the late Jacob Filde.

It is proposed to cast the statue in bronze and place it in Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis, at some future day.

46 46 - Origin of the Name ''Gopher State''; State Parks: Itasca State Park and Interstate Park -- The Dalles of the Saint Croix 14:22

XXXVI. The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part I, by Charles E. Flandrao, Section 46. Origin of the name Gopher State.

State Parks, Itasca State Park and Interstate Park. The Dulls of the St. Croix.

Origin of the name Gopher State. Most of the states in the Union have a popular name. New York is called Empire State. Pennsylvania. The Keystone State, etc. As you come west, they seem to have taken the names of animals. Michigan is called the Wolverine State. Wisconsin, the Badger State. And it is not at all singular that Minnesota should have been christened the Gopher State.

These names never originate by any recognized authority. They arise from some event, that suggests them, or from some important utterance, that makes an impression on the public mind. In the very early days of the territory, say, as early as 1854 or 1855, the question was discussed among the settlers as to what names should be adopted by Minnesota, and for a time it was called by some the Beaver State. That name seemed to have the greatest number of advocates, but it was always met with the objection that the beaver, although quite numerous in some of our streams, was not sufficiently so to entitle him to characterize the territory by giving it his name. While this debate was in progress, the advocates of the beaver spoke of the territory as the beaver territory, But it never reached a point of universal adoption.

It was well known that the gopher abounded, and his name was introduced as a competitor with the beaver. But being a rather insignificant animal, and his nature being destructive and in no way useful, he was objected to by many, as too useless and undignified to become an emblem of the great state. For we all had, at that early day, full confidence that Minnesota was destined to be a great and prominent state. Nothing was ever settled on this subject until after the year 1857. As I have before stated, in that year an attempt was made to amend the Constitution by allowing the state to issue bonds in the sum of five million dollars. to aid in the construction of the railroads, which the United States had subsidized with land-grants, and the campaign which involved this amendment was most bitterly fought.

The opponents of the measure published a cartoon to bring the subject into ridicule, which was very generally circulated throughout the state, but failed to check the enthusiasm in favor of the proposition. This cartoon represented ten men in a line, with heads bowed down, with the weight of a bag of gold hung about their necks, marked $10,000. They were supposed to represent the members of the legislature who had been bribed to pass the act, and were called primary directors. On their backs was a railroad track, upon which was a train of cars Drawn by nine gophers. The three gophers in the lead, proclaiming, We have no cash, but will give you our drafts. Attached to the rear of the train was a wheelbarrow, with a barrel on it marked gin, followed by the devil in great glee, with his thumb at his nose.

In the train were the advocates of the bill. Flying a flag bearing these words. Gopher train. Excursion train. Members of extra session of legislature free. We developed the resources of the country. Over this was a smaller flag, with the words, the $5 million loan bill.

In another part of the picture is a rostrum. From which a gopher is addressing the people with the legend, I am right. Gorman is wrong. In the right-hand corner of the cartoon is a round ball with a gopher in it, coming rapidly down with the legend, a ball come from Winona. This was a pun on the name of Mr. St. A.D. Belcombe from Winona. who was a strong advocate of the measure. Under the whole group was a dark pit with the words, a mine of corruption.

The bill was passed, and the state was saddled with a debt of $5 million, under which it staggered for over 20 years, and we never even got a gopher train out of it. This cartoon Coming just at the time the name of the state was under consideration, fastened upon it the nickname of gopher, which it has ever since retained. The name is not all inappropriate, as the animal has always abounded in the state. In a work on Mammals of Minnesota by C. L. Herrick, 1892, he gives the scientific name of our most common species of gopher, spermophilius tridicim linatus, or 13-striped gopher, and says, the species ranges from Saskatchewan to Texas and from Ohio to Utah. Minnesota is the peculiar home of the typical form and thus derives the name of the gopher state.

Although the name originated in ridicule and contempt, it has not in any way Handicapped the Commonwealth, partly because very few people know its origin, but for the greater reason that it would take much more than a name to check its predestined progress.

State Parks. Itasca State Park. In a previous part of the work, under the head of lumber. I have referred to the fact that a great national park and forest reserve is in contemplation by the United States at the headwaters of the Mississippi, and made reference to the state park already established at that point. I will now relate what has been done by the state in this regard. In 1875, an official survey of the land in and about Lake Itasca was made by the Surveyor General of the United States for Minnesota, which brought these lands under the operation of the United States laws, and part of them were entered. A portion of them went to the National Pacific Railroad Company under its land grant.

The swamp and school lands went to the state, and much to private individuals under the various methods of making title to government lands. On the 20th of April, 1891, the legislature passed an act entitled, An Act to Establish and Create a Public Park, to be known and designated as the Itasca State Park, and authorizing the condemnation of lands for park purposes. This act sets apart for park purposes 19,702 acres of land, And dedicates them to the perpetual use of the people. It places the same under the care and supervision of the State Auditor as Land Commissioner. It prohibits the destruction of trees or hunting within its limits. It provides for a commission to obtain title to such of the lands as belong to private individuals, either by purchase or condemnation.

On the third day of August, 1892, the United States granted to the State all the unappropriated lands within the limits of the park upon this condition, provided the land hereby granted shall revert to the United States, together with all the improvements thereon, if at any time it shall cease to be exclusively used for a public state park, or if the State shall not pass a law or laws The State, at the session of the Legislature in 1893, accepted the grant, but as yet had no provision for the extinguishment of the title of private owners, of which there are 8,823 acres. This divided ownership of the lands within the limits of the park endangers the whole region by lumbering operations. and consequent forest fires after the timber is cut.

Fires are not to be feared in natural forests until they are cut over. The acquisition of title to all of these lands by the State should not be delayed any longer than is necessary to perfect it, no matter at what cost. The State has already erected a house on the bank of Itasca Lake, and has a resident commissioner in charge of the park.

The effect of the law prohibiting hunting in the park has already greatly increased the number of animals and fowls that find in it a safe refuge.

The extent of the park is seven miles long by five miles wide and is covered with a dense forest of pine, oak, maple, basswood, aspen, balsam fir, cedar, and spruce. Which is nearly in a state of nature. It is much to be hoped that in the near future, this park will be enlarged to many times its present size by additional grants.

Interstate Park. The Dulles of the St. Croix. One of the most, if not the most, beautiful and picturesque points in the northwest is the Dulles of the St. Croix River. Here, the state has acquired the title to about 150 acres of land on the Minnesota side of the river and dedicated it for park purposes. This was done under the authority of Chapter 169 of the Laws of 1895. The point on the Minnesota side is called Taylor's Falls, and on the Wisconsin side, St. Croix Falls. Between these two towns, the St. Croix River rushes rapidly, forming a cataract of great beauty. The bluffs are precipitate and rocky, forming a narrow gorge through which the river plunges. The name of the river is French, St.

Croix, meaning the Holy Cross, and the name of this particular point, the Dulles, was given on account of the curious formation of the rocky banks. which assume wonderful shapes.

One, looking downstream, presents a perfect likeness of a man, and is called the Old Man of the Dolls. Another curious rock formation is called the Devil's Chair. There are many others equally interesting. It is generally supposed that the word dolls has the same meaning as the English word dell or dale, Signifying a narrow, secluded vale or valley. But such is not the case as applied to this peculiar locality. The word dals is French, and means a slab, a flag, or a flagstone, and is appropriate to the peculiar character of the general rock formation of the river banks at this point and vicinity.

The state of Minnesota has already done a good deal of work towards making it attractive, and it has become quite a resort for pleasure-seekers in the summertime. Wisconsin has acquired title to a larger tract on the east side of the river than is embraced in the Minnesota Park on the west side, but as yet has not done much in the way of improvement. The two tracts are united by a graceful bridge, which spans the river between them. The Minnesota Park is under the charge of a State custodian who cares for, and protects it, from despoilment.

47 47 - Politics 9:22

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1 by Charles E. Flandrao. Section 47. Politics. In writing the history of a state, No matter how short or limited such history may be, its politics seemed to be an essential element of presentation, and on this assumption alone I will say a very few words concerning that subject. I do not believe that the question of which political party has been dominant in the State has exerted any considerable influence on its material prosperity. The great first cause of its creation was so generous in its award of substantial blessings That it placed the state beyond the ability of a man or his politics to seriously injure or impede its advances towards material success in any of the channels that promote greatness.

Soil, climate, minerals, facilities for commerce, and transportation consisting of great rivers, lakes, and harbors, all these combine to defy the destructive tendencies so often exerted by the ignorance and passions of man. It has resisted every folly of its people, and they have been many, every onslaught of its savage inhabitants, And they have been more formidable than those experienced by any other state, and even the cataclysms with which it has occasionally been visited arising from natural causes. The fact is, Minnesota is so rock-rooted in all the elements of material greatness that it must advance regardless of all known obstructions. When the territory was organized in 1849, General Zachary Taylor, a Whig, was the President of the United States, and he appointed Alexander Ramsey, also a Whig, as Governor.

He was a Democrat, and he was elected to set its political machinery in motion. He remained in office until the National Administration changed in 1853, and Franklin Pierce, a Democrat, was chosen President. He appointed General Willis A. Gorman, a Democrat, as Governor to succeed Governor Ramsey. On the 4th of March, 1857, James Buchanan, a Democrat, succeeded President Pierce and appointed Samuel Metairie, a Democrat, as Governor of Minnesota. He held this position until the state was admitted into the Union in May 1858, when Henry H. Sibley, a Democrat, was elected governor for the term of two years and served it out. On the admission of the state into the Union, two Democratic United States Senators were elected, Henry M.

Rice and General James Shields. General Shields served from May 12, 1858 to March 3, 1859, and Mr. Rice from May 12, 1858 The state also elected three members to the United States House of Representatives, all Democrats, James M. Kavanaugh, W. W. Phelps, and George L. Becker. But it was determined that we were only entitled to two, and Mr. Phelps and Mr. Kavanaugh were admitted to seats. With this state and federal representation, we entered upon our political career. At the next election for governor, in the fall of 1859, Alexander Ramsey, Republican, was chosen, and there has never been a governor of the state of any but Republican politics since, until John Linde was elected in the fall of 1898.

Mr. Linde was chosen as a Democrat with the aid of other political organizations, which united with the democracy. Mr. Linde now fills the office of governor. It will be seen that for 39 years the state has been wholly in the hands of the Republicans. During the interval between the administration of Governor Sibley and Governor Lind, the state has had 12 governors, all Republican. In its federal representation, however, the Democrats have fared a trifle better. The growth of population has increased our membership in the Federal House of Representatives to seven, and occasionally a Democrat, or member of some other party, has succeeded in breaking into Congress. From the 1st District, W.H. Harrys, a Democrat, was elected in 1890.

From the 3rd District, Eugene M. Wilson, Democrat, was elected in 1868. Henry Poehler, Democrat, in 1878. John L. MacDonald, Democrat, in 1886. And O. M. Hall, Democrat, in 1890, and again in 1892. From the 4th District, Edmund Rice, Democrat, was elected in 1886. And James N. Castle, Democrat, in 1890. From the 6th District, M. R. Baldwin, Democrat, was elected in 1892. From the 5th District, Kittle-Halverson, Alliance, was elected in 1890. From the 7th District, Haldor E. Bone, People's Party, was elected in 1892. Since Henry M. Rice and James Shields, all the United States Senators have been Republican. They were Morton S. Wilkinson, Alexander Ramsey, Daniel S. Norton, William Windham, Some of these have served two terms, and some very short terms, to fill vacancies.

Of course, the state had its complement of other officers, but as their duties are more of a clerical and business character than political, it is unnecessary to particularize them. It is a subject of congratulation to all citizens of Minnesota that out of all the state officers that have come and gone in the forty years of its life, there has been but one impeachment, which was of a state treasurer, Mr. William Seeger, who was elected in 1871. Although he was convicted, I have always believed, and do now, that he was personally innocent and suffered for the sins of others. The state of Minnesota has always, since the adjustment of its old railroad bond debt, held a conservative position in the Union, financially, Socially, patriotically, and commercially.

Its credit is the best, its prospects the brightest, and it makes very little difference which political party dominates its future, so long as it is free from the taint of anarchy and is guided by the principles of the world. The only thing to be feared is that some political party may gain control of the government of the nation and either degrade its currency, involve it in disastrous complications and wars with other nations, or commit some similar folly. She has very little to fear from this remote apprehension, because the American people, as they ever have been, will no doubt continue to be, on second thought, true to the teachings and traditions of the founders of the Republic. Minnesota, for so young a state, has been quite liberally remembered in the way of diplomatic appointments.

General C.C. Andrews represented the United States as Minister to Sweden and Norway, and the Honorable Samuel R. Thayer and Honorable Stanford Newell at The Hague, the latter of whom now fills the position. Mr. Newell was also a member of the World's Peace Commission recently held at The Hague. Louis Baker represented the United States as Minister to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and San Salvador. The state has also been honored by the appointment of the following named gentleman from among its citizens as Councils Thank you. We have had a full complement of councils to all parts of the world, the particulars of which are unnecessary in this connection. The State has also had three Cabinet officers.

On December 10, 1879, Alexander Ramsey was appointed Secretary of War by President Hayes, and again on December 20, 1880, he was made Secretary of the Navy. The latter office he held only about ten days, until it was filled by a permanent appointee. William Wyndham was appointed Secretary of the Treasurer by President Garfield, and again to the same position by President Harrison. He died in the office. General William G. LeDuc was appointed Commissioner of Agriculture by President Hayes. Which was a quasi-cabinet position, and was afterwards made a full and regular one. The General was afterwards made a member of the National Agricultural Society of France, of which Washington, Jefferson, and Marshall were members.

Senator Cushman K. Davis, who was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, was appointed by President McKinley, one of the commissioners on the part of the United States, to negotiate the Treaty of Peace with Spain after the recent Spanish War. Governor William R. Miriam. President of the United States was appointed by President McKinley as Director of the Census of 1900 and is now busily engaged in the performance of the arduous duties of that office. They are not diplomatic, but exceedingly important. President Cleveland appointed John W. Riddle as Secretary of Legation to the Embassy of Constantinople, where he has remained to the present time.

48 48 - Bibliography 25:40

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part One by Charles E. Flandreau. Bibliography. Necessity has compelled me, in the preparation of this history, to be brief, not only in the subjects treated of, but also in the manner of such treatment. Details have usually been avoided, and comprehensive generalities indulged in. Those who read it may find many things wanting, and in order that they may have an opportunity to supply my deficiencies, without too much research and labor, I have prepared a list of all the works which have ever been written on Minnesota, or any particular subject pertaining thereto, and append them hereto for convenience of reference. Any and all of them could be found in the library of the Minnesota Historical Society in the State Capitol.

So much of what I have said consists of personal experiences and observations that it more resembles a narrative than a history. But I think I can safely vouch for the accuracy and truthfulness of all I have thus related. Books which have been published relating to Minnesota. The following will be found in Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Volume One, St. Paul, 1872. One, The French Voyagers to Minnesota During the Seventeenth Century by Rev. E. D. Neill. Two. Description of Minnesota, 1850, by the Hon. Henry H. Sibley. Three. Our Field of Historical Research, by the Hon. Alexander Ramsey. Four. Early Courts of Minnesota, by the Hon. Aaron Goodrich. Five. Early Schools of Minnesota, by D.

A. J. Baker. Six. Religious Movements in Minnesota by Rev. C. Hobart. The Dakota Language by Rev. S. R. Riggs. History and Physical Geography of Minnesota by H. R. Schoolcraft.

Letter of Mesnard by Rev. E. D. Neal. The St. Louis River by T. M. Fullerton. Eleven ancient mounds and memorials by Mr. Pond, Aten, and Riggs. Twelve School Crafts Exploring Tour of 1832 by Rev. W. T. Boutwell. Thirteen Battle of Lake Pocogama by Rev. E. D. Neill. Fourteen Memoir of Jean Nicolette by Hon. Henry H. Sibley. Fifteen. Sketch of Joseph Renville by Rev. E. D. Neal. 16. Department of Hudson's Bay by Rev. G. A. Belcourt. 17. Obituary of James M. Goodhue by Rev. E. D. Neal. 18. Dakota Land and Dakota Life by Rev. E. D. Neal. 19. Who were the first men? By Rev. T. S. Williamson. 20. Louis Hennepin, the Franciscan, and Duluth, the Explorer. 21. Le Sour, the Explorer of the Minnesota River.

22. Diverville, an abstract of his memorial. 23. The Fox and the Ojibwe War. 24. Captain Jonathan Carver and his Explorations. 25. Pike's Explorations in Minnesota. 26. Who Discovered Itasca Lake by William Morrison. 27. Early Days at Fort Snelling. 28. Running the Gauntlet by William T. Snelling. 29. Reminiscences, Historical and Personal. Volume Two. 30, Voyage in a Six-Ored Skiff to the Falls of St. Anthony in 1817, by Major Stephen H. Long. 30, Early French Forts and Footprints of the Valley of the Upper Mississipp by Rev. E. D. Neal. 30, 2, Occurrences in and around Fort Snelling from 1819 to 1840, by Rev. E. D. Neal. 33. Religion of the Dakotas. Chapter Six of James W. Lynn's Manuscripts.

34. Mineral Regions of Lake Superior from Their First Discovery in 1865 by The Honorable Henry M. Rice. 35. Constantine Beltrami by Alfred J. Hill. 36. Historical Notes on the U.S. Land Office by The Hon. Henry M. Rice. Thirty-seven, The Geography of Perrault, So Far as It Relates to Minnesota by Alfred J. Hill. Thirty-eight, Dakota Superstitions by Rev. Gideon H. Pond. Thirty-nine, The Carver Centenary, An account of the celebration, May 1st, 1867, of the 100th anniversary of the Council and Treaty of Captain Jonathan Carver with the Nattawasoo at Carver's Cave in St. Paul, with an address by Rev. John Maddox. 40 Relation of M. Penticant, translated by Alfred J. Hill, with an introductory note by the Rev.

E. D.

Neill. 41. Bibliography of Minnesota by J. Fletcher Williams. 42. A Reminiscence of Fort Snelling by Mrs. Charlotte O. Van Cleve. 43. Narrative of Paul Mazakatumini, translated by Rev. S. R. Riggs. 44. Memoir of Ex-Governor Henry A. Swift by J. Fletcher Williams. 45. Sketch of John Otherday. by the Honorable Henry H. Sibley. Forty-six. A Coincidence by Mrs. Charlotte O. Van Cleve. Forty-seven. Memoir of the Honorable James W. Lind by Rev. S. R. Riggs. Forty-eight. The Dakota Mission by Rev. S. R. Riggs. Forty-nine. Indian Warfare in Minnesota by Rev. S. W. Pond. Fifty, Colonel Leavenworth's Expedition to Establish Fort Snelling in 1819 by Major Thomas Forsyth. Fifty-one, Memoir of Jean-Baptiste Faribault by General H.

H. Sibley. Fifty-two, Memoir of Captain Martin Scott by J. Fletcher Williams. Fifty-three, Napa Schnee Duda, a Dakota Christian, by Rev. T. S. Williamson. 54. Memoir of Hercules L. Doustman by Gen. Henry H. Sibley. 55. Memoir of Joseph R. Brown by J. F. Williams, E. S. Goodrich, and J. A. Wheelock. 56. Memoir of the Honorable Cyrus Eldridge by J. F. Williams. 57. Memoir of Rev. Lucien Gautier by Bishop John Ireland. 58 Memoir of the Honorable David Olmsted by J. F. Williams. 59 Reminiscences of the Early Days of Minnesota by Hon. H. H. Sibley. 60 The Sioux or Dakotas of the Missouri River by Rev. T. S. Williamson. Sixty-one. Memoir of Rev. S. Y. McMasters by Earl S. Goodrich. Sixty-two. Tributes to the Memory of Rev.

John Maddox by J. F. Williams, The Honorable Henry H. Sibley, John B. Sanborn, and Bishop Ireland. Sixty-three. Memoir of Ex-Governor Willis A. Gorman, compiled from press notices, and Eulogy by the Honorable C. K. Davis. 64. Lake Superior, Historical and Descriptive by the Honorable James H. Baker. 65. Memorial Notices of Rev. Gideon H. Pond by Rev. S. R. Riggs, the Honorable H. H. Sibley, and Rev. T. S. Williamson. 66. In Memory of Rev. Thomas S. Williamson. By Rev. S. R. Riggs and A. W. Williamson. 67. The Inkpaduta Massacre of 1857. By The Honorable Charles E. Flandraux. Volume 4. 68. History of the City of St. Paul and County of Ramsey, Minnesota. By J. Fletcher Williams. Containing a very full sketch of the first settlement and early days of St.

Paul in 1838, 1839, and 1840, and of the territory from 1849 to 1858. Lists of the early settlers and claim owners, amusing events of pioneer days, biographical sketches of over 200 prominent men of early times, three steel portraits, and 47 woodcuts, portraits and views. Lists of Federal, County, and City Officers, Since 1849. Volume Five. Sixty Nine. History of the Ojibwe Nation by William W. Warren, Deceased. A valuable work containing the legends and traditions of the Ojibwe's, their origin, history, costumes, religion, daily life and habits, ideas, biographies of leading chieftains and orators, Vivid descriptions of battles, etc. The work was carefully edited by Rev. Edward D. Neill, who added an appendix of one hundred sixteen pages, giving an account of the Ojibways from official and other records.

It also contains a portrait of Warren, a memoir of him by J. Fletcher Williams, and a copious index. Volume Six. Seventy. The Sources of the Mississippe, Their Discovery, Real and Pretended, by the Hon. James H. Baker. Seventy One, the Hennepin Bicentenary, Celebration of the Minnesota Historical Society of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Discovery of the Falls of St. Anthony, in 1680, by Lewis Hennepin. Seventy Two, Early Days at Red River Settlement and Fort Snelling, Reminiscences of Mrs. Ann Adams. Seventy-three, Protestant Missions in the Northwest, by Rev. Stephen R. Riggs, with a memoir of the author by J. F. Williams. Seventy-four, Autobiography of Major Lawrence Tallyfer, Indian Agent at Fort Snelling, 1820 to 1840.

Seventy-five, Memoir of General Henry Hastings Sibley by J. F. Williams. Seventy-six. Mounds in Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin by Alfred J. Hill. Seventy-seven. Columbian Address, delivered by the Honorable H. W. Childs before the Minnesota Historical Society, October 21, 1892. Seventy-eight. Reminiscences of Fort Snelling by Colonel John Bliss. Seventy-nine Sioux outbreak of 1862, Mrs. J. E. DeCamp's Narrative of Her Captivity. A Sioux Story of the War, Chief Big Eagle's Story of the Sioux outbreak of 1862. Incidents of the Threatened Outbreak of Hole-in-the-Day and Other Ojibwes at the Time of the Sioux Massacre in 1862 by George W. Sweet. Eighty-two. Dakota Scalp Dances by Rev. T. S. Williamson.

Eighty-three. Earliest Schools in Minnesota Valley by Rev. T. S. Williamson. Eighty-four. Traditions of Sioux Indians by Major William H. Forbes. Eighty-five, Death of a Remarkable Man, Gabrielle Francher, by The Hon. Benjamin P. Avery. Eighty-six, first settlement on the Red River of the North in 1812, and its condition in 1847, by Mrs. Elizabeth T. Ayres.

Eighty-seven, Frederick Ayre, teacher and missionary to the Ojibwe Indians, 1829 to 1850. Eighty-eight, Captivity among the Sioux, Story of Nancy McClure. Eighty-nine, Captivity among the Sioux, Story of Mary Schwant. Ninety, Autobiography and Reminiscences of Philander Prescott. Ninety-one, Recollections of James M. Goodhue by Colonel John H. Stevens. Ninety-two, History of the Ink Peduta Massacre. by Abby Gardner Sharp.

Volume 7. The Mississippi River and its Source, a narrative and critical history of the river and its headwaters, accompanied by the results of detailed hydrographic and topographic surveys, illustrated with many maps, portraits, and views of the scenery, my Hon. J. V. Brower, Commissioner of the Itasca State Park, Representing also the State Historical Society, with an Appendix, How the Mississippi River and the Lake of the Woods Became Instrumental in the Establishment of the Northwestern Boundary of the United States, by Alfred J. Hill. Volume Eight. Ninety-four, The International Boundary Between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods, by Ulysses Sherman Grant. Ninety-five, The Settlement and Development of the Red River Valley, By Warren Upham.

96. The Discovery and Development of the Iron Ores of Minnesota. By N. H. Winchell, State Geologist. 97. The Origin and Growth of the Minnesota Historical Society. By the President, the Honorable Alexander Ramsey. 98. Opening of the Red River of the North to Commerce and Civilization with Plates. By Captain Russell Blakely. Ninety-nine, Last Days of the Wisconsin Territory and Early Days of the Minnesota Territory, by the Hon. Henry L. Moss. One Hundred, Lawyers and Courts of Minnesota, Prior to and During its Territorial Period, by Judge Charles E. Flan. One Hundred One. Homes and Habitations of the Minnesota Historical Society, by Charles E. Mayo. One Hundred Two. The Historical Value of Newspapers, by J.

B. Cheney. One hundred three. The United States Government Publications, by D. L. Kingsbury. One hundred four. The First Organized Government of Dakota, by Governor Samuel J. Albright, with a preface by Judge Charles E. Flandrau. One hundred five. How Minnesota Became a State, by Professor Thomas F. Moran. One hundred six, Minnesota's Northern Boundary, by Alexander N. Winchell. One hundred seven, the question of the sources of the Mississippi River, by Professor E. Lavasseur, translated by Colonel W. P. Clough. One hundred eight, the source of the Mississippi, by Professor N. H. Winchell. One hundred nine, prehistoric man at the headwaters of the Mississippi River. With plates, and an addendum relating to the early visits of Mr.

Julius Chambers and the Rev. J. A. Gilfellan to Itasca Lake by the Hon. J. V. Brower. One hundred ten history of Minnesota by Edward D. Neal First Edition, Eighteen Fifty Eight has gone through four editions. One hundred eleven concise history of the state of Minnesota by Edward D. Neal. 1887. 1112. Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 1861-1865, prepared under the supervision of a committee appointed by the legislature, 1890-1893, in two volumes. 113. History of the Sioux War and Massacres of 1862-1863, by Isaac V. D. Heard. 1865. C14.

A History of the Great Massacre by the Sioux Indians in Minnesota, by Charles S. Bryant and Abel B. Murch. 1872. C15. Minnesota Historical Society Collections, in eight volumes, 1850 to 1898, containing many of the above-named works and papers.

C16. History of St. Paul, Minnesota, by General Christopher C. Andrews.

One hundred seventeen. History of the City of Minneapolis, by Isaac Atwater, in two volumes. One hundred eighteen. Pen pictures of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Biographical Sketches of Old Settlers, by T. M. Newsom. One hundred nineteen. 50 Years in the N.W. by W. H. C. Folsom.

One hundred twenty. The United States Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men. Minn. by Jeremiah Clemens. Assisted by J. Fletcher Williams. Eighteen and seventy-nine. One hundred twenty-one. Progressive Men of Minn. Biographical Sketches and Portraits, Together with an Historical and Descriptive Sketch of the State, by Marion D. Shutter, and J. S. McLean. One Hundred Twenty-Two Biographical History of the Northwest, by Alonzo Phelps, 1890. One Hundred Twenty-Three, a history of the Republican Party, To which is added, A political history of Minnesota from a Republican point of view, and Biographical Sketches of Leading Minnesota Republicans, by Eugene V. Smalley.

One hundred twenty-four. There are also many quarto histories of counties in Minnesota and of larger districts of the state, mostly published during the years 1880 to 1890, including 20 counties, namely Dakota, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Hennepin, Houston, MacLeod, Meeker, Olmsted, Pope, Ramsey, Rice, Steele, Stevens, Wabasha, Wausica, Washington, and Winona, and five districts, namely the St. Croix Valley, the Upper Mississippi Valley, the Minnesota Valley, the Red River Valley and Park Region, and Southern Minnesota. One hundred twenty-five Winona and its environs by L. H. Bunnell, 1897, with maps and portraits.

Among the earliest publications are, one hundred twenty-six, Minnesota and its resources by J. Wesley Bond, 1853, one hundred twenty-seven, Minnesota yearbooks, 1851, 1852, 1853, by William G. Leduc. 128. Floral Home, or First Years of Minnesota. 1857, by Harriet E. Bishop. 129. Narratives and Reports of Travels and Explorations, by Hennepin, Carver, Long and Keating, Beltrami, Featherstonehuff, Schoolcroft, Nicolette, Owen, Oliphant, Andrews, Seymour, and others. For geographic and geologic descriptions of Minnesota, the reports of the Geological and Natural History Survey are the most complete sources of information. By, Prof. N. H. Winchell, State Geologist, assisted by Warren Upam, Ulysses Sherman Grant, and others.

The annual reports comprise 23 volumes, 1872 to 1894, with another to be published. Several other volumes have been issued as bulletins of the survey on iron, mining, birds, mammals, and fishes. One hundred thirty-one. Four thousand, two hundred and fifty bound volumes of Minnesota newspapers, embracing complete files of nearly all the newspapers ever published in Minnesota from first to last. One hundred thirty-two. One thousand, seven hundred and two books, and about fifteen hundred pamphlets relating in some way to Minnesota history. All these books can be found in the library of the Minnesota Historical Society, which is always open to the public, free. Much historical and other information is contained in the messages of the governors and reports of the various state officers, and especially in the legislative manuals prepared for the use of the members of the legislature by the Secretary of State, under Chapter 122 of the General Laws of 1893 and Former Laws.

These manuals, and especially that of 1899, are replete with valuable statistics concerning the state, its history, and resources. 134. Illustrated History of Minnesota by T. H. Kirk, M. L., 1887. 135. Ancestry, Life, and Times of Henry Hastings Sibley by Nathaniel West, D.D. 1889. One hundred thirty six, Minnesota and Dakota, in letters descriptive of a tour through the Northwest in the autumn of 1856, with information relative to public lands and a table of statistics, by General C.C. Andrews. One hundred thirty seven, Lights and Shadows of a Long Episcopate by the Right Rev. Henry Benjamin Whipple, D.D.L.L.D., Bishop of Minnesota. 138. Reminiscences, Memoirs, and Lectures of Monsignor A. Raveau, V.G., 1890.

139. Encyclopedia of Biography of Minnesota with a History of Minnesota by Judge Charles E. Flandrao.

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